Dragon in the Dishwater, Ch 12
Dragon in the Dishwater Chapter 12 copyright 2014, comidacomida
Eric's mom had always told him stories about how her father had taught her to drive when the weather was at its worst; crummy roads, slick pavement, slushy snow, and high winds were the crucible that forged a real motorist, and the young man was forced to admit that his first few months with a car were some of the most nerve wracking. In the end, it taught him a degree of respect for a moving vehicle, and how to stay safe in bad driving conditions.
Even so, Eric didn't have too much of a chance to drive during the winter considering all of his trips were with gas money his mother supplied him. A few hundred miles under his belt by spring gave him some opportunities to test his mettle when he felt up to traveling amidst the gray twilight of low-laying clouds but when the nicer weather started rolling around Eric began to feel the call of the open road. Unfortunately he continued to lack the money and, with the school year wrapping up, he also lacked the time.
Summer, however, changed all that. Not only did his free time increase dramatically, but he had enough of it that he could actually spare a little to embrace his next right of passage: a job. The quarter a day not spent at school meant that Eric could find employment, get money, and, in return, get more gas. It was not a complex equation, and the young man looked forward to the independence he so eagerly sought.
So it was that two weeks after school let out Eric managed to pool together a few dollars for that extra bit of gas which would help him in his search for a job. The young man put on his nicest pair of pants and most professional looking shirt, and, after identifying his intent to his mom, went straight out the door. Hiraeth, needless to say, was eager to go with, and Eric was notified of that fact when the passenger side door opened, and the great dane-sized dragon hopped into the passenger seat. "I am ready, Eric."
The young man paused, putting the keys in the ignition but not turning on the car, "Ready for what?"
Hiraeth's reply was full of vigor, "Your job search!"
"It's just more driving around." The young man finally turned the key then regarded his companion, "Why would you want to go job hunting with me?"
"You already answered the question, Eric." the dragon's nictitating membranes blinked, "First... it is more driving around. Second, I am going with you." Hiraeth's needley teeth showed in a pleasant smile, "Two things I enjoy very much."
Eric smirked, rolling his eyes, "If only everyone was so easy to please."
Hiraeth responded philosophically, "Simple pleasures are often the best ones."
The young man chuckled, "Hamburgers... sleeping in late... hot showers..."
"Car rides?"
Eric's smile widened, "Yea... car rides too."
Hiraeth fell silent once Eric had backed the car out of the driveway. The young man cracked his window open slightly, but didn't bother to adjust the dragon's; despite the fact that Hiraeth often looked like a dog to the casual observer, the illusion was merely visual, and things like sticking his head out of the window didn't appeal to the dragon in the way it did to a canine. Besides, he reasoned, if his companion wanted some air he knew perfectly well how to operate the window controls on his own.
Eric's thoughts paused as he heard the passenger's side window lower. He glanced over to where Hiraeth sat, a talon on the DOWN button, snout straight in the wind, and his forked tongue flapping in the breeze. "Is that better, Eric?" the dragon inquired, glancing back at him with his tongue still flopped out.
The young man rolled his eyes again, "You're such a dork."
"In a good way?"
Eric laughed despite himself, "Yea... in a good way."
"It WAS your idea." Hiraeth pointed out, then withdrew his head (and tongue), sitting back down in
his seat.
"Exactly... an IDEA... not a SUGGESTION."
The dragon nodded with an almost philosophical expression on his muzzle and remained quiet for a short time, giving Eric a chance to contemplate what might be going on in Hiraeth's head-- whenever the dragon got that look there was ALWAYS something to it. The young man didn't have to wait long. "Eric?"
"Hmm?"
Hiraeth rotated his head to regard the human, "Why are you so interested in a job?"
Eric grinned devilishly, "I thought you being able to hear all my mind-talky-things would have made that clear by now."
The dragon's inner eyelids blinked, "Your thoughts are not clear enough in that regard. You are excited, but also apprehensive. It is as though you are at war within your self as to whether or not you can--"
"It's about independence, Hiraeth... about being able to do things on my own, and the next step to being free."
Hiraeth cocked his head to the side, "I do not understand."
Eric took a left out of the residential streets and turned onto the highway, heading toward the collection of nearby stores and restaurants. "What's not to understand? I get a job, which pays me money, and then I don't have to worry about getting shafted when my mom doesn't have anything left at the end of the month."
The dragon nodded thoughtfully, "I see... and if you have a job, she will likely have more money at the end of the month because you will not have to request any."
The human opened his mouth to reply, pausing when he realized that Hiraeth wasn't trying to be rude or insinuating anything, he was just stating an observation... a very astute observation... and Eric had a momentary pang of embarrassment. "Yea... I guess that too." he cleared his throat loudly.
Hiraeth's tail twitched in continued thought, "You are always looking to be independent, Eric... do you sometimes feel like you do not have enough control?"
Eric immediately reflected that the question sounded like something Dr. Marlowe would have said, "That sounds like--"
"I did not mean to sound like Dr. Marlowe... I just remember you saying that you were excited to get a car because it meant independence."
The young man nodded, letting the dragon tip-toe the line of his patience, "I know I did... and the car was just the first step."
Hiraeth unfurled his wings then resettled them before circling in the seat, and laying down atop it, easily taking up the whole thing, and then some; the dragon's long, sinewy neck was stretched out just enough to rest his head on the young man's thigh, "Then independence is a road... and you started your journey with a car, and you now wish to continue upon that path by finding a job that can help you get money."
Eric couldn't have put it better himself, and made a mental note to see if he could somehow fit that thought in a future discussion, "Right."
Hiraeth smiled, "You are welcome to use it if you like, Eric."
the young man continued along as if the dragon hadn't commented on his thoughts, "So, yea... having a car is the first step, and then getting a job is the second... then there's graduation... and getting my own place." he raised a finger off the steering wheel each time he added something to the list."
Hiraeth withdrew his head, ear sails rising, "Your own place?"
Eric nodded, "Yea... like an apartment."
The dragon turned his head to the side, brows furrowing, "Why is an apartment so important to independence?"
"It's somewhere I can call mine." Eric explained, "It means I can do what I want with it, and I control who gets to come in."
Hiraeth's eye-ridges furrowed more, "You have your own room... you can do all of those things in your room."
Eric shook his head, "It's not the same thing... it's my mom's house, and she can still come and go whenever she wants... even though I tell her to knock."
"Oh..." the dragon settled his head back down on the human's thigh, "...will you let your mother visit your apartment?"
The young man shrugged, "I guess... I mean... it's okay if she visits... but only if she calls first."
"That sounds fair."
Eric nodded with certainty, "And she has to leave all her emotional baggage at the door... I don't want to deal with that when I get my own place."
The dragon's next question caught the teen completely off guard, "Will I get to visit your apartment?"
The human didn't have a chance to answer Hiraeth as the light he was approaching turned yellow, "Woah!"
The car stopped quickly, just in front of the cross walk as the light turned red, and Eric let out a deep breath. Hiraeth, even without his seatbelt, didn't seem to have an issue staying in his seat, "Are you alright, Eric?"
The young man let out a breath, "Yea... just wasn't ready for that." He didn't bother clarifying that it was as much about the dragon's question as it was about the light... of course, he should have known that Hiraeth would have figured that out.
"I am sorry, Eric; I did not mean to disturb you with my question."
Eric sighed, "No... it's not that... I mean, it didn't bother me, I guess--" he turned to regard Hiraeth, "I kinda just... you know--" the young man wasn't exactly sure how to explain that heautomatically figured that the dragon would be there with him.
Hiraeth was immediately all smiles, the tip of his tail flicking back and forth, "Thank you, Eric... I am honored that you would consider me as a roommate for when you get your own apartment."
Fighting a sense of embarrassment, indignation, and a strange, warm-fuzzy-feeling at the genuine joy Hiraeth seemed to get from his unspoken admission, Eric couldn't stop from stating what he considered to be an obvious objection to the dragon's statement: "You're only a roommate if we split the rent."
Hiraeth's eye ridges furrowed, a thoughtful expression returning to him, "Oh..." he paused, though his tail continued twitching, "Then perhaps I should consider seeking a job as well while I am out with you."
Eric fought hard to avoid laughing, "I don't think that any movie theaters or fast food places or grocery stores would hire a dragon." Hiraeth opened his muzzle to say something, but the young man quickly interrupted him, "OR a dog." The dragon's maw closed with an audible -click-, and it took Eric a moment to figure out a very important thing: he had FINALLY gotten one up on Hiraeth. A split second later he realized that he hadn't gloated about it... and a few seconds after that he came to the conclusion that he didn't feel inclined to.
"You can if you wish." Hiraeth offered pleasantly.
"Nah..." Eric replied, "I'm good." And, strangely, he really was.
* * * * *
It turned out that finding a job was actually harder than Eric had thought. They had left the house just after lunch, and returned shortly before dinner; nearly six hours of job hunting had managed to get Eric little more than eight applications to fill out and a nearly empty gas tank. Despite the lack of success, however, he'd enjoyed himself and, if he had to admit it, a large portion of that was due to the company of a certain dragon.
Hiraeth raised his head, looking over the dashboard to a car already in the driveway as Eric pulled in, "Your mother is still home."
Eric set the parking break and turned off the engine, "Yep... I don't think she leaves for her appointment til around 7 tonight."
Hiraeth joined Eric, following after him when he exited the driver's side, "Are we going to go hide in your room?"
The young man surprised himself at his own response, "Nah... I wanted to hear what she thought about all these choices." He gave a little shake of the applications before closing and locking the car door.
Hiraeth preceded Eric to the front door, scaled tail languidly arching in counter-point to his quick trot. The young man smiled to himself, wondering idly for just one moment what it would have looked like to an observer if they were actually able to really see the dragon for who and what he was. Waiting at the door for him, Hiraeth had an answer, "They would see Eric and a dragon."
Eric laughed, giving his key ring a little jingle as he went to unlock the front door, "And then piss their pants because nobody believes in dragons."
Hiraeth stood, moving to the side to make access to the lock easier for the human, "They would not see me as a dragon if they did not believe in dragons."
"Doesn't mean they wouldn't piss their pants." Eric countered.
"I would like to believe they would not."
"You'd like to believe..." The young man opened the door with a smirk and walked in, "How convenient."
His mother's voice came from the dining room, "What's convenient?"
Eric paused, grunting when Hiraeth ran into him from behind, "Oh... uh... just that you're right there!" He quickly recovered, shooting a glare at the dragon.
Hiraeth's ear sails lowered, "Sorry."
The young man kept his attention on his mom, who was seated at the table with a magazine in her hands. He held up the applications he'd brought home, "So this is what I got from my hours out hunting a job."
Mrs. Bradish smiled, "Looks like it went well."
Eric shrugged in response, "I guess... I mean... I didn't get a job, but I have a lot of applications to fill out."
"I could always check at the department store to see if they could use another clerk."
The young man paused at the offer; he wanted to be able to do things on his own but, at the same time having his mom put in a good word for him would probably help things along more than stopping in somewhere blindly and asking to talk to the manager or get an application, "Yea... I guess... if you wanna."
Her smile widened, "I'll check in with Mr. Eastlake tomorrow.... he's the store manager." and her eyes returned to her magazine, "You got back just in time... dinner should be ready in about ten minutes."
Eric turned and head for staircase, "Kay... I'm gonna head upstairs and drop all this stuff off... be right back."
Hiraeth, who had been seated beside the young man the whole time latched onto Eric's pants. Much smaller than he had been back in the car, the dragon nimbly climbed up the fabric, leapt onto the stair's railing, and rebounded, landing on the young man's shoulder. The first time Eric had experienced Hiraeth's change in size it had startled him but, as with many other of the dragon's seemingly strange traits, it had become familiar... normal, even. "Your mom seems to be in a good mood tonight."
Eric reached the top of the stairs and headed toward his bedroom, "Yea, she does."
"That is a good thing."
The young man put the applications down on his desk, making sure he turned his writing lamp on as a reminder to get back to them after dinner, "Sure... I guess."
Eric made his way down to the dining room, where his mother's magazine lay on the table. His mom was back in the kitchen, pulling a pan out of the oven; the scent of meatloaf struck the young man immediately; he couldn't remember the last time she'd made meatloaf. It was such a surprise he was even so thoughtless to ask, "You made meatloaf?!?"
She smiled in response, setting the baking sheet on a hot pad, "I made mashed potatoes too." she motioned to a covered pot. "It's been awhile since we had it, I know... but I thought it might be fun to start 'Meatloaf Mondays' up again...."
'Meatloaf Mondays'... an ancient relic of a time long gone when their happy family had consisted of three, rather than a broken household made up of two. A small pinpoint of anger welled-up immediately within Eric; what was her angle? Was she playing the pity card again? Was she about to ask him for a favor, or tell him how they don't have enough family time? The single spot caught fire, and he felt a rage take hold; the day had been going so well-- why did she have to go and ruin it with another one of her stunts?
Hiraeth's tail curled gently around Eric's neck, snapping the human out of his darker thoughts, with a simple comment of "Meatloaf Mondays sound good."
It WAS simple... very simple... and very right. "Meatloaf Mondays DO sound good." the smile came far easier to Eric's lips than he thought it would and, for once, it didn't have to be faked. He helped his mom carry the food to the table, contemplating in a passing thought that their household DID have three members. Hiraeth purred softly on his shoulder, obviously quite aware of Eric's thoughts, despite not being psychic.
"I am not psychic." Hiraeth reminded him. It certainly didn't help make the dragon's case, but Eric had a feeling that it really didn't matter so far as Hiraeth was concerned... and had the strangest feeling that the dragon was agreeing with him.
* * * * *
Eric had helped his mom clear the table and she dismissed him once she started working on the dishes, "Go play your video games or something... I'll finish up here." Although his mother had bought a second controller for Eric's console, it had gone unused for almost three years. Once Hiraeth had become familiar with the young man's games, however, it was finally put to good use as the two teamed up. All-in-all, they had logged hundreds of hours playing, and that night was no exception.
Although Eric didn't have many multi-player games the ones that he DID have were a combination of versus and cooperative; Hiraeth was a DEADLY opponent, so it was doubly-beneficial that the dragon seemed to lack a competitive streak and preferred being on the same team as Eric; it was all for the best. Even if Hiraeth's taste for what he sought in games was eclectic, their view on fun was close enough that they rarely had difficulty finding something they'd both enjoy... a multi-player hack-n-slash.
Almost a half hour passed while Eric played alongside the dragon, numb to the world outside the games as they battled through the legions of monsters in the Catacombs of Thresia; it was the fifth dungeon, and supposedly one of the hardest in 'The Black Rose', a game often regarded as the greatest example modern fantasy roleplaying... Eric just liked the way blood spouted out of the necks of the monsters when they were decapitated. The young man's gaming 'trance' was disrupted however by a knock.
He pressed the pause button, "Yea?"
His mother spoke through the door, "May I come in?"
Eric glanced to Hiraeth, who, still small, was curled up on the pillow next to him, engulfing the controller with his body. The dragon blinked once, "I do not mind waiting."
"Sure." Eric acknowledged.
His mom slowly opened the door, peeking her head in. Even though only the top of one shoulder showed, Eric could tell that she was dressed for work, "They're offering overtime hours at work to get us ready for the July Fourth displays..." she drummed her fingers against the door knob, "I should be back around one or two."
It sounded like she had something else to say, and Eric used his usual method for getting her to say something else: "...'kay?"
"Dr. Marlowe was going to stop by tonight..."
The defensiveness came naturally for Eric, "I thought you said I didn't have to deal with your doctor anymore!"
His mother withdrew slightly, "He was coming to meet with ME, Eric... seven o clock, remember? I didn't expect to be working tonight."
Eric paused, "So... call him and cancel?"
His mom frowned slightly, a hint of the helpless-single-mother playing across her features, "He's on his way over right now, and--"
The young man sighed, and his response came out blandly, "You want me to sit down with him and let him do his head-doctor thing with me so he can get some kind of perverse gratification over listening to someone's problems."
Her frown became a distinct scowl, "God, Eric... no need to be so dramatic... I EVEN wasn't going to put it that way."
Eric sighed anew... with extra teenage angst, "Are you going to threaten my videogames again if I say I don't want to?"
Her response was classic hardball-parent psychology, "Are you going to make me?"
The young man groaned, "And tonight had been going so well..."
Her tone softened, "One hour, Eric... that's all I'm asking for."
Seeing that she was adamant about the meeting, he relented, "Are you going to make me answer all of his stupid questions, or--"
"You can talk to him about whatever you want." she responded, "It's not like I'm asking you to cut off your tongue, Eric."
He rolled his eyes, but smiled at a chance to use her own words against her, "God, mom... no need to be so dramatic."
She accepted his attitude in kind, and smiled, "Thank you." and the door closed.
Hiraeth released his controller and raised his head, "You do not like Doctor Marlowe very much, do you?"
Eric's response was very to-the-point, "No. I do not."
"Why?"
The young man yawned and stretched, setting his own controller down at the sound of the front door closing, "I think most psychologists don't care anything about the people who come to them for help... if they really cared they wouldn't charge so much."
The dragon's nictitating membranes blinked, "Receiving a certificate required to help people is very expensive... perhaps their fees are high in order to repay those costs."
Eric hit the power button on the TV, but not on the game console, "Yea... except, far as I know they don't lower their costs when they get all their student loans repaid."
Hiraeth's ear sails raised, "But you are going to speak with him because your mom asked you to... right?"
"I guess."
"Good!" the dragon hopped onto the young man's shoulder, "This means that you will have a chance to meet him and see whether or not he is like 'most psychologists'."
Eric huffed, and rolled his eyes, "I'm sure he is."
"But you do not know for sure," Hiraeth curled his tail loosely around the teen's neck, "Most is not all... and if you REALLY thought all psychologists were bad people you would have said ALL psychologists, not most."
The young man went to his bedroom door, letting out a defeatist sigh, "He's not even here and already people are telling me the significance of what I say and how I say it." but Eric still smiled despite himself.
The two passed the time talking idly about what kind of person Dr Marlowe was-- whether he was exactly who he claimed to be, as Hiraeth proposed was possible, or that he could possibly be an alien, brain-eating slug controlling a genetically engineered drone body as it searches for a suitable host on Earth. In the end they could both agree that it was much more likely that he was the former... and that Hiraeth needed to watch more late-night sci-fi made-for-tv movies. It was about then that a knock came from the front door.
Eric stood, and went to answer it, speaking quietly to his companion, "You're gonna stay down here with me, right?"
Hiraeth nodded from his place on Eric's shoulder, "Yes... and if he tries to eat your brain I promise I will keep you safe."
Laughing, the young man opened the door and, as expected, Dr. Marlowe was the guest. As Eric had anticipated, the man had a calming half-smile and a professional-but-not-intimidating posture. Letting the door open the rest of that way, the young man saw all of that composure disappear when Dr. Marlowe locked gazes with Hiraeth; it was obvious to the young man that the psychologist did NOT see a dog, and that thought was only further reinforced as a single, whispered word slipped from the stunned man's tongue, "...dragon."