Just to make sure that Pi Day didn't pass without some form of wordz involving lizards 
Sniffling, the small girl wiped her nose on the sleeve of her coat, then huddled deeper into the garment, shivering a little as it wasn't really up to dealing with the cold night air, while hugging the dog that was patiently putting up with this. He cocked one ear at the sound of a distant sharp bang, his companion twitching at the same noise, then nuzzled her cheek comfortingly.
"I want Mommy and Daddy, Argus," she moaned, holding the dog tighter. "I want to go home. I don't like it out here."
Argus licked her face. He didn't much like it out here either. On the other hand he wasn't going anywhere without his friend.
That would not be the action of a Good Boy, and he
was a
very Good Boy.
So he'd stay here with her and wait for the Bigger people to find them. While feeling guilty about running after that cat, which was clearly the enemy.
"You shouldn't have chased that cat," the girl said, almost reading his little doggy mind, which made him lower his ears and look nearly as guilty as he felt. "Now we don't know where we are and it's cold and I'm hungry and I
don't like it here."
Pressing himself into her body, Argus made a little whuff sound and tried to cheer her up. Because that's what he did.
His companion looked around once more, hoping to see something that would let her figure out where they were and how to get home. All she could tell was that they were in a park with trees and grass all around them, but it was so dark she couldn't really make out much at all. She hadn't run
that far after Argus when he jumped over the fence and chased the cat that was always annoying him, or at least she didn't
think she'd run that far, but she couldn't recognize anything she could see. Far off in the distance down the hill were lots of lights from the city, and out on the water she could make out the little soap bubble of the hero's base, but that didn't help her where she was right now.
Nearer to hand, but still quite a way off, there were headlights moving along a road, but they were few and far between. It was very late, she knew that, but she didn't have a watch so she wasn't sure
how late. Way past her bedtime, that she was sure of.
She was going to be in
so much trouble…
Mommy and Daddy would be worried and probably looking for her. So all she had to do was wait and sooner or later they'd find her. But it was so cold and damp she was really having trouble sitting there under the bush, trying to keep the wind off her back. And every now and then there were strange sounds from somewhere around her, sounds that made her twitch and try to shuffle deeper into the bush.
She'd been told over and over that it wasn't safe to be out in the dark, or to leave the back yard, but when Argus had dashed off, she couldn't help going after him. And now she was lost and cold and hungry and scared and
never going to do that again.
Hearing what sounded like footsteps, she raised her head from where she'd been resting it on Argus's fuzzy back, looking hopefully towards the noise. Perhaps it was her parents? Or worst case maybe a policeman. She could probably trust a policeman to help.
A light flared, a flame illuminating the face of a rather scraggly appearing man as he lit a cigarette. She could tell instantly that it wasn't her parents, and definitely wasn't a policeman. It looked more like what her mother would have called a disreputable person.
Her mother had told her to be wary of disreputable persons. The city had all too many of them, she'd said, although the Family had certainly removed a fair number recently.
She might only be eight, but she wasn't an idiot, and had seen some pretty horrible things on the news when her parents hadn't been quick enough to shoo her out of the room, so she kept very still indeed and very quiet too. With any luck this man would wander off again. Better under a bush than in the hands of one of the sorts of people she'd been told to steer clear of.
The flame went out, replaced with a small orange glow and a smell of tobacco with something even worse on top of it, the wind changing enough to make it pass over her for a moment before the smoke swirled away again.
The girl couldn't help coughing at the stench.
Then she put both hands over her mouth and tried not to breathe.
"Who's there?" a harsh voice called. "Rick? That you?"
She kept very, very quiet. Argus leaned on her, making no audible sound, but she could feel a rumble from inside him, causing her to lower one arm and wrap it around him.
"I heard you," the voice said, the orange glow dying away then strengthening again as he took another puff on the cigarette. The silhouette of the man against the lights of the city behind him moved, showing he was looking around. She heard a click. "Fuck with me and I'll cut you, whoever you are."
Not a sound passed her lips.
The man fell silent and she could see his dark outline moving back and forth, while wishing desperately that he'd just go away. For some reason he seemed intent on finding what had made the noise, even though he clearly couldn't see much more than she could. Less, probably, as she was lower down and looking at him with the sky glow behind him.
As he cast about, his footsteps on the grass soft but audible, she kept totally silent and waited, shivering. The man neared her hiding place, then turned and walked in the other direction, muttering bad words to himself under his breath. She relaxed very slightly, shifting her weight a little to relieve the numbness caused by the cold and her freezing in fear.
A tiny twig snapped underneath her rear end.
Flinching, she froze again, hoping desperately that he hadn't heard it.
Of course, she wasn't that lucky. Footsteps approached again, rather faster than they'd moved away, and she could hear breathing. The glow of the cigarette brightened one last time then it arced away to the side. "I'm gonna fuck you up, you little shit," the man growled, getting closer and closer.
There was a sound like a flag rippling in the wind, before a sapphire blue light dimly illuminated the grass, making it look like the scene was somehow underwater. The light moved, coming from above, casting bizarre shadows through the leaves of the bush she was under, and making the man clearly visible to her for the first time, less than twenty feet away. She could see he had a small knife in his right hand, and was wearing torn jeans and an old coat with a baseball cap on his head.
He was also staring upwards with an open mouth, his eyes wide.
Very cautiously she leaned sideways just enough to let her also look up past the bush, then she stilled in complete awe.
An absolutely enormous reptilian creature was slowly circling a couple of hundred feet up, lines of that blue glow blazing across its wings and body, while the glowing yellow-orange eyes were staring directly down at the man.
Even from here, she heard him swallow hard.
The dragon slid gracefully through the air, almost silently other than that faint rippling cloth sound, and landed on the grass.
He dropped his knife, then held both hands up. "I don't want trouble," he said in a shaky voice.
"Excellent. I would prefer not to cause trouble," the dragon said in a deep, deep voice with a hint of amusement to it. "You may go."
"Ah… thank you?" he stammered, before turning around and walking away very fast indeed. He didn't bother retrieving his knife.
The dragon, Breksta, chuckled faintly, before turned her head on that long neck to look directly at the bush the girl and her dog were under. "Hello, little one," she said softly. "I suspect you need some help getting home."
The girl wriggled out from under the bush, Argus following her. It wasn't a policeman, it was better than that. It was Breksta.
If you couldn't trust the Family, who could you trust?
"Please, yes," she said politely, shivering in the breeze now that she was clear of her shelter. Argus sat at her feet and cocked his head at the huge reptile, seeming somewhat confused but not worried.
"What is your name, child?" Breksta asked, lowering herself to her chest and putting her head only a few feet away from the girl. "And what brings someone as young as you to be in the park at two in the morning?"
"I'm Gina Alverez, and I'm eight," Gina replied in a small voice. "I got lost. Argus ran after a cat, and I followed him, and then I got lost and couldn't remember how to get home and I've been sitting here for a long time and I'm cold and hungry."
"I see." Breksta looked at the dog at her feet, who peered back. "That was not ideal of you, Argus. But at least you stayed with your friend."
"He's a good boy," Gina said. She looked down at her dog. "Mostly."
Argus whuffed again, making the dragon smile slightly.
"We all have moments we aren't proud of," she replied, nodding. "Do you know your home address?"
"It's 1829 Maple Road," Gina promptly replied, proud that she'd remembered it. Her mother had made sure she knew, but had told her to only tell someone who could be trusted. You could trust the Family, so it was OK to tell Breksta.
"Ah. Yes, I know where that is," the dragon smiled. "It won't take long to get you both home safely." She cocked her head in thought, then craned her neck around to look at her back, on which a saddle appeared. Nodding, as Gina stared in amazement, she looked back. "That should fit you nicely. Argus can go in the basket there." Gina noticed that there was indeed a sort of basket thing that her dog would fit in perfectly. "Put this on, it will keep your head warm," the dragon added, holding out one enormous hand, a sort of helmet dangling from a claw. Gina had no idea where it had come from, but obediently took it, then pulled it over her head.
"Some gloves too, I think," Breksta added, handing her a pair. Gina put those on as well. "Now climb aboard, and I'll get you back to your parents. I expect they're quite worried about you."
The girl winced, as she was absolutely
certain that there were a lot of disappointed looks in her near future. On the other hand, it was better than being out here in the cold and dark. The dragon extended one wing, then nodded at it meaningfully. With a faint sense of trepidation tempered by the excitement of what she was about to do, along with a very large helping of complete relief, Gina quickly scrambled up the leathery appendage and climbed into the saddle. Argus quickly joined her, sniffing everything curiously. The weird blue lighting made the whole experience even stranger than it would have been in bright sunlight.
Making sure that the dog was safely sitting in his place, Gina squeaked in surprise when straps appeared from nowhere and made sure that she couldn't fall off. "Ready, Gina?" Breksta asked, looking back at her with a smile.
Swallowing, but feeling much better than she had done at any time in the last several hours, the small girl nodded.
"Hold on, then. Here we go." The huge wings extended to their full size, raised, and came down hard. Gina felt like she was in an elevator that was very fast, a sensation of weight pressing her into the saddle, and couldn't help yelping a little. Argus looked back at her, then stuck his head above the rim of the basket in front of her and let his tongue loll out in the wind, with his ears flapping.
Peering down at the lights on the ground which were getting smaller a lot faster than she'd have expected, Gina swallowed slightly, then shook her head. She was perfectly safe, and couldn't have fallen if she wanted to. After a few seconds, the novelty of the experience outweighed the fear, and she started to enjoy herself.
Breksta circled around a couple of times in a large lazy spiral, letting Gina get a wonderful view of the entire city, before settling down into a straight glide towards the bay. "We'll be there shortly," the dragon called over her shoulder. "How are you doing back there?"
"It's amazing!" Gina shouted back. Argus woofed agreement, apparently enjoying himself.
"I'm glad to hear it," the great creature chuckled. "Hold on, we're going down." She banked over and dived, Gina grabbing for the handholds on the saddle and laughing like an idiot. This was better than a roller coaster. It almost made the horrible experience of the last few hours worth it.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Just as Raul Alverez was about to start shouting at the cop again, there was a knock on the front door. He swallowed his words as his wife opened it, to reveal the cop's partner, who had a rather odd expression on his face. "You guys need to see this," the man said with forced calm.
"I
need my daughter to be found," Raul snapped.
The cop merely pointed behind him.
Raul, and his wife Dana, along with the cop who had been the recipient of a certain amount of parental angst which he'd borne with surprising patience, all looked past the man at the door. Three sets of eyes widened as a very large winged reptile settled onto the street, the blue glow produced from lines all over her body eerily lighting up the area in a display Hollywood would have been envious of.
Sitting on top of the dragon was a familiar small figure.
Gina waved at them. Argus barked. Dana fainted. Raul swore under his breath, then went to retrieve his daughter and thank the Family member for bringing her home.
This was
definitely going to be a story the boys at work would never believe.
Only in Brockton Bay.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Taylor climbed into bed and lay down with a smile on her face, and a sensation of a job well done.
Tomorrow was a new day, and she was looking forward to seeing what it brought, but today had been fun too.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Cuddling Argus, Gina smiled at the ceiling then rolled over and went to sleep having resolved to never chase her dog again. Even if it
did lead to dragon rides...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Feeling that all was well with the world, and that he'd been a very Good Boy indeed (after that one minor lapse of judgement) Argus curled up next to his person and fell asleep. The giant scary thing was very big and very scary, true, but it was also very nice.
He approved.
