Dragon in the Dishwater, Ch 10
Dragon in the Dishwater Chapter 10 copyright 2012, comidacomida
Eric pulled the cords on his hoodie tight, blocking off access the cold weather had to his face as he continued walking. Once the bell had sounded for that day it meant that Winter Break had officially begun. Only water remained of the very light dusting of snow they had received that night, but it was still plenty cold out, and his breath emerged with a puff of condensation every time he exhaled. Casually strolling beside him on the sidewalk, Hiraeth seemed to have no great trouble with the weather, which further convinced Eric that the dragon was not a cold blooded reptile.
His gaze lingered on his companion; over the course of less than two months Hiraeth had gone from the size of a small cat to nearly the size of a german shepherd. Size, he reminded himself, seemed situational to the dragon, as Eric could recall on more than one occasion that Hiraeth appeared to gain or lose height, weight, and length almost as if by will. Was it then, he wondered, if the dragon merely chose to be larger to mimic a growth cycle? Eric decided there would only be one way to find out.
"Hiraeth?" the word was accompanied by another cloud of condensation.
"Yes, Eric?" the dragon inquired in an amiable tone. Hiraeth looked up to him, ear sails raising inquisitively.
"You look larger." the human stated.
"That is because I am." mirth sparkled in the dragon's eyes.
"Is that..." Eric paused, dismissing a momentary feeling of apathy due to the simple response, "...because you're growing, or because of some other reason?"
"Both." the dragon acknowledged.
Eric sniffed, rubbing at his sore nose that stung in the freezing air, "Elaborate." it was a word he had rarely if ever spoken before meeting Hiraeth, but he'd been coming to understand the power of it when used on an enigmatic individual such as the dragon.
"You believe I can affect my size... yes?" Hiraeth inquired, his scaled muzzle pulling back into a friendly smile, ear sails flicking against the cold before finally lowering again.
"I've seen it." Eric confirmed.
"Indeed you have." the dragon bobbed his head as he walked beside the human, "So, to answer your question, yes, I am growing, and yes, I have control over my size... but I do have a standard form to which I revert when not exercising that control." he looked up at Eric again and cocked his head to the side, his nicticating membranes slidign laterally across his eyes in an inner-blink, "Does that make sense?"
Hiraeth's second set of eyelids had long since stopped bothering Eric so he ignored the gesture as being just another one of the dragon's idiosyncrasies, "Yes." he answered the question, and proceeded to repeat back the explanation, just to make sure he had. "You can choose your size, but you have a specific one that you go back to if you don't choose."
"That's right." Hiraeth nodded with a scaley grin, "And, since it takes energy and focus to choose, I haven't felt the need to be any different."
"Of course," Eric couldn't help but add, "That completely goes against all laws of science."
The dragon's ear sails perked again as it glanced toward him, "Oh?"
"Conservation of mass and energy." Eric answered.
"That is only one law." Hiraeth pointed out.
"It's an important one." the human countered, "So are you gonna tell me that your changing size is magic?"
"I could..." the dragon responded, "but that would not be good enough, would it?"
Eric opened his mouth, ready to make a snide remark, but he paused, "Normally, no." he said instead, "But, you know what? It's winter vacation and I'd rather let my brain take the time off too."
Hiraeth's scaled tail swayed back and forth faintly at the response, "Alright... but I still expect you to ask at some point."
"That's because you know me too well." the human winked, and both shared a laugh... but it didn't last long; Eric stopped laughing the moment his house came into view and he saw a strange car in the driveway right next to his mom's. "She's home early." he mumbled. For a moment Eric was almost concerned that Dr Marlowe was there but, he realized quickly enough that the car wasn't high-profile enough for a shrink.
"You do not recognize this car?" Hiraeth inquired as the two walked up to it.
Eric shook his head in response, looking into the coupe through the passenger side window. The car was empty... clean and empty, "No..." the young man acknowledged at length, "Whoever owns it is a neat freak though." and he continued onward to the front door, "Now I just have to figure out why Mom is back so early." He had just stepped up onto the porch when the door opened and his mother emerged.
"Hi, Eric, honey." she wore a huge smile on her face.
"Uh..." he paused, "Why are you home so early?"
Her smile got even larger, "To give you your Christmas present."
"Huh?" he asked.
"You got your driver's license for a reason, didn't you?" she held up a key ring with a single car key dangling from it.
Eric paused, mouth open but no words coming out. He looked at the key, at his mother, back at the car, then back at his mom, "You're serious?" he asked.
"I told you I'd get you a car if you worked on your Leadership Class grade, Eric." she nodded, holding the key out, "Mr. Gregory called me yesterday to tell me how much you've improved this last month, honey... I'm so proud of you." Eric put up with a huge hug from his mom; the car seemed a reasonable trade. After a few moments she let him go, "What do you think? Care to go try it out?"
"I just got home." he objected, but the scowl slowly gave way to an eager smile, "But yea... in a minute." he confirmed, "I just wanna put my stuff away." and, with that, he sprinted up the stairs, "Wait here!" he called back to Hiraeth, then almost stumbled when he realized that his mom was right there.
"I know... I know..." his mother rolled her eyes, "your room, your privacy." Hiraeth, still outside, just smirked in response.
Eric quickly dropped off his backpack, face flushing from the heat in the house compared to the cold outside. He took off his hoodie and replaced it with a sweater; if he were in a car he didn't exactly need the hood. Running back downstairs, Eric took the last four or five steps in a leap. He passed his mother, "Bye mom!" he announced, and raced to the car. Hiraeth waited patiently where Eric had left him.
Still smiling, the human glanced over his shoulder at his mother, then back to Hiraeth, "So... coming with?" he whispered.
"That is an invitation?" the dragon inquired, cocking his head to the side.
"Of course!" Eric grinned, speaking the words quietly, but with excitement.
"Yes..." the dragon confirmed, "but only if you thank your mother."
"If I--?" the young man paused, then looked back at his mom, "I thanked you.... right?" he called to her.
"It's okay, Honey... you're excited is all." his mother replied with a smile.
"God..." Eric sighed to himself, unlocking and opening the driver's side door, "Get in." he noted quietly to the dragon, and went back over to his mother. He gave her a hug, "How could you even AFFORD this?" he asked.
"That's what all the extra shifts have been for." she returned his hug, but paused when he tensed, "What?"
The young man slowly disengaged, "Whadda you mean, the extra shifts?" he asked, holding her at arm's length.
"The reason I've been gone before you wake up and the reason I'm not back until after dinner..." she answered with a smirk, rolling her eyes, "the reason I work most weekends." she laughed, "What? Did you think I was out partying?" Eric stood his ground, even accepting a gentle pat on the cheek and an "I love you, Honey."
"Thanks, Mom..." he offered blandly, then paused, and tried again, "Thank you for the car."
"You're welcome, Sweety." she smiled, giving him another hug, "I'm just so proud of you for trying." she let him go of her own volition and looked him in the eye again, "I know that you do a lot better with science and math and other things that don't involve teams and interaction and everything, but you're really smart, Eric, and I know you can accomplish anything you put your mind to."
"Thanks." he mumbled again, and quickly retreated to the car. Once he confirmed that Hiraeth was curled up in the passenger seat and well enough out of his way, Eric climbed in and closed the door. He busied himself with the keys for a moment so he wouldn't have to meet his mother's gaze again, and then started the car.
"Remember to check your rear view mirror." the dragon offered.
"I got it." Eric frowned, doing just that.
"And the side-view mirrors since it's your first time driving this car." Hiraeth added.
"Got it." the young man growled, and checked his view in each of them; they would work just fine.
"You should probably also adjust the seat so you--"
"I KNOW." he fumed, and did just that. He glanced at the dragon who was watching him intently.
"Is something wrong, Eric?" Hiraeth asked.
"I don't need a back seat driver." the human stated flatly.
"Technically I am not in the back seat." the dragon offered.
"How do you know so much about driving anyway?" Eric demanded, starting the car and releasing the emergency brake.
"Put it in reverse." Hiraeth suggested.
"Will you just--" and Eric jumped in his seat when the car lurched forward. He hit the brake immediately and let out a breath. Looking up at the porch, he saw that his mother had already gone back inside, "Thank god for small miracles." he mumbled to himself, and shifted into reverse.
"May I suggest something, Eric?" the dragon inquired.
"No." Eric scowled, and pulled out onto the street. When he pulled up to the first intersection, the young man came to a halt at the stop sign, "Damn... forgot my seat belt."
"Ah!" Hiraeth looked at him mirthfully, "You did not need me to say anything after all."
"You were going to remind me to put on my seat belt?" Eric glanced sidelong at him questioningly.
"Correct." the dragon lowered his head down onto his crossed fore talons.
"And you didn't remind me---?"
"Because you had preferred that I stay quiet." Hiraeth answered calmly.
Eric grit his teeth, but couldn't fault the dragon for following directions. He chose an alternate thing to bitch about instead, "You're not going to put tears into the upholstery, are you?"
"Only if you press the brake too quickly."
Eric had a hard time figuring out whether the reply was meant to be humorous or serious; sometimes Hiraeth's expressions were too hard to read, "How did you learn all this stuff about driving anyway?" he decided to move on in the discussion, as well as proceeding along the road after his extended stop, "I mean... I took driver's ed before your egg was anywhere near my house... you couldn't have experienced that."
"Your driving manual was still on your desk." Hiraeth explained, and looked back to the road ahead of them, "The ability to own and operate a car seems to carry great weight for you."
"It's important to any teen." the young man responded, changing lanes. He shot a quick glance at the dragon, "Do NOT say anything!" he added quickly.
"What would I say?" Hiraeth asked innocently.
"I just changed lanes in an intersection." Eric pointed out, "you're not supposed to do that-- I know... I know."
"I did not notice." Hiraeth acknowledged, "But it's good to know that you are interested in correcting yourself."
Eric let out a sigh, "Anyway... yes, owning a car is really important. It's a status symbol in high school... nobody wants to have to show up at school in the bus."
"You walk." the dragon reminded him.
"Not anymore." Eric grinned, glancing at the dragon before looking back to the road. He pulled up to a stoplight, "From now on I can go anywhere I want without having to wait for someone to drive me."
"Your mom usually does that." Hiraeth pointed out.
"And that's embarrassing." the young man countered, "Being able to drive yourself is what it's all about... not being forced to wait for someone or reduced to begging... it's freedom, Hiraeth."
The dragon nodded thoughtfully, neck still craned so he could look out the windshield. After a long pause of silence, Hiraeth's eyes drifted back to Eric, "Freedom from what?"
Eric paused for a second before providing the truest answer he could think of, "Everything."
"You feel freer now than before?" the dragon inquired, ear sails rising in curiosity.
"Much." Eric confirmed, "This is the coolest thing my mom's ever done." he grinned wide, "I have my own car, Hiraeth! I have my own car!"
"You do seem to be pleased with it." Hiraeth bobbed his head in acknowledgement, "But there are still rules to follow on the road... to what extent are you now free?"
"Following traffic guidelines doesn't mean I'm not free... that's completely beside the point." Eric motioned ahead of them, "Take a look... open road... THAT is freedom."
"You mean that you now have the ability to go places." Hiraeth contemplated.
"Exactly." Eric slammed his palm down on the wheel emphatically; he couldn't have put it better himself, "I don't feel like I'm all caged in now. Whenever I want I can just up and go."
"As long as you don't have school." Hiraeth reminded him.
"Well, yea, but--"
"And as long as you have gasoline." the dragon added.
"I know... but what I--"
"And assuming you are not out past eleven." Hiraeth suggested.
"What does eleven have to do with anything?" the exasperated human questioned.
"That is the time your mom wanted you home." the dragon explained as if she had actually said it.
"What... are you reading HER mind now?" Eric demanded, pulling up to another stop light.
"No." Hiraeth acknowledged, looking forward once again, "That's what the note said."
"Note?" the young man questioned, "What note?"
"The note that was sitting on this seat before me." Hiraeth shifted position and pulled a piece of paper out from beneath his bulk and began to read... in Eric's mother's exact voice, "Eric, honey, I hope you like the car. I know it's not one of those new ones, but the man at the car lot promised me that it's what teenagers drive so it won't embarrass you that much."
"Why didn't you tell me there was a note?" Eric demanded.
"I just did." Hiraeth cocked his head to the side, "There's also twenty dollars in the glove compartment." he added, and then continued reading, using Eric's mother's voice again, "I'm so proud of you. Love, Mom. PS: there's twenty dollars in the glove compartment. Have fun!"
"Open the glove box." Eric noted flatly, keeping his eyes on the road and trying desperately not to laugh at Hiraeth's narration of the letter-- the dragon had all but perfectly nailed her speaking tone and-- he paused. "Hiraeth?" he pulled into a parking lot.
The dragon's nimble fore talons had opened the glove box and he had just retrieved the bill, stuck in mid-recovery as he turned to look at the human, "Yes, Eric?"
"Did you just talk like my mother?" Eric found a parking spot and stopped the car, turning to look at the dragon, "You just used her voice, didn't you?"
"I did." the dragon confirmed, "It was her note to you." he met the human's gaze, ear-sails going up, then down, then up again, "Would you prefer I didn't? I could read it again in my own voice if you prefer." Hiraeth looked down at the paper, "Eric, honey, I hope you like--"
"No." the human interrupted, "That's fine." he sighed, taking the keys out of the ignition, "How many little secrets do you have left in you exactly?"
"Many." the dragon responded, blinking horizontally with his second set of eyelids.
Eric let out a deep breath, "Okay... just checking." and he got out of the car, then paused, "What am I thinking?" he asked rhetorically; Hiraeth did not answer the question, rather, he peeked out of the car door. "I figured we'd get some dinner at McDowell's, but they don't exactly let 'dogs' inside..."
"Shall I go unseen then?" the dragon offered.
"Nah..." Eric shrugged, waving his hand away toward Hiraeth; the dragon took the hint and slid over into the passenger's seat once again. The young man got back into his car and closed the door, "We'll just use the drive thru." The human put the key back in the ignition and started the engine. There was one car ahead of them while they waited for their turn to order. Eric casually granted over to the two silver pyramids that made up the McDowell's logo. He never figured out why they called them "the silver pyramids", to him, they looked a lot more like pointed arches.
"I'll take a Large-Mac combo with a cola please." he spoke into the speaker when it was his turn. He glanced for a moment at Hiraeth then back to the speaker, "and a cheeseburger." He took the twenty dollar bill from the dragon when it was offered to him and pulled up to the window. He paid, received his change, and the lady handed him his drink.
"Oh wow!" she exclaimed, peeking past Eric toward Hiraeth, "My grandfather used to have a mastiff JUST LIKE that one!"
Eric glanced at the dragon, who panted happily with his forked tongue hanging out, offering an emphatic 'woof' for good measure. Rolling his eyes, the young man looked back to the lady, "This guy's pretty much one of a kind... any similarity is purely in the eye of the beholder." he offered a humorless smile.
"Oooooookay." she answered, and went back to taking another person's order.
"You could have been nicer, Eric." Hiraeth suggested quietly.
"I could have, but I wasn't." the human responded, "Some people think that they can just trap you in a conversation because they control when you get your food..." he huffed, "That's pretty rude in my book."
"So you say something that will get them to go away?" the dragon inquired.
"It worked, didn't it?" the young man countered.
"Yes, but you lost out having a chance to talk with her." Hiraeth responded.
Eric rolled his eyes, "That was kinda the point."
The dragon sat up on the passenger seat, "How will you ever manage to connect with someone if you never give them the opportunity to relate with you?"
"I have you." the human responded turning to smile at the dragon.
"You are a good person, Eric... you can have more than just me." Hiraeth offered.
The young man pausing in the discussion long enough to accept the bag from the lady at the window. He parroted the lady's 'have a nice day' and drove out of the drive thru, "I wouldn't want to be greedy." he finally answered.
"You did not want me as a friend at first." Hiraeth reminded him.
"I'm adult enough to admit I was wrong." Eric passed the bag to Hiraeth, "The cheeseburger's for you."
"Thank you, Eric." the dragon acknowledged, rummaging around in it with a single talon, "Not long ago you would not have bothered getting anything for me."
"Common courtesy." the human responded, pulling out of the parking lot, "Besides, not long ago I didn't really like you." he grinned.
"Really?" Hiraeth cocked his head to the side.
"No, Hiraeth... not really." Eric rolled his eyes, "I think you're.... pretty cool."
"Thank you, Eric." the dragon responded, "I think you're pretty cool as well."
"Thanks." the human nodded.
"And, in a few more months you may advance to asking me what I want." the dragon bobbed his head in thought, "I don't eat cheese."
"Really?" Eric asked, feeling self-conscious of the mistake immediately.
"No, Eric... not really." the dragon rolled his eyes in imitation of the human.
"You little ass." the human chuckled, and he accepted the fries the dragon offered him. Setting the carton into the cup holder. Eric kept his attention on the road, occasionally stealing a few at a time, "You can have some fries if you want." he added after a moment.
"Thank you, Eric." Hiraeth acknowledged, and did accept several.
The two cruised through the city, though Eric did pull over to eat his hamburger. While Eric ate Hiraeth spent most of his time gazing out the window. After swallowing one bite but before attempting another, the young man spoke up, "We never really had much of a chance to get you outside, have we?" he asked.
"We have not." the dragon confirmed, "I have enjoyed seeing the city."
"Hmm..." Eric thought, taking another bite, and he spent the next few seconds thinking more before he swallowed. "We can do a circle around town... show you a little of the countryside and everything."
Hiraeth chuckled faintly at that, "This city is so lage I did not know any countryside existed anywhere nearby." The words were spoken with humor, but Eric felt somehow that the dragon must have almost believed it.
"Well it's settled then." Eric acknowledged, popping the last bite of the Large Mac into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, "Once around the town it is."
"Thank you, Eric. I would enjoy that." the dragon smiled, the tip of his tail twitching, "Just remember... your mother wanted us home by eleven."
"Technically she wanted ME home by eleven." Eric grinned wide, finally happy that he could get one over on the anal retentive dragon.
"Indeed." Hiraeth bobbed his head, "I stand corrected." the acknowledgement the dragon gave of the error wasn't nearly as gratifying as what Eric had hoped for, but he didn't dwell on it; they had quite a few miles to cover and not a lot of time in which to do it.
"I like these signals." Hiraeth noted as Eric pulled up to a red light.
"Not me." Eric answered, "These lights suck."
"Why?" the dragon questioned, regarding the human quizzically.
"Because you have to stop for them." the young man answered, as if the answer were obvious.
"Not all the time." Hiraeth countered, "You can go straight through when the light is green."
"Fine." Eric rolled his eyes, "I hate RED lights then."
"But the red lights tell other drivers to stop when the light is green for you." Hiraeth cocked his head the other way, "You should like red lights as well."
Eric took a deep breath then casually offered, "Sometimes I think your circular logic is so frustrating."
"I apologize." Hiraeth said immediately, "I am only wishing to understand why you dislike traffic signals."
The human paused for a second and, just as the light turned green, he figured out how to express his displeasure, "I don't like WAITING at them."
"Ah..." the dragon nodded thoughtfully, as if finally understanding, "Of course.. waiting for the light now means you will have to wait less at some other point."
"You really have a weird way of looking at things," Eric expressed, "you DO you know that, right?"
"It is only weird because you do not completely understand it. Were you to understand it then it would not be weird."
"That's fair." Eric acknowledged, "So by your logic I can call you weird because I certainly don't understand YOU." he laughed at his own words... and Hiraeth chimed in.
The two continued their drive in silence; Eric was pleased to be out and about, but likewise overjoyed that Hiraeth seemed to like it just as much. The dragon kept his eyes focused on things beyond the car, silent... for once. The human couldn't help but compare his friend's attention to the countryside to that of a dog. Hiraeth certainly wasn't a pet though. Pets couldn't POSSIBLY be anywhere CLOSE to as annoying as the dragon... "or as awesome." he whispered under his breath to himself.
"Eric?" Hiraeth spoke up as Eric turned down the street leading back home.
"Yea?" the human asked.
"I think I understand a little about your desire for freedom." the dragon spoke quietly, "When I was with Dwy, even after we escaped the castle she often spoke about it."
"Really?" he inquired, slowing the car down as they approached the driveway, "How so?"
"She was always worried that her brother would find her, and that he would take her back and force her to marry someone." the dragon explained.
Eric nodded, setting the emergency brake, "Yea... I can't even begin to imagine how much that'd suck." he let out a breath, "There wasn't anything she could do about it?" he put the car in neutral.
"Yes." Hiraeth acknowledged, "She had to lose her virginity."
"She what?" Eric would have crashed right then and there if the car weren't already stopped.
"No noble would accept a sullied bride." Hiraeth explained, "If her virginity were to be taken then she would be worthless to her brother."
"Damn..." the young man breathed, turning off the car. He retrieved his key, but remained where he sat, "So... did she?"
"Yes." Hiraeth nodded his head, just once.
"That must have been... uh... weird." Eric noted, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, "So... how did she find a guy to... um... help her with that?"
Hiraeth popped the handle to the passenger side door with his tail and hopped out, "She asked me to take it."
The car was parked, and there was no accident, but Eric STILL felt like he had whiplash.