Griffin's Salvation

Chapter 7:Kian

Today I was officially a high school graduate, my whole family was there even Ju-ri. Ju-ri and I have been really good about keeping our relationship Pg13, after the biting incident. She no longer avoided me like the plague and helped me with the supernatural stuff.

I could breathe fire now, the whole family was at Elias Cabine for the fourth of July last summer and the smoking had gotten unpredictable. She told me that meant I was ready to breathe fire now and everything that needed to develop had, that's why it had gotten uncontrollable. that was a fun day. the way Ju-ri explained it though had me perplexed.

-What do you mean by finding my voice

-for dragons breathing fire is a way they express themself, not just anger even love sometimes.

-how can you burn someone lovingly?

- I will not be expanding on that now, we can table that discussion for later. just, look for the tone that translates into fire

I did, I tried starting from my normal range like when I speak to a higher register until I was mostly screaming, but that didn't work. so we tried going for the lower registers also didn't work. we kept going around in circles for like two hours, because the way she explained it didn't connect with me. Finally, she had the great idea to show me how she did it while I tried to see it happen from her eyes and concentrated on what it felt like. that did the trick, I was thinking in a narrow human/voice way and that wasn't it at all. I tilted my head up mimicking how Ju-ri did and just let it rip. My fire was blue same as Ju-ri.

My graduation went well, we had a party with some of my friends in my grandparents' backyard. Even River showed up looking like a ten year old so of course the twins who are twelve now thought he was their little friend and tried to play with him. It was such a weird funny moment, he was a two-hundred-year-old man-child who didn't want to offend his mate's grandkids but was also too old to find a game of jump rope all that riveting. so he was sort of playing with them while they played with him. it was a fun dysfunctional moment to watch.

Senior year was going to be a blast, I was a September baby, so even though I lamented my birthday being close to the end of the year, now that the end was near I was overjoyed. over the years I had gotten better at controlling the mind meld thing. I wasn't shutting Ju-ri out as much as just making sure I didn't pry into her brain. After our conversation when I was fifteen, Ju-ri did stop shutting me out that's how I noticed that most of the time she had me on mute. she never reacted to the outrageous thoughts that would fly through my head sometimes, it never even registered to her. I asked her how she did that and she said she was trying to give me some space, I started trying to do the same for her but it did take me a few years to perfect being there without being there.

for my senior year though I was able to get a single room. I was an accounting major with a 4.0 GPA so as per university rules, I could get a room for myself if I wanted. the last three years I'd been rooming with one of my best friends Kyle, but he had a serious girlfriend now and I didn't want to be around all that covert f*****g they thought they were engaging in that I still had to listen to because I was cursed with super hearing. I would just flash myself to the garden and roam around for an hour or so hoping they don't get the urge for a second round just when I get back to the room. it actually happened once and I had to knock on his door. we lived in a dorm with two bedrooms and a shared living area. I liked that setting because it gave me some privacy while still letting me enjoy the college experience.

None of my friends knew about any of the inhuman things that happened in my family. We told everyone that my grandparents moved away since they both looked about twenty-five now, Mom had gone under the knife to recapture her youth but was gatekeeping her wonder surgeon. Only the twins, my mom’s younger brother, and my grandfather’s two siblings knew the truth, we kept it very much in the family.

Kyle and Leland were my best and only friends, I don’t like surrounding myself with tons of friends, people were already too much of a hassle, I preferred surrounding myself with one or two good friends that matched my crazy and cultivating those few relationships. Kyle and Lee knew Ju-ri but only as my mom’s friend. That was mostly the extent of our relationship anyway, so far at least. This was going to change now, I had made sure to go to a university state away from Pittsburgh. I was studying at Chicago State just to remove myself from my family. I knew from how my mom's scent changed after mating that I’d rather my mother not know the exact moment I started having s*x, and she would know because she has the habit of sniffing at me every time she sees me because she’s that much of a nosy busybody. I decided to unpack my clothes since Ju-ri was still with my mom and Elias, I was done unpacking and had even started watching Netflix when she finally got home.

« Can you come over? » I spoke in her head, we could do that now, speaking through our link without ever saying words.

« Is there something wrong ? »

« No, I just want to see you »

« You just saw me today at the airport »

« Please come over Ju-ri »

« I have an early shift tomorrow morning, and I’m really tired »

« I know, it’ll be just a moment, you can change into something more comfortable first »

« You’re being very weird right now »

She shut me out while she changed and took a shower. When she flashed into my room smelling like roses, I opened my arms, asking for a cuddle.

- I don’t understand she said confused

-I want you to come cuddle with me, we can watch something you like

-We’ve never done that before.

-I’m aware dear.

-We said twenty one!

-That was for s*x, I’m not asking you to sleep with me like that and before you mention my age again I’ll be twenty-one in less than three months.

-Already?

-Come here Ju-ri my arms are getting tired

-You won’t try anything?

-I won’t, I swear. I assured her

She did come to lay on my chest wearily like she expected me to jump her any minute.

« Relax I’m not going to jump your bones, I’ve waited years, I can contain my lust for three short months,» I thought when she was still stiff as a board ten minutes later.

-it's your fault for springing this little cuddle session on me, with absolutely no priors.

-this can be our prior then, next time I ask you to hug me.

I laughed and turned the volume up on my show, I really just wanted to know what it felt like to have her in my arms. And it was peaceful, my mind didn’t have to stretch over kilometers to find her, my whole world was right here in my room and I was content.

I had my portable projector pointed at the ceiling so I could lay flat and not torture my neck trying to stare at a TV mounted on the wall. We were five minutes into the first episode of Bloodhounds when she fell asleep. I followed a few minutes after her.

We woke up at six in the morning to the sound of her alarm. I reached behind her on the bed for her phone shutting off the alarm without her waking up. I really couldn’t blame her this was the best sleep I’ve had since I can remember. I don’t remember dreaming of anything but I woke up well-rested, Ju-ri was lightly snoring into my neck, her limbs wrapped around me like an octopus

« Ju-ri, get up your alarm went off »

« Five more minutes »

Even her thoughts sounded drowsy, I gave her ten and woke her up again. It took this time. When she noticed how she was sprawled on top of me she sprung away from the bed like hellhounds were at her tail.

« You know I didn’t mind having you on me »

- Jesus Kian mind your words

- You’re the one with the dirty mind dear

- I’m not

- Shall I repeat what just went through your head?

- No thanks, I was the one who thought it.

-Kiss goodbye? By her very accurate fish out of the water interpretation, I’d stumped her again.

- I don’t know what’s gotten into you but I’m about to be late for work so goodbye

I would have called her out on that lie but I didn’t want her to resist a repeat of yesterday’s night and she sort of left after she was done talking. I muted her so she could freak out in peace.

I was right in thinking that changing our relationship from the platonic hellscape it was suddenly on my birthday wasn’t going to work well for me. And the freaking out she was doing right now just served to prove my point. I went to get ready for my first day back to school.