I slowly woke up and blinked in confusion. Okay... This has never happened before... Taureen was in bed and had me tucked against his chest under the blankets. His arms loosely circled around my curled-up form. I had to admit that I was nice and warm, which was a stark difference to when I woke up in my burrow in the park in the morning.

He must be paranoid that the person who broke his gate would come back. I’m so glad that he always wears sleeping shorts when he goes to bed or this would be very awkward. I rested my chin on his arm as I listened to the steady sound of his breathing and heartbeat.

It was surprisingly relaxing, and I rested there until I heard his breathing change as he woke up. When he stirred slightly, I nudged his arm with my nose. He lifted up the blankets as he gazed at me with an affectionate expression. I tilted my head and trilled a greeting.

He blinked and started to slowly stroke my neck, as if reassuring himself that I was still alive and here. I yawned and stretched my wings. Taureen took that as a sign to get up. I shook myself out and flew into the living room.

I pushed on my small door flap, but it wouldn’t open. Did he lock it? I snorted and waited for Taureen. He emerged from the bedroom and went to the back door that led to the garden. I quickly flew over to land on his shoulder pad, which he was once more wearing. If he was going out, then I was hitching a ride with him.

He unlocked the back door and went into the garden. I flew to a large piece of driftwood to wait for the sun, watching it peek above the horizon while keeping an eye on Taureen as he checked the entire backyard.

He eventually settled in a chair against the house to watch me with the recorder in his hands. I felt the call building and knew the second it was to begin. I jumped into the sky to swoop, dive, and spin while singing for the sheer joy of it.

The Morning Song was as it always had been. The unsettled feeling had left, and I reveled in the joyous song for its short duration. As the call receded, my song and dance dissolved. I landed on the large piece of driftwood to watch the sun for a bit more before turning back to the house.

Taureen was waiting by the door, holding it open. I flew over and banked gracefully through the doorway. He followed me inside and closed the door as he walked towards the kitchen.

This house had a kitchen, whereas the previous apartment had not. The appliances confused me, being completely different than the human ones. There was something like a fridge, or so I assumed, since it seemed to store food without spoiling.

Moments later, Taureen had a bowl of fruit in his hand and took a seat on the couch. Breakfast involved a series of commands, each followed by a piece of fruit. It was still annoying to be hand-fed, but it was not quite as irritating before. This mind over matter stuff is an evil beast. The second I drop my guard, things don’t seem to irritate me as much.

Predictably, after breakfast, there was a cleaning and oiling. Despite waking up barely an hour ago, the massage and the feeling of the oil easing dry itchy skin almost put me to sleep.

I felt a bit of pressure along my flank and heard a faint pop, almost like one of Taureen’s nails had caught the edge of a scale. I twisted my head and flattened my ear tufts as I growled at the grey device in Taureen’s other hand.

It was the same injector that Alec had used to insert the tracker bead under my skin. Taureen put it to the side and stroked my back. “Relax, it’s already done. Your new tracker is nearly undetectable. It is only keyed with my wrist comm, and it would take a high-end scanner to find it.”

Another tracker? What was that for?! I came back!

Oblivious to my mental tirade, Taureen continued, “If someone does get their hands on you, I won’t be far behind. If your tracker gets too far away, it will alert me. This is a much more sophisticated tracker. Almost nothing can block the transmission; it will even tell me things like your heartbeat and body temperature.”

Why exactly did I come back again? I can think of a few places I could flame that would raise your body temperature... Taureen seemed to pick up my irritation and cradled me in his arms while offering me a piece of shia fruit.

Bribery mellowed my mood, and it wasn’t as if I could change the fact the tracker was already hiding somewhere under my skin. Before long, the harness was once more slipped over my wings, and we headed out to explore the city and inspect the incoming trade ships.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Our search was fruitless, but that in itself was a good thing. It meant that none of those creatures had been around. Apparently, more trade ships were now stopping here so that I could check them out before continuing on to other cities. Some cities refused ships who didn’t get inspected, and this allowed them to reach more exclusive markets.

On the way home, Taureen stopped in the tiny park that he often let me explore. I stood up on his shoulders, waiting for him to replace the short leash with the long one. He got me to step down onto his arm – and simply unclipped the leash.

He held out his arm as he said, “Go on.”

Caught off guard, I turned my head to examine him like he was crazy. My quickly began working, besides, who was I to argue about a leashless outing? I promptly flew over to a small pond and started splashing about as I enjoyed the water.

Taureen stood nearby, watching closely in case I ended up needing assistance, but his watch was in vain. I somehow suspected that he was surprised at how well I could swim. I could even close my nostrils to dive under the water.

I climbed onto a warm rock and shook myself off before partially opening my wings, letting them dry in the sun and light breeze.

Taureen held out his arm and spoke quietly, “Tasha, to fist.”

With a sigh, I spread my wings further and jumped into the air. It had been fun while it lasted. Perhaps he will let me do it again.

I landed on his arm, and he stroked my neck before giving me a sunburst berry. Once I finished the treat, he held out his arm. “Go on.”

I took off once more, exploring the underside of dense shrubs that I hadn’t dared to drag my leash under in the past. Taureen followed closely, while watching me and keeping an eye on our surroundings.

I wasn’t entirely sure what he was watching for; this park was so small that only a couple of small birds and butterflies called it home. It made no sense for him to look like he was on guard against something.

“Tasha, to fist.”

I crawled out from under the shrub to fly to his extended arm. Another berry, and he let me go explore again. I think I know what training game this is. I can actually appreciate this one.

After a couple of hours of recall training, he transferred me to his shoulder before we left the park. He didn’t clip the leash onto my harness either. I lay down on his shoulder as I considered the recent turn of events. Interesting.

~

Tkael and Alec came by in the evening again. Alec sat down in a chair, glancing at me as I basked under the heat lamp.

“How did today go?” he asked.

Taureen glanced towards me. “It went as it usually did. No traces of sicora or crawlers, though. It was as if the last four days never happened. What of the wild flock? Any news?”

Alec sighed as he responded, “Still as hard to track as ever. We have been keeping a careful eye out, but all are accounted for. Whoever went after Tasha either hasn’t attempted to catch one of the wild ones or hasn’t succeeded.”

Tkael inquired, “Any idea why part of the flock separated and then returned?”

Alec shook his head unhappily. “They were obviously looking for something before they returned. Did you notice that Tasha also turned up in that same park after escaping? It makes me wonder if she didn’t head there specifically for something.”

He glanced at Taureen, who shrugged before replying, “There may be a trace mineral that Tasha is just getting enough of to prevent it from showing up in the blood tests. It’s why I keep letting her roam so much in the parks. That is our best guess at the moment since the blood tests didn’t turn up anything noteworthy.”

Well, that was a bonus for me. I would just have to keep nibbling on a huge variety of plants. Their talk turned to an analysis of the plants that Taureen had seen me nibble lightly on a few times versus the ones that I had repeatedly munched on.

Soranto arrived with supper for all of them and passed the dishes of food around. Their plates mostly held meat, and they didn’t seem to use much for spices or sauces. Most of it didn’t appeal to me in the least, although one thing on Taureen’s plate smelled like chicken. It had obviously originated as some sort of bird.

Most dragonets occasionally got a hankering for chicken or fish. I hadn’t had either for months. Right now, I had a craving for KFC chicken, but with that simply being impossible, the cut-up strips of meat on Taureen’s plate fit the bill.

I wonder what the odds are of him letting me steal from his plate. It wasn’t something I had tried before, simply having no interest in his food or not being relaxed enough to contemplate it. I really didn’t have any boundaries, so I doubted that he would stop me since. Well, no time like the present to try.

I uncurled and stretched before jumping from the end table, with a single wingbeat to carry me the short distance. They glanced at me in curiosity, their discussion about plants in the back garden interrupted as I landed on the center table.

I walked over to Taureen’s plate while sniffing. With one eye on Taureen, who simply watched me, I reached out my neck to snag one of the pieces of lightly-roasted dark meat. I turned and jumped up onto his shoulder pad to lie down and chew on it. It did taste just like fried chicken.

I chose to eat on his shoulder pad since he was less likely to do anything while I sat there. At the moment, all four were watching me in surprise. Alec looked pointedly at Taureen, waiting for him to provide an explanation.

Taureen shrugged lightly. “This is a new one to me. I have never seen her do this before.”

Alec watched me in curiosity. “I wonder if the wild ones occasionally eat meat. It wouldn’t surprise me with their claws and teeth, though. I find it odd that she would eat meat just after coming back from her journey, especially when she hadn’t shown any such interest previously.”

These guys dug way too deep into any little detail or quirk as they tried to figure out what prompted various behaviors. It didn’t seem to occur to them that I had simply had a hankering for chicken.

I stole one more piece of that meat from Taureen’s plate before heading back to the heat lamp.