Lou

  Lou trembled as he clung to Harper and lost himself in the dragon's arms. He had his legs wrapped around Harper's waist and was sitting on the other boy's p. His fingers cwed into the rough fabric of Harper's tunic. Harper kissed him. He kissed Lou's forehead, his nose, and then his mouth.

  Not much more happened. Lou did not allow more closeness. And Harper didn't dare.

  They were only kisses, but Lou's body burned with shame and contentment. The gentle burning dispelled the feeling of powerlessness. The exhaustion. The NOTHING. Harper kissed him a little too briskly. His hands stroked Lou's hair and back. Lou's breath hitched. He could feel the power emanating from the other boy. Threatening. Not human. Harper didn't hurt him, but his embrace left Lou barely room to move. But Lou didn't want to let go. Not to leave him. He clung tightly while Harper kissed him.

  "Hm!"

  "It's okay." Harper's kisses became softer. Cautious.

  "Hm!"

  "What's the matter?" Harper ughed softly and leaned his forehead against Lous. "Are you okay? Was I too careless?"

  "Hm."

  The dragon's family had left the cave about an hour ago. Where they were going, Lou didn't know. He hadn't asked either. They were probably hunting. Most dragons spent a lot of time on this. Only Harper often waited for his parents to bring him something, as he was reluctant to leave Lou's side. Lou didn't mind. Without Harper, he felt restless, heavy as a stone, hopeless and sad. A feeling from which only Harper could distract him. And maybe Nour too. At least somewhat.

  Lou pulled Harper to him and id his forehead on Harper's shoulder. "Hm!"

  "I'm sorry Lou. I don't speak the HM nguage. If you want something, you have to use the right words." Harper was dressed all in light green and white that day. The colors suited him well. Lou, on the other hand, wore only a long, translucent tunic over thin trousers that didn't even reach his knees. Both were beige, with a few red embroideries on them. As red as the ribbon that Lou always wore in his hair. He smelled of one of the oils the dragons had brought him. A sweet, nutty scent that Nour compined about when she briefly kept them company.

  Lou snorted. Whenever things overwhelmed him, he couldn't speak words. So how should he answer Harper? Everything was fine and at the same time not at all. "Hm." And he wanted more kisses. More closeness. More. No matter what. The main thing was that Harper wouldn't let him go. And at the same time, he didn't want more than a few soft kisses. And he wanted Harper to let him go. And at the same time, he wanted to hide from the world in the arms of the dragon.

  From the cruel world.

  So Lou tried to close the tiniest gap between their bodies by pressing himself all the closer to Harper. His clothes were an insurmountable partition that he disliked. But Lou didn't dare to remove this wall. The thought of even more closeness worried him. He was ugly. Too thin. Innocent kisses were enough. "Hm."

  "Lou..." Harper sighed, shook his head, and continued to stroke Lou's back. "What's going on? Are you worried about Louise? About Nour?"

  Lou nodded.

  "Nour can take care of herself. Even as a mouse, a human could not harm her. Our magic protects us. No matter what shape we choose, we cannot be hurt. No one can trample on us, or eat us. Predators, for example, instinctively avoid us", the dragon expined. "Nothing will happen to the pain in the neck."

  Nour is not annoying! But he couldn't say this out loud. His voice failed. Except for a 'Hm', nothing wanted to leave Lou's lips. So Lou focused on Harper's smell. Dragons smelled special. Like predators, but not unpleasant. And also a bit like the sand that surrounded them. Even in the cave, there was some sand.

  "Lou?" Harper tugged at the red ribbon in Lou's light hair. "What is it? Come, can you tell me?"

  Lou shook his head. As kind as Harper was, he just didn't understand that Lou was at a loss for words at the moment. The dragon did not understand many things, but he tried. And Lou? Lou didn't understand how he deserved this. Such a dear dragon... Did he deserve his boyfriend?

  Harper carefully pushed Lou's head off his shoulder to kiss his cheek. "Nour will definitely be back soon."

  "Hm."

  "Are you hungry?"

  Lou shook his head.

  "You haven't eaten much today. A fig? Nothing more. How about some cheese? We still have some. Cheese and nuts."

  "Hm!" Lou wasn't hungry. Why should he eat?

  Harper's hands stroked Lou's back, spine, and ribs. "Have you gotten thinner? Is that still possible? Oh, Vivi."

  Now Lou became angry. He didn't want to eat. So why should he? "HM!" He tried to escape his friend's arms. Lou shook his head angrily. But Harper would not let him.

  "Sch. Lou. Sch." Harper kissed his cheek again, but his hands remained on Lou's ribs. "It’s okay. Don’t. It's okay."

  "What's okay?" Nour rumbled into the cave. In the middle of the nding, she took on human form and fell into the cave rather than it could be called a nding. "Harper? What did you do? Why is Lou so pale? Is he crying? WHAT HAVE YOU STUPID DONE?"

  "Nothing. Nour. Please come here and take him for a second", Harper replied calmly.

  "Okay?" Frowning, Nour sat down next to them. "What are you up to?"

  "HM!" Lou was shaking with anger by now.

  Harper passed him on, like a doll. Lou protested, but finally, he was sitting between Nour's legs. The girl stroked his back, as Harper had done before. "Harper? What are you up to? He doesn't want to sit with me!"

  "Hold him anyway, for a moment. Lou doesn't feel well. I'll get him something to eat!" Harper replied and stood up.

  "Hm!" Lou shook his head and tried to run away, but Nour was also much stronger than him. Armed, she wrapped her arms around him. If Lou ran off, he could easily injure himself. He saw too little, with the one good eye. So she instinctively protected him.

  "Lou?" the girl asked. "What's the matter? What's up? What did Harper do? Did he hurt you? Did he annoy you? Should I bite him?"

  "He doesn't want to eat!" Harper shouted to her before disappearing deep inside the cave.

  "What?" Nour grimaced. "Lou?"

  "Hm."

  "Does he want to force you to eat? He can’t do that!"

  "Hm." Lou saw it the same way. But as thin as he was, what choice did Harper have but to force food on him?

  Nour snuggled up to him. She smelled good. Almost like Harper. The smell of all the dragons was simir. At least for Lou's nose, which wasn't fine enough to make out all the differences. "I met Louise. She's fine", the girl said. "But she is worried. Her friend is rude!"

  "Huh?" Rude? What happened? Astonished, Lou tugged at Nour's clothes.

  "She wanted to chase me out of the room! I came to your sister disguised as a bird. But with Louise, there was this other girl! Rude!" The girl snorted indignantly.

  Lou grimaced.

  "Louise is under house arrest", Nour continued annoyed. "So far, she isn’t in danger. She has accused a Wise Man of deceit, and now the priest and the Wise Man are trying to find out whether she is telling the truth or not. If they don't find anything that proves Louise's innocence, we may have to save her."

  Lou froze up.

  "Louise is in danger?" Harper returned. He carried some cheese and nuts in a bowl and a cup of water. But Lou couldn't see this. Lou's good eye recognized only the fine threads from which Nour's tunic was woven and the outline of her pretty face, as well as her bck hair.

  "Not yet. If everything goes well, she won't need our help", Nour expined. "She's fine. Lou?" She leaned her head against his. "Louise told me you like dogs!"

  But Lou was already no longer listening. He feared what Harper was carrying. Even if he couldn't see it. And he was afraid for his sister's safety. Nothing was allowed to happen to Louise. Lou wanted to leave. Run. Flee. He was startled when Harper carefully reached for him and put him back on his p. Lou struggled, powerless but determined, but within a few seconds, he was back close to Harper's warm body.

  "It's all right!" the dragon murmured.

  "As if!" hissed Nour. "Leave him alone! He didn't want to sit with me either! You can't just ignore that, you idiot!"

  "Leave him alone? I would if I could. I don't ignore him either, Nour. I know he doesn't want to." But Harper couldn't let him go. "It's all right, Vivi. Your sister is fine. Nothing will happen to her. Sch. Calm down."

  "Harper, really! Let him be!" Nour's insistent voice echoed through the cave, but Harper didn't listen to her.

  "I can't!" he replied and touched Lou's cheek with one hand, with the other he held Lou by the waist and prevented him from running away. "If he just starts running, even with the fence in front of the cave, it's dangerous for him! Far too dangerous, Nour. He could fall. You know that. And he MUST eat. There is no other way. He will starve to death in front of us if it continues like this."

  "All right!" Nour snorted, and then something wet touched Lou's hand. He cried out briefly, but then he noticed that something small, and white was sitting in front of him and Harper. Something small, white, that barked. A dog. Nour, for the girl had disappeared from his side.

  "Good idea", Harper grumbled, allowing Nour to push herself onto Lou's p.

  "Oh." Lou blinked and stopped resisting Harper. Instead, small, tender tears rolled down his cheeks. Lou clutched Nour and hugged her. He couldn't help it. The soft fur of the animal had a calming effect. Comforting. Then he leaned against Harper and grimaced again. Lou didn't want to eat. But he felt exhausted. Powerless. "Hm."

  "Dogs, huh?" Harper ughed softly and stroked his hair. Lou didn't react. Instead, he closed his eyes and tried to forget. Everything. But the worries and fears tormented him, which made him nauseous. It took a while for the draining feeling to slowly subside and for him to calm down.

  When Lou stopped crying and sat rexed in Harper's arms, with Nour on his p, Harper finally shoved something into his mouth. A nut. Lou was startled, shook his head, and tried to spit the nut out. Harper didn’t let him.

  "Eat. Come on, Vivi. It's okay!" Harper whispered softly. "Nothing will happen to you."

  Lou was too exhausted, too weak to resist. And so he ate everything that Harper carefully shoved into his mouth. Nuts, cheese, and finally the dragon gave him water. He whispered soft, soothing words. Nour licked Lou's hands from time to time. The gesture too had something comforting.

  sasi