Grind 1.7

I must have stood outside Fugly Bob's for a good five minutes before I worked up the courage to go inside. I spotted Dennis sitting at a large booth in an empty corner. Wait, how was an entire corner of Fugly Bob's empty? I put the question aside as I made my way over to their booth and slid into the corner seat opposite Dennis and next to a young girl. I slipped my backpack gently down onto the floor between my feet.

"Taylor, glad you came." Dennis gave me a big smile. "I'll let everyone introduce themselves." Dennis gestured to the boy sitting next to him.

"Carlos, or Aegis in costume."

"Chris A.K.A. Kid Win."

"Gallant but please, call me Dean."

"And I'm Vista, my civilian name is Missy."

"Umm hi, I'm Taylor, but I guess you all knew that already?"

Carlos nodded. "You're not wrong. But onto why we're here. We knew Sophia had issues. None of us realized how bad she was, even though we dealt with her more than anyone else. If we had made more of an effort, or paid closer attention or something maybe we could have..."

Carlos was rambling and I was all too familiar with this sort of train of thought. Well not the, what could I have done better, kind. Mine were more just chains of depressing thoughts. It felt wrong to let a hero beat himself up over what Sophia had done. I was just glad he didn't seem to be like Sophia.

"I, umm. It's not your fault. Dad explained it to me. The school kept everything she was doing quiet so they could have a Ward around to help keep the gangs in check. I… She was smart enough to not get caught."

Carlos nodded but he still looked guilty. So did the other Wards too. I felt, a little bit justified, they should feel bad that it happened under their noses. Mostly though, I just felt relieved. Sophia really did seem to be the anomaly in the Wards.

We stayed quiet like that for a few minutes before I had an idea. "I know Dennis said you guys were paying, would you mind if I order two burgers? I could show you something cool if I do." I hoped the smile on my face would grab their interest. Judging by the curious expressions it did.

Dean nodded "Sure an extra burger isn't really a big deal."

Missy seemed more curious than the others. "Why do you need an extra burger to show us something?"

"Because it's dinner time, and she insisted on coming with me."

"She?" Dennis asked.

I grinned they were going to think I was crazy. "Yep. I made a new friend last week and brought her with me."

OK now it was worth coming here tonight. Their faces were great. Except for Dean, he seemed amused. Why wasn't he, oh right. Duh, Empath. He could probably sense Beauty sitting in my backpack. Oh well, at least I'd have one over on the others. Just then the waitress came by to take our orders. Dennis Missy and I all ordered the CluckBlocker, Fugly Bob's only chicken sandwich. The others all ordered HalBurgers plus an extra for Beauty, as promised.

Missy was trying to explain to me how space warping worked when the waitress arrived with our food. The 'is she crazy' looks had been toned down a notch while we waited. Now that the extra burger was on the table those looks ratcheted right back up as I got rid of the bun and sliced the patty into bite sized pieces. I took my fork and speared one before handing it off to Missy.

"Now don't freak out, and try to be quiet." I reached under the table and unzipped my backpack all the way letting Beauty climb up my leg and into Missy's Lap. I turned facing Missy with my whole body to block Beauty from view. "Missy, meet Beauty, she's one of my fire Lizards. She is basically a little empathic, teleporting dragon." The look on Missy's face was great. Like Christmas had just come early. "Try giving her some of the burger, she loves meat." Missy rather numbly proffered the chunk of burger to my little golden friend. Beauty cocked her head inquiringly at it before snatching it off the fork and making a happy little gurgling noise.

Missy looked up at me with the most compelling puppy dog eye's I have ever seen. "Can I have one, please?"

"Sorry, they're pretty attached to me. Maybe if she ever lays a clu…." The words died in my throat and I groaned. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Beauty chirped at me, and flared her wings.

"No, no you didn't do anything wrong." I assured Beauty, as I clutched my head in my hands.

"Ugh Taylor, what's wrong?" Chris asked.

"I just realized I need to find a doctor that can neuter a tiny dragon capable of teleporting. Because if I don't when she has her first mating flight I'll end up throwing myself at the closest guy. Dad is going to kill me."

"OK I'll bite. How the heck does that work?" Dennis asked, fighting a smirk.

"Taylor, you said they're empathic right? Are they linked to you?" Dean asked.

"Yeah they're linked to me. I feel what they feel to a limited degree. I hadn't even thought about it, but the other books in the series laid it out there pretty plainly. Shit. Why didn't I remember this sooner? Stupid power, it's such a double edged sword."

I started in on my food hopping it would be a decent distraction to the fact that I now had to find a dragon veterinarian. Vista went back to feeding Beauty and scratching along her neck.

"So what do you mean about your power being a double edged sword?" Dean asked.

I took the time to finish chewing and swallow. "Well, I have to go through the whole book. To get Beauty and my other two fire lizards I got beat with a belt, sliced open my hand, and ran all the skin off my feet. Now unless I'm wrong I also need to get them neutered before I'm forced to jump in bed with someone. So I get cool powers, and creatures from stuff, but depending on the book I have to go through a lot of crap for the end result."

I took another bite of my sandwich. Apparently I had surprised everyone because for a few minutes no one said anything. "You went through all that for three mini dragons?" Chris asked. He sounded kind of incredulous. Not that I could really blame him.

"I ugh, kind of forgot all that stuff happened in the book. I just remembered wishing I had fire lizards like the main character."

"Makes sense," Missy said, "they're the only thing I would remember."

I nodded. "The other downside is I can't read anymore. I haven't really been able to work out much of anything about my power, but I spent a week in Beauty's book. My Dad's afraid to let me experiment more with my power. He doesn't want me missing school. I don't really know what to do with myself anymore. I never realized how much time I spent reading, until I couldn't anymore."

Chris looked thoughtful. "Hey Taylor, have you ever tried any video games?"

"No, not really why?"

"Well they're not exactly books, but they can be a good distraction, here." Chris slid a handheld device across the table to me.

"That's something I whipped up in my spare time. It looks like the latest handheld game system but inside its all tinker tech. Dennis has one too. They're loaded out with a bunch of the most popular games from several systems. Why don't you take that one? Should help fill the free time"

"I, I can have this?"

"Sure. I still have the blueprints. Only take me a couple hours to whip up a new one anyway."

"You should start with something simple, try Mario." Dennis chimed in.

"Thanks." My voice was coming out a whisper now. I hadn't known what to expect when I came here but it hadn't been a possible solution to my need for distractions.

The rest of dinner went bye in a blur of pleasant conversation. The Wards never tried to give me a sales pitch. Missy pouted when I ushered Beauty into my backpack so I could leave. "Thanks for dinner, and the game. This was really nice."

I got a chorus of agreement from the wards before heading home. It really had been a good day.

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I flopped down onto my bed. Rocky, Diver and Beauty arranged themselves around me. They rested their heads on my arms and stomach. They cooed contentedly, making me smile as I scratched behind their eye ridges.

I picked up the game system Chris had given me and turned it on. What greeted me was a long list of options. I scrolled through them for awhile before I found the game Dennis had suggested. Super Mario Bros, I clicked play, and found myself in the black room.

"Fuck."