Danny's Dragon

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

One who has a man’s wings and a woman’s also is in himself a womb of the world. And being a womb of the world, continuously, endlessly, gives birth; One who, preferring light, prefers darkness also is in himself an image of the world and being an image of the world, is continuously, endlessly the dwelling of creation; One who is highest of men and humblest also is in himself a valley of the world. And being a valley of the world, continuously, endlessly conducts the one source from which vessels may be usefully filled… – Lao Tzu

Danny closed the door behind him, pocketed his key to Meg’s building, and went slowly up the stairs. His entire body, especially his p***s, still tingled with sensual warmth. Dave’s touch and kiss were both so hot, he’d never imagined anything could be that incredible. Dave’s... care, for that’s what it was... had also gone a long way to easing his trauma from the mugging. The experience had definitely not just been physical. At least not for him.

As he neared the top of the steps, he heard the muffled sounds of the television mixed with a female voice, speaking in Chinese. He smiled to himself. Meg was speaking to her fluffy Persian, Mei. He’d seen her do that a million times over the years, and the funnier part was that Mei often meowed in response, as if she understood everything Meg said to her. He pulled off his glove and rapped softly on the door.

The television went silent. Meg’s footsteps neared the door, and she unlatched it. When she saw him, a smile spread across her face, a stark contrast to the red rims around her green eyes. Her blonde hair was pulled into a haphazard knot, and she wore a pair of pink flannel pajamas, the top unbuttoned, under which she had on a ribbed tank.

A tendril of guilt coursed through him. Meg was a beautiful woman with a lush body. She didn’t have anyone, and now it looked as if he might have someone.

“Hey, Meggie.” He stepped inside, set down his briefcase, and embraced her.

“Hey, Danny.” She squeezed him back. She had a nice scent, like lilacs mixed with freshly baked cookies.

He couldn’t help but remember Dave’s scent: feral and masculine. He squeezed her, then gently pulled away to tug off his other glove and shrug out of his coat.

Meg took them from him and hung his coat on a peg, stuffing the gloves in the pocket. She turned back and looked studied him. Within seconds, he saw knowledge register in her eyes. She might not know exactly what had happened, but she could sense he’d been through something. You just knew things like that when you’d been so close to someone for eighteen years. Besides, she was a fellow Rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac, and was as sensitive as he was about people’s inner workings.

“Danny, are you all right? Did something happen?”

He toed off his shoes and set them neatly on a small shoe rack by the door. Mei approached him and mewed, demanding his attention.

“Hey there, Mei.” He stroked her fluffy back a moment, listening to the motor of purring she emitted. He didn’t want to tell Meg about the whole thing with the knife, but if he didn’t, she’d probably hound him, knowing he was holding something back, until he told her the truth.

“Yes.” He stood up.

She frowned. “Are you hurt?”

He shook his head. “Not at all.”

She took his hand. “Come into the kitchen. I put on a kettle. You can tell me everything.”

He started to follow her, suddenly remembering he’d been coming over to comfort her, not the other way around. “What about you, Meggie? Are you all right?”

She shrugged, leading him past the fireplace where years’ worth of photographs of her and Danny, her grandparents, and her parents were arranged.

“I’m better now. I have moments where I feel all right, then, all of a sudden, the pain washes over me.” She turned to him before they went into the kitchen. “I’d rather feel this way,” she went on. “It reminds me how much I loved him.” She squeezed his hand and smiled. “It lets me know I’m alive.”

“I know you’re right. I just hate hearing you sad.”

She returned his gaze a moment longer, then tugged gently on his hand. “Come on. I know you have something important to tell me.”

In the small, cozy kitchen, Danny sat down at the table while Meg prepared the tea. Mei immediately jumped into his lap and curled up, her purr a never-ending vibration. He stroked her back and scratched behind her ears as he worked up the necessary courage to tell Meg about the guy with the knife. She’d be freaked out, and he could only hope that what had happened with Dave would outweigh her reaction to the mugging.

Meg set the tea pot on the table between them. Danny watched the steam curl from the delicate spout. She set the small cup with no handle at his place and poured him some tea.

Danny’s heart sped up. He took a deep breath. The only way to do this was to get it over with.

“I’ll start by saying I’m fine. But... when I was leaving my office, a homeless guy pulled a knife on me, out on Vassar Street.”

Meg gasped. “Danny, no! Oh my God!”

He winced at the horror in her eyes. She’d already been through enough. She didn’t need this grief on top of it.

“I’m fine, Meg. The weird thing was, when I looked at him, I knew without a doubt he didn’t want to hurt me. He was hungry. I saw it. I didn’t want to make the situation worse. I offered him money for food. He took it and apologized to me.”

Meg lowered her hands and sat quietly, visibly struggling to remain calm. “Thank God he didn’t hurt you. I couldn’t bear anything like that. I love you so much.”

Her words comforted him. Meg had always been the one person in the world he felt free with. That gnawing sense of guilt returned. What if Dave could be that kind of person for him too? “There is something good that came from this, Meg.”

She looked at him. Thankfully, the horror was beginning to recede from her expression. “What was it?”

He glanced down at Mei, then took a breath and told her about how Dave had appeared and run after the guy, and how he’d stopped Dave from chasing him. He explained everything up until Dave’s driving him home.

Now excitement lit Meg’s eyes, replacing all of the panic. “Oh, Danny, that’s wonderful!” A blush stole through her cheeks. She leaned forward as if she were afraid of someone overhearing. “Did he kiss you?”

Danny looked down again at Mei, to where his hand rested on her back, her purring vibrations echoing against his palm. “Yes. And a little more.”

“Oh!” Meg squealed like an excited adolescent. She squealed again when Danny told her he’d be seeing him the following evening. “Danny, this is so awesome!”

“I’d like you to meet him. He’s coming to the store tomorrow at six-thirty.”

Meg’s smile widened. The movement in her face emphasized her eyes, their perfect almond shape. “I can’t wait.”

Again, he couldn’t help feeling troubled. As glorious as his moments with Dave had been, he and Meg had lived in a tiny world, just the two of them, each hiding with the other for their own reasons. Now someone new might enter his world. What would it do to him and Meg?

Meg’s smile faded. “Danny, you’re so troubled. I feel it. I want you to be happy. This is such a special time. You’ve wanted this forever.”

He sighed and took a tiny sip of tea while he formulated his thoughts. Thankfully, the burden of fear was made lighter by the fact he could speak so freely with her. He set down his cup, his shoulders sagging. “I don’t want anything to hurt our friendship.”

Meg was quiet for a moment, and he sensed her absorbing his words. “I don’t see how it could. Just the fact that it troubles you shows how much I mean to you.” She paused and sipped her tea. “Just let me be happy for you, Danny, okay? You’re such a sweet person, and you’ve been waiting so long.”

“You’re waiting too.”

“My time will come. Now is your time.”

Danny exhaled and sat back in his seat. He scratched Mei behind her ears, setting off a deeper rumble of contented purring.

He and Meg spent some time sitting on the sofa watching the rest of Enter the Dragon. When it was over, she switched off the TV and turned to him. “Will you stay here tonight, Danny? I don’t want you walking back across the street by yourself. I know it’s probably okay, but I’m worried. Besides, your laundry is here. I did it tonight with mine. You have stuff to change into.”

He nodded. Truthfully, he had experienced the same hesitation about leaving Meg’s comforting presence to go back into the cold night, even if only for a minute. “I’d like that.”

A little while later, changed into sweatpants and a T-shirt, he lay on Meg’s bed, holding her battered stuffed bear, Fluffy, on his stomach. Fluffy was the last gift Meg’s parents had given her before they were killed in a plane crash when she was eight. He understood why she kept the stuffed toy, even though she was turning thirty on her next birthday.

He stared absently at the bear’s face, thinking about Dave, remembering his masculine scent and the gentle strength in his touch. A pleasant shiver ran through his entire body.

Meg lay stretched out beside him, staring up at the ceiling. “Danny?”

Her voice cut into his thoughts. He turned his head on the pillow toward her. “Yeah?”

“I was just thinking that I’d be really disappointed if you showed up here on Sunday morning to help me open the store.”

He raised his eyebrows. He’d been helping her every weekend since Master Chen died. “Why?”

She chuckled. “Because if you didn’t show up, it would mean you spent the night with Dave and were still in bed, lying in each other’s arms. It’s what I would want for you.”

Heat flushed his cheeks and throat. He’d been thinking along similar lines, actually. He returned her smile. “Thanks, Meggie. I’m hoping for the same thing.” He sighed and set Fluffy on the pillows between them.

He lay back, staring up at the ceiling, his mind and body swirling. He’d spent years hoping and preparing himself for this time. He’d read plenty about gay s*x and what men do with each other. He knew about the Tao of Loving and had read all of the ancient texts on it that Master Chen had given him when Danny was sixteen. But that had been about the mechanics of male–female lovemaking. He could only apply bits of information as they pertained to touching a man. The only thing he knew for certain was that the partners should love each other and that the physical act was an expression of that love.

He thought of the way Dave had touched him, so gently and so passionately. But Dave had taken the lead. He seemed experienced, and Danny didn’t know if he could bring Dave as much pleasure. He wanted to stroke Dave’s dragon, to kiss him and take that intimate part of him in his mouth and into his body, so maybe he could start somewhere with one of those actions. However, he still felt lost. Reading and studying ancient texts was one thing; hands-on practice was quite another.

“Meg?”

“Yeah?”

He turned onto his side, leaning up on his elbow. “I have no idea what to do if he wants to... you know. I mean, I know what the mechanics are, but... well... don’t worry, I’m not asking you to tell me. I know you don’t know either.” When it came to s*x and relationships, Meg was as inexperienced as he. The only difference between them was that she’d stayed longer with the one boyfriend she’d had years ago than he had with his one and only girlfriend.

“I know you’re not asking me that.” She sighed, and he could sense her reflecting. “What did Lao ye tell you?”

Master Chen had known about Danny’s homosexuality and had never judged him, but he also only had experience with women and felt inadequate to advise. Danny never forgot that conversation they’d had. Master Chen had smiled sympathetically and said, “I’m sorry, Danny. I don’t know about dragon yang relations. I know only about the dragon and the tigress together.”

Danny’s cheeks and ears had burned mercilessly at Master Chen’s frank speech, but at the same time he’d been glad for the older man’s honesty. He missed Meg’s grandfather fiercely. He and Meg had been kinder and closer with him than his own family. While Danny had never forgotten that conversation, it was Master Chen’s last words that had had always stayed with him. “I can tell you this: If you apply the same principle of the Tao, the joining of body and soul, you’ll know what to do. Sexuality is an expression of love. Stay with that and it will guide you.”

Danny lay back on the pillow and clasped his hands behind his head. “He couldn’t really tell me much about the physical, but he did help me.” He repeated Master Chen’s words to Meg.

She sighed a sound weighted with sadness. “Yes, that was Lao ye.” She heaved a deep sigh and rolled closer to him.

He sensed her need for comfort and put his arm over her, stroking her hair.

“God, Danny, is it abnormal to miss someone this much?”

He thought about it for a minute, not seeing how that could be possible, especially someone who’d been the most important person in Meg’s life since she was a little girl, the one person who’d taken care of her when her parents were killed. “Absolutely not,” he said in a near whisper close to her hair.

He felt his words comfort her, and after several moments of lying quietly, listening to her breathing, he realized Meg had fallen asleep.

What he didn’t understand was missing someone whom he barely knew, more specifically, Dave. The way he missed Dave and wished he were here with him, holding him. That seemed irrational. But here he was, feeling that way, every nerve ending in his body alive with heat, his heart racing and his thoughts only on the time they were to spend together.

As nervous and worried as he was about seeing Dave the next evening, he didn’t want anything else.

Tomorrow night couldn’t come soon enough.