Page 26 of The Naga

"Big fan of potato chips and cheese puffs?" he asked as he settled on my tail once more. I was never a touchy-feely typeof person, but I liked having Dustin close. Feeling his warmth against me brought me comfort unlike anyone else's touch, and I wondered if it was our mate bond at work, strengthening our connection.

"Can't get enough of them," I agreed, and he chuckled as he held a bowl of chips up to me.

Grabbing a handful, I plopped them into my mouth as Dustin used my momentary distraction to start the game and grab a lead.

"Hey!" I protested as I punched the button on my controller, racing my car as fast as I could in an attempt to overtake him.

After playing the racing game for a while, we switched to a fantasy one with a storyline and quests. It was a game I'd seen before. A while back, I'd gotten into the habit of watching video game streams, even though I'd never played one until now, and there was one streamer in particular I enjoyed the videos of. He played this game a lot, which was why I was not complete shit at it. I told Dustin as much, at which point he paused the game to shoot me a surprised look.

"Wait, are you talking about Quest?"

I blinked, surprised he knew the streamer too. Then again, he was an actual gamer, so he had much more reason to be watching him than me.

"Yeah. His videos are pretty fun."

"Aren't they? He's actually my best friend!"

"Really?" I was surprised, to say the least. What were the chances of me finding Dustin's best friend's channel a couple of months before I found him?

"Yeah. We actually did a few videos together when he was first starting out."

My eyes widened, and I searched for my phone before remembering I'd dropped it when I'd shifted to my snake formto hide from the human. I made a mental note to scroll through QuestBoy69's old videos to find the ones with Dustin.

"That's really cool," I said, because I couldn't quite put into words the way I was feeling. It was strange to know that if we hadn't stumbled across each other at the coffee shop, we might've found each other through one of Quest's videos, or the in-person event he was doing later this year.

No matter what paths we'd taken, Fate would've found some way to make them cross.

Eleven

Khush

Yesterday, I'd stayed untildinner at Dustin's, and he'd fed me a delicious meal devoid of garlic and brimming with taste. He'd almost convinced me to stay the night, but then Silas had shown up to 'make sure everything was okay,' and I'd opted to come home because, as much as I'd wanted to stay with Dustin, I'd known I wouldn't get any sleep locked inside the four walls.

Now, I was inside my cabin, trying to figure out what changes it needed to be the perfect home for Dustin.

The cabin wasn't small, by any means. It had a large living room, a sizable bedroom with a king-sized bed, and a spacious kitchenette that I'd never used. It had only enough appliances to make tea, coffee, and packaged noodles or soup, since everyone ate in the dining room.

The problem was this: I'd never used the bedroom before because of my claustrophobia, but I couldn't exactly ask Dustin to sleep in the trees with me, which meant I had to figure out a third option. One where we'd both be comfortable without having to sleep separately.

"Did you decide what you want to do with the place then?" Silas asked as he stepped into the cabin, and I scowled at him.

"Not yet."

"Grumpy, grumpy. Don't worry. I brought in reinforcements."

I eyed Silas's grinning face, then turned to the door just as Draven stepped through, the many tools on his belt jangling as he walked.

Draven was a dwarf, and he was the one who'd designed the wheelchair, as well as the headmaster's prosthetic arm. With his long hair and equally long beard—both braided perfectly so it wouldn't interfere with his work—Draven wouldn't have looked out of place on the set of Lord of the Rings.

His dark brown eyes scanned the room, then came to rest on me. "You really haven't been using this house, have you?"

"Not really. I use it to store stuff, but I don't reallylivehere."

"Hmph!"

I watched as Draven walked around the room with his hands behind his back, looking far sterner than Headmaster Morrigan ever did. Silas shot me a wide-eyed look, and I shrugged in return. I had no clue what Draven was thinking, but I knew better than to speak and interrupt his process.

After making a circuit of the room, he stopped in front of us, and met my eyes. "A home is of no use if you don't feel comfortable in it."

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