The dragon’s attention shifted to the closed bathroom door.
Noah had the urge to go that way, but he headed towards the hall door instead. “Kara’s in there.”
The soft call of “Mine” drifted over his mind again.
“Just leave her alone for a bit. She needs some time to herself.” A hint of irritation rose from his dragon, but Noah ignored it as he found his way to the hall bathroom to relieve himself.
It was weird being back in control of his body. Noah could feel Byrd in the back of his mind. The dragon was not happy that they were awake. “Not a morning person?” Noah teased.
Byrd growled.
Another soft laugh came out of Noah. “Let’s go see if we can find something to help that.” The thought of coffee crossed Noah’s mind.
“Coffee?” Byrd asked.
“It’s a hot drink,” Noah explained, thinking about his last cup of coffee. It had been in his own kitchen, just a few hours before the dragon gala. He reflected on that as he headed down to the kitchen. He had rinsed out the cup and set it in the sink next to his dinner dishes.
Dread pulled at him. He wasn’t sure exactly what day it was, but he knew it had been over a week since he’d last been home. Thankfully, his job kept him too busy to own pets, but he did have some very lovely orchids that needed regular watering. Plus, there was a refrigerator full of food going bad. Then there was the garbage left in the trashcan in his kitchen. Oh God, there were fish bones in there. That was going to smell lovely when he got back. Not to mention the cans outside that had been waiting to be taken to the curb after the gala. He groaned out loud. The whole house needed to be checked on. If nothing more than to make sure it hadn’t burned down, or that stupid punk from down the street hadn’t tried to set up that meth lab in his shed again. There was no getting around it. He needed to ask Kara to go check on his house today.
Letting out a sigh, he turned the corner into Kara’s kitchen and stopped. There were still boxes piled around, but someone had been busy putting the room together. Looking around, Noah found what he had hoped to find. A coffeemaker! Finding a heavy plastic box, he pushed it over to the counter and hopped up on it. He studied the coffeemaker to see if he could figure it out. It was just a standard machine. The red marker in the reservoir floated near the twelve-cup line. His heart leaped for joy. Fantastic! Kara set it up last night. Reaching out a claw, he carefully punched the power button. In a few seconds, the song of water percolating through the pot reached his ears. Heavenly!
“Hungry!” Byrd rumbled.
Noah smiled and hopped down from the box. “Let’s see what we can find.” He knew that Kara had gone to the grocery store yesterday. There was a vague memory of her bringing in bags, but he’d been so out of it he couldn’t recall what she’d gotten. It took a minute to figure out how to wiggle his claws into the crack between the refrigerator doors, but he finally got it open. The fridge was neatly stacked with a few supplies.
“Meat!”
Noah looked at the package that had drawn Byrd’s attention. The links of breakfast sausage looked amazing, but they would need to be cooked. Noah shut the door as Byrd protested. “Be still,” he reprimanded the dragon. “If we eat it raw, it could make us sick.”
Byrd settled down, but he made it known that he was not happy about it.
With a grumpy dragon pressing on his mind, Noah went to search the cabinets. After opening the first two, he found what he was looking for. A skillet.
Byrd perked up and watched as Noah worked.
Sticking his head into the cabinet, Noah got his mouth around the handle of the pan and eased it out so he wouldn’t get his head stuck again. It had been embarrassing the first time Kara had come down to find him with a box on his head. It would be even more so to find him stuck in the cabinet. Successfully removing the pan, he carried it over and set it on the plastic box. “This would be much easier with opposable thumbs.”
Either Byrd didn’t understand the suggestion or chose to ignore it. He just sat there, waiting for Noah to continue.
Letting out a deep sigh, Noah pushed the plastic box over in front of the stove. He grabbed the skillet handle in his teeth again and hopped onto the box to place the skillet on the burner. “You know, we should probably wait for Kara to come cook for us,” he pointed out.
“No!” Byrd snapped at him. “Mine! Provide!”
Noah shook his head to stop it from ringing. Apparently, Byrd wasn’t willing to wait for Kara’s help. Noah wasn’t sure what ‘provide’ meant, but he looked over the controls on the gas stove. They were pretty straightforward, and he had no problem turning the fire on to warm the pan. Hopping down, he went back over to the fridge. He was starting to get the hang of the fine motor control in his front feet, so getting the door open was easier this time.
Without the use of a thumb, it was a little harder to pick up the package, but he tucked his claws around the sausage and carefully lifted it from the shelf. Proud of himself, Noah bumped the door shut and held the package up against his chest as he limped on three legs back to the stove. It took a moment of hopping, but he got the package up on the countertop.
“I need a fork,” he said, looking around at the drawers. He was sure he could get the package open with his claws, but the idea of rolling them around in the pan with a claw after walking on the floor wasn’t appealing. It didn’t take him long to find the silverware, but he couldn’t get his claws in the drawer to get just one fork. After a moment of trial and error, Noah learned he had enough dexterity in his tail to wrap around the fork and lift it to where he could grip it in the folds of his claws.
With his newly acquired fork tucked tightly in his front claws, he limped back to the stove. His pan was hot and ready for the sausages. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait for Kara?” he asked his dragon again. When the answering angry rumble rattled his chest, Noah smiled and popped open the package. Getting the meat into the pan, Noah lined them up to cook.
“What’s this?”
He turned to see Kara coming into the kitchen. “Byrd was hungry,” he answered, turning back to the pan.
Kara came over and ran her hand down his neck.
A burst of pleasure rolled up from Byrd, driving Noah to press into her fingers. Her touch felt wonderful on his scales, so he arched his neck, giving her better access.
She scratched him a little harder as she looked over his handiwork. “You could have waited,” she said, backing away and heading for one of the high cabinets. “I would have cooked for you.”
Byrd growled at that idea. “Mine! Provide!”
Noah hunched down as Byrd’s words rattled through his mind again. “I suggested that, but Byrd didn’t like it,” he said as he straightened back up. “I don’t think he’s much of a morning person.” Noah rolled the sausages so they wouldn’t burn. “He’s grumpy this morning.”
Byrd growled at him but settled down at the edge of Noah’s perception.
Kara laughed lightly as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “I bet,” she said. She held the pot, considering the coffee. “Do you want some?”
“Please,” Noah said in a very grateful tone. “I haven’t had coffee since before this whole thing began. Besides, it might help some grumpy dragon wake up.”
Another growl echoed up from his chest.