I Pray You Want Me Today

**I Pray You Want Me Today** is a story about a dragon born in a community built around religious beliefs he can't relate to, until he comes across the rarely sighted subject of their belief; the mysterious white dragon, who he develops romantic feelings for.

It plays off in a world where humanoid dragons of different colours/races inhabit the Earth.

The story was conceived in August of 2020, but it and the characters have made no official appearance.

## Story

> Boms is a  brown dragon who shares a home with his small statured parents, grandparents, and siblings, who all worship the fabled white dragon, as is normal within their community. Because his grandparents are growing weaker each day, they expand their already numerous visits to their village shrine to pray for their entrance into the afterlife.
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> After two hours of kneeling down, Boms loses his temper with his family -specifically his mother- and blames her for ruining his childhood with these strict religious practises that made him miss out on many things. He points at the offerings surrounding the shrine that always get thrown away the next morning, because there are no deities to collect them. None of his siblings feel the same way and his mother insists white dragons are real and their devotion won't be for nothing. Boms scoffs at the excuses and walks off to get lunch.
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> He angrily mutters to himself through the peaceful forest while carelessly dropping his half-eaten food onto the ground, until he gets startled by a speeding rabbit nearly bumping into him. His eyes move into the direction it came from and catch a glimpse of a white figure, making his heart stop. Baffled by what he thought to had seen, he chases down the incomplete image on the tips of his toes.
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> He finally catches up to what ends up being a tall and gracious woman, feasting on the blood of a rabbit, whereafter its ghoulish, dried-up corpse is discarded onto the ground like an emptied can of soda.
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> Boms is without words and can only fall to his knees, his eyes are glued to that which he never believed was true; a white dragon.
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> She gives no response to his overblown reaction and walks off like she merely spotted a beetle. As if possessed, he gets up to follow her, urging her to stop again. She informs him she's going home and it'd be best if he didn't follow, but Boms can only muster words that ask for her name. She says nothing and continues to walk, but it's as if he's leashed to her. She gives him a disapproving stare and he asks her name again upon getting her "recognition". She replies her name not to matter, as he'll never see her again. Boms insists on wanting to know the name of his deity, a comment she doesn't understand, nor cares to explore, and she turns around a third time.
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> Knowing better than to test her patience, he shouts after her to come visit their shrine with gifts, and promises to leave one behind this time as well. He watches her disappear into the distance, then runs back home to share his discovery.
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> *(Click "Expand" to read more)>*
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> His siblings don't believe him and think he's ridiculing them again, if only because he describes his white goddess as "sexy". They advice him not to play these games now, and at that moment, Boms' father comes in to tell him his grandparents passed away.
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> He heads upstairs to find his mother crying next to the bodies. He joins her and thinks to lift her spirits by telling her about his experiences and having become a true believer. But to see and speak to an actual white dragon makes for a doubtful story and his mother thinks he's making an insensitive joke. She responds politely and suggests he must've seen something else, but he disagrees. He describes his perceived deity with an infatuated tone, not helping his case much.
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> She becomes slightly agitated and replies he's always been free to disbelieve, but that his continuous disrespect gives her sorrow. Boms says he wouldn't joke at his grandparents' deathbed, but she reminds him of the many months he talked doubt into his fearful, dying grandparents, and she had to step in to soothe their concerns. Boms excuses himself by stating there's no benefit in believing fairy tales, and nothing was presented to him that had him believe white dragons or an afterlife existed.
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> Before it becomes another argument, she asks him to give her some time alone with her parents. Back downstairs, Boms gets reprimanded by his father, who already assumed he said something inappropriate based on what his siblings told him. Boms becomes offended and insists to have seen a white dragon, but as he recognizes not to be wanted around right now, he leaves to the shrine -after taking the apple pie sitting on the table from everyone's noses.
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> His mother's words stay with him and he figures it'd be time well spent to pray for the souls of his grandparents, but the guilt and feeling it's too late eat at him. He decides to head into the forest, where he retraces his steps and tries to find his white dragon again.
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> With only a full moon as his lantern, he becomes lost on where to go and calls her in increasing desperation. He sprints further into the deep of the night, hoping to be heard eventually, until he is stopped by her at the edge of where the forest seems to end. She tells him not to go further and turn around, but he falls onto his knees and starts begging for his grandparents' entrance into the afterlife. His confusing pleads are ignored and she repeats he needs to go, turning him emotional.
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> He believes his lifelong rejection of the faith is what makes him unworthy to speak to her, and he starts to chant the long prayers of his people as to get on her good side.
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> The white dragon feels awkward to be threatening a sobbing man who treats her as an authority on something she knows nothing about. As to calm his mind, she tells him he shouldn't cry over loved ones lost, but smile he had them in the first place -and his grandparents are where they need to be. The vague answer is taken as a confirmation of their afterlife residence and gives him visible relief.
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> Before she can repeat her demand of turning back, he reminds her of the presents still waiting for her in his village and that he brought an apple pie. She answers not to eat apples or pies, nor know where his village is. He excitedly begins to give her directions and promises to leave behind something edible for her tomorrow. She stays indifferent and only responds with the threat he should never come back this way if he values his life. Boms pauses and asks if her home is in that direction, which she confirms to be so.
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> Thinking it's the portal to the afterlife, he promises not to intrude, but then boldly tries to bargain she has to visit his shrine in exchange. His misplaced confidence is not appreciated, but he runs off before she can lash out at him for it. In the distance, she hears him thanking her for her forgiveness.
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> When assured he is gone, she heads to her town up ahead to informs the guards that the dragon who spotted her won't be entering their restricted, hidden home. The men still express displeasure for her careless stroll near the brown village, a mistake she says can't be undone.
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> The next day, Boms takes the biggest pot from the kitchen and carries it outside. He spends the whole day catching rabbits and depositing their blood, whereafter the offering is pushed towards the shrine, startling the praying dragons with the smell.
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> They start arguing with him that the gift is inappropriate and a deity would never want something so foul to one's senses, but Boms says their goddess devours blood, not souls, and rabbits are her favourite, making his present the only one of use to her. A disagreement erupts and Boms' father is called over to talk sense into him.
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> After hearing him so convinced of his case and unable to disagree with him it costs too much effort for it to be a prank, he asks his fellow villagers to bear with him and his newfound faith. Boms smirks after having received his father's support, while the rest stays skeptical and many leave in order to escape the scent of death soiling the area.
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> As to assure no one will try anything, Boms sits himself down on the pot and prays at the shrine for hours, waiting for the white dragon to come, but the night falls with no sign of her and the cold forces him to go home.
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> Shortly after, she appears to inspect the village that had long stayed off her radar. She looks at the shrine and houses up afar, and concludes they are a simple race that won't become a problem to hers.
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> Remembering what Boms said, she browses the gifts, but none of it peaks her interest or has any meaning to her. By looking at the statue sitting in the center, of a white, snake-like dragon with layered angel wings, she comes to understand Boms' behaviour and to resemble the source of their religion.
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> The large pot then catches her attention and its contents moreso. Upon touching the lid and handles, she feel Boms' warmth and this lingering scent on them. Up close, she starts to feel a kind of ecstasy she's rarely felt before and her hunger instantly grows.
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> She lifts the heavy pot with no effort and disappears into the forest with it.
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> Boms shows up early the next morning to check the shrine, but misinterprets the disappearance of the entire pot as the others having thrown it away. He becomes angry with them, but can't point out the perpetrators and has to let it go. Back home, he's scolded by his mother for losing her pot and asked to get clay for a new one.
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> He goes to the river to dig, muttering some familiar complaints to himself about his family and neighbours, until he sees his mother's pot passing him by in the stream. Inside is only a white feather to be found.
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> As there's no time to repeat yesterday's gift, he makes something with the clay he's already collected. He spends the rest of the day on an accessory for the white dragon's long hair and again waits at the shrine for her to show up. One of his siblings comes with the message dinner is waiting for him, but he declines and keeps sitting till nightfall, after everyone has gone to bed, this time bearing the cold.
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> His patience is rewarded by a visit from the mysterious woman, though she appears more ill-intentioned. He doesn't pick up on it and greets her with excitement as he presents her his art project.
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> She briefly looks at the item, then him. Thinking she wants to talk, he asks if his other present pleased her and she replies it sufficed. While it's a lackluster response, his smile doesn't fade.
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> She wishes to lure him out of earshot of the village and asks him to follow her, which he does without question. Still holding the gift, he is guided into the depths of the forest and only has her almost luminous white scales and feathers to help him stay on path.
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> She turns around and stops him. Not knowing the meaning of it all, he anxiously tries handing her the gift again and is met with a short pause. Upon feeling her sharp nails pick it up, her face starts drawing closer to his neck. He then feels her long fingers pierce themselves through his fluffy hair and wrap around his head as to keep him from escaping, though he thinks she wants to kiss and presses his face against hers without a moment's hesitation. It barely lasts a second before she flinches back.
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> She speaks of his nerves and how they don't even know each other, whereafter he hears the clay hair pin crack and fall onto the dirt. Shame and humiliation wash over him and Boms falls face down on his knees, begging for forgiveness as "a foolish mortal". Her pity for the naive dragon affects her appetite, and when Boms raises his head, she's gone.
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> The rest of the month he leaves behind more gifts at the shrine, but they are not collected. He fights with the other believers to leave his gifts be, who argue they should be removed, since their presence entails they've been rejected by the gods.
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> Every day and night he goes out to make or find gifts to add to the pile, eating at his health. His parents express their worry to their bedridden son that he's losing his mind over a faker. Boms admits not to care whether or not she's a goddess, but as she's still alien to him, he doesn't know how else to act.
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> The next full moon arrives and the white dragon shows up once more at the brown village's shrine. The pile of objects next to the building is hard to ignore and is "soaked" in the irresistible scent of the dragon she showed mercy to weeks ago. Looking at the gifts up close, the pain and effort put in is detectable.
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> She drinks the bottle of blood that sat among the gifts, and leaves it behind with one of her feathers in it as a sign of her visit.
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> Boms shows up in the early morning, sick as a dog, to pray at the shrine. When his drowsy eyes finally notice his presents disappeared, he again concludes they were taken away by the villagers, but the only other person with him says to have seen no one take them.
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> Boms drunkenly walks over to the discarded bottle, but the old man grab hold of him and advices him to go home in his state. When he notices the feather inside, he gets a boost of energy and insists to be fine. He leaves for the river to get clay for another gift, but has trouble keeping himself conscious and falls into its strong current. He cuts his arm while underwater and the icy temperature inserts enough panic in his weakened body to grab hold of a boulder, but when it starts to affect his consciousness again, he cries for help with his last strength.
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> Through the blur of his eyes, he sees a white being walk up next to him and raise him up by his collar with slight hostility. When he perceives it to be the white dragon, he humbles himself and expresses gratitude for having heard his cries, despite his rudeness last time they met. His words seemingly don't reach her as she's fixated on his bleeding arm. Boms is kept lifted off the ground as she stares at the leaking red fluid.
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> He continues it was wishful thinking from his part that she wanted to kiss, and he can't keep his eyes off of her whenever they meet.
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> She releases an inaudible sigh and reassures he's been forgiven, since he's given up his health and nearly his life for her. She puts him back down and states this is the last time they'll meet. Boms says that can't be so and has planned more offerings to give, but she reminds him they only agreed to one visit to the shrine and there's no reason to keep contact.
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> She turns around to leave, but he stumbles behind her and grabs her tail. He begs her not to go and says to had nothing to look forward to before he learned of her existence, but the act of grabbing her is not appreciated. She demands to be unhanded and flies off. Boms pitifully tries to fly after her, but doesn't have the wings or strength for it, and can only head back home with hanging shoulders.
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> His mother finds her feverish son collapsed at the front door and the family carries him back to bed, where he stays for many days. She attempts a conversation every time she comes to bring food, but he says nothing.
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> When healed up, his father asks his only tall son to assist him replenishing their firewood stock, which he begrudgingly accepts. They take their cart and axes to the forest, where Boms briefly sees two white dragons watching from afar. He tells his father, but he clearly doesn't believe him and asks him to resume his work. After some fooling around, an unknown white dragon catches Boms off-guard and stands in front of him with his spear raised. His father turns his head to see a figure behind a tree with a spear aimed at him. He quickly runs towards Boms as he throws the log in his hand in between him and the weapon, happening to block the hit, but still causing him to get bumped backwards. When his father catches up to him, the attacker has disappeared, though by the sounds surrounding them they conclude he's still around.
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> They abandon their possessions and hurry themselves to the village for safety.
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> There, a villager is quick to approach Boms with a complaint. He and his father are brought to the shrine, now damaged by a load of objects seemingly thrown against it. As they're all the gifts Boms once left behind for his arguable goddess, they think he did it, but Boms' father testifies it couldn't have been him. He warns them of the attacker in the forest and guesses both instances could be related, whereafter Boms concludes the white dragons he spotted must've done it. His father doesn't understand his reasoning, but he guesses he was attacked by the other gods because he kept disrespecting the goddess.
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> The faces surrounding Boms show disbelief and their response even moreso, angering him. He asks why nothing he tells them about the white dragons is ever taken seriously, while their entire religion revolves around them. His father explains white dragons aren't beings that can be seen or would casually mingle with them, an unspoken rule Boms questions. The other villagers add that he's a notorious atheist and are never sure when something is a joke.
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> As his father still worries the attacker might be coming back for him, he's sent home to rest. Boms takes his old fur pelt back from the pile of gifts, leaving the rest to be taken care of by his father and the villagers.
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> Back in his bedroom, he throws the pelt on his bed where it used to be and lies down on it. The hostile rejection of his gifts and the constant disbelief he meets with bother him, and he feels more ostracized than he was as a non-believer.
> As he mopes to himself, he picks up on the slightly changed scent of his favourite pelt. The fragrant perfume reminds him of the time his goddess came close enough to kiss her, and he figures she made genuine use of his gifts before they were discarded.
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> That night he is awakened by a pale face staring him down. He nervously browses the room he shares with his siblings, who are still asleep as the woman he thought to had chased away hovers over him. Not wanting to misinterpret her visit this time, he waits for her to speak.
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> She warns him he should leave the village, though doesn't clarify as to why. He asks if it has something to do with his inappropriate behaviour towards her, to which she only tells him not to criminalize himself over petty actions. She gets up and exits through his window, but Boms jumps after her.
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> As they're in the middle of the village, there's no exchange between the two and she silently allows him to walk beside her. When far away enough, she repeats he needs to leave, but Boms wishes to know the reason. She admits to be embarrassed and also it to be her fault. She gives him the heads up that her fellow dragons have made him a subject of interest and his safety can't be guaranteed. With that, she sprints into the forest, but Boms isn't satisfied.
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> While he's already lost her, he keeps running for that chance to see and speak with her further. When the amount of trees surrounding him start to decline, he gets swept up into the sky and his familiar capturer places him down at an unknown lake, illuminated by moonlight.
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> She comments on his stupidity, but he says not to leave everything behind over a vague message. Understanding the thought, she sits herself down and he copies.
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> She explains that after taking his gifts, she decided to keep them and gave a place for each in her house, which caught the attention of residents looking in. As these items are not conventionally white, they realized she made contact with another race, which is not wanted by the community.
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> Boms responds flattered by her embracing his presents, but she suggests him to see the severity of her mistake. He goes on to ask what gift she liked best, and after some silence, she mentions his fur pelt and a heart-shaped glass stone he made, resembling her eyes. She adds to like the scent and feel of the fur, that's similar to his hair, and the craftsmanship of the glass surprised her. He remarks the pelt came from his room and was his most valued possession, but her liking to his hair catches his attention more. He invites her to touch it, something she doesn't find appropriate to be do.
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> Boms then asks how badly they want him dead, but she can't answer with certainty they'll keep pursuing him, as doing so might urge the brown village to look around for the ones to blame; endangering the hidden status of her home. Still, she's convinced they'll be able to remove him without raising much suspicion.
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> He asks her if he has a choice in the matter, she replies she can't force him, thus he settles with staying. She finds it a foolish choice, but he argues his family and community is all he's ever known, despite his problems with them, and his life should be deemed complete now he's met a white dragon.
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> As he keeps making excuses, his nervous shivering has her realize he's afraid. She comes closer and starts to fondle his hair. Minutes pass, and when Boms has calmed down, she suddenly pierces his shoulder with her fangs and cuts off a piece of his hair with her sharp nails. He jumps back in surprise.
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> She stands up with her face covered in blood and her clothes with his hair, tells him he's dead, then leaves the scene and him confused. He looks at himself to determine if he's perhaps a ghost or has been cursed, but can't figure out the meaning of her actions and words.
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> His family acknowledges him and the wound, reassuring him he's in fact not a ghost, and the days after are much the same. While slightly hurt by the sudden attack from his goddess, he keeps his routine of going to the shrine, though one of his parents always escort him out of worry he'll be targeted again. Nevertheless, peace returns to their lives, and the gifts that are left behind are again ignored. Boms' pile grows larger and everyone is bugged by the repetition, but feel sorry enough for him and the things he's gone through to let it slide.
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> Two months later, though, the pile has been browsed through. He notices that a recently self-made bottle with rabbit blood was taken. Remembering that the heart stone was one of the white dragon's favourite gifts -and the bottle being the only one with a romantic inclination to it as well- he becomes upbeat and feels encouraged to create similar products.
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> Thought the shrine isn't consistently visited, the gifts that have a clear message are always removed. As to keep her out of trouble, he tries to mimic a style he thinks the gods wouldn't suspect to be foreign, and starts teaching himself to craft more high-end, detailed objects.
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> Another month later, he leaves behind his old fur pelt, slightly altered with a bronze patterned rim. That same night, the white dragon shows up in his bedroom while working on his next project. Startled, and slightly worried about what she'll do this time, he asks her what she came to visit him at home for. She reassures him to not lay her hands on him this time.
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> She looks at his working bench, but Boms doesn't want to surprise spoiled and covers it with it hands. She then asks him if he has time to meet her outside, away from his family downstairs. He accepts, though with slight delay in his voice.
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> She picks him up and flies towards the lake from last time. Boms asks what this location is, to which she replies it to be a secret spot where she's been going to ever since she was a child. She adds she was here the day she found him ill in the river, and remarks his blood to have a very prominent smell. He doesn't know how to take the comment, but as only silence follows, he eventually asks if she wishes to eat him. As is expected from the introvert woman, no response is given.
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> Boms lowers his shirt and exposes his shoulder to her. Her expression is deadpan and gives him no indication of what she's planning, making his heart race, yet he tries to find peace in the offer he's about to give to the one he thinks is his divine ruler. But she pulls his shirt back up and says that desire has long passed. Her hand then moves up to his hair, fondling it again. She comments on its pleasant feel, reminding her of a young rabbit's fur.
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> She releases him and looks up at the moon. She asks what it means to him, but Boms dubs it an unreliable lantern, of no use to his kind anyway, as they don't go outside at night in any circumstances. She reminds him of his nightly endeavours, to which he says to make an exception for her. Her mouth subtly warps into something that could be qualified as a smile, until it shifts back. Boms asks her for her name. She says it to be Magnalbadea.
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> Magnalbadea then thanks him for his many gifts, but says she can't accept more. He suggests giving her edibles from now on, but she reveals to have a partner she long neglected, who wishes to share a home and start a family, leaving no room for their visits or his presents. Boms is disheartened, but doesn't know what to say to a woman he already had little chance with. He apathetically confesses his love to her as she flies off.
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> She meets up with her mate back home, waiting to help her move out her possessions. When he finds Boms' fur pelt, drenched in his scent, Magnalbadea uses the moment of distraction to throw away all other gifts, then claims she made it herself from killed prey. The detailed bronze rim helps to convince him, yet he finds the fuzziness, prominent smell, and brown colour scheme not to be appropriate in a white dragon community and wants the item destroyed. Knowing better than to argue, she allows for it.
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> While all else is crushed or melted beyond recognition by her fire breath, she decides to keep the glass heart and puts it in her pocket.
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> It doesn't take long for her room-sized home to be cleaned out and for Magnalbadea to find herself in her new bedroom with the man she long distanced herself from. As if it were a business meeting, he talks with her about having waited enough and wanting his children. She knows she can't prolong things further and her motionless state is seen as an admission. As he approaches her, though, he sees the white flames from the candelabra reflect in the glass heart sitting near her resting feet. He picks it up and expresses his distaste, asking why she hid a heart-shaped object of unknown origin under her bed.
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> Magnalbadea lies it to be a random stone she found and decided to keep, as the insides reminded her of her eyes. The comment makes him realize how similar it is, whereafter he throws it onto the ground. He looks at her closely, trying to read her response and determine the importance of the object.
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> She stays seated, with her indifferent eyes pointed at the broken pieces, but her sharp nails ever so slowly bury themselves in her lap. The man hisses at her unfaithfulness and continues to scold her. Though called a degenerate, he urges her to stay and start a family with him in order to save her honour as a white dragon, but Magnalbadea loses her patience with his belittling tone and criticism on Boms' hard work. She slaps his hand off her wrist, then walks out.
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> He keeps tailing her, demanding to know where she's going and who's the man worthy giving up her dignity for -purposely making her predicament known to the other dragons. She knows not how to respond, only to feel disgust for him.
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> He reminds her of the promise they made and the benefit of their partnership, to which she replies it was forced by her family and she never agreed to it. He says it not to matter, as moving in with him counts as an agreement.
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> Magnalbadea takes off in the sky and tries to escape his passive aggressiveness, but can't shake him off.
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> He then comments on the pelt he destroyed and its smell having more in common with that of another dragon than an animal. She realizes what sparked the remark when she sees they're nearing the brown dragon village. Boms is out in the open, praying at the shrine still. Her mate connects the dots and wants to swoop in, but Magnalbadea starts to fight him.
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> The distant noises catch Boms' attention and he sees two silhouettes struggling in front of the full moon. He thinks to see Magnalbadea and runs to check after the two drop down from the sky. The dark forest once again clouds his vision and there are no sounds to help him guide into the right direction. Precious minutes go by.
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> He thinks to hear water splashing and ends up at the moonlit lake again, where he finds an unknown white dragon -his jaw scratched open and his wings torn off- holding Magnalbadea's face down in the lake and drowning her. The thought of having to challenge a godly figure makes his knees shake, but as his beloved starts losing her energy, he jumps the man and plants his stubby teeth in his neck. It does nothing and the annoyed dragon gives an expected response.
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> While keeping the weakened Magnalbadea down with one hand, he uses the rest of his limbs to try and kill Boms. His handicap allows for Boms to mostly avoid his swipes and do some of his own, but all fruitless. His normal nails and blunt teeth don't make a dent in the superior creature's skin.
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> His enemy benefits from a longer reach and quicker reaction time, and when Magnalbadea's body starts to slump and Boms becomes more careless, the white stranger throws some severe hits. Boms is catapulted into a tree, where the large horn at the back of his head becomes slightly stuck. Realizing it is the only lethal weapon he possesses, he pries himself loose and sprints towards the assaulter. He jumps and turns himself around mid-air.
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> Teeth and nails are buried deep inside his head and chest, yet his unseen target collapses and Magnalbadea arises from the lake. While catching her breath, she checks on Boms, barely conscious and with his back horn pierced through the skull of her ex-partner.
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> She slowly releases him from his lifeless grip and carries him to his village. She barges into his house, startling his family. They immediately get on their knees for her, but Magnalbadea asks them to stop and attend to Boms' wounds.
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> She stays at his side when the village medic comes, and soon the entire neighbourhood shows up to see the white dragon.
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> An unknown period of time later, Boms awakens with her still next to him. He expresses relief she's still alive, as for himself. She greets him with a long kiss, then announces her leave.
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> He shoots up to ask why, and she tells him who the man was she was fighting with and how he humiliated her in public; making her the prime suspect of his death. Boms expresses guilt, but she assures him not to be in the wrong, as he was coming for him. She advices him to move out in case his lingering scent at the crime scene will give her kind other ideas.
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> Boms' family silently watch her descent their small stairs and exit. Outside, the entirety of the village is waiting for her and also stare her down. As she has no business with them, she keeps walking.
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> A few minutes later, she hears many footsteps following her. She sees the villagers carrying bags and pushing carts, and Boms comes running from the crowd. He says they might as well stick together if they're both on the run. She asks why the other dragons are coming too, and he answers to protect their goddess.
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> Magnalbadea says nothing, but brushes her long fingers through his poofy hair.
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## Characters

### Boms

Boms is a male brown dragon.

He lives in a religious community where his family in particular is very devoted and pray for hours on end. For as long as he's been alive, Boms has enjoyed little free time to do his own things and missed out on parties and events with friends. Because of this and his overall skeptic nature, he ridiculed his family's religion and liked to argue with believers, until he came across Magnalbadea.

While he's lived his life as a cocky atheist, he is very much a brown dragon in the sense he is quick to be convinced of the inexplicable. He immediately believed Magnalbadea is the goddess that his village worships and that the afterlife exists, only because he was proven wrong white dragons not to exist.

Though he can grovel at her feet like any worshipper would, he is also very much driven by his overconfidence and libido; and likes to throw flirty comments at his deadpan goddess whenever he feels he can get away with it. Magnalbadea's lack of response to these unfamiliar courting tactics doesn't worry him, though he fears to have lost her respect whenever it's negative.

In her presence, he switches from being his arrogant self to the humble servant his religious mother tried to raise him as, since he's a recent believer and can't keep himself in check around a "holy being" he prefers to date over worship.

He apparently has blood -and an overall taste and smell to him- that's irresistibly sweet to Magnalbadea.

Boms is the only member in his family who doesn't have dwarfism. He has light-brown skin, yellow eyes, black eyebrows, beauty marks fully covering the right side of his face and body, poofy brown hair, a single horn at the back of his head, drags large wings behind him, and has a tail with a horn sticking out. His hair is described by Magnalbadea to feel like a young rabbit's fur.

### Magnalbadea

Magnalbadea (*pronounced "Man-jal-ba-dea"*) is a female white dragon.

She belongs to a race of bloodsucking dragons that are so rarely seen, they're guessed to be spirits by brown dragon communities. As a taken woman of a different race, she initially showed no interest in Boms, and at most considered him a meal. Hunting other dragons is unheard behaviour for white dragons, though, and she struggled to keep her composure around him. She claimed his skin and scent to be very sweet, moreso than the blood of rabbits she's fond of.

She had no interest in her own partner either, and would leave home whenever there's a full moon; as this is the breeding period for white dragons. At the same time, their ingrained loyalty made her not consider leaving him.

She is patient and untalkative, which leaves room for Boms to come to his own conclusions and misinterpret the few words she speaks in between the long pauses. She's perceived by him as the goddess and guardian of his village, but as she's instinctively indifferent towards harmless mad men -as she perceives him to be- she doesn't care to spend breath correcting him.

Her demeanour is that of intensively trained royalty, fitting the role Boms gives her as his "Holy Majesty".

Like the rest of her kind, she is mostly expressionless and has no simple pleasures in life to entertain herself with. Nevertheless, she picks up on Boms' responses and begins to care more about his happiness as he tries to do the same for her. Because her own partner and white dragons in general don't put effort in courting one another and are very aromantic, his persistent showering of heartfelt gifts flattered her and made her want more.

Besides that, she derives joy from grabbing his hair, which she likes the feel of, though it still doesn't spawn much of an expression on her face.

She is tall, slender, very pale, has white sleek hair going down to her feet, red eyes, full peach-coloured lips, a double set of horns; one small, one long arching back, and wings and a long tail with patches of white feathers.

## Trivia

* The name "Magnalbadea" is a string of Latin words mashed together; *"magna alba dea"*, meaning "large white/albino goddess".

## See also

* God's Colour Palette Dragons
* Flames of Love