CSYA Ch7: Free-Day
#4 of CSYA
Thrax woke up to the sound of hoots and hollers in the hallway. He pulled the sheets off of himself and quickly got dressed. He then opened his door, some of the younger teenaged anthros were running up and down the halls chanting "Free-day Friday, free-day Friday!"
He noticed Emma open her door and yell at the thirteen and fourteen year-olds. "Shut up, we get it you little twerps."
"Free-day?" Thrax asked her once the younger anthros had gone.
"Every Friday we get off. You can do whatever you want, so long as you don't leave the building and blow their cover. It's the only day off we get, and everyone makes a big deal out of it."
"The only day?"
"Well, they try to teach you as much as you can before sending you out on 'missions.' Just think about the other side, they never get a day off, ever."
"Well, I guess you're right then," Thrax sighed, "So what is there to do on Free-day then?"
"Well, Zane's got his video games, but between meals, they pull out a bunch of gaming tables, and board games in the cafeteria. And there's the exercise stuff out in the courtyard between the buildings; the only place you are allowed to go if you want outside." Emma listed off.
"Well, first I want breakfast," Zane spoke up as he entered the hallway from his own room.
"Let's eat then," Emma said, leading the way to the elevators to the cafeteria.
The three of them quickly ate breakfast, planning on what they would do for the day. Also, Emma and Zane spent some time explaining some things to Thrax. Though the day was "Free-day" it had some rules: no leaving the building or the courtyard, no sending messages to your old friends, and no drugs or alcohol unless they were of legal age, that last rule sounded stupid since they were training to be mobsters but no one ever broke it. There was even a recovery time on Saturdays, up till noon, then it was back to regularly scheduled classes and instructions.
By the end of breakfast they had decided to spend the day playing video games in Zane's room. The three of them put up their trays and went back up to Zane's room.
Once they were in Zane's room and sitting around the TV Zane pulled out all of his games that had multi-player functionality. They decided to take turns picking which game, and picking which type of mode to play. The three of them chose Halo 3 first.
Halfway through their first match Emma said, "so Thrax, remember that bit that you chomped your way through?"
"What!? He bit through a bit? You have a bit?" Zane exclaimed.
"Had," Emma replied, "Thrax here cut clean through it with his teeth the other night."
"Wow," Zane said. He picked up a Wiimote and held it out to Thrax. "Can you bite through this?"
"That's plastic, of course he can," Emma said.
"Why would I want to bite it anyway?" Thrax interjected.
"Most canines, and felines have to work on plastic, chewing it over time to get through. I want to see it you can. And this one's an extra anyways," Zane stated.
"Fine, give it here," Thrax took hold of the Wiimote and chomped down on it. The plastic cracked under pressure, then a second later it broke. The ends falling out the side of his mouth. He spat out the remains.
"Wow," Zane and Emma said in unison.
"What? I bit through soda cans all the time back home." Thrax said.
"I've been looking into that, your being able to bite through metal," Emma said. "Apparently it's rare, even for a dragon. What I saw didn't say anything else though, whether it's good, or bad, or whatever."
"Hang on a sec. Thrax closed your eyes." Thrax complied as Zane reached into his pocket to pull out a quarter.
"What the heck do you want with a - ?" Emma asked.
"Shush," Zane said. "Thrax smell this."
Thrax sniffed the air, moving steadily closer to the quarter. His serpentine tongue reached out to lick at the quarter, and snatched it out of Zane's hand. He quickly crunched down on the shiny coin and swallowed it.
"Grandpa was right," Zane said in awe. "Some dragons do like the taste of metal."
"Say what?" Emma said as Thrax opened his eyes.
"My grandpa used to say that some dragons used to eat metal. But that something happened to them all. He said that they were shunned and hated for some reason."
"Oh gee, thanks for telling me that people think I'm a freak." Thrax snapped.
"I never said that, it was my grandpa," Zane snapped back.
"Well, even if he is a freak, we wont tell anyone." Emma said. "Got it?"
"Got it," Zane said calming down.
"No one will know about Thrax's little morsels," Emma reiterated. "I think we should give him any pennies we can spare."
"Why?" Thrax asked.
"So in case you get a sudden craving for metal, you'll have a stash in your pocket."
"Ok then, but let's get back to the game first."
The rest of the day the three of them spent playing games, eating snacks, and finding pennies to give to Thrax. By the time they nodded off to sleep, at 2 in the morning, they had found 59 cents worth of pennies for Thrax, and had even gone out on the track once before heading up to their individual rooms to sleep.