Earth Touched - A Dragon Tribe Origin

Chapter Nineteen - Finn

While all of his friends went back to their wives and families upon returning from the council, Finn went to his penthouse apartment in the heart of Terran City. His apartment took up half of the top floor, had an impressive outside patio the size of the average household den, and an amazing view of the northern end of the city against the backdrop of the Grand Terran Mountain Range.

One of the perks to being the son of the Terran City mayor, was that he didn't have to want for anything. The apartment worked well as a bachelor pad, and could easily be converted for a starter family until he and his wife decided where to get their first house. Once he found the woman he was going to marry, that is—which seemed impossible at the rate he was going.

Dating as a dragon was already complex given the secret of their species. He couldn't tell just anyone about it right off the bat. At the same time, he also knew that the complications that came with being married to a dragon could also be a potential deal breaker. If he were to be rejected, he hated the thought of putting any woman through the process of adjusting her memory so she didn't spread the truth around to the other ordinary humans. It didn't happen often, but he had heard enough stories over the years to make him extra cautious all the same. The process itself wasn't painful, but time consuming.

Unlike the other tribes, the Terran believed in being upfront before bonding and marriage when it came to the truth about the dragons. They didn't steal women like the Oceina and Inero, and they didn't arrange marriages in a calculated fashion like the Aero. Women had so much more of a choice in Terran, and it was normal for the Terran dragon men to marry later in age.

Finn had plenty of time. He was only nineteen. All of his friends were married though, and that made the fact that he was alone so much more obvious and painful. Both Zel and Gage married girls they'd known for a while. Xio took a risk with online dating, and it ended up being a great success. For Finn, he'd had plenty of dates. More than plenty. They'd all been nice and kind—at first. After a while, they started to grow frustrated with his bluntness. Honesty wasn't cute or wanted when he was honest about things they'd rather he keep quiet about. If he wasn't turning them away by insulting them, he turned them away by being too awkward. Worst case scenario happened when the women ended up being boring. Finding the right woman for him was just hard.

"Of all the things, I should be worried about," he mumbled as he walked out onto his patio. Their country was on the verge of being exploited by the Inero, and he was more concerned about finding a date. He shook his head, leaning against the brick wall surrounding the edge of his terrace. "What's wrong with me?"

And that was the big question. What was so wrong with him that he struggled so much making even a small connection? Why did he get bored so quickly with all of his relationships? Why couldn't he say the right things to the girls who actually held his interest? Why did the process of dating feel so wrong whenever he tried?

"Overthinking it. Trying to make it too logical," he mumbled. Overthinking and logic were the only things he did best. Unfortunately, it was a personality trait that seemed to be hard for many to handle.

Being home always reminded him of his loneliness and how work was his life. He preferred it that way, actually. Work all day, maybe spend time with his friends in the evening, and then come home to sleep and work some more or work on his car models or read. He had ways to occupy himself.

His friends wouldn't be interested in hanging out for a while since they'd just had a vacation with one another. They had family things to catch up on and their own jobs. Family things that were increasingly becoming more prevalent as their kids grew older and their lives became more settled while his stayed the same. Eventually, he'd either join them or start finding new friends to spend his free time with. That was the way it always went.

"Inero," he mumbled, determined to stay on task and not depress himself. Then he groaned. "Be real, Finn. You're not going to find the solution tonight any more than your future wife is going to just drop into your lap." Two problems with complicated solutions. How he hated complicated solutions.

At least the Inero problem wasn't his fault. He didn't mess up an entire country. Not shouldering the responsibility made it a nicer problem to think about than his own messed up life. Which was probably why he liked working so much.

He chuckled, still gazing out at the horizon. "Yeah, because you've got it all figured out, huh?" At least he knew why he was still alone. That was something right? A lot of guys never figured it out, so they didn't know they needed to change. Finn's biggest issue was he didn't think he should have to.

For a long time, he stared out at the sky, enjoying the peace of the city from above. Down there somewhere was his true answer. Everything had one, he was sure of it—even his petty personal issues. Because in the grand scheme of things, not having a spouse was indeed petty.

Whatever lie helped him sleep better at the end of the night, he'd tell himself.