Page 36 of Nine-Tenths

Dav stabs his chili. His spoon stands straight up. "I have nothing else todo." For the first time since the kitchen, he meets my eyes. His face is unshuttered again, that's something, but helooks deeply unhappy. I want to kiss the worry away, but I don't know if we're there, yet. I don't know if that's actually what he wants.

I decide to focus on the conversation he clearly wants to have, instead of the one Hadi interrupted and I'm dying to get back to. Who knew I'd be allcommunicate-y. I've never been the one who likes to talk it out in a relationship before. Dr. Chen would be proud.

Relationship, I think, biting down the goofy grin that’s threatening.Dav kissed my hand.

"That can't be true," I press. "Everyone knows dragons work in government, or head charities, or, or wealth management portfolios, whatever those are, or all the important shit for maintaining an estate."

One corner of Dav's mouth curls into a self-deprecating smirk.

"Odious letters of business," he says, paraphrasingPride & Prejudice, in the bit where Caroline is pestering the dragon Darcy as he tries to attend to his correspondence. Dav remembers that I like Jane Austen. It makes me giddy. Maybe we can read them together.

He kissed my hand.

"Yeah, like that."

Dav shakes his head. "Not me."

I open my mouth to askBut really?, and stop when I realize he is genuinely miserable about this. "I don't understand," I say gently, instead. "You can explain if you want, or I'll shut up."

"Don't shut up," Dav says immediately. His hand makes a move toward mine, but never quite lands on the table. "But, please, you must understand, it’s terribly…mortifying. For a dragon to have nopurpose…"

I snort. "Your purpose is to stare at me like a thirsty creep. But don't worry, I don't mind it, now."

He makes a distressed whining noise that’s entirely inhuman. "Please forgive me. I didn’t intend… I simply enjoy watching youserve."

"Okay, explainthat." I wave a fry in his direction before popping it in my mouth.

"There is a deep-rooted instinct in thehomo draconis," he begins softly. He splays his hand against his chest as if to keep his heart from thudding right through his ribs. "A desire to ah, to use the crude pop culture vernacular, tohoard."

"Yeah," I say, nodding along, because this isn't news to anyone. "Land, wealth, titles. I know."

Dav looks stricken. "You understand, then, that in the colonies, European dragons claimed for themselves overlarge swaths of territories, as if they were utterly unoccupied. And when they were seen to be occupied, but not by us, not managed in the waywemanage them. it was called 'underutilized' and therefore free for the rescuing from those Indigenous dragons doing itwrong." He makes that hiss-spit noise, and I’m reminded that there must be some interesting architecture in the back of his throat.

Maybe I'll find it with my tongue when I finally get to kiss him properly.

"So, colonizers," I say carefully, wondering if my opinion on this is going to put us at odds. "I'm following so far."

"Thieves," he sneers in agreement, and yeah, whew, okay. We're still on the same page. "Save for what the Empirical dragons sograciouslyallowed the Indigenous Peoples to retain. Pah." He catches himself, eyes darting around, and he hunches down again.

Interesting. Probably not a topic he's supposed to be having opinions about in public. Not as the beneficiary of those 'thieves'.

"So, what," I say slowly. "You don't, uh, have any place?"

He's going to give himself whiplash, the way he keeps snapping his head up at me. "I most certainly do maintain territory!" he hisses with indignation that, in a human, might have suggested I had said something nasty about his ability to get it up.

"Sorry," I say, hands up,don't shoot. "I'm just trying to understand."

Dav does something I've never seen him do—he looks actively upset, like he’s going tocry.His nose scrunches up and his eyes go red-rimmed and squidgy. He blinks a few times and his lashes spike.

He's beautiful, I think, watching him struggle.He kissed my hand. I want to return the favor, kiss each digit one by one.

I also don't want to move too fast. He's clearly got some notions of how things are supposed to go. I don't know what they allare,but I can damn well respect the lines he's already drawn.

"I know, and I appreciate that," he says. He heaves another sigh. "You needn't worry. I have both territory and nesting grounds—a small estate—out in Canborough."

Not sure why he thinks I'd be worried he doesn't have territory. Or nesting grounds.

But good for him, I guess?