"Why did dragons have horns?" Xiao Xin asked one day as he helped to untangle Huo Linghun's horns from some low-hanging vines.

"Probably to protect themselves," Huo Linghun guessed.

"Do you think they got their horns tangled up in vines?"

Huo Linghun thought that dragons most likely did not get their horns tangled up in vines. But out of embarrassment he said, "They probably did."

Xiao Xin finally pulled the last vine free of Huo Linghun's horns. He had yet another question: "Why do we have horns?"

"Because we are descended from dragons," Huo Linghun answered.

"But we look so different from them," Xiao Xin pointed out. "Why are horns one of the things we still have?"

"Probably to do this," Huo Linghun replied, bending down to gently tickle Xiao Xin with his horns. Xiao Xin laughed and pulled at his clothes to get him to stop.

Afterward Xiao Xin said, "I think I know a reason why we have horns."

"Oh? What is it?" Huo Linghun asked.

Xiao Xin reached up and grabbed one of Huo Linghun's horns, using it to guide him down a little so that their faces were level. "So I can do this," he said before kissing him.

"I think you're right," Huo Linghun agreed softly as he kissed him back. "They are very useful indeed."