"Don't sound so disappointed. If anyone finds out, that dragon is dead, and so are you." His voice was harsher then he'd meant it to be. It was probably for the best. Jax had no reason to see him as anything other then the nobleman who had figured out a way to get him under his thumb, irrevocably so at that.

Cold air nipped at the pair, making Dantel's dragon shiver. He wrapped his arms around her protectively. Crooning soft words of comfort, he nuzzled and pet the little one in his arms. The basket was warm... And they were nearing his home. "Hand that over, I need to put my dragon inside too, and carry them into the mansion. Otherwise people would get suspicious." Dantel held his golden dragon out, over the basket, and put her inside carefully. His hands he placed on the bottom, and waited.

Jax winced. That may have been fact, but he hated to know it. He would have screamed out his rage and annoyance were he not afraid of frightening the young ones they carried now. He sighed, glaring forward but not toward Dantel.

When they stopped at Dantel's motion, Jax automatically clung to the basket. He couldn't let it go... He couldn't. He wanted to watch the young one break free of its egg, wanted to hold it and coddle it and make sure it was okay. And he couldn't keep it close to him when Dantel held the basket. Even as he placed his own dragon within, nestling it beside its sibling, Jax couldn't release the handle of the basket. "I... C-c..." He sniffed hard, forcing his hands away and clasping them over his mouth when his emotions threatened to force a wail to be heard by possibly the entire city.

He could sympathize. Not having his own dragon in his arms was hard enough, but at least he still held her. "We will be walking right by each other. It would be unseemly for my new servant to wander too far." Dantel did his best to offer what comfort he could, before turning away to wander into his family's home. It was large, spacious, and airy. There were green things in abundance, and water fountains that served doubly as wells. High arches let air sweep through one mosaic decorated wall to the other.

The guards let them through with ease, and though people started chattering when they saw Dantel and his white haired companion walks past, none tried to stop them. It was far too important for Dantel to reach his room, and the warmed bed of sand that had been prepared for his new dragon.

When he was without the egg, Jax felt as if someone had taken his entire arm. He had been given the egg freely by the mother dragon---something that had been so different because the egg had been given instead of stolen. It had to be different. He had to be different. But what was that difference? He sighed, looking down and away from the guards or people that looked toward him and Dantel and kept close to the one that held both the creatures. He wanted the egg back---wanted to see it crack and wanted to see the creature's first steps specifically.

He grimaced, keeping his gaze down and his hands under his arms. Why did they mutter with each other when they saw him? They'd seen him before, no doubt, sweeping up the streets. Of course he was the different one---the strange one, the pale one that didn't belong in a desert because he was simply not built for it. They didn't have to chatter with one another.

Dantel walked past staring eyes, ignored the things his suddenly present siblings wished to ask. Instead he brandished the basket with its egg, and mowed by them without a second glance. Luckily, it was a first floor room, and one which lay by a garden, complete with a pool of water and a merrily ripping waterfall. From there, it was only a few steps across stones, and into the back entrance of the young lord's room.

The young man waved Jex inside, and handed off both dragonet and dragon egg so he could close the door firmly, locking it tight. He did the same with the other across the room. In one corner was a large square of sand, warmed by magic. An iron bed dominated the left wall, covered with a light colored bed spread and an abundance of pillows. Upon the muddy yellow walls were a few paintings, scenes of oasis, of far of lands where all was green, took up choice spots.

"This will be your room as well, now," said Dantel. He pulled a chair near the patch of sand, and glanced at Jex.

Walking through the small garden was such a stark contrast to the desert he had to endure that Jax was utterly shocked by the cool, humid state they seemed to pass into. But his mind was only half there. He wanted his dragon. The freely-given dragon. Once they were in Dantel's room, he was given the basket and suddenly felt whole again. he had his dragon. The other was Dantel's, no matter how stolen it was. He noted the sand in the corner, in a large box, and stepped over to it, settling both dragons into the sand and petting the egg. It shivered under his touch, but it didn't feel afraid. Perhaps, acknowledging that Jax was there. Touching it. The shell cracked a bit more and Jax smiled.

Then Dantel spoke. "Mine...?" He looked around. There was only one bed, and despite the soft spreads, the iron seemed cold. "Oh... my... I don't... Where will I sleep...?" With the dragons? He would love that. He wanted that. He patted the sand and felt how warm it was under him. Like the evening was shining down and the earth was still warm, but the sand withheld the heat of the sun.

Dantel nodded. "Yours. " The young man shifted. "As for your sleeping arrangements, simply tell me what you want. And so long as it's reasonable, I'll make sure your wishes are met." The sight of the siblings upon their bed of sand was a welcome kind of thing. It almost felt like there was a family there to surround him, though only one dragon was truly his, and his new servant was ... less then happy with the circumstances.

Jax shook his head a bit. "Hmph..." he muttered, stroking the egg as it began shifting again and cracking even more. He wanted to help it, but knew it should work itself out to gain all the strength it could. "I... want to sleep here." He muttered, shifting his hand and clenching a handful of warm sand. "Here... with them... protect... them..." He wanted to protect both dragons, though only one was his. He could hear the one that was already hatched. It couldn't seem to speak in a curious way yet. Not the way the adults did. It had to learn. But it seemed to trust him too. And he could feel unbridled trust coming from the egg that was cracking open. "But... I'll sleep on the floor instead." Beside it. That had to be safer. It would be cold, but no doubt warmer than shivering outside in the half freezing temperatures outside. Better than fighting off the creeps.

He leaned over to kneel upon the ground. By Jax's side, he watched as the egg wobbled back and forth with a stab of jealousy. It would have been nice, if the mother dragon had chosen to give him one of her eggs. Instead he had stolen what didn't belong to him. "Both of them, even the one I stole?" He had to laugh. "You have more right to protect them then I do." Warm sand slid across his fingers as Dantel buried his hand beneath the surface. His dragon wobbled forward to lie down upon the hidden limb with a cute little yawn. The young man smiled softly.

Jax felt a stab of some odd emotion. Was it sadness? It made him want to cry. But he wasn't sad. He wanted to cry, but felt... glad? Was it gratefulness? He sighed shakily. "I... guess..." He muttered, looking down until the stinging in his eyes passed. He didn't want to cry in front of Dantel again. "I... I..." His tongue stopped working and a strange feeling overcame him. Heavy. His bones cried and his skin warmed uncomfortably. "D-Dan...te..." Something horrible flared up. Pain on his back, like two people were whipping him and wouldn't stop. It felt like fire where the odd scars were. He opened his mouth but nothing came out---a silent scream.

He fell forward. When his eyes closed, darkness fell over him, Jax was safe from the pain. The chain around his neck seemed to dig in to cut his breathing off entirely, until the world itself was gone.

Not again. Dantel sighed, reached out and scooped up the other man. Without further ado, with his dragon mewling with worry, the noble settled Jax upon the bed. Carefully, he checked the pale haired man's breathing and swallowed hard when he felt nothing at all. Breathing deeply, Dantel bent down to press his lips against the other man's. He breathed, or tried to, for Jax.

Dantel couldn't figure out how to make it work. He knew there was something missing, a thing the healers had once told him about. The squeaking and crying of his dragon only urged him on. Finally, it took an eternity, Dantel remembered to pinch closed the other man's nose.

Why was it so cold? He shivered hard. The sand... it felt like ice, and compressed under his hands but didn't move. And more was falling from the sky. Ice... Ice? He'd never felt ice this light and soft, but there was so much of it. There was that pain again, that pain in his back. Something flapped overhead. By the gods, he hurt. Jax tried to gasp but couldn't, felt his breath in his throat, but it wouldn't come in. Or go out.

He tried to struggle, but something---someone?---was holding him down. Pinching his nose. Something hot was over his mouth, forcing air into his constricted throat. He gasped, shoving himself away when he recognized Dantel. Dantel had his mouth over Jax's, breathing for him. Or was he? Of course he was---how else could Jax have awakened so quickly? Still, he struggled backward, feeling the pain in his back. "Ow... Ow, no, stop!" He backed across the bed, barely noticing when he flailed off and hit the floor. "Get away! It's so cold... cold... Dantel... The sand was freezing..." He shuddered hard. "Someone... something... my back... Oh... Gods, my back..." He arched slightly, hissing in pain. It was still there, the cold mixed with the burn, and he hated it. Couldn't escape it.

The nobleman's green eyes widened as he was shoved. He fell to the floor with a groan, and scrambled up to the bed once more. Dantel made as if to stand, but settled down upon the ground once more when Jax tumbled down to join him. Was there something he could do? The crying dragon only made the situation twice as bad. It felt horrible, not knowing what to do, hesitating to reach out and comfort for fear that it would only make things worse.

In the end, Dantel threw his doubts to the wind. He was after all the noble, he could do what he wanted. So he pulled the other man close, wrapped his arms around him and simply refused to let go. "Snow? What about your back?" Confusion reigned. "Breathe, Jax," ordered Dantel.

There was that touch again---on his arm, and he was pulled forward. “Disgrace.” The voice was hateful, and Jax shook his head, and now he could see his hair, wild in the cold, whipping wind, and it lashed his face. “NO!” His choked voice was resigned, however, full of pain. Every beat of his heart made his back seem to split with fire. “No... Not...” He struggled when something closed around him and he gasped hard, shuddering in the arms of... who? He had a familiar scent. And the voice wasn't full of utter hatred and contempt now.

“D-D-Dan...te...” Jax felt his voice tumble out in shuddering gasps that made his throat ache and the chain dig in. “So... s-so... I... don't kn-now... M-my back... my... it h-hurts... Like... l-like whips... fire... s-scars, look... look...” He tried to move his arms to raise his shirt.

The urge to be kind that had been growing steadily since the dragon had become his had Dantel being as gentle as he could. Or so he thought to himself, while ignoring the fact that he had tried to be kind to Jax even before that. The shirt, pale and ragged as it was, slipped from the other man with relative ease. Jagged scars ripped across the revealed skin of Jax's back. A muffled gasp of surprise escaped Dantel.

"I see."

Jax's heart felt heavy, as if it were struggling to beat as the shirt came off and his scars were laid bare. They were dark on his nearly white skin, and ached terribly. "See..." He muttered, in response to Dantel's words. "Hurts..." He shifted, feeling steadier as the odd episode fell away, and he sat back on the cool floor underneath him, the burn and ache soothed a little. "I have... these episodes." He muttered shakily, letting his hair fall over the floor when he looked around at Dantel. "I hear a voice... angry... I don't know what it wants. Who it even is. And the sand is... white. And cold. And it falls from the sky..." What was it? It melted when it hit his skin, so it had to be ice. But it was so soft, and still so cold.

"I... think... it happened before I woke up in the desert..." He admitted. Jax hated thinking about that day. Sunburnt, aching, groggy and bleeding from seemingly random places, being picked at by carrion birds. No. Jax shuddered hard, pushing away the thought. "Dragon... where...?" Where was his baby dragon? It had to be out of its shell now, and he wanted to see it. Wanted to see him. "Dantel, where...?" His eyes stung, and spilled tears. He had to have something familiar in his arms. Dantel didn't care, obviously, but his dragon would. He'd felt a connection ever since the egg had been given up to him.

"White sand and cold, I've read it's called snow." He was worried. Dantel wouldn't admit it of course, but it was true. The young man moved to the sand box and plucked up the newly hatched dragon. Carefully, with an odd feeling in his heart, he handed off the dragonet to Jax. Before backing away, Dantel wiped the tears the pale haired man had spilled. "There you are.See, the dragon is safe and sound. And so are you."

The amethyst eyed man smiled a little. "I did tell you that I'd keep you alive after all." Weak a promise as that had been, considering that survival was not all that mattered in the world.

"S-snow..." Was that it? He didn't know anymore. He just knew what he was around now. Snow. So it fell from the sky, and wasn't some odd, cold sand. He shook his head, getting the thought out of his head as the new dragon was given to him and he sat up. He cradled the creature in his arms and smiled as it glanced up with an unsteady neck, reaching up to nip at his nose. He was smiling more now. Half because of the dragon, and half because of what Dantel said. The young lord couldn't have any idea what brought on these episodes Jax dealt with, but he knew for a fact that they passed over some time later.

"Y... yes... thanks..." Jax looked down as he spoke, closing his eyes as the little dragon cooed in his arms. After a while, that coo would turn into a roar. But for now, he needed a name. Jax curled over the little creature--so vulnerable, yet so trusting of something so much larger than him.

Bemused, he watched as the other man calmed. The sight made his heart ache. Dantel shook his head and moved to lift up his own dragon, holding her close for a while until he settled down by Jax's side. "Do you still believe your situation is a bad one?" As he spoke, the amethyst eyed man ran his fingers over the dragon's scales. It had only been a few hours, still ... The dragons had made such a terrible difference, the sound of Jax's pained and confused voice; all of that had worked on Dantel in a rapid fire way.

Jax sighed, brushing back his hair and twisting it behind his back. "I... admit... it could be better, but it isn't worse." He sighed again, a bit more forlornly this time but cut with a bit of gladness. "I'm not sure I'll be able to handle this heat for the rest of my days, however." He thought about following Dantel, taking care of both dragons if necessary, trailing after the man's longer stride and not being able to get to a shaded place like he used to. What would happen then? He would be more burned than he ever was if Dantel spent all his time outside and away from shade. He twisted his face, biting back a pained whine and letting it out in a light puff. The dragon shifted in his arm, nuzzling into the crook of his elbow and huffing out a warm breath. Maybe it would be worth it, though. He had to think that.

The noble tilted his head to the side and regarded the other man for a few moments. Silence fluttered down, settling between them like a blanket of stars. "Truth be told, I want to travel. Though this place is wonderful, I have this itch to see the world. But ... No one believes me wise enough to leave, to walk through the city gates with a caravan and survive the journey." He sighed. "So you may not have to spend all your days here, if I get my wish." Dantel shrugged a bit. "Just walking outside my family home today was a wonder to me."

He had been coddled all his life. Sheltered. As a noble of one of the highest families, there was much for him to learn, and much to do. No one save he thought of what other life he might have wanted to lead. Though of course, he knew his duty to well, and his own limitations, to take to his feet and run away from it all.

Jax turned away. "Then you know how I feel. In a way." He muttered. He stood, sliding up to settle the young dragon on the sand to let it sleep well. He didn't leave it with a calm mind, however, but was glad to see it nuzzle down into the sand. "But while you can take a caravan, I would never be able to afford something like that. Or have it simply given to me." His voice deepened suddenly but Jax didn't seem to notice. "I would have to steal. I would have to steal food and somehow make it into the clean-water sewers to make my way to Soma Lae. But I don't steal. I'm no thief. I was taking that dragon because I knew it could find its way back when I let it. That wasn't stealing. But you caught me before I could get away. And Gods, I wanted to get away... At that point I didn't even care if I'd died. Then. Now? I'm not sure. But I want to get away. Less desperately now than before, but the want is still there."

He sighed and crumpled on the floor, cradling his head in his hands. "I belong in cooler climates. That... snow. I belong there. Or in forests. I want to see other beings. But here... it won't be bad for a time." He felt like he was rambling, so he snapped his mouth shut.

Dantel moved and settled his dragon by her sibling. She shifted and curled about the slightly younger dragon while her friend turned about. Gently, the young man petted Jax's pale hair. It was the only soothing thing the nobleman could think of to do. "I wouldn't leave you behind, which means of course that you'd have your way paid into any caravan I might choose." Nothing else came to mind. Dantel lacked practice when it came to comforting others.

Jax almost backed away from the touch, but thought otherwise and leaned into it instead. "I... suppose." He sighed. "I have little choice in the matter anyway. This, death, or a bottom-feeder street life. It isn't difficult to choose." But would it be an easier life? He knew nobles to be commanding, needy, abusive and abrasive, difficult people to work for because of their high demands and perchance to employ slave labor. And Jax shuddered to think he was a slave as well. Little freedom, if any, no pay, and he should be grateful for the food, clothes, and sleeping quarters he would be given. At least it was something. But he wanted to see the mountains again. "You would die in the cold." He muttered stoically.

And for that matter, Dantel hadn't given Jax much of a choice. His fingers gentled, tangled under silky locks and ended up resting against the soft skin at the nape of the other man's neck. Of course he knew it had all been quite selfish of him, but Dantel couldn't help but be happy that he had acted as he had. Now... there were two in his life who relied upon him, and no other. "As you're dying in the heat? I'd hope to get some help at least." Snow, cold and white as the tales said .... It would be wonderful to see despite the dangers.