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The graduation ceremony was a blur of black polyester, damp diplomas, and the persistent, wet weight of a dragon child clinging to Kaelan's leg. By the time the final cap had been tossed into the grey sky, Kaelan felt like he'd survived a marathon through a swamp.
He didn't go to the rowdy campus parties. Instead, he found himself at a quiet, neon lit diner on the edge of town, sitting in a cracked vinyl booth with Kehlani. The little girl was still sniffling, her yellow raincoat draped over the seat, as she focused with surgical intensity on a massive plate of chocolate chip pancakes.
"Eat slowly, you sticky little lizard," Kaelan muttered, rubbing his temples. He felt a vague, sickening sensation in his stomach,a sudden, sharp cramp that felt like a tiny kick from the inside but before he could even gasp, it vanished, leaving him with a hollow, shivering coldness. "I hope your mother realizes that her 'assassin' is currently being bribed with maple syrup."
"Kaelan! There you are!"
Tamsin and Marcus slid into the booth opposite them. Tamsin looked radiant, though her fox ears were twitching with a strange, nervous energy. Marcus, on the other hand, looked like he had just won the lottery and was terrified of losing the ticket.
"We have news," Tamsin whispered, her voice uncharacteristically soft. She reached out and took Marcus's hand. "I'm... I'm pregnant, Kaelan."
Kaelan nearly choked on his black coffee. He stared at them, his panther ears (hidden beneath his beanie) snapping upright in pure shock. He looked at Marcus,who was usually about as threatening as a golden retriever and then at Tamsin, who once tried to bite a professor for giving her a B+.
"You're... what?" Kaelan blinked, his sarcastic shield momentarily shattered. "Marcus? You actually... with her? How did you even survive the process? I assumed Tamsin would have performed an accidental lobotomy on you before things got that far. I hope the kid inherits your patience, Marcus, because if it has her short temper, this city is doomed."
"Hey!" Tamsin laughed, though she didn't sound truly angry. "It turns out being aggressive is a great way to hide how much you actually like someone."
Kaelan's internal monologue went dark for a second: Is that why the lizard did it? No. He's just a narcissist. There's no 'liking' involved with a monster like that.
The cozy atmosphere was shattered when the diner door slammed open. A gust of cold rain swept in, followed by the high heeled, predatory click of Zadkiel. The Second Concubine looked livid, her blue silks damp and her expression one of pure, shimmering venom.
"Kehlani! Get away from that... that creature!" Zadkiel hissed, marching toward the booth. Her water magic was bubbling just beneath her skin, making the air in the diner feel suffocatingly humid. "You were sent to destroy him, not eat breakfast with him!"
Kehlani's eyes went wide. She looked at her mother, then at Kaelan. Instead of running to Zadkiel, she let out a small, defiant wail and clung to Kaelan's arm, burying her face in his graduation gown.
"No! I want to stay with the Sun Man!" the child cried. "He's warm! You're always cold, Mama!"
"You... you bewitched her!" Zadkiel shrieked, her gaze turning on Kaelan with deadly intent. "What did you do to my daughter, you filthy feline?"
Kaelan stood up, his height and his jaded, fearless aura filling the cramped space. He felt that weird sickening sensation again,a pulse of golden heat from the secret seed that seemed to react to Zadkiel's presence like a territorial warning.
"I gave her pancakes," Kaelan said, his voice a flat, deadly rasp. "Something you clearly forgot to do between all your sessions of being a bitter, failed villain. She's staying here until she's done eating. If you try to pull her away, I'll show you exactly why the King chose a 'filthy feline' over a waterlogged snake like you."
Zadkiel recoiled, the mention of Ignis making her flinch. She realized she couldn't win a scene here, not with the seed in Kaelan's belly acting as a silent, powerful ward. She retreated to the door, her eyes promising a future of pain. "This isn't over, Panther. You can't keep her forever."
A month passed.
Kaelan kept Kehlani for those four weeks, acting as a reluctant, irritated guardian. He taught her how to hide her scales and how to use a fork properly. But eventually, the laws of the realm and the reality of his new life took over. Kehlani was sent back to her mother, though the girl cried for three hours before leaving, promising to come back when she was "big enough to bite."
Kaelan finally started his normal life. He found a job as an entry level analyst at a high end firm. He wore ironed shirts, drank too much coffee, and spent his days staring at spreadsheets. His life was quiet. His life was safe.
He still felt phantom symptoms,moments where he felt a strange, moving weight in his stomach or a sudden craving for raw meat but he brushed them off as stress. He was a normal human panther shifter. He had a career. He was fine.
In the Deep Wells, the definition of "fine" was vastly different.
Ignis was a wreck. His golden skin was a map of bruises and unhealed wounds, the divine manacles having rubbed his wrists raw to the bone. His crimson hair was matted with dried blood, and his breathing was shallow from a cracked rib that the guards refused to let heal.
But as the Arbiter's constructs swung their rods again, Ignis didn't flinch.
He leaned his head back against the cold stone, a calm, arrogant smirk playing on his split lips. He didn't feel the iron. He didn't feel the lightning. He was focused on the tiny, golden heartbeat in the distance,the seed that was thriving in Kaelan's body.
He's working today, Ignis thought, a manic warmth blooming in his chest. I can feel his irritation at his boss. I can feel him drinking that bitter coffee. He thinks he's alone... but I am right there, tucked under his heart.
One of the guards struck him across the face, a blow that would have killed a lesser dragon. Ignis just spat out a mouthful of blood and laughed, a low, narcissistic sound of pure victory.
"Is that all you have?" Ignis whispered, his eyes glowing with an undying obsession. "I've had bite marks from a panther that hurt more than your divine toothpicks. Hit me again. I've got two hundred and eighty nine years to remember how he moaned my name."
Back in the human world, Kaelan paused at his desk, a sudden, inexplicable shiver running down his spine. He looked at the dragon earring in his desk drawer, his slit pupils briefly flashing.
"I hope that lizard is rotting in a very uncomfortable hole," Kaelan muttered, then went back to his spreadsheets, unaware that his own body was counting down the centuries until the King's return.