Fizz and pop

[Dragon]

FOR DRAGON

The small bit of card was folded over so that it could stand propped up on the table, with messy lettering and a crude drawing of a dragon scrawled on the bottom. Dragon picked it up curiously and turned it over, inspecting the back and the underside. Blank. He frowned and looked at the part with writing again, squinting hard at the drawing. Looked like a dragon... or maybe a worm.

It was probably meant for him.

Behind the card was a small glass with a fizzy clear liquid inside. Dragon eyed it suspiciously. Was that for him too? He didn't touch it but he did take a good, long, hard look at it. Hmm. The way that tiny bubbles floated and popped to the surface was amusing; he'd never seen anything like it before. Maybe it's another potion. Dragon set the card down and gingerly touched a fingertip to the rim of the glass, but nothing happened. He breathed out softly.

It was probably another health potion, he thought--this was the table that Kinley and Tim usually set things out on for him, when they weren't at the house. Tim's parents had returned after the fog lifted, and when Dragon was well enough to speak, he told them the whole story. They were sympathetic, though worried--not entirely for Dragon's health, but he thought also for their family's safety. Dragon was... well, an intruder in their world. They promised to investigate, and in the meantime, Dragon appropriated the downstairs couch as his temporary place of stay.

After another few pokes at the glass, he curled a hand around it--the part with the liquid felt cool--and brought it back to the couch. If it was a potion (and by all appearances, it seemed to be) then he had to down it. Tim and his parents emphasized that: he needed to be obedient and take his medicine. Dragon sniffed at the glass; it smelled rather sweet, in a pleasant way. Recalling the other pleasant-tasting potions, he geared up to drink it and raised it to his lips.

"Heehee!"

Dragon paused. Was that a giggle? He looked around, but the house appeared empty. The young humans were upstairs; Tim had taken Kinley somewhere before Dragon woke up. Tim's parents were gone too. Dragon craned his neck to look briefly up the stairs, but he saw no one and nothing--not even a shadow. Maybe he imagined it.

Again, he brought the potion to his lips. There wasn't that much of it in the glass, so he decided to down it all in one go. Tipping his head back, he opened his mouth and swallowed.

"OW!"

A startled shout burst from him as the bubbles shot immediately up his nose, scaring him. He dropped the glass and leapt off the couch, pawing at his face as if he could get the bubbles to come out that way. Coughing, staggering around, he uttered squeaks of distress as the liquid burned his nasal passages and also down his throat.

"HEEHEE!!!" Kero tumbled out from behind a closet door, laughing fit to burst. He had a phone in his hand and was waving it around, even as Dragon waved his hands around in a mute plea for help.