Page 6 of Dragons & Dumplings
After grabbing a menu and a glass of ice water, I headed over to his booth. He always picked the same one, as if he were staking a claim to his territory in true dragon fashion. As usual, he already had his laptop out and was typing away. Only a few thin bandage strips were wrapped around his hand now.
“Hi Yuri,” I greeted him, setting down his water and the menu.
“Morning, Mei.” The typing slowed, but didn’t stop. “I’ll take a cup of coffee and the Infernal Eggs Benedict, minus the inferno.”
“Coming right up.” I returned to the kitchen, where Pyra was hard at work.
When she saw the order, she rolled her eyes. “This guy again? How many times is he going to order something without spice? That’s the best part!”
I shrugged. “He seems to have developed a fondness for your fabulous cooking, with or without the spice.”
Pyra nodded, looking rather satisfied with herself. “Well, just make sure he doesn’t fall in love with me and my fabulous cooking. My boyfriend might get jealous.”
“No need to worry about that; he seems to be just passing through. He’ll move on eventually, so just bear with it a little longer.” I snorted.
I couldn’t imagine the frost dragon’s delicate stomach could take much more of the spice-rich food in Willowere—unless hedidattempt to subsist on vanilla cake like Pyra had first suggested.
I, on the other hand, had been raised on my mother’s spiciest dishes, not to mention how she had used me as a guinea pig to test out new recipes. So unlike Yuri, I had developed an iron stomach to go with my seasoned palate.
After seating a new couple and checking on a few other regulars who were nursing their morning coffees, I circled back around to check on Yuri. I studied him from the corner of my eye as I wiped down a nearby table to see him typing furiously on his keyboard.
He seemed to be writing up some sort of document; I saw chunky paragraphs filled with long, complicated descriptions and dates scrolling through on his screen. His glacial eyes hardly blinked, though his full lips occasionally pursed while he was concentrating. He sat ramrod-straight, unlike most of the diner’s patrons, who slouched like shrimp or lounged back against the red vinyl booths.
“Can I help you with something, Mei?” Yuri intoned, with a quick glance at me.
I jumped, realizing belatedly that my hands had stopped moving while I was studying him. My cheeks reddened when I realized he’d caught me staring for the second time.
Clearing my throat, I approached his table and said, “No, it’s nothing. I was just curious about what you're always working so hard on.”
Yuri paused his typing to actually look at me. He seemed surprised by my interest. “I’m visiting Willowmere in order to research a dragon who used to live in this area, many centuries ago.”
“Really?” I slid into the booth across from him, and leaned forward excitedly, with my elbows propped on the table. He frowned at me, but before he could complain at my lack of etiquette, I pressed on. “I had no idea another dragon used to live here! What kind were they?”
“Ice dragon,” he sniffed. “Naturally.”
“Itispretty rainy and gloomy here in the spring and winter, but I didn’t think it was cold enough for one to live here permanently,” I commented.
“It’s far more surprising to seefiredrakes here,” he grumbled, eyeing me like he was looking for an explanation.
I pressed my lips together.
Yuri sighed. “Anyways, there aren’t many records remaining from that time, but there’s still enough evidence to prove he had settled here at one point, before eventually moving further north.”
I nodded eagerly. “He might have exhausted the food supply if he stayed here for too long.”
Unlike modern dragons, who have mastered the art of shifting between our dragon and humanoid forms, ancient dragons were too proud for anything but their natural forms. The problem with that, other than being seen and attacked as a calamity-level threat by the ancient humans, was that they required literal tons of food to sustain themselves. Even a small fleet of dragons would quickly exhaust the local supply of large animals.
“Precisely. After clearing out the nearby forests of bears and elk, he turned to hunting whales and sharks. When that supply also dwindled, I believe he was forced to move on.” A spark of excitement lit in his blue eyes.
“That makes the most sense.” I tsked. “If only he had set his pride aside, he might have discovered the amazing world of human cuisine—and a human-sized appetite!”
Yuri fidgeted with his bandage, suddenly looking a tad uncomfortable. “Mhmm.”
The silence stretched out awkwardly, as I tried to puzzle out the reason he had clammed up. Coming up with nothing, I instead asked, “How is your hand healing up?”
“It’s doing much better.” He ran a hand along the strip of linen, before belatedly adding, “Thanks to you and that gel. Would you mind, ummm…?”
Yuri held out his hand, looking at me from beneath his long white eyelashes. Was it an ice dragon thing or a Yuri thing to have trouble asking for help?
