Flying

[start_a_rumpus]

Max feels pretty sure that he's supposed to still be scared after Halloween, and he wouldn't tell Bill or another grown-up because he'd probably get into trouble, but it was kind of awesome. There was this giant toy clown and it was totally scary and it was totally going to eat him but then Wolf came and he was like a super hero. He was like Jason

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[a_swan_diver]

Bella was just crossing in front of the swingset when Max went flying. Because it her klutz meant she had the worst timing ever, she looked up just in time to see the little boy arc through the air. Her hands went up automatically to catch him and she almost made it, both of them landing on the grass with Bella as his cushion.

She was smiling, though, when she looked up. "Hiya, Max."

[start_a_rumpus]

"You're a dragon!" he screams right in her face before looking around for more enemy fighters. "And I just slay...slayed you! You're dead!"

[a_swan_diver]

"And who better to take me down than the fearsome Max, protector of all," Bella laughed from underneath her, thinking back to a childhood she thought long forgotten.

[start_a_rumpus]

"I used to run with the Monsters, you know," he informs her. "And they were as big as houses so dragons aren't a really big deal."

[curiously_cora]

Coraline should have expected it when she saw Max swinging so innocently on the swingset. She should have expected it when she heard the whoop but she wasn't and so at the last minute Coraline turned, catching Max before falling backwards with an oof. Coraline grinned, laughing at him before running her knuckles over his head.

"I'll get you attacking a brave knight of the Homestead like that," Coraline said laughing.

[start_a_rumpus]

"No!" he laughs, ducking his head. "You're a fearsome dragon and I just jumped on your back and now you're under my control an we're going to save the whole island from the other dragon!"

[curiously_cora]

"If I'm a fearsome dragon what's to stop me from burning you alive and eating you like crispy bacon?" Coraline asked, running a hand through her blue hair and getting up to her feet and making sure Max can get on her back. Unless Max grew and grew and grew, Coraline was probably going to always be able to carry him around on her back- she was that tall. "There's an Other dragon? Did it have button eyes? Do I need to go and get Percy's sword?"

Coraline was actually serious about that last bit.

[start_a_rumpus]

"Wait, can you really get a sword?" Max asks, suddenly very distracted from that whole dragon thing. "Is it like a real sword?"

[goingtodorking]

"You are going to really hurt yourself!" calls Karen, standing to one side and watching all of this occur. She raises both eyebrows and folds her arms across her chest. Boys are so stupid.

"And nobody is going to kiss it better!"

[start_a_rumpus]

Max lets out a grunt as he hits hard, rolling a few times just like Jason taught him. He tore a big hole in his suit and it's totally worth it. "I don't care!" he shouts. "I just saved the whole island and you just stood there and now you're going to get fire breathed on by a dragon."

[goingtodorking]

"No, I am not," says Karen, who's totally in favour of make-believe until things get silly. It's all fun and games, her Mum always says, until somebody loses an eye.

Which has never happened, but it's a thought that always plays on Karen's mind.

[start_a_rumpus]

"Yes you are!" he screams, running around her in wide circles. "You're gonna burn up and be a lump of coal and you'll be sorry you didn't listen to me. Because we're under attack! From all over!"

[hereand_now]

Wolf is sometimes scared, still, but not for himself. For the other people on the island, people who might get hurt if he's not around. Sometimes he's scared for Zoe and for Matthew and Cassie. Sometimes he's scared for Max, but not right now, not when Max jumps right onto his back and Wolf laughs.

"Max is jumping on Wolf, right here and now!" he says happily, then spins in a circle, hoping Max has a good hold around his neck and won't fall off. "How come you're jumping on Wolf?"

[start_a_rumpus]

"Because you're a dragon and now your under my control and you have to take me to the village!" Max exclaims, burying his face against Wolf's big back as he grins. He's never, ever had big kids that liked to play like he does.

[hereand_now]

Wolf loves to play and so he's happy to be Max's dragon. Hunching over a little so that Max can ride right on top of him, horseyback, he roars like he thinks dragons must roar. It's a loud sound, even now when he isn't a real Wolf and as he starts to run in the direction of the beach, there's a satisfied grin on his face. Even here he can be loud sometimes.

"Is the village this way?" he asks, running effortlessly through trees until he reaches the boardwalk.

[start_a_rumpus]

Max lets out a roar of his own with Wolf's and tightens his arm around his neck.

"Yes!" he whoops. "It's there and it's being attacked and we have to battle the other dragons. I have to jump on them, too!"

[whoneedsadream]

OF the many things Anatoly might have expected to come across while taking a stray, a small boy in a wolf suit flying at him was not one of them. He turned around as he heard the cry and managed to catch him and carefully set him down.

"That was quite a leap," he said, bending down so he could be at eye-level. "Were you trying to fly?"

[start_a_rumpus]

Max shrieks with laughter as he's caught and starts to run in a circle. "I did fly! I flew and I captured a dragon and I saved a whole village!"

[whoneedsadream]

Anatoly couldn't help but laugh as he watched the boy run around happily. His enthusiasm reminded him a little of his own son. Dmitrit hadn't been so interested in dragons but chasing bears into space? Very much so.

"You saved a whole village? You must be a wonderful brave hero! What is your name, brave one?"

[start_a_rumpus]

"I'm Max!" he yells, flinging himself down on the ground. "And I'm king of the Monsters and I kill dragons and demons and beasts and all kinds of things. Who are you?"