Griffin stared at the boy in his lap. "Not much longer I think," he whispered.
"Hmm?" Nathan looked up at him with a confused expression. "What'd you say?"
"Nothing. It's nothing. So, dragons, we have enhanced hearing and sight. Obviously we can fly. What else?" Griffin looked up as he thought about other traits the wolf might be interested in. "Oh! We're also pretty much indestructible aside from a small time frame."
Nathan choked on the tea he'd been sipping when Griffin dropped that fact on him. "What?" He coughed.
Griffin grabbed a clean handkerchief and wiped at the tea that Nathan had sputtered on himself. "Careful," he muttered, "I don't want you to burn yourself."
Nathan grabbed his hand, forcing it down and away from his chest. "I'm fine. What do you mean you're indestructible? When aren't you?"
"There's a two week period every dragon goes through every 50 years or so. It's the only time we're vulnerable after reaching maturity."
"Two weeks?" Nathan furrowed his eyebrows. "What happens during those two weeks?"
Griffin sighed as he realized that Nathan wasn't going to give up. "Molting. We shed our skin and the process, while necessary, leaves us vulnerable until our scales reharden.
"Wow," Nathan breathed. "When was your last molt?"
"Three years ago, so I'm good for a while."
Griffin took that moment to bring their empty mugs to the sink and straighten his thoughts out. Dragons never told others about their molts.
Except their mates.
Was Nathan really his mate?
[I really think he is,] Kael said. [You've been asked about your molting period before and you've never answered anyone. Not even other dragons.]
"That doesn't mean he's my mate. I could just be comfortable with him. It could just be because of his innocence."
[You don't really believe that.]
Griffin quietly groaned. "Maybe, maybe not."
He returned to his seat, only to see a starry-eyed Nathan looking at him.
"What?"
"What do you mean what?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Nathan grinned. "I'm just excited hearing more about dragons."
Griffin gave him a long look. "…Right. Well, that's enough on dragons for now. Let's talk about merfolk next."
Nathan's grin dimmed slightly. "Okay."
Griffin gave him a small smile. "Don't be upset. We'll go more in depth later. Tonight I just want to go over the basics."
Nathan silently nodded, tucking his legs under him. Griffin waited for him to settle before reaching over and grabbing a blanket and draping it across his lap.
"There. So, merfolk. They have the shortest lifespan of all species at around 300 years. They can only live either on the coast, or areas that have high humidity levels."
"Why?" Nathan interrupted.
"They need water to survive. If they stay on land for any length of time, they risk drying out. Humid environments increase their land time before they need to be in the water again," Griffin explained.
"Oh. Interesting."
"Another interesting thing they can do is change colors. It only works in the water but they can change their coloring for brief periods to act as camouflage. They can also talk to fish. They're avid fishermen."
Nathan looked disturbed at the idea. "That's… messed up. They catch the fish they talk to? That'd be like being able to talk to the rabbits only to eat them when they're not expecting it."