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“Reg, slow down. You’re dragging me so hard I’m gonna leave shoe streak marks on the floor!” Alex argued, still being literally pulled along by Reggie. When did he get so strong, anyway?
“You said you refused to poof and I need you to see this!” Reggie argued, only tugging harder. Whatever it was, he was adamant about it being seen now.
With a sigh, Alex gave into his fate and allowed himself to continue being dragged all the way down into the studio and then up and into the loft. Then Reg sat, knees under him, eyes trained on the pile of clothes and torn trash bag back near the window.
“You tore up the bag? C’mon, Reg. That’s gonna be so annoying to clean up.” Alex reached forward to grab it but the bassist smacked his hand away. “Hey!”
”Look.” Reggie commanded and Alex did, eye roll already waiting to be done.
But there was no chance. Because suddenly the fabric mass shifted, only slightly, though. Still, it was enough to be seen. “Reg??”
Reggie’s voice was hushed, slinking slightly closer now he didn’t look back at his bandmate, “I came up here to grab another t-shirt….and I found this… She didn’t seem to mind me, but I think she was half asleep…”
“She??” Alex crowed again, eyes widening to the size of saucers.
“She.” Reggie confirmed calmly. With that out of the way, he gently pushed off the clothes hiding the small creature. Alex leaned forward to get a better view.
Blue and purple scales quickly came into view. The purple on the edges of the wings and head were dark, nearly plum colored, dipping down into amethyst before melding into an azure color. It was small, no larger than parrot, nestled into the boy’s clothes.
“She….” Alex repeated, awestruck, panic rising.
Reggie, against Alex’s wishes, poked his hand out for the tiny creature to smell. She let out a cry that sounded more childish than scary, but she didn’t fight him. Instead, she leaned up to smell at his fingers. After a few moments she seemed to decide that he was okay to be near and she dropped her head into his hand.
“Aw… Lex, I think she likes me!”
“Reggie…is…. Is that a dragon???”
“Of course it’s a dragon!” Reggie rolled his eyes as if Alex had just asked the stupidest question ever.
“You say that like dragons are totally normal??”
Reggie shrugged, watching as the small creature skittered up his arm and up to his shoulder, sniffing at his hair now. “I mean… We were ghosts. Now we’re some sort of weird half ghost. Why not dragons?”
Alex just sat; staring, blinking at his friend and the thing sat on his shoulder. After a minute, still not having fully processed this, he spoke again, “You’re telling Julie….And Ray.”
Reggie pouted, eyes widening to the size of saucers, “Oh, c’mon… You won’t even help me?”
“Nope.” Alex shook his head, staring at the dragon on Reggie’s shoulder. “You found it. You’re on your own.”
“Luke found you and he still made me help telling Bobby an anxious drummer was joining our band.” Reggie pouted, but he turned towards the ladder of the loft.
“You’re going to tell them now????” Alex screeched, the dragon standing at attenrion on Reggie’s shoulder. For how small she was, she certainly looked menacing as she bared her teeth at Alex’s outburst.
“No better time than the present!” Reggie was already half down the ladder, having decided poofing wasn’t a good idea as he didn’t know if the dragon would go with him.
Anyways, since becoming a half ghost thing, poofing didn’t always work out. Sometimes he was fine and other times he landed feet first into Julie’s bowl of cake batter. That hadn’t been fun. Especially when she’d been making funfetti cake.
He was halfway up the stairs to the Molina house when Alex popped in front of him, hat missing and hoodie backwards.
“Nice landing.”
Alex rolled his eyes, but his anxiety was peeking through in the wringing of his fingers, “Do you really think this is a good idea, Reg? I mean… Isn’t three ghost boys enough excitement for a lifetime? Do you really want to go in there and show Ray and Julie a dragon? What if they say no?”
“Say no to what?” Reggie’s voice took on an offended tone and this time the dragon on his shoulder let out a high pitched whine, like she detested the tension in his shoulders.
“To…To letting you keep it?” Alex tried, unsure exactly what they’d say no to. Of course Reggie would want to keep her, but there was about a billion and one more questions involved than just knowing if she could stay in the garage with them.
“No. I’m not worried. Ray’s the best dad I’ve ever known and he adopted us with no complaints. What’s one more?”
With that, Reggie shoved past his friend and into the house, calling out the names of his adoptive father and sister as he went.
His tone must’ve sounded pretty urgent as they both all but ran from the little office Ray had, socked feet sliding on the hardwood. “Reg?” Julie called out, worry singing through her voice.
“Don’t worry!” He called, rounding the corner, the dragon now tucked under his jacket. “I’m okay! I just have something to show you.”
Both Molinas relaxed and smiled at him. “What’s up, mijo?” Ray asked, eyes glancing to where the teenager had his hands buried under his leather coat. They briefly glanced at Alex, but he was half hidden by the wall separating the living room from the kitchen, so Ray let him hide for the time being.
“So, I sort of found something up in the garage… And I know you told Carlos that he couldn’t have any pets until he was a bit older…But, well, technically I’m your age Ray…and I’m not really sure where else she would go…” Reggie began, eyes still mimicking Luke’s puppy dog stare with an intense accuracy. No one had ever been able to say no to either of them.
“Oh, Reggie….I don’t know… You boys just got settled and this house is really only so big…”
“She’s super small, Ray! And she needs our help, please!” The bassist begged, jutting his lower lip out just a little bit further.
Ray sighed, glancing at Julie who was just as levelheaded as he was. Julie shrugged. A decision was made. “At least let me see our new family member.”
Reggie beamed, “One last thing… She’s not really your average pet.”
Before either of the humans could question that, Reggie pulled the dragon from under the fabric of his jacket. She was curled up in his hands, half asleep thanks to the warmth of his body. The jostling woke her, but she only looking around inquisitively, seeming to trust Reggie enough to keep her safe from harm.
A long pause passed, the house a little too quiet for even Reggie. He shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously, licking his lips.
“T-That’s… That’s a dragon….” Julie whispered, wide eyed.
“Mhm!” Reggie tried for brave, smiling wider as he cradled her up to his chest, his necklace only inches from her scales. “I think I’m going to name her Plum. She’s super sweet and she’s got so much purple on her!”
“A dragon.” Ray repeated.
Reggie frowned, eyebrows knitting together, “Am I in trouble?….”
That broke Ray out of his trance and he quickly shook his head, “No. No, you’re not in trouble, mijo.”
Reggie relaxed and Plum made a near purring sound as she pressed back into his t-shirt. “Oh, okay. Good.”
“How did you find her, Reg?” Julie asked, eyes not moving from the creature.
He shrugged. “I just went to find some clothes to change into and she was nestled up in them, asleep. And I couldn’t just leave her there! What if she got hungry or lonely??”
Ray mumbled something about really needing to buy the boys a dresser or even just some bins for storage, but he cleared his throat before speaking to Reggie fully. “Have you ever seen a dragon before?”
“Nope!” The teen shook his head. “I didn’t think they existed anymore. I thought they’d gone extinct when dinosaurs did!”
Ray just nodded, trying to process this information still. It was a lot to take in, even with the knowledge that ghosts—even evil magician ones—existed.
“Hermano…” Julie began, face pinched the way it did every time she had to remind Reggie of something not so fun, “Do we even know how to take care of a dragon?…”
His shine dimmed a little bit, smile slipping from his face, “Well, uh…No… But.. I’ll figure it out! It can’t be too hard, right?”
The Molinas shared a glance and Reggie felt his stomach squirm, that icky feeling of no one believing him settling in.
“Fine. I’ll figure it out myself!” He cried out, upset that no one trusted him. Of course taking care of a mythical creature wouldn’t be easy, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do his best. Anger and upset controlling him, Reggie just poofed himself right back to the loft. Thankfully, Plum stayed tucked in his arms.
“We’ll figure it out, Plum… I promise.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was probably at least three hours later that Luke popped in beside Reggie, handing him a granola bar and a bottle of water. “Alex said you haven’t come out all day.”
“They don’t think I can take care of Plum…” Reggie mumbled, the dragon currently batting at his necklace which he was dangling like a cat toy.
“So, it is true then. A real dragon.” Luke hummed, but he didn’t seem surprised. He’d always been the first to believe in anything that Reggie said. “May I?”
Reggie nodded and Luke offered out a hand. The small creature paused in her playing, glancing at Reggie before she wandered over to Luke’s calloused hand. She sniffed at it and didn’t seem to mind what she found as she yipped playfully and scampered up his arm, curling around his neck to play with his tank top straps.
Luke chuckled, smiling, “I think she likes me.”
“I think so, too.” Reggie smiled, glad to be having this moment. “So..How mad are they?”
Luke shrugged, beginning a new game for Plum as she began to bounce from shoulder to shoulder, leaping whenever he moved them. “I don’t think they’re mad. Just a little stressed out. Dragons don’t really come with manuals.”
“Neither do ghosts! Or half ghosts!” Reggie reminded, returning his pout from earlier to his face.
“Yeah, but at least we’re sorta human. We eat, we sleep, we shower. We don’t really know what Plum needs…”
“Well…We can try and find out? Don’t they know I’ll be the best dragon dad there is?” Reggie’s voice was soaked in sadness, a bitter sort of taste.
Luke wrapped an arm around his best friend and Plum climbed her way up and on top of his head, “They do, bud. And we will figure it out. Tomorrow Ray and Alex are gonna go scour the library and Julie’s gonna look through what she can here. Apparently her mom used to be really into fantasy stuff. She’s thinking maybe she’ll have something useful.”
Reggie nodded, glad at least that they’d be looking. “Thank you, Luke…”
“Anytime, Reg. Anytime.” He smiled and pulled his friend into a better hug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning came quick, and with a lot of tension, as Luke and Reggie carted Plum back into the Molina household.
“Reggie, I’m really sorry about yesterday…” Ray began, looking apologetic.
The bassist cut him off with a smile, “Nope. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just find out all we can about Plum so I can be the best dragon dad the world has ever known!”
“You might be the only dragon dad the world has ever known.” Alex deadpanned, but Reggie only stuck his tongue out.
“Luke tell you the plan?” Julie asked, wearing one of Luke’s too big jackets over her t-shirt this morning. Reggie couldn’t help but smile at that. It just reminded him so much of this family he had found.
“Yep. Ray and Alex are gonna do search the library and you’re gonna look here. What’s me and Luke’s job?”
“Luke is gonna watch some dragon videos online and see if anything sounds credible. Your job is just to keep Plum happy.”
“I can do that.” Reggie grinned and scratched just under her chin, another sort of half purr sound emenating from her.
“Awesome. Let’s go!” Julie demanded and Ray and Alex breaded out. Julie went straight for the attic, swearing that’s where most of her mom’s things were and Luke clicked on to the list of videos Julie had set him up on the computer.
Reggie headed into the kitchen, digging around to find some cereal. He made himself a bowl, settled Plum on his lap, and began to eat.
It didn’t take long until she’d crept up onto the table and was standing, small little paws on his bowl.
“You want some?” He asked, watching as she stared at the marshsmallows floating on by. “I dunno if it’s good for you…But I don’t think there’s any harm in trying.”
Scooping out a single rainbow, he held it up to her. She sniffed, considering, before grabbing the wet treat in her paws and beginning to gnaw on it. With a million little crunches, it was soon gone and Plum returned her gaze to Reggie.
“Was that good, sweetheart?” He smiled and stood. Grabbing a cap from a Gatorade bottle, he returned, pouring in some milk and laying a few lucky charms to the side for her to munch on. Plum seemed pleased as she soon devoured her snack, slurping up the milk just as Reggie did to his.
They’d only just finished breakfast when the sound of footsteps thundering down the stairs could be heard. Swiping Plum from the table and cradling her protectively, Reggie headed into the living room. Even Luke looked on guard as Julie raced down the stairs, eyes wild and out of breath.
“Oh my god oh my god oh my god!” She screeched breathlessly, a handful of books clutched in her arms.
“Jules, you okay?” Luke asked, rushing forward to grab her and hopefully steady her. Thankfully, as wasn’t always the case, his hands stayed firm and solid on her arms.
“You won’t believe it. Oh my god.”
“What?” Reggie asked, worry seeping into his tone.
Inhaling deeply, Julie launched into her story. “So, mom studied some types of religions before she died. Which included Wiccan and Paganism. I knew that. So I decided to look through her journals in case she wrote anywhere about any interest in dragons. You’ll never believe what I found!”
“What did you find??” Reggie asked, energy amping up as Julie held out the anticipation another heartbeat or two.
“Mom had her own pet dragon when she was a kid!”
“How is that possible??” Luke asked, confusion swirling in his eyes.
Julie laid the journals on the table, dust flying off of them. “So, apparently she could see ghosts. Like… From the time she was three. Her mom told her she was a special kid and she could see a lot of things others couldn’t….”
Julie flipped open one of the journals to a picture of a very young Rose and her mother in black and white, faded by time.
“Apparently her mother wanted to help prepare her for this, because ghosts are apparently the easiest thing to deal with when you have her kind of skills? So, she got her a pet dragon.”
“You can buy a dragon??” Luke crowed, throwing his hands up.
“I guess if you know the right people?”
Reggie cut in, Plum’s tail wrapped around the back of his neck, tickling at his ear. “So, wait… She had a pet dragon… Does that mean that she has instructions??”
Julie nodded, though her eyes were sadder here, “Mom wrote a lot of this journal for more… She said I had a different kind of gift, but she didn’t know what… I, uh, I think it’s how it helped me get you guys back?”
Luke was beside her, hand on her back, a reminder that he was there. They all were. Julie had saved them.
She cleared her throat, even though she sent Luke a soft look, “So, uh, she wrote these journals with a lot of information for me to read over. Stuff about ghosts and dragons and magic… According to mom…If I practice enough, I could be one of the most powerful witches in the universe?”
“Witch?” Luke asked at the same time Reggie spoke.
“Let me see the book!”
Julie handed the book to Reggie, losing him instantly as he sat to try and get through the dragon part. It seemed simple enough. Plum wouldn’t grow any larger than the average house cat. She could eat just about anything, though it seemed her coloring would determine that she’d prefer fruits and veggies over much else. She’d bring them luck and fortune if she was taken well care of and harm if she was not.
Most of the care instructions followed any other pets and Reggie could feel the knot in his stomach untie itself. This wouldn’t be so hard then… He could do this. He smiled at Plum who seemed to mimic it by showing her teeth, tongue drooping from her mouth.
Then it hit him.
“Wait, witch? I knew it!”