"It looks like someone lived here." Kemal mumbles to himself.
His dragon was released a while ago, rummaging through stacks of papers worth nothing.
"Is this what you always do in your free time? Go through writing?" Katil hums, visibly growing frustrated as this goes on.
"You'd be surprised…" Plenty of novels that's for sure!
"You really can't find anything?" The smaller man questioned only earning a growl as a response.
Growling at me!?
Kemal suddenly marched over there and snatched his dragon's ear.
"Who are you growling at? Your future bride? Not with that tone." He huffs while Katil lowered his head with a frown.
"My apologies, I thought leaving my throne would save me from all this paper work."
He suddenly releases Katil's ear and scratches his head instead. "It's not paper work, it's a scavenger hunt, and you're helping me win."
With those words the larger man suddenly perks up and focuses back on his task at hand.
He's so cute… But all this work isn't!
With a groan Kemal suddenly moves back towards the bookshelves and flips open another empty book.
After what felt like hours Kemal finally snapped.
"This is so stupid!" In a fit of rage he kicked over the bookshelf only to find one particular book hidden behind a small hole in the wall.
"Oh!" He immediately cheers up which brings his dragon back behind him.
'Lynn.'
A diary, how cliché, but easy!
Kemal snatched up their book only to find more empty pages.
"Should I destroy this whole place?" Katil offers with an eager grin.
"This can't be a coincidence." Kemal hums while scratching his dragon's chin.
"Maybe they put this here as a decoy?"
"No…" He dismisses quickly. "There's no need to place decoys if no one can see your entrance or even enter it. But why was I able to see and guide you through it…"
As more and more seconds passed the deeper his frown got until he finally dug his nails into Katil's skin.
You can't outsmart me, I'm the smartest there is!
"Ah, I'm sorry." Kemal suddenly apologises while retreating his hand.
"If it helps you think." Katil hums contently while leaning back into the man's fingers.
I feel like I know the answer… But why can't I manifest it into a thought…
His head was already ringing, eyes shutting for only a moment of rest.
"Could you breathe out some fire? Just into the air.."
Just as he was requested to do, Katil breathes out a gentle breath of flame before controlling it into one constant flow of fire.
Kemal holds the book open, adjusting it here and there when something finally catches his eye.
"They're not empty, we can't see it."
"its contents? How did you know?" Katil tilted his head while letting the fire die out.
Those pages seemed particularly sparkly on some parts and even reflected back bits of the fire's light.
"Maybe we're missing something, leave this cave intact in case we need it again, for now let's just keep this book."
Katil's head tilts as he prepares his wings only to retract them once more.
"Something on your mind?" Kemal's eyebrows raise, his usual tired eyes softening for a second.
"Well, if I may ask.." He grumbles while averting his gaze.
"Did you perhaps, couple with my brother a night ago…"
Couple!?
"Define 'couple'." Kemal questions instantly.
Katil grew nervous, his eyes darting everywhere.
"I can wait."
After a few minutes of silence the dragon finally gathered up his courage to speak.
"Did the two of you already attempt for a child? I can't help but smell him all over you.."
For a child!? No way in hell!
"Absolutely not, he was in heat so I let him relieve some stress. Besides, I doubt he'd make a move before you." Kemal scoffs.
"He loves me dearly, but he also loves his brother. He let you go with me so you could get closer with me as well."
"I'm not even sure if you love me entirely! Sure you can have a crush on me, but from what I can tell you just followed your brother's steps." His hand rose to grab his dragon's face.
"Sure you like me, but do you love me? I can't start loving you until all your signals point at go."
With those words Kemal decided to walk ahead first.
"Remember, he's your brother, but I am his future wife, he needs you to make up your mind eventually."
—
"I've never met a man as deceptive as him. There's so much I could love if he'd just let me." Kier boasted proudly in his room, tail bumping into some weights.
"But isn't he a bit weird, I've seen what he did to Azul, he certainly would have ulterior motives to mate with you." Katil frowned.
"That's the mystery, is it not intriguing how he managed to guide Azul so easily?" His brother sighed deeply, his tail wagging uncontrollably.
"..."
—
Katil watches Kemal's disappearing back.
'Azul started shining after meeting him, I need that too. At last if you don't wish to pursue him with me, assist me by terrifying those who do.'
'Do you love me?'
"What if I don't think you're all that great." He suddenly spoke, causing the other to halt.
'I need this, Katil.'
"No one does, no one other than those who needed something from me." He spoke coldly.
"What if I'm frustrated, frustrated that my brother is in love with someone who treats their close ones like pawns!"
Always wagging his tail!
"LIKE A DOG!"
Dog. Azul. Right?
"You think you're so smart don't you? That you're the only one who realised that?" Kemal sighed, turning back with a mocking look.
"These men on your ship are clever, but not clever enough. Azul is a part of your ship way before you accepted him. He knows. You're pretending to solve a case where all the clues are my confessions."
"How about you try thinking like those who are treated in such manners. They know why they aren't leaving."
His head turned back, book in his hand on display.
"This is another figure, but compared to Azul, the prince, and my thief, I can't get rid of them once I'm done because they chose to stay a while ago, despite their better judgement."
"You can't address your two friends by their names?" Katil glared.
"Their names…"
Kemal looked back at his book.
"They aren't enough to help you grasp how intricate they are."
Silence fills their cave, Kemal wordlessly ending their conversation with confident strides forward.
"Remember! We're allies right now! Don't question me too much!!"
Katil immediately swished closer, reluctantly taking his hand.
"Unless you're asking the right questions." The other smirked before focusing on their way back and packing.
"The right questions.."
There's no right question when you wouldn't answer a single one.