Dragon Slayer

Eleven

"That's a soft e, moron."
"But how do you tell the difference?"
"You've got to look at the letters around it."
"Ugh. English is so haaaard."
"You were the one who wanted to read." Katsuki flipped the page. Eijirou's bed creaked behind him as he moved. Eijirou was lying on his stomach, looking at the book over Katskui's shoulder from his bed. Katsuki could feel the warmth from the fireplace that Ei had started up with his breath and the bed warming bricks that had been tucked beneath the covers. The room was a lot cozier now that the books were all stacked in the corner. Katsuki felt at home, which was strange because he had never felt this way about any place before.
"Can't you just read to me and I'll read along? I can learn that way."
Katsuki sighed. "You need to learn to do it on your own. I'm not gonna be around forever."
Eijirou took a while to reply. When he did, his voice was soft. "Who said you can't?"
Katsuki didn't have a response. Nobody had said he can't. He had nothing to go back to, nowhere to even go back. He could just stay here with Eijirou for as long as he wanted.
So why wouldn't he?
"This is just a side quest." He decided. "I've got to go back to the main quest eventually."
"What is your main quest?"
Katsuki couldn't tell him. Not in a million years.
So he decided to change the subject.
"What's yours?"
"Finding my dad, duh."
"Right. And how are we going to do that."
Eijirou swallowed. "I'm...not sure."
"Fuck, dude. You dragged me all over just to tell me you don't have a plan?"
"He comes through here every few years. I've just always missed him." Eijirou insisted.
"And when is the next time he's coming?"
"This year. Around this time."
"You really think sitting and waiting will get you anywhere? You've got to go to HIM if you want to meet him."
"I tried that for years. He's a tough guy to track." Eijirou patted the bed next to him. "Come up here and read to me."
"Ugh. You're so demanding."
"Sorry, dude. I just really want to know what's in these books."
"Then let's find out." Katsuki climbed into the bed, shuffling over so the two lad's bodies were aligned. He didn't give off heat, which was something Katsuki found strange. He reached out, touching the bare spot on his back between his vest and the waist of his pants. He felt like a room temperature log.
"W-what are ya doing, bro?" Eijirou's face was almost as red as his hair.
"You're not warm. It's weird." Katsuki pulled his hand away.
"I'm cold blooded. That's just how I work." Eijirou shifted, turning his head away. Was he embarrassed about being cold blooded? Or maybe it was because Katsuki had called him weird.
"Just start reading."
"Yeah. Of course. But you have to stay awake. This ain't a fucking bedtime story, alright?"
"I know!"
Katsuki nodded and started to read from the children's story book he had chosen due to its easy to read style.
"There once was a princess who was loved all across the kingdom."
Eijirou nestled in closer to see the pages better. This really felt like reading to a child. The only thing that had changed about this guy since they met was his size and his hair colour.
"The Princess loved to dance in the garden, but one day she caught the attention of an evil dragon."
The story continued with the princess being caught by the dragon and then rescued by the valiant Prince who killed the dragon. It was a pretty typical story, the kind Katsuki had read tons of times as a child. He gave the book a bored eye roll when the story finished, closing it.
Eijirou seemed quiet.
Too quiet.
Katsuki turned his head to look at the redhead and witnessed the saddest look he had ever seen on Eijirou's face.
"Are you crying?" He asked.
"No!" Eijirou insisted, wiping his eyes.
"You are. I can hear you sniffling."
"Is that...really what you think of us?"
"Huh?"
"Is that what humans...think of dragons? That were evil? And we kidnap princesses?"
Katsuki's face softened. He might have grown up on this stuff, but Eijirou hadn't. Nobody had told him that his kind was the enemy. His friends had probably sheltered it from him too out of pity.
"Ei, it's just a story. Most people don't actually think that way." Katsuki lied. "It's just that...sometimes dragons DO kidnap princesses and destroy villages."
"So you guys are just gonna think we're all bad?!"
"No...stories are just fake, Ei. Somebody made it up to entertain little kids."
"And teach THEM that dragons are bad..." Eijirou caved at that point, bawling into his shaking hands.
"No." Katsuki said. But it was a lie. How else would he have learned to hate dragons as a child? How else would he have kept a lifelong career of dragon slaying if dragons weren't made to be feared.
"Look, these stories are just propaganda made to make the king look good. Enji is a tyrant. We all know that. But the stories make us feel like he's not."
"At the expense of dragons?" Ei sobbed.
"Ei, listen, your friends don't give a shit that you're a dragon, and I sure as hell don't. So who cares what everybody else thinks of you. If somebody gives you shit for what you are, just fucking eat them."
This didn't stop the crying, so he pulled Eijirou into his arms, rubbing his back. He wasn't used to this, wasn't used to people crying or showing any emotion other than anger, but he knew this was what he had to do. He was going soft, just like his father.
But maybe that was a good thing.