“Are you a sadist, Julia?!” Evan screams out in a mixture of pain, fury, and terror when he grasps the now-bleeding wound on his shoulder with one claw, and Julia bows like a seasoned Colosseum warrior. “What is wrong with you two?!”

“Us? Nothing! We’re just a couple of dragons looking for answers!” she beams as she grabs a roll of gauze and firmly holds it in place for a minute to control the bleeding. “You’re welcome by the way, that looked like that was going to be a nasty infection if you left that in there! We can’t have you rotting away while trying to extract some answers from you on this slice of dragon life we’re all living, now can we? You’re too adorkable like your half-brother to waste!”

“Are you healing him, or torturing him, Julia?!” Drenar shrills, then looks at the tooth she’s still holding, and then a confused look crosses his face. “You just called him my half-brother. You just pulled a metallic tooth out of his shoulder. Fates, you’re a dragon, too!” his head whips back to Evan, who nods with a grimace–those claws are still there, halfway up his forearms. “Which utter nightmare fuel do I unpack first?”

“I know! It was kinda wild, wasn’t it? Boy, would that have looked utterly psychotic if I was wrong!” she laughs in an exhilarated way. “Oh, if you think this is bad, wait till you hear about my plans for science. With dragons!”

“Dear Fates, she’s gone full-on manic pixie,” Evan groans. Drenar rapidly takes over and pulls Julia’s hand away from the gauze, and he checks the wound. The bleeding has mostly stopped. Drenar refocuses his efforts and grabs the irrigation liquid, and carefully washes out the wound. Evan lets out a low moan. “Thanks, Drenar, really, are you two just enjoying this now?”

“Oh dear non-existent Gods, Evan, If you had any idea how the last few days have gone for me, you would take it down a notch,” Drenar says with a bit of deadly calm, even when he puts in antibiotic ointment. He keeps looking at Evan’s hands. “You have silver and reddish scales, you’re not the same as me.”

“Whoa, back up, you mean this is–” Evan sighs before he puts his free claw to his face. “Okay, let’s start with the basics, everything we discuss here does not leave this room. Or we could get into unfathomable trouble. Are we clear on this?”

“We figured as much,” Drenar mutters. He squints and throws a curious look at Julia. “Did you know what was going to happen, just now? You said something to the extent of worrying you’d be wrong. On what, exactly?”

She sighs. He could usually solve complex problems pretty quickly, but sometimes he needed a little nudge in the right direction to get him started. “Pain reaction.”

“Pain…reaction–” he’s likely thinking of the passages of Amaranth’s book, and she pulls it out of his bag. His face instantly gains focus. “Nascent half-dragons don’t have the mental or mana control finesse to control their transformation as effectively, it takes a little while. Pain reactions could cause an involuntary transformation.”

“Whoa, stop, how do you guys know so much?” Evan asks, and grimaces when Drenar re-applies bandages over his shoulder. He’s having a bad night, and they’re not exactly making it much better. “Who’s been talking to you?”

“No one. It’s been just us,” Drenar states quietly. “Nothing but a magical creature bestiary we thought was at best a work of fiction. So that explains why you’ve been so cagey lately. You Awakened already. Even earlier than me, for some reason.”

“But how do you know this–” Evan stops when Drenar rolls up his sleeve on his left arm, and slides the gauze away to show the scales. Julia notes quietly they’ve spread a little bit again. Evan looks like someone knocked the wind out of him, and he can’t even form words.

“There’s more than one commonality between us, Evan. Silver scales. And green eyes. You know, I got the feeling when you were raging in the car that you accidentally let something loose you knew you weren’t supposed to? I’m just surprised Julia was the one to take the plunge on it.” Drenar sounds almost heartbroken. Like this reveal had unintended consequences.

But he’d known it was a possibility that he’d kept to himself. Even from her, though it had long been a theory she’d held without his input.

“I know you, Drenar. You don’t kick over rocks that are too close to home, because you don’t try to judge people, and you don’t want to worry about how your perception of others might change if you dig for secrets that aren’t harmful. This one…this one might be harmful. In a lot of ways.” He takes a deep breath, and pulls his shirt back over his head carefully. The claws catch on the fabric, and Drenar gently helps guide them through the sleeves. “I think we need to both start at the beginning.”

“We do. But first…I’ve always had the feeling mom and dad weren’t being honest about something. It was that look they gave each other, when we were at our home, playing together. That sad look that I could never figure out.”

“You mean, that mom was raising a bastard son that dad brought back home, after…after he came back? Or the more likely conclusion, is that mom saw someone for a time after he was gone, and when dad came back, he stayed this time. Even though his price of admission was that he had to keep silent about the son that wasn’t his.”

Oh crap. I really didn’t think this part through, if these two become a set of waterworks, I’m going to feel awful, Julia thinks silently. She still hasn’t examined that tooth that came out of Evan’s shoulder, and it feels like the least important thing in the world right now.

Instead, she puts a reassuring hand on Drenar. “You guys still see each other as brothers. Even if the truth is closer to home than anyone was willing to admit. Maybe your mom and dad thought that…maybe this was something that could heal that wound between them?”

“Right. Like trying to fix dad dumping mom out of the blue, or so has been hinted to me, to chase some floozy?” Drenar is unusually cold in his words. He doesn’t do more than glance at her briefly.

“He also came back,” Evan reminds him. “And he never said one damn word.” It’s telling, when he fiddles with his claws, and lets out a slow exhale before the scales and talons slowly fade, and eventually smooth out to normal human skin and fingernails. “You realize we’re different, guys. Different on a fundamental level than the vast majority of the entire world. We’ve got strengths I haven’t even begun to explore yet. And this all started about a month ago.”

“Before we go back to that, let’s talk about this!” Julia says as she proudly displays the bloody tooth fragment. Drenar grimaces again, and Evan sighs.

“Nah really, hearing the short version will help you understand what just happened to me tonight,” Evan says with discomfort. “Then, you guys tell me what you know so far. Then we’ll talk about that. And how we are in danger.”

Julia glances at Drenar. “Welp, there goes my plan to hide this forever. I was so sure that was still an option.”

“It isn't. Ow, for Fate's sake, Drenar, easy on the stitches!” Evan snarls. Drenar in the meantime starts stitching the wound after getting it cleaned, and Evan is quite displeased.

“Okay, start over. When did you change?”

“Two weeks. Rick saw me grow claws in bio class. Ironic, I know, right?” Evan manages with half a laugh. He downs more of the whiskey, as if it will dull the pain. “Rick's a mage. Which is a hoot because he plays the mage in our tabletop sessions, it's like, come on already! Anyway, he explains it to me, gives me a rundown, and says there's a few other people this is happening to lately. Because dragons Awakening en masse is apparently unprecedented.”

“Hang on. First, did you have dreams of some weird blank void, or dragons, or anything of the sort?” Drenar asks. Evan shakes his head vigorously against the motion of the stitches. Even though Drenar does have pretty steady hands, Julia notes.

“No. I know where you're going with that. Most drakensouls first communicate through dreams, its like this weird weak spot where realities overlap inside the brain.”

“Sorry, what? A dragon's soul?”

“Look, I don't know, he didn't explain it all to me! He just said there's two ways to awaken, genetic lottery, or a dead dragon merges with your soul. That second one sounds like absolute rubbish!” Evan says before Drenar finishes up, and ties off the stitches firmly. Evan looks like he's digging into the seat again with half-formed claws. “And as you can see, triggers are a problem still.”

“So do we know who the dragon in our family is?” Drenar asks quietly. “Pretty sure it's dad.”

“No. Stop lying to yourself.” It's strange how much of a rebuke it is to Drenar when Evan says it. “We both look like her. Eighteen months apart age-wise. Dad left when you were less than a year old. I…heard Diane mention it. Once.” Drenar takes a moment to finish checking the wound before nodding silently. “I know you think Mom was this invincible superhero, and she was. But she was still human. Or…or whatever the hell you call being flawed, even as an apex predator dragon."

“Having humanity. Great feats and tragic flaws, all rolled into one,” Julia says somberly, and Drenar nods in lock-step. It's not surprising, really.

“We don't know for sure, but…I'm gonna admit, the evidence is mighty hard to deny.” The way he clenches his fist for just a few seconds indicates he's not taking it well. Then again, her own situation at home is about to be just as equally tumultuous soon. “Okay, move on. So you Awakened already fully?"

“Last week, I was hanging out at Rick's house, he saw the signs and got me outside in the woods. I uh… I accidentally started a fire,” he admits sheepishly. Ooh, now we have a diverse group of baby dragons! Fire, wind and lightning! Wait, I actually don't know what abilities Drenar has.

What she does convey is turning her head and grinning at Drenar with an evil smile. “Heeeey, we don't know what your ability is. It could be either. Or both even!” he doesn't even flinch at that expression of hers. Why is it getting harder to unnerve him, it's so much more fun to catch him off balance!

“Keep focus, Julia. We know you're having the best day of your life,” he states calmly.

“Oh hell yes I am, minus the big glaring dragon of a parent who has stayed mum, it really is the best day ever! Now, continue,” she says with a flourish towards Evan.

"You know it could still be your dad, Julia. If you're wrong about that and he stayed silent--oooh, that could be a really bad situation when she inevitably freaks out after we tell her."

"I'm convinced it's mom. Change my mind. And the stupid adults told all of us jack-diddly. How braindead do you have to be when you have teenage dragons?!"

"Not gonna lie, you do make a fair point," Drenar sighs. "Continue, Evan."

“Short version, Rick's a mage, other people are, too, and Kelly–one of your best friends–is an Azure skimmer.” She can't help but gasp a little, only to let out a squeal of delight.

“Ohmigod, yes! Kelly, I knew you had it in you! She's always been a beast in the dojo!”

“We call it a training center,” Drenar corrects dryly.

“Dojo! Don't ruin my narrative!” She scolds. “So who else is in on humanity’s greatest secret?”

“That I know of? A lot. Seriously, talk and you'll get lobotomized, or go to wizard jail. It's called Veil protocol. We don't talk about magic and dragons harder than we don't talk about Bruno,” Evan says sternly. He tries to take another swig of whiskey, but Julia firmly takes the glass away.

“Oh no. We are not setting a bad precedent, mister young-un. Bad enough I allowed this once, this stuff can knock out even mom's latest friend after a few rounds!” Drenar raises an eyebrow at this.

“Oh, she's seeing someone?”

“For a hot five minutes. He's alright, but not dad quality yet,” she shrugs. “I give him a twenty percent chance this lasts beyond the next month. Mom can do better. Someone closing on middle age, rugged, reliable, maybe divorced and looking to mend fences, and knows the value of family would be right up her alley.”

“I find it telling that you know exactly what she needs.” He gives her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “So, I guess we have a secret club now. Guess we can't tell Angela and James, sadly. At least not yet.”

“Yeah, there's more I'm glazing over, Rick’s been keeping me informed about policy and protocol,” Evan says uneasily. “It's…a little surreal. I don't know how I kept it together when I learned about this. I feel like I want to scream to the heavens how this is utter garbage, that magic and dragons have to be held in utter secrecy. I trust you don't need to be told twice that we’re supposed to keep quiet?”

“I hate keeping secrets,” Julia sighs. “But I guess we gotta. For now. Now talk about tonight, who jacked you up but good?”

“Yes, I would like to know who I need to go have an unkind word with,” Drenar states with unusual anger. He cracks his knuckles one-handed. “I dropped you off at the theater. What happened after?”

“Okay, know how I said secrets could hurt? This one could kill,” Evan states, and Julia can see him tremble a little. “We did the movie. It was fine. She was…uh…interested, if you get my meaning, so I headed out with her in her car.”

“Oh, you guys makkin out?” Julia sings gleefully. He looks like he wants to claw her face with that comment, for a second before he sharply inhales before composing himself.

“Something like that. Where we ended up is where you guys picked me up,” he says uneasily. “I decided that…maybe I wasn't quite ready to lose the Victor-card, and got cold feet. She was pissed off. Of course, it was also a setup. Someone else was there to give me an offer I couldn't refuse.”

“While you were buck nude,” Julia says with a smile, but Drenar subtly shakes his head. Probably not the time to treat this humorously like she normally could. “They knew I was a dragon. They said that I could help them. Make a difference in the world because the current magical government, the Conclave of the Arcane. They said they were corrupt, dragons were next on their list of marginalizing. They told me there was a group trying to do something about it, like a secret society. The Onyx Talons. They want all mages to be free from oppression. And to do that, force might be regrettable, but required to do so. As a dragon, I have scales in the game, they said.” Julia can't even chuckle at the phrase.

A cold shiver goes down Julia's spine. She doesn't know why. This group sounds ominous. “Who's the ‘they’ we're talking about?”

“Getting to that,” he says uneasily. “I told them I'd think about it. They…didn't like that answer.”

“So what happened next?” Drenar asks quietly. Evan leans in close to the two of them by the table, as if he's worried ears are everywhere.

“Jonaleth Winters, and Jackie beat the ever loving hell out of me is what happened. Even in my dragon form I gave them some damage, but I'm not you two, I got hosed. Jonaleth is a Valencian Red, and he's scary. Jackie is a Bavarian scarlet. Their teeth have such a dense mineral concentration they–”

“They look like metal teeth.” Julia shows them the fractured tooth, and it does almost look like a white, slightly metallic incisor. She flips the book open to both entries. The Scarlet has even more feathers, with a massive mane around the chest and neck of bright scarlet feathers and wicked claws. Jonaleth's form is a bright red dragon with wickedness for days, if she had to juxtapose the two images together mentally. Valencians are strong, immensely strong for their size, and have traditional fire breath and the ability to exude concentrated fire blasts with their bodies in a mist, or a focused ray.

Drenar narrows his eyes and he taps his finger impatiently on that image, too. “Glad you at least put up a fight, Evan. Jonaleth is a sociopath.”

“Oh, Jackie got burned, cut, and a couple teeth knocked out by the time I was done,” Evan smiles grimly and laughs, but he's holding his ribs gingerly. “She doesn't fight as well as she–” Drenar and Julia turn to stare at him, looking aghast.

“Did not need that mental image, Evan,” she says icily.

“Yeah. She bit my shoulder. Snagged and broke one of her teeth on my scales. She had that coming. Then Jonaleth stepped in and beat the hell out of me.” She suddenly feels the urge to go find and destroy that particular sociopath, but then she clenches her fist. No dragon form, yet. She needs that edge first, and some training. Drenar is also looking like he's in a murderous mood, the way his eyes appear like a deadly viper’s now.

“So they beat you up. Then what?” He asks. He's gone deadly calm. Evan grimaces, as if he shouldn't say it.

“They said if I'm not joining them the next time Jonaleth comes a’knockin, he's going to kill you, Diane, Dave and burn our house to the ground. His exact words. He seems to really hate you even more, for reasons I don't get.”

That is the last straw for her. “I'm getting the Mossberg. That bastard is dead–” she turns to the storage room where the gun safe is, with key codes in her head that her mother trusted her with, but Drenar grabs her shoulder. He's got that solemn look. “No, Drenar, I'm doing this for me, he just promised to end your whole family and you. You don't make threats like that if you don't plan on following through. His future corpse will be occupying an unmarked grave with quick lye or the strongest acids I've got access to.”

She has never been more furious in her life. Nothing came even close.

“Oh, he's welcome to try, but we are not murdering him. Bad solution, worse consequences. And believe me, I want to turn him to paste now, too, for every reason listed. But neither you or I can hulk out with a half ton of dragon muscle yet.”

“Hate saying it, but he's right. That's suicide. Buckshot on a dragon is scratch damage, it's literally ineffective. You need heavy firepower, I'm talking anti-material rifle rounds or explosives,” Evan counters before rising from his chair with a light wince. “Don't do it, Julia. And don't even try, Drenar. He's psycho.”

“A psycho who is a dead man the next time I see him!” She snarls.

“He's also a problem we need to deal with properly, either on our own, or with the regular authorities,” Drenar says sternly before letting go of her shoulder. “I trust you aren't about to go do something crazy and ill-advised?”

“After what Evan just told us?!” This is one of the few times she's letting herself loose in a moment of focused rage. “I'll put him in a hole so deep no one will ever find him!” She snaps, and she feels a static charge across her body. “No one threatens my best friends like that, and furthermore –”

She means to just tap Drenar on the chest in that cliché way she's seen in some of her anime shows. Usually he just starts listening to her, because usually, she has a logical reason.

This time, there's a crackle of static and a blast of blue-white light, and Drenar recoils backwards two meters, and lands prone on the kitchen floor. He miraculously missed the table by centimeters and groans. There's a small, burnt hole on his shirt, and he looks just a little in pain.

“Holy crap I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!” She dashes over to help him to check the injury. He winces when she probes the burnt hole, but apparently his chest is intact. Just a tiny bit scorched.

“Wowza. That was like the worst static shock I've ever gotten,” he coughs. “I think the landing hurt more than the shock. No, really, we don't need to lift the shirt, it's okay, I am perfectly fine.”

Evan stares at the two of them.

“Would you kindly stop trying to injure my brother?” He demands angrily. She lets out a dismissive tsk sound.

“Sure, Evan, like I planned on zapping him. Also it smells like ozone in here again, is that weird?” It's that weird tangy feeling and she can almost taste it. Why is her sense of smell and taste cross wiring right now, it's bizarre.

“No, what's weird is that other than a stinging sensation, I feel fine.” Drenar sits up and slowly gets to his feet. “Oh wait. Maridians are super resistant to that. Your blast is almost pure energized mana.” He grins after a second. “Well now, guess I have one advantage you can't counter.”

“Listen, baka for brains, we still have to deal with Jonaleth! Being shock-proof isn't a step in the right direction!” She snaps. Evan steps over to the window as if he's being dismissive of the diatribe. “Well, apparently my ability isn't random anymore, I just need to get mad!”

“I think it's a tad more complicated than that. Stress hormones, adrenal response, maybe it's part of the discharge from Awakening?” She narrows her eyes at him.

“Listen, Drenar, don't start being a super scientist. You know as pathetically little as I do, so you're just guessing.”

“So, let's experiment,” he says. “I thought that's what you like.” She feels her cheeks flush again, and she lets him go.

“I don't think you can handle experimenting with me–” she claps her hand over her mouth and groans. “You know what, that sounded way better in my head, forget I said that.” It's worse when he is still wearing that amused smirk, because she's still thinking about it and trying very hard not to. “Okay, first I'm gonna kill Jonaleth, then you, if you don't stop pushing the banter.”

“You mean when we both accidentally miscalculate, and get to the heart of something serious between us?” He asks casually. She grabs him by his jacket, and pulls him close and glares deadly intent at him. His smirk disappears and he's looking a smidge more apprehensive than before.

“Yes, that!” She snaps. Apparently he had miscalculated, because he was rendered speechless for a second. “Because despite your best efforts to be this oddball goof, you've got many qualities that a lot of people like, including me!”

“Uh, guys, hold that thought. The overwatch raven is returning,” Evan says anxiously.

Julia feels a looming dread. The microwave is fried, the field kit is out, it looks like somebody got murdered in her dining room with the bandages and swabs, and the alcohol is in plain view.

This night just can't get worse.