House Dragon

Chapter 2 | Allergic

Since Dane and Juliana moved into their apartment together, He always let her take the bed while he slept on the couch.
Dane didn't mind the couch though. It was comfortable, and he could watch TV before bed every night.

They were only friends, anyway. So it would be weird to take turns using the bed at night.

Unlike his usual nights though, he just couldn't sleep. He kept scratching at his wrist and rubbing it in the couch, trying to get rid of an unbearable itch.
It must be whatever metal this bracelet he got was made of. Maybe he was allergic to it.

Dane grabbed the cuff on his wrist and tried to slip it off—but it was stuck.
Wasn't it looser when he put it on?
He sat up and tried pulling on it again, but nothing. It was really stuck on there.

Groaning, he got on his feet to turn the lights on. He really didn't want to get up, but he really needed to get this off so he could sleep.

The lights didn't help, though. Even being able to see it, it was just too tight. Did he bend it by accident? How could it be on tighter than before? It didn't make sense.

In the light, though, he could see it better. His skin around the bracelet was bright red, and felt dry and cracked in that area.

He scratched his wrist again.
It didn't matter right now—he needed the bracelet off quickly so he could go back to sleep.

Dane stood by the door of the bedroom, hesitating on knocking. He didn't want to wake up Juliana from a good sleep, but he really needed this bangle off of him.

He opted for opening the door quietly instead, peeking in to see if she was awake, or if she was even sleeping peacefully. He hoped she wasn't—only so he wouldn't feel bad when he woke her up.
Juliana was curled up on the side of the bed by the nightstand, the blankets kicked down to her feet. She looked like she was sleeping soundly.

Dane felt his heart speed up—and then he felt bad that he had to wake her up, and he sighed. He tiptoed over to her side and gently pushed on her arm. "Um, Jewel?" She stirred but didn't wake. "Jeweelll.."

Juliana's eyes cracked open. "Mm..?" She hummed.

"Well.. I didn't want to wake you up, but.." He said, scratching his wrist. Then he held his arm out for her to see. "I can't figure out how to get this off."

Juliana rubbed her eyes, thankfully seeming to not be upset. "Let me see.." She sat up, then turned on the bedside lamp. Dane felt a warm feeling in his chest when she took his hand in hers to take a look.

"Your skin is so red.. how much have you been scratching at it?" She asked him.
"Only a little bit.." He answered shyly. "I think I might be allergic.. It itches really bad."

"Hm." Juliana let his hand go, and got up to leave the room. Dane looked at the hand she was holding for a minute, feeling his face cooling off. Then he followed her, into the bathroom.

She reached under the sink and grabbed some kind of oil. "This might help.." She poured some on one hand, and then with the other grabbed his hand again so she could keep it still. Then she began to rub the oil up and down his wrist around the bangle.

He felt his face getting hot and he looked away, only to see his own red face in the mirror. He really needed to get himself together. Why was this getting him so nervous?

The oil didn't sting or burn at all. In fact, it actually helped to calm the itching a bit. It felt nice. He tried to focus on that idea more than what she was doing to his emotions.

Juliana began to tug on the bracelet again, but it still wouldn't budge, even with the oil. She tried to get her nails underneath it to pry it loose, but she couldn't get them under the flat metal.

"Nothing's working.." Dane worried. His skin seemed to keep looking more inflamed and scaly. And for some reason, his face just wouldn't get less red. "... Is this gonna come off?"

"It's okay.." She whispered, "I have one more idea to try."
She left for a moment, and then returned with some small craft pliers. "Let me see if I can bend it back into shape."

She couldn't get the pliers under the bracelet, so she had to use them to grab it by the sides. Then she pulled on it, trying to pry it off.

It felt like the metal was attached to his skin, and when she pulled, it pulled on him too. And it hurt.
"Ow, ow!" He winced. "Okay, stop, that hurts!"

Juliana took the pliers off, and frowned. "Well, if it's really stuck on that tight, we'll probably have to take you to urgent care to get it off."
That made Dane seem even more nervous, so she put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine. I'll go with you. But we'll have to go in the morning, because I'm tired. But feel free to leave without me if you think you need it off sooner."

"Okay.." He sighed.
Juliana left, leaving him alone in the bathroom.

Dane grabbed the bangle again, trying one last time to rip it off. Still nothing. He let out a little whine of frustration and wiped his face with his hands.

He looked into the mirror. His face was still so red. Maybe he was still embarrassed...
He just needed some sleep. In the morning he could get it all sorted out.

He left and went back to the couch to sleep.

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Hey everyone! Sorry for a really short and boring chapter ^^' life's been really busy! But I promise next chapter will get a little more interesting!!!

I'm also working on some new art that can hopefully fit along with next chapter! Can't wait to post it! <3