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Ellie chewed at her lip as she put on her dark green work jacket and slung her red delivery bag over her shoulder.
“Got another delivery?” Charles asked, walking out of his room while rubbing his eyes. “Pretty early, huh?”
Ellie jumped a bit, then nodded.
“Yeah, but it’s alright. I’m also gonna feed Henry.”
She gave Charles a hesitant smile.
“Might even bring him home if he lets me. That ok?”
“Sure!” Charles said. “Then we can get him a vet appointment.”
“Yeah, well…gotta go!”
Ellie slipped a large pair of gloves into the delivery bag.
“Were those autoclave gloves?” Charles asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, I uh…” Ellie stammered. “A friend of mine just got a job in a microbiology lab at the university. I got ’em some gloves as a present.”
“Oh, alright then,” Charles said, shrugging. “Tell them I say hi!”
“I will!” Ellie said with a wave. “See you after work!”
“Yup!” Charles waved back.
Ellie quickly headed out and got on her red scooter, putting on the matching helmet with a grimace.
“Sorry, Charles…” she mumbled as she put the bag in the large basket on the back of the scooter. “I’ll explain later…or…try at least.”
With a long sigh she sped off, her heart thumping.
After having to wait too long at a red light Ellie finally drove the last leg to her destination: an alleyway near her favorite coffee shop.
She parked just inside the alleyway and pocketed the key, then removed her helmet and set it on the seat.
She pulled a piece of chicken jerky from her jacket pocket and walked slowly into the alley.
“Hey there, Henry…I’m back! Got a treat for ya.”
There was silence for a moment, causing her stomach to drop.
“You here, little guy?”
A garbage bin rattled and a small pointed head peeked around it.
“There you are,” Ellie sighed, kneeling and holding the jerky out. “You okay?”
She got a squeak in response as Henry ran towards her, tail wagging all the while.
“Hungry?” she asked, and pulled her hand back just in time as Henry’s jaws snapped on the jerky. “I’ve got a lot more where that came from, so don’t worry.”
Ellie slowly reached out and scratched Henry behind his pointy ears.
“Hey, you ready to go home?”
Henry sat and looked at her with big blue eyes, his vertical slitted pupils getting bigger.
“Okay then,” Ellie chuckled, putting the delivery bag down and taking the autoclave gloves out. “I’ll keep it open a bit but it’s so nobody sees you, okay?”
Henry chirped and nodded, watching intently as Ellie unzipped the bag and put the gloves on.
“Ready?”
Henry stood up, his spiky tail still swishing.
Ellie smiled nervously and picked the small dragon up under his forelegs, then set him inside the bag and patted his head.
“There you go. How’s that?”
Ellie lifted the lid partially, watching as Henry sniffed around the bag and gnawed at the lining.
“Whoa, hang on,” she said, putting a couple pieces of jerky in. “Don’t eat the bag, okay? I know it kinda smells like food, but it’s not.”
Henry attacked the jerky with little growls, quickly eating them.
Ellie smiled as a deep purring noise came from Henry.
“Happy?”
Henry turned around and around and finally curled up, closing his eyes.
“Okay, now I’m gonna drive us back. It’ll be noisy and bumpy but it won’t take long.”
Ellie zipped the bag up partially, hoping it’d be enough to let him breathe while keeping him hidden.
Bracing herself, she hefted the bag up and set it down in the basket.
“You good in there?” Ellie asked, leaning down.
All she heard were Henry’s sleepy purrs.
“Alright, here we go.”
Ellie quickly got on the scooter and, after a wary glance around the area, sped off for home.
Ellie hurried into the bathroom and shut the door, then set the delivery bag down on the white tiled floor.
She quickly unzipped the bag, then jolted back as Henry shot out, the spines on his back bristling as he growled.
”I’m sorry, I know,” Ellie apologized frantically. “Here, I’ve got some more jerky.”
Henry grabbed the jerky and tossed it aside, then stomped around the bathroom, his tail shaking like a rattlesnake’s.
”Okay, but you won’t have to be on a scooter ever again,” Ellie said, patting Henry’s head. “Unless you want to be.”
Henry let out an angry growl and curled up in a ball.
Ellie sighed, removing the gloves and gingerly scratching him behind the ears, the heat of his light blue scales only a bit uncomfortable.
Gradually Henry uncurled and began to purr, flopping over and closing his eyes happily.
”Ok. Charles shouldn’t be back ’til late, so we have time to figure out an explanation.”
Ellie froze as the front door opened, while Henry sat up and stared at the door.
”Hey, Ellie! Forgot my headphones!”
Henry began to scratch on the bathroom door.
”Ellie?” Charles called, his voice a little closer. “Is that the kitten? How’s he doing?”
Ellie quickly picked Henry up and set him in the bathtub, then hurried out and shut the door, shaking her hands quickly.
”Ellie?” Charles asked. “You okay?”
”Yeah, uh…accidentally turned the water too hot is all,” Ellie laughed. “It’s ok.”
”You sure?” Charles frowned worriedly.
“Yeah, uh…so…Charles?” Ellie clasped both hands behind her back.
”What’s up?” Charles asked, tipping his head. “Something happen?”
”Well…I brought Henry home!” she said.
“That was fast!” Charles said with a smile. “Can I see him real quick?”
”Yeah…but uh…I have to tell you something,” Ellie mumbled, folding her arms tightly. “He’s uh…not a cat.”
Charles furrowed his brow.
”Is he actually a bobcat or something? Because we could get a license to keep him or take him to a big cat rescue or something…”
”Uh, no…he’s uh…” Ellie stammered. “I didn’t know how to explain…I was just going to show you.”
She rubbed her face.
”I thought I had more time to think of how to do this…”
Charles put his hands on her shoulders.
”As long as he didn’t bite you or scratch you, I think it’ll be okay,” he said. “He didn’t, right?”
”No, he didn’t,” Ellie said quickly. “He’s healthy. I’m ok, don’t worry.”
”Let’s go see him then,” Charles said, reaching for the doorknob.
”I’ll go in first and make sure he’s calm,” Ellie said.
”Good idea,” Charles said. “Let me know when I can come in.”
Ellie slipped into the bathroom and pulled back the shower curtain to see Henry sitting on the edge of the bathtub, his tail tapping slowly and his eyes narrowed.
”Sorry, Henry, I panicked,” Ellie said, reaching a hand out.
Henry studied it for a moment before leaning into it.
”You ready to meet Charles?”
Henry lifted his ears and began wagging his tail.
Ellie nodded and scratched his ears for a moment before turning towards the door.
”Okay, Charles, come on in.”
The door opened slowly and Charles walked in.
”So why’s he in the bathroom? Does he have fleas? ’Cause we can just give him a…”
Ellie stepped aside with a sheepish smile, and Charles’ brown eyes widened.
”I’m sorry, Char,” Ellie sighed. “See what I mean?”
”That’s, uh…” Charles finally said. “That’s definitely not a cat.”
He stepped closer, then knelt and slowly held a hand out; Henry leaned forward and sniffed his fingers.
”I thought he was some weird lizard at first, but when he finally let me pet him, he was hot. He even breathed fire a couple times.”
”That’s why you had the gloves and the bag,” Charles said.
”Yup,” Ellie said. “I do have a friend who’s a microbiologist, but they don’t live here.”
”Ah,” Charles said. “Well, wasn’t a complete lie then. You still gonna give them some new gloves as a present?”
”I think so,” Ellie said with a chuckle. “That way the only thing I lied about was Henry being a kitten and my sudden discovery of the existence of dragons.”
Charles shook his head and brought both hands up to scratch Henry’s pointy ears.
”I’m glad you found him,” Charles said.
”Me too,” Ellie said. “But what should we do? I have no idea how big he’ll get or if he’ll get wings. I think he’s a baby since he eats and sleeps a lot and he’s small, but aside from that I’m not really sure.”
”You got me there.”
Charles drew back after patting Henry.
”Is he just hot or do you think he can set stuff on fire by being on it?”
Ellie showed him the inside of the bag.
”I think if it’s heatproof it’s safer, so…”
”So we’ll have to heat-proof the place as much as we can,” Charles said, crossing his arms. “It’s still risky I guess, but he shouldn’t stay in the bathroom all the time.”
Ellie looked sharply at Charles.
”So you want to keep him?” she asked, and Charles gave her an amused look.
”Ellie. I’ve wanted a dragon ever since I was a kid.”
Ellie laughed and relaxed her shoulders.
Henry let out a trill and thumped his tail on the floor.
”Are we not paying enough attention to you?” Charles asked, crouching and scratching Henry under the chin.
”Careful,” Ellie said. “Want the gloves?”
”Nah, it’s not so bad,” Charles said, smiling as Henry started to purr. “I think wearing normal gloves will be okay when petting him, don’t you?”
“I tried to pet his stomach once,” Ellie said. “That area was burning hot. Everywhere else just seems to be hot or warm.”
”We’ll have to make sure he doesn’t breathe fire on anything,” Charles said. “He seems really smart. I think he could learn to be careful if we’re thorough about training.”
”I think so too,” Ellie agreed. “He already seems pretty calm, and he only breathed fire a couple times when I first found him.”
Henry wrinkled his muzzle, then opened his mouth and sneezed out a small blue flame, causing Ellie and Charles to jolt in alarm.
”But we should probably start fireproofing ASAP,” Charles said with a nervous laugh.
”I’ll get started on that,” Ellie said, also laughing nervously.
Henry began wagging his spiked tail and purring loudly.