“You.” Dane's heart nearly stopped as the Red pointed at him. She was his type. An older woman with bonzed skin and cute, painted red nails, sharp like claws. Her black, curved horns set her aside from the other dragonkin, advertising that she was very pure and very dangerous. Then there were her piercing ruby eyes. Dane knew enough to know that dragons each had some form of latent power behind their eyes and it was based on the color, but he had not studied up on them. He did not guess that he would run into a rare Ruby Dragon, but when he stopped coping for just a moment he had to admit that if one was going to be anywhere, the Academy was probably the place it would be.

'Should've been more prepared.' He thought. The woman stared him down angrily. There was nothing he could do if she was the one that found him out.

“Me?” He attempted to act innocent to the last moment.

“Who else?” She looked around in an exaggerated motion.
“It is just you here. I know what you are doing. Do not think for a second that you can get away with this and pretend to act innocent.” Dane's blood froze.

“You have been leaving after curfew and at points failed to return until well after noon.”

“What?” Dane wheezed.

“You heard me. You have also failed to attend any courses for as long as I have had my eye on you. I know that it is not strictly necessary to attend classes or clubs so long as one is learning on their own effectively but...” She exhaled and eyed Dane from head to toe.
“You are not exactly doing well on your own, are you?”

“W-when I was going out I-”

“Did. Not. Ask.” She pushed her glasses up her nose and leaned back. Her eyes seemed to peer into Dane. Her soft lips curled up subtly.

“The point is that it is wrong. Not where you are going. It's not 'Do not leave after curfew, unless you are going to here or there.' It is, 'Do not leave after curfew.'”
“It is a shame you are not attending classes with your potential.”

“Sorry?”

The teacher smiled fully. “That is right. You know about Ruby Eyes, right?” He shook his head. The woman looked shocked.
“No? Huh... Alright. Our eyes are more beneficial to you mortals than any others. We can both see and bring out the potential in individuals.”

“That's why you're working as a teacher?”

“Correct. Contrary to the beliefs of my Kin, I believe that it is beneficial to us as well to uplift you simple folk. It is unfortunate that many of my own blood believe that the mortals will take advantage of any gifts they receive and use them for bad.”

“They think that? So pessimistic.”

“Exactly!” She offered cheerily before instantly switching gears to become stern once again.
“Why are you leaving so often? You behave like someone that is not boarded here.”

Dane thought on his feet. “Truth is I... Had a room but I am getting bullied.” The woman suddenly took on a sympathetic look and tone.

“Oh...”

“He scoured his brain for something logical. I had a room, but... They altered the door at some point.” He took a shot in the dark with what little he knew. To his surprise she nodded, her eyes widening with recognition of the problem, as though it were real and possible.

“They changed the door on you so now you can not return and I am guessing if you were to go back they would just do it again.” The dragon clicked her tongue.
“Deplorable. We are technically not supposed to interfere in student squabbles, however...” She crossed her arm and tapped her sandaled foot.
“I will volunteer you a room and a roommate from my own.”

“Your own?” Dane's heart began to beat quickly again, this time from excitement.

The woman blinked. “I apologize for the confusion. My own Kin. I have a large family and one of my great Nephews is attending. I believe they insisted on their own room, however they can not refuse a request from me. I will direct them to accommodate you until such a point that you are able to get back on your feet. If you leave after curfew again now that I have offered this favor, however...”

“Won't be a problem! Cross my heart.” Dane stated excitedly.
“Why would I need to do that if I've got a room.” He smiled widely.

“Exactly.” The woman seemed warmed by his excitement.
“Now, concerning your skipping of classes-”

“I'll start.”

“Good.” She became immediately relieved.
“I would recommend...” The Dragon looked him over.
“Corechemy, Artificing and Identification.”

“Any of those taught by you? You seem like a wonderful teacher.” He attempted to decrease the slime levels in his tone so that he could come off as genuinely complimentary. It worked. The Red blushed.

“Oh, no. Magical History is what I teach.”

“I'm not confident attending that class with my knowledge but maybe, since I'm gonna be bunking with your nephew, you could offer me some tutoring in private?” In his mind Dane imagined her with her plush red lips around his cock while he holds her horns for control. It may have been a crass suggestion, and possibly a little disrespectful of her time, but it worked. Her face lit up.

“You... Wish to learn about History? Most students simply consider it an easy credit. You certainly have the aptitude for it.” She observed.

“Of course I would. Especially from such a lovely teacher as yourself.”

“Uh...” The Dragon seemed to fret and turn to and fro.
“Lovely?” Dane wondered if he had gone to far. The woman blushed subtly.
“You are not intimidated or scared?”

He was surprised by the question. He was intimidated enough in her, but ultimately she was just a strong woman to him. Perhaps she was more, if he had bothered to research Dragons. Ultimately, though, she was just a fairly attractive MILF to the young gangster.

“Not at all.” Dane made a blind read and prayed for it to pay off.

“Lemme show you how harmless I think you are.” He boldly reached up, much to her apparent dismay, and gripped one of her horns tightly before yanking her closer.

“Eh? Harmless?” Even though she questioned it as though it was not true, she still did not act as someone that was harmful or dangerous. In fact, she acted much the same way as his brother, Renard.

“Aren't Dragons technically animals? I know your kids you have with others are basically beastfolk but-”

“Technically.” She interrupted.

“We are ancient. Intelligent. Powerful. We are-”

“Still not intimidating.” Dane chuckled, interrupting her by pushing two fingers between her rows of sharp, fangs.

“Huh huh?”She gasped, raising her hands. They barely acted as a barrier between the two of them and did not serve any purpose to stop him. She seemed to have no idea what to do with them as she shuddered.

“You can tell an animal is submissive when she literally can't bite. Watch.” He pushed his fingers deeper to illustrate, forcing her to widen her mouth. She said 'aaaah.' dizzily, only becoming more and more flustered as time passed. Her sharp fangs brushed up lightly against his skin but were intent on not piercing him. He tested her further by pinching her long tongue and pulling it from her wide-open, salivating mouth. After holding the stunned lizard's tongue for a few seconds he finally let it go and gave her a pat on her luxurious red mane.
“Good Good. What should I feed you during our sessions?” He worded it and phrased it purposefully like he was asking how he should care for a wild beast.

The Dragon looked almost embarrassed to admit. “R-raw...”

“Raw?”

“Raw meat.” Her face was beet red at this point.
“I-I get it. You are not intimidated at all. It is extremely impressive. Allow me to show you to my Nephew's room.”

-

Dane and the teacher, who later introduced herself as Rose stood awkwardly outside the cracked door and listened. Somehow, Rose looked even more embarrassed to hear a soft male voice speaking assertively to himself.

“You are a King. You are great. You will succeed.” He sounded less sure the more he spoke. “Dammit...” the voice trailed off in a grumble.

Rose whispered. “Our powers bring out the 'potential' in others. It can work on ourselves but only if we can see that potential there, too. It is more difficult.” She shrugged.
“He can be a bit much. Good luck.” The woman backed away and turned on her heel to leave.

Dane strode into the room. The boy in front of the vanity mirror jumped. “Th-the hell!? Oh...” He relaxed, but did not become any less guarded.
“You must be the one my Aunt told me about. The dumb bullied kid.”

“Yeah, sure...” Dane took offense to the characterization. He took in the appearance of his new roommate. A petite, bronze-skinned boy with vibrant Ruby eyes and scales running down one side of his arms. His red hair was long, tied off in a single waist-length braid that swung like a tail as he moved. He was wearing a Blue, athletic club tank-top to signify Tintamere. Keeping with the theme he had on a pair of very short shorts that were black with a blue stripe running down the sides. The sides of his thighs were also adorned by the same bright red scales. Running down the list of Dragon traits, the Kin had the eyes, no horns, the teeth and sharp, claw-like nails that may have been retractable. They might have been painted, or just naturally red. The dragonkin used those cute claws to scratched his chin awkwardly.
“You, uh... Heard that?”

“No shame in pumping yourself up but...” Dane spoke delicately, like he was on the boy's side.
“Guessing it's not working.”

“You'd guess correct.” The boy crossed his arms over his flat chest. He was quite small shorter than the not-incredibly-large Dane, but toned. He had put in some of the work necessary but his body was not doing him any favors. He rolled his eyes and spat air.
“All of my 'partners' go on to win. Do I get any of the credit, though? Fuck no.” He shook his head.

“You're not using the right 'motivator.'”

“Huh?”

Dane could immediately identify a way to take advantage of the dilemma. “Your partners? They're 'juicing' off you. You can't do the same?”

“It doesn't work.” He said flatly.

“That's because you're not using the right 'juice.' How about I hook you up with something that'll help you win more and help less?”

“You mean, like... Drugs?” He looked hesitant.
“As weird as it is, you can cheat with magic or whatever else but if you use drugs you're out.”

Dane looked around exaggeratedly. “Well shoot... I'm not gonna tell, but I guess you're gonna wanna snitch on yourself?”

“N-no! Not saying that. Just saying... What do you recommend?”

¹For more Chapters of my various works released every weekday consider checking out https://www.patreon.com/TVWintergreen