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The meadowland was quiet, even the birds weren’t singing. The long grass swayed in the gentle breeze, the sun was setting, and he had been walking for a while, hours possibly, but he was sure this was the place. From what he could recall from the scroll, which had disintegrated before he could make a copy, there should be a tree straight ahead of him with orange flowers, but he couldn’t see one. He cursed himself for his stupidity, it was not the season for the tree to be in flower, it would have its berries now which meant… He turned on the spot and saw the tree in question. A few strides later he was at its trunk, and he found the carvings. They’d been clever hiding it outside their realm, but not clever enough. He crouched down and worked his fingers into the soil, his magic delving deeper, and he found what he’d been searching for. The ring. The tree’s roots were twisted through the gold band, and it took more effort than he thought it should to pull the ring from its hiding place. A gentle cleaning spell later and its blue stone sparkled, he slid it onto his finger, its power synchronising with his own. He salivated at all the things he would be able to do.

Chris woke with a start—that was weird, he never had vivid dreams and this one was bonkers. He looked down at his hand, no ring there, and he hadn’t a clue why dream him had been so excited at finding a pretty piece of jewellery under a tree.

Maybe he could talk to Jack. He knew lots of things and Chris had heard that dreams shouldn’t always be taken literally, they sometimes had deeper meanings. He wondered if the library might have a book on the subject, and if someone could pick one out for him and help flip the pages.

He floated back through the wall to Jack’s room and let out a soft cough to announce his presence, not wanting him to think he was sneaking about. Jack was still in pyjamas, but he was sitting by a window, reading instead of being in bed. “Chris, suitably refreshed I hope.”

Chris took the seat opposite, not really sitting but resting in the space above. “I slept, but I had a dream. I don’t tend to have them.”

“I believe that everyone dreams, just they don’t remember them.”

Chris wasn’t sure he could be judged by the same standards, nothing about him followed the rules of any known creature, so why would his dreams? “Given the length of time I have slept for on some occasions I would’ve thought if I was going to dream, it would be then.”

“I suppose so. My dreams come and go, sometimes vivid but most of the time they’re snippets or patches of an idea. You seem agitated, what did you see?”

Chris was more confused than agitated but that was his standard setting most of the time. “I was in a meadow, I was solid, or at least whoever I was in the dream was solid. There was a tree I’d been looking for and in the roots was a ring with a blue glass stone. I retrieved it with magic then put the ring on my finger.”

“Did you recognise the place?”

Chris shook his head. “No, I’ve never been somewhere like it. But I remembered thinking the tree should have had flowers but then realised it would have berries due to the time of year.”

“You’ve several symbolistic elements that could potentially explain why you had the dream.”

“I’d thought it was more like a memory,” Chris said. “Although I don’t think I’ve ever been in a meadow, let alone one where birds don’t sing.”

“Meadows symbolisea desire for freedom, to break away from constraints, which would be pretty pertinent to you and your jar, or that you sleep for long periods, and something has changed, and you had no way of influencing your new life.”

“You can analyse anything, doesn’t mean it’s the real reason,” Chris said. Jack wasn’t wrong, but it was easy to fit patterns to things if you cared to do so. “What about the ring and the tree?”

Jack shifted in his seat. “A tree can stand for all sorts of things likegrowth and stability, and a ring for new beginnings and happy events but it is when someone puts on a ring that could signify entering a new phase. The tree’s roots were wrapped around the ring, it could be inferred that they are intertwined.”

“Do you think that is the case?” Chris liked an easy answer, that it wasn’t just his mind being overactive for no reason.

“Equally, it could also mean you like trees and shiny things,” Jack said with a smile. “The finding something hidden is interesting though—it could be aboutdiscovering previously unknown things about yourself, like forgotten memories, or important information that was previously concealed. Of all the ones you mentioned that one calls to me the most.”

“I guess I don’t know much about myself. Not from before I got in the jar.”

“You don’t believe you came into being as a creature in a jar?” Jack asked carefully. “You’ve no memories of being anything but fully grown and existing?”

His origin had been one of his biggest mysteries, and no one had been able to help him find out more about life before the jar. “I don’t remember being a child if that’s what you mean. As I’ve said, the first thing I remember is the darkness.”

“Perhaps because you have drawn a blank, your mind is trying to urge you to delve into it again. Being super tired from helping me might be part of the trigger.”

“Tired and hungry,” he muttered.

Jack smirked, it was adorable, more than adorable and Chris hadn’t been drawn to anyone like he was to Jack. “You’re hungry, are you?”

If he could blush, he was sure he’d be bright red. “Sorry, but yes, I’m expending energy, and I need to eat as much as any other creature would.”

“So, erm, I guess you’d be able to tell if there was anyone in the house at the moment you could… get a snack from?”

“I can and there isn’t. The hall’s a bit quiet after the party—maybe when the guests wake up they might be amorous.” His stomach clenched. Thinking about food made it worse.

Jack bit his lip and shifted in his seat again. Chris’s nostrils flared at the whiff of arousal coming from Jack. “I’ve been thinking, I might have overreacted the other evening. Now I’m getting to know you, it might be a different matter. And you helping me must be making you even hungrier.”

Chris would very much like to drink from Jack’s energy again. “I overstepped, I was drawn to you, and I didn’t stop myself.”

“I’m not even sure what I’m suggesting, what could we do together? I don’t think I’d want you hiding under my bed while I got on with it. We’re not strangers anymore.”

Chris was sure what they were, they were becoming friends, but this offer could be Jack thinking he needed to repay Chris somehow. But Chris wasn’t going to become all noble and refuse, not when he thought Jack was offering him something he wanted.

“If you wouldn’t mind, I could watch you, collect the energy as you came. I’m capable, as you witnessed, of my own response.”

“I’m fucking rock-hard right now.”

Chris uncurled and floated down to rest at Jack’s feet. “I could sit here, watch while you take yourself in hand. I could do the same.”

He knew the position he was sitting in was submissive and suggestive and Jack’s pupils were widely dilated, Chris could sense his heart hammering and his cock aching to be stroked.

Jack let out a whimper. “I won’t last long.”

“I don’t see that as an issue.” With a wave of his hand, Chris banished the clothes he was wearing, and sat on his haunches naked, his cock proud. “I’m hungry and as you can see, very excited at the prospect of seeing you come.”

Jack pushed down his pyjama bottoms, and Chris thought when he was at full health Jack would have used his magic. His cock was as lovely as the last time he’d seen it, standing tall from a thatch of dark curls, and a few rogue scales scattered across his groin. Chris loved Jack’s scales, they were so pretty.

His stomach rumbled and Jack laughed. He wanted to kiss him, but he couldn’t. He’d watched people kiss, they looked so happy to do so, and he would have loved the same with Jack. But so far, over all the years he remembered, he’d never been solid enough to kiss someone, and the ectoplasm he produced on the rare occasion he was excited enough, was the closest he’d come to having a physical presence.

“Can you start?” Chris asked, desperate to see Jack take hold of his cock.

Jack, it seemed, didn’t need much encouragement and wrapped his fingers around the shaft of his cock. “I usually use some lotion, but I’m so fucking turned-on I don’t need it.”

The head of his cock was already glistening with pre-cum and Chris moaned at the flavour of the energy flowing out of Jack as he began to move his hand up and down. There was a tang of salt, but it was an edge to the main flavour of Jack, which was rich and smooth, and different from the other night. He was getting better, the taint of whatever had cursed him still there, but fading and Chris was delighted he was part of that.

Chris took hold of his own cock, Jack was right that he wouldn’t last long, Chris could tell he was close, the energy pouring out of him, Chris was drinking it down, his hunger abating, his tiredness forgotten. As Jack came, his release coating his hand, Chris was only moments behind, and the extra hit of Jack from his climax felt like nothing he’d ever experienced both in the level of intensity and its depth of flavour.

For a moment they sat staring at each other. Chris wasn’t sure what was going on, but he hadn’t felt this right in, well, forever. Pleasure rippled through him, but he didn’t produce his ectoplasm, which was strange given the situation, but he’d worry about that another time. He was too happy to care right now.

Jack grinned. “That was amazing. But I think I need to get back into bed.”

Chris redressed himself as Jack tucked his cock back into his pyjamas. He hadn’t been so energised in years. He looked down at his hands and for a split second, he was sure he saw a ring on his middle-left finger, like the one from his dream. But then it was gone.

Jack must have noticed his distraction, he wasn’t sure he’d really seen the ring, and the vision could have been an echo from his dream while he was riding the high of his climax. “You all right?”

“Yeah, nice wasn’t it?” he said.

Jack laughed and stood. “More than nice. But now I need a nap.”

Chris watched as Jack got into bed, He resisted the urge to curl up next to him, but tomorrow he would, and he would continue doing so for as long as Jack needed him.