Dragon Lover | B X B X B X B

16

Florence

Josh trudged over and gave me a ticked off look. He gave Remus an equally pissed off glance and I had to suck in air through my teeth when he tensed up. Whatever he was going to do I just hoped it wouldn't end with him embarrassing himself. Or me.

"We need to talk. Now." He spoke, gently grabbing my arm and pulling me aside. His stare was so intense that it almost gave me goosebumps. "Want to explain what happened last night?" He asked in a tone I could only describe as pissed off. Remus was staring hard at me and even harder at Josh.

"I-I... don't remember?" I mumbled in reply. I genuinely did not remember half the night but the look on his face told me it was not good. "We saw you at the party, Flo! You lied to us." He seethed. He looked angry, but I could tell he was hurt. Fuck! Why did I have to lie in the first place? "Shit, I'm sorry Josh I just didn't want to face any judgement." I admitted.

"Judgement? You know I would never judge you! Neither would Liza!" He retorted. He placed the tray of food down and held his hands up to his hips. "I heard what you guys said about me closing up again. The reason I lied was stupid but I didn't want it to look like I was intentionally walling myself off so I just rolled with the idea!" I explained. His tense shoulders slumped back down and we both let out sighs. "I don't know, man! It's getting to that time on the year again, and every time you fall into a depression! I just don't want you to go through that every time you have a birthday."

I frowned. "I don't get depressed. I just want to be left alone, is that so much to ask for?" I bit back. I was so tired of hearing this from everyone around me.

"Look, I'm sorry I lied to you and Liza. It was stupid anyway," I said softly. He ran a hand down his face a sighed again before picking up his silver tray. "It's fine, Flo. We'll talk more later, kay'?" He smiled at me and I gave him a half-hearted one. He gave one last conspicuous glare before brushing past me to do his job.

The conversation left me feeling like we didn't really resolve anything and slightly empty inside. Is that what people thought- that I become depressive during my birthday? I didn't even get the chance to ask him for a ride.

I wasn't able to elaborate on the thought, as Remus was right beside me with a persistent look on his face. "So, what do you say?" His deep voice vibrated off my chest. I met his eyes and couldn't help but smile at the slight worry in his deep blue eyes. "I- uh.. sure. I'm not busy," I said with a small smile. He instantly beamed and straightened up. "Great. I'll have someone pick you up," he hummed. He gave me one last flash of a smile before walking off, a little bounce left in his step. For how serious looking this man was he sure did seem like a excited child.

Then I was left in the middle of a bustling lobby, with no way to get home and a dead phone. Guess I could always ask to use the work phones.

I started to make my way over to the office when I was stopped by yet another person. They placed their arm on my bicep and I froze immediately thinking someone needed help. I looked down to see the familiar face of Aubrey.  I found it strange she was here without Rian, but I guessed he was just busy somewhere.

"Oh, hello, Ms Wicker," I greeted. Her thin lips upturned into a small smile and she patted my arm. "It's Aubrey to you." She corrected. "I couldn't help but notice that you were talking to that Remus," her voice suddenly went from sweet to almost cynical. "Y-Yeah, he was just asking me if I were busy today.."

I had no idea why I told her since it really wasn't any of her business but I was trying to be polite. "Hm. You really can't trust those Northern Dragons. Heaven knows what those barbarians do all alone up in their mountains." She thought aloud. I was slightly taken aback by her statement but I guess I couldn't put it against her. I just thought she would be a little more understanding. "Be careful around him. They're no better than Wyverns." She snipped before giving my arm another tap and waddling over to the elevator.

The encounter left me feeling conflicted about who to trust. From what I could see neither of the tribes have done anything heinous. Apparently Wyverns were these 'master manipulators' but Eurus just seems like this confident leader, Rian is supposed to be this coordinated warrior but he's a little hot-headed and Remus... he's a little hard to decipher.

I pressed my lips into a fine line and carried on my walk to the office without another disturbance.

**

Rian

"Yes, father, everything's under control." I groaned as I slouched back into the couch and ran a hand down my face.

"Rian, you need to focus more. If I had known you were doing such a sloppy job I would've gone there myself." He seethed. His smug ass voice was getting on my nerves again and I had to refrain from punching a hole in the wall. "Well you didn't. Because I'm the fucking tribe leader since you decided to step down." I bit back like the insolent child I was. I enjoyed the way his face turned red at my comment.

"Are you still bitter about that? Grow up, Rian. You were ready for the position." He grumbled. He was obviously as frustrated as I was with this call. "I wasn't ready. You just couldn't be bothered to lead anymore!" I snapped angrily. I felt my skin flush red from the memory of him ambushing me with the title. I had no business being a damn tribe leader.

"Don't you talk to me like that! I served this tribe for over forty eight years! You have no idea-"

"Yeah, bye old man." I sighed before slamming the screen of the laptop down. I wanted to feel happy knowing my father was probably breathing fire knowing he couldn't do anything but I just felt more frustrated. Frustrating my father was become frustrating for me. Was I having one of those mid-life crisis? Surely not, I'm only twenty-eight!

"That didn't even last an whole hour. Pathetic." I heard my seemingly all-seeing grandma tsk. I shot her a nasty glare. "He was aggravating me." I muttered. She just shook her head and strode over to the kitchen. I took out my earphones and brushed the hair out of my face. This trip was also annoying me. "You're hard ass, Rian." She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her water and nearly choked. Serves her right.

"Are you going to tell me something important?" I asked. "If not then you can screw off." The only reason I was being overprotective of her was because my father openly voiced his concerns on how I'd get her killed the first couple of days. If he had bothered to even hear me out I would've told him sending his own mother to something as important as this was a death sentence in itself but he didn't, so I settled with just flipping him off.

"Well, I do have some news for you," she admitted. I matched her previous eye roll with a even better and headache-inducing one. "That Baker boy is having a little outing with Remus Slade. I suggest you crash their date. You might as well learn something useful from them."

Just thinking about his last name made me queasy, but the fact that Florence was talking to Remus rubbed me the wrong way.

"Yeah, and learn what, exactly?" I droned. "The Northern dragons and the Wyverns always had close ties and your father thinks they're trying to form another alliance." She carried on. "Why would they form an alliance behind our backs? The whole reason we're in this damn place is to form an alliance together!" I argued. She smiled, but it wasn't meant to be sincere. It was one of those stupid condescending smiles she liked to pull on all the time.

"You really think we're here to form an alliance? Why would three warring tribes suddenly want to kiss and make up after sixty years of war?" She asked me with a sickly sweet voice like she was teaching a child. "That's right, Rian. They don't."

"Screw you." I said in my most genuine voice.

All she did was smile again. How can one old lady be such a bitch? "Now, you go follow that Baker boy and report back to daddy, okay?" She walked over to the couch and held out my jacket for me. I gave her one last nasty look before ripping it out of her bony hands. She made a small but audible gasp and I snickered.

"Hope I didn't aggravate your Parkinson's, witch." I shouted before leaving my hotel room with one last bone-rattling door slam.

Sorry guys for such a long wait, a lack of motivation has me really struggling to even write a single paragraph but I think I've worked around that! Anyway, thoughts on Remus? Do you think he has any ulterior motives?

Cheers <3