THE MOMENT
"Time to start thinking about adoption...," Lance chuckled to himself as he voiced the thought. He was alone in his workshop repairing Cepheus' bed again; it seemed to be the only thing that suited his skills lately. Lance was hailed as the best smith in the kingdom but he hadn't crafted a weapon in almost a decade. It got to the point where he set up his own workshop away from the forge to give Cepheus more space. But, it didn't help that the dragon seemed determined to keep growing larger.
The thought began as a private joke after the first few troubled nights of trying to keep a baby dragon calm and hidden. But, as they spent more time together, the dragon seemed to understand Lance more and more. He named it Cepheus once he grew attached and it wasn't long before Cepheus was breathing fire. It was a bright blue flame that matched Cepheus prismatic blue scales, and hotter than anything he could make in his forge.
After getting Cepheus to help in the forge, it wasn't long before he was crafting on his own. He took everything Lance taught him and perfected it to an almost magical extreme. Lance wasn't sure how much was natural aptitude and how much was dragon ingenuity, but business skyrocketed.
Despite his sudden stardom, Lance was able to keep a level head. Being in demand meant he could set his own rules and he intentionally kept things at a small scale. He set aside enough to live comfortably if Cepheus ever left. More and more lately, he was realizing that he had enough to let go. He let his mind wander through memories as he returned the bed to Cepheus' room.
It'd seemed big enough when he was a baby dragon the size of a dog. Now, the bed took up 3/4 of the room and Cepheus was still outgrowing it. After that was done, Lance returned to the front of the shop to let his worker go to lunch.
Two women walked into the shop as soon as he was alone. One was a towering pale woman with flaming red hair. She stood at least eight feet tall. The woman with her was average height and considerably shorter when next to her giant friend. The shorter woman had light green hair.
"Hello," the tall woman smiled at Lance. "My name is Flutter, and this is my wife, Gloryanna," she said. Gloryanna waved.
"Lance," he introduced himself with a nod. "Sorry to say commissions are closed for now," he nodded at the weapons lining the walls. "Our only inventory is out on display."
"Actually...we're here about something else," Flutter said. "Do you mind if I show you something first?" she asked.
"Sure," Lance shrugged. Flutter held her arm out in front of him. He stared at it and wondered what he was supposed to be seeing. But, her pale skin darkened and segmented layers became more obvious across her forearm. In moments, her arm was covered with golden scales.
"I'm a dragon," she said. The scales disappeared and her creamy white skin returned as she relaxed her arm.
"Okay," Lance nodded. His mind began running through increasingly worse scenarios as he tried to guess why they were there. It could have been a coincidence that he was harboring a dragon for 14 years now; but, he doubted it. "And then?" he asked.
"Gloryanna and I have decided to adopt," Flutter said. "And, the universe led us to you."
"...What..?" Lance took a few moments to process the situation before he asked his next question. It didn't help. "How?" Flutter smiled.
"So, you do have a dragon to adopt out?" she asked. "May I meet them?" Lance was stunned; but, he felt comfortable with them for some reason. They had a good energy about them. He wordlessly lifted his arm and pointed towards the main workshop.
"Thanks," Flutter waved and headed towards the door. "Gloryanna can answer any questions," she said. Lance looked at the green-haired woman and tilted his head.
"How?" he repeated. Gloryanna giggled.
"Do you talk to yourself out loud?" she asked. Lance nodded. "The universe listens," she said. "Even if you think it's just you, you should always be careful what you wish for."
"Are you a dragon too?" Lance asked. His years of customer service helped him gather himself; and, he felt obligated to make conversation. Gloryanna shook her head.
"Just an average human that got lucky," she said.
"Yeah, I can relate," Lance chuckled.
"Gloryanna, meet Cepheus," Flutter walked in again. This time she was accompanied by a blue-skinned teen boy with long blond hair.
"Hi, Cepheus," Gloryanna waved, but Lance stared at the boy with his mouth agape.
"You can look like a human??" Lance asked in surprise.
"Yeah," The boy nodded.
"YOU CAN TALK!!??"
"You didn't know?" Gloryanna asked. Lance shook his head.
"Since when??" he asked Cepheus. The boy shrugged.
"Always," he said. "I'm gonna go with Flutter and Gloryanna; but, I'll be back to visit. There's a lot I want to see."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Cepheus walked to Lance and wrapped his arms around him.
"Never needed to."