The Book of Dragons page 371:
The barbaric nature of dragons can be seen from their mating as well. There have been multiple occasions when a dragon was found dead during mating because his or her mate would attack the dragon to devour on its corpse for mavis.
Brett ached all over when he woke up. He fumbled for his glasses only to realize that the bed was empty. He was alone.
"...Eddy?"
Brett tried to sit up but winced as the pain hit him for real this time. His swollen lips were throbbing and his neck was bruised and sore. His shoulders were covered with bloody scratches, evident through his ripped clothes.
Brett finally found his glasses and put them on. He saw Eddy staring at him, sitting at the far corner of the room.
"...good morning?" Brett asked uncertainly.
Eddy's eyes were stern and deep as he sat motionless in the chair.
"You're hurt."
"It's not too bad," Brett flexed his arms a little, trying not to make a face as a dull pain radiated through his shoulder.
"That's not the point," Eddy snarled. "What were you thinking?"
"What were you thinking?" Brett countered. He wasn't going to let Eddy blame everything on him for last night. It was Eddy who kissed him first, after all, this stupid feeding system they made.
Eddy sighed as he ran his finger through his hair slowly.
"This...whatever is happening...cannot work."
"I didn't expect it to be easy either," Brett murmured.
Eddy snorted as he rolled his eyes.
"Age, race, gender, power?? Tell me one thing that is not wrong in this mess and I will hear you."
Brett fell silent as Eddy stood up, pacing the room, frustrated.
"What were you thinking, young one? Haven't you read that we dragons confuse lust for hunger? If I begin to feel you in any vaguely similar concept, you're putting yourself in real danger. Especially when your mavis is so low that I'm always hungry anyway. I'll lose myself and god only knows what I might do next time."
I might end up killing you.
Brett didn't dare to protest as he sensed fear in Eddy's voice. Brett knew he was being impulsive last night and yes, he was probably being too reckless. Probably overestimating his familiar's control for hunger at least. But the confusion in his head demanded an answer, and he got it last night.
The memory of the beast almost eating him alive last night was Eddy's answer.
The fear in Eddy's voice in the morning was the answer.
Eddy was right. This was a bad move Brett shouldn't have made.
What would the council do if they learn that the dragon has been hurting Brett? It will be a definite proof to confirm Eddy as dangerous and kill the dragon when the code of vocamen has been broken. And the last thing Brett wanted to do was to give all the more reasons why Eddy should be eradicated.
"I don't want to hurt you, Brett," Eddy stopped in the middle of the room, looking away from Brett with guilt.
"...I understand," Brett muttered.
"You're just confused, young one. You're kissing a hot lad every night so I understand, alright?" Eddy managed a joke and Brett chuckled back nervously.
"It will be safer...with some distance and reducing physical contact as much as possible. I know a potion that can enhance mavis temporarily. We can try that for now, at least until whatever we have has calmed down a bit, you know," Eddy said, asking for approval.
Brett's heart sank as he heard Eddy. However, he nodded when he saw his blood mark on the white sheet of his bed.
"Alright," Brett whispered.
Brett went to the restroom to get a shower. He cringed at his naked look in the mirror. His neck was dark purple as if he has been strangled last night close to death. His bottom lip was torn and swollen, still bleeding a little. His shoulder had angry marks all over. The skin where Eddy's nails have dug in hurt when he touched it carefully.
Brett flinched as the warm water hit him, whimpering slightly as the wound stung.
As much as he wanted to explore this feeling that he had ever since Eddy first kissed him, the risk of killing both of them wasn't worth it. But his heart seemed to disagree as it beat faster when he heard Eddy's concerned voice outside the shower room.
"Everything alright?"
Brett let out a sigh.
"Did you strangle me last night or what?" Brett rubbed his neck as if the bruises will wash away on its own.
There was a long silence on the other side of the door.
"I honestly don't remember, young one. I might have strangled you but for the most part, I think I was close to eating you."
And that ended the conversation about last night.
.
.
Eddy was right. Brett has become popular from his last entrance to the Familiar Worldcup tryout. He didn't make it to the real competition because of his grades but nonetheless, he has made a good impression about him for the first time. His friends all watched in envy when he walked in the corridor with the beast. Stacy regularly talked with him, sometimes even having lunch with him privately. Brett was even invited to Stacy's birthday party. Although he still sucked at magic, he was proceeding a little better in his classes too.
Brett and Eddy were back to their normal routine as well. Well, almost normal. They were like a good friend, a young summoner and an old beast. Both of them didn't mention that night at all. Eddy was back to his strict teacher mode and Brett into his clumsy young soul.
Their physical contact has reduced significantly though. After that night, Brett has taken a potion from the nursing office to enhance his mavis temporarily. It would wear off in a month or so. Eddy said the potion was working. Hopefully, whatever they had should be sorted out before then. They no longer hold hands at night. In the afternoon, Eddy only kissed Brett briefly, only for a few seconds at most. The kiss had no feelings or intensity - meaning only business.
Both of them still felt the strange tension building between them but they knew it would hurt both of them to acknowledge it.
So here Brett was in Stacy's birthday party, wishing that some alcohol and loud music will get his minds off the beast for once.
"Brett-! You came, thank you!" Stacy hugged Brett as he entered Stacy's dormitory room. Her friends were already quite drunk, laughing and dancing.
Stacy took Brett's hand as she led Brett to the couch. She poured Brett a drink.
"Happy Birthday Stacy," Brett smiled as they drank together.
"Do you know how hard it was for me to get these drinks in the dormitory? I almost got caught," Stacy laughed, pouring another drink for Brett.
After a few shots, Brett felt his body get warmer, his muscle reacting to the rhythm of the loud bass hitting from the speaker. He was a little dizzy as he smiled stupidly to Stacy.
"So, how's it going with your familiar?" Stacy asked, leaning to Brett's shoulder.
"Good, I mean, he's an old soul. I'm sometimes confused if he's my summoner actually."
"That's cute, Brett."
Stacy's drunk breath was tickling Brett's neck.
The neck Eddy sucked so ferociously that night.
Stop thinking about the beast for fuck's sake.
Brett sighed in annoyance. Stacy didn't notice Brett's distress as she reached for Brett's shoulder and pulled him closer to her.
"Do you mind...?" Stacy's eyes were half-closed as she moved in closer, her lips only an inch away from Brett's.
As soon as their lips met, Brett opened his eyes and was shocked to see Eddy standing beside the window, looking at Brett.
Eddy shrugged his shoulder when he saw Stacy kissing Brett lustfully as if he couldn't care less. It was getting late so Eddy was just stopping by to check if Brett was alright. It was great that Brett has moved on, found his sanity and a girlfriend.
And Eddy was absolutely outraged as he stomped back to his room.
Eddy slammed the door and crawled into the bed, annoyed at Brett's scent in the blanket. Everything was going fine, EXACTLY how he wanted. And that irritated him.
The moment when he saw Brett kissing Stacy, his heart pounded furiously. Right then and there, he wanted to break the window, hold Brett, kiss him in front of everyone and claim him as his possession.
And then eat him.
No, no. Eddy shook his head. The last part is wrong. No, he shouldn't eat Brett.
"No, those are not for eating, beastie."
A kind voice of a woman he missed rang in his head and beast struggled as he pushed his feeling down. Everything is alright. Everything is fine now. Just like he wanted.
Soon, Brett came into his room, panting. Evidently, he has ran from the party right after the kiss.
"Why were you there?" Brett demanded.
"It was getting late so I just wanted to check if you were alright," Eddy sneered.
"It was-"
"Congratulations," Eddy replied shortly as he laid down in bed, covering his face with a blanket.
Clearly, Eddy was not in the mood to talk. Brett wasn't either. Drunk kissing Stacy didn't feel right. It just made him nauseous. It wasn't pleasant. And it only reminded him of someone he shouldn't be thinking.
Brett laid down next to Eddy, turning his back to him. They were angry at each other, for reasons they weren't ready to talk about.
Brett was almost asleep when the silence was broken by the sound of a metal clinking to each other. Puzzled, Brett slowly turned his head toward Eddy. Eddy was tying his hands to the bed frame.
"What are you doing?" Brett asked, perplexed.
Eddy stopped midway tying himself in chain. There was a silence as Eddy realized Brett was not asleep yet.
"...I don't want to hurt you if I become too hungry at night," Eddy finally replied, avoiding Brett's gaze.
"How long have you been doing this?"
"From that day," Eddy's voice was raspy as he brought out the day they have never talked about since.
"The potion is not working, right?" Brett asked, his voice quivering.
The beast didn't answer him.
"Eddy-"
Brett reached out for the beast's hand but Eddy avoided him.
"This feeding system...it's dangerous. I'm afraid to hurt you, Brett. And you're going well with Stacy. This is my problem and you don't need to help me out."
"But you're hungry..!"
"The potion is working...somewhat. I'm getting the hang of controlling my hunger. Let's just hope the council breaks the code fast enough, alright?"
Hunger was hard enough for Eddy. The feeling of lust combined with hunger made it almost impossible for Eddy to control himself during the night. He began to tie himself from that day when he realized he was close to losing himself when he heard Brett's breath at night - rhythmic and deep - luring Eddy to well, dine on Brett and chew his bones, pull out his guts and -
No.
Eddy finished tying himself to the bedframe and laid back down in bed.
Brett looked down at Eddy, sitting up, his heart crumbling inside him.
The council will kill you when the code is broken, you stupid asshole.
His thought almost reached his throat but Brett laid down again, giving into Eddy's stubbornness.
Brett still couldn't figure out how to prove to the council that they shouldn't kill Eddy, to prove that the beast is not dangerous anymore.
Because Brett knew deep down, the beast really was dangerous.
And he was playing with his life trying to save this moron but he had no idea how to control his own familiar.
.
.
Brett woke up with the sound of his wooden bedframe breaking.
As soon as he opened his eyes in shock, he was pushed down by Eddy sitting on top of him.
Eddy's eyes were hollow, starving as he saw his prey underneath him. He sniffed Brett like an animal as he ran his finger through Brett's hair. His wrists were all bloody from breaking the chain and the red stream of blood trickled down to Brett's cheek.
"You're mine."
Eddy's mouth opened wide to bite down.
The moonbeam shone down at them as Eddy leaned down to Brett, blind from hunger.
"I command you Eddy, back off!" Brett managed to shout just in time before the beast could hunt him.
The golden runes restrained Eddy to the far end of the bed. Eddy slashed madly, hissing and eyeing Brett intensely. Eddy clenched at the white sheet, ripping them apart. Brett shivered as he saw Eddy's mad eyes.
Brett knew the runes wouldn't stay for long though as Eddy was struggling to break free.
The worst has happened in front of him. The feeding system was broken. Eddy has overestimated his control for hunger. Eddy needed to hunt and Brett knew he was the prey.
"Run."
Eddy managed to articulate a single word through his clenched teeth.