Home is a Treasure Beyond Price

Chapter 9

<Nick,> Cadenza said piteously.
Nick bit back a smile and carried on adding details to the crest of Cadenza's head. He was glad to have his own specially-made charcoals back. They were thin and sharp and much better suited to the fine work of delineating Cadenza's scales.
< Nick, there's something stuck in my tail.>
"If you'd stop twitching it around so much, that wouldn't happen," Nick said, trying to sound stern. He flipped over the sketch and looked up. Nick walked in looking disconsolate, wings drooping till the tips were mere inches from the ground.
<I'm a dragon, Nick. Boundless energy. Can't be expected to keep still.>
"Then don't complain if things get stuck in your tail."
Cadenza lay down next to Nick, nudged the table aside and laid her head on Nick's lap. Nick sucked in a startled breath as he jerked back and yanked his arms out of the way. The only thing that kept him from falling backwards off the stool was the weight of Cadenza's head pinning him to his seat.
Big, cyan eyes gazed up at him. <Take it out for me?>
Heat sank into the bones of Nick's thighs, and he had to resist the urge to stroke Cadenza's head. Dragon, he reminded himself, teeth. It was getting harder to remain wary of Cadenza, especially when she did adorable things like resting her head in Nick's lap and look at him with those damn puppy dog eyes. How twenty-odd tonnes of death could be so ridiculously cute, he could not understand.
"Alright," he said with mock exasperation. "Let me see."
Cadenza dangled the tip of her tail in front of Nick, so close that he went a little cross-eyed.
"Hmmm." He grasped the tail in one hand and moved it further away so he could inspect it. If there was something stuck between the scales, it was hidden by soil caked onto the tail. Made sense, he supposed, since it was always trailing along the ground. "I'd better clean it first. Come on," he said, as he went to get a rag. Cadenza trailed behind him as he made his way to the river.
Whatever Cadenza had on her tail proved harder to remove than anticipated. When his back started to ache from kneeling at the water's edge for too long, he decided to take a more direct approach. "I'm going to get in the water. Hold on." Gooseflesh pebbled his skin. With a shiver, he stepped into the water and sat down on the flat boulder that lay near the surface.
It was a relief when Cadenza shifted to press her side to Nick's back, cocooning his upper body in warmth. Cadenza curled her tail around Nick and draped the tip in his lap.
"Can I call you Cadence?" Nick asked.
<Not if you want me to answer.>
"Cadence," he said softly, as he worked at dissolving the hardened soil with the rag in his hand. "Cadence, Cadence, Cadence."
Cadenza slanted him an offended look and rested her head on the ground.
"Cadence" Nick continued, dragging out the syllables.
Cadenza made a hissing sound and turned so they were nose to nose. Nick breathed in her familiar scorched metal smell. "Cadence," he said again, just because.
<I could still eat you, you know.>
"No you won't," Nick said with a smile. "You still need me to get this thing out of your tail."
Cadenza snorted. <Don't take forever about it.>
He stilled as a thought struck him. Sooner or later, Cadenza would leave the area, and he would be free to return to his cottage—wouldn't have to share living space with a dragon anymore, wouldn't hear Cadenza's voice in his head anymore. A strange hollowness opened up inside him at the thought.
<What's wrong?>
"I—Nothing."
<You're not moving. Something's wrong.>
"I see it," he said to cover his lapse, and started rubbing at the scales on Cadenza's tail even though there was nothing left to clean off. He set aside the rag and lifted the tail up for a closer look. There—a large splinter had lodged under one scale. "Found it. I'm going to pull it out. Don't bite me if it hurts."
<I might bite you just for that,> Cadenza sniffed.
With careful fingers, he gripped the tip of the splinter and pulled. He couldn't suppress a wince as it came out, all five inches of it, wet and glistening with blood. Cadenza heaved a relieved sigh.
"How did that get in your tail?" Nick said, as he held it up for Cadenza's inspection.
Cadence radiated embarrassment.
<I might have swiped a tree when I landed.>
"Is it still standing?"
<I'm flattered you think I can knock over a tree with my tail, Nick, but yes, it's still standing.>
"That's good," Nick said. He tried to hold back a laugh, really, he did. But the image of Cadenza leaving a trail of destruction in her wake—snapped tree trunks, broken branches, and a blizzard of falling leaves—proved too much for him.
<You're starting to look more and more appetizing by the day, Nick,> Cadenza groused.
Nick had to scramble out of the water, still laughing, when Cadenza heaved herself to her feet with an injured snort and stalked away from the river.
"Come back," Nick gasped out as he chased after Cadenza, nearly losing his footing on the wet stones. "I need to clean the w-wound."
<Dragons heal fast,> was the sulky reply.
Nick choked back another laugh as he dried himself off. Without Cadenza nearby to keep him warm, his skin was covered in gooseflesh by the time he walked over to where the dragon was curled up in her nest. "Let me check your tail? Please?"
There was indistinct grumbling in his head, followed by a loud sigh. <Fine.>
Nick smiled to himself and went to sit in his usual spot against Cadenza's side. There was no blood as far as he could see, and apart from one scale which had been wedged up by the thorn, Cadence's tail was fine. He smoothed down the scale and adjusted it till it lay aligned with the other scales. "All done," Nick said with one final pat.
Cadenza didn't reply, just wrapped her tail around Nick's waist instead.
When the last of the chills that wracked his body were chased away by Cadenza's heat, it was time for Cadenza's daily brush-down. Nick got his cleaning brush and rag, while Cadenza went to lie down near the entrance. Nick had come to look forward to this part of their routine. He enjoyed the simple act of caring for Cadenza, and it helped him to settle after a day spent struggling to decipher the books in Cadenza's collection. He thought Cadenza enjoyed it too. she would lie in a half-doze for as long as Nick was brushing him.
He groomed Cadenza for much longer than usual that evening.