Alan had only one reason to be in the Capitol, the heart of human civilization, and it was because of his grandparents. His grandfather opened a café near the heart of the city, courtesy of Alan and Twilight.
The café had a modest number of people within, not enough to consider it to be ’bustling’, but not so few that it seed empty. It was the right number of people, enough that there would be both calm and rry inside, and not noisy or cramped.
Nonetheless, almost everyone’s gaze turned to him, and could they be blad? Alan would attract attention almost everywhere he went. He was a giant here, sothing that soothed his soul a little bit.
He may be short compared to dragons, but certainly not to humans! Furthermore, he wasn’t ’average’ anymore. His looks had gradually been improving once he beca a true frost dragon, but after the seal had been removed, his bulkiness had transford into sothing else entirely, a lean mass of muscle that didn’t appear to be over the top. Along with his chiseled face and marvelous hair, he could actually be considered the best model.
It wasn’t a surprise, Lanesha, the Supre Being of Frost, was known as the most beautiful in the entire universe. Alan got his traits directly from her; it was she who had led him to beco a Frost Dragon, and of course, he would be beautiful!
Every frost dragon was a sight to behold, and descending from the Personification of Beauty herself, Alan would only grow in charm. His previous ’ugliness’ was because of malnutrition from the orphanage, and his rapid advancents; furthermore, he was still considered a baby dragon during that ti.
According to Lanesha and Valus, he had yet to lose his ’baby fat’. However, he was beginning to mature, and it was certainly a good sign. As a Frost Dragon, Alan was even afraid his Charm stat would surpass his other stats...
Well, that was a concern when he beca an Adult Dragon, but that was still far off. Alan had no clear idea when he would mature into an adult dragon.
His grandfather, manning the counter, imdiately recognized him and smiled. He walked over to give a hug and said,
"You’re back?"
Alan reciprocated, but carefully controlled his strength. He didn’t want to crush the old man by mistake...
"Yeah, the trip was a bit rough, but I got through. Where’s Grandma and Samantha?"
His grandfather led him to a seat by the counter and said.
"They went to the mall, co sit, I’ll get you sothing to eat."
Alan nodded in response, taking his seat. As he raised his head, the smile on his face froze, recognizing a familiar face at the other side of the counter.
Raven black hair, with a tinge of grey, a well-built body, and calloused hands wiping a glass cup clean. It was Alexander Miller, soone Alan hadn’t expected to see in the café.
"What are you doing here?"
Alexander chuckled, responding.
"Isn’t it supposed to be hello first? Did that damned, cursed sea ss with your brain, too?"
Alan raised his brows, confused. He asked.
"Too? What do you an by that? What did the Black Sea do to you?"
Alexander shrugged his shoulders, picking up another spotless glass cup to clean. Why he was doing this, Alan had no idea.
"It broke , I guess you can say. My experience there left ntally crippled, even though the guys of the church healed . Festul recomnded to go to a therapist; he said I really needed one after that ordeal.
Supposedly, since I’m part God Beast now, I rely on my senses more than I think I do, the Black Sea... really ssed up."
"That makes sense..."
Alan muttered, thinking about it. Since his God Beast traits had been suppressed during the ordeal at the Black Sea, Alan didn’t worry about it too much, but it was still a vivid experience in his mind. If the core part of his existence wasn’t a Dragon, even Alan would be facing serious psychological issues.
’...Is Sabrina alright?’
He hoped it didn’t affect her too much.
"Yeah, I’m taking a break right now from missions and everything. When did you co back?"
Alan answered, almost instinctively.
"Today, it’s been a few hours at most. No, wait..."
He hurriedly recalled his original question, the one he had been wanting to ask.
"What the hell are you doing here? When did this Café beco ho to a therapist?"
His grandfather approached, answering on Alexander’s half, and placed a red velvet cake in front of Alan.
"He’s filling in for your friend, Lucas. I don’t know where the boy went, but he had a pretty serious expression on his face after he t that girl."
’Girl? What girl are you talking about? Did Lucas find a girlfriend?’
Alexander filled in the gaps.
"It was Alice; she apparently had to talk to him about sothing. It was sothing about the expedition... about... about..."
He started to hesitate at the end, confusing Alan. What was he hesitating about? Why was Alexander breathing so hard and almost cowering? This ti, his grandfather stepped in, his finger on his chin as he muttered.
"I rember it was sothing called Koozmal... Kizmal? It was sothing like that."
Almost simultaneously, Alan and Alexander shivered, horrible mories of burning alive in hot blood akin to magma and getting eviscerated by a beam of pure destructive force erged.
Both of them continued to shiver, as Alan’s Grandfather what went wrong. Alan refused to touch his cake, and the glass in Alexander’s hand shattered into many tiny pieces, which he promptly cleaned up and apologized for.
It took a while for them both to calm down, and when they did, they did not converse. Alexander silently worked behind the counter, and Alan silently, and slowly, relished his cake.
It was an odd situation, one that confused Alan’s grandpa. It was like he was witnessing the post-traumatic stress disorder of his veteran mates from the invasions...
Little did he know that he was actually witnessing PTSD. PTSD from battling a lightning giant the size of a mountain, and dying multiple tis.
It was truly a harrowing event.
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