“Aww! Wh-h-hat a cutie!” Thomas giggled. The little golden doodle pup was still trying to lick his face from where Thomas held him out. He was at the rescue to try and find a service animal after getting his approval letter. So far he's met a lot of absolute darlings but none of them seemed quite right. There was a Border Collie who was very smart but seemed not very interested in Thomas. Then he tried a few cats, a snake, and a couple rabbits. Now here he is, 3 hours later with an over excitable Golden Retriever Poodle mix pup squirming in his lap.
“Sorry,” he sheepishly told the attendant helping him, “I don’t think this one’s quite right either.” They sighed with a soft smile,
“It’s fine, that’s all the animals I’m allowed to show you right now though. If you wanted to look at the more secure ones, or the ones still under vet-watch I’d have to get you a new attendant.”
Well, it would be a lot more work. But maybe that’s a good thing? The employee cleared their throat; shaking Thomas out of his thoughts. He apologized and agreed to work with a new attendant. They told him to wait there while they went to grab them.
“It looks like Jerry is on lunch right now, but Mathias can take you to the higher security section.” They said when they returned, a stocky blond man following them.
“Great! I really appreciate all the trouble your going through.” Thomas replied. Matthias assured him it was no issue as he motioned for Thomas to follow him down the hall. “So…” Thomas spoke trying to start a conversation, “what kinds of animals are in the high security section?”
“Oh, you know, animals that were aggressive when we first found them and didn’t mellow out, more exotic ones that you need a license for, Oh, and they just brought in Full Wing Smallfur!”
“Really? A dragon! That’s so cool! Where did you find it?”
“A couple of our operatives got called in. Apparently, some family was moving out of town and their new residence wouldn’t allow their kid’s, Kai I think their name was, Service Dragon, so they had to give ‘em away. Our facility just happened to have the right environment and enough room to take it. Say, weren’t you looking for a service animal? Maybe you can take this beast off our hands. It’s been a real pain; won’t eat, won’t move, just snaps at the trainers whenever the come near it. I suggested a muzzle, but the bosses won’t have it.”
A muzzle! Oh, this poor thing must be terrified! I hope their okay! Maybe I should take a look? “Um could I maybe see the dragon first?” Thomas asked as Matthias swiped his key card. He nodded and took him to the very end cage.
“There it is. Pitiful Beast.” He gestured to a large tan blob in the back corner as he opened the cage. Thomas walked in and sat down, not entirely sure what to do. He hadn’t ever encountered a dragon before, so he was a little nervous. Okay more than a little, he was spiraling, and he knew it, but he wasn’t sure how to stop it. All of sudden he feels a warm presence on his lap and nosing under his hand. He absentmindedly started stroking what felt like really soft fur and smooth skin. Finally, he was able to bring himself out of his thoughts and looked down. To his surprise the Dragon had noticed his distress curled around him to help. Currently he seemed to be in a Staring contest with Thomas. They were beautiful, a crown of shinning silver horns framing their face and tiny ears, orange eyes that looked to be full of kindness and understanding, the small cat like nose on the tip of their snout, large angled wings tucked against their back and tail, and the large paw resting on his knee with claws sheathed. “Hello. Um, thank you?” Thomas whispered.
The dragon perked up a bit and whispered back, “Hello, do you how do?” Thomas snickered and the dragon visibly brightened standing and rubbing against Thomas’s side.
“Well, what do ya know, the beast likes ya.” Up until then Thomas had forgotten Matthias was even still there and was happily petting the dragons neck and back, but his comment made the sweet cuddle session come to an abrupt halt as the dragon froze and shrunk back at the demeaning name. It absolutely broke Thomas’s heart to see and he knew he couldn’t leave them there.
“This one. This one’s perfect.” He said to Matthias, who nodded and left to get the paperwork. “Are you alright? What's your name?” Thomas inquired, turning his attention back to the scared dragon, “I’m Thomas.”
“I’m okay, I’m used to it. Its just a little harder when Kai isn’t here to help defend me. They’re my owner or were my owner.” The dragon spoke quietly, gently uncurling themselves into a sitting position across from Thomas. “But I have a feeling that you and I are going to get along great! I’m Emile!”
