Caldera

____& Buddy

“Husky… like… someone’s voice?” Cal asked, utterly bewildered. Flynn’s addition helped, but only a little. “What’s a dog?” She asked curiously, and then – “domesticated? You mean, like, bonded?”

Denahi (what kind of a name was that?) didn’t seem very threatening… but then, neither did Buddy until you got on the wrong side of him. Then again, Buddy didn’t have sharp teeth and claws.

Hearing Buddy being referred to as a familiar threw her for a minute. She imagined it would probably throw him even more, if he was here.

“Uhh, yeah, my familiar.” The word sounded so foreign, even in her own mouth. “It’s tech,” she repeated. “He’s out on the grounds somewhere, I think he wanted to meet some aja. I can call him in?” She returned his smile with one of her own – bright, warm, and genuine. “I’ve had ale before. It’s alright.”

Ale came from the Desert kingdom, which was regarded with suspicion in the Volcano, as all kingdoms were. There were no breweries or bakeries in the Volcano; all bread was imported. Ale wasn’t an officially banned substance so small quantities of that were imported too, but most of it still came from the Black Market. Cal had been sent on a recon mission once to expose the ringleaders of an illegal ale import group. Flynn made it sound like it wasn’t remotely taboo here, which was nice at least.

Flynn’s fingers brushed hers as he took the parchment from her, maintaining eye contact with those amazing blue eyes. How was it possible for eyes to be that colour? The colour reminded her strongly of Buddy, but they had a different quality to them. Buddy’s eyes were vibrant and playful, always glinting with mischief or some joke, and Flynn’s were… more solemn. Pained, even. Age-wise, he didn’t look much different to her – unless fairies aged differently to ker – which made her wonder what had happened to make a young guy in the prime of his life like that.

“Just friends and parents,” she touched Denahi’s nose cautiously and was surprised to discover that it was wet. “No siblings, offspring, or significant others. It’s an adventure, I guess.” She slipped her fingers under the dog’s chin and scratched him there, the way her father used to fondly scratch their pig sometimes. There was little concept of pets in the Volcano, but her father had been unusually soft on the animals they kept.

A light frown creased Cal’s brow as Flynn continued. Household guard, like… private security? Didn’t they have law enforcement officers here? Oh well. Anything had to be better than being stuck behind a desk all day.

“Uhh, okay,” she responded in bemusement when he gave his final piece of advice, biting back the urge to ask why. “You mean like an entrance ritual or just a transfer interview? Do I need my aja – uhh – familiar with me?” Then, as an afterthought: “should I leave my spitter here?”