Page 87 of Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal
Before Akira could press for more information, Suuzu returned with cleaning supplies and a medical kit. Coming quickly to their side, he trilled his dismay. Passing Akira the kit, he set to work, gently extracting slivers of glass with the tips of his claws.
To distract their patient, Akira kept talking. “Are dragons one of the trickster clans?”
“No. The tricksters excel at visual deception.”
“And dragons use words?”
“It’s part of our charm,” Sinder acknowledged.
“How does it work?”
He smiled. “Touch your nose.”
Akira did.
“Touch your friend’s nose.”
Akira did that, too. Why wouldn’t he? It was a simple request.
“Kiss your friend’s nose.”
Easy enough. Akira had a vague notion that he was behaving foolishly. But the deed was already done, so why worry over it? Except Suuzu was looking rather harassed.
“You want me to keep going?” asked Sinder.
Akira was suddenly thinking clearly again, and he laughed. Sinder wasteasingthem. Really, he reminded Akira a little of Gingko, an incorrigible big brother who’s actually pretty cool. Only sleeker. And greener. And part of an elite taskforce.
“Good thing you’re a good guy.” Akira shook his head. “I didn’t even notice until the kiss.”
“Not bad. Some people never realize they’re being guided.” Sinder shrugged. “Prolonged exposure weakens our hold. Play my game a little longer, and you’ll be wise to serpents of any stripe.”
He turned to Suuzu. “Is that true?”
“Yes.”
While the phoenix seemed ruffled, he wasn’t angry anymore. Permission enough to get on with it. “Okay. Keep going.”
Sinder solemnly said, “Touch your nose.”
Akira did.
The commands came again in sequence, as if the last round had been a rehearsal. Akira couldn’t have been more relaxed, and could tell that Suuzu accepted the peck to his nose with more grace. But then Sinder said, “Kiss my nose.”
Akira balked. Kissing Suuzu’s nose had been enough out of character, but Sinder’s nose was on Sinder’s face. Did he really want to kiss Juuyu’s partner?
“Good. You’re trusting, but you have a highly developed sense of right and wrong. Living among foxes probably also works in your favor.”
“This is so weird.”
Suuzu was slowly applying ointment to Sinder’s injuries with a knuckle. Akira thought the row of shallow gashes looked suspiciously like claw marks. “How’d you getthose?”
Sinder said, “Touch your nose.”
Akira did.
By the time Sinder released him from a lengthy round of harmless tasks, the dragon was neatly bandaged and Suuzu had all but finished the clean-up. Akira was a little fuzzy on how much time had passed. His roommate could move pretty fast, especially when something needed tidying.
“Are you even trying to resist?” Sinder asked.
