A Beast of Beauty

#7

Nova stared at the laptop screen, wishing for it to open up and swallow her whole. She was currently seated out on the porch of her parents house. She'd driven over for brunch with the family, and to everyone's surprise, decided to stay afterwards.

Something she had never ever done, ever since she'd moved out. Nova was in a weird mood. She didn't know what she was doing, or where she was going.

She was lost out at sea, with nothing to help navigate herself to shore. Nova had been trying to sort out her thoughts all evening, but hadn't had much success. Now night had fallen, and she hadn't moved from her chair in three hours. The forest around her parents house was quiet and peaceful. It soothed her soul.

The rest of her family was inside the house, chattering and laughing away. She simply listened to their conversations as she tried to make sense of the whirlpool of thoughts in her own mind.

What did the dragon really want?

That scaly bastard couldn't be trusted. He was entirely too smug for her to believe his word. She wanted to dig around and see what she could find, but simultaneously it irked her that she even wanted to do it in the first place.

Throwing the thought of the deranged dragon out of her mind, she finally made up her mind.

Nova rose from her seat and gathered her things. She needed to leave.

"Going so soon?" Her father chuckled. Surprised, she glanced over her shoulder. He was standing right next to her.

"I... I need to go." Nova admitted to him. It bothered her that she hadn't been able to detect him before he spoke, but then again, she'd never been able to do so before, it wasn't surprising she couldn't do it then.

"Everything okay? You seem to be a little troubled." He eyed her speculatively as he came to sit next to her.

Nova had always been closer to her father than her mother. Their relationship was odd, they rarely spoke to one another. But were able to immediately understand one another's thoughts.

"It's nothing." Nova brushed aside her irritation. She wasn't going to dwell on this any longer. "Just a prospective job. I'm not taking it."

***

Dom gazed down at the lush snowy forest spread out before him. He was enjoying a nice, cold mango smoothie in the chilly morning air. The layer of fresh snow on the trees made him want to go running in the forest. His dragon almost purred at the thought. Being an ice dragon called for some weird lifestyle choices.

Given that his den was currently in the Himalaya mountains, Dom was loving the chill and ice. He had had the strongest of dragons spell the den he had built, so it was possible to transport the building itself to whatever location he so desired. He'd built a large mountain house, made of a magnificent dark oak wood. The double storied building housed three bedrooms, living room, kitchen and dining room on the ground floor. The first floor held the master bedroom, a library plus office and an entertainment room. He was confident he'd addressed every possible need a prospective mate would have. But he was always willing to alter the house to suit her needs. A hot tub and a swimming pool attached to the house. Even if he was an ice dragon, he enjoyed the occasional dip into the warm water of the hot tub.

His den was magnificent, even if he didn't like to brag about it himself. He was proud of his hard work. Many a dragon spent their entire lives building before they would have such a beautiful den for their mate. He'd already had a plan in his mind for his future den when he had been a tween.

Therefore, he was using his den to hide from his family, Dom had changed the location of his den without telling anyone else. He needed some time to rest and recuperate without anxious dragons getting all up in his personal space.