Forbidden To Love You, My Dragon Professor

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After giving everyone another show of her exercise circuit, actually managing to finish it this weekend, Nina hit the showers in the change room and went out into the hall where the professor was waiting for her, also freshly showered and changed.

"So, where to this time?" Nina asked and he smirked at her.

"Ever been bowling?" he asked and Nina's jaw dropped.

"Uh, when I was like, ten, my mom took me," she answered. He nodded and opened the door of his car for her to get in. Such a gentleman, she thought, and he smiled a little wider at her. So he answered her question with a question, the same thing he'd told her not to do, but in a slightly different way. His question actually gave the answer.

Arriving at the bowling alley he beckoned her inside and she laughed at him. After showing her what to do, which she vaguely remembered from being a child, she sent her first ball into the gutter. She groaned and hung her head as he picked out another ball for her.

"Here," he said, handing it to her. "Try twisting the ball as you let go and leading it with your mind. You want to twist it in the opposite direction it's likely to roll."

"So, if I'm sending it more to the right..."

"Then twist so the ball is gently rolling left. The weight of the ball going one way, and the spin of it going the opposite, will probably lead it more in the middle by the end of the alley. Try using your mind to direct where it's going to. I want to see you try, just out of curiosity."

Nina took a breath and tried to do as he instructed. She let go of the ball but spun it too much to the left and it started curving too much to the left. She breathed out and followed it with her eyes, mentally trying to curve it back toward the front middle pin.

The spin on the ball began to even out and turn itself enough to curve back into the middle of the lane. She couldn't believe her eyes. The ball struck just perfectly and all the pins hit each other and she got the full amount of points. Her jaw dropped before she turned to Tyson.

"I did that," she said, astonished. "I forced the strike?" He nodded.

"You did well," he said, staring at her. "That was your first lesson on your power."

"Wow," she whispered, looking down at the pins as they were pulled off and the machine put them back up. This was unbelievable. "It's like cheating though."

"No it isn't," he chuckled. "It can't be proven and no one would suspect it."

"How did you know I could do that?"

"I didn't, but I'm weeding out which family group you're from. Some held certain powers that others didn't, and I mean more than just the gold versus the silver eyed. Even amongst the gold eyed elves there were certain powers in certain parts of the family."

"I feel like this is getting complicated," Nina whispered to him, and he nodded but shrugged at the same time. Then something happened that rarely happened. Her phone started going off in her purse. She checked it and couldn't ignore this one. Mom. "Hello?"

"Hi, honey," she said, not sounding like anything was urgent at all. "I was wondering if you wanted to come home for a night or two? I could make sure you're back for class on Monday."

"Um," Nina said, looking at Tyson and he made no motions for whether he cared if she left, which didn't help her decision.

"Where are you? It's pretty loud in the background," she said and Nina laughed.

"Yeah, sorry I'm at the bowling alley," she explained and there was silence on the phone.

"Is your work done?"

"Well, I was planning on doing it tomorrow," Nina said slowly, but shook her head. "Mom, I'm caught up for Monday and Tuesday, it's alright. I can come home."

"Okay, well, I can get you bus tickets right now and send them to you, I'm at work right now. You'd get here shortly after I'm off shift. Then I'm off my night job tonight and tomorrow night."

"Right, that sounds good, Mom," Nina said and then Tyson sat up and held a finger up to pause her. He looked like he had a light bulb turning on moment. "Hold on a sec," she said.

"I can drive you," he suggested. "Saves everyone money."

"Tyson said he can drive me, saves us money that way," Nina said just to retell what Tyson had said, but once the words came out of her mouth her eyes flicked back at him alarmed. She covered the speaker part of the phone. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," he nodded, sitting back. "It'll take less time, too."

"Sorry, what did you say?" Nina asked her mom. She'd been paying too much attention to Tyson and forgot for a minute that her mom was still on the phone.

"Is Tyson the guy you're seeing?"

"Oh, yes," Nina said and Tyson smiled at her.

"Great! I'd love to meet him, he could stay for dinner if he likes, too," her mom said. Before Nina could protest, though, her mom added, "Break's over, see you when you get here. Love you." Then the line went dead and Nina stared at her phone. Did that just happen?

"Yes," Tyson said and laughed, gesturing for her to continue her game of bowling. "Let's see if you can't force the rest into being strikes, shall we?"

"So, about my mom," Nina began as they left the bowling alley and made their way to his car.

"I don't have to stay for dinner if you'd rather I don't," he cut her off. "I understand."

"No, that's not it, actually," Nina shook her head. "Not about you being my professor or anything, I just want to warn you that she's going to pretty much grill you about how I need to make time for school and not just be with you all the time."

"Like the fact that you were bowling instead of doing homework," Tyson said, nodding. "It's alright, I don't mind. I figure she might have a problem with age difference, though."

Nina pondered that for a moment. "How old do you look to everyone else, anyway?"

"About thirty-five," he said and Nina raised her eyebrows. She wasn't sure how her mom was going to take that at all. She hadn't really thought about it. She was nineteen, so this must look a little odd to people. She knew he looked older, that was an obvious thing, but really she'd forgotten about ages because they were different, him and her. Not even part of real human society. "Is that making you think differently about us?"

"What? No," she said quickly. "No I was just thinking about how it doesn't really make a difference to me, but some other people might be bothered by it. How long have you looked thirty-five?"

"About a hundred years," he admitted with a smile. Nina smiled and nodded.

"When are you going to look thirty-six?"

Tyson chuckled and shook his head at her.

"I just mean do you choose how old you look or is that sort of done for you?"

"I choose, it's my magic so I can manipulate it how I want to. I won't turn myself younger because this what people recognize right now, and if I walk in next week looking like I lost ten years, it would spark suspicion."

"Yeah, like really fast plastic surgery or something," Nina teased. Tyson smirked.

"To be fair," Tyson said suddenly, causing Nina to stop her playful assault on his age and look at him. "I never asked your age, but now that I know what it is, you do look a little older."

"Looks can be deceiving," Nina said slowly. "How old do I look?"

"Around twenty-three," he said. "Finding out you're only nineteen was a little bit of a shock."

"Is that making you think differently about us?"

"No," he laughed, making Nina smile. She was happy this news wasn't changing anything, but she wasn't sure how her mom was going to view this obvious age difference. "I'll say I'm actually thirty," he offered and Nina smiled again. "Five years might make a difference."

"Maybe," Nina shrugged, looking to the road. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Admittedly no, am I going the right way?" he asked suddenly, slowing the car.

"Yeah, which was why I asked," Nina said, raising her eyebrows. "Left once we get out of the city, though."

"Are you going to tell me where we're going or are you going to guide me there?"

"I figured I'd surprise you. Unless you'd rather just know."

"If you can give me directions all the way there, I don't mind it being a surprise."

Nina nodded and then proceeded to watch the road. A couple hours of her directions later, she was guiding him right into her hometown. She guessed her mom was still working since they left earlier than the bus probably would have, and they didn't do any stopping. She pulled out her phone and text her mom, letting her know they were there.

"Oh, my mom is still working for an hour," Nina sighed, and Tyson nodded.

"Anywhere you like to go when you have free time here?"

"Um, the park, I guess," she shrugged and he raised and eyebrow at her. "It's the national park, not a playground. Well there's a playground in it, but it's a big hiking area."

"Right," Tyson smiled, pulling up to her house. "This is a nice house."

"Well, there's only two of us, and only one right now, but it's cozy." Nina got out of the car and Tyson got out after her but didn't make a move to go onto the property. "What?"

"Did you want to go to the park?"

"Oh, sure," Nina said, turning back to him.

"Was why I asked if there was anything you did outside home with your spare time," he explained and recognition lit Nina's face. "I'd rather not be waiting in her living room, having been here for an hour with you alone before she walks in."

"Right," Nina nodded. "Gotcha. Sure, let's go."

We pulled into a small parking area for big expanse of property, and walked into the park, past the playground, and into the trail surrounded by trees.

"So you like nature," he said as he watched her look around and sigh at the birds, squirrels and other little rodents running around. "Don't get much of this in the city."

"Right? I actually love coming here," Nina said turned to Tyson. "If it's not too much to ask, could you drive me back here sometimes? Not like every weekend or anything."

"I could do that," he nodded, without saying anything else she expected. No 'If you play your cards right' or anything. "Did you want me to say something like that, Nina?"

"What? Oh," Nina laughed nervously, feeling her face flush. She forgot for a moment that Tyson could hear her. "I was just interested that you didn't add anything on the end of agreeing to it."

"Well, as long as we're together I'll bring you home whenever you want to come back," he told her, and she nodded to him appreciatively. "Even if you're angry with me, or me at you, I'll still bring you back to see your mother. It's important that you see her from time to time."

"You say that like there's another meaning than the usual bonding thing."

"Glad you're perceptive," he smiled. "You aren't going to age like a human, Nina. As you get older you'll slow down the aging process. Around twenty-five you should stop aging for quite a while."

"Are you serious?" Nina's eyes went wide. "I'm so glad I met you, because I'd never know any of this stuff without you."

"You'd be really confused when you still have the face of a young adult when you're pushing fifty, that's for sure," he laughed, nodding to her. "I'm glad I met you too, though for different reasons." Nina nodded this time and he smiled at her, but again she felt like there was more to that statement than what he was letting on. She really wanted to know what this guy was meaning, but he suddenly turned back and motioned for her to follow back to the car. "She'll be back soon. We can wait for a few minutes in the car."

"Oh, we could grab coffee," Nina nearly pleaded. He had noted that she didn't have any coffee since that morning and decided to go to the local coffee shop on her directions again, and he bought all three of them coffee before heading back to Nina's home to meet her mother.