Page 14 of D’Vaire or Nothing (D’Vaire #44)

D ucblanc-mate Tiridythas D’Vaire straightened his bag made of teal fabric and black dragonskin, which he’d sewn to match his outfit.

Seven men had ventured past the bright lights of the casino to join him downstairs in the arcade.

He’d insisted it be added to the resort.

It was a place of fun but also one of beautiful nostalgia.

On his second date with Ducblanc Zane Draconis, they’d gone to an arcade, and it’d been a wonderful night.

Of course, Tiri had accidentally smacked an elven child with a bag, but he tried not to think of how awful that was or if the poor girl was scarred for life.

“Are you ready for our next rematch, sprite?” Zane asked, humor and love dancing in his scaly gaze.

Although Tiri wanted to rise to his toes and demand a few kisses, he forced himself to adopt his sternest game face and nodded.

“Yes, I am ready, dragon.”

“I don’t know how to play,” remarked Warrior Chieftain Jace Cyrrien, the lone harpy in their group.

“I’ll teach you,” his other half, Kitlivri, replied instantly.

“Is it possible for me to observe your instructions?” asked Norilethi, a fellow sprite with lovely carnation pink streaks running through his tresses.

“This is the first time I’ve been in an arcade.

There are a lot of machines, and I’m not sure what to do.

Maybe I should’ve mentioned that I was new to this when you asked me to join you, Jace.

Oh, perhaps it’d be best for someone else to help me? I don’t want to intrude on a matebond.”

“It’s fine, I’m sure Kit can show us both how to do everything,” Jace assured Norilethi.

“Pay attention and keep your questions to a minimum or we won’t get to enjoy ourselves,” Starivartrys advised Norilethi. Starivartrys was a white-haired sprite with vivid green eyes.

Norilethi’s mouth firmed, and his gaze hit the floor. Rushing over to comfort him, Tiri put an arm around his shoulders and steered him toward Zane.

“Zane has made me an expert; I’ll teach you,” Tiri told the sprite who was too often brushed aside by his people because many felt he talked too much.

They didn’t do it on purpose to hurt him, and Norilethi never complained, but Tiri thought it was unfair.

Starivartrys was usually sweet and a dear friend to Tiri.

However, Tiri wished Starivartrys were kinder to Norilethi.

“Oh, thank you, Tiri, I will try not to ask too many questions.”

Zane grabbed a ball from the machine next to him and handed it to Norilethi. “No such thing as too many questions. Now, take this ball and hurl it at those holes ahead of you. Aim for the ones with the biggest numbers on those vinyl cups around the holes. The higher your score, the better.”

“I should throw it?” Norilethi asked, his pink gaze perplexed as he studied the machine.

“It’s more of a roll up the ramp,” Tiri explained. “We’ll consider this your practice game, so focus on getting the hang of rolling the ball. Worry about your score next time.”

“Okay.” With fierce concentration on his face, Norilethi chucked the ball up the ramp, and his mouth dropped when the ball fell right into the cup in the dead center, which gave him the highest points possible. “I did it!”

Kitlivri’s twin brothers both stared at Norilethi with surprise and suspicion in their matching purple eyes.

“Are you sure you haven’t played before?” asked Caelmyron, one of the brothers.

Vondaelyn glanced at Tiri. “Did you give him private lessons?”

“Our family doesn’t trust us,” Zane drawled. “That’s rude.”

“I agree,” Tiri said. “Ignore them, Norilethi. You have eight more balls.”

“Eight more?” Norilethi asked. “At least I have many tries to get a high score. That’s good.

I’m not sure I can get it in that center once again.

It was probably lucky. I think it was, at least. Well, I tried to aim it, but since I’ve never played, I wasn’t sure what that meant.

Only it worked, so I’m going to do the same thing. ”

Tiri leaned into Zane and waited patiently for Norilethi to relax. The sprite eventually rolled his second ball, but it went far to the right and only gained him a few points.

“This will take practice,” Norilethi muttered.

“I guess that first ball was beginner’s luck,” Caelmyron taunted.

“Okay, so what’s your excuse?” Jace asked. “You have experience and you’re on your fourth ball. Norilethi has a higher score than you. So do I.”

“Maybe I’m terrible, Jace,” Caelmyron retorted.

“I don’t know why he added the word maybe ,” Starivartrys commented.

“How is your game going, Stari?” Norilethi asked.

Starivartrys shook his head. “Like Cael, I’m horrible at this. But that’s okay because I’m going to challenge someone to air hockey soon, and I’m good at that.”

“No one wants to play against you,” Vondaelyn told Starivartrys. “None of us can beat you, and it’s boring to lose constantly.”

“I’ll play with you, Stari,” Norilethi volunteered.

“Wrong, Von, I’m going to play with Norilethi,” Starivartrys taunted and stuck out his tongue at Vondaelyn.

“When I was the lone sprite in the Council, I envisioned my people as mature, confident, and loving,” Tiri told Zane, who was watching him with humor dancing on his handsome face.

Reaching up, Tiri cupped Zane’s jaw with both hands where Fate had placed teal scrollwork on the day they bonded their souls.

“I was wrong. Sprites are as weird as everyone else in the Council.”

“Good thing I knew you were weird from the day we met,” Zane teased with a soft kiss. “Okay, Norilethi, let’s go to ball three. Adjust your stance a little and take a step to the side to see if we can get your ball to go more to the center again.”

“Is air hockey very difficult to play?” Norilethi asked and did as he was instructed. Although he didn’t have the same success as his first ball, there was an improvement in his score, which pleased Tiri.

“Don’t ask Zane; he has unnatural advantages,” Starivartrys advised.

“What are his unnatural advantages?” Jace asked.

“Dragons are tall and strong,” Tiri answered. “Stari believes if Zane were a sprite, he’d be easily beaten.”

“Well, if you need height, count me out,” Jace replied. The harpy was tiny at five-foot-two, but because he could fly by shifting his arms alone, he had great upper body strength, which Tiri pointed out.

“Doesn’t help him any if he can’t see over the table,” Zane teased.

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping Norilethi?” Jace asked.

Zane tilted his head toward Norilethi. The sprite had his next ball and his hands. Instead of rolling it up the ramp, he was staring intently at the holes, and Tiri swore Norilethi was talking to his ball.

“He’s busy. If he needs my help, he’ll ask his questions,” Zane said.

“I think my score would be higher if everyone would shut up and let me play in peace,” Caelmyron insisted.

“This entire resort could be empty and your favorite song playing softly through the speakers,” Vondaelyn told his twin. “You’d still suck.”

“I did better again,” Norilethi enthused after he finally played his next ball.

“It could be improvement, but I think it is beginner’s luck, as Cael mentioned.

I’m glad I came down to the arcade with everyone though.

It surprised me Zephyr didn’t join us. He is an excellent friend to me, and I was hoping to spend the evening with him and Tyvalis. ”

“I thought my parents were going to hang out with us too,” Jace replied, referring to the ruler of the harpies, Agrotera Tyvalis Athanasiou, and her mate, Zephyr Pagonis.

“But they decided to hang out with my brother and nephew so Avinora and Salvatore could go to a show. Don’t worry, my sister and Salvatore are going to watch the kids tomorrow night instead, so we’ll have them out with us. ”

Norilethi clapped. “Oh good. I know I’m with Zephyr during the week since we work on projects for Tiri’s Textiles together, but I always look forward to more time with Tyvalis. Okay, what ball number am I on?”

“Four. Don’t think so much about your score though,” Zane coached. “This is about having fun.”

“But don’t hurl them willy-nilly up the ramp like Cael either,” Vondaelyn said. “Find a happy medium. I really liked the sketch you did this week, Norilethi.”

The sprites complained often that Norilethi talked too much, but they were equally effusive with praise for his sewing skill.

Many years ago, Tiri had founded a company for himself, and now he employed most of the known Sprite Grove.

They refused to allow Tiri to change the name to reflect that change though, and it annoyed him.

The last thing he wanted was the glory when it wasn’t deserved.

Everyone in the company was talented, including their newest addition and lone harpy, Zephyr. Each harpy male had a gift, and Zephyr’s was to never sew a crooked seam. That was a delightful gift from Fate, but what Tiri found most remarkable about Zephyr was his creativity.

Tiri didn’t think of himself as the boss of Tiri’s Textiles.

No one was in charge. They were, instead, a coalition of talented artists striving to grow their skills and encourage each other as they tackled projects.

Wealth was equally divided, so no one was stressed about creating a certain number of projects, and Tiri ensured everyone in the company was happy.

“Thank you, Von,” Norilethi replied after adding some points to his tally with his fourth and fifth balls, which he’d fired in rapid succession.

“I thought of the idea while I was watching television. The show was about stained glass, which gave me the idea of adding some metallic fabric between different patterns to create a larger image. I’m not sure what colors I want to make it in yet.

Zephyr and I are planning on a trip to the fabric store in the resort before we leave; I’m hoping to find something that inspires me there. ”

“Oh, you know what you could do?” Vondaelyn asked. “I know we usually keep our cloaks open, but what if you added a chain at the front? You know how they sometimes put those on stained glass things so you can hang them?”

Norilethi hopped and clapped. “I love that idea. Will you come to the store with us? I’d love your help in finding fabrics and a chain.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Vondaelyn enthused.

Before some brave sprites, including Starivartrys and Norilethi, had found them, the entire staff of Tiri’s Textiles had been Tiri and Vondaelyn.

The pair still worked together on many projects and helped organize shipping and other tasks that needed to be completed for their company.

“At the end of the chain on both sides, you could add a charm or something decorative,” Tiri said as his creative brain immediately chugged out a slew of ideas. “I’m partial to dragons, but you could use anything.”

“Dragons make everything better,” Zane boasted.

Tiri grinned. “One dragon definitely makes the life of this sprite better.”

“Tiri, will you come to the store with us too?” Norilethi asked, taking another ball from Zane and clutching it to the front of his pink-and-white patchwork tunic.

“I appreciate your input on all my projects and just know I will make the prettiest cloak with everyone’s help.

If we like it, maybe we could arrange the fabrics into different images.

Oh, what if we did a dragon in teals on a black dragonskin background? Could I make that for you, Tiri?”

“Only if you promise to sew one for yourself in pink first,” Tiri insisted. “And yes, I’d love to go to the store with you.”

“When are we going?” Zane asked.

Tiri clapped in excitement. “Would tomorrow work for everyone?”

“I’ll text my dad and see if he’s cool with it,” Jace remarked as he pulled out his phone. “My mom’s phone is probably in my sister’s pocket, and I don’t know if Evanthia is with her or not.”

Wrapping his arms around Zane, Tiri squeezed him tight. “I know it’s not that exciting for you to spend your Saturday at a fabric store, but thank you.”

“Are you kidding? I get to watch the sprite I love grin and celebrate finding fabric,” Zane replied as he dropped a kiss on the top of Tiri’s head. “Very little in life is as much fun as that, Tiridythas.”

Tiri glanced at his tall dragon and grinned. “I’ll be happy to show you how else we can have fun together later when we are alone.”

“Keep it in your pants, sprite. Norilethi hasn’t finished a single game of Skee-Ball yet.”

“Grab the rest of your balls, Norilethi, we have some air hockey to play,” Starivartrys said, handing the next ball to Norilethi.

“Stari lacks patience,” Tiri muttered.

“I think it’s a sprite thing,” Zane remarked.

“No, there are just dragons in this world who force sprites to wait entirely too long to enjoy themselves,” Tiri whispered.

“This dragon ensures his sprite thoroughly enjoys himself,” Zane corrected.

It would be lying to argue, so Tiri gave in and lifted to his toes to kiss the man he adored. “You’re right. I always enjoy myself when we’re together. Even if I lose my patience.”

“I can’t wait to get you upstairs and push you to your limits again in our hotel bed.”

“But first, I have to beat you at Skee-Ball,” Tiri stated firmly.

“You can try.”

Delighted with Zane, Tiri brushed their lips together again. “I love you, Ducblanc.”

“And I adore you more than life itself, Tiridythas.”