Changes-Magma

As I watch him disappear into the restroom my chest tightens. I can smell his pain in the air, and it makes it hard to breathe in the room. For a moment he let his pain be seen when he shed a few tears. As I explained what happened and what I found at the scene it was like he closed himself off to the emotion. I want nothing more than to comfort him. The first time I actually get to talk to my mate, and I caused him nothing but pain

Love comes with pain. In time you will be forgiven. Stop being such a human and focus on something else.

"Yeah, like what. We haven't even hit the tip of the iceberg with all the things we have to say" I say aloud.

Yes, there is much more to be said. Nothing can be done at the moment. So why don't we take a moment to think about what's happening right now. Our mate is in the shower. We could go in there and give him comfort like you want.

With her statement she sends an array of images. The water from a show washes over hard muscles that flex at the heat. The air is steamy and through it I see a wicked smile of all teeth. I watch a hand glide over protruding pecs and then the rigged contours of a stomach. The images cause my body to heat. My heart pounds and breast reacts.

"What are you doing? Stop the images now" I berate her.

You should get used to them soon enough. The heat you are feeling is arousal. You feel it more until we claim our mate. This is just a taste of what we need.

"This is not helping at the moment. I may be part beast, but it doesn't mean I have to act like one. Humans do not comfort in that way. We use our words and feelings

Sounds like a waste of time if you ask me. Have a fight and then screw. That's a happily ever after.

She says rolling her eyes. As I shake my head she flicks her tail in annoyance and fades away.

I decide that my time will be better spent doing something other than standing here. I decide to get something to calm the growling of my stomach. It has been two actual days since he has eaten, and I am sure he would appreciate a hot meal. In the cafeteria I stop as I survey the food. I realize that I don't know what he eats. Humans have allergies right? What if I bring him something that he can't eat? Can they be allergic to meat? I know dragons have to consume a lot of it and maybe they do too.

You are overthinking this. Just bring some of everything. He can't be allergic to it all.

Right. I grab a container and start piling several things into it. I decide to still keep the food groups together. I grab more containers and fill them also even with dessert. By the time I am finished gathering food I realize that I have eight containers. I carefully pile them one after another and balance them in my hands. I carefully walk back to the clinic trying extra hard to make sure I don't drop any.

"Let me help with that. Geez are you feeding everyone in the clinic" Maximus says coming out of nowhere. He grabs half the containers and falls into step beside me.

"No, I...well I didn't know what you ate" I murmur, and my cheeks get hot out of embarrassment.

He guffaws loudly. For a moment I pause listening because it is such a rare sound. "Now, that is priceless. You worried about pleasing you little human that much." He says with a chuckle. I no longer find his laughing pleasurable. I feel irritation and almost let the clinic door slam in his face as we enter. He immediately sobers. The rest of the way to Igneous' room is made in silence.

"I can take it from here" I tell him holding out my containers so he can pile the others on top. He regards me with a smooth gaze as we stand just to the side of the entrance.

"I .... I'll be around" he says. He piles the rest of the containers and spins quickly on his heal. I watch him disappear around the corner and take deep breath to get rid of my irritation. When I enter the room the hoer is no longer running but I can hear him moving. I spread the containers out on the counter near the sink and take a seat in my chair to wait for him to come out.

A few moments later the bathroom door swings open, and a puff of steam is released to the air. as he steps from the steam my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. His back hair is swept away from him face. The muscles of his chest and abs shine in the bright light of the room. My eyes chase every patch of skin that has been revealed to my gaze. The crisp white towel he has wrapped around his waist leaves hardly anything to the imagination. The muscles of his arms go taut when he reaches up to run a hand through his hair. I must make a noise at the sight because his eyes whip in my direction.

I blush and try to find something else, anything else in the room to look at. I see him smile out the corner of my eye when I squirm in my seat against the hot pulse between my legs.

"Sorry, I.. I didn't want to put back on my gear. The towel was the only thing I could use to cover myself." He says gruffly. I inhale at the roughness of his voice. This ends of being even more of a mistake when I catch his scent. His scent is sharp spice that has me swallowing against the burn as if I just ate a hot pepper. My draikaina purrs in my head as she too finds the scent appealing. "I'm just going to call someone to bring me some clothes."

At his suggestion I whip my head in his direction to see him looking at me. I blush under his gaze. Needing a distraction I whip out my phone and send a text to Maximus.

~My human needs clothes. I don't trust the nurse to bring them.

He replies quickly. ~Done

"You will have something to wear in a bit. You can start eating if you want to do something while we wait" I inform him.

He turns towards the containers and raises an eyebrow. "Thanks. I hope you don't expect me to eat all this. This is enough for an army" he boast.

I hide my blush behind my hair. Once I have a bit of control I rise to make myself something to eat. I noticed he has piled his plate high. At the pile of vegetables on his plate I wrinkle my nose. I have never understood how people could eat piles of that crap. I like of few of the here or there but not every meal. "Oh, don't tell be big bad dragon doesn't eat broccoli." He says around a bite of food.

"No, we do eat it. We just prefer meat. Lots and lots of meat" I sat taking a bite of the chicken on my plate. I keep my eyes on my food as I eat.

When I am almost finished I lift my gaze to find his eyes on me. "What?" I ask.

"Nothing. It's good to see a woman who can eat"

He says. "Normally, women will just pick at the food on a plate. You hum while you eat too. It's cute" he says as he resumes eating his food.

Cute. Dragons are not cute. We are fierce creatures.

"uh thanks" I say in reply.

"Can I ask you something?" he says.

"Sure, what did you want to know?" I ask as I pile more food on my plate.

"Why do your eye change like that. I noticed that sometimes they go back and forth" he questions

"Well..." I begin. Then I am interrupted as

Maximus comes into the room. He drops the pile of clothes onto the bed with a plop and stares at Igneous.

"uh, hello" Igneous says by way of greeting.

"The names Maximus. Head of the Guard here. As long as you stay in line and don't hurt her we won't have a problem. You get me" He commands low.

"Maximus.." I beckon

"No its alright" Igneous says as he sits taller. "I have no plans to cause her any harm." He says.

Maximus takes a step back from the hospital bed never breaking his stare. He nods at Igneous with a blank expression and then disappears into thin air.

"What the fuck...he just...did he...holy hell he's gone" he says in astonishment.

"Yeah he does that. He's just showing off to intimidate you." I say with a huff.

Igneous sits on the bed blinking. He has set his plate down only half finished on the bed. As his brows furrow I can see his mind racing, but he doesn't speak.

"It's his ability. There are many of us who have them. He makes a great soldier because he is a literal surprise to our enemies. He's the one thing they never see coming. His ability is invisibility, but I would personality add a huge ego to the list" I say by way of conversation.

"And you, what's your ability" He says wiping his face with a napkin.

"My ability is fire. I can breathe it out as well as absorb it. It gives me strength and makes me good at my job." I answer.

"So, it was you in the forest. When the fire turned into a burning river, that was your power?" He ask amazed.

I smile at him and nod. He has now pushed his plate away. He rises from the bed gripping his towel tightly in one hand. "just a sec" he says grabbing the clothes he was brought and heading into the restroom. I try not to ogle him the entire way. While he is dressing I throw my plate away.

He comes out the bathroom as I am washing my hands. Maximus brought him one of our robes to wear. His arms stick out in the leaves, and he tugs at the collar trying to make sure it is staying closed.

"What's with the robes. Don't Dragons wear pants?" he ask sitting down on the bed once more.

"We do on occasion. The robes are easier for shifting. Our clothes don't shift with us. For a fast change, a robe can easily be put on or taken off.

Do humans prefer pants?" I ask.

"Yes, most of us wear pants and a shirt. During warm weather women occasionally wear dresses too" he says. "What about the question I asked earlier, about your eyes?" he ask.

Tell him all about me. How fierce I am and how I can make him scream. With pleasure of course.

"Oh, yeah. That happens when my dragon speaks to me. My eyes also change that way when I am going to shift" I explain.

"So, I take it your dragon is like another person. You talk to yourself. Your eyes just did it again. What did it say?" he says with a smile. I blush profusely knowing I am going to avoid that last question.

"No, we do not talk to ourselves. Our beast are their own separate person. They have their own wants and desires. Neither of us controls the other. It's like having two people in one body" I say trying to explain. He nods with raised eyebrows but doesn't ask more on the subject. When the silence seems to hold out too long I speak up.

"Before we continue getting to one another, there are a few things we must discuss." He snaps out of wherever his mind has gone and looks at me.

"Know that you may not like what I have to say but it is for your safety and mine" I start.

"Safety? Are we in danger?" he ask.

He will never be in danger. We will keep our mate safe until he can do it on his own.

"Not precisely. I think. What I mean to say is you are not allowed to leave our village. You will remain here until we feel that we can trust you." I say slowly.

"I can't stay here forever. I have a job, a life, and a family. I won't tell anyone what you told me. I can even stop asking questions" he blurts

"I understand that this will be an inconvenience. As for your job they think that you are still healing. As bad as your injuries were and the proof we sent, you won't be able to work for quite some time. I will see what I can do about getting you contact with your family." I state

"What injuries? I am fine. I can walk on my own. Nothing is broken and you solved my hallucination problem." He yells.

I twiddle my fingers together wondering if I should tell him the truth. I am already in the hot seat here in the village and don't need to make more trouble. "Your injuries were bad, but we did something to help the process along. If others knew what we had done it would be trouble for us. That's all I can say on the matter." I caution.

"Show me" he demands. I look around wondering what he means. "My medical chart here, show me" he snaps.

I walk to the door and pull the clipboard from the back. I hand it to him quickly. He immediately begins to go through the file. When he reaches the last few pages of notes that the doctors adds in he looks up confused. "Where is the rest? It says nothing about the treatment that I received. I want to see what you all have done to me." he commands.

"You may never know. I can't tell you" I say quietly.

He will find out at some point. Perhaps if he knows he will no longer be angry.

"What!? Am I some type of experiment to you all now. I bet I was never injured. You all did something to me. Didn't you? Please tell me I am not going to be like you. Is that what this is? You're turning me into a monster?" he yells. When he began his rant he was sitting on his bed. Now he stands before me, and I couldn't help being prepared for a fight. I can here footsteps in the hall heading in this direction.

Our mate is fierce in his anger. If he wants a fight we will give him one.

"No, you won't a monster. That's not what this is. You are not an experiment." I say with my hands out trying to soothe him. Apparently I have the opposite effect. I watch his entire body go rigged and his face turns red.

"GET OUT! LEAVE" he bellows.

I turn and head toward the doors. I see a few of the faces from people in the clinic and know that they have heard some of the fight. There is a pain in my chest from how this went. I look to him unwilling to leave things like this.

"I brought you here to save you. I couldn't let you die" I say brokenly.

He steps to the doorway, and I exit it. The door shuts firmly behind me. As I blink the tears from my eyes the others shuffle around not knowing what to do.

"Don't you all have work to do" I yell.

It will be alright. His anger cannot last forever.

As someone who has experience an unknown rage my entire life. I truly hope that my dragon always being right sticks. I blink the tears from my eyes and head over to the nursing station. I know that I have three weeks of clinic duty so what better time to start than now.