Finding you

Chapter 2: Awkward Conversation

Zephyr's POV

I was brutally awoken by something cold, yet warm and soft on my face. I blinked my eyes open and found myself staring right into the dandelion-yellow eyes of my Deadly Nadder, Firestorm.

I sat up in bed with a jolt, taking a moment to calm myself down before I began wiping the nadder's spit off my nightwear and scolded her. "Firestorm, we've talked about this! No waking me up by slobbering spit all over my face! It's wet, sticky and smelly and you know that I hate it!"

The crimson Nadder merely tilted her head at me, as if she was struggling to understand what I was trying to tell her. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Don't play dumb, Firestorm! I know you understand every word I'm saying, so if you don't stop waking me up by licking me all over the face, there will be a severe shortage of chicken for you!"

The Nadder immediately backed off, her black-tipped spikes standing out straight as if she was a terrified hedgehog. I couldn't help but chuckle quietly to myself as I got dressed and eventually made my way over to the stairs. "Come on, Firestorm, breakfast is waiting."

The smell of oatmeal and hot yak milk hit me as soon as I made it down the two first steps. I nearly tumbled down the stairs as I rushed to get downstairs before my father would finish it all, forgetting all about my dragon who was struggling to keep up with me.

"Morning, Zephyr." My father greeted as he placed a bucket of fish in front of his night fury, Toothless and watched the dragon delightfully down all the stinky fish in mere seconds.

"Morning, dad! I see you've made breakfast?" I pointed out as I sat down before an empty bowl at the table.

My father nodded as he made his way over to the stove and picked up the pot that had been resting upon it before placing it in the middle of the table and sitting down in his usual spot at the head of the long table. "I have. I also managed to postpone some of my chiefly duties to later this afternoon so that we could spend some time together again, seeing as I've been working pretty late these past couple of days."

"That's great, dad. You know I'm always happy to spend time with you." I shot him a smile as I filled my bowl with the fresh oatmeal and let the scent of it fill my nose and make my stomach grumble impatiently.

As I was about to take the first bite of my breakfast, Firestorm finally made her way down the stairs before she settled down next to me, as if she was waiting for me to give her something, like a dog expecting a bone.

My father raised a brow as he dipped his spoon into the oatmeal. "Well, I guess that explains the hair."

"The hair?" I furrowed my brows as I ran my fingers through my unusually stiff, auburn hair, which was a visibly lighter shade than my father's own auburn hair. "Ugh, yeah. Firestorm decided that she wanted to wake me up this morning."

"You'll get used to it after a few months. Unless you decide to let her stay in the stables permanently instead." My father stated as he ate his oatmeal. "There's chicken on the counter for Firestorm if she wants it."

I glanced over at the large iron bucket on the counter, which I had not noticed earlier. I suppose that explains why Firestorm had been staring so intensely over the table for the past minutes. I got up, grabbed the bucket and handed Firestorm a large chicken leg. "Consider this your last breakfast at this table, girl, unless you stop waking me up by slobbering spit all over my face."

My father chuckled as Firestorm let out a pleased 'squawk' and devoured the chicken, allowing me to sit back down and finally finish my breakfast. I took a deep breath as I tapped my fingers against the edge of the table and attempted to build up the courage to ask my father what I had been wanting to ask him for almost a week at that point. "Uh, dad? Can I maybe ... ask you something?"

"Of course you can, Zeph. What is it?" Dad smiled as he stuffed another spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth.

"H-how do you ask someone out?" I blurted out, biting my lip as I nervously awaited my father's answer. For weeks, I'd been wondering how I was supposed to ask out the guy I like and I hadn't dared to confine in anyone about it yet, except for my best friend — but we told each other absolutely everything so she didn't count as 'anyone'. To be honest, I was terrified and I had no idea how I would even be able to talk to him without just using short sentences. Gods, everything had gotten so much harder after I fell for him!

My dad looked like was going to choke on his oatmeal, but he swallowed it before promptly beating his chest with his fist and releasing a series of coughs. My father cleared his throat before attempting to answer. "Ask someone out? Is there someone you're ... interested in?"

My cheeks were on fire as the embarrassment simply became too much for me. Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea. I shot up from the table and avoided eye contact with my father. "Forget about it! It was nothing! I just remembered that ... Uh, I'm supposed to meet my friends right now! Yes, that was it. I'm supposed to meet my friends. So I'm just going to ... leave now. I'll see you at dinner, alright? Bye, love you dad!"

And then before my father even had the chance to open his mouth or even stop me, I rushed out of the house, Firestorm on my heels as I ran as far away from my father as I could possibly get. Gods, that had to have been the most embarrassing moment ever. How I wished I had a mother to talk to about those kinds of things ...