It was a feat definitely worthy of flavored fried chicken.

That, and because the adults felt it was a good compensation for Liam’s tears.

The blessed child cried the moment he woke up to the strange, rushing sensation that pulsed through his body. One second he had been warm and half asleep, the next he was sitting up with a startled gasp, hands clutching at his chest as tears spilled freely down his cheeks.

It didn’t particularly hurt.

It was just that it felt too strange. And as someone who had seen so many things lately, strange would normally send him trembling.

Liam burst into quiet sobs.

But surprisingly, just next to him, Orien panicked immediately.

He had been the one to test Renee’s findings. He had been the one to insist on doing the honors. And now the boy beside him was crying like the world had ended.

"Did I break the little sprite?" Orien wailed, eyes wide and glossy as he scrambled closer. "I didn’t mean to break him. I was careful. I was very careful."

Liam only cried harder.

Which, of course, made Orien cry too.

Big tears welled up in the golden dragonling’s eyes as he clutched Liam’s sleeve, his voice wobbling as he tried to apologize for something he didn’t even understand.

"Why are you crying? I’m so sorry. I will fix it. Please stop crying."

Riley stood there and watched the entire thing unfold.

And he really, really wanted to cry too.

Not because Liam was hurt.

Because he wasn’t.

Not because Orien was panicking.

Because that happens every day.

No. Riley wanted to cry about his personal incompetence!

Liam had done it.

The kid now had a mana repository. While it was just an initial seed when put into perspective, that was usually the part that most children had difficulty with. Because it required a kind of unrewarded patience that usually deterred younglings of all races.

But look at his baby brother! Hitting the milestone without taking years!

Apparently that could be considered some sort of genius! Yes, he had gotten his core later than other kids but he managed to build it faster than the rest.

Thankfully, before Riley could spiral any further because of both joy and self-doubt, he came up with something before clearing his throat.

Hard.

"What do you think about celebrating tonight?" he announced with a gentle smile.

The children who were in a weird position of crying and embracing each other suddenly stopped to sniffle.

"Does anyone want chicken?"

That got their attention.

Flavored fried chicken was mentioned shortly after and different names of sauces came out of Liam’s mouth while Orien simply agreed to it like a knowing master.

The simple celebration was a success.

And Riley even enjoyed it despite his frustration with himself.

Then again, how could he not feel happy for the younger brother who succeeded? Also, how could he not celebrate the fact that he might just be able to see his younger brother for much longer. Much, much longer now.

So the apparently ancient ancestor ate and drank well.

What he just didn’t expect was how quickly things would progress for everyone else from that point on.

__

It was insane.

Really.

Riley only truly came to that realization after watching both children rocket ahead in their progress while he stood there under crushing pressure, painfully aware that something was very wrong with his own mana.

The confirmation came during one of their lessons.

The golden dragonling stood at the front, posture straight and expression solemn, looking every bit like a small but authoritative instructor. If not for the cookie crumbs stubbornly clinging to the corner of his mouth and dusting his chin, he might have actually looked intimidating.

With a serious nod, he explained the exercise for the day. The goal was simple. Guide mana from one finger to another. Same hand. No tricks. Nothing complicated.

In theory.

Riley already felt the familiar dread creep in.

He opened his mouth to say something. Anything. Because that clearly was not simple when he still could not get his mana to move away from his damn knees.

But before he could speak, Liam lit up.

"I did it!" the boy cheered, eyes bright as he stared at his own hand in awe.

Riley froze.

"You what?"

The fresh-faced young boy nodded vigorously as he beamed at his hand. "It’s moving! I felt it move, brother!"

That rattled the supposed ancient bones far more than it should have.

"How?" he asked, staring.

The young pupil tilted his head, thinking hard. "Well, I hoped that if I thought about what I wanted to do, it would work. But when I just imagined my hand, nothing actually happened," he said slowly.

"I figured maybe that’s too much for a first try, so I went for something simpler. But when I started from here." He pressed a hand to his chest.

"And went from my chest to my arm and then to my hand, I felt something follow. Like it wanted to go where I was going."

"At some point it would stop, but then I would coax it to follow and it would!"

There was a pause as the child showed off his hand proudly.

"...Coaxing?" Riley repeated weakly.

"Yes, brother!" Liam answered proudly.

Of course Riley tried it.

He coaxed.

He encouraged.

He begged.

He attempted in several languages, including ones that he hadn’t specialized in.

Nothing happened.

Not even a twitch.

That was when it finally settled in.

The horrified ex-human realized that his problem was not external mana.

He had no trouble sensing, reading, and interacting with it outside his body. In fact, he had made frighteningly fast progress as a sensor.

But internally.

He couldn’t even crawl.

For some reason, it just refused to follow him whenever he tried to do anything with it.

Dejected and exhausted, Riley eventually found himself on the floor.

Collapsed.

Feeling very much like the useless puddle he thought he had become.

That was how Kael found him.

__

Riley looked and felt pathetic.

Flattened on the floor like a pancake of despair, limbs sprawled, eyes dead, soul somewhere between resignation and violent sulking.

Kael stared down at the lump that stared back at him.

"And what are you supposed to be?" the golden dragon asked dryly.

"A disappointment," the goo answered without blinking.

The returning dragon lord raised one eyebrow in that infuriatingly calm way of his.

But Riley only responded by rolling even flatter against the floor, as if melting into the ground would somehow convey the full depth of his suffering. Clearly, the great golden dragon would never understand the pain of the incompetent.

"Mn. I see," Kael said.

He still bent down, scooped Riley up like he weighed nothing, and held him close. Strong arms. Careful hands. Completely contradicting his tone.

"So what was today’s disappointment?" he asked as he hoisted Riley up properly, carrying him out of the training room like one might carry a grumpy front pack.

Riley growled at him, but wrapped his arms around Kael’s neck anyway. His face pressed into Kael’s shoulder, hair tickling Kael’s jaw.

"My mana," Riley muttered miserably. "It’s annoying. It doesn’t listen and refuses to leave my knees."

Kael hummed, walking steadily down the hall.

"Not listening to you?"

"Yes!" the emotional ex-human whined, voice muffled in Kael’s hair. "I thought it was normal but then Liam did it, and did it again and again and faster every time and I realized I’m the only one not doing it. Something is wrong. Very wrong. I think it hates me."

"Hm. Then let me try," Kael said.

Riley blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I said let me try," the dragon repeated, pushing open their bedroom door.

Riley huffed. "It’s my mana. What are you going to try? Of course your mana already listens to you. In fact, your mana works before you even think. It just does things. You said you don’t even have to ask. And I think we’ve all seen that."

Kael’s voice remained calm.

"Yes. But I never said I would try it on me."

"???"

Riley opened his mouth to ask again but Kael gently set him down on the bed, leaving him sitting upright in confusion.

Then the living tower straightened to his full height.

He loomed.

Slow. Probably intentional.

He placed one hand on each side of Riley, bracketing him in as he leaned forward. Close enough that Riley could feel his breath. Close enough that if Riley so much as inhaled wrong, they would definitely kiss.

The complaining immortal froze. Not really a problem to kiss, but he wasn’t particularly in the mood when the whole world sucks.

But Kael’s eyes were steady and Riley could only gulp because the guy looked serious.

"You realize I am the dragon lord, right?"

"Uh... yes?" Riley squeaked.

Said dragon lord leaned closer, voice low, absolutely confident.

"If I am the lord of all the dragons," he said, gaze locked on Riley, "then does that not also make me the lord of all their mana?"

Riley’s brain blue-screened.

"!!!"

Green eyes widened like saucers, and when Kael started, the wilting ancient realized something with terrifying clarity:

Fuck.

His boyfriend might actually deserve his own religion.