Chapter Text
It was a normal Friday, Jake was playing on his PS4 when he heard a knock on the door. "Jake, can you tell Hayley to come downstairs? Our guests are here," his mom said.
Jake paused his game and went to the staircase, and shouted, "HAYLEY, the guests are here."Jake heard the sound of a door opening. Haley trotted her way down the stairs. Susan opened the door. "Welcome! Welcome! It's nice to see you here. Come in and make yourselves comfortable."
The guests entered. Jake wasn't told much about them, only that they are friends of Mom's side of the family and that they just moved to New York. Susan then introduced them, "Kids, this is Sophia and Arthur Drake." Jake looked at them, he smiled and shook their hands, "My name's Jake." The man named Arthur has short brown hair, a beard, glasses, and a Yankees jacket. Arthur replied, "Nice to meet you, Jake!"
Arthur has a British accent, which surprised Jake a little. Sophia spoke, "Your mother told me so much about you two!" Sophia wore a green shirt and jeans, and her straight black hair was tied in a bun. As the guests entered the living room, Jake noticed two kids, one of them who was about the same age as Jake, who wore a white pullover hoodie. Same hair style as Arthur, but his hair color was more of a light brown. The kid has his hands in his pockets, looking around the surroundings.
"Yo, what's up?" Jake said, offering a handshake. The kid looked at him and took a hand out of his pocket. They both shake hands, and the kid says, "My name is George." George smiles with a toothy grin and some gaps in his teeth. Jake looked down at him briefly, seeing healed small cuts on his fingers and hands. Jake asked, "So, where are you guys from?"
"Chris and I were born in Connecticut. Mom is a New Yorker, but her family is from Brazil, and dad is well-"
Jake smiled, "British."
George laughed, "Yeah."
There was another knock at the door, Susan opened and there was Jake's grandpa. "Yo, gramps! How is it going?" greeted Jake. Lao Shi nodded with a warm smile, and the Drakes turned around and kneeled. Which caught Jake and Hayley off guard, which made both of them confused. Jake wanted to say something, but Lao Shi spoke, "No need to kneel," he said warmly.
Jake whispered to George, "Hey, man, is that-is that normal?"
George looked at Jake and shrugged, "Eh, kinda." Jake looked at him, bewildered, until he heard his grandpa speak to Arthur and Sophoia warmly, repeating, "There's no need to kneel, we're all friends here." So the two stood up and apologized, with Arthur saying, "Sorry about that mate, a force of habit."
Jake then blurted out, "Okay, what's going on here?"
Everyone looked at him, with awkward silence coming in filling the room. With Jake feeling embarrassed and already regretting his short outburst. But then Sophia and Arthur chuckled. George rolled his eyes, and Chris was just swaying his arms. Lao Shi warmly smiled and asked the Drakes, "Should I tell him?"
Arthur shook his head. "No worries, Luong, I'll explain." So Arthur kneeled again at the eye level of Jake and Haley.
Arthur cleared his throat, "Alright, I won't beat around the bush." There was a short pause for dramatic effect: " We know your dragons."
Jake and Hayley were surprised, with Hayley asking, "Are you dragons too?" Arthur quickly answered, "Oh no, none of us are. But we do have a connection with Dragons."
"There dragonologists," Luong said to his grandkids. "I was getting there," Arthur pouted playfully. "You were taking too long," Loung said sarcastically.
"A drago-whats it?" Jake asked with confusion. "Were Dragonologists. We study dragons for a living." George said plainly.
Hayley's eyes lit up. "Wait, so you guys are dragon scientists!" The Drakes nodded, and Chris said a big, "Yup!"
Jake asked the Drakes, "So how did you meet are family?"
Arthur smiled and stood up. "Well, my ancestor, Ernest Drake, met your family when he was traveling in China." Loung nodded and said, "Yes indeed, I remember when I first met Ernest." Sophia joked, "Do you remember what year it was?" Luong stroked his beard, pretending to be in deep thought, transforming into his eastern dragon form in the process, "Hmmm, I think it was around 1888."
"Woah woah. Hold on. G. You were alive in the 1800s!?" Luong replied simply, "Why yes, Jake, I thought you knew that already? We dragons can live long lives."
Jake shook his head and continued asking more questions, "Okay, okay. Why are they here? No offense."
George, with his hand in his pockets, "None taken." Arthur answered, "Well, where here to help! My family spent many generations studying dragons. Oh, and we worked with an organization that specializes in studying and helping," Arthur fished out a business card and handed it to the Long children. Jake and Hayley looked at the card. There was a western dragon encircling an open book like it were a hoard of gold. With text encircling the logo that says, International Society of Dragonologists.
Sophia cleared her throat and spoke in a motherly tone, "Sorry if this seems too intrusive, but is it okay if we see your dragon forms? If you feel comfortable." Jake looked at Hayley first, then he saw his mother transformed into her dragon form, which he rarely sees. Susan's dragon form was like her father's, but her scales were a mint green and a pink scaly underbelly.
So Jake exhaled and yelled, "DRAGON UP!" The Drakes looked on, seeing a 13-year-old boy transformed into a dragon. A mix of both west and east, He had wings like those of a bat, common on western dragons, but he had the horns and small whiskers of an eastern dragon, with black hair. Jake's dragon form is leaner than a western but nowhere near as serpentine as an eastern.
"Woah," Both George and Chris said in unison. George walks up to Jake, smiling, "You look awesome!" Jake grinned, and so they both high-fived each other, creating a loud slap.
"Wait! I can transform too!" Hayley called out, and she transformed, but not fully. Her head was similar to Jake's, but with the lack of whiskers. She still has her pig tails, little wings sprout behind, her scales are a dark purple. But she still had her human clothes, and she was still her original size. "Aw darn it," she said in disappointment. Jake comforted her sister, "Don't sweat it, sis, you'll get there soon." Susan commented, "Oh, don't worry, you're just in your middle form."
"Oh, I forgot one important thing!" Arthur said while giving himself a face palm. "Jake, George is gonna be with you when you go on dragon missions."
Jake was again surprised, "Wait, what?" Arthur continued, "Well, George here is a junior Dragonologist, and he needs some hands-on experience. So, I, Sophia, your mother, and your grandfather all agree to let George follow you when you're out on your mission."
Jake stopped to think about it. "Do I have a say?"
Susan nods, "Yes, son, you do, it's up to you to decide." Jake looked at George, who was avoiding eye contact and showed no emotion, but he could see a sheen of sweat on George's forehead. A sign of nervousness. Jake looked and asked, "You okay with this, dude?"
George sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, yeah! I get to work and hang out with an actual dragon! Lik,e how cool is that!" Loung joined in, "Not any regular dragon. Jake is The American Dragon."
"Trust me, Jake, I'll keep up with you and help you out," George reassures. Arthur spoke up, "Think of him as your field buddy."
Jake smiled and said, "Alright. I made up my mind. I'll allow it." With that, George pumped his fists up in the air, screaming, "HELL YEAH!"