Page 8 of Culture and Curiosities (Blue Ridge Charm #1)

Toman

Survival was the important part to focus on.

Danger was secondary.

“But you liked Walmart.” My mate did not seem to realize the risk we had been in, but having grown up around humans, it was to be expected. “And you thought all the different kinds of people were fun.”

That did not discount needing to take safety into consideration.

However, it was clear he enjoyed the experience of shopping and it seemed to fulfill a hunting need in him that his human form could not as easily handle.

“You are a very good driver, my mate.” He had kept us alive even when humans did not seem to have the same need. “We will work on the goal of adding additional safety measures to the human vehicles.”

Repeated reminders by my mate that things were different on the human world had not been ignored.

With the number of people who did not know about magic and dragons being so staggering, physical means of transportation were necessary.

That did not mean I would not be looking to make it safer for him, however.

“And you thought Klynn would like the fruit we got and we brought him chicken nuggets.” Wren was convinced that since Klynn had been designated Team Binkie he would appreciate the new foods, but I wasn’t sure how food and the activity of being little went together.

That was an educational loss on my part because the men at the diner made similar claims, but it was still very strange.

“You’re sure you can keep this fresh and then heat it up?” Wren looked down at the large cloth bags we had obtained to carry the human food and frowned. “We don’t want it to go bad.”

That was a curious issue that he had brought up in several different ways.

“How do our people here keep food from spoiling?” If kept wrong, food on both sides of the portal could make individuals ill. However, Wren’s words implied I was missing important context. “Do your spells not work consistently?”

Was it an issue with the portal being closed for so long?

Our strongest mages had assumed it would diminish the strength of the magic but not stop it completely.

Had that been a correct thought?

“Spells?” Wren nearly tripped over a root on the trail, saving himself with quick reflexes since my hands were currently full of chicken nuggets and fruits like the ones called bananas. “There are spells for that?”

Interesting.

“Yes.” Learning how to activate the spells was done before a child entered formal education, but it was clearly not the case here. “The spells are placed on a variety of containers, both small and large, and can be activated by mage or dragon no matter how strong their ability to access magic is.”

Ancestry and natural ability could affect that in a variety of ways.

“We don’t have that.” Frowning, Wren continued up the trail without complaint or appearing tired…a confusing shift from the locals who did not appear to enjoy walking long distances. “We probably could put something together but I’ve never heard anyone mention it.”

Much had clearly been lost.

“It would make work a lot easier as long as humans weren’t around.” His comment brought additional questions to mind.

“What do you do in the human world?” We had focused on his family and his little side as we shopped, but the practical world things had not been addressed. “You said you camped?”

That could not be right but it was at least part of it.

Humans had a variety of interesting careers.

His smile and excitement said I was correct in some way and he nearly bounced as he nodded.

“I’m a wilderness expert. I take people out into the wild to teach them survival skills or take them places they wouldn’t normally be able to see on their own.

This world has a lot of beautiful areas that aren’t easily accessible to humans or mages since they don’t fly. ”

He made a thinking sound, slowing momentarily. “Your transportation thing would probably help the mages but I don’t know anyone who can do that here either.”

“I do not mind teaching mages the spells.” It would not be difficult as long as they were strong enough.

“Okay, this has been talked around a few times but you’ve never directly mentioned it.” Giving me what the humans would probably call a skeptical look, he continued. “If I’m asking something rude you need to explain it, but are you a dragon or a mage? I can’t tell.”

Ah.

Yes, I could see why he had come to the conclusion it was what humans called taboo.

“I am both.” When he simply nodded and waited, implying he wanted more information, I felt my own emotions ease. “My mother is a mage and my father is a dragon. There is nothing wrong with asking but the mix is not common on our world.”

It was highly uncommon.

“Some areas here mix more than others but especially now that everyone is bonding right and left lately.” Still swinging my arm, he frowned again. “Do you think the portal being open again is what’s made the magic change?”

“It has changed?” Getting distracted by my mate was going to have dangerous consequences if I continued to forget to ask important questions. “How has it changed?”

Wren shrugged but it indicated not feeling confident because he gave some information.

“All I can tell you is the stories that have been passed down, but according to people like my great-grandparents, they said that their oldest relatives had stronger abilities and always found their bonded mates. Always.”

He said that like it was a surprise, but I could not understand.

Our people always found their mates.

“But over the generations that changed. When I was a kid maybe twenty percent of couples were actually mates?” My expression must’ve shown shock because he nodded and his face tightened. “Yeah. Now they’re popping up right and left, though.”

They had gone through entire lives without finding their mate?

“They paired and had families with someone other than their mate?” It was clearly a human influence and necessary based on his assertions, but to go through an entire life missing their other half? “That is something that will take some getting used to, as the diner men say.”

They used that expression often when dealing with topics of sexuality and something they called kinks .

“You’re allowed to be sad about that or to feel shocked.” My insightful mate squeezed my hand. “There’s no right or wrong way to feel, but it’s something our people got used to. I always hoped for my mate, but I know a lot of people who have been very happy raising families without being mates.”

“I did not know we could have children without being mates.” Did anyone know that? “We…we do not touch as casually as you do here but meeting mates so late in life has probably effected that.”

Human influences were to be considered as well.

“Humans seem to be able to breed with anything.” My mate giggled mischievously. “There are whole genres of books about humans mating and breeding with aliens.”

“I do not have a good response to that.” Humans were fascinating and influenced everything. “You have made me wonder what Klynn has been reading.”

His hoarding of the book tablet was starting to make sense, however.

“Probably lots of fun stuff.” Making another happy sound, he leaned into my shoulder to nuzzle against me before straightening. “Where did you get the ereader?”

“He traded for it along with the cash money humans use as currency.” I should probably question how that exchange had gone as well.

“We brought gems and he exchanged the gem for the device and its contents. Something called a fully stocked library . He simply had to promise that he would not purchase new ones because that would cost the previous owner money.”

Wren laughed. “There is only one person in town who’d trade an ereader full of romance novels for a gem and not think to tell anyone about it. The sparkly dragon. I’ve heard about him.”

Some local dragons stood out more than others.

“I was told he was very nice and provided information on dealing with the locals.” I should have asked more questions, though. “Klynn has spent much time going through the information.”

More giggles poured from my mate. “Yep, that’s a romance reader for you.”

Romance.

That was unexpected as well but made sense with the information I had at hand.

“I wonder if he wants to go to the used bookstore tomorrow?” Wren smiled when my confusion was obvious.

“Our books come in physical forms called paperbacks too. I’m not sure if you’d have seen anyone reading them in the diner, though.

Well, anyway, we have stores that just sell used books.

Once you read it, if you know you don’t want to read it again then you can trade it in for other books. ”

Ah.

“And the best part for Klynn is that it’s run by a human, so no naughty diner men running around.

” Wren’s walk gained more excitement as he talked about another shopping hunt.

“There are a lot of stores on the other side of town that are run by local humans who pretend that the mages and dragons are perfectly normal.”

His shrug and exaggerated expression made his belief on that obvious. “It’s all pretend, though, because I have to promise that I’m not a local every time I go in one of those stores. It’s funny, but they’re making me wonder what the other dragons and mages have gotten up to.”

Sighing, he shook his head. “Yesterday I had to promise one of the store owners that I wouldn’t talk about sex toys.”

They had met the diner men.

“I have started learning about those as well.” Another curious human influence. “You are my mate, so it is appropriate to discuss those, correct?”

“Yes.” Looking shopping-excited at the idea, Wren performed a bouncy walk I thought was a skip and radiated something like happiness. “We’re not supposed to talk about that kind of stuff in public, no matter what the locals think, but we can talk about anything.”

Feeling relieved, I nodded and tried not to appear afraid of the curious devices. “Do you have a need for anything…painful?”

The men in the diner may have been too helpful.

My Wren’s eyes widened and he actually stopped moving.

“No, Daddy. Nothing painful or scary like I think you’re imagining.

Fun stuff that you can tie me up with or dress me up in or that will give mild pain.

We don’t have to do anything scary and just having you as my Daddy and mate would be enough for me. ”

He paused before hurrying back into the topic. “And regular sex. I need that too.”

“It is good that you understand your needs, my mate.” One of us understanding the process should be sufficient. “I am counting on you to articulate all of your needs with regard to mating and what some of the people in the diner called intimacy.”

That word had a variety of meanings as well.

“You can count on me, Daddy.” For some reason, the promise seemed to trigger his youthful side because there was a noticeable change in his…

his everything. He stood straighter and looked to be pretending to be grown-up without actually being one.

“I can do it. I’ll tell you what I want and we’ll figure out what you like. There’s lots of stuff we can do.”

How did being little go along with our current discussion?

I questioned that issue as he went back to swinging my arm and speaking faster in a manner I thought was chattering.

“I can put my mouth on your penis or you can do it to me. They can be licked or sucked on and you can kiss it too. Everything down there can be pet and licked and kissed as long as you take a shower or clean up in a stream, or oh, you might know a spell.” His level of innocent excitement did not match the topic.

“That would be good because then we wouldn’t have to worry about it no matter where we go. ”

All I could do was nod because I agreed that being clean was important to intimacy and mating. That was all he needed to keep going even though I wasn’t sure when he’d have to stop and process his thoughts.

“I like going, so making sure we can do all that here, there, and everywhere is important. Then there’s touching all the fun places and licking other places.

” Wren looked down at his body like he was picturing all the places where licking could take place, and the thoughts he was inspiring were… curious.

His seemed very practical, however, which may have been because of his change in headspace as the diner men called it.

Having more context for their lectures was incredibly helpful.

“Nipples have lots of good nerve endings too so they like attention and ears too, surprisingly, and once we’ve done lots of licking and kissing then we can start putting stuff in my butt.

Like your fingers and your penis and even some cute toys.

” Anything that could be played with made him happy, so I understood his bright smile.

“I’ve got a toy that goes in my butt and makes it look like I have a tail. ”

A tail?

Oh.

The diner men weren’t discussing half-shifted creatures?

I was so grateful for that I struggled to keep focused on the current discussion.

“It’s fluffy. I have lots more stuff but I didn’t bring all of it. I wanted to but Pierce said I could only bring four suitcases so I had to leave stuff home.” Wren’s cousin Pierce seemed to have taken good care of my mate in my absence.

Wren made a startling sound I thought was considered a snort. “He said we weren’t moving to Mars, but I’m starting to think he was wrong. Not that you live on Mars, but it’s probably just as far. Do you know how far away from here that you are?”

When he stopped talking, I realized he was ready for my part in our conversation, but I wasn’t sure where to start or what to do about Klynn’s grumpy face peeking out from around a tree. “I do not have to have diner discussions no matter who this local is.”

This was a time when the phrase oh dear may be acceptable.

I needed to check my notes to make sure, however.