Chapter Text
Stan had often considered himself a magnet for bad luck.
Thrown out of house and home at seventeen, landing in jail three times, nearly dying in a car trunk.
But falling through a snow drift, down a hole and landing in a cave while looking for his brother’s journals had seemed to take the cake.
Right up until he found out he was sharing said cave with a dragon.
It didn’t look quite like the ones portrayed in kids’ books. Rather then slimy snake scales and leathery bat wings, the beast before him was covered in thick, red fur with golden markings and feathery wings, starting with a deep red on the top and fading into gold at the tips of each feather. But it was definitely a dragon.
A sleeping dragon, thank Paul Bunyan.
It was curled up like some huge cat, with its wings and tail wrapped neatly around its middle and the legs tucked under it. Only the neck was outstretched, its muzzle only a few steps from where Stan stood frozen in shock and fear.
With its head so close, Stan could see quite clearly see the two, sharp horns that curved back and up on its head, the large ears that twitched every few moments, two fangs poking out from its upper jaw, and he could feel warm puffs of air at his legs every time it exhaled.
Stan slightly prayed for the creature to stay asleep. He was pretty quick on his feet but outrunning a dragon seemed to be a bit much to ask and he doubted that he could smooth-talk his way out of becoming the beast’s next meal.
He would have liked to stay far away from it, just turn right around and never come near this neck of the woods again. But there were only two tunnels; one behind him that only had a very steep and slippery climb to freedom that Stan would probably brake his neck attempting. The second was on the other side of the dragon.
So that left the small gap between the cave wall and the dragon as his only option.
Stan piratically glued himself to the wall. He moved painstakingly slowly, shuffling his way as far around the creature as he could, freezing in place each time it took a partially deep breath or shifted slightly.
Inch by inch, he got around the creatures bulk and moved carefully to the tunnel on the other side of it.
He silently cheered when he was only a few more steps from freedom.
But Stan Pines had a bit of a record of preemptive celebration.
His foot, the one connected to his bad knee unfortunately, slipped on a mossy rock, sending him to the ground with a loud yelp of pain and surprise before he froze again.
The dragons head shot up and whipped around. Bright blue eyes started at Stan, very much awake and alert and staring right at the human crumpled on the cave floor.
The two stared at each other, with Stan finding it harder and harder to breath as the moments ticked by.
The dragon blinked at him and tilted its head to one side.
Stan scrabbled into a sitting position and re-glued his back to the wall. He shrank back further as the dragons head moved closer, trying to make himself as small as possible.
“H-hey there, fancying seeing you here!” Might as well and see if one could smooth talk a dragon. “Listen, I image you are wondering what little ol’ me is doing in your…er, lovely cave.”
The dragon tilted its head the other way.
“Right, well, you see I was just talking a good hike though the woods and, wouldn’t you know it, fell down a hole! Crazy, am I right?”
The dragon blinked owlishly.
“Right! Just my thoughts exactly! So, I am just passing on through and I fully plan to be out of your cave very soon,” Stan flashed a smile and stood up, keeping his back firmly against the wall. “You can go back to your nap and I'll be on my way!"
Stan chuckled, hoping the slight shake in his voice didn’t give away how terrified he was.
The dragon’s ears twitched forward and it made a deep rumbling noise that sounded very close to a chuckle.
His eyes snapped shut when the snout came close enough for the beasts hot breath to ruffle his hair, mind screaming that he was about to be roasted alive and eaten.
But rather then flames or teeth, he felt a muzzle gently press against his shoulder and a quite purr like noise rumbled next to his ear.
Slowly, Stan cracked an eye open and moved his head so he could see what exactly the dragon was doing.
The dragon looked to be just curious as to what the little creature in its cave was. Thank goodness for small miracles in Stan’s option. But the thing was still far, far to close for his comfort.
He tensed as it started to sniff down his torso and arms, before it made another low rumbling noise and huffed another hot breath into his face.
‘O-kaaaaay,’ Stan thought to himself as he watched the dragons’ movements. The thing was not being as aggressive as Stan imagined a dragon would be, it fact its behavior so far was more like a big puppy that had found something new.
“You’re…um, a bit close for comfort fella.”
A hot puff of air hit Stan in the face as the dragon made a disapproving snort.
“Girl! Girl, not fella.”
The dragon bobbed her head and made a noise that was close to a purr.
“Right, of course you’re a girl dragon! Only a woman would be as beautiful as you!”
The dragoness purred and nudged his shoulder, towards the tunnel Stan had been trying to get to in the first place.
“Great! I’ll just show myself out. Good day Dragon ma’am!”
Stan practically speed walked to what he prayed was an exit.
But once again, luck was against him.
The tunnel opened into another chamber and there were three tunnels that branched out from it.
He had a string of frustrated curses on his tongue, but a hot puff of air and a large muzzle nudging him towards the far right tunnel caused his mouth to snapped shut.
Stan tensed at the contact but, since the dragoness hadn’t tried to set him aflame yet, he allowed himself to be guided through more tunnels and chambers by the creature.
The cave was quite large, as it turned out, and Stan was quite thankful he had a guide. A big, furry, could eat him in one bite dragon guide but it was better than being hopelessly lost.
It took a good ten minutes of slowly being pushed from one tunnel to the next before Stan smelled fresh air and another three before his boots crunched against snow.
Stan grinned as he inhaled the sharp, cold winter air deeply. It burned his throat and chest and it felt like absolute heaven.
A low rumble that sounded almost like a chuckle had him looking over his shoulder at the dragoness.
In the open space she looked much smaller. In fact, Stan noticed, her shoulders were only a few inches higher then himself when she was on all fours. Most of her ‘bulk’ actually came from her feathery wings. Her body, neck and legs were lean and streamlined.
Hesitantly, Stan stretched out a hand. He light touched his palm to the thick red fur on the dragoness' neck. Even though he was barely touching her, heat radiated onto his palm like he was holding it in front of a campfire. Carefully, he sunk his hand deeper into the fur, “Thanks for…urm, thanks for helping me out.”
The dragoness purred and leaned into his touch.
Stan suppress a small chuckle as he patted the creatures neck, “Well, I’m off. See ya dragon lady.”
With one final pat, Stan trudged off through the snow back to his Mystery Shack.