Realistic or Modern Dragons in Our Midst

[GreatSaiyaman31]

Checking his phone he was still smirking from her messages it had been a long while since he had even courted any female never mind been with one. Here he was worried that he was rusty. He chuckled as he sent her a reply.

"I try. I'm off tomorrow. Really if it's dinner and a movie I could go any day after work. Would just need a few minutes to freshen up. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle before?"

H sent the message and continued on with his book while he waited for a response. Between last night and today he was getting to the good part where the main villain rears their ugly head and causes some kind of drama between the two love interests.

 

[Golden Solitaire]

“I’m free whenever. That’s the good thing about being an author. You make your own schedule. As for motorcycles, no. I’ve never ridden one. I’ve always been hesitant to.”

She hit send and turned her attention back to the masses of white fur. They would need a bath and a thorough grooming sometime. They surely had dust and dirt all on their coats. Brushing out the hair they had shed would cool them off quite a bit. With the weather getting warmer, it was needed now more than ever.

That could all be done tomorrow. It was too late in the evening to even try to get them to cooperate.

After a while, she stood up and whistled for them to follow her inside. It took a moment for them to notice as they had been too busy playing, but they eventually made it inside for the night.

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"So tomorrow it is then. I can come look at your Chevelle until we decide on a movie," he sent back to her as he turned to the next page in his book. "And I'll bring my copy of your book to get your autograph if that's alright?" he added last second.

The anticipation was building. He found himself getting excited to finally have an excuse to spend time with her for more than just a few fleeting moments. He looked at his clock and saw that it was already 11 at night. Putting his bookmark into his copy of her book he set it down on the coffee table before reclining back on the couch to try and get some shut-eye. Before he began to nod off he plugged his flip phone into its charger and checked one last time for a message.

 

[Golden Solitaire]

Saria typed out her address and send that before writing another message.

“Sounds good to me. And that’s quite alright! I’ll have to find my favorite pen and practice my autograph a bit.”

She hit send and started to go upstairs. She changed into her pajamas, which was really an oversized Metallica shirt and a pair of shorts. The boys knew not to get in the bed with her if they had been rolling around outside, so they stayed on the floor beside her. They certainly were loyal animals.

Before she turned her bedside lamp off, she plugged her phone up and clicked it on to check for another text.

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"Good night and sweet dreams Saria. I hope you're looking forward to tomorrow as much as I am. For the record it's A LOT."

Clicking send he flipped his phone closed and stared at the ceiling until he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he woke up and ate breakfast. He washed his dishes and utensils like he would any other day before he got a thorough shower in an attempt to get off every accrued smudge of oil, transmission fluid, and coolant his body had collected over his career at the garage. He got dressed in regular jeans and his work boots and a tight tshirt that hugged his body like a giant sized Abercrombie and Fitch model, showing off his rippling muscles.

He put a pair of mechanic gloves in his saddle bags as well as a full socket set complete with screwdrivers. He also put a slightly better outfit in the other saddlebag for after he would be done working on her vehicle. Locking the door to his apartment he made sure he had his phone in his pocket and checked her address once more. He was fairly familiar with the town. He made it a point when settling into a new place to survey the surrounding area to ensure he would never be lost and so he would have a home field advantage if anyone decided to cross him.

Hopping onto his bike the engine roared to live and he revved it before taking off to her street. It was about 9 when he arrived in the front of her place and killed the engine of his bike. He had also made sure to bring along the only helmet he had so she would feel a little safer on the bike. He didn't have any other normal mode of transportation after all and she might like it once she gives it a try he figured.

Knocking on her door he waited anxiously for her to answer. Remembering that usually humans gave gifts on dates like flowers and/or chocolates he magically made a bouqet of roses mixed with some baby's breath appear in his hand behind his back. As soon as she would open the door he would present her with the flowers.

 

[Golden Solitaire]

“Good night, Arthur. I’m looking forward to speaking to you in person again!”

Saria sent her message and turned her phone off, placing it on the nightstand. She rolled over in her bed and snuggled up under her blankets before she fell asleep.

Unlike every other morning, it wasn’t the dogs who woke her up, it was the knock at her door. There were a few packages that were to be arriving soon, so maybe they were being dropped off.

When she started to get out of bed, she noticed the dogs were gone. They must have already ran downstairs to check it out.

Saria made her way to the front door while attempting to get her hair in order. It was a mess and couldn’t really be helped. She must have looked like a walking corpse.

Sure enough, Cobalt and Argo were sitting beside the door, their tails wagging like always. Saria gave them each a quick pet before unlocking and opening the door.

Her eyes shot open, “Arthur?”

If she would have known it was him she would have tried to make herself look better. She certainly wouldn’t be wearing her pajamas. Oh well. People had seen her looking worse. It was life.

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"Good morning beautiful," he spoke calmly with a smile. "These are for you."

He presented her with the flowers.

"Like the pj's. Your hair looks great. Sorry if I came to early for your liking."

Looking down between the dogs he smiled.

"Mommy ain't a morning person is she boys?" he questioned them, not expecting an answer. "Cobalt and Argo seem like good guard dogs. They were at the door after the first knock."

Standing up straight again he turned his smile to her.

"May I come in Saria? If you want I could make some breakfast for you?"

 

[Golden Solitaire]

Saria couldn’t help but smile. She accepted the flowers and stepped to the side, “Thank you. Come on in.”

She closed the door behind him and began making her way to the kitchen so she could find a vase for the flowers, “Make yourself at home.”

Once the flowers had been arranged and the vase placed in the center of the dinner table, she fed Cobalt and Argo before they could harass Arthur anymore. They had already been following him.

“They like to know what’s going on, but they would never hurt anyone.”

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"Thank you," he replied as he stepped inside the door, closing it behind them. "Will do. What would you like for breakfast? You sit and relax. I'll cook."

Listening to her attempt to assure him about the dogs he knelt and pet both of them with a smile before standing to watch her as she moved around the house.

"Glad to hear but I wasn't too worried about these giant teddy bears. It seems to me that it's almost always the smaller breeds that are more snippy and aggressive like they have to prove something. Meanwhile the big dogs sit panting with a silly smile on their faces."

Washing his hands since he touched the dogs and was planning to deal with food he rinsed off and dried by the sink before he smiled over towards her again.

"Any requests for breakfast beautiful?"

 

[Golden Solitaire]

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m really not much of a breakfast person. I’ll just grab an apple later. If you haven’t eaten anything you can go wild. Use whatever you want to.”

Saria cracked her knuckles and put her hands on her hips, her gaze falling to Cobalt and Argo. Their bowls were already empty. They weren’t interested in her anymore. Their eyes were fixed on Arthur, tails wagging.

Argo trotted over to this new friend and sat at his feet while Cobalt stalled over to Saria.

“Looks like Argo made a friend.” She said, a small grin playing at her lips, “He certainly is more social.”

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"I was gonna cook for you. I'm not going to make a mess in your kitchen if you won't even eat the mess I'd make," he replied with a chuckle, petting Argo once again.

Making his way over to her he sat down on the couch next to her. Argo followed close behind and as soon as Arthur sat his face was on Arthur's lap. Grinning Arthur petted him a little more rambunctiously to make the dog more playful. An animal this size was easy enough to handle and they were simply amused. As soon as he stopped petting Argo the dog braced itself like a dog usually does when they're getting playful and wanna rough house. Arthur simply leaned forward fast and said boo and the dog ended up on his lap. Arthur chuckled as he cradled the wiggly dog in his arms.

"You're just a big puppy aren't you Argo?"

Setting down the dog gently on its paws he turned back to Saria covered in white fur with a smirk on his face.

"I think mommy wants a hug," he joked approaching Saria with his arms wide open.

 

[Golden Solitaire]

Saria couldn’t help but giggle at them, “He’ll always be a puppy.” She said, “And I know you’re trying to get all of that fur on me. It doesn’t bother me anymore, but whatever.” She scooted a bit closer to hug him.

Cobalt noticed Arthur and Saria getting closer and jumped up on the couch between them. He leant against her as if he was trying to push them apart. The dog rolled onto his side and stretched out on Saria’s lap.

“And he will always be a momma’s boy.” She said, massaging one of his ears between her fingers, “Jealous too.”

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

Arthur chuckled at her two boys.

"They're very good dogs," he said to her, rubbing Cobalt's side. "They must help keep ya sane and busy. They coerce you into taking breaks from writing because they're demanding attention?"

"Not to change the subject but I brought some tools with me if ya want me to look at your Chevelle? Got them out in my saddle bags."

 

[Golden Solitaire]

“Of course they do. That’s why it takes me so long to put a book out.” She said. She patted Cobalt’s neck and started to get up. Naturally, both dogs got up to follow her.

“I nearly forgot about that.” She said quietly, “It’s just been sitting in the garage. Kinda makes me feel bad.”

She made a small gesture for him to follow her. She walked through the kitchen and pulled a ring of keys from a hook next to the door leading to the garage.

“You can move it outside if you need to.” She said before opening the door and handing the keys to him. Cobalt and Argo went through to the garage and nosed around for a stray toy. Saria crossed her arms, “I’ll try to keep them from getting in your way.”

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

Standing from the couch, he followed her. Accepting the keys he stepped into the garage.

"I'd be more worried about them running off if something grabbed their attention," he replied with a smile.

Flipping the first light switch he could find he turned the main light for the garage on. Then opening the garage door he headed out to his bike and pulled the tools out of his saddle bags and went back into the car, closing the garage door behind him. Luckily he had a small flashlight that he could use to see what he was doing because as soon as he lifted the hood it blocked the light from the ceiling. Concentrating on the car he began muttering to himself.

"She said it was making some kind of noise last time she drove it. Maybe I should open up the garage door again and start her up to see if I hear it."

Sighing he used the keys she had given him to start the vehicle after he opened the garage door. Standing outside of the car he waited to see if he could hear any odd noises. When he did he looked closer in the engine compartment. He saw that the belt looked slightly frayed so he would replace that for her. That noise didn't sound that drastic however so he sat in the driver's seat and began turning the steering wheel all the way in each direction to see if the car whined. When it did he figured he would have to replace the power steering pump as well. Turning the vehicle off and closing the hood he secured the garage door and headed inside to tell her the diagnosis.

"Saria? You want the good news or the bad news about your 60's Chevelle?"

 

[Golden Solitaire]

Saria was sitting in the floor with a dog brush in one hand and a treat in the other. She had an open garbage bag beside her filled with white fur that had been brushed out of Argo’s coat. All of this, and she wasn’t even done. There was also another dog to do as well.

She pulled the fur out of the brush and stuffed it into the bag before going right back to grooming him. Cobalt patiently waited his turn off to the side.

When the door opened, she looked up from her task, “There’s good news and bad news? Shoot...” She pulled more fur from the brush and tucked it into the bag.

“Bad news first I guess. It’ll make the good news better.” She gave a small shrug and leant back on her hands, “Is it really bad news?”

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"It's both a belt and the power steering pump that are bad. That's the bad news. The good news is that there is a vintage parts shop near my place that I can get the parts for your car today and I have all of the tools I need to replace both of them. More bad news however is that it'll take at least a few hours for me to do all of the work once I have the parts so it probably wont be until dinner time that we can make it out to a movie and dinner. The more good news, for the low, low price of a kiss I'm willing to pay for the parts."

He smirked down at her as he stood over her on the floor. Lowering himself to the floor he was assaulted by Argo who slobbered him in kisses. Sitting up covered in fur again he looked at her blowing some fur off of his lips.

 

[Golden Solitaire]

Neither the good news nor the bad news seemed to get to her when Argo attacked him with slobbery kisses. All she could do was laugh. At least the dog didn’t knock the bag over.

“Well you got your kiss.” She sighed when her laughter had died down to only a small chuckle, “Make sure his fur isn’t in your mouth.”

Knowing she probably wouldn’t get Argo off of Arthur, she put the brush down, “You’ve got to let me pay for something. I’ll feel bad if I don’t.”

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

Propping himself up with his hands on the floor to his sides he smirked at her.

"Not a penny. I asked you out on this date and offered my services for a reason. I'm not gonna back out now by not paying."

His tshirt lifted slightly so that just a glimpse could be seen of his lower abs. His triceps popped some as he held himself up in his seated position.

"Besides hearing you laugh and seeing that smile are two things I never knew I would get to witness. I'd say that's some pretty good payment right there nevermind the puppy dog kisses."

 

[Golden Solitaire]

“You’re one of the nicest men I’ve ever met.” Saria said, “Just thought you should know.”

She crossed her legs and rested her elbows on her knees, “Most people don’t even last this long. They’ll make a rude comment about dogs and that’ll be it.”

Argo placed himself in Arthur’s lap. Even though he had gotten brushed, his fur was still everywhere. Cobalt decided he needed some attention, so he sat down beside Saria and waited for her to pet him.

“That or the boys don’t like them.” She said, scratching under Cobalt’s chin.

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"Only to you Saria. The rest of the world I couldn't care if I ever spoke another word to," he paused, hoping he hadn't gone overboard. "Just figured you should know as well."

Letting out an "oof" as Argo sat on him he fell back onto the floor again with a chuckle.

"I think he's grown rather attached in our brief time together. One could say we are attached at the hip. And I have to say I've always been an animal person. Animals don't lie like humans do. With them you know where you stand right from the get go. Particularly wolves and dogs. They're loyal and brave. Wolves actually mate for life. Once they pick a partner that's it. No wandering from the relationship. Bonded for life."

As he spoke he pet Argo some more before gently pushing the dog's butt off of his stomach so he could get up. He brushed the bulk of the fur off with his hands before smiling down to her.

"Would you like to go for a ride? Or would you rather I go by my lonesome?"

 

[Golden Solitaire]

A light blush dusted across Saria’s cheeks at his comment. A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, “That’s why I love dogs so much. I know my boys will never leave me.”

She hesitated to answer when he mentioned a ride. She remembered their texts from the previous night, “Motorcycles...kind of scare me. I’ve only ridden once, and that was years ago. Where would we be going anyway?”

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"Well it's the only ride I got. I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me to the parts shop to pick up the parts for your car."

Another thought occurred to him as he stood in her living room/kitchen area.

"Have you picked out a movie yet? I don't really mind what we go to see so long as you'll enjoy it."

He looked towards the door and then back to her.

"If you're that frightened of them we could save the ride for another day? I'll just run to the shop quick and be back within about half an hour. For the date if you still want to go on one we can use it as an excuse to test drive that Chevelle of yours once I'm finished fixing what I've seen wrong so far."

 

[Golden Solitaire]

Saria still hesitated, “Maybe I’ll ride some other time.”

“I still haven’t put much thought into a movie. Nothing seems interesting, but if you’re set on seeing one, you can pick.” She pushed herself up from the floor and picked a few strands of fur from her shirt.

She needed to change and get a shower. There was dog hair all over her, but that was no different than any other day. She could probably do it in an hour.

“A test drive sounds really nice, actually.” She tucked a lock of hair back into place, “I’m up for whatever.”

 

[GreatSaiyaman31]

"Gotcha. Scratch the movie. Go on a cruise in your Chevelle and maybe go out to get some dinner. Sound like I got the whole itinerary?" he recited back to her with his comment on the end.

He walked backwards towards her front door.

"Oh. By the way. You don't have to change just yet. It's still gonna be a couple of hours before I'm finished fixing your car for the joy ride and on a side note....." he paused for dramatic effect. "You look beautiful even covered in dog fur."

Stepping out of the door he smiled back at her one last time before hopping onto his bike and heading off towards the vintage parts store. During his drive he felt the weight increase on his bike and glanced back while at a red light to see a goddess sitting behind him.

Unphased he looked ahead as the light changed green and he began to accelerate again.

"What do you want Aphrodite?" he asked grumpily, completely forgetting that he had given Hephaestus some talon pieces the other night to make a bobble for her.

Wrapping her arms around him to hold on as much as to show gratitude she smirked at the dragon in human form.

"Hephaestus was right you are irritable in your old age Arthur," she replied in a sultry voice.

"Do you have a point to appearing like this and annoying me or do you simply have a death wish greek?" he mustered as much disdain in that last word as he could.

"I simply wanted to thank you for giving my husband what he needed to make me a gift that all of Mt. Olympus is jealous of," she paused. "Even Zeus."

That was enough to put a smirk on his face. As a rule he liked to avoid the leaders of pantheons and getting on their bad side just simply because it was a very big pain to deal with them. They commanded a lot more power than the usual deity that visited him and even some of them could be formidable even to one that predates them. They were sly and conniving enough to make up for the difference in raw power.

"You're welcome," he replied. "Now will you please go before somebody sees us together? Especially Hephaestus. You know your husband is the extremely jealous type when it comes to you and your daughter Persephone."

"Fine," she replied with a pout. "Most men would die to have me to themselves for even moments. Say hello to your little human for me. She doesn't know the first clue about how good she has it if she chooses you."

"Heh," was all he muttered in response before Aphrodite disappeared and he pulled into the parts store. Walking up to the clerk he got the parts that he would need and did his best to pack them in his saddlebags. Making sure to secure them properly he took off back towards Saria's house.