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A Dragon in Suburbia, Part 4: Dragons at Dinnertime.

"Shit shit, shit!"

Kyle squirmed out from underneath the yellowtail dragon, who squawked in surprise and fussed at the sudden movement. He jumped out of bed, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. Must have tweaked the injured joint somehow. Curious, Nixi watched as Kyle jumped out of bed began yanking open clothes drawers in a panic.

Knock knock knock!

There the sound was again. Somebody was outside his apartment door. Kyle had no idea who that could possibly be. No time to think about it. In a flash he grabbed some boxers, a pair of jeans, and his shoulder brace. Kyle then ripped a random shirt from his closet and threw everything on while the dragon watched with interest. Kyle put his hand on the bedroom doorknob but suddenly paused, turning back to look at the bemused dragon on his bed.

"Nixi, stay here and be quiet for a sec," he pointed at her. "I'll be right back." The dragon let out an inquisitive trill in response to his words.

He closed the door securely, keeping her inside, and made way for his front door. Kyle took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and part his still-damp hair before throwing the latch and opening the door wide.

"Kyle! Hey! Hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."

In the hallway of his apartment stood Derrick, the landlord. He was a tall, lanky man with chocolate skin and short, bushy hair topping his forehead. Reflections from the hallway lights bounced off his small, circular glasses, hiding his dark brown eyes, and the hints of lines on his face suggested he was at least forty. He was leaning against the wall casually, looking as if he had been loitering for a while. Derrick was relaxed, laid back, friendly, and acted about ten or fifteen years younger than he really was. He was the kind of landlord Kyle was grateful to have, reminding him of his RA in college. But in the back of his mind, Kyle was trying not to panic. Derrick's inexplicable appearance could hardly mean anything good, and there was a lot at stake with a dragon hiding in his bedroom.

Putting his worrisome thoughts away, Kyle put on a smile and shook his head no. "Ah, no, you're fine. I just got out of the shower a little while ago and wasn't quite dressed yet."

Derrick's eyes dashed to the ground for a second. He leaned in close and brought his voice down to a half-whisper. "Yeah, about that ... I got a complaint from a tenant that she could hear your shower running for nearly an hour and a half."

Kyle's eyes opened wide. An hour and a half? Had he really had Nixi in the shower for that long? It certainly hadn't seemed like it! But between the time spent washing her down, and the time spent letting dragon have fun with her favorite toy ...

"Whoops, I must have lost track of time in there. Sorry about that. But wait ... who was it that complained. Mrs. Garza?"

"Well ..." Derrick didn't answer but his averted gaze told Kyle everything.

"It was Mrs. Garza." Kyle confirmed. He tried not to roll his eyes. Mrs. Garza was the apartment's resident shrew: the ill-tempered tenant that does nothing but gripe and snitch. Every apartment complex had at least one shrew, and Kyle happened to share his bathroom wall with her own.

But wait ... if she could hear the sounds of his shower running, what other sorts of sounds could she have heard? Kyle didn't dare to dwell on it.

Wincing in sympathy pain, Derrick scratched the back his head. "Eh, you know how it goes ... cheap place, thin walls, so people complain and complain and complain! Especially her! Always with the complaining. Eugh! But I gotta listen to her at least some of the time, otherwise I'm not doing my job. And besides ... water is kind of a big deal."

"What do you mean?" Kyle tried asking as casually as he could.

Derrick shook his head. "Kyle, you haven't lived in Colorado long, right? There's a water shortage 'round these parts. Maybe you didn't know that. All I wanted to say was to just try to keep the unnecessary water usage to a minimum, okay? That's the only thing I got for ya. Nothing but a little warning, that's all."

Kyle nodded. "Got it."

Derrick cordially smiled. "Great. So, how's things been with you, anyway? Haven't seen you 'round much lately."

Kyle shrugged. "I've been keeping odd hours since work has me coming in so early."

Derrick crossed his arms over his chest. "Ah, that sucks. You work on a ranch or something, right?"

"South of here, yeah. Calordale Dragon Ranch."

"Yeah, yeah!" Derrick nodded. "Dragons. Seems like it'd be dangerous work for a kid like you."

Kyle flinched. Granted, Derrick was much older than he, but still, Kyle was twenty-three and didn't like being called a kid anymore.

Derrick was oblivious to the subtle reaction. "Hey, do they got you flying on one of those scaly reptiles yet?"

Kyle shook his head. "Nah. Well, I've ridden as a passenger once or twice, but still working my way up to solo flights. Oh, and dragons are not technically reptiles. That's a common misconception. Their scales grow more like feathers and hair, and they're not cold blooded, either. In fact, they're more closely related to birds and dino-"

Kyle stopped himself in mid sentence. "Oh man, I'm really sorry ..." he began, laughing, putting his hands out in apology. "I'm starting to sound like my cousin. She's the ranch owner, and she's, like, this huge dragon expert and all ..."

Derrick chuckled. "No prob, no prob."

The thought of Nixi being cooped up in his bedroom flooded to the surface of Kyle's mind. "Hey, I kinda can't talk much right now, so, um, is it alright if we-"

Derrick's eyes grew the size of dinner plates. He gave Kyle a once over, eyeing his hastily dressed state, and a lightbulb seemed to flash over his head. "Wait a sec ... you got a girl in there, do you?" He craned his neck past Kyle's head to peek inside.

Embarrassed thoroughly, Kyle pursed his lips and said nothing, but his sheepish reaction was more than enough for his landlord and Derrick began to laugh.

"Ahhhh, Kyle, you dog! So that's why you've been running the shower for so long!" He playfully shook Kyle's shoulder: the uninjured one, thankfully. "You come out here a few months and already you're bringing the ladies back to your pad! What a player! Wait, she's still there, isn't she? Am I interrupting anything?"

"Not really, no." Kyle truthfully replied, doing his best to keep a straight face.

Derrick shook his head. "Okay, but still! My bad, my bad, man. I'll letcha go. But, ah ..." Derrick trailed off as his face began to wrinkle. He leaned in close and whispered to Kyle. "You wanna keep that lady friend of yours, you might wanna get an air freshener or something. Something smells kinda ... funky."

Kyle's mind raced, but the answer quickly came to him. The smell of dragon: an earthy, almost swampy musk. It was all over his apartment. After being around dragons for so long, his nose had become used to their smell and he barely noticed it anymore, but for the average layperson ....

"Right ..." Kyle mumbled, staring off into space as he processed his landlord's oblivious reaction. "Got it."

"Ya know, don't shoot the messenger," Derrick playfully ribbed Kyle, snapping him back to attention. "I'm just lookin' out for ya, kid. I'll let you go now."

"Right, take it easy."

"Mhm." Derrick took a few lanky steps down the hallway, and abruptly stopped in his tracks just as Kyle was closing the door.

"Oh, and--" Derrick turned around. "Mrs. Irving on the 4th floor stopped by with homemade cupcakes again. Go knock on her door and grab yourself some if you're hungry!"

"Will do." Kyle waved goodbye and quickly shut the door, eager to be left alone. He threw the latch into its locked position and collapsed against the door with a sigh of relief.

"That coulda gone a lot worse ..." he mumbled on his way to the bedroom. Behind the door, he could hear Nixi nudging the doorknob, trying to get out. His thoughts briefly turned to cupcakes as his fingers wrapped around the doorknob. He decided that he'd have to nab a few later ... that creamy buttermilk frosting, the moist, succulent-

"Jeeze!" Kyle exclaimed as Nixi wedged her snout in the opening crack of the door and nearly toppled him over in her efforts to get out. "What's the hurry, Nix?"

The yellow-tailed dragon briefly inspected the hallway, but, finding nothing, she let out a huff. Kyle shook his head. The silly dragon must have been upset she was missing out on something.

--=-=--

A lick on Kyle's cheek brought a smile to his face. He chuckled.

"Yeah, I love you too, girl."

Kyle was back in bed with the dragon, holding her with one arm while he was playing with his cell phone in the other. Nixi was lying on his lap, content for now to simply relax and spend time with her human. Kyle had completely lost track of time ... which was perfectly fine, in his opinion. Just as long as he knew where the dragon was and could make sure she wasn't getting into mischief. A quiet, calm dragon was a good dragon.

The screen on his phone suddenly went dark, and Kyle frowned. But then, it began to buzz and ring. A number appeared on the screen. Kyle recognized it and sighed.

"I need to take this. Can you be good for a little, Nix?"

He coaxed the dragon off his lap, eliciting an unhappy yowl out of her, and made way for the door. With his hand on the doorknob he turned his head, seeing the dragon staring at him. No ... not quite. She was staring at the door. Kyle frowned. He opened and closed the door behind him, then answered the ringing phone in his hand.

On the other end of the line came out a rustic, masculine voice with a thick Texan accent.

"How's it hangin', dude?"

Kyle smiled. "Hey, Ethan."

Ethan also worked on Emily's dragon ranch, and Kyle considered him the closest friend he had in Colorado. The consummate Texan, Ethan was easy-going, old-fashioned, and loved poker, beer, and guns. He remembered Ethan saying he had come from a family of horse ranchers, but had told Kyle he preferred working with dragons for their intelligence and personality. Kyle hadn't been working on the ranch for long when Ethan revealed to him the little "secret" of some dragons' willingness to seek sex outside their own species. Before moving to Colorado Kyle had no idea the scaly creatures were such hornballs!

"So how ya holdin' up, man?" Ethan asked. "Just wanted to check up on ya, see how yer shoulder's doin'."

Kyle rolled his eyes. This wasn't normal behavior for Ethan at all. "Emily put you up to this, didn't she?"

Ethan laughed. "Damn, yer a sharp critter. She suggested it, yeah. Your coz's worried sick 'bout you, ya know? Hell, she wanted to stop by your place but me an' Rachel had to talk her out of it."

Kyle felt like he had just dodged a big bullet with Emily's face on it. Breathing a sigh of relief, he plopped down on the bright orange futon in the family room and kicked back his feet. "She's always been a worrier. That's her nature. Thanks for talking her down."

"Yeah, dude. Emily was all like 'I should stop by Kyle's, check up on him maybe bring him some dinner or something,'and we were all like 'You called him this morning already, let the man get his rest an' all ..."

Kyle cackled when Ethan mimicked his cousin with a high pitched, girly voice, but his words gave him pause. A home-cooked dinner by Emily's hands was a tempting offer; she certainly knew how to fix up a meal. Sometimes she would even give Kyle a container of leftovers to take home with him, which reminded him that one of those were still in his fridge. But with Nixi around, the last thing Kyle needed was his cousin stopping in for a surprise visit!

"You know," Kyle began grinning. "When she was little she used to get teased for being a 'No-Fun Nancy'. Her father, back when he was still alive, used to joke to my parents that she was the reason we never visited Colorado more often."

Ethan let out a guffaw. "Priceless! But yeah dude, she was dropping some major hints about how 'Oh, I bet Kyle would appreciate it if you guys gave him a call to see how he's doin' and all. Figger I'll do it just to put her mind at ease, ya know? Made a show of dialing yer number in front of her, just to let her see."

Down the hallway, Kyle heard the jostling and nudging of his bedroom door knob. He frowned. Nixi wanted out but he couldn't afford to give her that freedom right now.

Kyle sighed. "Well, I appreciate it, and I am sure she does too."

"Sure thing, critter." Kyle could almost hear Ethan tip his cowboy hat in respect. "But now that that's outta the way, I gotta ask: you know the Broncos are playing tomorrow night, right?"

A light bulb appeared over Kyle's head. Of course! The football game! "Oh yeah!" Kyle sat up straight, stifling a groan as he tweaked his injured shoulder. "What do you want to do, ask Emmy to chill at her place and watch the game?"

"Well that's what I was gonna ask you, man. Depends on how you're feeling. I know you got yer shoulder, and ya took a hard hit to the ol' noggin too. Dunno if yer up for a few beers and some football or not."

Definitely not with a dragon in the apartment, Kyle reasoned. He let out a sigh of resignation. "I have to say no, unfortunately. I'm still kinda hurting and-"

The sound of the bedroom door opening stopped Kyle's words in his throat. His eyes opened wide. No way, he thought. No way! How did she--

And then the answer came to him. She had been watching him the past few times he left the bedroom. Watching him open the door by twisting the knob. It took her a few minutes but the dragon had figured it out.

"What a clever girl ...." Kyle whispered. Now he realized why all the stall and pen latches back on the ranch had child-proof locks on them.

"Hm?"

Kyle jumped in place. "Oh! Sorry, watching TV." Kyle's horrified eyes were fixated on Nixi as she walked into the family room. She turned his way, and Kyle desperately tried to wave the dragon off as she approached. "I, uh ... yeah, I gotta say no on the football game," he mumbled to Ethan.

The yellowtail cocked her head, wondering who Kyle was talking to. She let out a quiet warble of confusion and Kyle silently swore, hoping his phone didn't register the noise. He gave the dragon an angry stare and stuck a foot out to keep her from getting close. The last thing he wanted was another cell phone incident like he had this morning with his cousin!

"Are ya sure? You know who we're playing this week, right?"

The tinny sound of Ethan's voice reached the dragon's ears, which perked up. Distracted, Kyle switched ears with his phone and stood up, making his way to the kitchen. "Uh, not really."

Kyle looked back to see the dragon following him. He cupped his hand over the phone receiver and hissed a quiet "Shoo!" to the yellowtail, who, as usual, ignored the command. She crept closer, forcing Kyle out of the kitchen, around the table, into the hallway, and finally back into the living room, having walked in a complete circle. The dragon continued to follow, finding amusement in his refusal to give her attention.

"It's the Colts, dude! Colts versus Broncos! Horse on horse action, what more could you ask for?" Ethan joked. "It's our quarterback's old team, so ya know there's gonna be some rivalry going on."

Kyle was too livid with Nixi's persistence to laugh. He felt there was nowhere to properly hide ... oh wait! The bathroom! He could lock himself in! Kyle raced down the hallway, while the curious dragon looked on. He was going somewhere fast ... it must be important!

"I'll probably watch the game here, alone," Kyle continued as he turned around, shutting the door in the dragon's face. He quickly locked it. "Probably order pizza or something; I don't feel like leaving the apartment."

Kyle puffed his cheeks out as he heard the bathroom doorknob jiggle. But no way was the dragon getting in this time: the door was locked! After a few tries, Nixi pawed at the door in frustration, making loud scraping noises with her claws. The yellowtail knew from Kyle's odd behavior that she was missing out on something ... it didn't matter if she didn't know what it was, she wanted to be a part of it, regardless.

On the other end of the phone, Ethan was oblivious. "Awww, fine. Suit yerself. Just means there's more beer for me."

More scratching noises, and then silence. Kyle held his breath.

"Yeah, I think-"

A loud, mournful, yellowtail yowl sounded out from the opposite side of the door as Nixi expressed her unhappiness at being ostracized from the bathroom. It was loud. Loud enough to be heard from any spot in the apartment.

Kyle felt the blood drain from his face. No. No no no no!

On the phone, Ethan was silent for a moment. Then came a few tentative words: "Hey, was that ... ? No way."

Kyle felt a pit form in his stomach. Great ... just great, he thought. Now he was in big trouble. He closed his eyes, slumped up against the bathroom door, and sighed.

"Look, Ethan," Kyle began. "I found her stowed away in the back of my truck when I got home. She was hiding, curled up under the tarp cover I had stretched over the cargo bed. She was there because ... well, I dunno, she knows it's my truck. She's ridden in it before. I think she was scared after Mitka began thrashing around and went looking for me. She was hurt and bleeding in my truck, Ethan. Nixi was looking for someone to comfort her. I didn't want to drive her back in the middle of the night by myself when I was woozy from the injuries too tired to even stand. I was gonna return her as soon as I felt healthy enough--just don't tell Emmie, please. She'll freak out something major, you know this. Hell, she could fire me, even."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Feeling defeated, Kyle unlocked and opened the door. Nixi pushed open the door wide and lept into the bathroom, but in finding nothing but Kyle, who immediately left, she became confused.

"I'm gonna ask you only one question, and I want you to answer honestly," Ethan began. His voice was dead serious in tone. Kyle gulped.

"Go ahead," he painfully answered as he made his way back to the living room. He collapsed down on the futon with a loud thump. Nixi, seeing an opportunity, wasted no time in jumping up and sitting halfway on his lap. There ... now the human had no choice but to pay her attention!

"Alright," Ethan began. "Do you have control of the situation?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Do you have control of the situation?" Ethan repeated. "Do you have a handle on her; are you able to deal with her being there?"

Kyle blinked. So far, he had fed Nixi, kept her entertained and busy, even bathed and cleaned her, and as of yet she hadn't gotten into any major mischief aside from making a general mess of the apartment.

"Well, I've kept her out of trou-"

"Just gimmie a yes or a no," Ethan interjected.

"Yes," Kyle confidently answered.

There was another long pause as Ethan weighed his response. Kyle wrapped an arm around the dragon, who accepted his touch with a warm churr.

"Alright, I believe ya. So I'll tell ya what: as long as you get her back to the ranch ASAP, my lips are sealed. This isn't the first time a dragon's gone missing, but it's been about a day now, and Emily's startin' to fret something terrible. Just imagine if word of this gets out ... how many hysterical soccer moms will keep their kids on house arrest when they hear a 'dangerous dragon' is on the loose.

Kyle laughed. "That's ridiculous. Nixi's not dangerous."

"You sure 'bout that, critter? Remind me again which yellowtail bit you on the arm your first week on the ranch."

Kyle's mouth dropped open, but he couldn't speak a word. The answer to that was Nixi, of course. Back before he had gotten to know her. Back before she decided she liked him. At that time Kyle was just an unfamiliar human, and a grumpy (or perhaps jealous) Nixi had lashed out at him for getting too close to her personal space when he was playing with her fellow yellowtail Kobal. Even though the wound wasn't serious, the yellowtail had drawn blood, and Kyle remembered well the fear that grips one's heart when a fearsome dragon attacks.

"I ... I guess you're right," Kyle admitted, inspecting his once-bitten arm. It seemed that Kyle had been on Nixi's good side for so long he had nearly forgotten how aggressive and unfriendly the dragon could be.

"Look, all the legal mumbo-jumbo about dragon owning is your coz's thing, not me. I just train and take care of 'em. But even I know that a dragon on the loose is serious business, dude. We're legally required to tell the local authorities after a certain point, which means this eventually gets in the news, the locals get in a hissy fit, your coz and the ranch gets bad press, and all that jazz."

Kyle let out a whistle. He hadn't even thought of what Nixi's disappearance might mean for the rest of the world, but Ethan's words certainly hit home. The media would see Nixi as nothing but a large, dangerous, fire-breathing carnivore. A mindless animal. And although Emily's ranch was miles away from the nearest residential area, Kyle wagered if a loose dragon were to ever show up in somebody's back yard, the resulting news spectacle would probably reach across the entire nation. It certainly wouldn't be the first time, as Kyle recalled hearing about in the past.

"I understand," Kyle responded. In his lap, Nixi was squirming about, attempting to make herself cozy. Kyle sighed in resignation and laid back, giving her room to curl up against his chest.

"Hell, this could be a good thing, with you knowing about her being here and all..." he began. Nixi reached up with a wing and gripped him securely around the chest with her thumb claw. "Maybe you can do me a favor, and help me return her."

"You got something in mind, critter?" Ethan asked.

Kyle thought for a moment. Ideally, the least suspicious way would be for Nixi to appear back on the ranch without his own involvement.

"What time do you go in for work tomorrow?"

"Em has me comin' in early, to cover for you. She needs help with the spiketails and the greenbacks. Now that all the hubbub with Paul and the breeding program is over, we're talking them out for a spin since they haven't had some good exercise in a few days."

"Perfect. Now, what do you say if you're driving to the ranch, and you just so happen to find a loose yellowtail sulking outside the fencing at the main gate?"

"What, you thinkin' of doin' a hand-off?"

"Exactly. I drive her there, you take her in and get all the glory for returning her."

"'Ethan and the Prodigal Dragon'. I like it." He chuckled. "Sounds like a plan. Can ya have her there around six, all bright an' early?"

"Sure."

"Great. I'll see you then." Ethan paused. "What's Nixi up to right now? Just curious."

Kyle looked down at the yellowtail cuddled up against him. She had up until this point been quiet and still, as Kyle had been affectionately stroking her along the chin and cheeks. But as soon as he stopped the dragon pawed at his chest and gave him a not-so-subtle glare. Kyle pursed his lips.

"Currently, she's punishing me for not giving her attention," he replied as he resumed his doting. Content for now, the dragon relaxed and snuggled just a little bit closer.

Ethan laughed. "That sounds about par for the course."

"You know, it's strange," Kyle began musing. "Nixi's always been pretty aloof for a yellowtail, not like Kobal or the others ... but I'm starting to notice that in the past day or so she's grown more ... affectionate. Needy for attention, even. Maybe it's because I'm spending so much more time with her now ... what?"

On the phone, Ethan was laughing. "You an' her, alone in an apartment for a day? Ha! Did ya let her sleep with you in your bed? Share food with her?"

"I tried to put a place out for her to sleep but nah, she wouldn't have it, and demanded to share the bed last night. Hogged most the bed space, too ..." Kyle griped. "And yeah, we had hotdogs for breakfast; it was the only meat I had."

"Figured as much. Did ya'll, ah" Ethan cleared his throat. "Have any fun together?"

Kyle's cheeks warmed. "Well, there's not much for a dragon to do here, and she likes to bug me when she's bored. Which includes ... well, you know."

"Ha! I knew it, I knew it!" He continued laughing.

"What?" Kyle asked, feeling annoyed.

"Don't you see?"

"Obviously I don't, otherwise I wouldn't be asking!" Kyle spat out.

"Kyle, you took her in to your home. You shared your food and sleeping area with her. Plus, you sealed the deal with some good ol' dragon romping. That's what a mated pair will do in the wild, critter! Nixi's gettin' all lovey-dovey with ya 'cause you just gave her the dragon equivalent of a honeymoon! Ya'll might as well be called a mated pair now."

On other end of the line, Kyle was too flabbergasted to respond. He looked down at the dragon in his lap and stared at her closed-eyed expression of contentment.

"Hello? You still there?"

"Oh, great ... what have I gotten myself into?" Kyle mumbled.

"Heh ... well, if she didn't think you two were mates before, she sure does now! Maybe I should let you two lovebirds get back to each other. Remember to chill the champagne before, and as for music to set the mood, I'd recommend ... Mmm, some Michael Buble. Yea, dragons love Michael Buble."

Kyle laughed. "Ethan, shut the hell up."

Ethan began to chuckle. "Naw, but really, I think I better get back to business, dude. Gotta clean up 'round here and head home in a bit."

"Alright, fine."

"You take it easy, critter. And don't forget to relish the moment. You know a lot of people ... they'd love to have their own personal dragon at home, right?"

Kyle smirked. "Tell those people it's more trouble than it's worth. It's like babysitting a scaly six-year-old that can breathe fire in your face."

Ethan laughed. "And still, they'd be all jealous."

Kyle smiled. "Alright, Ethan, I'll talk to you later."

"See ya bright an' early tomorrow morning, dude."

Kyle ended the call and put the phone down on the coffee table. He looked at the dragon lying against his chest and let out a wistful sigh as he continued to gently stroke and caress the dragon's scaly blue cheeks.

"What is it with you and cellphones, Nix? Every time I get a call you have to bug me. What's the matter, can't stand that I'm paying attention to someone else?"

In his lap, reveling in the comforting touch of her human, Nixi let out a quiet churr of contentment, and Kyle, smiling to himself, surmised that he must have been right.

--=-=--

Some time had passed. The evening sun was low in the sky when Kyle made his way to the kitchen. Taking one of the packages of ground beef out of the refrigerator, he ripped the plastic off and plopped the mass of raw meat in the skillet with a wet sounding slap. "All right, normally we don't cook dragon food," he began telling the yellowtail at his side. "But this meat has been sitting in the grocery store for who knows how long ... we might as well cook it just to be safe."

Kyle rubbed his hands in eager expectation. "Besides ... a dragon your size doesn't need this much. I'll want to have some, too."

Nixi was watching attentively; it was past her usual dinner time and with only a few hotdogs to tide her appetite over in the morning, the yellowtail was letting the smell of raw meat get the better of her. She fidgeted where she stood in the kitchen.

On his first day working at the ranch, feeding time was described to Kyle as being the most important time of day for a dragon, and it hadn't taken long for him to learn just how true that was. Dragons were ravenous, voracious creatures when it came to food, and as such, their portions had to be carefully measured: if allowed to eat as much as they wanted, the inhabitants of Emily's ranch would all end up as very fat (albeit very happy!) dragons. Dragons were known to fein hunger and pine for food even when not hungry. They would take the food but not eat it, as having extra food in their possession comforted the dragon. Sometimes Emily would find rotting caches of un-swallowed dinner from days gone by, hidden away under the sleeping mats of dragon pens, which was always a disgusting thing for Kyle to clean out.

"Now, let's see ..." Kyle ripped open various drawers before he found a spatula. Perfect. He then flipped the dial on the stove and with a crackle of the electric starter, blue flames sparked to life. Nixi's ears swiveled in the direction of the sound of burning, and she meandered over to Kyle to inspect the source.

Smiling in amusement, Kyle gave the dragon a wide berth and encouraged her to take another look at the flames. "Wanna see my stove again, Nix?" he asked. Kyle removed the skillet from the burner for a better look. Then, bending down, he grabbed the dragon around the chest and hoisted her up to his eye level. She put her front feet out and grabbed hold of the stovetop to support herself. Kyle pointed out the burner with a finger.

"There's flames in there, see? Don't worry, though," he said, chuckling. "There's not another dragon inside my stove! This fire comes from gas."

Nixi moved her snout closer until the heat was blasting her scales. She appeared mesmerized by the flickering blue flames. Kyle was not surprised to see a complete lack of fear that most animals had with fire. He let go of the dragon, letting her stand on two legs with the edge of the stovetop and her tail for balance.

"Now we're gonna cook with it," Kyle said. "Pretty soon the meat will turn brown."

The dragon reared back and drew her mouth open wide. As if to demonstrate how she could do better, Nixi coughed a ball of blue-orange flame over the stovetop, thoroughly startling Kyle, who swore in surprise and jumped backwards as the intense heat blasted his face. He crashed into the kitchen chair behind him and almost fell down.

"No fire breathing in the house!" Kyle yelped as he struggled to right himself. He winced in pain ... that near fall had certainly aggravated his injured shoulder.

Nixi watched him, amused by his reaction, and returned to all fours. Kyle began waving his hand over his nose: dragonbreath had an unpleasant smell. He remembered Emily telling him how the acrid liquids dragons stored in their throat sacs combine and spontaneously burst into flames when they touch oxygen, but he couldn't remember much of the details. She made it sound real scientific ... something about the word "hypergolic" and nitro-whatevers. All Kyle knew is that they stunk.

"Pew! Okay, lets get this started."

Kyle returned the skillet on top of the heated burner. The meat began to sizzle in seconds. Nixi watched carefully as he took the spatula and begin to mash the ground meat up, but he frowned when he saw the beef beginning to stick to the pan.

"Oh shoot, I need some oil for this, don't I?" Kyle realized. Cooking was not his strong suit, as his woefully under-equipped kitchen could attest. He began throwing open cabinet doors in a flash, but no cooking oil or spray could be found. He stared at the skillet of raw beef, then at Nixi, then back at the beef again. Kyle sucked on his cheek a moment. And then an idea came to mind.

"Mrs. Irving!" Kyle shouted aloud. The nice old lady that lived on the floor above him who loved to bake. He could go borrow some cooking oil from her, no problem. And he could probably walk away with a few of her cupcakes while he was at it. Kyle put the beef back in the fridge, skillet and all, so that the dragon wouldn't nab the food while he was away. He then grabbed an empty cup from the cupboard. Nixi watched his movements patiently.

"Alright, Nixi," Kyle began. "I need to go borrow some cooking oil for that beef. I'll be right back." The dragon looked at him plainly and blinked.

Kyle headed for the door, but, at the last second he stopped himself, and doubled back to grab his keys. Now that he knew Nixi could potentially turn doorknobs, it was best to make sure the place was locked while he was gone. Kyle silently congratulated himself on having some forethought and keeping the dragon in mind. With cup and keys in hand, he opened the front door and turned around to find Nixi at his heels.

"Stay good," Kyle warned."I'll be back in a few minutes." He quickly shut the door behind him and securely locked it.

--=-=--

Mrs. Irving was such a sweet old lady, Kyle thought to himself as he returned to his floor. Not only had she given him more olive oil than he could have possibly needed, she sent him off with a plastic wrap-covered paper plate of four cupcakes, and a little paper cup of beef seasoning once she heard what he was cooking! He juggled all three in one arm as he fumbled for his keys with his free hand. Coming up to his door, he swiftly unlocked the bolt and let himself inside.

What Kyle found horrified him.

The refrigerator door wide open. The skillet pulled out and onto the floor. The raw meat all gone: the only traces left were a few reddish smears on the linoleum. Bloody beef juice had pooled in the grooves of the tiling. And there in the center of the kitchen was Nixi, happily licking and nibbling at the half-burned beef that was still stuck to the bottom of the skillet.

"Nixi!" Kyle shouted in horror. The yellowtail froze and looked up. "Nixi, what the hell?" Putting his things on the kitchen table, he stormed up to the dragon in anger, who retreated to the hallway and peeked out cautiously from behind the corner.

A handful of colorful swear words came to mind, and it took Kyle a moment to contain his anger and calm himself.

"This ... this ... was my fault," he reluctantly admitted, and blew out a long, defused exhale from pursed lips. Kyle knew the yellowtail was no stranger to the wonders of refrigeration: Emily owned several walk-in freezers inside the main barn on the ranch, where she stored the dragons' meat. They had to be kept under lock and key, because many of the dragons were clever enough to figure out where the food was kept. The stainless steel doors were veritably covered in years-worth of claw scratches from hungry dragons trying to get inside.

Kyle realized that he had been so focused on Nixi's capacity to turn doorknobs that he had forgotten refrigerators have doors too.

Sighing in resignation, Kyle walked over to the skillet to pick it up and put it in the sink for washing. He peeked in the refrigerator. Nothing else seemed to be touched, including, thankfully, the second package of beef still in its wrapping. He knew the dragon would have eaten that too if he had taken any longer to come back, and he didn't want to think of the possibility of her ingesting the plastic and Styrofoam as well.

"At least you left me something," he grumbled, glancing over to the dragon, who was still staring from the threshold of the kitchen. If she felt guilty or remorseful of her actions, the yellowtail didn't show it. In fact, she looked rather satisfied with herself, judging by her sly gaze and proudly-puffed out chest. Kyle pursed his lips.

"Now I got a mess to clean," he grumbled, ripping a few paper towels off a roll and wetting them with some generic cleaning solution. The dragon tip-toed back into the kitchen, watching Kyle as he wiped up the mess she had made. He gave the yellowtail a glare. Nixi cocked her head and ruffled her wings. He heard the swishing of her tail scales and the clicking of her claws against the hard linoleum as she stepped close.

"If you're pretending like you don't know what happened," Kyle began as he continued wiping the floor clean of smeared raw beef and dragon saliva, "I'm not buying it."

After finishing with the floor, he gave the skillet a thorough washing to remove all the dragon saliva and put it back on the stovetop. Kyle watched Nixi studying his moves carefully, letting out a chipper trill as he took out and unwrapped the second package of beef. She lifted her chin and sniffed the air, the scent of raw cow titillating her nostrils.

"Uh-uh," Kyle shook his head as he poured a little oil on the skillet and turned on the burner. "This one is for me. Between that first package, and the hotdogs you had this morning, well ..." Kyle did a quick mental calculation, checking the weight of the meat on the packaging's price tag. Yellowtails needed to eat a little over five percent of their body weight a day, and through daily practice with the feeding schedule, his time at the ranch had him quite adept at estimating how much food to give.

"On second thought, I still owe you about ... about a quarter of this. Half, if I'm generous," Kyle surmised. "But you're gonna have to wait because you've been a bad dragon."

Kyle grabbed his pot off the floor (he had been using it as Nixi's water bowl), thoroughly washed it, and placed it on the second burner, tossing in some noodles and some water. He had decided spaghetti was on the menu. Spaghetti with meat sauce. Spaghetti with spicy meat sauce! Kyle couldn't remember the last time he had cooked something so fancy! He returned his attention to the simmering meat and began to slowly stir in the little cup of beef seasoning Mrs. Irving gave him. Little tan, brown, and black granules, flakes of green leafy things ... Kyle had no idea what was in there, but he trusted the old lady's cooking sense.

At his feet, a certain yellow-tailed dragon pined for attention with a snout nudge.

"Nixi, no."

The dragon let out an unhappy yowl.

"No!"

Kyle shooed away the dragon, who had been trying to nose her way between him and the stove. The smell of cooking beef was driving the yellowtail crazy, but Kyle knew better than to entertain her whims.

"You already had most of it," he chided the dragon. "Plus, I had to spend time cleaning the kitchen floor because of a mess you made."

Nixi padded her feet. Her tail swished! and thwapped! on the linoleum with anxious anticipation. Kyle had just finished stirring the noodles when he was suddenly accosted by the dragon, who had jumped up and clung to him with both forepaws and wings.

"Hey!" Kyle yelped. He began to laugh. He felt Nixi's thumb claws on her wings dig in to his waist with a surprisingly strong grip. Nixi used her height advantage to peer over the top of the stove to inspect what was cooking. She ignored the pot of boiling noodles, which smelled completely boring, and zeroed in on the spiced ground beef that was sizzling in its pan.

"Uh-uh," Kyle chastised her, using his elbow to keep that inquisitive, scaly snout at bay while he stirred the steaming meat with his spatula. After a moment, the dragon gave up, and returned to all fours with a dissatisfied huff.

The meat looked ready to eat, despite that he had used way too much oil. Kyle shrugged the revelation off ... Mrs. Irving had given him olive oil, and wasn't that stuff supposed to be good for you, anyway? He turned the burner off and nabbed a fork out of the silverware drawer to try a piece.

"Mmm!" Kyle's eyes opened up wide as a plethora of flavors hit his palate. Sweet, spicy ... those brown granules must have been brown sugar, the black ones, pepper. Beyond that he couldn't tell what went into the seasoning, but boy was it good!

"Oh man ... here, Nixi. Try this," Kyle said, fishing out a big piece with the fork and lowering it to the dragon's level. Nixi lashed out her tongue and snatched the steaming beef up in one single motion. She swallowed it almost instantly and looked up at Kyle, eager for more. Kyle frowned.

"Aw, come on ... I bet you barely tasted that."

Begrudgingly, Kyle returned to his attention to the back to the food as he grumbled something about dragons "not appreciating the fine art of cooking" ... as if anything Kyle had cooked in his life could have been considered fine dining.

Though Kyle had been hoping Nixi's whining and pining would have stopped after eating the first package whole, the reality was anything but. Nixi was at his heels constantly, following his every move as he prepped the noodles for draining. Kyle knew that no matter how much he fed the yellowtail, it wouldn't be enough.

"Come on, you wouldn't even like plain noodles," Kyle griped. He grabbed a strainer in one hand and the pot in the other and turned to the sink. Nixi waited until he was draining the noodles over the kitchen sink to make a move. With his back turned, she jumped up on the stove and went to purloin some of Kyle's meat.

"Ah-ah! Don't you dare!" Kyle shouted, reacting to the clink-clink! of claws on the metal stovetop. Precariously balancing a strainer and a pot of boiling noodles in his hands, he managed to reach over with a foot and nudge her off before the yellowtail could pilfer any meat. Nixi let out an unhappy yowl as she was shoved away. She returned to all fours and ruffled her wings, turning her back to Kyle in disdain.

"A cat would just sit and stare from afar, a dog would beg and whine, but a dragon? Sheesh! The first sign of weakness and they'll pounce, the opportunistic, scaly little ..."

Kyle muttered a few choice words under his breath as he returned the now-drained pot of noodles to the stove. He took some time removing some of the burnt noodles that were stuck to the bottom of the pot. After mixing in a container of pasta sauce and what was left of the beef, Kyle filled up a large bowl and sat down at the table. Nixi was at his heels, but when the dragon saw she was not getting any, she complained with a loud grumble and a snout nudge along Kyle's thigh.

"Uh-uh," Kyle shook his head. "This is my portion."

He began to dig in, watching the dragon carefully. Nixi's yellow eyes were wide open, focusing on the bowl of food just at the height of her head. Every once in a while she would break eye contact to look briefly up at Kyle, then back down at the bowl. After a minute or so of this, the dragon yowled in protest and tugged at Kyle's shirt with her wing's thumb claws. Kyle chuckled.

"You're so jealous, dragon ... this is my food, you hear?"

Indignant, Nixi let out another yowl and scooted closer.

"I fed you way more than you get on a day on the ranch, and you're still acting like you're starving. You're probably not even hungry. Heck, you don't know if you even like tomato sauce!"

Noticing he had the dragon's full attention, Kyle decided to have a little fun. He leaned toward Nixi and made a show of gathering a heaping fork-full of meaty pasta, acting as if he were to give it to her. Nixi licked her lips in anticipation, but just as he was about to put the food within the dragon's reach, he abruptly doubled back and shoved the fork to his own mouth. He nearly choked when he watched her ears and cheek fins droop, leaving Nixi looking like the saddest dragon in the world. Nixi put her paws up on Kyle's lap, bringing her head up to his level, and let out a long, warbling growl of dissatisfaction in his ear. She grabbed him around the chest with one wing.

"You don't like it when you're being teased, huh?" Kyle laughed. He gave the dragon an affectionate rub on the cheek. "Well, don't get upset; it's all in good fun. Consider this your sentence for breaking into my fridge. Plus, for all the teasing you do to me, I think a little turnabout is acceptable."

Chuckling to himself, he let the dragon stay half-way in his lap but did his best to keep her snout away from his bowl - a task that demanded his full attention. Kyle gathered a big fork-full of meaty pasta and slowly waved it around in the air, watching Nixi's yellow eyes follow like magnets. Slowly, the fork made its way to Kyle's mouth, but just before he took a bite, Nixi latched onto his wrist with a thumb claw from her wing and attempted to pull his hand to her awaiting, open maw.

"Ah-ah," Kyle chuckled, straining against the strong pull of her wing. He leaned forward and snatched the forkful of noodles just as the yellowtail made a grab for it, and the two ended up bumping noses in the process. He heard he empty chomp from the dragon's sharp teeth as she narrowly missed her prize.

"Mmm, this spaghetti is so good!" Kyle teased, thoroughly enjoying himself as he made it a point to chew slowly and as noisily as possible. The tortured look on Nixi's face had her looking like she hadn't eaten in days, though of course that wasn't true at all, and Kyle knew it was simply typical dragon behavior: Nixi wanted the food not because she was hungry, but simply because it wasn't hers. Her expression was priceless ... it made him wish he had a camera on hand.

Once more he gathered up a heaping, dripping mound of noodles and made a show of it to the yellowtail. Kyle was just about to bring the food to his mouth when the dragon, with flat ears and a peeved expression, swatted the fork out of Kyle's hand with a paw, causing spaghetti sauce, ground beef, and noodles to fly everywhere. The yellowtail immediately disengaged to snatch up what had fallen to the floor. Kyle laughed.

"Alright, maybe I deserved that."

He got up to retrieve the fork and put in the sink as a certain greedy dragon lapped up whatever bits of food her eyes and nose could find. She then smacked her lips a few times as the unfamiliar taste of tomato sauce got to her, looking unsure if she liked the flavor or not. Kyle scrounged his cupboards for a moment until he remembered buying a plastic bowl for the dragon when he was out shopping. He found it on the counter next to the fridge, quickly washed it, and transferred a generous portion of the meat to the bowl.

"I suppose you 'suffered' long enough," he said, setting the bowl on the table. "Here you go, you scoundrel dragon, you. Its the rest of your dinner. Plus a little bit extra."

He encouraged the dragon to eat at the table opposite of him, by getting her to place her forepaws on the chair. Nixi looked at the bowl of meat that had been set out for her, and then back at Kyle. He cocked his head in confusion.

"What?" he asked. "Don't tell me that after all that, you're not hungry."

He nudged the bowl of beef closer to the yellowtail, but she paid him little attention, lifting her snout across the table and sniffing the air to grab a tempting whiff of spaghetti sauce. It took Kyle a moment or two of staring at the dragon to realize she didn't want just any food ... she wanted the pasta. And likely for no other reason than she didn't have any herself.

"Oh, for Pete's sake ..." Kyle began, laughing. "You silly, jealous lizard! Pure meat isn't good enough for you anymore, huh?"

Kyle fished out a single sauce-covered noodle from his bowl and carefully draped it on top of the little pile of meat for her.

"Here we go ... spaghetti à la dragon. Bon appétit!"

Nixi stared at her bowl, then back at Kyle. He laughed. Apparently, one noodle wasn't good enough. A hundred probably wouldn't be good enough. Not until she had as much in her bowl as Kyle did ... never mind the fact that the dragon had already eaten a full meal!

"Oh come on, just eat it!" He nudged the bowl a little bit closer.

The yellowtail stared back at him, stone-faced.

Kyle knew from his ranch experience what to do in this situation. Emily had taught him the trick long ago, and it always worked on finicky dragons who didn't want to eat. Always.

"Well, Nixi, if you don't want your meat ..."

Very deliberately, he slid a hand across the table. He hooked a single finger around the rim of her bowl and slowly began to pull it away from the dragon. The sound reached the dragon's ears and immediately, Nixi's eyes swiveled to her own bowl. She reacted with a terse growl. When he did not stop, the dragon reached over the table and stamped a forepaw on Kyle's wrist, causing him to laugh even as the yellowtail's sharp claws dug into his skin. The two exchanged glances as a sudden quiet fell around the kitchen. Having completely forgotten about the pasta, Nixi looked ready to bite his head off if he so much as flinched.

"If looks could kill ..." Kyle thought.

Kyle returned Nixi's stare with a smug grin. His eye contact was interpreted as a challenge, and Nixi became livid. Baring her teeth, she dug her claws into his wrist deep enough to cause serious pain.

Kyle winced. "Alright, alright. You eat it, then." He relented, letting go of the bowl, and Nixi reached out with her grabby paws and slid the food back to her side of the table, giving Kyle a death stare. But when she didn't immediately start chowing down, Kyle decided he wasn't done yet.

"Nixi," he cajoled, singing her name playfully. He began to slide his hand across the table again, earning another low growl from the dragon. She even surprised Kyle by snorting some smoke as a threat display. Deciding she could no longer trust the human, Nixi grabbed her plastic bowl of food with a solid clomp! of her teeth and removed herself from the kitchen table area. Thoroughly amused, Kyle watched the yellowtail as she moved a good fifteen feet away before tentatively placing the food bowl on the kitchen floor. She turned her body so she could keep an eye on him, and hunched over the bowl, wrapping her wings around the floor in front of her to protect the food before finally licking up the last few morsels of beef.

Kyle nodded to himself in satisfaction, having considered that to be mission accomplished. " ... And that's how to get a finicky dragon to eat her dinner!" he proudly exclaimed to no one in particular.

In the back of his mind, Kyle wondered if Nixi was going to make him pay for his dinner treatment later. Probably, he reasoned. Kyle considered them even, her teasing being the price paid for breaking into the refrigerator and stealing some of the beef, but he was dead sure Nixi didn't see it that way. And he knew from experience that dragons certainly knew how to hold grudges.

--=-=--

The rest of the dinner went without incident. The dishes were washed, the pots and pans cleaned, and the remainder of the food put away. After popping a couple more painkillers for his shoulder, Kyle had retired to the living room futon, having laid down on his back to relax and watch some TV.

... well, he was trying to relax. Unfortunately, it was rather hard to relax with a dragon sitting on one's stomach.

"Are you done yet?" Kyle grumpily asked. He sputtered when the dragon's scaly tail nudged him in the mouth.

Just as he thought, Nixi was not happy with him at the moment. The yellowtail had decided that Kyle needed a lesson in respect, and she was teaching him the same way any dragon expressed their dominance over another: by sitting on them.

Kyle grunted as Nixi resituated herself. This had to have been going on for at least twenty minutes now, and she was still busy trying to find the most uncomfortable ways of sitting on her human. Content to sit on his stomach for now, Nixi appeared unfazed by the gentle up-and-down rocking from Kyle's breathing. But every time he so much as flinched, he was met with a terse growl or some claws digging into his legs. He knew Nixi enjoyed laying on him and had done so many times before ... but this time she was making it a point because of how dinner had went.

Granted, Kyle knew Nixi wasn't too upset at him, otherwise she wouldn't even want to be in the same room as him. No ... she wasn't outright angry or anything. The grumpy yellowtail was simply having fun with him, toying with him in the way that dragons always do. It was behavior that Kyle found both annoying and endearing, and he was willing to put up with it for now.

"Hey!" Kyle complained. He had been playing with her finned tail, swishing it around in the air, but a yank from the dragon had pulled it from his hand. She looked back at him disapprovingly.

Kyle felt like he was in the dragon equivalent of a "timeout": unable to go anywhere or do anything but sit and wait out his punishment. He glanced up at Nixi's face, or, what little parts of her face he could actually see. She was staring at the TV in wonder--the moving images having piqued her curiosity--and looked as happy as a clam to be sitting on top of her human.

This sitting behavior, of course, was one of the biggest reasons it was so difficult to train a dragon to accept a rider on their back. For a dragon, to be sat on and ridden put them in a humiliating position. It was a huge blow to their innate sense of pride. Kyle remembered that one of the first and most important things Emily had taught him about dragon ranching was that for a dragon to accept a rider, they needed to learn that respect was a two-lane road. He began to wonder what his cousin would do in this position ... probably show Nixi who's boss, swiftly and effectively. She had an uncanny way with unruly dragons that always ended up in them giving her some level of respect. But begrudging respect wasn't what Kyle wanted. He wanted more than that: Nixi wasn't just any dragon, and his affection for her had him torn on what to do.

Nixi began adjusting her seating arrangement again--Kyle was sure her doing this every few minutes was completely deliberate on her part--and decided to scoot back and sit right on his face this time. Kyle sunk lower into the futon and grunted in displeasure as scaly dragon butt invaded his personal space. He turned his head to the side and scowled as the yellowtail happily made herself comfy on his cheek. Great ... now he couldn't see the TV at all.

"I'm not apologizing for dinner," Kyle spat out, feeling indignant. "You broke into the fridge; you ate the beef and made a mess ... and I still fed you way more food than I should have. All you got as punishment was a little teasing."

Though he doubted the dragon understood him word-for-word, she seemed to understand his tone of voice. Nixi responded by growling and wriggling her rump on his cheek, as if she was telling him to pipe down and be quiet. Or perhaps she was rubbing in the fact that no amount of words would change the fact that his face was being sat on by a grumpy dragon.

Kyle frowned. Though up to this point he had been willing to humor the dragon and put up with her antics, if she didn't get off soon he'd have to do something about it, and that wouldn't make either party happy...

Or, wait a second ... perhaps there was something he could do about it. Something that wouldn't sour the dragon's mood even further. In fact, it would probably do just the opposite, he reasoned.

"Oh, Nixiiii!" Kyle cajoled. He felt the dragon shift around at the sound of her name, and grinned.

TO BE CONTINUED

.

Post-story notes:

~"Dragons love Michael Buble" ... Haha, I like writing Ethan. Also note, that Ethan has started calling Kyle "critter" now. That's something I picked up from Sandlava and I like it because it fit Ethan's character.

~Holy indents, batman!

~This chapter was a great reminder as to how much of a pain in the butt Nixi can be .... to put it politely. Dragons are certainly a handful to keep at home! They get stressed out if kept inside 24/7 and their fire breath is dangerous ... Which is why it's illegal to keep dragons as indoor pets in Kyle's world, and why merely owning one at all requires a license.Thankfully, Nixi hasn't torched anything flammable. Yet. Just the stovetop, which is all metal.

~"Ethan and the prodigal dragon" is at least the second or third biblical reference I've thrown into my stories and I don't know why I keep doing that, haha. In the bible, "The Prodigal Son" is a parable about a son who left home and squandered his money on hookers and cocaine extravagant living. He came back home broke and ashamed, thinking he should be punished and put to work. But the father's love for the son was so great he did not punish his son and instead had a feast to celebrate his return. It is famous for the line "[My son] once was lost but now is found." Ethan is making a parallel here due to Nixi's disappearance and future return.

~Not sure if you noticed but the eponymous dragon ranch of the first story DOES have a name! Calordale Dragon Ranch. Derived from "calorie" which laypeople understand is a property of food but the scientific community knows it as a unit of heat measurement. And "dale", meaning valley. So Calordale is literally a "heated valley". Which in its self is a pun, what with all those horny, fire-breathing dragons ...

~I want to give a little nod to Syrinoth for helping me with several parts of this story.

~Clean chapter this time! But next chapter will be all perverted and lewd. Which you can probably already assume from how this one ended.

~I hate how SoFurry removes all my italics when I paste from google docs! But it is still better than FA, at least ... I get actual text formatting here <3