Of Ice and Scales. Nordics x reader part 4

      You stared at the ceiling, bored out of your mind. Waiting for your injuries to heal wasn’t exactly high class entertainment, so you spend a good chunk of time sitting around the house with nothing to do. You would have liked to go flying, but your wings still hadn’t completely healed, though the majority of your other injuries were gone. You heard someone walking to the door and shifted on the couch to get a better look. There, in full winter clothes, was Mathias holding some sort of wooden contraption. He noticed you staring and flashed you a smile.

      “I’m heading out to do some sledding, want to join me?” He asked. You tilted your head quizzically.

      “Sledding? What’s that?” you asked. Mathias let out a chuckle.

      “You’ve really never been sledding? We need to fix that,” He said while grabbing your arm and pulling you off the couch. He handed you a heavy coat and some boots and, after struggling to put on the unfamiliar clothes, you followed him out the door.

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      “Are you sure this is safe?” You asked. You were sitting behind Mathias on the wooden thing –a sled he called it- perched on top of a steep hill. You glanced down, there didn’t seem to be any rocks or trees in your path, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any hidden under the snow.

      “Don’t worry, I’ve done this loads of times!” He said laughing. You frowned.

      ‘That doesn’t answer my question…’ you thought to yourself, letting out a small yelp when the sled inched forward slightly.

      “Ready?” He asked. If he saw the frantic shakes of your head he ignored them. He inched the sled forward, letting out a cheer once gravity began to pull the sled down the snow covered hill. You let out a scream and wrapped your arms around his middle. The wind stung at your eyes, causing them to tear up. Figuring that you didn’t really want to see what was coming, you closed your eyes and buried your face in Mathias’s back, successfully blocking out the wind. With a jolt, you noticed that you were skidding along the ground now instead of sliding down the hill. Figuring the sled would slow down, you loosened your grip, only to tighten it when the smooth sound of snow underneath you changed to a harsh scraping. As you slowed to a stop you noticed that Mathias hadn’t said anything or moved since the scraping started. After a moment, he spoke.

      “Hey (y/n), don’t freak out or anything, but we sorta have a problem,” Mathias said, his voice slightly laced with…worry? That was new.

      You slowly lifted up your head and glanced around, realizing the immediate issue. The sled had skidded onto a frozen lake, and judging by the faint cracks beginning to form underneath you, it wasn’t very thick. You paled, you would have transformed and flown off, but your wings weren’t strong enough to support your large dragon body right now, plus the extra weight would send both of you into the water. Suddenly an idea struck you. It would be difficult to pull off, but it was the only option.

      “Mathias,” he jumped slightly at your voice, “I have an idea, but you’re going to have to trust me.”

      He gave you a slow nod, careful not to jolt the sled. You slowly took your coat and shirt off, wincing when the cold air hit your skin. Handing your clothes to a blushing Mathias, you took a deep breath and began to shift. If you could somehow transform just your wings, they might be strong enough to support your smaller human body. You cringed as your wings sprouted from your back. You looked back at them. The tears in them had healed, but only just. It wouldn’t take much for them to injure again.

      Taking another deep breath, you grabbed Mathias and began to flap your wings. Each flap felt like your wings were being stabbed with needles, and you were panting before you were even a foot off the ground. With the extra weight from Mathias, you could barely hover above the ice. With a groan, you turned and started flying towards the shore.

      When you had barely made it halfway, you felt the muscles in your wings begin to weaken from exhaustion. With one last pump of your wings, you felt them give out, sending you and Mathias crashing onto the ice. Fortunately, the momentum from your short flight send you skidding across the surface. Unfortunately, the impact had created a massive crack in the ice. You and Mathias both paled when you saw the cracks spider webbing towards you faster than you were sliding. You grabbed his hand and tried to fly again, but your muscles were too weak for you to take off again. You met Mathias’s eyes, his mirroring the fear that yours showed. As the cracks nearly reached you, you braced yourself for the cold water.

      Instead, you found yourself slamming into a snowdrift. You blinked and looked around. Apparently your momentum had sent you all the way to the shoreline. You looked to Mathias and burst out laughing in relief. You sat there for a while, laughing to the point of tears in the snow. When you both calmed down you noticed that Mathias’s face had turned red again. You blushed as you quickly snatched your coat and shirt back, quickly putting them back on.

      ‘That’s funny,’ you thought to yourself, ‘Since when did I get all concerned with covering up. Perhaps these humans are having an effect on me.’

      You turned back towards Mathias only to see him staring back out to the lake where the cracks had stopped spreading. He looked almost sad. You put your hand on his shoulder and he turned to you.

      “It’s a pity,” He started, “I really liked that sled.”

      Rolling your eyes and giving him a light punch in the shoulder, you curled your knees and turned towards the lake as well. After a moment you noticed that Mathias was still staring at you. You blushed and turned to face him.

      “What?” you asked, slightly irritated.

      “Do you think when your wings are healed, you could take me flying?”

      You blinked, you hadn’t expected a question like that.

      “W-What brought that up?” Mathias turned back towards the lake.

      “Well, aside from the fact that we were facing the possibility of drowning, it was actually pretty fun to glide over the lake. I’m sure it would be even more fun when your wings were back to their old strength.”

      You thought for a moment. You had never let a human ride on your back before. Heck, before Emil, you had never carried a human at all. And flying truly was an exciting experience. You had done it all your life, but the thrill of it never seemed to go away. You felt a little pity for humans like Mathias, they could never fly on their own. Sure they tried to with all sorts of gadgets and machines, but none of them could truly feel the wind beneath their wings as they soared through the clouds. Plus, aside from the near death experience, Mathias had invited you to go sledding with him. You could at least return the favor, right?

      “Sure,” you nodded, “When my wings heal up, I promise I’ll give you a ride before I leave.”

      With that, Mathias’s face lit up in a huge grin as he leapt up from the snow with a cheer. You couldn’t help but smile at him, his happiness was so contagious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back at the house~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “W’ h’v’ a pr’bl’m,” Berwald said, walking up to where Tino, Emil, and Lukas were sitting. Without another word he handed the letter in his hand over. Tino glanced down and paled at what he read. The next world meeting was scheduled for two days.

      “We can’t leave her here by herself, something might happen to her,” Tino stated, looking back towards the others. They nodded. Everyone had developed a soft spot towards the dragon, even Lukas –though he would never admit it.

      “That only leaves one option,” Lukas started, “She’s going to need to come with us. And that means we need to do some explaining to her.”

      “It’s not her learning about us that I’m worried about,” Tino replied looking back down at the letter, “I’m worried about them learning about her.”