Even as consciousness was just starting to filter into the darkness of his sleep, Arsenic was aware of the feeling of someone watching him.

Not a professional, not even a particularly dangerous presence.

Still, he snapped into a standing position right where he’d previously been lying and stumbled due to the unexpected softness of the couch beneath his feet.

His dagger was in his hand before he could even take in his surroundings and calm down somewhat.

A small human house. A comfy house. The last thing he remembered last night was listening to the howling wind outside as he made sure the barrier he’d placed all around the house was holding.

He’d been oddly upset about Farrah’s insistence that she only wanted to forget him and his entire world.

Farrah.

He turned, slowly blinking, to the small human who was cowering back, staring at his knife.

Her pretty, oddly colored red hair was tufted in different directions, looking playful and clean. She was still painfully thin, and he hated the look of fear in her luminous blue eyes. But he had to admit she looked much better after a night in her own house.

Maybe this was truly the world for her after all. For some reason, it caused a deep ache inside him. It was worse than the homesickness for his world, worse than the feeling he always had of being out of place and apart from other beings.

It was… longing. For something impossible, surely.

He pushed it away as easily as he sheathed the dagger in his jacket and sat cautiously back down on the couch.

He put up both hands, showing he was harmless. “Sorry. I forgot where I was. Usually, waking up to someone watching you is a very bad sign when in the field.”

She flushed slightly as her elfin face relaxed. “Oh. I… I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to know if you wanted breakfast.”

“You can cook?” He cocked an eyebrow.

She nodded. “I mean, just simple things. I’ve been on my own a good while, so I hope so.”

“And you already cooked?”

“French toast and eggs,” she said. “I’m not sure how, but the fridge was totally stocked.”

“The oracle works in weird ways,” Nic said, sitting up fully and stretching. “None of us really know the extent of her powers. We’re basically servants and not even from his planet, so…” He trailed off, frowning as he remembered her words from the other night. “Ah, I forgot. You don’t want to know anything about me.”

She folded her arms a little tighter and met his eyes bashfully. “Maybe I was a bit harsh. After all, what does it matter if we get to know each other a bit? I’m going to forget anyway.”

He resisted the urge to grit his teeth that came every time she said that. Instead, he gave a grin he was sure was more frightening than reassuring, despite his best efforts. “It’s fine.”

“Um, well, should we go eat, then?” she asked.

Her face was almost elfin, wide and open, tapering to a delicate chin. Her lips were wide and generous, her cheeks naturally slightly flushed. If she’d been a black-and-white sketch the night he’d rescued her, today she’d been filled in with soft watercolor hues that brought her to warm life.

“Yes,” he said, trying not to startle her as he stood and followed her into a kitchen that was, once again, small and modest, like the living room.

She served up their plates and put his on the table in front of one of the chairs, which he took. He picked up the fork and ate quietly, grateful that he’d had time to learn human manners.

A part of him felt a bit cocky that he was the first dragon of Drakkaris who got to go outside the mansion. Would Cobalt or Chromium be granted the same when finding their mates?

Then again, Arsenic wasn’t allowed to find his mate.

“Nic?”

Arsenic was so deep in thought that he didn’t register that Farrah was calling him when she used the shortened form of his name.

“Nic?”

He jolted, looking up quickly. “Yes?”

“Is that really your name?” she asked, leaning against the counter with her plate, standing there as if reluctant to fully join him.

He frowned, wondering if truth was the best option here. But he really did feel incapable of such a petty lie. “No. My full name is Arsenic.”

Her eyes widened slightly, and he realized her eyelashes were unbelievably long, giving her a look not unlike one of the Earth deer he sometimes saw darting around outside the mansion.

It made all of his protective instincts stir to life, and he had to focus to keep his scales from breaking through his skin.

She was in no danger. She just seemed to have an overly strong awareness of anything out of place. Like she was always afraid but hiding it sometimes better than others.

“We thought, since it’s the name of a poison, that we should shorten it.”

“Arsenic isn’t… bad,” she said, not at all convincing.

He frowned. “Really?”

She snorted. “It’s a little intimidating. Why are you named that?”

“Long story,” he said. “And I’m not sure you want to hear it. I can get used to Nic.”

“Are you poisonous?”

Very. “Not to you.”

“That’s all I need to know.” She sank into a chair across from him, and his soul let out a sigh of relief. “Would you like me to call you Arsenic?”

He thought about it a moment and realized he liked having a name that was solely used by her. “Nic is fine.”

She brightened slightly. “Okay, then.” Her eyes looked past him wistfully at the snow-covered landscape outside. “I just realized it’s Christmas Day, isn’t it? I missed everything…”

Once again, her pain felt like a dagger someone had thrown straight through his weak spot.

“What do you mean missed everything?”

“My house is the only one without lights. Tomorrow, everyone will take them down. It’s hardly worth it. Besides, it will only remind me…” She pushed her plate away, barely touched. “Perhaps it’s better there’s nothing to remind me of Christmas. Perhaps it’s better to think time hasn’t passed at all.”

He eyed the plate irritably. She was painfully thin, and she would weaken considerably if she did not replenish her strength.

“It is not too late,” he said. “We can get a tree. Presents. Lights even, if you want. I don’t think you should ignore something that brings you joy. If anything, I think you deserve even more of it than ever.”

She thought about it for a moment, eyes downcast. Then she took a steadying breath and met his gaze, smiling warmly. “Maybe you’re right. This is my life. I have it back. I should live it as usual.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Get a tree,” she said. “I don’t need presents or lights, but I think having a tree today would give me at least a taste of Christmas.”

“Then we’ll get the biggest tree possible,” he said, standing. “Or, well, the biggest that will fit in your living room.”

“Great,” she said. “And thank you, Arsenic. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”

“Nic,” he said. It was his new human name. It made him feel as though he actually belonged in her world, even if temporarily.

Even if he wanted this to be his home, against all odds, and only barely knew her at all.

“But first, you have to clean your plate,” he said, glaring at it expectantly.

She flushed. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“I’m your guard,” he said. “I don’t want to guard someone so weak from anemia that if I tell them to run, they can’t even do that.”

“I can run,” she said stubbornly, looking at him with anger that only made her slightly more adorable.

“Not for long,” he said. “Replenish your strength. You have been a prisoner of war, and now it is time to treat your body better. The way it deserves.”

She sighed, looking down at the plate and resentfully stabbing a piece of French toast with her fork. “Fine. You have a point. I hate eating, though.”

Once again, he wondered what had happened to her in captivity. He thought of the cookbook in his backpack, the one Chromium had given him.

Perhaps, for her, he would actually use it. After all, he had no desire to watch this little human make the same kind of horrible choking and gagging expressions that his dragon teammates had in response to his recipe-less cooking.

Maybe by cooking, he could help nurture her back to life. He oddly liked the thought. He filed that away in his list of things to do, and decided it was time to take his backpack upstairs for a shower.

“What shower should I use?”

“Um, there’s only one bathroom, so I guess mine?” she said, blushing deeply for some reason.

“Good,” he said. He gave her a stern look. “And when I’m back, I expect to see that plate empty.”

She barely had time to blink at him in surprise before he headed to the living room and slung his backpack over his shoulder to head upstairs.