Kara

Music was playing idly and Kara was staring at the dragon in front of him. The dragon slept soundly; he had drifted off even as the song they were composing continued to loop over and over. It was a sad melody that lacked any lyrics and the piano notes seemed to run through Kara's head and bang notes inside of his own brain. The percussion line was steady and comforting. It didn't sound sick enough, Kara thought, but it did sound ill.
He had made the lyrics but he had not told the dragon. Kara pulled the sheet out of a drawer on his side of the room and stared at it, reading the messy handwriting. This was sadder, he thought, than the melody, and he couldn't tell if the disconnect was funny or disturbing. He wasn't really much of a singer, anyway; at least he had never thought himself to be so; but he couldn't think of any other fitting way to say goodbye.
He glanced over at his friend, snoring and rolling over a little bit. The side of the bed was unoccupied and the indent Kara had left was still visible.
The moon was full. A few strands of light fell onto the floor.
Kara took in a deep breath. He exhaled and thought that he felt not much of anything at all.
The room was quiet. His thoughts, too, were finally quiet. He knew he wasn't thinking rationally; he thought that he would cry, but here he was staring out into the darkness with not much of anything at all.
The dragon stirred. Kara looked at him apprehensively, and an eye popped open. The ice looked into Kara despite being drowsy from sleep.
"Come here," the dragon murmured.
Kara walked to the foot of the bed and stared down at his sleeping companion, the scales of his back, the way he was curled up on the soft layers of blankets. Then he looked back at the computer and the countless songs they had composed together.
"You need to sleep, Kara," the dragon murmured grumpily without opening his eyes, and Kara found that all he wanted to do was curl up by his side.
He glanced at the window and the opportunity he had been so set on for weeks.
He glanced at the bed where he had slept so many days away.
Sighing deeply, Kara turned away from the window and edged himself into the mountain of quilts. He could feel a sharp tang of disappointment. He had been so close; all he had to do was such a simple thing, and then, and then--
Then what?
Was it only the act itself that made him yearn so badly? He couldn't imagine something he had never experienced, so he was just walking into something blindly, and yet he knew he wanted it. He knew he wanted to stay with his friend and he knew he wanted to leave him all alone.
He did not want to know anymore.
The other dragon's arms reached out and held Kara tightly. He was warm; it made Kara very, very sad. He did not know why his heart beat so fast or why he wanted to curl up and cry. He felt that the touch was burning him; he wanted to melt into it. He wanted to forget.


The word was hazy and very hot. Kara's head pounded and swam as he tried to make sense of where he was. It was too loud; someone was talking. Kara shrunk away from the sound and felt something warm under him. He burrowed into it but it was too hot and it made it hard to breathe. He grunted, trying to find a more comfortable position, but everything hurt.
"Kara, wait, I'll get you something," a familiar voice said. He heard footsteps, and then something cool was placed over his head. Kara breathed out as it soaked into his scales and lessened the scalding pain.
"Stay awake, please," the voice said, but Kara was already drifting into the coolness and his body felt too weak to do much.