Hi guys! Sorry this has taken a bit to get up. I've been a bit sick, and I'm starting a new job. Yay money! Boo less time to spend working on fics. So I apologise in advance. Hope you like the chapter. As always, if you like it, review it! I love reading them!
Kurt awoke with the smell of sulphur in his nostrils. Bolting upright in his bed, he looked toward the dragon's bed, resting on a dais in between his bed and his desk. A small plume of smoke erupted from the bed, and he gave a yell.
Reed woke up, jumping out of his bed to race to Kurt's side of the room, thankfully not tripping over anything in his headlong dash to help.
Kurt and Reed reached the dragon's bed at the same time, Reed carrying a fire extinguisher with him.
Together, they looked at Norbert, who continued sleeping. A curl of smoke drifted slowly from his nostrils, and a soft sigh rumbled from his belly. At a gentle prod from Kurt, the smoke stopped, and the dragon opened a sleepy eyelid.
He gave a yawn, and the rest of the smoke that had been in his throat was released in one large puff, dissipating into the early morning air.
He was over three feet long by this point, and no longer required full maintenance by Kurt or anyone else. He still loved being pampered, though, and so allowed any of the Windsors to caress or feed him. He also had a fondness for Logan, who had caught the Twins taking care of him in the back grounds of Dalton.
Shuffling his wings so they lay flat against his back, Norbert stretched, yawned again, and peered around him at the two boys who shared his room.
With a shake of his head, Kurt turned and fell onto his bed, face first, and groaned gently into his pillow.
"Mmfnurgh," Reed heard, but naturally couldn't hear his friend.
"What?" He asked softly, stretching his arm out so the dragon could clamber up and perch on his narrow shoulders.
Kurt turned his head to the side, his face barely clearing the edge of the pillow before answering: "I said, I wish I knew what to do with him now that he's started smoking. Doesn't he know smoking is bad for my health?"
Reed let out a sharp laugh.
"At least there hasn't been any sign of full on fire-breathing yet! Just you wait until then! Then we'll have something to worry about!" He shook his strawberry blond curls gently, trying not to dislodge the creature who had taken up residence on his back.
"True enough," Kurt grumbled. He pushed himself up off the bed, and looked at the clock.
"Oh man! It's barely seven on a Sunday! This is what I get for adopting!" And with that, he fell back on the bed and rolled over, ready to take another couple of hours of sleep.
Reed smiled at his friend, and there was a knock on the door. As Reed went to answer it, it burst open, the entryway filled with the sight of Tweedles.
"Guh," Kurt mumbled, opening one sleepy eye and taking in the sight of the twin grins staring at him.
"Can we borrow Norbert for a little while?" Evan asked quietly; they had learned the hard way that Kurt wasn't exactly coherent first thing in the morning.
"We'll bring him back in one piece, we just want to try something," Ethan added, just as softly.
Reed looked at Kurt, who waved his hand carelessly through the air, and turned back to his pillow.
"I guess so," Reed said doubtfully. "But if he gets to be too much to handle, bring him right back. And if he starts smoking, make sure you have a fire extinguisher on hand. We've had three scares so far this week." And with that, Reed passed Norbert off to Ethan, who very gently allowed the beast to wrap it's tail around his neck, and perch across his shoulders.
"Thanks," the Twins called softly, as the two made their way out of the room and down the hallway.
The Tweedles gathered up Dwight from his room in Windsor, and together headed to the back grounds of Dalton. They met up with Logan, who had informed them that all lessons with Norbert were to be conducted with him around, so they'd best get used to it.
They all approached the same area, a small grove of trees that concealed them from the main buildings of Dalton.
Looking at each other, the Tweedles set Norbert down on the grass, his tail twitching as though he knew what was coming next.
Dwight watched from the sidelines, next to Logan. As he watched the twins demonstrating to the dragon on the proper form for flying, he also sent a quick glance to Logan, wondering, not for the first or even second time, what exactly he was doing there.
Logan caught his glance, scowling back at him for a moment before schooling his features into a non-threatening display.
"What?" The surly prefect growled, as he continued watching the twins with their demonstration.
"Just wondering, again, what brings you out here," Dwight muttered softly, the disdain evident in his voice.
"Same as you. A mix of curiosity and a need to make sure those hooligans don't mess up Norbert's training," Logan replied, the cool tone of his voice making the air around them decidedly chilly.
"Wrong," Dwight replied softly. "I'm here because I truly like the little guy. He's grown on me, and I enjoy spending time with him. Even if you don't understand that, I do," He added, his eyes never leaving the sight of the twins, flapping their arms and running, as Norbert chased after them.
"Really?" Logan looked at Dwight again, his eyebrows raised in doubt. He returned his gaze to the dragon, his brows dropping down into furrows that barely cleared his eyes. "That's more than I would have expected from you, Houston," he finished quietly.
"There's more to me than even you know, Logan," Dwight replied stiffly, his mannerisms harsh towards the prefect standing at his side.
"Not like that!" He shouted suddenly, his head shaking with the force of his vehemence. "You'll just confuse the heck out of him! Oh, stand aside. I'll show him how to do it properly!" Dashing forward, he flapped his arms as though they were wings, demonstrating to the little beast just how he wanted him to move.
As Norbert got the idea, he began flapping, harder and harder, until he was hovering, three feet off the ground. He had a mild look of surprise on his draconic features, as though wondering why he could lift off the ground when his friends stayed solidly earth-bound.
He was so surprised, he stopped flapping, and with a whuff of air, he dropped lightly to the ground again. The Tweedles, Dwight and Logan all stared for a moment, and then all burst into loud whooping and calling.
As one, they rushed Norbert, Evan scooping him up in his arms as they all converged for a group hug.
A small puff of smoke made them back off slightly, as Norbert hiccuped softly. Then, with a small roar, he emitted a flame, a foot long, and extremely hot. He regarded it for a moment before turning it off, and looked around at his friends proudly.
Logan was the first to chuckle, his voice becoming louder with every passing second, until he was belting out full blown belly laughs. The twins joined in, clapping each other, Logan and Dwight on the back.
Dwight was the last to join in the laughter, his head shaking from side to side as he processed what had just happened. He reached over and stroked the pleased lizard down his neck and back.
"Well done, Norbert," He offered gently, as the laughter from the others faded somewhat. "Well done, my friend."
Together the four returned to Windsor house, even though Logan was subjected to some fairly nasty looks as he entered. They made their way up to Kurt and Reed's room, and were delighted to see Kurt wide awake, with Blaine, Reed, Shane, Wes and David all sitting around chatting quietly.
"Hey, guess what?" Dwight teased Kurt, his smile surprising all of the others in the room.
"Um… okay, what?" Kurt answered, a little nervous about what Dwight and the Tweedles were about to tell him.
"Norbert flew!" Evan burst out, his grin looking as though it would split his face if it were any larger.
"And he breathed fire!" Ethan added, his entire body bouncing up and down with excitement. They were all lucky Logan had hold of Norbert when the twins were this excited.
Norbert just looked around him serenely, smugly taking in the shocked looks of his fellow Windsors.
"He did not!" Kurt exclaimed, his hands flying to his cheeks as he jumped up. "Ohmygosh! That means he's really ready to fly! And breathe fire! And we have no idea if he's even full grown yet!" The look of pure amazement on Kurt's face made everyone in the room grin happily. A few of the other boys jumped up to congratulate Norbert, giving him pets and a couple of treats, and Reed even kissed him on top of his scaly little head.
They weren't certain, but the boys of Windsor had the sneaking suspicion that Norbert was able to understand everything they said. He was certainly able to perceive emotions. He instinctively clung to anyone who was feeling under the weather, or depressed.
He had even clung to James for the entire first week he had been in Dalton. Whenever James wasn't in Han's room, anyway. James had made some new friends in the Warblers; he couldn't sing yet but Wes was of the firm opinion that once his voice settled, he'd be pretty good.
And Norbert was really good at making sure that whoever was watching him knew exactly what he wanted, at any time. He was definitely able to make his wishes known, by simply planting the information, in the form of pictures, into the brain of the closest boy.
So for them to all emit feelings of pride, happiness, love and dedication to him in Kurt's room, he felt happy, and safe, and cared for.
He clambered up Logan's arm, perched upright on his shoulder and gave a warbling cry, much to the delight and adoration of the boys in the room.
Then he spread his wings, and began beating them, his claws slowly lifting off of Logan's shoulders. The prefect gasped in surprise, as all the boys watched the dragon making his second attempt at flight. Norbert made it as far as the bottom of the chandelier, the leaned forwards and dive-bombed the boys.
As one, all the Windsors, plus Logan, ducked. They laughed long and loud at the fact that Norbert was flying. Reed gripped Shane in a hug, as Kurt did the same to Blaine. Wes and David clapped each other on the back, and the Tweedles gripped each other as though they never wanted to let go.
They all watched as Norbert coasted around the room a few times, trying out his balance, his precision, and his dexterity. Then with a soft whomp, he landed on Reed's bed, accidentally knocking over his paintbrush holder, which was located on his beside table.
"Nice one!" Evan called, and he and Ethan exchanged high-fives.
Together the Windsors collapsed on Reed's bed, surrounding the extremely proud little dragon with love and affection.
It was three days later, and the novelty of Norbert flying was beginning to wear off. It wasn't that the idea itself was wearing off, just the idea of him doing it inside. He would take off whenever and wherever, fly around to wherever he wanted to go, and land with the same reckless abandon.
The Windsor's were taking it in turns to watch him, and it just so happened to be Wes and David's turn. They were in the Library with the young dragon. By this point everyone on the school grounds had seen Norbert, because he never failed to get away from whoever happened to be watching him. He never flew far enough to worry them about him getting lost, but he did have a tendency to think all boys at Dalton were Windsors.
The first time he touched down in front of the Dean, he caused such a riot in the hall that the Dean had actually had to raise her voice. After all the commotion, she ended up having to take the Windsors to the side, and advise them that if they, in any way , shape or form, allowed this beast to roam loose through the grounds again she would have no other option but the have him captured by the government and removed from her school.
After that, they had decided that taking turns would probably be the best way of keeping him in check.
So. Wes and David. In the Library. With a dragon.
David was trying to do his homework, but Wes kept interrupting with unusual questions. Some of the questions were pertinent to the work he was doing, which was a French essay on Louis the thirteenth. Others? Well, they were simply off the wall.
"So, when we finally get out of Dalton, what do you plan on doing?" Wes asked softly, his finger scratching the little ridge under Norbert's chin where he loved so much. David sighed, realising that for the moment, he wouldn't be able to complete his homework, and turned to Wes.
"Same as you, I believe," He offered, his hand sweeping through the air magnanimously. "Take over my parents business."
"Well, yeah, that's the given, but if you could do anything. Anything in the world, what would you do?" Wes asked curiously.
"Dunno. No one's ever asked me that before," David shrugged his shoulders, his curiosity peaked. "What about you? Same question," He retorted gently.
"Me? Well, you know how good I am with animals, right?" David nodded; Wes was almost as bad as Blaine for bringing home strays. "I'd love to be a vet. Not a vet for little animals though. Someone who takes care of the big ones!" Wes sighed, knowing that he could never do such a thing. But dreams were nice. "And I'd travel. All over."
"Wait, don't you travel now? It's not like you're parents can't afford it," David asked, his head tilted to the side in a puzzled glance.
"I travel some. Not as much as I'd like." Wes answered, his mind still preoccupied with his dream. "I'd go places I've never thought of. Like the Philippines, or South America. And I'd work with animals there. Anything bigger than a cat. Dogs, goats, llamas, elephants; I'd be able to help them all. And I'd be good at it too." His eyes found his friend, as he continued stroking the back of the dragon.
David looked thoughtful for a few moments, and Wes decided that the conversation must be over. He went to rise from his chair when David's voice stopped him. It had taken on a dream-like quality, as though David were picturing something he couldn't quite believe.
"I'd be a fire fighter," David murmured softly, so low Wes almost missed it.
"Yeah?" Wes asked softly, knowing that David rarely chose to divulge personal details about his dreams and desires. David looked at Wes, and leaned forward to stroke the dragon's back.
"I've always had a wish to save someone else. To be a fire fighter, or a police officer, or a paramedic. Someone that little kids could look up to, you know?" Wes nodded in agreement. He could sympathise with David's dream.
"But it'll never happen," David swept his arm out, copying Wes' gesture from earlier. "We're destined to be in the family business, no matter what. I mean, you have the mob," Wes' face coloured at that. "And me? I have no choice either." His hand stopped stroking the little dragon, who promptly turned his clear blue eyes on David, keening softly.
"But sometimes, you know," He added, in a very quiet voice. "Sometimes, I imagine that I can save people. I sit and wonder what it would be like if I had to resuscitate someone. Do you know, I paid a great deal of attention when we took the CPR class?" Wes watched David silently, allowing the other boy to divulge some of the most personal information he had ever shared.
"I also made sure I could use one of those Defibrillation Paddles. I don't faint at the sight of blood, not after living in Windsor house, and smoke doesn't even make me flinch anymore, between Drew, Satoru, and this little guy," He smiled softly, his hand reaching back to Norbert's back, and resuming his casual stroking.
Wes sighed softly, his heart clenching a little for his friend. He wished he could provide the support to allow David to do as he wished, instead of just following in his parent's footsteps. For that matter, Wes wished that he could do what he wanted too, even if only for a short time.
Together they pet the dragon, as he lay there and simply enjoyed the attention.
They dreamed of what could have been, in some alternate future. They dreamed of fighting fires, or bad guys; they dreamed of saving lives; they dreamed of travelling the world and taking care of others, be they human or animal.
And in their world of dreams, they were content. If only for a short while.
XD I find myself wishing I could meet Wes and David in real life. I know this is only a portrayal of who they may be, but in my head, this is totally how I see them. Not necessarily content with the lot they've been given; wishing to be able to make a name for themselves that their parents haven't already carved out for them. I see this for all the Windsor boys, with the possible exception of Kurt, actually.
Well, up next? I think Norbert has remained a secret for long enough, don't you? What happens when the government and military discover him? Stay tuned to find out!