-Scales

"Man, Pete, this is the coolest thing ever!"

Pete was looking at the creature in the sewer pipe rather skeptically. "How so?"

Hanna gave him a strange look. "Dude, it's a dragon. A real honest-to-goodness dragon! You never see shit like this around here! Or…anywhere really, unless you live in places humans consider uninhabitable. It's so cool! I've never been this close to one!"

"I see," the zombie said, smiling fondly. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Pfft, of course!" Hanna tittered back nonchalantly. He suppressed a chuckle at the exaggeratedly grave expression on his partner's face.

He started towards it, with enough sense to go slowly at least. He knew Pete was uncomfortable about the situation, but they couldn't very well leave the thing in the sewer. That was all kinds of wrong, and frankly, Hanna was too excited to care that the scaly creature could snap his hand right off.

It was a small dragon, probably still just a pup. Its red eyes glinted warningly at Hanna, puffing itself up, sewer water dripping from the copper scales. Hanna took in the spaded tail and crested head, the coloring and paws. Its wings were wrapped protectively around its body. He couldn't quite remember what kind of dragon this was, so he hesitated to breach the gap completely. He didn't know how to deal with this one.

"Hey there, little guy. I'm not gonna hurt you, I just wanna get you out of here. Smells bad and stuff, you know? You don't wanna stay here, right?"

Too close. The dragon snapped at him, smoke puffing from its nostrils. Hanna stepped back, hands up placatingly, talking to it. He kept his voice as soothing as he could, soft and lulling. Most dragons didn't understand human speech, but they understood tone of voice. They could sense intent, and Hanna wanted to make his perfectly clear: This human is no one to be feared. I'm not a danger to you. I want to help.

The dragon shivered, twitched its wings and ducked its head. he was still in a defensive posture.

"This could take a while," he whispered to his partner. "We may as well get comfortable."

It took half an hour of cooing reassurances to get the dragon to drop his posture, but Hanna could still move no closer to him. He knew it was something inside him that frightened the little animal. Many times in the past, he'd had trouble with animals because of the magic in him, because of the dark cloud that haunted him. He knew they would have liked him better if it weren't for the supernatural bits that held him together at the same time as they tore him apart, so he tried to show them. He tried to be patient and show them that all the aura they felt wasn't him. All the buzzing and crackling in his veins didn't make up who he was, what he was aiming for. That his excitement and proximity were to help and possibly indulge in the childish desire to hold and pet and cuddle. He was rarely successful, but he felt progress with this one. Dragons were supernatural as well, and very intelligent to boot, so there was hope of getting it out safely without bringing harm to himself.

He knew his partner wasn't impatient about it. A glance back revealed a kind of peace in his glowing eyes. Hanna assumed he was just grateful that he was taking it slow this time. They'd had talks about it. Hanna wanted to stifle his urge to jump right in because of that, because of the worry that had been expressed. Still, he knew that if Pete weren't there, he'd have dove in like usual and come out bleeding profusely. He wasn't sure if he was thankful of that or annoyed by the slowing of his pace.

"Man, I just wish you could understand me," he was saying, still in that story-time voice. "Then we could get you out and you could get home. I don't know where your home is though, are you one of those dragons that lives in the mountains? I'd think so because of your color, but I'm not a dragon expert, you know? I wonder if your parents are looking for you. I bet they are. Wouldn't that be cool if they busted in here to rescue you? Well, cool for you, 'cause you know, they'd probably eat me or something, but maybe they won't 'cause I taste bad. Would I taste bad to a dragon though? You guys are supposed to be impervious to magic."

Hanna rambled on to the dragon, sometimes pulling his partner into the conversation so it wouldn't be too boring for the dead man. Every few minutes, the dragon seemed to loosen up more, quirking its head to inflections and stifled giggles. Hanna had bite back a whoop of triumph when the little copper feet began inching out of the pipe, closer to him and his partner.

"Pete, I think he's trusting us," he whispered excitedly. "Look, look! His little feet are on the edge of the pipe, see? Gosh he's cute, I hope he lets me hold him."

He bounced on the balls of his feet a bit, and the dragon's head followed suit. Hanna giggled a bit, then giggled even more at the grin Pete flashed him.

"So it looks like you're not so scared anymore, huh? That's awesome. I really hope you let me touch you at least, I've never felt dragon scales before. I probably should have brought food. What was I thinking? You should always bring food, it's like, a peace offering or something. Well, I've got nothing to offer you but a way out…I hope that's enough."

After being in the sewer for an hour and a half - which was slowly becoming more and more strenuous for Hanna, who just wanted to run around in circles and roll in some grass by that point - the dragon finally jumped out of the pipe and crept closer. Hanna held his breath as the dragon took hesitant steps toward him. It stopped a foot away, looking up apprehensively. Hanna took the hint, motioned for Pete to follow suit as he crouched down. He was a small guy, but his height was threatening to a baby dragon. Once he'd sat on the ground, grimacing at the dirty water seeping into his jeans, the dragon waddled up to him and nosed his left knee. His breath caught in his throat. The dragon nosed him again, made a strange noise, and Hanna, heart pounding, lifted his hand warily.

The creature didn't flinch when his fingers brushed over the crest on its head. He traced his fingertips over the scales, gently. They were smooth as glass, but warm. It shivered under his touch, but didn't move away. Hanna watched in awe, realizing that the dragon's scales could bristle like a cat's fur. A huge grin split his face and he beamed at his partner while stroking the dragon's head.

"This is so surreal, man. D'you wanna try petting it too? I think it'll let you."

Pete shook his head, looking a bit entranced as well. "We'd better not push things. You're the one it came to."

It took a while to get the thing comfortable enough to be carried, but it had settled down quite nicely in Hanna's arms by the time they reached the foothills outside of town.

"See his claws, Robinton? They're good for climbing," Hanna was saying, still gleeful about getting to hold a dragon. "The tail's kinda flat and has some barbs on it. I figure with all that, he'd be suited for mountain life. He's got this coppery color, I bet that helps him blend in. The bottoms of his feet are like freakin' leather too, man, that's good for rocky territory."

"So where are we going to leave him?"

Hanna sighed. "I'd want to take him up to the mountains, you know, but we kinda can't do that without a car. If we leave him out here, he should be able to make it back home. People don't come out this far, it's kind of a no-man's land, so he'll be relatively safe. And dragons can last a while without food, so he won't starve. Still…I wish there were a better way."

The dragon heaved a breath in Hanna's arms, almost as though it were agreeing. Its fulvous eyes rested on the hilly terrain before them. Its head shot up quickly as it became restless in Hanna's hold.

"Whoa, buddy! I guess this is the right place, huh?"

The dragon responded by leaping out of his hands to roll delightedly in the dirt. It cawed and pranced a little before running back to rub against Hanna's leg.

"Gnee! Oh my god, look how cute! We made him happy, Robinton!"

Robinton chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll admit, that is pretty cute."

"God, I want to take him home. Haha, wouldn't that be awesome! But he'd grow up and get way too big anyway, and Mrs. Blaney would kill me."

He stooped down to pet the dragon some more, laughing out loud when it rolled onto its back to have its belly scratched. Robinton joined in this time, tentatively, and the dragon hardly seemed to mind the green fingers scratching gently behind its ears.

When the time came to say goodbye, Hanna bit his lip to keep from pouting. The dragon looked back once, cawed, and then scampered off into the hills.

"You're welcome," Hanna breathed, feeling pride and joy welling up in his chest. He felt good, better than he'd ever felt after a case. And better still when Robinton sidled up next to him to put an arm around his shoulders.

"It's getting late. We should go to that little diner by the bowling alley for dinner tonight. I think you earned a nice night out after this."

Hanna stared up at him dreamily, so full of warm fluff he could scarcely breathe. "Aw, Rob, that's sweet, but we can't afford it. It's not like we got paid for that one."

The zombie shook his head, grinning, pulling Hanna with him back towards town. "I have a little cash this time, don't worry."

"You have money?" Hanna asked incredulously. "How? When?"

"A few nights ago. I found a lost dog and brought him home. They gave me twenty-five dollars because I wouldn't take the full amount. They offered way too much, and didn't look very well-off to begin with."

"How much did they want to give you?"

"Fifty."

Hanna's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Wow…"

The zombie hmm'ed in response.

"You know, you're a really awesome guy, Robinton."

At the diner, Hanna ordered a cheeseburger for himself and got his partner a small dish of fruit. He couldn't eat it, but Hanna knew he could taste still; he'd taken to stealing lemon wedges from Hanna's water when they went out, putting a little sugar on them and sucking the juice. Since then, Hanna had continued to get him fruit, watching his lips with secret pleasure.

And on the way home, the zombie discreetly deposited something smooth into Hanna's hand, glowing eyes gazing steadily ahead with a small tilt to his mouth. Hanna looked down to discover a tiny, gleaming copper dragon scale. He thought that if he hadn't been in love with his partner before, he sure as hell was now.

Yay, a happy chapterrrr. Pff, "scales". I had no idea what to do with that prompt until I saw my How to Train Your Dragon DVD.