(a/n:  To note, this upcoming three shot is not at all cannon to the original storyline.  It was inspired by ParkMiyoung and features Kris and Lay from EXO as our Dragon and Unicorn, respectively.  Like I said, this does not take place in the course of the story and is simply a fun diversionary romp.  In this setting, Kris was rescued from Atamos; Kyuhyun is not present, but the rest of the already introduced MCs are.  There are some snippets of truth that do go along with the main storyline but overall, this has next to nothing to do with it.  I hope you enjoy anyway!)

                Almost more than any other creature they’d studied or read about, the dragon had the most possible information on in with the exception of maybe the unicorn, none of which could even come close to preparing the MCProtAgs about the reality of one.  He was, in fact, the last MC to join their ranks thus far and they weren’t entirely sure if there were any others, that weren’t already accounted for, but he was certainly one of the more recalcitrant ones.  Even Key was more of a kitten in comparison to him, and infinitely more approachable.

                Of course, none of them could exactly fault him his disgruntlement since he had spent a couple weeks in Atamos’s tender care, but he was still…grumpy.  Nor would he let Yixing heal him in any way, choosing instead to tend his own wounds and let them mend over time.  Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about him was that he regularly refused to vacate the sleeping hall, with the rare occasional foray into the rec hall, but he avoided everywhere else intensely.

                As for the members of the base, they were practically beside themselves.  The actual team was somewhat standoffish with him, since the dragon was taller than all of them, with a sufficiently menacing enough glare to deter even the most determined individual and he didn’t seem to be particularly grateful about being rescued in the first place.  It didn’t help that they were frequently busy too, running various practice drills and exercises as they got ready for their next excursion against Atamos; whenever that would be.  As expected, the scientists were having a field day with his presence, when he let them close enough for any period of time, which wasn’t often.  More often than not, they were relegated to studying from afar or settling with approaching Yixing, or the other MCs, who was considerably more open with them.

               Yesung vacillated between being completely ecstatic that there was a dragon in their midst and utter dejection that he wouldn’t let him get close and often chased him off with little hesitation.  It was actually rather sad that his favorite magical creature wanted nothing to do with anybody, including him.  Henry, Luna and Donghae watched from afar as well, relying on the tidbits the MCs could give them about the dragon since he wasn’t particularly friendly with anyone.

                Early on, Victoria tried to offer a better explanation when the dragon wasn’t in the immediate vicinity, occupying the recreation hall in one of his rare outings in the later part of the evening.  “Dragons are proud creatures,” she gestured apologetically.  “Some more so than others.”

                “So we’ve noticed,” Yesung grumbled, put off after another attempted contact that went awry.  To his credit, he did keep trying, but it wasn’t easy.

                “He’s also hurting,” she reminded them pointedly, running a strand of jade hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture.  “In more ways than one.”

                “What do you mean?” Luna asked, brow furrowed while she tried to puzzle that out.

                Victoria held up her hand and tapped her wrist.  “The windrith.  I think he feels…used, for which he partially blames me.”  She grimaced when that didn’t feel quite right.  “For those of us that heard it, we felt the call to help quite clearly and he was no exception.”

                “So you think that he sort of resents hearing it?  Since it was what resulted in his being captured in the first place,” Donghae suggested with his hands lightly.

                “And us as a result,” Henry sighed with a shake of his head.  “That would certainly explain why he doesn’t like anybody really…” he muttered, glancing at Yesung who was still frowning.

                “I think he tolerates us because we did help to get him out…right?” Luna asked hesitantly.

                “Right,” Henry smiled, clapping her on the shoulder with a reassuring nod.

                “Well he could still be more polite and open,” Yesung sighed, finally relaxing his posture so that his arms weren’t crossed in front of his body anymore.

                “Kris…just needs time,” Victoria urged soothingly, gesturing with her hands to go slow.

                So they tried to give him time as the scientists continued to search for a way to send them home and Sungmin and his team planned on attacking Atamos at their main base, which was as yet, unknown.  They had a general direction but little else.  Of course, this gave the MCs and the MCProtAgs more than enough time to worry themselves over and still, Kris remained fairly unapproachable.  Most often, he just ignored everyone, or glared at them, both of which were equally effective.

                For Donghae, it was easier simply to focus more of his time on Victoria and glean tidbits from her as the sylph was able to gain them, not that the dragon spoke to her by any means, but she was observant if nothing else.  Yesung continued to try intermittently but all of his attempts to break the ice were rebuffed or ignored and even Henry, who was one of the more disarming members of their group, experienced little success in approaching the dragon or getting him to open up more.  Unfortunately for Luna, the vastly taller Kris intimidated her by mere appearance, much less when he actually looked her way so it was no surprise that she spent more of her time in Yixing’s easy company.  At least he didn’t scare her off when he did manage to catch her staring…

                Daesung wasn’t the only one to notice the way it bothered her but he was the only one to suggest that she run by the Observation Deck later in the evening when most of the first and second shift folks were asleep.  “Hey Luna.  I thought you might be interested in seeing this,” he smiled warmly, patting the chair next to him so she could have a seat.

                Luna stifled a yawn and smiled apologetically as she took the recommended spot.  “You said you had something surprising to show me?” she offered, peering at the screens with curiosity.

                “Neh.  It looks like our big baddie has a face that isn’t always glaring,” he chuckled, pulling up the camera that was located in the MC hall.  Victoria and Key were hidden, as usual, with Eunhyuk sleeping on top of the basilisk’s enclosure in his natural form and Yixing curled up on a modified bed of…well grass really, equine body visible if only because of the white coloration.  The only one in his human form was Kris and that was largely due to the fact that if he was in his natural form, he’d take up a very large portion of the room.

                She pointed at the screen and felt a smile tug at her lips when she saw him sleeping in the corner, one of the beds from the civilian hall converted for his use, with the covers pulled up to his chest and one arm resting up beside his head.  “He looks so peaceful,” she laughed once, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.  The usual hardness around his face was gone in the repose of sleep and if she wasn’t mistaken, there was a slight smile pulling at the edge of his mouth.

                “You can’t tell him I showed you this though,” Daesung winked, laughing as he did so.  “I think he’d murder me outright if I destroyed his ‘cold’ image.”

                Luna nodded in understanding.  “I don’t doubt it.  Thank you for showing me,” she smiled, placing her hand on top of his gratefully.  It really did help to know that he wasn’t always this unapproachable towering giant…

                “Any time,” he chuckled, banishing the image with a glance around to make sure that not many others were looking in.

                Armed with the new mental image, it helped her not be quite so spooked by Kris whenever she got near him.  She was actually on her way to visit the MCs again when she noticed Changmin standing outside the door of their room, a tray of food in his hands, his posture tense.  She heard him take a deep breath and mumble quietly, “If he looks at me like he’s going to eat me one more time…”

                “Minnie?” she asked, startling him as he looked back at her with a sheepish smile.

                “Luna!” he yelped, laughing in embarrassment.  “How long have you been there for?” he asked, cringing when he was fairly certain she’d heard his comment.

                “Long enough,” she giggled, hiding her smile behind her hand.  “Lunch time I take it?” she asked, eyeing the plate of barely seared, cubed meat in front of him.  She’d actually just finished eating herself and had seen most of their group present but Key had been missing this time so she was coming by to at least check on him.

                Changmin nodded with a sigh.  “He won’t touch anything else I take him but then he just looks at me like he wants to eat me whenever I bring his food.  Nor will he come to the dining hall like the others.”

                “I can help if you’d like?” she offered hesitantly, taking a step towards him though she was slightly unnerved by the meal Kris preferred.  It made sense though, all things considered.  Eunhyuk wasn’t much better in that regard…

                “I couldn’t do that to you,” he chuckled and shook his head.

                “Please,” she tried again, closing the distance between them and pausing at his side.  “I’d like to try,” she mentioned softly, placing her hand on his nearest arm.

                He gave her a questioning look and then shrugged.  “If you insist,” he offered the tray hesitantly.

                “Thanks,” she smiled, brow furrowing when the tray was heavier than she expected.  There was a lot of food here…  “Would you mind getting the door?” she asked, nodding towards the panel she would have trouble accessing, burdened as she was.

                “Sure,” he jumped to comply and typed in the code, glancing in warily when the doors slid open to allow them entrance.

                Luna nodded at him with a bright smile and then tentatively stepped inside, glancing around the large enclosure for the dragon in human guise.  Key wasn’t immediately visible and she figured if he was present, he was probably in his sleeping area.  “Kris?” she called softly, walking on her toes as she made her way further in.  He didn’t respond but she did notice him lying on the bed on top of the covers, one hand pillowed under his head and the other holding up a book he was apparently reading.

                Kris looked over from his book and the stern glower shifted perceptibly to something not quite as menacing when he noticed it was someone other than the usual Changmin bringing him food.  He sat up slowly, taking his time as if moving too quickly would jostle something, setting the book aside while he swung his legs over the side of the bed and regarded her evenly, dark eyes unreadable.  “Yes?” he prompted when she continued to just stand there, unmoving.

                With a start, Luna realized she was staring again.  It was hard not to really.  Kris was a very distinct personage with a captivating presence, even if it was usually prickly and tended to scare one off.  He had slightly messy medium length golden hair with pale red undertones threaded through it, exotic facial features and a mouth she very much wanted to see a smile on, making him entirely unforgettable on several levels.  “I brought your lunch,” she blurted in a torrent of words, flushing lightly in embarrassment.  She froze again when she could have sworn she saw the corner of his mouth twitch…

                Kris sighed and picked his book back up before he laid out on the bed again, resuming where he’d left off with every evidence of boredom.  “Well you’re not doing a very good job, Luna,” he reminded her in a neutral tone, reading another passage before he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

                Frankly, she didn’t know whether to be more offended, surprised or embarrassed by his comment.  Calling to mind the image she’d seen of him sleeping, she swallowed her annoyance firmly and walked closer.  “You know my name,” she murmured with a smile.  He didn’t look at her anymore but pointed up towards Victoria’s hiding place.  “Ah,” Luna nodded.  They’d never been formally introduced but the sylph seemed to be a fairly decent liaison between the humans and MCs, if only because of her relationship with Donghae.

                Kris grunted in response and continued reading, idly flipping the page.  “You can just leave it you know,” he commented when she didn’t seem to know what to do with the tray.  Biting her bottom lip nervously, she looked around for a suitable place to set it down.  “The floor’s fine,” he told her, eyes trained on her once more.

                “Oh…” she murmured, stepping closer to deposit it at the foot of the bed.  It was almost close enough to see what he was reading but all she could make out was the back of the book.  Standing back up, she shifted in place and managed to ask, “What are you reading?”  When he didn’t immediately respond, she thought he hadn’t heard her so she took another half-step forward and opened to ask again…

                “Why are you still here?” he asked before she could say anything, not looking away from his book.

                “Oh…” she deflated immediately, clasping her hands in front of her.  “I’ll just…okay…” she murmured, picking at her nails.  Left floundering and rather unused to such dismissals, Luna turned around and hurried off, not sure if she heard a low hiss coming from Key’s enclosure or not.  Quickly, she made it back through the doors where Changmin was patiently waiting to see how it went.

                “Well?” he asked, eyeing her with obvious curiosity.

                “Ugh!” she groaned, stomping her foot when the door had closed.  “I’m not giving up!” she pointed at him firmly, to which Changmin raised his hands in front of him in immediate surrender.  “Are you coming again tonight?”

                “Well, yes…” he answered.  “I bring his dinner around seven, give or take,” he shrugged.

                “Okay,” she nodded determinedly.  “I’ll be here too,” she promised him with a decisive nod, walking off quickly while he took his time in trailing behind her, his longer legs allowing him to catch up much easier.  Changmin just smiled to himself and laughed lightly.

                While her initial attempt was not nearly as successful as she had hoped, Luna found herself in the company of Yixing, who never pushed her away and always listened with apparent interest.  It was a struggle not to stare at the unicorn either, for various reasons, not the least of which because he was beautiful.  And the fact that he was her favorite magical creature of all time had nothing at all to do with the fact that when he was in his natural form, she really couldn’t take her eyes off of him.  Fortunately, for convenience sake, he remained in his human guise the majority of the time and didn’t seem to mind the attention.

                “So Luna.  I heard the dragon managed to scare you off too,” Yesung commented over dinner, just a bit sooner than the time she’d agreed to meet Changmin.  The military team was missing, as was Key who was likely either in the MC room or somewhere near Siwon, and Eunhyuk who they wouldn’t be surprised to find in the rec hall or around Amber.

                “He didn’t scare me off,” she retorted quickly, flashing him an annoyed glare.  “He just didn’t want me there either.”

                “Sounds about right from what we’ve been told so far,” Henry shrugged apologetically.

                “I think he needs to get out of the room some more,” Donghae surmised with a glance at Victoria.

                “It would probably help,” she nodded in agreement with a helpless shrug.  “But I think he is sulking too.  He will not listen to me or the others either,” she sighed with a sad frown.

                “Have you ever met a dragon like Kris?” Yesung asked her directly, leaning forward with his elbows on the table.

                “No,” she shook her head.  “In Braelythe, we know they are there and sometimes see them in the sky, but we do not often mix.  We don’t have much to say to each other really,” she shrugged, almost apologetically.

                “So you’re just not good at conversing with each other then?” Luna suggested.

                “Not when they’re just grumpy,” Yesung snorted and rolled his eyes.

                “He is very guarded.  Trust is not something easily obtained after what he has been through,” Yixing surprised them by adding, patting Luna on the back as he smiled down at her encouragingly.  “It will take time.”  She smiled back at him brightly and chirped in agreement with an emphatic nod.

                “Oh!  What time is it?” she asked, looking around for a clock.

                “Almost seven,” Henry answered.  “Why?”

                “Gotta go!” she exclaimed, hopping up and waving at them excitedly, ready to brave the dragon again.

                “Where’s she going?” Yesung asked, following her progress in bewilderment.

                “No clue,” Henry shrugged, equally confused.