They called him a water dragon, right off. But he knew that his flower could still be consumed. Why was it that after the fifth of their children, they seemed to inherit less and less of the dangerous bits, and more of the humanity?

He wasn't all that resentful, really. In fact Calla was a bit of a prankster. He could get away with putting little bits of his skin-born calcium crystals into any given food or drink, and soon enough there would be some spitting and coughing going on.

Parties were never the same after Calla hit the world.

In fact, Escher his older dark brother took him under his wing and led him around to check out this barbeque or that picnic table. "You know, you look friendly enough," Escher said, "but that's what they said about me too."

They laughed together, and Escher didn't hesitate to slide in a batch of bacteria into someone's sandwich that they'd let sit there in the sun. Not to be outdone, Calla decided that peaches were way too sweet and spiced them up.

There were some kids that just would never eat either bologna or peaches for the rest of their lives, after that day in the park...

"You were named after a lily! How sweet!" Said one innocent girl at Draco's Inferno. "I love those flowers."

"Yeah," Calla said. His grin belied the absolute frothing hatred he had for people who assumed he was gay, or so sweet and nice. He could be nice. Very nice. But people had to really earn his respect. Ah, who was he kidding?

He wasn't all that straight. He wasn't all that dangerous. But what he was, was bored. Calla wandered through the halls until he heard the sounds of meat being sliced, bread being baked... The kitchens. What a great place for him to be!

"I'll help serve, if you need it," Calla said sweetly. He was immediately foisted a huge platter of bread, cheese and sliced meat.

"It goes to the third table, you can't miss em, they're ready to eat."

So off he went. Calla with his huge tray of newly infected foods. He instructed the bacteria to wait it out. To form tough cell hides, and to rest in the stomach lining of the very happy very hungry dinner guests. That way, they'd get sick in three or four days. They wouldn't suspect he had anything to do with this...

He'd heard the stories from his siblings. They would get in trouble too quickly! But he was way more intelligent than that. He had to be. To outfox his own dad, which he'd done, was a feat.

They had played a kind of chess game with the scientists at home. Virus would infect one, and then Calla would try and beat it with another. Then they got clever, they spread to carriers who infected from afar. It was not only part of the game to then create an anti-virus to beat and replace the old one, but to figure out who the carrier was and how many others had already been hit.

They both thought it was a great game. None of the scientists thought it was at all funny. They were totally human sticks in the mud.

And if they were lucky, that mud would have something new in it too...

***

Calla was hardly busy the day that the dragons announced the hatching of their eggs. Calla was almost too excited to think about ways to infect everyone on the way there. In fact, maybe, he thought, now wasn't the time for it. The dragons were almost sacred to him and his family, they were their vector - their helpers, they would not be touched by disease.

The female on the sands, and her oddly inhuman partner, were excited as well. The wing she lifted up revealed hatching eggs, and three dragonets came stumbling out. Purple, red, and white.

The purple pranced himself around, but the red and white strode toward the candidates. The red found her bond almost immediately, while the white took a little more time. He went from one to the next, quickly though.

He stopped before Calla. His draconic muzzle bore a smile - one which wasn't as nice and friendly as some Calla had seen. It looked just like the boy's grin at times.

Calla, yes, that's it. Your name means poison. The white male proclaimed.

Calla nodded right back, saying, “That's right, Tegosumuth . Maybe I can teach you a little of what I am someday.”

I would like that, Tegosumuth said, leaning into his new bond as they left the sands. This would indeed be a happy partnership. They were definitely right for each other!

By the time Tegosumuth learned to fly, Calla's pranks had already got him caught and in trouble a couple times. By the time he was sure of himself in the air, Calla had been working on a grand design that would take his pranks to the next level.

But the problem was, dragons.

That's right. Because dragons - whether they realized it or not - would gossip among one another. And honestly Calla didn't much want to divulge everything to everyone through their dragons.

He also really did not want to keep anything from Tegosumuth.

I appreciate that thought, Teg thought. He flexed his wings, why not take your mind off it by flying with me. It will be a nice afternoon. You can spread disease over that lake we saw last time.

"The lake!" Calla laughed. "Of course! Oh," he said with a grin while mounting up, "you'll just love the lake we have at home..."

Beyond the lake, there was of all things a hot spring. And one which Calla knew a number of riders would visit. He left vestiges of his diseases there. The flowers that would blossom in the spring time, when everything melted, would give off a horrid stink. Who would want to sit in a hot tub when the smell of rotted eggs drifted everywhere?

No one had died from his pranks, but it was certain that the dragonry was glad to be rid of Virus' child.

Virus and the others would be happy to see the young plant-hybrid and his beautiful white! When they returned it was hardly a week after the others and he had found their proper places. Everyone had known about the nexus and how it shaped time as they traveled through it. Calla and Tegosumuth flew through it quickly. It was cold, but filled with minds.

The dead speak to me, Tegosumuth said. Is that right?

"I've heard," Calla said, as they came in for a graceful landing near everyone else, "but right now, talk to the living! They're much more fun!"