Never wake a Dragon (on hold)

7. part I - pancakes

The entire city was ablaze with rumors. They came from every corner with unrelenting blame. Everyone was turning on one another, firing off wild theories of likely perpetrators. Adeem had a hard time keeping up, but he'd heard more than enough whispers about his own involvement. They said he'd emptied the boy's brain to the brink of death. He wasn't even sure if he could do such a thing. Others were certain.

Nev crammed himself into the corner, opening the worn menu seemingly to pass the time. The vampire had been on edge since they exited the apartment, dangerously close to sulking because he'd been kept out of the excitement.

"Are you still mad?" Adeem asked.

"Mad that you put me to sleep like a good little wife before your meeting with the dragon? The very same dragon that you've been colluding with behind my back? I'm peachy." Nev continued to read the menu, flipping the two pages back and forth.

"Well, I've told you everything now."

Nev's composure snapped. "You could have told me from the start. Don't you trust me?" His dark blue eyes shone with annoyance, but he kept his voice low.

"I do trust you."

"Then enlighten me?"

"Let me order a fucking pancake first." He flipped open the menu and scanned the content. The crêperie was perhaps an unlikely restaurant to choose, but he preferred a smaller place to get away from other paranormals. It was a tiny place with no more than a few tables, but with excellent food and friendly faces.

Nev waved for the waiter. "Can I get a beer?"

The middle-aged man had to be a head shorter than most men in Stockholm, somewhat stocky, but agile enough to navigate the crowded room. "Oui, what kind?"

"Doesn't matter," Nev replied, almost sounding as fearsome as his exterior implied. The vampire had applied more eyeliner than usual, and his clothes matched the color.

"And I'll have the chocolate, hazelnut crepe. With ice cream," he said, trying to sound a bit friendlier than Nev.

The waiter nodded. "Anything to drink?"

"Water, please." He felt like having something a lot stronger than beer, but he wanted his head clear. Any distractions could prove disastrous as long as the tension continued to rise throughout Stockholm. He'd even heard regular humans talking about the murders, and all the tabloids were shouting out the gruesome details. Those papers had no tact whatsoever, and even less respect for the dead.

He listened in on the conversations from the other guests, hoping that they had better things to talk about, but was distracted by a young couple kissing fervently.

The waiter left, saying something in French to the other guy behind the counter. Nev didn't waste any time, scrunching his nose. "You're having dessert for dinner?" It sounded like the vampire was offended by that as well. Nev had also changed the topic, which came in handy for once.

"Chocolate is the food for gods. Did you hear that they'd found a Pharaoh embalmed in chocolate?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

He shrugged. "Just a random fact."

Nev leaned closer over the table, nailing him with an insistent stare. "Since when did you start blurting random facts? Besides, we're talking about the dragon and how you don't trust me."

Damn, he'd hoped that Nev would swallow the bait and follow the distraction.

"I trust you more than anyone." It was the truth. Simple as that. "And, maybe I should have told you from the start, but I wasn't sure what to tell you. It's not like this has been going on forever. He's mostly left me alone."