Page 25 of Culture and Curiosities (Blue Ridge Charm #1)

Toman

“It was not our fault, my mate.” Agent Murphy needed to learn to knock with so many happily mated couples around. “We will explain the differences in hearing and manners in more specific language with him.”

Eventually he would learn which rooms were generally occupied by mates when long breaks were given.

“I don’t have to talk to cranky men, Daddy. You said so.” Wren’s headspace had not deviated much since the start of the meeting and he was rapidly descending into a more little variation as we walked toward the hotel…no…motel.

Why they had the word motel and hotel I would never understand.

“That’s right.” And the man had been very cranky toward the end of the day, making me wonder if he had some kind of anti-kink around him.

No.

“My mate, what is a word for being against kink. Is anti-kink a word?” They had endless combinations, but it didn’t surprise me when he shook his head. “We may need a new word to describe him.”

“Kenzie wondered if he was homophobic because he’d never seen that in person before and he was kind of hoping that was it so he could say he’d met one.

” Wren swung our hands wider as he told me the confusing story.

“I don’t know how he’s never met one before but I think he just doesn’t know he did. ”

“He sees things in his own way, my mate.” He was an interesting dragon, but his mate loved him very much and he was a talented artist. “We must remember the differences with creative people. We even see that on my world.”

Earth had more of them to deal with, however.

“Yeah, they’ve got a lot of them around here.

Writers and artists and really smart science people.

They’re all kind of weird but that’s fun, so it’s okay.

” Humming to himself with words echoing softly in his head about friends, my mate imagined a large purple creature singing to him.

“I like all the people because they’re silly and nice and nosy. ”

He liked some of the nosy people.

The woman who lived in front of the motel and peered out of the window was not one of his favorite people.

She seemed to have tattled about Wren going through the portal as well because his phone had been vibrating so much in the meeting he’d needed to turn it off.

That had not made my mate any happier or more grown-up.

“But we’re not going to worry about any of them or about anything tonight.” We had takeout from the diner because someone had explained to Miss Nancy that Wren had a long day and after we ate we were going to play. “What should we play first after dinner?”

Planning had gone longer than anyone liked but all of the last-minute details were organized. Nerves were still high, but those going seemed confident and those staying were pretending to be confident.

“Binkie.” His one-word answer was not as helpful as he thought, but I was lucky and my mate thought with pictures.

Evidently that was not a typical thing for people of Earth.

Wren having pictures for everything was amazing, however, and it was sad that some mates did not understand what they were missing.

“Binkie and a bottle with the milk Miss Nancy gave us?” As I wondered if someone had explained the different stages of being little to her, Wren nodded and continued to hum. “I think that is a wonderful plan.”

Especially since it seemed that the additional stress had him shifting into his most little headspace.

“I think I saw bubbles in that picture.” My teasing tone got a giggle from him but his free hand came up to plug his mouth with his thumb.

No.

To suck on his thumb.

“I’m glad we have our plan worked out.” It would be a relaxing way to fill up our time since my mate was wonderfully organized and had all of his possessions packed neatly.

With his Daddy’s help, of course.

Being able to provide him with spells that would help his storage requirements had made me the best Daddy ever according to my mate.

“You’ve done a very good job of getting organized, so I think a reward is in order.” That didn’t get his thumb out of his mouth but his mind was filled with the question mark that ended their written language.

“No more questions. Littles don’t worry like that.

” As they floated around like balloons, I did my best to picture one and popped it like we were in a cartoon.

Wren’s laughter at my poor attempt of imagination escaped around his thumb and had him crashing into me as he started popping bubbles in his imagination.

By the time we made it back to the motel, he’d cleared all the questions from his mind and had relaxed into a mostly nonverbal presentation that was much less anxious than his more grown-up one had been.

That had been exhausting to watch and it had not even been my stress.

I wasn’t sure if it was our bond, my role as Daddy, or just my own emotions influencing it, but I could feel my own stress going down as his did. The only difficult part of it was deciding when to be quiet and when to chatter like a human.

“Can you sit at the table for me?” I was glad the room came with a small space for eating, but I had to admit jealousy for the others who had a full kitchen.

Then again, I would’ve been tempted to try to learn how to use their appliances if they were readily available.

“Cooking as a human can’t be as difficult as Kenzie made it sound.” Frowning as Wren giggled, I huffed as I was supposed to as I started setting out our food. “I have traveled the stars, my mate. I can defeat a stove and make food like a human.”

Wren’s happy sounds turned teasing and wicked as an outdoor fire sprang up in his mind. “You can cook like that?”

Would fire or a stove be more difficult?

I could make fire a variety of ways but I’d never thought to cook like that before.

As more question marks started floating around his head again, I did my best to guess at his intention. “Well, I’m often invited to others’ homes because of my role and I will admit to eating out at our local version of your diner. However, I can provide for my mate and make appropriate meals.”

Just not anything resembling a dino nugget or mac-n-cheese.

He popped some of the question marks but there were still several left.

Wondering what else I could tell him as I got his cup for water out of the refrigerator and put his milk in it, I made the thinking sounds he found funny and dished out our food called meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

“We have similar food on my world, a ground meat kind of loaf and a root vegetable that we mash. The texture is slightly different, though.”

What else?

“I do not have dino nuggets made from chicken but I can make you nuggets made from dinosaurs.” It wouldn’t be hard since he’d explained their contents. No. Ingredients. “Should they be shaped as chickens?”

He found that just as funny as the children on my world would probably find chickens. But his snickers and the food being ready got his thumb out of his mouth, so it was productive as well. “Your Walmart store had them in letter shapes. I remember you showing me those.”

Additional context made them make more sense.

“Klynn appreciates the dino shapes, however, so their original form might be best.” Being a Daddy instead of being little might make my views on the subject slightly unhelpful. “Here’s your fork. Do you need help?”

He shook his head as he took the utensil, but I watched him closely when he still didn’t see the need to speak. “Good boy.”

Giving him a kiss, I sat down beside him and kept up the chatter. “We’ve got food that is similar to types of soup served in the diner.”

A picture of Kenzie popped up through our bond.

“Yes, he wouldn’t like that at all but I think everyone else will be fine with it.” Nothing in our records indicated they should have issues with our food, but we had asked everyone about known allergies since many of their families had bred with humans in the past.

Cupcakes popped up with the question marks.

“No, we don’t have those but we do have similar cakes.

Ours are usually denser and not as sweet, but I think that’s a preference not a difference in our baking ability.

” The question marks wiggled as he took a bite of his potatoes.

“I remember my mother putting in too much of the ingredient we use to make baked goods rise and the cake was very fluffy. It was closer to a human style of cake and she said it was ruined.”

Wren nearly choked but that was my fault for shocking him when he was swallowing. “Are you okay?”

Coughing, he nodded and took a drink out of the special container he called a sippy cup. When it was obvious he was fine, I relaxed back in my seat. “The cake is still good. I think it’s just a cultural difference.”

Kenzie popped up in his mind again. “Yes, he’d have a hard time with that too but he might know some dense-style cakes that my people would like to try. We’ll have to remember to bring some next time.”

The question marks danced again and that time an image of the portal was with them.

That wasn’t as easy to guess but I assumed it was related to the comment about next time.

We had spent too much energy not talking fully about our plans for the portal and where we would keep our family, so I had a feeling little Wren was done with ignoring the obvious.

“Well, the plan is two weeks and then we come back to the human world so that everyone can give detailed reports.” I had originally suggested a month but it was quickly denied because everyone felt they didn’t have that much patience.

Even Wren had to admit his mother might go charging through the portal and end up causing an interstellar incident.

That was when everyone decided two weeks was an appropriate length and that we needed someone with the scientific knowledge to figure out where our worlds were located in the universe.

No one had maps detailed enough to figure that out and they were still debating if there was a way to use computers to do it.

I thought that question should’ve been asked years ago, but evidently no one could remember any of our people going into that kind of science.

They thought it might have something to do with those careers being closely tied to their government, but I thought it was because they preferred more creative or what they called hands on jobs.

My people had focused on our skills with magic and fields related to that, and the disaster with the portal hadn’t helped them want to explore. We had basic knowledge about our place in the universe but nothing I was getting from Wren made it obvious where they were compared to us.

“When we get back, we’ll need time to relax and play and just have fun…and answer the diner men’s questions.” That got giggles from him and the questions stopped bouncing around as much.

I took that to mean I could slow my chatter and ate a few bites while he wiggled side-to-side in his seat and enjoyed his food. After a few minutes, I shifted us back into the conversation again.

Was it a conversation when all he did was flash pictures?

Ignoring what was probably a ridiculous question, I focused on the important parts. “I think we should look at renting a house here when we get back. Something private where you can have a playroom and I can practice cooking.”

That got more giggles but he also nodded. “I think we’ll have a better idea of what will make us both happy at that point.”

Hmm.

The question marks had turned to arrows, which all seemed to be pointing at me.

Had I done something?

Not done something?

Missed something?

When I just stared stupidly at him, Wren sighed and reached out to pat my arm before diving back into his food as Miss Nancy had said.

Oh.

“What would make me happy?”

His expression said he thought that should’ve been obvious.

“I’m going to start with telling you what I know specifically.

” There was a lot I didn’t know, but giving him solid answers to start seemed like a good plan, and his smile said I’d made the right choice.

“I want us to have a place where you can play and be little. I want us to have people around us that we like and that we don’t have to hide our relationship.

I want to be able to see our families on both sides of the portal as long as that’s a possibility.

I want diner pie at least twice a year.”

Human desserts had turned into a must have, but even I knew having them on a daily basis was not something I could do and still fit into my clothes.

More laughter and an image of the dessert called peach cobbler came through the bond. “Yes, pie and additional desserts. I should not limit myself. You’re correct.”

Still finding me funny, as his laughter faded, my mate sent me a picture of the closed portal.

It could’ve related to several things but I thought he was thinking about our last discussion at the meeting.

“It’s scary but we’ll be together no matter where we end up, and as you said, if we get trapped over there, we’re just going to imagine your mother being calm and relaxed while we see what happens. ”

Wren’s cousin Pierce had described that as wishful thinking, but Wren chose to think of it as positive thoughts.

I was on the side of whatever made him happy and giggly, and at the moment that was imagining his mother as relaxed and content.

Because there was nothing else we could do about it.

Wren had already been confident about going through the portal and the council had decided that only single individuals or mated couples would go through the portal.

As difficult as the decision had been, it had been the only thing they could think of to mitigate the emotional damage of another disaster.

“But for the moment, we’re going to plan for coming back in two weeks with lots of goodies for everyone left here.

” It was considered an important social custom related to traveling to bring back presents to important friends and family.

“We’re going to bring back toys for Kenzie and your new friends here.

I think we can bring back cake without it causing any problems. We’ll just have to figure out options for the Daddies and diner men. ”

They would need presents too or as Merritt put it…we would never hear the end of it.