Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I wanted to ask more questions but that seemed like a bad idea since he’d actually answer them, so I took another bite. It made Boyd chuckle like he knew what I was doing, but I didn’t mind making him happy. He’d come in looking like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, so this was nicer on a lot of levels.
“Alright, town first and Daddy stuff second.” He said it so easily that I found myself blushing again. “You’ve got to stop looking so cute or I’m going to get distracted and forget about what we’re supposed to talk about.”
“Creatures.” Oops. Well, with that out between us and his eyes going wide, I figured I might as well keep going so he didn’t think I was completely out of the loop. “Half the town is human and half isn’t. I don’t know exactly what everyone is but some float and they’re usually stubborn and fight about owing fines, and the others like rules better but they can be flighty. They don’t argue when they’re wrong, though.”
The floaty ones liked to debate everything.
The non-floaty ones like Kenzie had an excuse for everything but it wasn’t the same.
Boyd chuckled. “I’m a flighty one.”
Oh good, we weren’t pretending he was human any longer.
“Like Kenzie and Lorne, but not like Alick. He’s human but doesn’t seem to mind.” I thought it might be stressful to know he wasn’t like the others, but he seemed fine with it.
Boyd went very still and looked like he was reviewing his entire life history. “He’s never said anything that makes me think he’s frustrated being human. I’ll talk to him about it if something comes up and gives me an opening, though.”
Aww, he was such a good friend.
I thought I could assume the friend part based on how Alick had been encouraging me the other day and how everyone had acted at the playdate party, but at some point I knew I should double-check that part. Alick didn’t overshare as much as everyone else and I wasn’t sure if that was just his personality or if it was because he wasn’t as close to Boyd as the other guys.
“Can I ask what the flighty people are?” Stacking up more meat and cheese with the yummiest crackers ever, I tried to look relaxed but I wasn’t sure it was working. “I’m not worried because they’re all very nice and no one judges because they’re all very…unique.”
I liked that about the town.
My being gay and slightly awkward in general usually made people think I was odd, but I was one of the most normal people in town and that was fun.
Boyd grinned as I took another bite, this time nibbling in case I had other questions. “We’re dragons. We’re technically shifters because we go from a human form to our dragon one, but most people will just tell you they’re a dragon.”
Yep, I knew it.
Creatures.
“I think that explains why everyone kept calling me a human when I first started working here.” That’d been odd…but everyone had been so welcoming. “But…you might want to pass along that calling someone a human usually isn’t something humans do in conversation.”
Boyd groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. “Every time I think we’re making enough progress to encourage tourism again, they do something insane.”
Again?
I pushed that question to the back of my list since Boyd seemed so frustrated.
“They’re at least very polite?” No one had ever made me think I was less than they were because I wasn’t a dragon…now, the floaty ones. “Well, the floaty ones aren’t always polite but they remember not to call me a human.”
That made him chuckle and he relaxed again. “They’re mages. Think of it like dragons knowing they’re the best and mages just thinking they’re the best.”
That explained a lot about some of the social interactions I’d seen around town.
“That definitely clears up a few things.” But I’d have to go through my notes and reorganize some of my questions. “Oh, can you have someone ask my neighbor to stop making my plants bloom out of season? I think she’s being polite but that’s not helping the environment.”
Boyd blinked at me a few times before groaning again. “God, how are they this bad at playing normal?”
Because they weren’t trying very hard?
“Um, well, personally, I think they all like either showing off or think it’s unnecessary?” My response was technically helpful but made him groan again. “They’re all very polite when they’re doing something…nonhumanish.”
Oh, I needed a better vocabulary.
I’d never had to talk about dragons and mages and people who floated.
“Oh, dragons can fly, right?” I looked up at the ceiling out of reflex. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone fly, so I was assuming land-based creatures.”
“The mages have a way of making sure we stay invisible, but we generally try to fly in the early morning or evening so there’s less chance of being noticed.” Boyd’s helpful answer let me check at least one question off my list.