Events of Arrival

Episode 9: Homeowner's Association

Calder awoke to a steady chirping, originating from down at the foot of the bed. This was nothing new. Ever since moving into the Dojo campus, the five Elite Flyers and various other flock members had been rotating between sleeping in the Zebulon house and sleeping in the new dorm room. So the chirping wasn't new.

However, they'd been getting much bolder when it came to begging for breakfast at such an early hour. Especially the Elites. Fucking teenagers.

Calder grumbled and pulled the sheet up over her head.

The chirping advanced, as did the feeling of little clawed feet skittering up her legs. One pair stopped at her hip, while the other ventured as far as her waist. With foggy early-morning brain, Calder couldn't remember who in the hell was bunking with her tonight. Definitely two of the teenage boys, but the handful of them were the most frequent visitors of the dorm, since the number of adults in the flock was dwindling and the number of babies still quite high. Basically, Puff was all alone in the Zebulon house with five babies and two pre-teens that weren't even his. Calder knew he hadn't been getting as much to eat, and less sleep, and the poor thing was just so stressed...

Puff either needed a girlfriend to take up the mantle of flock Matriarch, or he needed a few less heads to watch over.

Well... Calder was awake now. Someone had moved all the way up to her neck and proceeded to continue chirping at full volume right in her ear. She pushed the sheet away from her face and gave the perp a glare. It was Moon. Of course it was. It was always Moon.

"Shitstain," Calder growled, shutting the juvie well and truly up. "You're gonna eat last." She shoved him from his little perch on her shoulder and sent the other resident--an equally young and dumb green dragon known affectionately as "Forest you dumb fuck"--flying in a nice arc from her calf to the floor. Calder rolled her eyes at the thud and the squawk, and wondered not for the first time what in the hell fifteen-year-old Eileen was even thinking when she first shared her ham sandwich with Puff.

***

She resolved to stay in the house for the morning. Puff deserved a break, after all. While the Patriarch was enjoying a full belly (Calder had sent Moon and Forest outside to hunt grasshoppers and given their portions of turkey to Puff) and a nap, she went about tallying up the number of babies and brainstorming ideas on how to take care of them. She knew she needed to move some of the younger dragons into her dorm, maybe just so they could sleep there under her watch instead of Puff's, but that left the issue of how to get them there and back safely, easily, and quickly. Because she was not interested in flying a ninety-minute bus service every day at seven am.

Which led to the current moment, where Jet was nestled between the horns on the crown of her head while she kneeled beside her bed and stared down at a small closed gift box. Its contents were cushioned safely within several layers of tissue paper, and Calder regretted the fact that it was her only real option for change.

She opened the box and pulled aside some of the layers of paper. The talisman within stared back.

It was frustrating, but it was the only way.

***

"Whatcha doing, rookie?" An innocent-enough voice asked. She turned around to see another girl, early or mid 20's with vibrant blonde hair and eyes that matched.

"Shifting some things around," Calder said. "I'm moving my youngest dragons in here so I can watch them at night." She dropped a pile of well-loved blankets in a corner of the small room. The wicker basket filled with five baby dragons cooed at the return of their favorite blankets.