Iron and Fire

"Whoa! Chill out Ceto!" Arin had been trying to calm Ceto down for a while now, and nothing seemed to help with his nerves.

Ceto was getting more fidgety as Arin was trying to get the knot in Ceto's tie done right. After the meeting a week ago, Ceto could feel himself turning into a basket-case. The scepter that would help the dragons was lost out there. He felt the need to search for it. That he would be the one to find it.

"You always hop onto the opportunity to prove yourself, but you don't even know where to look." Ceto knew Arin was right, but there was that chance to redeem himself.

Though, it was the matter of finding the location of where the scepter was. Arin was making him anxious as he fumbled around with the tie.

"Why are we even doing this? We should be out looking for the scepter if anything."

"Says the one who was chiding me for the social construct of humans. And having to quote fit in unquote." Arin countered with a chuckle. Ceto let out a slight growl from the back of his throat. "Besides," Arin continued. "She's going to be there. Stunningly beautiful."

Ceto rolled his eyes. "You know, sometimes I really hate you and your sight."

"D'aww. The poor little dragon is all shy." Ceto punched him square in the shoulder.

"Taunting the blind is not nice. And besides," Ceto straightened the tie and tied a loose knot at his neck. "Why would she come to me during a formal. After last week?"

'You're blind?' It shouldn't bother him. But it caused him to regain some composure. He thought about how he needed to worry about his human cover for now. As long as he could keep it up, he didn't care. That was the main concern for now, stay alive, think of where the scepter could be.

"Oh trust me, she'll come to you. I can see that much. Put the scepter idea away. I'll help you research. But let's have some fun." Ceto grabbed Arin's shoulder in warning.

"No spiking the punch." Ceto was answered in silence, so he knew that had been somewhat of Arin's plan.

"You are no fun." Arin finally responded.

"You are probably going to do it when I'm not looking anyway."

"Now, who is cracking blind jokes?" Ceto rolled his eyes and adjusted his jacket.

"How do I look?"

"You'll knock 'em dead." Ceto rolled his eyes again and rolled his shoulders.

"Let's head out then." Arin guided him out the door and toward the school.

It was mainly a quiet walk, which frayed at Ceto's nerves. He hated the silence, but that couldn't be helped as there were times that Arin would fall silent. That was when the Wyvern was the most dangerous. If he wasn't making noise, that meant that there was trouble that was coming. That was something that Ceto did not want to find out any time soon. Then again, he should probably know after all this, since Arin was one that he would have to count on.

"What are you seeing?" It was a few more moments of silence, too long for Ceto, before Arin spoke up again.

"Nothing of importance. Let's just try and have a good night." In Ceto's ears, it seemed like something was truly bothering.

"Do you want to tell me now? Or keep me worrying all night?" Ceto caught his friend's shoulder to stop him. "We don't have to go. If something is there to bother you."

Arin sighed, but Ceto didn't move. Not until he got some answers. As much as Arin was a troublemaker by nature, if something bothered him, all of Ceto's senses started to tingle and he got more stressed out. It meant that something was up and he had to be on his toes. The last time was because of the meeting. Now, it could have been anything at all.

"Serene is going to be there. The water dragon from the council meeting? And I'm not sure how to..."

"How to handle a water dragon." Ceto finished for him.

Arin grabbed Ceto's shoulder tightly. Ceto understood the worry. Water dragons were as unpredictable as the domain they reigned from. That lead to many different kinds of "incidents". Some that even Ceto's dad couldn't really speak about in front of the council, or try to reconcile with some fallen comrades. But Arin's grip on his shoulder tightened a bit more.

"After the last one nearly drowned me in her pool, I've been wary."

"Arin, the worst thing a water dragon can do here, at a party, is try and drown you in the bowl of punch. But I think that the humans might notice. If not, want me to spot you in case she does try the punch?" Ceto felt something strike his arm, causing him to take a step back from the force behind it. There was a bit of silence before he heard Arin speak again.

"Sorry." Arin muttered under his breath. He didn't sound sorry, most dragons didn't.

"Hey man," Ceto wrapped his arm around Arin's shoulder. "You'll be fine. You are my best friend. She probably knows that and will play nice."

Arin scoffed. "Yeah. Maybe."

"It's not too late to turn around..."

"Nah man..." Arin cut him off. "We are already here. And besides, you have a date." Ceto rolled his eyes.

"I don't have a date." Ceto could feel the grin coming from Arin as he laughed.

"Ah. But you will. It will be a long night."

They both made their way up to the school, Arin guiding Ceto as best he could. Though, Ceto was trying to get his mind off the scepter. Other dragons had gone nuts looking for the scepter that had not been returned for almost a millenia. He knew Arin was trying to get his mind off of it, and that even if Ceto continued with the crazy notion to go after the scepter, he would have his back. Ceto just couldn't figure out why the scepter was so elusive. Guess that was the curse of it, the scepter than many dragons had gone after.

Out of sight, out of mind. Or so he hoped as Arin got their tickets to go in and some awkward conversations about how they weren't going as a couple (which still confused Ceto to no end), they were finally in. Boisterous noise blared in front of Ceto. He tried to focus on the voices and nothe blasting bass, or the junk that these kids called music.

Give me some alternative or classic. He sighed and followed Arin to a wall. The loud noises were disorienting as Arin propped him against the wall.

"Sure you will be alright?" Arin shouted over the overlapping sounds. Ceto just stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Go on. I can smell her from here." There was a smirk that Ceto could feel coming off Arin, though he could still feel the tension.

"Yeah. Alright, alright." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

He gently tapped Ceto's shoulder and left him to find the water dragon. Ceto tried to relax his shoulders and actually try and listen to the party around him. Arin had predicted Rose to be here. Rose was still a mystery to him. Something he wanted to solve, but wanted to keep the air and vibe there. Though, what would a human like her want from a dragon like him. Then again, she didn't know what he was.

Humans only perceive what they want to see. Guess his dad was right on that. Some humans just didn't have a way to discern and change things to fit the actual reality. Then again, Ceto "saw" how it was that if humans knew, some would be worse off. He had seen what seeing creatures like him in their actual form can do to people. It was something that one never forgot.

A few girls came up to him, trying to talk him up. Ceto went stone cold, not out of disrespect, but more of how he had grown up. If a female dragon came up to you, you were suppose to respect her by listening to her only and talking to her when you are asked a question. Humans were another matter all together. Mostly because a female dragon can be reasonable with a male dragons silence and not think they were playing hard to get, but more of a respect. Humans, it was a whole different matter. The other thing was that since Ceto was the bastard son, most of the time, he could never tell why someone would come up to him. As a dragon, most of them would want to take human girls as companions, servants. It was an old mindset, something Ceto didn't subject himself to out of respect.

"So, you are a history major and environmentalist major? That must be a lot of work." One bubbly voice interrupted his thoughts.

He tried to imagine the girl in front of him. Probably a short girl with blonde hair and bright eyes. Though, that was a description that Arin had given him of bubbly girls.

"It's a bit difficult, but it's not too hard." His tone was smooth and he could feel the difference in the girls' moods around him when he spoke. Human girls always had that kind of trance from his kind. He never could understand it though.

"So, are you here alone, or with someone?" Another voice perked up. Ceto resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Human girls were a mystery, though the raging hormones probably didn't help. He knew that they were probably going to get more antsy by his presence and if he kept silent again. What was it that human girls couldn't just ignore him? Blind boy. What do they expect? Him to do a trick? To take them to his cave somewhere in the other dimension?

"Not here to look around or hook up. Sorry." He tried to keep his voice neutral while talking to them. Maybe they wouldn't ask more questions that he would be inclined to answer, out of respect.

"Aw... Why not?" The voice was a little more whiny in his ears, but Ceto tried to think on that. He couldn't judge people's voice very well. Just the emotions they couldn't truly hide.

"Because he's with me." A familiar voice rang in his ear. He glanced up out of habit, his eyes flicking to and fro. She must have come in right behind them since music had to have been too loud for Ceto to hear her.

"Aw. Ok. Well, if you ever get bored."

"I'll find ya, thanks." The little herd had moved away from him and his shoulders relaxed a bit. Rose must have come right beside him, leaning against the wall. He could feel her presence, even though he couldn't see where she was. "Thank you."

"You looked bothered. Thought you may need some help." Rose's voice was still soft. He could barely hear her voice over the loud music that was thumping.

He had been trying to avoid her while keeping tabs. He didn't even understand that. Arin had tried to explain it to him, but it went over his head quite literally.

"So, are you here alone?"

Ceto shook his head. "Nah."

"Well, I don't see your little friend."

"He's around. But how about you?" Ceto was quick to respond, mainly since he had to hide a lot and that meant pulling attention off him.

Dragons are gluttons for attention, but these days, it was a very dangerous flaw to have. Thank god for human narcissism, otherwise his way of keeping attention off him would fail.

"Nah. Just came to relax a bit. Don't need to bring the drama of being here." She didn't seem uncomfortable around him. Even the other girls had a bit of edge to their voice. "What brings you here Ceto?"

Ceto shrugged. "Guess I am here to relax too."

There was a soft chuckle from her that he could barely hear.

"Well then, here's to a good time the. Before projects and midterms come due."

"Here, here." And they stood there in silence that Ceto started to get antsy.

Besides the blaring music, this human girl had approached him twice now. Though, the first time had been an incident caused by Arin. But still. Without his sight, he was useless as he was in the Council Room. Just play it cool, Ceto.

"Would you like to dance?" It was so foreign on his lips, he wasn't sure if he had actually asked. Though her silence was a bit discouraging. "Or not..."

"No, no." She caught his hand gently. "I would love too. I just didn't know..."

"That I could dance?" She must have nodded, but Ceto just accepted the silence as admittance.

"Never judge a book by its cover, right? Something I have learned with no gaze to judge."

He gently pulled her out to the dance floor, before she could protest, easily dodging people as he went. There had been some bumps to the shoulders, but he pulled Rose toward the center and offered his other hand to her. She could decline, but she put a hand on his shoulder and grabbed his other hand. Nothing burned him this time, but he brought his focus back as a more somber song came up and he started to move with the tune. She kept stepped on his toes and kept apologizing.

Ceto chuckled under his breath and whispered, "Don't focus on your feet. Focus on the music."

It was a bit before she stopped stepping on his toes and was getting into the rhythm. There was a few trips, but Ceto caught her each time, right before she took them both down.

"Sorry..." She repeated over and over as he just chuckled.

"No, no. You are doing fine. I've just been doing this for a while." He twirled her slightly and kept her close enough so that they didn't hit anyone around them.

"You're good..." She whispered under her breath, though it sounded like she was in disbelief.

"Comes with practice." Ceto smirked as the song finished and he pulled away from her slightly. Though, she caught his hand to stop him.

"Wait." He turned back towards her, his brows furrowed. "I wanted to ask you something..."

But she never got the chance to ask as something tore between them.

"Excuse me. Mind if I cut in?" Arin's voice sounded like he was joking, but there was a hint of panic there as another figure tore between Ceto and Rose.

"Excuse me, sorry. Arin, wait!" Ceto sighed as the water smell passed his nose.

"Isn't that your friend?" Rose came close to Ceto.

"Yeah. it is. Excuse me. I'll be back for that question."

"OK, but Ceto..." Ceto was off before she could finish, chasing after Arin and the water dragon, knocking into people to head toward the exit.