Wasting no time, Luna rushed through the lab, slowing only long enough to wave hello and goodbye to a very confused group of persons including Donghae, Victoria, Minho and Sulli, whose course of study had them investigating the sylph’s restorative abilities.  “What’s the rush?” Donghae asked with a bemused smile.

                “I’ve gotta hurry,” she shot back with a giddy grin.  There was no telling how long Kris would remain stationary for and if she missed him this time…

                The hallway between the labs and the cargo hold seemed to stretch on forever in her haste.  Breathing hard, she punched the access code into the door at the end and practically stumbled into the room, pulling up short when Kris in his natural form took up more of the free space than she remembered.

                “Oh…  There you are,” she smiled softly, noticing the way he curled up to minimize his presence, head tucked partially under one wing and forearms folded comfortably in front of him.  On a grander scale, he was just as breathtaking at Yixing in his natural form; golden and accented with burnished red markings on his spine and wing tips.

                On top of the basilisk’s enclosure, Eunhyuk looked at her with a quizzical expression, chirping in greeting when he realized who it was.  Still smiling with her heart beating quickly in her chest, she waved and moved across the floor, closer to the resting dragon.  Even now, it was still practically impossible to tell if he was actually sleeping or just resting his eyes; he did the latter exceptionally well really…

                “Hey,” she murmured, trailing her hand against the surprisingly smooth scales of his neck as she walked closer to his head and wing.  “Are you awake?” she asked, sliding her palm over the elongated horn jutting back where ears might be on another creature.  “Kris?” she called, placing her hand on the heated membrane of his wing, feeling the warmth soak through her skin delightfully.

                Key’s voice startled her from behind and she jumped when he chided, “So now you come to visit unannounced?  That’s not like you, Luna,” he tilted his head and gave her that disappointed parent look.

                “Sorry, Ssshhkeyshiss,” she enunciated carefully before turning to bow, clasping her hands in front of her.  “I haven’t exactly been myself lately,” she admitted, standing upright and giving him a tentative smile with a small wave.

                “I would certainly think not.  That one has missed you terribly,” he pointed at Eunhyuk who turned his head at an alarming angle, practically upside down, “and this one’s been moping and hanging out with Yesung, listening to his rather lousy words of wis-”

                His lecture was interrupted when the tip of Kris’s tail wound around his slender waist and brought him in front of the dragon’s head, revealed now that he picked his wing up to see better.  Kris grumbled something that Key gave him a look over, none of which Luna could understand in the slightest.

                “This is your doing, you know,” Key commented with his arms crossed over his chest.  His gaze narrowed when Kris said something else and then he rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air in surrender.  “Fine.  But don’t expect me to be so nice the next time,” he warned, pointing a stern finger at the considerably larger creature.  By the rumble that emerged from Kris, Luna could tell he was laughing as he shifted Key back to the entrance to his enclosure, letting him down gently.  “What?” the basilisk asked with an annoyed look at Eunhyuk who chirped back, unphased.  “Ah, go back to sleep,” he waved, disappearing inside and reverting to his natural form.

                “Well then,” Luna laughed.  “That was unexpected,” she admitted, moving closer to Kris and pausing when he shifted his head to get a better look at her, setting his massive eyes nearly level with hers.  With gentle hands, she moved closer and placed her palms against his nose, the mental image of her doing the same thing to his human form making her want to laugh.  “Are you alright?” she asked intently, meeting his golden orbs, looking between the large, intelligent eyes.

                He rumbled some sort of response and nudged her hands carefully, his warm campfire breath brushing past her legs as he exhaled.

                “You had me worried, you know,” she chided, shaking one finger at him though her smile was anything but angry.  “I watched a movie with Jong this afternoon and all I could wonder was how you were doing because I hadn’t spoken to you in two days.”  At her mention of Jonghyun and the movie, Kris seemed to shrink in on himself slightly, pulling back and tucking his nose under his wing.  “Hey,” she complained, following after him and standing directly in front of his outer eye.  “If you’d been around like you usually are, I probably wouldn’t have even gone,” she reminded him with an annoyed quirk to .

                Kris opened the one eye to look at her and eventually tilted his head in grudging acceptance.

                “As spectacular as you are in dragon form, it’s nearly impossible to actually carry on a conversation with you like this…” she sighed, slumping her shoulders in mild defeat.  “Yah!” she yelped when his tail appeared and slipped around her waist, much like he’d done to Key earlier.  “No fair,” she giggled, kicking her feet in delight when he lifted her over his back, depositing her gently on his spine.

                “I can climb just fine,” she reminded him, patting his back genially.  On either side of her, his wings rustled, drawing closer and she felt him rumble some sort of request, the vibrations traveling through her whole body, making her laugh again.  “You are spoiled.  You know that?” she asked when she carefully stood up and walked over to his left wing, scratching the hardened ridge that supported the membrane with her nails.

                Expectantly, she looked over to his head and watched his facial muscles relax, lidded eyes sliding up while his slender tongue lolled cutely out of his partly open mouth.  She scratched harder and giggled when he sighed in pleasure, stopping only as long as it took her to reach the other wing to give it similar treatment.

                “Rumor has it that you’re letting Yesung do my job now,” she told him conversationally, noticing the way he stiffened somewhat.  “You have to know that I’m wondering wh-yyy!” she yelped when he gave her no warning at all that he was shifting.  The body beneath her simply disappeared, just like his wings, and Luna found herself falling.

                Kris caught her in his arms, looking down at her with a tentative smile on his face, eyes still slightly glassy from the wing scratches.  He made no attempt to set her down immediately, but neither did she ask.  She watched his face, with her hands clasped together in front of her, and saw the way he struggled to find the words he wanted so desperately to say.  “I… didn’t want to make you unhappy,” he finally told her in a small and awkward voice.

                “Huh?” she chirped, frowning at him quizzically.

                He met her gaze and explained, “I promised that for you, I would do many things.”  He looked away and focused on the door towards the recreation hall instead.  “But when we fight, it makes you unhappy.”  It took her a moment to realize he was talking about him and Jonghyun.  A slightly evil smile crossed his features as he added, “And you would not be happy if I hit him either.”

                “Kris!” she gasped, covering with one hand, hiding the shocked expression.

                “See?” he asked, the smile transforming again when he looked at her.

                Slowly, she lowered her hand and gave him a thoughtful smile, letting her eyes travel over his face, framed attractively by the golden hair meshed with reddish overtones.  She remembered him the first time she’d seen him, his mouth hard and small, brows furrowed and eyes slightly narrower.  But then he’d smiled and her whole evaluation of him had shifted in the way everything softened; in particular when he looked at her.  While he’d stopped glaring murderously at just about everybody, the smile he was giving her right now, he didn’t give to just anybody… and they both knew it.

                “You are a silly dragon,” she laughed, the sound soft and musical as she placed one hand on his cheek, feeling the warmth of his smooth skin.  “I’m not happy when you avoid me either,” she told him intently, shifting her hand to trace his golden hair behind his ear, making him shy away unexpectedly when the sensation appeared to tickle.

                Shaking his head, he frowned slightly and looked away, “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Yesung.”

                “He-  Oh!  I knew there was something strange going on with him.  And you!” she pointed, unable to keep a straight face.

                “But you did come,” Kris shrugged uncertainly, giving her a nervous look out of the corner of his eyes.

                “Of course I did,” she told him immediately, without any hesitation whatsoever as she placed her left hand against his chest.  They both stared at her hand as soon as she did it, their eyes slowly shifting to look at each other.

                “Luna…” the dragon murmured softly, lowering his head slowly, bringing their faces closer together.  She tightened her fingers to grab hold of his shirt lightly and found herself staring at his lips until they were pressing against hers, tender and surprisingly sweet.

                Hesitantly, she eased her other hand gently behind his neck, running her fingers through the silken hair as she breathlessly kissed him back, certain she was dreaming.  “Kris, I…” she gasped, pulling back just enough to stare up at him, searching his face intently.  Neither was expecting the door to open…

                Jonghyun walked in with his head tilted down and his hands in his pockets, a pensive expression on his face as he started to ask, “Hey dragon boy.  Can we ta-”  He stopped as soon as he saw them though and his eyes narrowed noticing the way Kris was looking at her and the way Luna braced her arms against him.  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded heatedly, heading right for them.

                “Jong!” Luna gasped when she shifted to get out of Kris’s hold and he set her down quickly.

                “Get your hands off her!” he growled, completely ignoring Luna in favor of his considerably taller opponent.

                “Jonghyun, wait!” Luna urged, moving to intercept him as Kris remained where he was, bristling at his advance but making no move against him.

                “You sneaky bastard!” he growled, catching hold of Luna’s restraining hands and guiding her out of his way with stiff arms, pointing angrily at Kris.  “Is this what you’re doing now?  Going behind my back and…” his face darkened as he tried to find a better word.  When that failed, he spit it out anyway, “And taking advantage of her!”

                “Stop it!” Luna cried, keeping pace with him until they were directly in front of Kris who had yet to move a muscle.

                “It is her choice,” Kris reminded him firmly, hands balled into fists at his side as he spoke through clenched teeth.  “Whether she chooses you or n-”

                “Shut up!” Jonghyun growled, swinging wildly at the dragon and catching him in the jaw.  He quickly followed the stumbling male and threw himself at his torso, running into him with enough force to send them both to the ground.  Throwing punches blindly, he tried to pin Kris beneath him but the dragon shoved him off to the side, making no effort to retaliate, though he sported a split lip.

                “Stop this,” Kris hissed, rolling on top and trapping Jonghyun under his body, groaning in pain when the other male kneed him in the groin as he tried to dislodge him.  “Ugh…” he gasped, losing his leverage, limbs suddenly turned to jelly.

                “She can’t choose you!” he howled in denial, grabbing Kris’s shirt and punching him in the face again.  “She can’t like you!” he cried, hot tears b on his lashes.

                “Jong!  Stop it!” Luna tried again, pulling at him from the side in a panic, unable to effectively intervene.  “I love him!” she shouted when he reached back to hit him again, stopping mid-swing.  The declaration surprised all of them, including Luna, who clapped her hands over with a shocked expression and took a step back.

                Sniffing hastily, Jonghyun pried himself free from Kris and approached Luna, startling her into stepping back.  Immediately, Eunhyuk jumped down from the top of Key’s enclosure and mantled his wings, screeching at Jonghyun as he stood aggressively along side him, making the shorter male pause.

                Jonghyun turned to grab her arms with his hands in mild desperation, gaze filled with hurt and anger.  “No, Luna!  I don’t know what he’s doing or what he’s saying but… you can’t choose him.  He’s…  Look at him!” he growled, pointing at the recovering dragon around Eunhyuk, expression dark but controlled.  “He’s not even human!” he spat, looking down with his hands clenched at his side, trembling.

                The room fell eerily silent in the wake of his statement and Luna swallowed hard, braving his ire to place a tentative hand on his upper arm.  He flinched away from her touch but didn’t move.  “I’m sorry, Jong, but that doesn’t change the fact that I do love him.”  She felt her heart tighten in her chest when his head and shoulders slumped in obvious defeat, tension leaving his body as the righteous anger fled.  “It doesn’t mean I don’t still care for you though,” she tried to explain, flinching when he laughed bitterly.

                “That’s even worse,” he croaked, voice thick with unshed tears.  “So now I’ve been friend-zoned,” he nodded, looking at her with watery eyes, smiling through his obvious hurt.

                Luna bit her lip as she fought the urge to cry herself.  “I’m sorry,” she apologized again in a trembling voice, taking a tentative step closer.

                “No,” he shook his head and swallowed hard.  “I’m the fool here.  I’ll just…” he trailed off, unable to finish what he was saying as he turned to flee back the way he’d come from.

                “Jong!” she called after him, taking a tentative step towards him with a worried look at Kris.  Even with the split lip and a bruised cheek, he was still smiling as he nodded his head after the retreating male.  She gave him a relieved smile and wave before running after him.

                Kris looked over at Eunhyuk and placed a comforting hand on his furry back when the gryphon looked at him in confusion.  He didn’t turn as he listened to Key come up on his other side.  “Aren’t you worried about her being alone with him?” he asked archly, arms crossed in front of his chest.  The dragon gave a slow shake of his head, the smile still playing on his lips.  “Huh,” Key huffed, shrugging his slender shoulders.  After a moment, he gave him a sidelong, curious glance.  “Why didn’t you fight back?”

                Now Kris actually smirked and focused on the basilisk with a predatory look in his eyes.  “It wouldn’t have been a fair fight.”  For just a second, Key debated questioning him, considering Jonghyun’s success in the fight, but then thought better of it and took a partial side-step away.  Kris’s smile widened in satisfaction.

(a/n: And I'm writing a veritable short story now.  :/  This is the next to last update and the final installment will be up asap!  Thanks for reading!)