Enter the Dragon

Well, shoot, this was a bad idea.

Dating Mariah was nice, don’t get me wrong. We ended up getting paired in one of the more common ways- by mutual friends. You know, the pairs that think their single friends are pining away for a partner, but are too dumb to find one, so they take it on themselves to find them one?

I beg to differ. I was not looking for someone anyway. But of course, I digress.

Mariah and I had met downtown at the cafe for a quick bit of coffee. Maybe it was the caffeine, or maybe it was her pretty smile and the way her dimples showed and her eyes lit up when she spoke about her passion-criminal justice- that did it, but whatever the case, I had foolishly invited my house. Don’t get any ideas, mind you- it was simply because my house was quite close to the cafe and she had wanted to know where I lived.

* * *

“This is a nice neighbourhood.” Mariah commented, as we neared my house.

I looked around. There were lines of bright, well maintained houses, that seemed to exude joy. They seemed like comical clowns-the doors their ever smiling mouths, their windows the bright eyes, with a weird, yet lively paint splattered over them. Who knew whether the homes smiled internally as well, or if the bright colours were hiding hidden frowns?

The tall stately trees, their branches having a mixture of reds, greens and browns added to the ideal neighbourhood effect.

Yeah, this was a nice neighbourhood. I hoped I wouldn’t get kicked out of here once they discovered my house.

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“It’s nice, okay, you happy?”

Mariah rolled her eyes and nudged me with her shoulder. “Dork.”

I hummed noncommittally, and she glared at me.

“Stop glaring. You look much prettier when you smile, you know?”

“Corny, much?”

“Corny? Says the one who had us pick identical drinks back at Starbucks.”

“Hey! I thought that was cute, okay?”

“Sure you did.”

“Well, next time we can get different cappuccinos, then.”

I reached out and gave Mariah an awkward one-armed hug. “Nah. I think it’s cute too.”

“So you basically were yapping about nothing, right?”

I shrugged. I guess I enjoyed these banters with Mariah. It was nice to have someone to talk to- not that I would admit it.

We walked into my driveway, and an itch grew in the back of my mind. I was forgetting something, but I couldn’t place exactly what it was. I think I was supposed to fix something, but I wasn’t sure what it was, seeing as half of my house was practically in a state of perpetual replacement, thanks to a certain someone that I had-hopefully-instructed to stay in his large room at the moment. Oh yeah, and bribed with some Icelandic cod. No biggie.

I glanced over at the overgrown forest that was my garden. It sported a mixture of plants here- a few red roses peeking out from a jumble of clovers, with the long grass trying to grow in between. Then there were a whole lot of plants I had no idea about. I hadn't planted them, they had just appeared out of nowhere. Or straight from the Earth, to be precise.

I didn’t really mind. I called it a scientific study whenever one of my more botanically inclined friends pointed out the disarray. It was, in my defense, a science experiment. See, I had just thrown in a couple of seeds last year, and what ever survived, well, it grew. Survival of the fittest, see? Evolution? Science experiment?

Yeah, that was lame, I know. Fortunately, Mariah wasn’t one of those botanically-inclined friends.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” I mock-bowed to Mariah, as I turned and grabbed my keys, unlocking the door.

The door creaked on it’s hinges, before dissociating from them entirely and falling backwards into the house.

Oh. Right, that was what I had forgotten- I was supposed to fix the door after Nyx’s banter last night.

Mariah eyed the door and raised a brow. “I’m assuming you usually have better security than this?”

I chuckled. “Nope. Burglars don’t dare enter this house, since I’m here. But yeah, I’ll fix the door. It’s happened before”

Actually, a burglar had entered, once. Nyx thought he was some kind of playmate. I’ve never seen anyone run away so fast-I think he should have auditioned for the Olympics-but of course, just like many others, the poor man never saw his talent in anything other that what was thrust in front of him. His mates seemed to stay clear of my house now, so that was good.

Mariah and I stepped into the living room. She whistled. “This place looks almost nice. I never thought you had it in you to live semi-decent.”

“I live to please.”

Mariah walked up to my new couch, before frowning and turning towards me. “Why does your couch have bite marks?”

Great.

I looked at the couch, before sighing inwardly in relief. These weren’t deep-I’d probably caught Nyx before he could get deep into his business.

“I had a, uh, neighbor visit with his dog. The dog, er, chewed the couches.”

Mariah looked at me like I had said something stupid, before shaking her head. “Whatever. It’s probably just another thing you said to annoy me.”

I didn’t miss her glance back, and looked at her questioningly. She shrugged. “That must have been a really big dog.” she mused.

I looked at the small serrated cuts on the couch. They formed a semi-circle that was easily a two feet across. Dogs didn't have a maw that big. Neither did lions, for that matter.

“Uh..Yeah, it was a big dog. Hit a growth spurt-" Mariah gave me another look “-and I’ll shut up now.”

We gingerly stepped over the carpet leading to the dining room. It had been singed, and the whole living room was smelling of burnt carpet and badly cooked fish. I glanced at the room. There was the central dining table, or the remnants of one, rather, besides a few chairs, that seemed to have been interrupted from an impromptu dance session-some were on the floor, few were collapsed over one another and one had miraculously ended up on top of the dining table. Still, the rather unique chair placement was drowned out by the smell of burnt wool and bad fish.

“What’s this? Fishing accident?” Mariah asked, in a droll voice.

“Close. There was one, but then I burnt the fish I caught and also slipped on the rug and dropped them on it.”

“Were they were on literal fire?”

"I like my food hot.”

“Sure you do”

We walked past the dining table, and I pretended not to see the jagged edges of the table-evidently Nyx had thought it would be a good idea to taste the dining table- and the crack in the middle-what in the world possessed him to try and sit on the dining table?

“Looks like you tired to sit on your dining table.”

“You’re hilarious.”

“But I’m serious-this house looks like it’s in total disarray. I’m going to come up here once a week and see what I can try to fix.”

My face must have looked shocked, since Mariah quickly added, “If you don’t mind.”

I shook my head, before quickly capturing her in a hug, bless her helpful heart. “I really don’t. Thanks. It’s just that, in a weird way, I prefer my house like this, you know? Anyone breaking in won’t find anything worth stealing.”

“I sincerely hope you’re joking” Mariah mumbled into my chest.

I inhaled the scent of lemons in her hair. “Well, I mean, if you could get some of that hair spray of yours though, I wouldn’t mind. Sure smells better than burnt fish.”

Mariah’s laughter was music to my ears.

* * *

We walked past some of the other rooms-like Nyx’s room, for one, which I ensured we hurried past, and reached the second story. The damage here was much less noticeable, since Nyx tended to either keep the ground floor or the terrace for himself, but left the second story for me. That’s why my rooms were all here.

“Huh. Guess this place inhabitable after all. And look- I never knew you fancied Liszt.” Mariah spoke, nodding towards a piano with ‘The greatest works of Franz Liszt’ on the music rack.

I smiled at Mariah. “I do. I’m working on La Campanella at the moment. He was really a genius.”

“I’m more of a Chopin fan, but whatever. Who knew we were both secretly musicians?”

I chuckled. “Yeah. Though Liszt is way better than Chopin any day.”

”In your dreams.”

We walked up to the terrace, which was mostly empty, save for a few potted plants that were the epitome of hardy, and a small elegant balustrade all round. Mariah and I unconsciously held hands and looked out at the city skyline. I saw lots from here- people getting ready for work, kids running to catch up to an already-late school bus, and the abundance of cars in a mad rush to get somewhere a few minutes early.

Yeah, saying the city was lively would be an understatement.

Mariah rested her head on my shoulders. “Sometimes, when I look out and see so many people, I just think about how small I am, and that’s something that really humbles me. I mean-look at the Sun. It’s only one, but it’s enough for us. The stars? Billions, but again, just the perfect number for us. The tress? The grass? Atoms and cells? There’s so much perfection in nature, sometimes I’m just grateful for whoever designed it that way.”

I perched a kiss on the top of her head. “Me too. Though I’m also grateful for the friends and family I have. The people close to me, who are there to laugh and cry with me. But especially to annoy me.”

Mariah didn’t respond, but I could feel her smile.

Just then, there was he sound of chairs being overturned, and the clang of pots and pans being upset in the ground floor.

Mariah looked up at me anxiously. ‘What was that?”

“Er..nothing to worry about. Just head over towards the balustrade, will you? I’ll handle this.”

"Handle this?”

“It’s nothing dangerous, I assure you. Just my pet. He gets a bit, excited, let’s say, around strangers, so I want to make sure the two of you are properly acquainted.”

“Pet? Why didn’t I see him till now?”

“Must’ve been asleep. I guess he’s awake now.”

"Evidently.”

Mariah walked towards the balustrade, looking at me questioningly, and I smiled back. I hoped it was a reassuring smile, though in hindsight, it probably looked like the smile someone had before they did something stupid.

The balcony door shot open, and I was tackled by one thousand eight hundred pounds of scales and love. A large, slimy tongue left slobber all over my face, and my hair lost any semblance of being groomed. “Nyx! You know I hate it when you do that!”

I glared up at him, but it was hard to stay angry at his emerald eyes, that made more people melt than most puppies. I swatted away his face though, since his breath reeked of the fish I had fed him. Maybe I should cut down on some of that. “I’m annoyed. No extra fish for you today, fishbreath.”

Nyx pouted, rearing up and sitting on his hind legs, his leathery wings and tail folding behind him, before sniffing the air, and glancing over behind me.

Uh oh.

I looked behind me, and I saw Mariah gulp as she took in the black scales, and powerful corded muscles lining Nyx’s body. He had his claws out-nine inches of pure sharpness, and his spiracles glowed blue. His leathery wings created gusts of air whenever he moved, and his tail disturbed more dust from the floor than any vacuum cleaner could-that was also why I never bothered buying a vacuum cleaner.

I turned around, placed a calming hand on Nyx’s snout, and faced Mariah, grinning sheepishly.

“Hey Mariah, I’d like you to meet Nyx. He’s my pet dragon.”