And now alarm bells were going off. "Kanik, what's going on?"

He groaned. "Ry, I think I screwed up this morning."

"Mhm..." I tugged the plate for his sandwich away, making him pause. "What happened? The whole story, Kanik."

He grabbed the plate and pulled it back. "You know those flowers you got her? Well, I noticed they were almost dried up in the vase, so I picked some wildflowers out back, right? I mean, since she was sleeping in and all."

"Making your move?" I teased.

He huffed at that - but didn't say I was wrong. "Yeah, so when I tried to give them to her, she got defensive. More like tense, I guess? Shy, mostly. Well, I made up her first dose of venom, then was talking to her, and I reached up to push those baby hairs away from her face."

"Mhm..." I was dying to see where this was going.

"And she made it very clear that was improper," he grumbled.

Okay, that hadn't been what I'd expected. A slap, sure. After all, she'd cracked Zasen good when he'd been too personal. But "improper?" Surely Ayla knew better than that by now!

"So she rejected you?" I asked.

"I wasn't even - " He paused. "Yeah, I guess so. After that, I tried to get her to sit and read with me, but she said she needed to clean the house. I told her I could help, but she said I should read, and then she sorta made sure she was always in whatever room I wasn't in."

"Like she was avoiding you, or like she was trying to be her helpful little self?"

He just shrugged, letting his shoulders bounce too hard.

I reached across the bar to rub his arm sympathetically. "Kanik, she doesn't know what's going on. Give her time."

"Yeah, but I wasn't trying to be an asshole," he explained. "I was just worried about her, because I've heard taking venom the first time isn't easy."

"How'd she do, anyway?" I asked.

That made him glance up at me. "She drank the whole thing. Just chugged it down like we used to with beers as kids. It was so fast, I was still in the other room changing out the flowers."

Okay, I was struggling a bit to keep up. "So you still gave her the flowers?"

He nodded. "She needs pretty things in the house, Rymar. Girly things. I thought that's why you'd bought her the cone flowers?"

"No, I bought those because you and Zasen said she'd been looking at flowers when Adoet jumped her. Ayla was worried she wasn't allowed to be around flowers. So I made sure she knew the flowers weren't the problem. The man was."

"Ah..." He took another bite of his lunch. "Well, she seems to like them, and she asked if they just grew like that."

"Like what?"

"Like flowers?" he guessed. "I honestly don't know. But then she made a comment about our venom being poison, and she sounded a little worried, so I just wanted to comfort her."

"And you pushed her hair back," I said, showing I was now keeping up.

He nodded. "But she did not like it. She didn't relax the way I'd hoped. In fact, she got tense and had that scared look again! But fuck. I'm not about to force myself on some woman who doesn't want me!"

I murmured, accepting that. "I think it's more true to say Ayla doesn't know what she wants yet. She likes spending time with you, though."

"As a friend."

"And friendship is a good place to start with a woman who's been through what she has," I countered. "She also lets you touch her all the time. Zasen doesn't do that. He's always hands-off with her. I'm pretty sure she'd flinch if I tried."

"Are you, though?" he asked. "Trying, I mean?"

I turned to pull up a pair of beers so I wouldn't have to answer. My two closest friends were both into the same girl. Oh, they'd deny it if I asked directly, but I'd seen the way they looked at her. Softly. For a little too long. With half smiles on their lips.

They simply forgot one thing: Ayla needed to be her own woman before she could become anything else. Even a Dragon. That girl had been crushed under too many heels, beaten into submission, and locked into a role that certainly did not fit her.

Clothes would be a good place to start with helping her find her independence. Never mind that Zasen had been adamant he'd handle it. And now, Kanik was saying Zasen had asked Lessa to design things for her?

Well, that was definitely going above and beyond. It was also a fucking stupid move, in my opinion. Sure, the woman might be the best seamstress in Lorsa, but she came with baggage. Our baggage. The kind we'd built up between us when we were all young and dumb.

But if a man wanted to impress a woman, Lessa was the seamstress to call. Everyone knew that - except Ayla. All she'd see were things to wear. The girl wasn't obsessed with items like most people, because she'd never had them. No, what Ayla wanted was information.

"You know..." I said as I passed Kanik a beer and set another where I could reach it easily. "Maybe you should explain to Ayla that touching her isn't sexual?"

"Kinda did," he admitted. "I mean, after she drank the venom, she got short of breath and all but collapsed in the kitchen. I held her, petting her hair and everything before I remembered I was probably making it worse. But when she finally got her breath back, she relaxed into me. So, I explained that people touch. Well, Dragons do." He chuckled once. "You know, ever since the Moles attacked, that's been a phrase that makes her try harder, I think."

"Because she doesn't want to be a Mole," I explained. "She hated them before, but after seeing what they're doing? That woman wants nothing to do with them. She wants to prove herself. I think she also really wants to fit in." I flicked a finger at him. "Which is where you come in."

"Me?" he asked.

"You," I agreed. "See, she probably feels a little lost right now. She isn't sure what's expected of her, but she trusts you. So, if you keep explaining things to her, and backing off when she asks, but also not leaving her because of it? Kanik, be her damned friend, okay? Give her someone to lean on - you - and she'll - "

A pair of hands slammed down onto the counter beside us, cutting me off. We both jumped, but the sandy color of the woman's scaled skin allowed me to identify Lessa before my eyes even found her face. Kanik just groaned and reached for a couple of paper napkins to clean up where his beer had sloshed. I wasn't quite as forgiving.

"Done measuring Ayla?" I asked snidely.

"Duh," she shot back. "And then I came straight here, because you owe me some fucking answers, Rymar."

"About what?" I demanded.

"What the hell is Zasen doing with that Mole girl?" she snapped.

"He's getting her measured for clothes," Kanik replied. "Pretty sure you were there when he said that." A smirk was toying at his lips.

I just shot him a warning look, because taunting Lessa would do neither of us any favors. "Ayla has three good dresses and a fourth that's in tatters."

"But why him!" she hissed, flailing an arm in Kanik's direction. "Why not you, Kanik? How is Zasen wrapped up with the enemy?"

Using both hands, I patted the air, trying to calm her down. "Because that enemy is being very helpful to us," I assured her. "She escaped those men because she hates them exactly as much as you do."

"No one hates them as much as I do. And she's living in your house!" Lessa almost screamed. "In his room!"

Which was when I realized the problem. It wasn't Ayla. Not exactly. It was that the girl wasn't hideous and Zasen had taken an interest in her. He'd let her get close - literally, in this case - which was something Lessa had been trying to do for years now.