"AZUL! PLEASE!!!" Yasing yelled, flying after him through the storage room.
"JUST LISTEN!!" The man desperately called out. He was endlessly pursuing the fire shadow that kept going from box to box.
"Please…" Yasing weakly called out while finally folding his wings and stopping his pursuit.
His plea was not ignored since Azul finally stopped just far away enough.
They weren't saying anything, the tension finally lessening.
"You don't have to talk to me, just please." He took a step closer only for Azul to take one back.
"Please, dim those flames." In counter response the shifter's flames lit brighter.
Azul bit his lower lip in frustration.
"Do you really wanna get rid of me?" A voice questioned inside of Azul's heart.
Do I?
His heart grew uncertain and he felt himself take a few more steps back. His urge to escape became more and more tempting until he finally snapped out of it.
When was the last time he made a decision by himself?
Azul replenished his flames and shook his head at his comrade.
I want this! He wants this!
He stood proud of his decision and glared at Yasing. If he were to speak his voice would come out in double, that was too risky.
Too risky.
Too risky!
Risky! That's all he heard all his damn life. No compassion, no care, just risky.
Am I not worth the risk?
Azul's eyes widened in realisation, was he really not worth anything? Not even worth the risk?
Am I a risk?
Azul was petrified. He quickly vanished into a cloud of flames swishing through the halls.
Yasing couldn't catch up fast enough until the cloud crashed out the door restlessly searching throughout the entire deck.
Once everyone saw his shifted form they attempted to catch and turn him back but the cloud was quick. It dodged every attack until it finally found its target.
"WATCH OUT!" A beastman yelled while a fiery cloud came straight towards Kemal.
The boy merely took a step aside before the cloud rushed past him and lowered down onto the floor to hide behind his legs.
"AZUL!" Yasing screeched while surrounding shipmates covered their ears.
"Is he out of control again!" The watchman called from above.
"WHERE'S THE CAPTAIN!" Another yelled.
Kemal looked at the cloud beneath him. "That's Azul?" He questioned.
He thought Azul required his original body to create flames, but maybe he was wrong?
This small thing was in no way Azul.
"Azul-" Yasing called out.
"Are you okay?" Kemal interrupted the man while looking back at the flame beneath him.
The beastman beside him knelt down to grab a hold of the fire cloud but it merely dodged to the side while refusing to leave Kemal's side.
"What happened?" The black wolf questioned the crow. "He seems to be fine."
"This is…" Yasing grit his teeth, "ALL YOUR FAULT!" He pointed his finger accusingly at Kemal while all eyes were on them.
"YOU JUST HAD TO INTERFERE! WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST LET AZUL BE!! YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SMART DON'T YOU!" Yasing lashed out his feathers puffing in frustration.
"Me?" Kemal pointed his finger at himself acting dumbfounded.
"Enough." A sharp voice cut off everyone's attention turning to the source.
"Captain.." The wolf bowed his head along with a few others. Yasing folded his wings back and lowered his head as well.
"Azul's pal, am I right?" The captain questioned.
"Yes, that's my current name I go by." Kemal quickly explained, catching the dragon off guard.
His eyes narrow at the boy. Such a dominating smell, far too strong!
"I believe we have something to discuss." His red eyes reflected dangerously but Azul's cloud suddenly flew in front of Kemal's face blocking his view of the man.
"Ah?" Kemal moved his head to the side to see the captain once more but the cloud kept obstructing his sight.
"Azul.." He called out and the fire ball immediately hid behind him.
"I may not be able to talk to you privately, I have to take care of Azul." The boy shrugged.
It was obviously an excuse and the dragon knew that, he stepped closer until he was body to body with the man.
Truth be told there was no way for Kemal to hide his fear. As hot and attractive the dragon was before him he rather continue meeting him at night where most of his existence gets overshadowed by the dark.
There was something deeply unsettling about knowing he can't just run away into the forest at the nearest sight of danger.
Kemal was about to step back but Azul's little cloud shifted back into his semi-normal form.
He was his usual size but his eyes were filled with a void like red once more and his entire lower body was made of flames.
He squeezed himself between the tight bodies causing both of them to take a step back.
His expression was dull and severely lack luster. Kemal's heart couldn't help but sting.
"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Yasing scoffed. "Since you seem to know everything."
"Is now really the time for a snarky remark!" The beastman barked. "Azul is in this state because of him!!" The crow whined.
"I didn't do anything." The younger man shook his head while the beastman beside him crossed his arms over his chest.
"Maybe you should wait for Azul to calm down or find someone he can trust to talk to." He suggested while looking around.
The beastman perks up while Yasing rolls his eyes, "so you?" He mocked.
"No." Kemal rejected while carefully guiding Azul beside him.
"I'll get his Mother, until then let's keep Azul in his room." The dragon declared while eyeing Kemal. "I believe you can do that?"
The younger man scoffed and extended his hand for Azul's chin to rest on. "I'll see you tonight then."
With a huff he walked away pulling Azul all the way back to his room.
—
Like a promise well kept Kemal made his way back out once the moon was high enough. Behind him was a little flame lighting up his path following and twirling around him.
"Let's see if a certain someone will be waiting, right?" he extended his hand for the fire ball to rest on.
When he peeked past the door he saw a familiar shadow waiting at their usual spot.
Kemal approached making his way beside the larger man; the flame beside him lit up a lot of his surroundings.
He could see the man's scales much more clearly, they were a clean shade of white.
I wonder why his scales colour keeps changing.
While he was lost in thought he felt something slither around his waist pulling him closer.
With a thud he was now pressed against the man's side with his tail tightly coiled around his waist.
"What are you.." Before Kemal could say anything the dragon turned his head away when Azul's little flame loomed closer to light up their surroundings.
"Is your friend better.." A soft voice questioned.
It sounded so much sweeter compared to the morning, and smelled far nicer too.
"A little… He's been out of it, but you already know that." Kemal chuckled while leaning into the man's side.
He quickly extended his hand to lure Azul's light away and gazed up at the shadow before him.
"Why is there a ship with no people docked?" He casually pointed out while the tail around his waist traveled down to his hips.
To be honest Kemal favoured the way the man was treating him so far but for whatever reason this impending fear kept insisting for him to run.
"It's my ship, there's people inside, do you wanna go in?" The beast's voice lowered back down to its usual when they first met.
Two ships? Why two.
Kemal wasn't gonna question it and only nodded to his offer.
The man unfurled his tail and extended his larger hand for Kemal to take. Without much hesitation he let himself get taken away across the wooden board. The other ship was entirely dark and eerie since it was similar to the other ship, there was only one place to go to really explore it.
Azul's flame dimmed as his cloud rested upon Kemal's shoulder with a sizzle.
What's up with him, seriously..
The boy could only wonder when the dragon opened the door and held it open.
"Please." He hummed with a gesture.
So polite!
Containing his excitement he decided to give a polite nod back and walked through first without releasing the beast's hand.
The vibe changed completely, there were a few blue flamed candles hanging on the walls giving it a more calm atmosphere, there was some rustling and bustling as if people were inside.
"They're all nocturnal." The man explained with a whisper. "However the other crew is diurnal, so they all stay mostly inside, so as to not disturb the others' sleep."
"So you won't disturb their sleep but they disturb yours?" Kemal tilted his head. "That's why we leave."
"Then why didn't you this time?" The man fell silent at Kemal's final question, his tail tensing up.
Bad question… I should switch it up-
"I wished to admire both of your forms, your beautiful night and your deceptive light.."
The boy was about to feel flattered but his heart sunk, he's not that physically attractive anymore. Although his hair has gotten better, there were still a few torn spots and red marks.
Feeling a pang of insecurity he decided to shake it off and use Azul's dim light to brighten up his more appealing parts.
They finally arrived at a door, the man twisted the knob and held the door wide open.
Kemal peeked through before walking in, what he saw was a pretty ruby lavish bed, it had multiple pillows and a big puffy blanket.
The bed may have been carved of wood but it looked to die for. That was all the room really had aside an entire wall of bookshelves filled to the brim with old and new books.
There were a few thrown aside weights in the corner, not a single one Kemal would even dare touch.
I am so jealous…
Kemal tried to play it cool but after sleeping on solid wood with a slice of fur for way too long he began missing his luxurious tendencies.
He walked through the door finally releasing the man's hand to take a look around.
There was so little yet so much to admire, the shelves were filled with so many books with such a luxurious bed, he could only imagine the comfort level of a reading session!
Maybe a romance novel or two… There's so much! Does he even have any? Oh! Plushies! They would complete his bed!
"Do you like it?" A low chuckle came from behind snapping him out of his little swooning session.
The flame beside him was barely moving compared to him.
Unsure what to say he immediately put on his innocent act that would fool nobody.
"It's nice." He mumbled while raising his hand to grasp a stray lock just to be left empty handed.
Right, short hair.
He instead twirled Azul's flame.
"Maybe it's impolite to ask now, but… What's your name?"
"Kier." The dragon responded.
It was an easy name to remember, possibly one of the few names he actually remembers.
"May I?" Kemal barely finished before the dragon nodded.
His first stop was the rows and rows of books, he wanted to find anything about Azul's species. Ever since they met he had a bunch of personality shifts and autonomy changes.
Especially now that he's nothing but a fire cloud it's been on the entire crew's mind. Whether that's natural or not was about to be found out.
No matter where he went, not just the flame but also a whole dragon was chasing after him. Whatever he tried to reach was immediately brought down for him by both man and flame.
His head and body felt so much lighter, so skimming through everything felt like a breeze, there were no romance books but it was really to be expected.
It was more historical and magical based. From easy ways to learn magic all the way to forbidden spells and how to control your bursts of magic and pheromones.
He was gliding his fingers across the books backs reading every title slowly until he finally found something that had to do with anomalies.
This should help me understand Azul.
Determined he pulled out the book from its shelf and turned back to kier.
He stood right behind him with a toothy smile. His teeth were individually made to cut and tear.
Kemal took a step back without realising only to bump into the shelf.
The dragon's teeth slowly vanished with his smile, there was a moment of silence before he took a step back as well.
I didn't mean to!!
But the words wouldn't come out.
Kemal took a step forward and grabbed onto the man's hand.
He guided him towards the bed until they both were finally seated.
"I wanna borrow this, do you mind." It was not a question, more like a demand.
"You can read it now.." The man lazily responded.
"Here?" "Here."
Kemal considered the offer for a minute before nodding.
Just like that he found himself in the arms of a stranger cuddled up in the bed, held closely by the tail of the beast.
The man felt more comfortable than the bed but he wasn't gonna admit that. For now at least.
He was cradled in the man's arms while using his body as a way to hold the book.
Azul's little flame tried to squeeze itself between them a few times before finally giving up and resting between Kemal's thighs.
It's gonna be okay.