A Pet for the Dragons

199.

RADROX

After a whole long day, I was annoyed at both Ivret and my brother. I wanted to do nothing more than to chuck them in the ocean and get a good night's rest.

The only thing that kept me from chucking both of them in the sea was Arika.

"You'll behave from now on," I told my brother as I followed him upstairs into the bridge.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," He waved away, restless to get upstairs. I knew that my words meant nothing to him, and the two would cause some trouble tomorrow as well. My patience was running thin every day.

As we reached the bridge, Arika's sweet scent greeted us. Zorge groaned at it while it put me at ease. It always put me at ease, and it was enough to help me forget about the long day today.

We found Arika and Ivret together when we reached the bridge.

"Zorge stays. Everyone stays. We are the crew. Crew always look after each other," I heard Arika tell Ivret, and he groaned.

"She's right." My brother interrupted constantly. It was his thing, and as much as it annoyed me whenever he did it while I was having my time with Arika, I somewhat enjoyed seeing him bother Ivret in times like these.

Ivret chose to ignore my brother and tried to steal a kiss from Arika, but she only granted him a peck and moved away. My dragon stirred inside me, wanting that for ourselves.

Even though I had Arika all to myself for the whole afternoon, thanks to the two idiots, I was craving more of her. Especially now that her sweet scent perfumed the air, it made my mouth water, made me hungry for her.

"Don't look so happy. I'll happily trade you for a nuclear warhead if I could," Arika told Zorge before he could get too cocky.

"Well, at least I'm worth something," Zorge smiled. I clenched my jaw out of amusement and frustration. It was hard to get to my brother. He always found a way to flip any insult around. In that aspect, I envied him very much. He made Arika laugh the most, but Arika yielded the most to me. I guess we all had our own strengths and weaknesses.

"Don't tempt me, Zorge," Arika shot at him sharply before Zorge closed in on her, pushing Ivret aside to kiss her. Ivret hissed in response and moved to her side instead. Arika only gave him a very brief peck before pushing him away. My brother groaned in protest, but Arika ignored it. That was satisfactory for me. That's all he deserved for acting like a kid all day.

"Who's going out tonight?" Arika asked quickly to change the subject. Silence followed her words. I glanced at Zorge. It was his turn tonight to keep watch.

"It's Ivret's turn," Zorge shrugged, pushing himself between Ivret and Arika.

"It was my turn last night. Tonight is yours," Ivret hissed in retaliation, trying to push my brother off. I took a deep breath as the two started bickering like kids again. The urge to smack them was the strongest. I'd have already set these two straight if it weren't for Arika.

"It's your turn, Zorge," Arika told my brother.

"Come on! I deserve a break after the emotional turmoil he caused me by eating all my ice cream!" Zorge argued.

"That's not how it works,"

"Zorge, it's you,"

"Why do you have to do this to me, Arika! I thought you loved me,"

"You thought wrong," Ivret snorted. I often lauded Arika for being so patient with these two knuckleheads, but as they continued to argue, I could see it in her eyes that she wanted to smack them as much as I.

"I already served my time in the cargo all day today, and now you want me to go out in the cold, cold night. I didn't know you were so heartless and cruel," My brother cried.

"Cry as much as you like. You're not escaping your turn tonight," Ivret stated, still trying to push my brother out of the space beside Arika.

"Stop being so melodramatic, Zorge. It's your turn. Suck it up," Arika snapped, moving towards the kitchen instead. I could tell that she was already over it. The two tried to follow her to the kitchen, but I beat them to it.

"You heard her. Suck it up," Ivret echoed.

"I will have you sucked into the darkest hole—"

"Hey!" Arika interrupted before Zorge could finish. "I'll be putting you in timeout, and you'll have to take tomorrow's watch too if you keep this up," she threatened my brother.

Tomorrow was my turn. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I decided to act upon it before my brother could sense my slyness.

"We can flip a coin," I suggested slyly. I hated chaos, but sometimes it was good to dabble in some chaos once in a while.

"Let's do it,"

"No," Ivret quickly turned it down.

"Heads," Zorge shot.

"If you lose, you're taking tomorrow's watch as well," I said, and suddenly Zorge's eyes widened in realisation.

"You bastard!" He gasped in surprise.

"Okay, let's do it then," Ivret followed quickly. His eyes blazed zealously. Arika watched us with narrowed eyes, nibbling away on a piece of grilled fish made by Ivret.

Outside, the sun had been half swallowed by the horizon. The waves were calm, and the sea breeze was gentle. There was no storm lingering on the horizon.

"And if I win, I'll won't be having any watch for a week straight," Zorge growled as Ivret tossed me a coin.

"No," Ivret and I chimed.

"Yes," Zorge growled, looking more determined than ever.

"Okay, if you lose, then you'll have to keep watch for a week," Ivret took the stakes up.

"Fine. Flip,"

I flipped the coin, and it landed on the kitchen counter, standing on its edge.

"No! That's cheating!" Zorge yelled.

"What does this mean?" Ivret asked, confused.

"It means we follow the usual routine," Arika replied.

"That'll do it," Ivret clapped while Zorge roared in anguish. I felt a tinge of disappointment, knowing I'd be the one taking watch tomorrow. 

~

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