“I cook more for survival. That said, I’m a decent cook. Whatever I make generally turns out alright. I’m forever frustrated because I’ll come across some cuisine on my travels that I want to duplicate, and I can rarely find all the ingredients for it, so nothing ever comes out quite right.”
Ravi perked up a little. “You travel?”
“All the time. I’m abroad more than I am at home. The world is full of amazing things, and I really want to see more of it. I started traveling at eighteen, and it’s become something of an ingrained habit now.” Like a secret, Sora leaned a little forward and admitted, “Not all of my trips were for leisure. I’d sometimes sneak elements out of storage and head for a disaster area, somewhere in a developing country where I knew help wouldn’t really be coming.”
Ravi’s expression was shrewd. “For the challenge. Because nothing is challenging for you at home.”
“Nothing at all,” Sora confirmed with a sigh. “It’s very boring at home. But it doesn’t sit well with me, either. I have all of this training and knowledge, and the world is in desperate need of what I know. Why not share it? But, of course, my family is very focused on staying hidden, so it’s not like I can do anything openly.”
“I understand that, trust me.”
Sora’s head came up. Yes. Yes, this man would truly understand.
“Did it grate on you? Having to remain hidden?”
“Sometimes. Often when I flew.” Ravi turned his head to look at the sky, now touched with purples and golds and oranges as the sun sank steadily below the horizon. “Because I had to fly in places where no one was around, or wait for foggy days that would cover me. Or only fly at night. It was so incredibly restrictive. I just wanted to fly when the mood struck. But I knew why I had the restrictions, that Alric was barely managing to keep it all together as it was, which is why I never bucked the system. Well, not on purpose.”
“But that’s obviously changed? If your king is willing to step out into the world again.”
“Having Cameron is what changed him. Hoheit no longer feels like he’s shouldering all the responsibility, and Cameron is very much the outgoing sort. He takes Hoheit’s fears and concerns, and challenges them, turns them on their head. Before Hoheit really knows what hit him, he’d turned his own opinion inside out.” Ravi shook his head, an amused smile on his face. “Mates are amazing. I’ve seen my clanmates, people I’ve known for hundreds of years, become different people because of their mates.”
“In good ways, I hope.”
“Oh yeah. I mean, totally in the best of ways. It’s fascinating to watch.”
Sora sensed what he really meant by that. “You mean, fun to tease them about.”
Grin in place, Ravi didn’t deny this, just innocently bit into his food.
Sora didn’t challenge this but let his expression say volumes on the subject. Such a mischievous little dragon.
He finished off his plate with a sigh of true satisfaction. But, as he put the fork back down, he couldn’t help but comment, “What is that setup over there, anyway? Is that for us?”
“Oh, the bean bags and the projector? Yeah. The courtyard is mainly used for outdoor movie nights. It’s why I set up out here.” Ravi’s grin stretched from ear to ear even as he waggled a playful finger. “We’re not just doing drinks, no, no. That would be boring.”
“And we can’t possibly be boring,” Sora deadpanned, dry as a martini.
“Of course not. Perish the thought.”
“We’re doing a drinking game, aren’t we?” It wasn’t much of a guess.
“Ding, ding, ding! Someone get the man a cookie.”
Sora should have anticipated this. With a wind dragon in charge of dinner, of course things wouldn’t go normally. This dinner was a lure, a false advertisement. But he didn’t mind it. Time spent with Ravi was never boring.
“And what movie are we watching? What’s the game?”
“We are watching, good sir, Lord of the Rings.”
Sora’s interest perked. He’d only seen the movie once, but he’d also read the books and enjoyed both. He was very much a fan of fantasy, so Ravi’s choice was a good one.
But.
But a drinking game.
To Lord of the Rings.
Sora wasn’t sure how well that would go. “And we’re taking shots to…?”
“Every time the main theme song is played,” Ravi said, ticking each rule off on his fingers, “they do a panoramic view with the camera, or the ring