Ever Tamed a Dragon?

Armin adjusted the leather strap of his satchel and muttered under his breath, "Of all places, this dragon woman had to shove me into the dragon quarters like I'm some sort of errand boy." His head throbbed from Yui's earlier "gentle encouragement," which was a slap that nearly rearranged his jaw. He paused to admire the grandeur of the quarters—golden arches, walls lined with iridescent scales, and floors polished so well he could see his perpetually tired reflection.

"Stoic yet cooperative," he sighed. That was how people described him. Sometimes, he hated how accurate it was.

The grandiose silence was broken by a whisper. "...Not this way. Not this way..." A slender figure darted out from behind a column, clad in dark robes that screamed "I'm suspicious, please stop me!" She froze mid-step when she spotted him.

"...Another human?" Armin blinked. It wasn't every day you ran into someone who wasn't either a beast or a high-ranking elemental tamer in a place like this. Considering the reputation dragons had when it came to humans, this woman was practically asking for death.

The woman straightened her posture and narrowed her eyes, her lips curling into a sly smirk. "Well, well, well... and who might you be, trespassing in the dragon palace?" she asked, her voice dripping with mockery.

Armin raised an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same. Last I checked, sneaking around isn't the best way to win the dragons' favor." He was obliviously right on the facts.

Jia, who had perfectly timed her escape from her dragon boyfriend's chambers, was a self-proclaimed queen of bluffing and wasn't one to back down. "I'm not sneaking. I'm... uh... inspecting. Yes, inspecting. Official dragon-related business. And you?"

"Ah I see." He shrugged. "Apparently, I'm on 'babysitting duty' for something that could swallow me whole."

Jia's smirk faltered momentarily. "You're from Mount Qi, aren't you?" Her eyes widened slightly looking up and down at him, and for a moment, Armin thought he caught a flicker of genuine curiosity.

"And you're not a tamer, are you?" Armin shot back, his tone just as probing.

Jia crossed her arms, stepping closer. "What gave it away? My total lack of terrified respect for a place swarming with dragons?"

"Well, that and the fact that you asked me why I'm here. No tamer would ask that—they'd just assume I made a terrible decision."

Jia rolled her eyes, muttering something about "stupid men" under her breath. "So you're a tamer," she said aloud, her voice laced with intrigue. "Tell me, ever tamed a dragon?"

Armin laughed dryly. "If I had, do you think I'd be sneaking around here? Elemental beasts are... complicated. Only a handful of tamers in history have pulled that off. And those were dragon tamers with Qi levels most of us can't even imagine. Why? You planning on taming one?"

"...What if I am?" Jia tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Then you're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Or both," Armin said, leaning against a nearby column. "No offense, but taming a dragon isn't something you can just... try. You'd need a Qi connection stronger than anything a non-tamer could hope to achieve."

"Hmm." Jia tapped her chin thoughtfully. "But you could teach me, right?"

Armin blinked, baffled. "Wait. What?"

"Teach me how to tame a dragon," Jia said, her tone as casual as if she were asking for directions to the nearest bakery.

Armin snorted. "Not possible. You're not a tamer, and even if you were, dragons aren't exactly farm goats. They're elemental beasts—practically forces of nature."

Before Jia could respond, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the hall. "Jia?!" a familiar voice called out, a mix of worry and irritation. It was Kai, the ever-awkward, perpetually nervous disaster of a dragon.

"Oh great," Jia muttered under her breath. "The embodiment of a bad decision."

Kai skidded to a halt when he spotted Armin. His eyes darted between the two of them, his expression a mix of confusion and suspicion. "Uh... who's this guy? And what's a human doing here?"

Armin opened his mouth to explain in nervousness of being caught when Yui specifically told him not to be caught, but Jia beat him to it. "He's my brother."

Kai's jaw dropped. "You... have a brother?!"

"Yup. Surprise!" Jia said with a grin that didn't quite reach her eyes. "He's here on, uh, family business. Very important. Definitely not your concern."

Kai blinked, still processing. "Wait... but you never mentioned—"

"I don't mention a lot of things, Kai," Jia interrupted, her tone sharp. "Can we move on?"

Kai hesitated, his confusion giving way to insecurity. "Okay... but why does he look like he wants to kill me?"

Armin raised an eyebrow. "This is just my face."

"Sure it is," Kai muttered, looking unconvinced.

Jia clapped her hands, drawing their attention. "Okay, here's the deal. Armin's staying here for a while. Family bonding and all that. You'll cover for me right, Kai?"

Kai nodded hesitantly. "Uh, yeah, I guess. Just... don't make it weird."

"Too late for that," Armin muttered.

Once Kai wandered off, still muttering to himself about how "Jia never tells him anything," Jia turned back to Armin. "So, about that deal."

"What deal?" Armin asked, crossing his arms.

"You teach me the basics of taming, and I keep your little visit here a secret from Yui, in case you didn't know, she is the Matriarch dragon."

Armin groaned inwardly. "You really think Yui doesn't already know I'm here? She's the one who sent me."

"Fine, then I won't tell Kai. He is the son of the Matriarch Dragon, the man you just met moments ago.. Could get... real messy."

Armin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Of all the dragons he could've encountered, fate had to throw him in the path of the one person Yui had explicitly warned him to avoid. "Why do I get the feeling this is going to end badly?"

"Because it probably will," Jia said cheerfully. "But hey, think of it as a learning experience. For both of us."

"Right," Armin muttered. "Because teaching a non-tamer how to tame a dragon sounds like a great use of my time."

Jia grinned. "Exactly! I knew you'd see it my way."

Armin stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. "You're impossible."

"And you're stuck with me," Jia said with a wink. "Now, let's get started. How hard can it be?"

Armin sighed again, silently praying that the dragons wouldn't eat them both before his time was out.