#vervain:chalupa

[ofviolentdeath]

@neonbitemarks continued from [X]

The dragon had taken a tumble off the back of the couch, which was quite the drop for something so small and since he lacked the grace of a cat, he'd landed awkwardly.

Chupie sat on the floor in stunned silence for several seconds before realizing he'd hurt himself, at which he promptly got upset about it and started bawling like the toddler he was, looking up at Vervain with the most devastated expression on his face that said he wanted his momma.

Seeing Chupie injured had put Vervain into an immediate panic and he was quick to scoop the little dragon up, holding him against his chest. He was in tears himself as he tried to calm and soothe the little thing down.

"It's okay, it's okay. We're going to go see your auntie Britt Britt to make sure, okay?" he promised, sniffling as he grabbed one of Chupie's favorite blankets from the back of the couch to wrap him up in.

[ofviolentdeath]

"Nah, I think he's just appreciative of the food and warm place to sleep more than anything." Vervain rolled his eyes at that, amused but quick to throw back his own little quip. "I dunno, you might have some competition for cuddles at least. This thing is pretty damn cute."

The way the dragon nuzzled reminded him a lot of a cat and, if the personalities were similar enough, it could have been a form of scent marking. It was definitely something to ask his older sisters about at a later time.

"The big issue's gonna be findin' enough information on him and his species. There ain't a whole lot of records left when it comes to dragons. At least, not that I've come across." Which was going to make it harder to make sure he was on the correct diet too.

"Looks like he's already pretty damn attached to you," Wylie grinned, noticing the cute look on Verv's face that gave away that the feeling was mutual. "Hope he's not the jealous type since you were mine first."

Of course that was a joke, but Wylie didn't mind sharing Verv's affections with a tiny ball of fluff that clearly needed a loving home.

As Chupie's chin was scratched, he buried his little face into Vervain's palm, rubbing his cheeks against his fingers in return.

"That's pretty fuckin' cool," Wylie replied, figuring that it meant that, if climate dictated different characteristics, depending on how cold the climate Chalupa's species was from, maybe he was warm-blooded, which made sense with all the fur.

[ofviolentdeath]

Gods, that was too damn cute and Verv knew he was done for. Any thought of potentially finding a different home, one with more knowledge on dragons, was out the window. There was no way in hell he was going to let anyone take the little creature from him.

"Yeah, dragons weren't exactly on my list of potential pets either and I knew they were a thing."

Verv shrugged, scratching Chupie under the chin gently. "Depends on the species. There are some that are like that, but it really depends on the species and region. Guessin' this little dude's from a more northern, cooler climate."

With his belly full, Chalupa's attention turned fully to the affection he was being given, nuzzling eagerly into Verv's palm with a happy, chittering noise that said he liked the attention a great deal.

"Never thought of havin' a dragon as a pet before," Wylie chuckled, watching the fuzzball lap up the attention just as much as a cat would.

"Not that I knew dragons were real before, anyway, but I always imagined they'd be a lot bigger and scalier than that. Like in movies."

[ofviolentdeath]

"Thankfully. I think I would have panicked if I had needed to call my sister and made her meet me at the clinic at this hour." It still wasn't a bad idea to call Britt and get the little thing checked out to make sure he was healthy.

Verv cast his gaze back to the small dragon and began petting him again, enjoying the texture of Chupie's fur beneath his fingertips. He should stop, and wash his hands so he could sit down and eat given that he was starving, but he wanted to make sure the dragon was settled enough first.

"Yeah, and at least it doesn't seem like anyone or anythin' else has hurt him either so far, so he can't have been out there too long, right? Poor little guy must have been scared to death tryin' to fend for himself like that."

With Chalupa being as tiny as he was, Wylie couldn't imagine him being much older than maybe a few weeks at most, based on his limited knowledge of age to size comparisons of other animals that small, and it seemed like a damned miracle the critter had survived at all without any obvious injury, sickness or trauma.

Chalupa continued to happily devour his meal, looking quite satisfied once he'd eaten all of the meat, which suggested that was likely the main staple of his species' diet, though he also ate everything else on his plate, the dragon much calmer in demeanor now he'd had his fill.

[ofviolentdeath]

"I think a dawn dish soap bath might be a better option. We don't know if the chemicals in flea shampoo can hurt him." He had no idea how to safely do a test to make sure actual flea meds wouldn't hurt Chalupa and he wasn't willing to risk it.

Gentle nails scraped over the dragon's head, unable to help himself with how damn cute he was. He had never actually had a pet before and, while a dragon hadn't been on his list of possible ones, he was finding it hard not to fall in love with the little shit.

"Maybe Bells can help with fleas too, honestly. I just don't want to risk hurtin' him, you know?"

"It suits him."

Chalupa made another happy noise as he was pet again, though he didn't stop eating even for a moment, seeming like he was on cloud nine now that he had the things he had been promised in the alleyway.

Wylie couldn't help notice that the little ball of fluff seemed a lot more self aware than your average cat or dog, and smarter too despite lacking in manners. He was certainly going to be a handful and would likely need a fair bit of training to get him to he a little less willful and wild.

"Probably a good idea to get some pet shampoo and flea treatment too, 'cause as cute as he is, you still found him in the garbage."

[ofviolentdeath]

Vervain considered the name, agreeing that the little terror did seem to quite like the dish. "I can get behind that. Calling him Chupie for short though." Although he did still like Little Shit for a name as well.

Glancing down into the box, he merely shook his head before reaching down to pet him again, finding it hard to stay mad at the little creature when he looked so damn proud of himself.

"Gonna doordash some shit for it for tonight and then we can figure the rest out tomorrow. He at least needs a bed and a litterbox for the night though."

"Well I don't think Little Shit is gonna be a viable option, even if it is fitting," Wylie giggled, placing the dish of food into the box and watching as the dragon looked delighted by having his prize returned to him, immediately digging back in with a gleeful look on his face that said he was claiming the victory.

"What about Chalupa? He seems to like 'em enough."

The dragon was making fairly loud "nyam nyam" noises as he ate now, clearly enjoying himself even as he let out a little burp.

[ofviolentdeath]

"Little fuckin' shit," he muttered as he deposited the dragon back in the box and set the water dish down with him. Of all the things it could have gone for, Verv had no idea why the chalupas were the one.

"Well, at least there's that." He shook his head and moved aside enough for Wylie to give the dragon the plate of food. If this was going to be a thing, they were going to have to baby-proof the whole damn apartment. "We're gonna need a name for this tiny little menace."

The dragon had no regrets, little cheeks bulging with food after he'd stuffed as much in there as he could physically fit, making him look like an overgrown hamster as he clutched a piece of chalupa shell he'd managed to break off as he was picked up again.

"He only got into one of them, look," Wylie noted, inspecting the plate and separating the partially consumed one from the rest before putting it onto the dish he'd added some meat to right before the chaos, seeing no point in wasting it if the dragon had decided that was what he wanted.

He was fighting hard to keep a straight face, but it was difficult when witnessing the test of wills between his boyfriend and a creature that fit quite comfortably in his hand.

[ofviolentdeath]

Verv had just turned back to the table in time to watch the dragon's face hit the chalupas. He damn near dropped the bowl as he lurched forward, making a grab for the dragon.

"Hey, hey, hey! You little shit! Get out of the damn chalupas!" he scolded, grabbing the dragon around the middling and hoisting him up. "We were gettin' you food and water, you tiny fuckin' terror."

"I guess..."

Wylie went to the cabinet to get the dish, inadvertently also turning away from the table in the process as little paws grabbed the lip of the box and pulled their owner up so he could see over, noticing that he wasn't being watched.

Could he make it in time? Only one way to find out.

Scrambling up and out of the box, the dragon darted across the table to the plate he'd decided belonged to him, little claws skittering across the surface as he ran, focused entirely on the aim of his raid.

Success!

He practically faceplanted into the food, having misjudged the stopping distance at the speed he traveled, but that didn't matter. He had his prize and he was going to devour as much as he could before he got caught.

[ofviolentdeath]

"Everything we have is gonna have that on it. Gotta feed it something, right? And it ate chocolate without issue and seemed to like the nacho."

He hadn't expected it to respond so favorably to being pet but he was kind of glad it did. Still, the touch didn't last long with everything they needed to do in order to get all of the food situated.

Verv was filling the bowl for water, his back turned to the table. "Could you grab a dish and get some of that for him to try? I mean, if he likes it, awesome. If not, we've got options, right? Don't actually know what they eat other than mostly meat."

The nacho didn't last forever, even with the dragon taking its time, so as soon as it was gone, he started getting fussy again, especially as he was confined to a box with the plate he'd been after earlier now firmly out of reach without him making a mad dash over a distance that was far enough that he'd likely be caught before he could successfully reach it.

Having his head pet was a new experience, making him flinch and duck away from the touch at first before he realised it was actually quite pleasant and instead got greedy for that, butting up against Verv's hand just like a cat, making a trilling noise.

"Uh..." Wylie grabbed another container to check. "Yeah, we did. Is it okay to give him anything with garlic or spices, though? I mean, I know he's not a cat or a dog or anythin', but aren't some animals allergic to that stuff?"

[ofviolentdeath]

"Probably," he sighed, finding a decent-sized box to put the little shit in before settling him into a chair. It was a small miracle that Verv had come across him when he had. There was no telling what would have happened if he had fallen into the hands of someone else.

He reached over to run his fingers over the top of the dragon's head, hoping to keep it pacified while they figured out what to feed the little terror.

"Did we get any carne asada? That might be decent for him to eat," he asked before moving away from the dragon to grab some drinks from the fridge and a bowl to at least give the little critter something to drink. It likely wasn't a smart move to leave it so close to the food without someone to grab it.

"So there's a good chance he was smuggled from somewhere? Poor little guy," Wylie sighed, hoping the dragon hadn't been put through anything too traumatic, though being left to fend for himself for whatever reason at such a young age would be traumatic enough, if it was old enough to remember it.

The dragon only remained distracted as long as he had food, and he'd thankfully been taking his time with the nacho, making the crunchy, cheesy goodness and the little bit of meat clinging to it last as he savoured the new flavours contentedly.

"Okay, sounds good," Wylie agreed, figuring that Cord would probably have a book or two that might provide some answers if nothing else, and given that trafficking and how valuable the dragon would be in certain circles had been brought up, it would be wholly irresponsible not to keep the little guy so they could protect him from harm.

It also helped that the dragon was obnoxiously cute, but that was a bonus.

[ofviolentdeath]

"No clue. Trafficking and illegal pet trade are big ones for dragons. It's part of why they're not the most common things anymore." Not to mention hunting, but that was less of an issue these days. "Dragons are... valuable. For a lot of different reasons."

He moved throughout the room with the dragon, letting him eat his nacho while looking for a box or something to settle him down in. Anything to keep him off of the table or countertops when he still needed a bath.

"Plus, ya know, Bells likes you." Even if she still insisted on calling him Bambi at any opportunity. It was a nickname Verv couldn't really argue about either. "And if she doesn't have enough information, we can always head back to the bar with him."

"Guessin' something happened to his momma if he was all alone out there?" Wylie asked, wondering if dragons were anything like bears where you might see a cub on its own but the mom was lurking somewhere nearby out of view, and if they might have an angry full grown dragon hunting them down because of it.

The little thing did look like it had been rolling around in garbage for a decent amount of time, his fur clearly dirty and matted in places, and when Wylie got close enough, he got a slight aroma of trash from the fur ball.

"Where do you think he came from? Not like it's somethin' someone can just pick up from the pet store or anything, and he looks too little to have escaped someone's yard if he does belong to someone."

Wylie considered the possibility that the poor thing had been dumped there too, but it seemed unlikely with what it was.

"Sure. Might be easier to wrangle with two pairs of hands, right?"

[ofviolentdeath]

"That," he began, trying to control the overly ambitious creature so it didn't climb all over the table. "Is a dragon. A baby dragon, but a dragon nonetheless. I think. I'm like 98% sure."

Using both hands, he scooped it up and effectively put it in air jail, trying to make eye contact as he did so. "Can you calm down for like 5 minutes? Christ, you're going to get fed, but you need to learn some manners and not try to steal the chalupas."

"It just ate a king-sized Reese's Fast Break, it can wait a few minutes so we can find a more appropriate food. I found it in the garbage, thought it was a kitten at first."

That didn't deter the little furball in the slightest, one paw resting on Verv's hand for support as the dragon looked up at him with an insistent expression before returning to his quest to reach the plate, sniffing even more than he had with the candy bar.

"Uh... what is that?" Wylie quizzed in surprise as he finally noticed the creature crawling its way out of his boyfriend's pocket to try to steal an entire chalupa.

"It's hungry too, by the looks of it," he noted, seeming more amused than anything, though he still had no idea what exactly he was looking at.

[ofviolentdeath]

"Yes, yes, I'm havin' him get your favorite," he assured, scratching the top of the dragon's head gently. He had never met a more food-motivated creature in his life and it was equal parts amusing and endearing.

Once the dragon was comfortable, Verv seemed to relax more as well, He needed a smoke, but he had been very careful not to smoke around the dragon. He wasn't entirely sure what it would do to Chupie and he was terrified he was going to hurt his little baby.

It was obvious that Chalupa had started to get a solid grasp of understanding what was being said to him for the most part, and that he was learned to find ways to communicate effectively in return while he didn't have words of his own, but hearing "dad" and "takeout" had the dragon's ears pricking up, a questioning sound coming from him before an expression of clear delight at the prospect.

Vervain stretching out made things much easier for Chupie in terms of comfort since he didn't have to work against gravity anymore to hold onto Verv, especially with his injured paw, so the moment he was more or less horizontal, the critter was mimicking Verv's pose by sprawling out on his back on Verv's chest, wriggling a little until he was perfectly comfortable and relaxed.

[ofviolentdeath]

"I'm just lettin' your other dad know what's going on and asking him to bring home takeout," he assured the curious little critter, not wanting him to think he was missing out on anything fun in the phone.

Once Verv had finished updating Wylie, he grabbed another blanket and stretched out on the couch. He knew Chupie would make himself comfortable and maybe they could both take a small nap.

Chupie snuggled into Verv again, adjusting his position a little so that he could see the tv while still clinging to him, the cartoon dog on the screen drawing another approving noise from the little fuzzball, indicating the dragon was quite happy with the show choice for now.

When Verv took out his phone, Chalupa did briefly try to look at what he was doing, but as soon as the little dragon saw that it wasn't some bright and colorful game on the screen and because he couldn't read what Verv was texting, he went back to his cartoon.

[ofviolentdeath]

Verv offered a smile before grabbing the remote and flipping on Bluey, finding it to be one of the few toddler shows that he didn't hate. It was colorful and cute and sort of fun to watch when he was high.

"If you want something else on, we can change it," he promised, just wanting his little buddy to feel comfortable.

Getting comfortable, he dug out his phone and shot a series of texts to Wylie, letting him know what had happened and assuring him that their dragon was okay. It was definitely going to be a take-out night so Chupie could have his favorite foods.

Chalupa was still curled up as small as he could get, which just made him even tinier than he already was as he remained firmly attached to the front of Verv's shirt like a baby bat clinging to its mother.

Being home again helped, as the dragon was back within familiar surroundings and smells, clearly having not liked the vets very much even if his aunty Britt was nice and gentle to him as she made sure he was okay and got him patched up.

When Verv asked if he wanted to watch cartoons, Chupie uncurled enough to look up at him and nod while making a small chirping sound of agreement before tucking back close again, seeming to have decided that this was his new favourite spot for the foreseeable future while he was recuperating.

[ofviolentdeath]

"Go get him home. If he starts acting weird or the pain doesn't start subsiding, bring him back," Britt advised, giving the dragon a final pet before shooing Verv out of the exam room.

He nodded, still fussing over Chupie and taking another moment to settle himself before he brought the dragon home and settled on the couch with him.

"Wanna watch cartoons?" he asked quietly, trying to think of anything he could do to make his fuzzball feel better.

It was a little amusing to see a baby dragon in a full-on pout, eyes big and still glossy with the threat of more tears while he was still feeling sorry for himself, and certainly displaying a level of self awareness and expression that equalled a toddler rather than an animal.

Still, he was in for at least a week of being babied even more than usual, as Verv would likely not want to let Chupie out of his sight for a while, and Wylie would be just as forthcoming with loving on the little fur ball to help him feel better.