Mama's Boy

Rudolph took up the shirt his mother had put out for him. It was white and his trousers were black. To Rudolph it seemed as if his mother was trying to dress him up in a tuxedo. Of course he knew he had no fashion sense. He would feel perfectly fine dressing in grey trousers with a bright yellow shirt above them. He liked yellow after all. And pink. Add to that that he was 34 and single and most people thought he was gay.
"Honey!" his mother called.
"Yes?"
"Did you find your clothes?"
"Yes, but don't you think they're a bit classy for just work?"
Downstairs he heard his mother laughing, "Did I forget to tell you? You have a blind date today."
Rudolph sighed. Really, what was his mother thinking? She should just leave him alone. In fact he was rather happy being single. He didn't have to worry about mortgages, promotions, wife and kids. But apparently his mother'd rather see him hitched to some woman.
"With whom?" he called back, fearing the worst.
"Janine's daughter. You know Janine, she's the wife of my boss' sister's son."
As if that cleared up anything. He knew however that if mother had gotten him a blind date she would stop at nothing to make sure he went. One time she'd actually gone along and made him feel like publicly killing himself. Being the pushover that he was, he found peace with his destiny and figured one date would only last for three hours. three hours viewed against an entire life was nothing.

Alissa threw on her leather jacket and stepped outside. She couldn't believe the nerve of her mother. Arranging a blind date! To a guy she didn't even know. When she'd asked for more specifications she hadn't gotten any because her mother just didn't know. All she knew was who his mother was. And really, what 35-year old guy was still living with his mother?
Alissa herself was 33 and lived in a cosy apartment right across from her work. She worked in a supermarket. Granted it was not the most exciting, best-paying job around, but it paid the bills. And during the weekend she was free to ride her Honda motorcycle as much as she wanted.
Only when she was riding her motorcycle did she feel absolutely free. She did not need anyone else at that time. Just she, the road and the machine below her. She could go anywhere, everywhere. It felt like flying, fleeing. It was the thing she liked most about her life. There was no way that she would give up her motorcycle to get married and have kids.
Not that she was against marrying. Not at all. She'd just never met a man who felt comfortable around her. Like they all needed to be able to dominate her. A 'chick' riding a bike? No way, that was wrong. And she was sorry but if someone asked her to chose between him and her motorcycle, the bike would win.
She could just blow off the blind date and go riding, but Alissa knew that would only anger her mother. And before she knew it she'd be going to blind dates every other week or so. No, she needed to horrible embarrass her mother now and that'd be the end of it.

Rudolph waited at the reserved table in a very very classy restaurant. Truthfully it was one of those places he'd usually not step foot in. He'd prefer a small charming Italian eatery above this place any day. But he'd been forced and just wanted to get this over with. Which meant anxiously looking at the entrance and seeing if a young woman his age with a white rose walked in. He in response had placed a pink rose in front of him on the table. Well at least his mother had let him choose the colour of rose.
"There is a reservation." Alissa awkwardly said as she entered the restaurant.
Her mother had told her the restaurant had a dress code so Alissa had purposely worn jeans, the baggiest shirt she owned and her ever present leather jacket. In one of her pockets a white rose made her seem even more out of place.
"I'm sorry miss." the waiter said, "We can't allow you with these clothes."
Rudolph looked up and spotted the white rose in the woman's pocket. At first he wondered if she was the one his mother had set him up with, but on second thought, wasn't this the ideal way to get out of here? Knowing his mother, Rudolph didn't doubt that she had reservations in the same restaurant. Rudolph stood up and advanced.
"I'm sorry." he interrupted the waiter, and then turned to the woman, "Are you my date?"
Alissa looked at the red rose in his hands, "I guess I am."
"Oh, let's go then."
"Don't you want to eat here?" Alissa asked him.
"Not really." Rudolph shrugged and then the two of them were outside.
"Can I ask you for your name?" Rudolph asked, "I'm Rudolph."
"Alissa."
Alissa wondered what would happen next. Clearly the two of them were horrible mismatched. Maybe it wouldn't be hard at all to make this blind date go sour.
"Do you mind I I change?" Rudolph asked.
"No." Alissa said and watched amazed as Rudolph suddenly walked into a little alley, pulled off his white shirt and revealed a yellow tank-top beneath it.
"Are you sure you want to wear that?" Alissa asked.
"It doesn't go well together?" Rudolph asked disappointed.
"It's not so much that it doesn't go well together, it's like you want to look like a teen..."
Rudolph shrugged, "And what about you? The 80s ended some time ago."
"That's not nice."
"Seeing as how you showed up I think you didn't want anything to do with this either." Rudolph said.
"You seemed to fit in well though."
"It's not like I usually get picked out as a great catch, you know. Women find me boring."
"And you live with your mother."
"That too." Rudolph sighed.
"Why not move out?"
"Honestly, I've thought about it, but I really don't want to marry yet and give up my freedom. Even if I live at home, it's not like my mother keeps tabs on what I do much. And you've seen what I would dress in if I left."
"You've got a point there." Alissa laughed.
"And what about you? You don't look half bad."
"Should I take that as a compliment?" Alissa complained, "But then, a woman who drives a motorcycle is something equivalent to a man living with his mother. It scares of most interested parties."
"Wouldn't people find it interesting?" Rudolph asked.
"More like frightening. I ride a bike so I MUST be a domineering woman with a love for SM who starts fires as a hobby."
"No way."
"Someone actually told me he didn't want to go out with a criminal."
Rudolph laughed out loud. This date wasn't so bad after all. He felt like he'd made a friend for the first time in ages. He also hadn't had fun like this in ages. Unconsciously, Rudolph was looking for a way to extend their time together.
"Hey, want to have diner?"
"You still want diner?"
"I think we get along quite fine as friends." Rudolph said, "I'll take you to my favourite restaurant."
"Tell me it doesn't have a dress-code."
"It hasn't." Rudolph smiled, "And their cannelloni is wonderful."
But the two of them would never get there. Although they didn't know that their lives were about to change, they might have felt the slight tinge of magic in the air at the moment their destinies changed. They certainly felt the brush of cold air.
"What was that?" Rudolph asked while Alissa was already heading toward the strange sounds.
"Hey, isn't that dangerous?" Rudolph called after her and then hesitantly followed her.
Before them a woman lay sprawled under a mountain of cardboard. not an uncommon sight, but the creature was special all the more. The large green reptile with wings and a lashing tail tried to get it's legs out of the dumpster and only noticed them after a few seconds.
"Dresynith?" the woman asked, "What happened?"
"Company." the three of them heard in their heads.
"What... is that?" Rudolph asked.
"A dragon!" Alissa called eyes wide with surprise.
"Oh..." Maira said, "Well, anyway, now that you've seen Dresynith I'll have to ask you a question."
The Lantessama finder got up, dusted off her clothes and looked at the unusual duo before her. She knew just where these two were going.
"Would you like to get away of it all?" she asked casually.

HATCHING
When the preparations had been made, the 6 candidates, three couples, and two dragons from a previous valentine hatching entered the cavern. Berkana and Eihwaz were the most noticeable. The two of them had impressed at the valentine hatching two years ago, but they'd requested to take care of a new set of dragons. The love they had for each other knew no boundary and it seemed that their hearts were big enough to take on a new charge with the help of their now adult dragons. The second couple were also runic warriors, but they had only been found recently. Raidho, an axe-wielding blacksmith, his wife Mayra stood nervously awaiting the hatching. they were accompagnied by their young son Luc. Lastly, a newly-formed couple had been found on earth. The two of them, Alissa and Rudolph, had been set up by their mothers to have a blind date. Only hours later they'd been asked to come to Lantessama. Though the couple barely knew each other they seemed to hit it off in weird ways (including strange outfits).
As if timed by the most precisely tuned clock two of the eggs split open.
The last couple to hatch seemed almost mismatched. The female was much darker than the male who seemed almost white wen compared to her, though he too was pink. They did not converse at all, just took notice of each other as they walked.
"Alissa!" the dark pink female said, "My name is Chinensis."
"I'm Arvensis!" the male said to Rudolph.
"We will come with you."

Rudolph and White Rose Arvensis (m)
Alissa and Pink Rose Chinensis (f)
-*^~~~^~*-

ADULTS
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Alissa asked Rudolph.
"It's normal for dragons to mate."
"And they explained the consequences to you? Like you'd have to get... naked. In front of me."
"I don't mind." Rudolph said.
"Says the man who I haven't seen without his jammies yet." Alissa sighed, "You know I thought we were going to give having a relationship a shot but I do need some occasional stimulation."
Rudolph nearly fainted at the thought of naked stimulation but he strengthened himself. He was going to take this dragon thing serious. After all they'd up and left their homes, jobs and planet for them. So mating flights would be tolerated as well.
"It's your call." Alissa shrugged.
"I'm ready." Rudolph said.

-*^~~~^~*-
Images found with google.
Lantessama Isle