WIP Amnesty: The one where Chad finds a baby dragon
Fandom: High School Musical
Pairing: nothing on page - would have been Chad/Ryan
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3240
Spoilers: n/a
Warnings: n/a
A/N: WIP Amnesty
Disclaimer: Belongs to Disney and Ortega.
Summary: AU: the one where Chad finds a baby dragon...
Chad scoffed to himself and cupped the bill of his baseball cap with both hands. He tried to make it look like he was shielding his eyes from the sun, but really, he just needed something to do with his hands before he ended up strangling his father. It wasn’t that Chad objected to spending time with his father… it’s that Chad hated running errands with his father. He would always inspect everything and compare features and prices and blah, blah, blah.
It was hot, and they were at a farm, and Chad’s father was haggling with a farmer about the price of manure that Chad’s mother had wanted. Manure. It’s not like there wasn’t an unlimited supply from the chickens that pecked at the ground around Chad’s feet. Or the cows that gazed at Chad so soulfully and innocently that he had needed to look away. It was the big, brown eyes and soft muzzle that always did him in.
Chad sighed to himself. His father showed no signs of relenting until he had a decent price for his shit. It was hot. Chad was bored. He was even thinking about taking his homework out of his backpack, but he hadn’t reached that stage of boredom yet. Not for a Friday afternoon.
The chickens squawked in alarm, and all of them headed directly - well, directly for a chicken - into their coop in a chaotic mess of feathers and clucking.
Chad eyed the coop suspiciously, unsure what made the chickens freak. He wasn’t sure that he was the one who had spooked them, but then they had been content to mill around his feet and peck at his shoelaces.
He then looked to the surrounding yard. There was nothing out of the ordinary that he could see, and Chad concluded that chickens were stupid.
He turned around, and his shoe connected with something soft but unyielding.
He looked down.
He looked away and then looked back down again.
“Um,” he said.
Pulling at his shoelaces was a tiny, black and green mass of lizard. It placed its tiny, clawed forefeet up on Chad’s shoes, shredding the canvas as it climbed.
“Hey,” Chad objected. He shook his foot.
The lizard clung to his shoe and spread its wings to keep itself balanced.
Chad’s mind sort of short-circuited. Lizards didn’t have wings. Birds had wings.
“Bah,” the not-lizard said. It thrashed its tail in the air and attempted to scale Chad’s leg.
“Hey!” Chad exclaimed. He reached down and scooped it up. Its claws dug into Chad’s jeans, and he had to remove them one by one, while avoiding being nipped by its pointy beak and undoubtedly needle-sharp teeth.
As Chad drew the not-lizard up to inspect it critically, his hand smeared in something slick. Chad sincerely hoped that it wasn’t the manure his father was attempting to purchase.
Gingerly, he looked at his hand, holding the squirming not-lizard in his other. His hand was coated in a bluish grey substance. Upon closer inspection, there was a gash in the not-lizard’s belly that oozed the same substance. Blood. The not-lizard was bleeding. That meant that Chad should probably bring it to a nature center so they could nurse it back to health or whatever they do at nature centers.
Chad put the not-lizard back down on the ground, and it immediately tried to scale his pants again.
“No,” Chad said firmly.
The not-lizard hissed at him and continued to crawl up Chad’s jeans, clipping the skin underneath with its ridiculously sharp talons.
“No,” Chad repeated.
He pulled it off again, and as quickly as he could, he pulled his gym shorts out of his backpack.
The not-lizard had managed to make it to Chad’s knee before Chad was able to scoop it up in his gym shorts.
“Sorry, little dude,” Chad said. “They might smell a bit ripe, but they’ll stop the bleeding.”
The not-lizard snorted at him, igniting the air in a tiny fireball that barely singed Chad’s fingertips.
“Holy shit!” Chad said reverently. “You’re a dragon.”
Chad stared owlishly at the dragon in his hand. He had a fucking dragon in his hand. There was a dragon in his hand.
“Um,” Chad said.
The dragon hissed at him and huffed out another fireball.
“Stop it,” Chad admonished.
There was no way he could take a dragon to a nature center. They would poke it and prod it and take it to a secret underground government bunker somewhere in the middle of the desert. That was a cruel thing to do to anything.
So bringing it to someplace was out. Leaving it alone was also out. It had firmly attached itself to Chad. Chad wished it hadn’t been so literal in doing so. He wouldn’t doubt it if the dragon tried to follow him home.
In fact, the dragon had stopped struggling and blowing fireballs at Chad. It had curled up in Chad’s hands, and it seemed like it had gone to sleep. Or maybe it had passed out from blood loss.
“Chad!”
Chad looked up at his father’s bellow. Chad guessed his father had a decent price for his manure, and it was time to go.
Chad needed to act quickly. He quickly and gently wrapped the dragon in his gym clothes and placed it in his backpack.
~
Chad locked himself in his room as soon as he was home. He ignored his father’s pleas for help and his mother’s questions about his health.
As soon as the door to his room was locked, Chad carefully pulled the injured dragon from his backpack and placed it on the floor. He was half impressed the dragon hadn’t set his backpack on fire.
It stared up at him pitifully and wheezed. There was a tiny lick of fire that quickly extinguished itself.
Maybe bringing a fire breathing creature into his room was a bad idea.
Chad had no idea why he thought bringing the dragon back had been a good idea. There was already a singe mark in the carpet. He had no idea how to keep a dragon, let alone how to keep one without burning down his house. Everything around his room was highly flammable.
Chad looked at the dragon critically. The dragon had curled in on itself in the middle of Chad’s floor. It was still wrapped in Chad’s gym clothes.
Maybe Chad should check on its wounds. Or clean them. The bathroom was less flammable than Chad’s room.
Chad scooped up the dragon and hurried into the bathroom. He could hear his parents downstairs discussing where to place all the manure. They’d be busy for a while.
The dragon fit neatly into the sink, but it didn’t exactly want to fit in the sink. And it protested vehemently when Chad turned on the tap. It nipped at Chad’s fingers and bleated loudly as it struggled out of the sink. Chad held it down, and he was a bit nervous that his parents would investigate the noise.
He managed to clean up the dragon, disinfecting wounds and taping gauze over its cut. He also ended up covered in water and blue, diluted dragon blood.
And he had no idea what to do now. How does one keep a dragon? How does one feed a dragon? How does one prevent his parents from finding a dragon? And how does one prevent a dragon from setting the house on fire?
All good questions.
Chad was going to need outside help.
Troy’s the obvious choice, except. Except he’s going to ask to tell Gabriella. Troy can keep a secret like nobody’s business - except from Gabriella. Apparently when a couple has been dating for six months, there becomes a closeness that doesn’t need secrets. Well, according to Troy that’s the deal. Chad thought that Gabriella could tell when Troy was keeping a secret - especially a big one - and she asked nicely or didn’t put out or whatever until Troy told her what’s going on.
And once Gabriella knew something, she’d think it’s okay to tell that secret to just one other person - or she won’t even realize it’s a secret - and soon the entire school would know.
So Troy’s out.
Chad called up Taylor.
Before she barely had a chance to say hello, Chad said, “I need you to be able to keep a huge secret.”
“Um,” Taylor said. “Chad?”
“I mean huge,” Chad said. “Can I trust you?”
“You’re being enigmatic and just plain manic,” Taylor said. “Are you sure you meant to call me and not Troy?”
“Yes, Taylor,” Chad huffed. “I need - I’m in a bit of a strange situation, and I need some advice.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’ll be right over.”
“No,” Chad said hastily. He couldn’t have Taylor over. His parents would want to hover to make sure Chad didn’t compromise Taylor’s virtue or the other way around. Chad hadn’t been able to figure out his parents yet. Either way, his parents were going to want to keep Chad and Taylor in their line of vision at all times.
“All right,” Taylor said slowly.
“Can we meet at the park at the end of my street?” Chad asked. “The one with the pavilion and playground?”
“Okay,” Taylor agreed. Something in her voice had softened, and Chad’s a bit suspicious.
“It’s a huge secret, Tay,” Chad said again. For good measure.
“You’ve covered that,” Taylor said dryly. “I won’t even tell anyone where I’m going or who I’m meeting.”
Chad smiled. He knew Taylor couldn’t see it, but she always knew what to say to him.
“I’ll meet you there in twenty,” she said. “That good enough?”
“You’re amazing,” Chad said.
“I know,” Taylor agreed cheerfully, and she hung up.
Chad looked to the dragon, who’s investigating the window as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.
“You’re going back in the bag,” Chad told it.
The dragon didn’t look too impressed with him.
Chad cupped the dragon’s sides and lifted it into his backpack. The dragon splayed its legs out and caught the sides of pack. Chad had to grab each limb separately and stuff them into the pack. The wings were even more tricky to shove into the backpack.
He zipped it up and was rewarded with a slight singe in the top of his backpack.
“Bad,” Chad said.
He then shouldered the backpack and heads out with a brief word to his parents as to where he’s going.
~
Chad claimed the platform at the top of the slide as his and scowled at any wayward kid. By the time Taylor showed up, Chad had successfully scared away everyone. It was almost dark, anyway, and most people had gone home to eat their dinner. Chad has also opened the backpack so the dragon can see what’s going on around it. It seems to enjoy sitting in the cave-like backpack and watching the world while the world can’t watch it.
“Chad?” Taylor called up from the base of the slide.
“C’mon up,” Chad said, beckoning Taylor up the slide with a wide wave.
Taylor snorted at him, but she climbed up the stairs. She sat down next to Chad, crossing her legs. Her eyes didn’t leave Chad’s face, even as she lazily kicked playground sand from her flip flops.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Chad pursed his lips together, and his eyes momentarily flicked to the dragon’s nose hidden just beneath the open zipper of his backpack and back to Taylor.
“I was adopted,” Chad announced.
“Chad!” Taylor cried. “That’s horrible! Your parents - ”
“What?” Chad interrupted, baffled. He then caught up with what he had said. “No! Not - I mean. No. Let me show you.” He looked to his backpack, and this time Taylor caught his eye movement.
“Do you have something illegal in you backpack?” Taylor asked dangerously.
“No!” Chad protested.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What’s in your backpack?”
“You have to keep it a secret,” Chad insisted.
Taylor nodded. “As long as it’s not illegal.”
Chad reached into his pack, drawing one hand back quickly as the dragon nipped at a finger. He then pushed his hands in and pulled out the dragon.
Taylor stared at the dragon in Chad’s hands as the dragon squirmed uncomfortably and said, “Bah.”
The dragon huffed out a wisp of smoke.
“Oh,” Taylor said vaguely. She studied it intently without moving in too close. “Oh,” she said again.
“Yeah,” Chad said. “It adopted me.”
“It?” Taylor asked. “You didn’t check?”
“Do you know how to sex a dragon?” Chad asked incredulously. “Because I don’t.”
“Hmm,” Taylor said. She reached out. “May I?”
Chad frowned in unease, and he gingerly handed the dragon over to Taylor.
The dragon studied Taylor as Taylor studied the dragon. It objected when Taylor raised it above her head to peer at it. The dragon squirmed and beat its wings several times to balance itself.
“Hmm,” Taylor said as she lowered it again.
“Hmm,” the dragon said. “Bah.”
Taylor set it down on the wooden floor of the playscape. The dragon climbed into Taylor’s lap, scraping up her legs and drawing blood. Taylor winced, but she let the dragon explore.
“She adopted you,” Taylor stated. “I’d love to hear this story.”
The dragon settled into Taylor’s lap. “Bah,” it said.
“She?” Chad asked.
“Why not?” Taylor asked. “The story?” She looked to Chad expectantly.
Chad licked his lips. “She - uh. My Dad took us out to that farm - the one at the end of - Yeah. And it - she kinda found me. She kept running up my jeans. And she was hurt. I couldn’t leave her there.”
Taylor gave him a soft look as she idly scratched between the dragon’s wings. The dragon loved it and released a happy grumbling sound.
“She likes you,” Chad observed. “She tried to burn down my room.”
“Fire?” Taylor said. She sounded intrigued, like she’s calculating intense math problems in her head. “You’re a little firebug, aren’t you?”
“Bah,” the dragon said happily.
“So,” Taylor said slowly. “You’ve been adopted by a dragon.”
“I think it’s a baby,” Chad added.
“Well,” Taylor said. “If it’s a baby, how big will she grow? I doubt you can keep her anyway. Her mother is probably looking for her.”
Chad started. He hadn’t thought about the dragon having a mother. But now that he was, all he could think about was some angry, giant dragon hovering over his house and blowing out large streams of fire.
The dragon huffed out a lick of fire in Chad’s general direction.
“She does breathe fire,” Taylor said in awe.
Chad nodded.
“Have you thought about if you’ll keep her or where you’ll keep her or how you’ll keep her? If you do keep her, what will you feed her? Can she be trained? It would be interesting to train a dragon. I haven’t the slightest idea how, but she seems intelligent enough.
“I hope for your sake that if you do keep her and she does grow quite large that she doesn’t eat people,” Taylor said. She looked down to the dragon, who huffed out another lick of fire.
“Bah,” the dragon responded.
“You’re a little firebug,” Taylor said in baby-talk. She then resumed in her normal voice, “Although the most pressing question right now - at least for me - is why she chose you.”
“Wha?” Chad asked ineloquently.
“You said you were with your Dad,” Taylor said. “So why’d the dragon go for you instead of your father?”
“I don’t know,” Chad said. “I was with the chickens?”
Taylor gave him an unimpressed look. “Chickens?”
“Maybe it eats chickens?” Chad proposed.
Taylor snorted. “I’m not saying it doesn’t.”
“What are you saying?” Chad asks.
“I’m saying maybe there’s a reason the dragon chose you.” She looked down to the dragon in her lap and smiled. “Isn’t that right, little bug?”
The dragon chirped at her.
“I see you two are getting along fine,” Chad grumbled. “Maybe you should take her.”
“She chose you, Chad,” Taylor said. “For whatever reason. It was her decision.” Taylor pauses. “Also, don’t try to pawn your dragon off on me.”
“I’m not!” Chad protested. “I just have no idea what to do with it.”
“Have you thought about asking her?” Taylor asked.
“I don’t think she understands me,” Chad said.
“So you haven’t tried,” Taylor said. She gave Chad the most unimpressed look ever.
“No,” Chad mumbled.
“Well,” Taylor prompted. “Ask.”
“Dragon,” Chad began.
“That’s horrible,” Taylor said. “She needs a name.”
“Shall I ask her that too?” Chad snapped.
“Chad,” Taylor warned. “You called me here for help. I can leave.”
“Fine,” Chad said. “I have no idea what to name her.”
“How about something simple so you remember it,” Taylor said in an almost growl.
“Hey!” Chad exclaimed. “I wasn’t that grouchy.”
The dragon seemed to sense the unease between them and squirmed free of Taylor’s hands and out of her lap. It stared at up at Chad and wheezed.
“It’s okay, bug,” Taylor soothed.
“Bug?” Chad asked. He raised an eyebrow and smiled crookedly.
“Yeah,” Taylor said. “Firebug, because she’s a little firebug.”
“She’s a dragon, Tay,” Chad said, “Of course, she’s a firebug.”
“I have a few more questions for you to think about,” Taylor said. “But I need to head home soon.”
~
Chad lay awake, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. The dragon was curled up on his feet. Not at his feet: on his feet. Chad couldn’t feel anything below his ankles, but at least the dragon wasn’t setting things on fire.
Taylor had given Chad a lot to think about. Things that Chad hadn’t originally thought about.
Things like how big the dragon will grow. Chad couldn’t hide a dragon for long. He could hide it easier if it stayed cat-sized, but if it grew dog-sized or house-sized, hiding it was completely out of the question.
There were other things as well, like where he’d keep it, what it ate, how to keep it a secret, if it could be trained, and if it would try to eat Chad eventually.
Chad didn’t like that she posed that question. He would have gone on happily if he never thought the dragon on his feet would ever try to eat him.
At least it stopped spewing fire everywhere. Apparently it only did that when it felt threatened. A dragon was a lot easier to keep a secret when it didn’t set everything on fire.
The most worrying question that Taylor had posed was why the dragon had chosen Chad.
He had no idea.
He had been begging his parents for a dog, but now that Chad had the sudden responsibly of a dragon, he agreed with his parents when they said ‘no.’
Cue montage with Chad and his dragon.
Troy is all upset that Chad’s not paying attention to him, so he goes to see what’s up. Chad is all secretive, but he plays some one-on-one.
Troy is not satisfied with this, so he sends over Ryan as a spy. Ryan’s a bad spy, because he announces that he’s a spy for Troy.
Chad tries to keep his dragon a secret, but it sets Ryan’s hat on fire. Chad can’t really keep that a secret.
He then explains to Ryan what’s going on. Ryan thinks he’s crazy, but they hang out anyway. With Taylor, who the dragon adores.
Pairing: nothing on page - would have been Chad/Ryan
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3240
Spoilers: n/a
Warnings: n/a
A/N: WIP Amnesty
Disclaimer: Belongs to Disney and Ortega.
Summary: AU: the one where Chad finds a baby dragon...
Chad scoffed to himself and cupped the bill of his baseball cap with both hands. He tried to make it look like he was shielding his eyes from the sun, but really, he just needed something to do with his hands before he ended up strangling his father. It wasn’t that Chad objected to spending time with his father… it’s that Chad hated running errands with his father. He would always inspect everything and compare features and prices and blah, blah, blah.
It was hot, and they were at a farm, and Chad’s father was haggling with a farmer about the price of manure that Chad’s mother had wanted. Manure. It’s not like there wasn’t an unlimited supply from the chickens that pecked at the ground around Chad’s feet. Or the cows that gazed at Chad so soulfully and innocently that he had needed to look away. It was the big, brown eyes and soft muzzle that always did him in.
Chad sighed to himself. His father showed no signs of relenting until he had a decent price for his shit. It was hot. Chad was bored. He was even thinking about taking his homework out of his backpack, but he hadn’t reached that stage of boredom yet. Not for a Friday afternoon.
The chickens squawked in alarm, and all of them headed directly - well, directly for a chicken - into their coop in a chaotic mess of feathers and clucking.
Chad eyed the coop suspiciously, unsure what made the chickens freak. He wasn’t sure that he was the one who had spooked them, but then they had been content to mill around his feet and peck at his shoelaces.
He then looked to the surrounding yard. There was nothing out of the ordinary that he could see, and Chad concluded that chickens were stupid.
He turned around, and his shoe connected with something soft but unyielding.
He looked down.
He looked away and then looked back down again.
“Um,” he said.
Pulling at his shoelaces was a tiny, black and green mass of lizard. It placed its tiny, clawed forefeet up on Chad’s shoes, shredding the canvas as it climbed.
“Hey,” Chad objected. He shook his foot.
The lizard clung to his shoe and spread its wings to keep itself balanced.
Chad’s mind sort of short-circuited. Lizards didn’t have wings. Birds had wings.
“Bah,” the not-lizard said. It thrashed its tail in the air and attempted to scale Chad’s leg.
“Hey!” Chad exclaimed. He reached down and scooped it up. Its claws dug into Chad’s jeans, and he had to remove them one by one, while avoiding being nipped by its pointy beak and undoubtedly needle-sharp teeth.
As Chad drew the not-lizard up to inspect it critically, his hand smeared in something slick. Chad sincerely hoped that it wasn’t the manure his father was attempting to purchase.
Gingerly, he looked at his hand, holding the squirming not-lizard in his other. His hand was coated in a bluish grey substance. Upon closer inspection, there was a gash in the not-lizard’s belly that oozed the same substance. Blood. The not-lizard was bleeding. That meant that Chad should probably bring it to a nature center so they could nurse it back to health or whatever they do at nature centers.
Chad put the not-lizard back down on the ground, and it immediately tried to scale his pants again.
“No,” Chad said firmly.
The not-lizard hissed at him and continued to crawl up Chad’s jeans, clipping the skin underneath with its ridiculously sharp talons.
“No,” Chad repeated.
He pulled it off again, and as quickly as he could, he pulled his gym shorts out of his backpack.
The not-lizard had managed to make it to Chad’s knee before Chad was able to scoop it up in his gym shorts.
“Sorry, little dude,” Chad said. “They might smell a bit ripe, but they’ll stop the bleeding.”
The not-lizard snorted at him, igniting the air in a tiny fireball that barely singed Chad’s fingertips.
“Holy shit!” Chad said reverently. “You’re a dragon.”
Chad stared owlishly at the dragon in his hand. He had a fucking dragon in his hand. There was a dragon in his hand.
“Um,” Chad said.
The dragon hissed at him and huffed out another fireball.
“Stop it,” Chad admonished.
There was no way he could take a dragon to a nature center. They would poke it and prod it and take it to a secret underground government bunker somewhere in the middle of the desert. That was a cruel thing to do to anything.
So bringing it to someplace was out. Leaving it alone was also out. It had firmly attached itself to Chad. Chad wished it hadn’t been so literal in doing so. He wouldn’t doubt it if the dragon tried to follow him home.
In fact, the dragon had stopped struggling and blowing fireballs at Chad. It had curled up in Chad’s hands, and it seemed like it had gone to sleep. Or maybe it had passed out from blood loss.
“Chad!”
Chad looked up at his father’s bellow. Chad guessed his father had a decent price for his manure, and it was time to go.
Chad needed to act quickly. He quickly and gently wrapped the dragon in his gym clothes and placed it in his backpack.
~
Chad locked himself in his room as soon as he was home. He ignored his father’s pleas for help and his mother’s questions about his health.
As soon as the door to his room was locked, Chad carefully pulled the injured dragon from his backpack and placed it on the floor. He was half impressed the dragon hadn’t set his backpack on fire.
It stared up at him pitifully and wheezed. There was a tiny lick of fire that quickly extinguished itself.
Maybe bringing a fire breathing creature into his room was a bad idea.
Chad had no idea why he thought bringing the dragon back had been a good idea. There was already a singe mark in the carpet. He had no idea how to keep a dragon, let alone how to keep one without burning down his house. Everything around his room was highly flammable.
Chad looked at the dragon critically. The dragon had curled in on itself in the middle of Chad’s floor. It was still wrapped in Chad’s gym clothes.
Maybe Chad should check on its wounds. Or clean them. The bathroom was less flammable than Chad’s room.
Chad scooped up the dragon and hurried into the bathroom. He could hear his parents downstairs discussing where to place all the manure. They’d be busy for a while.
The dragon fit neatly into the sink, but it didn’t exactly want to fit in the sink. And it protested vehemently when Chad turned on the tap. It nipped at Chad’s fingers and bleated loudly as it struggled out of the sink. Chad held it down, and he was a bit nervous that his parents would investigate the noise.
He managed to clean up the dragon, disinfecting wounds and taping gauze over its cut. He also ended up covered in water and blue, diluted dragon blood.
And he had no idea what to do now. How does one keep a dragon? How does one feed a dragon? How does one prevent his parents from finding a dragon? And how does one prevent a dragon from setting the house on fire?
All good questions.
Chad was going to need outside help.
Troy’s the obvious choice, except. Except he’s going to ask to tell Gabriella. Troy can keep a secret like nobody’s business - except from Gabriella. Apparently when a couple has been dating for six months, there becomes a closeness that doesn’t need secrets. Well, according to Troy that’s the deal. Chad thought that Gabriella could tell when Troy was keeping a secret - especially a big one - and she asked nicely or didn’t put out or whatever until Troy told her what’s going on.
And once Gabriella knew something, she’d think it’s okay to tell that secret to just one other person - or she won’t even realize it’s a secret - and soon the entire school would know.
So Troy’s out.
Chad called up Taylor.
Before she barely had a chance to say hello, Chad said, “I need you to be able to keep a huge secret.”
“Um,” Taylor said. “Chad?”
“I mean huge,” Chad said. “Can I trust you?”
“You’re being enigmatic and just plain manic,” Taylor said. “Are you sure you meant to call me and not Troy?”
“Yes, Taylor,” Chad huffed. “I need - I’m in a bit of a strange situation, and I need some advice.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’ll be right over.”
“No,” Chad said hastily. He couldn’t have Taylor over. His parents would want to hover to make sure Chad didn’t compromise Taylor’s virtue or the other way around. Chad hadn’t been able to figure out his parents yet. Either way, his parents were going to want to keep Chad and Taylor in their line of vision at all times.
“All right,” Taylor said slowly.
“Can we meet at the park at the end of my street?” Chad asked. “The one with the pavilion and playground?”
“Okay,” Taylor agreed. Something in her voice had softened, and Chad’s a bit suspicious.
“It’s a huge secret, Tay,” Chad said again. For good measure.
“You’ve covered that,” Taylor said dryly. “I won’t even tell anyone where I’m going or who I’m meeting.”
Chad smiled. He knew Taylor couldn’t see it, but she always knew what to say to him.
“I’ll meet you there in twenty,” she said. “That good enough?”
“You’re amazing,” Chad said.
“I know,” Taylor agreed cheerfully, and she hung up.
Chad looked to the dragon, who’s investigating the window as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.
“You’re going back in the bag,” Chad told it.
The dragon didn’t look too impressed with him.
Chad cupped the dragon’s sides and lifted it into his backpack. The dragon splayed its legs out and caught the sides of pack. Chad had to grab each limb separately and stuff them into the pack. The wings were even more tricky to shove into the backpack.
He zipped it up and was rewarded with a slight singe in the top of his backpack.
“Bad,” Chad said.
He then shouldered the backpack and heads out with a brief word to his parents as to where he’s going.
~
Chad claimed the platform at the top of the slide as his and scowled at any wayward kid. By the time Taylor showed up, Chad had successfully scared away everyone. It was almost dark, anyway, and most people had gone home to eat their dinner. Chad has also opened the backpack so the dragon can see what’s going on around it. It seems to enjoy sitting in the cave-like backpack and watching the world while the world can’t watch it.
“Chad?” Taylor called up from the base of the slide.
“C’mon up,” Chad said, beckoning Taylor up the slide with a wide wave.
Taylor snorted at him, but she climbed up the stairs. She sat down next to Chad, crossing her legs. Her eyes didn’t leave Chad’s face, even as she lazily kicked playground sand from her flip flops.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Chad pursed his lips together, and his eyes momentarily flicked to the dragon’s nose hidden just beneath the open zipper of his backpack and back to Taylor.
“I was adopted,” Chad announced.
“Chad!” Taylor cried. “That’s horrible! Your parents - ”
“What?” Chad interrupted, baffled. He then caught up with what he had said. “No! Not - I mean. No. Let me show you.” He looked to his backpack, and this time Taylor caught his eye movement.
“Do you have something illegal in you backpack?” Taylor asked dangerously.
“No!” Chad protested.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What’s in your backpack?”
“You have to keep it a secret,” Chad insisted.
Taylor nodded. “As long as it’s not illegal.”
Chad reached into his pack, drawing one hand back quickly as the dragon nipped at a finger. He then pushed his hands in and pulled out the dragon.
Taylor stared at the dragon in Chad’s hands as the dragon squirmed uncomfortably and said, “Bah.”
The dragon huffed out a wisp of smoke.
“Oh,” Taylor said vaguely. She studied it intently without moving in too close. “Oh,” she said again.
“Yeah,” Chad said. “It adopted me.”
“It?” Taylor asked. “You didn’t check?”
“Do you know how to sex a dragon?” Chad asked incredulously. “Because I don’t.”
“Hmm,” Taylor said. She reached out. “May I?”
Chad frowned in unease, and he gingerly handed the dragon over to Taylor.
The dragon studied Taylor as Taylor studied the dragon. It objected when Taylor raised it above her head to peer at it. The dragon squirmed and beat its wings several times to balance itself.
“Hmm,” Taylor said as she lowered it again.
“Hmm,” the dragon said. “Bah.”
Taylor set it down on the wooden floor of the playscape. The dragon climbed into Taylor’s lap, scraping up her legs and drawing blood. Taylor winced, but she let the dragon explore.
“She adopted you,” Taylor stated. “I’d love to hear this story.”
The dragon settled into Taylor’s lap. “Bah,” it said.
“She?” Chad asked.
“Why not?” Taylor asked. “The story?” She looked to Chad expectantly.
Chad licked his lips. “She - uh. My Dad took us out to that farm - the one at the end of - Yeah. And it - she kinda found me. She kept running up my jeans. And she was hurt. I couldn’t leave her there.”
Taylor gave him a soft look as she idly scratched between the dragon’s wings. The dragon loved it and released a happy grumbling sound.
“She likes you,” Chad observed. “She tried to burn down my room.”
“Fire?” Taylor said. She sounded intrigued, like she’s calculating intense math problems in her head. “You’re a little firebug, aren’t you?”
“Bah,” the dragon said happily.
“So,” Taylor said slowly. “You’ve been adopted by a dragon.”
“I think it’s a baby,” Chad added.
“Well,” Taylor said. “If it’s a baby, how big will she grow? I doubt you can keep her anyway. Her mother is probably looking for her.”
Chad started. He hadn’t thought about the dragon having a mother. But now that he was, all he could think about was some angry, giant dragon hovering over his house and blowing out large streams of fire.
The dragon huffed out a lick of fire in Chad’s general direction.
“She does breathe fire,” Taylor said in awe.
Chad nodded.
“Have you thought about if you’ll keep her or where you’ll keep her or how you’ll keep her? If you do keep her, what will you feed her? Can she be trained? It would be interesting to train a dragon. I haven’t the slightest idea how, but she seems intelligent enough.
“I hope for your sake that if you do keep her and she does grow quite large that she doesn’t eat people,” Taylor said. She looked down to the dragon, who huffed out another lick of fire.
“Bah,” the dragon responded.
“You’re a little firebug,” Taylor said in baby-talk. She then resumed in her normal voice, “Although the most pressing question right now - at least for me - is why she chose you.”
“Wha?” Chad asked ineloquently.
“You said you were with your Dad,” Taylor said. “So why’d the dragon go for you instead of your father?”
“I don’t know,” Chad said. “I was with the chickens?”
Taylor gave him an unimpressed look. “Chickens?”
“Maybe it eats chickens?” Chad proposed.
Taylor snorted. “I’m not saying it doesn’t.”
“What are you saying?” Chad asks.
“I’m saying maybe there’s a reason the dragon chose you.” She looked down to the dragon in her lap and smiled. “Isn’t that right, little bug?”
The dragon chirped at her.
“I see you two are getting along fine,” Chad grumbled. “Maybe you should take her.”
“She chose you, Chad,” Taylor said. “For whatever reason. It was her decision.” Taylor pauses. “Also, don’t try to pawn your dragon off on me.”
“I’m not!” Chad protested. “I just have no idea what to do with it.”
“Have you thought about asking her?” Taylor asked.
“I don’t think she understands me,” Chad said.
“So you haven’t tried,” Taylor said. She gave Chad the most unimpressed look ever.
“No,” Chad mumbled.
“Well,” Taylor prompted. “Ask.”
“Dragon,” Chad began.
“That’s horrible,” Taylor said. “She needs a name.”
“Shall I ask her that too?” Chad snapped.
“Chad,” Taylor warned. “You called me here for help. I can leave.”
“Fine,” Chad said. “I have no idea what to name her.”
“How about something simple so you remember it,” Taylor said in an almost growl.
“Hey!” Chad exclaimed. “I wasn’t that grouchy.”
The dragon seemed to sense the unease between them and squirmed free of Taylor’s hands and out of her lap. It stared at up at Chad and wheezed.
“It’s okay, bug,” Taylor soothed.
“Bug?” Chad asked. He raised an eyebrow and smiled crookedly.
“Yeah,” Taylor said. “Firebug, because she’s a little firebug.”
“She’s a dragon, Tay,” Chad said, “Of course, she’s a firebug.”
“I have a few more questions for you to think about,” Taylor said. “But I need to head home soon.”
~
Chad lay awake, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. The dragon was curled up on his feet. Not at his feet: on his feet. Chad couldn’t feel anything below his ankles, but at least the dragon wasn’t setting things on fire.
Taylor had given Chad a lot to think about. Things that Chad hadn’t originally thought about.
Things like how big the dragon will grow. Chad couldn’t hide a dragon for long. He could hide it easier if it stayed cat-sized, but if it grew dog-sized or house-sized, hiding it was completely out of the question.
There were other things as well, like where he’d keep it, what it ate, how to keep it a secret, if it could be trained, and if it would try to eat Chad eventually.
Chad didn’t like that she posed that question. He would have gone on happily if he never thought the dragon on his feet would ever try to eat him.
At least it stopped spewing fire everywhere. Apparently it only did that when it felt threatened. A dragon was a lot easier to keep a secret when it didn’t set everything on fire.
The most worrying question that Taylor had posed was why the dragon had chosen Chad.
He had no idea.
He had been begging his parents for a dog, but now that Chad had the sudden responsibly of a dragon, he agreed with his parents when they said ‘no.’
Cue montage with Chad and his dragon.
Troy is all upset that Chad’s not paying attention to him, so he goes to see what’s up. Chad is all secretive, but he plays some one-on-one.
Troy is not satisfied with this, so he sends over Ryan as a spy. Ryan’s a bad spy, because he announces that he’s a spy for Troy.
Chad tries to keep his dragon a secret, but it sets Ryan’s hat on fire. Chad can’t really keep that a secret.
He then explains to Ryan what’s going on. Ryan thinks he’s crazy, but they hang out anyway. With Taylor, who the dragon adores.