[ WP ] You find yourself enamored with a local dragon .

Time and freedom had let Heliose's heart run wild. Grown over with brambles, a terrible maze, mysterious even to herself. Love never made sense, but almost everyone she's ever known has only ever fallen in love with another human. There was, of course, Jason and his crazy infatuation with the selkie girl that used to live among them -- but she'd had thumbs most of the time, and was a mammal all of the time, and might have put the whammy on poor Odo to get things going. As far as Heloise was aware ( and she'd asked everyone who might know ) dragons do n't have a whammy. 
 
 They just have, you know, the usual: teeth, claws, lots of fire. 
 
 The dragon in question was huge, jewel-toned, and often took sheep from the local farmers. Sure, no one would scream or run for cover when they see the dragon approaching, but that did n't mean the dragon was *safe* or even well-liked. Foreigners, people traveling through, they did n't know; it was always fun when a new caravan came to town and even the toughest among them devolved into hysterics when the dragon swooped low enough to cast a distinguishable shadow. Down at the pub, everyone placed bets about whether strangers would piss themselves or go for a weapon the first time they see the dragon. Heloise once won a free pint, a good handful of money, and a sack of potatoes for guessing one woman in particular, a merchant's wife, would faint. It was as good a way to pass the time as any other. 
 
 Anyway, being in love with a dragon -- it's stupid, and awful, but she'd come to think that dragon would make a better husband than anyone else she had ever met. She lived with her brother and his wife, on the family land. If her parents were still alive, they perhaps would have set her up with a man and she would have made do with what she was given, but they died soon after her brother married, when she was still too young for that, and her brother and sister-in-law were very nice, very generous, but they did n't have the time to find a husband for her. They had children of their own, a lot of them, and their time was focused on feeding and clothing their small brood. 
 
 `` Heliose, what are you thinking?'' her brother sometimes asked her, and she'd shrug, and he'd accept that as an answer. He did n't have time to listen. 
 
 Her brother made furniture, like their father had, and ownedthe land closest to where the dragon's lair was known to be. Sometimes they would make extra money selling eggs or milk -- they'd never thought about other animals, not wanting to risk spending all that money just to feed the dragon. Even the cow was a risk, but getting by without their own milk was too expensive. They all took turns watching the cow graze, ready to pull him into the barn at the first sign of the dragon. 
 
 When there was nothing else to do, Heliose would roam the woods and meadows on their land and near it, trapping rabbits and looking for trees for her brother to use. That is how she came to know the dragon: it was summertime, and the sun was high, and she'd called out to the dragon, `` Oh, um, excuse me, but -- your tail is in this berry patch?'' 
 
 He'd craned his neck, looking behind him at her, and he'd said, `` Oh yes, I am. What an observant thing you are.'' 
 
 She'd clutched her basket a little tighter and asked him politely to move it. He had, and then he'd settled his head back where it had been. He'd stayed there, sunning himself, late into the afternoon while she picked every berry off the bushes near him, some even right by his face, where he watched her, lazy and content. Occasionally he'd ask a question ( `` What do you do with those tiny plant parts?'' ) and she'd answer ( `` Eat them, or sell them.'' ) and sometimes it would lead to a short conversation ( `` Are they valuable?'' `` I guess? I'll probably give them to the children, though.'' ) but more often than not he'd go back to ignoring her the minute his curiosity was sated. 
 
 Later in the summer, he'd come down in the afternoon, flying low, while Heliose was hanging laundry. He was going straight for their cow, grazing in the paddock, and her heart had jumped to her throat. Her brother and sister-in-law and the kids were down at the market, selling furniture. Just her, there, watching him come for their cow. Normally she'd just let it happen -- certainly if it were pigs or goats or sheep -- but cows are *so* expensive, and they'd finally gotten one of their neighbors with a steer to agree to help breed her. 
 
 `` Wait!'' she'd cried. `` Wait, please, not the cow!'' She'd waved the damp dress she was about to hang up over her head, and charged towards the paddock. `` Please do n't eat our cow!'' At the last minute he'd pulled up with a flap of his wings that sent her tumbling to the ground. The dress ended up in the mud and so does she, but their cow was safe and her heart more tangled than ever. 
 
 Over the next year they had many such encounters. He started laughing at her when she begged for her cow, but despite how it frightened the poor thing she never found it to be in poor spirit. Occasionally she would pass through the meadow where she'd first met him and see that he'd sunned there recently, vegetation freshly crushed, but the berry bushes unscathed. At night, sometimes, she'd dream she became rich as a king and the dragon loved her as she loved it, though Heliose had never seen a gold piece in her life and would n't know what to do if she had one; certainly no one in the village could sell her anything worth that much, nor would they give her change for it. 
 
 Heliose knew, therefore, that it was a fool's errand to court the dragon. First of all, no dragon needed a wife. Second, if a dragon did need a wife, certainly a princess would be preferable, not a woman on the verge of being a spinster, without even any land of her own. Thirdly, she was n't even knowledgeable about hunting or animal husbandry, so it's doubtful she'd be useful for getting him food, either. Still, though. She felt the need to try. 
 
 She brought him flowers. Goldenrod, gold coin daisies, and gold and silver chysanthemums. The only gold she'd ever known, a delicate bouquet. She found him in the meadow when she went to look for him there, sunning himself among the flowers. She'd not seen him all winter, and she'd missed him dearly. The long branches full of white flowers from the berry bushes arced over him -- again, he'd been careful not to crush them. 
 
 `` I thought I'd see you here,'' he said, when he caught sight of her. His voice was loud and deep and calm. When he suns, he looks like a pleased cat. 
 
 `` I came to look for you, to give you these,'' Heliose said. She gestured with the flowers. She explained the names of all the flowers. She added, `` I do n't know if they actually look like gold; I've never see it. I've just heard it's... yellow.'' 
 
 `` *Never* see gold?'' the dragon asked. `` *Yellow*? It's so much more than that. Come sit with me, I will tell you all about my horde. I stole it from a king, ages and ages ago...'' 
 
 So she sat next to him, leaning against one of his claws. She did n't mind the mud, or the sunburn she got. He filled her mind with images of his treasures -- rocks that sparkled like a calm lake, gold pale and shining the way puddles look in moonlight. She resolved to bring him a goat next time, funds allowing. Sometimes the most complicated matters of the heart have an easy solution.
