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Alice leaned back, resting against Mr. Skelly’s sternum. “The sun’s already set, huh?”
The two were sitting next to each other on the ground of a living room. A few leather cushions decorating the floor and a waist-high table were the only pieces of furniture in sight. Mr. Skelly raised his brow. “Oh? We’re in someone else’s home, but you want to do the naugh—”
“No.” Alice straightened her back, sitting upright. The top of her head collided with Mr. Skelly’s lower jaw, cutting off his words. “I mean, it’s nighttime, but Vur and Tafel haven’t contacted us yet. Do you think they forgot about us?”
“Don’t be silly,” Mr. Skelly said. “Vur probably forgot about us, but there’s no way Tafel would’ve. You know how dragons are—everything they do is slow and relaxed as if they have all the time in the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vur’s initial meeting with his grandma took several days.”
Alice pursed her lips. “I did hear that dragons slept for years at a time….”
“See?” Mr. Skelly asked. “Our party members wouldn’t abandon us. You worry too much.”
“The bath is ready,” a voice said from a doorway leading outside the living room. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Alice and Mr. Skelly exchanged glances. “Now that I think about it,” Alice said as she climbed to her feet, “do skeletons even take baths?”
Mr. Skelly shook his head.
“It’s because water probably softens your bones, huh?” Alice nodded. “Makes sense.”
“What? No, of course not,” Mr. Skelly said. “We take showers. The only point of a bath is to relax in hot water and play with bubbles, but we can’t feel anything. Showers are much more practical for a skeleton.”
***
Tafel rummaged through her bag and pulled out the coin that Vur had used for his match against Alora. She flipped it over and sighed. It really was the double-headed coin that she confiscated from Mr. Skelly. Her brow furrowed, and after one glance at Alora’s pitiful state, she opened up a portal and tossed the coin inside, removing all evidence. It was her duty as a wife to support her husband after all. But it was also in her best interest to not fool a dragon…, but Vur was a dragon too, so in the end, she made the best choice. After internally justifying her decision, Tafel closed her bag and hung it on the belt on her waist. “Hey, Vur,” she said. “Are we forgetting something?”
Alora stopped rolling around on the ground, lifting her head up to stare at the duo, her cheeks streaked with mud. “Right! Forgetting something like declaring how many rounds there were supposed to be! It’s best two out of three!”
Vur clicked his tongue. “Sore loser.”
“Hah!?” Alora jumped to her feet and glared at Vur. “I’m not a sore loser! You’re not a forgiving winner!”
Vur shrugged. “If you don’t want to be my lackey, then that’s okay too.” He puffed his chest out. “But I won and you lost.”
Alora’s eye twitched. “What kind of dragon do you think I am? I’m an honorable dragon, and honorable dragons keep their promises! Even if you don’t want me to, I’m going to stick so close to you and do everything you could possibly want for the next fifty years that you’ll be rendered completely helpless without me by the time I leave. You got a problem with that?”
“Um, I do,” Tafel said, raising a hand.
Alora snorted. “You’re not my boss.” She pointed at Vur. “He is.”
“No, she’s your boss too,” Vur said. “Treat her words like mine.”
Alora’s face spasmed before she closed her eyes and exhaled. “You got it, Boss.”
Tafel whispered to Vur, “Don’t you feel bad for tricking her? Like even a teensy bit?”
“No matter what kind of match we had, I would’ve won anyway,” Vur said, placing his hands on his hips. “And that’s because I’m a dragon. Dragons never lose.”
“…I’m a dragon too,” Alora said.
Vur blinked before turning to Tafel. “Let’s go back to Grandma.”
“You’re just going to pretend you didn’t hear me?” Alora asked as she followed after the couple. “Really? Hello? You there? Wow, fine, be that way.”
“Ah!” Tafel stopped midstride. “I remember now! We forgot about Alice and Mr. Skelly.” She bit her lower lip. “But they weren’t waiting outside the cave when we left. And I got distracted by the talk about genies.” She tugged on Vur’s arm. “Do you think they’re mad at us?”
Vur hummed and rubbed his chin. “I’ve never seen Mr. Skelly get mad before,” he said and paused. “But Alice is always mad. That’s why she’s called the berserk librarian, right?”
“Alice would smack you if she heard that.”
“See?” Vur asked. “Always mad.”
“Maybe she’s only mad around you,” Tafel muttered. “There are times when you can be very … frustrating.”
Vur tilted his head. “Huh? Like when?”
“Like now! Don’t ignore me,” Alora said, sticking her head between the two while wrapping her arms around their shoulders.
Tafel flinched at the soft feeling pressing against her back. “Alright,” she said. “The first thing you’re going to have to do if you want to follow us is wear clothes.” She opened up a portal and retrieved the previous robe from before. “Here.”
Alora stared at the fabric in Tafel’s hands. Her nose twitched as she resisted the urge to set it on fire. She sighed as she released Vur and Tafel, grabbing onto the robe. “You shouldn’t humiliate your lackey like this. It’ll reflect poorly on you if you make me wear silly things.”
“It’s not silly,” Tafel said, glaring at Alora. “Right now, you look like a human, and humans wear clothes.”
Alora rolled her eyes as she wrapped the robe around her waist and tied a knot with its sleeves to keep it from falling, turning it into a makeshift skirt. “There. You happy?”
“No! Wear it like a normal person!”
Alora let out low growls as she untied the robe. “You say that, but I’ve never worn human clothing before. What’s the normal way to wear this? Arms probably go in the sleeves, huh? Oh, that makes sense. Euck, clothes suck. It feels like someone’s touching me all over.”
“You’ll get used to it, I’m sure,” Tafel said. She sighed. “I wish Alice were here. I need a slightly normal companion around or else I’ll go insane.”
“It’s not like you’re normal either,” Alora muttered. “I can’t believe she’s brave enough to order around a dragon. I’m going to slip centipedes into her bed while she sleeps.”