I've always loved the idea of having a pet which is completely unique. Since dragons, unicorns, and other mythical creatures don't exist in our world, I decided to allow our resident scientists the opportunity to create one for me. This is the story of how the Windsor boys cope, when a dragon is tossed into the chaos that is Windsor house. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, I don't own Dalton, and I most certainly don't own a dragon! Wouldn't it be nice if I did? XD
"Oh. My. God." Kurt Hummel whispered softly, his grey-green-blue eyes sparkling with wonder and delight. He kept his voice low, so as not to scare the tiny, newly born creature, which had just hatched in front of his wonder-stricken eyes.
"Careful," Drew Mapleton cautioned, raising his hand slightly to wave Kurt away from disturbing the tiny hatchling.
Kurt drew his fingers back, clenching them slightly to stop himself from reaching out and touching the baby.
Satoru Kogo glanced up from where he was looking through the microscope, analysing the DNA of the new creature.
"I still can't believe you got Han to hack a secret government file to get the idea for this thing," Satoru said to Drew softly, trying to keep the scorn from his voice. "And I have no idea how you got me to actually participate in this! This could end up like Godzilla, you know that?" He hissed, waking the sleepy creature.
The tiny thing opened his eyes for the first time. Peering around him, he turned crystal blue eyes toward Kurt, giving a soft chirp of inquiry.
"Hello," Kurt breathed, his eyes taking in every single aspect of the magnificent being in front of him. Disregarding the glares given to him by the other two boys in the room, he carefully stretched one finger out towards the tiny thing, allowing it to sniff him.
He was surprised when the minuscule mouth wrapped itself around his finger, and began chewing softly. Drew came forward with a small handful of raw stir-fry beef strips, handing Kurt a gobbet of meat as the little thing looked on carefully.
Kurt held out the meat, waving it gently under the creature's nose, until, with a quick snatch and a gulp, it was devoured. A soft keening indicated that the tiny thing would like more, thank you.
Kurt's eyes rounded quickly, and he snatched another piece from Drew, offering it with a huge grin as it was also accepted.
After nearly ten minutes this way, the little being was finally satiated, and was perched delicately on Kurt's arm, it's tiny tail wrapped snugly around his forearm. The lids of its eyes closed, its belly bulging with food, and a light, delicate snoring could be heard from it.
"It seems to like you, Kurt," Satoru commented softly. Not whispering, because the tiny beast didn't seem to have an aversion to loud noises, as evidenced when they had accidentally set off the fire alarm. Again.
They had tried getting the tiny creature onto Drew's and Satoru's arms respectively, but it preferred to stay with Kurt.
"Well, that's really nice and all, but what do I do with it when I have classes? I can't very well bring something like this with me, now can I?" Kurt shuddered to think what some of the teachers would have to say, especially Mr Murdoch, who already hated him.
Drew and Satoru exchanged a glance, worry in their eyes.
"Ummm… actually, Kurt," Satoru started.
"We think… well, maybe that it's imprinted itself on you." Drew continued, a concerned look on his face at how Kurt was going to take that bit of news. "Like a duckling. It's like, you were the first thing it saw when it woke up, so you're it's mother," He gave a weak chuckle, smiling fondly.
"It's… imprinted on me?" Kurt hissed, and the small beast on his arm hissed gently as though in agreement. Kurt settled it with a soft stroking to its head, and turned his wild eyes back to Drew and Satoru.
"What do I… I mean, how do I… So you mean to say… I have to raise it?" Kurt whimpered at that. He had never had a pet before, no one other than his dad who had to rely on him, and he was just a touch frightened at the magnitude of responsibility that had just been placed on his shoulders.
"We'll help!" Drew hastened to assure Kurt. "We're just not sure if it will let anyone else nearby for the first few days."
"Or weeks," Satoru looked apologetic. "After all, if it really is a new species, which I'm pretty sure it is, we have no idea how long the time frame is for it to remain an infant."
Kurt sighed softly, alternating between sending death glares at Drew and Satoru, and smiling fondly at his new charge.
"I suppose we can handle this, as long as you guys make sure you help me!" Kurt whispered, as he shifted the tiny bundle in his arms. "So what, exactly is this thing, anyway?" He gestured towards the beast lying snugly in his arms.
"Well, the government document wasn't specific, but to us," and here Drew looked at Satoru for confirmation.
"We think it's a dragon!" They smiled in unison, then turned back to working on their individual projects.
"You'll have to take him out of here for a little while, Kurt," Satoru revealed after a couple of minutes. "I'm going to be mixing a few things and I don't want anything bad to happen to him. Oh, or you, either," he amended carefully, noticing the angry colouring in Kurt's cheeks.
"Oh?" Kurt asked acerbically. "And where, pray tell, would you like me to take him? Perhaps the common room? How about Warblers Hall? Or maybe, just maybe, I should take him outside and parade him around where everyone can see him?"
Kurt shook his head in disgust, and looked around the room. All he saw were things that Drew and Satoru were working on, and his own book bag. He sighed gently, and without shifting too much, reached over to his bag and began pulling things out.
After emptying the bag, (thank goodness he only had a couple of books and a soft sweater in there) he pulled the tiny dragon from around his arm, gently placing it on top of the sweater. It let out a small cheep, repositioned itself, and went back to sleep. It was close to something that smelled familiar, and so it was more than content.
Kurt picked up his book bag and slung it carefully over his shoulder. Then he picked up the books he had vacated from his bag, and without so much as a second glance at the two scientists, he walked away towards the room he shared with Reed.
This was going to be one hell of a month.
Kurt walked into the room as Reed Van Kamp was trying to dash out, his arms flailing wildly and bumping the bag Kurt had been clutching gently at his side.
"Oof," Kurt muttered, and a soft rustling from inside the bag made his heart flutter wildly: What if the dragon woke up and Reed saw him?
"Why the hurry, Reed?" Kurt muttered softly, his eyes taking in the rumpled appearance of his roommate and friend. It was odd for Kurt to see Reed like this, as Reed was normally just as put together as Kurt was.
"Shane's here!" Reed chirped happily, his face colouring at the way his voice squeaked when he spoke of the boy he cared for. "I wanted to get down to see him before… well, as soon as possible, anyway!" Kurt laughed softly at Reed, who blushed again and looked down, embarrassed.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Kurt asked hesitantly.
"Ummm.. no, that's okay," Kurt was sure if Reed got any redder he'd turn into a tomato. "I'd… well, I'd like to spend some time, that is, alone, with him…" Reed mumbled awkwardly, his hands twisting together as he continued looking at the floor. Kurt smiled kindly, and ushered his friend out the door.
"Well then, I'd suggest you get down there before someone else decides to distract him!" Reed's eyes widened in horror, and he made a mad dash for the door, flinging it open and colliding with Blaine, who was just getting ready to knock.
Reed yelped as he tripped over Blaine, and Blaine let out a distinctive "Oomf," as Reed accidentally plowed into him.
"Sorry! I'm sorry, Blaine! I have to go!" Reed called as he continued his headlong flight down the hallway.
"Wow! I guess Reed found out Shane's here, huh?" Blaine laughed wryly as he rubbed his hand over his stomach, where Reed had collided with him. Kurt laughed as well, and the rustling from his book bag brought him back to the present.
"What was that?" Blaine looked confused at Kurt, then at the book bag that was currently gyrating and rumpling next to Kurt's side. "What have you got in there?" Blaine made to take the book bag off of Kurt's shoulder, but Kurt restrained him.
"I'll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret, okay?" Kurt looked at Blaine with pleading eyes.
"Kurt, you should know that pets aren't allowed here," Blaine murmured seriously. "Whatever it is will most likely have to go to a shelter." Then he smiled fondly at Kurt. "So, tell me, what kind of stray did you bring home?"
"Actually," Kurt replied, a little embarrassed. "It's not really a stray. And I think its imprinted itself on me. Like a duckling." Kurt slowly opened the bag, and put his hand inside to gently grasp the creature. Shifting the material around it gently, he extracted it from its container and held it up for Blaine to look at.
Blaine gave a startled yell, and leapt back, his eyes going wide with fear.
The tiny lizard hissed softly, its eyes looking back and forth between a shaking Blaine and a soothing Kurt.
"Blaine, of all the reactions… You scared it!" Kurt muttered, his free hand stroking it's back, trying to calm and soothe it while sending reproachful glances at Blaine.
"I.. scared it?" Blaine clutched his chest over his heart, his mind racing madly like some whirling dervish. "Its.. what is it?" He finally whispered harshly.
"Drew and Satoru created him. At least, I think it's a him… They really aren't sure either. He's unique. The first of his kind," Kurt announced proudly.
"They… created him?" Blaine was flustered, and thought about telling Kurt of his fear of lizards. He decided against it, and was rewarded by a huge grin from Kurt.
"Yeah. Apparently Han hacked into a secret government database, pulled a couple of files, and this was one of them. Drew and Satoru were fascinated, and wondered if they could actually hatch one. So they tried. Several times. But this is the first one who was actually born. The others all died during incubation." Kurt put his hand out to the quivering boy, his hand trying to soothe boy and beast at the same time. "Would you like to hold him? I'm not sure if he'll let you, but we can try," Kurt offered. Blaine shook his head violently.
"No, thanks. I'm good… Besides, if he has imprinted on you, chances are he won't let me near him, let alone touch or hold him." Kurt chalked Blaine's reluctance up to nervousness and dropped the subject.
"Okay. Well, he's going to be with me for a while. I hope you don't mind," Kurt's eyes rounded as he heard the other boys' breath hitch. "We'll still have us time, you know… when he's sleeping and such. After all, dragon or not, he's still a baby, and babies sleep."
"Dragon?" Blaine's voice was abnormally high pitched, his hands coming out in front of him as though to ward off any attack the baby might have started. "They created a dragon?" He shook his head as though in disbelief, and turned to the door. "I'm sorry Kurt. I have to… I have to go…" And with that, Blaine exited the room, leaving a very confused Kurt, and a very sleepy dragon, in his wake.
Evan and Ethan Brightman ran chaotically down the stairway, their voices ringing through the halls of Windsor house as they fought desperately with their Nerf guns. Stopping directly in front of Kurt and Reeds' room, they went silent, as they heard a soft singing coming from behind the closed door.
Glancing at each other with a soft smirk, they prepared to fling open the door, scaring the pants off of Kurt, whom they assumed was practising alone.
As the door swung open, they yelled "Hah!", brandishing their weapons and pointing them at the startled boy on the bed. A flutter of wings sounded, and a hiss of anger made them both take a step back, hands in front of their faces as though they expected an attack from the foot high beast located on Kurt's arm.
"Holy crap," Evan choked, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.
"What is that?" Ethan blurted, his face an identical, comical study of his twin brothers'.
"It's a dragon, at least according to Drew and Satoru, it's imprinted itself on me, and I was trying to get him back to sleep!" Kurt was tired, and when he was tired, he became somewhat testy.
"Oh, so that's why you were singing!" Evan chuckled lamely. "And here we thought you were simply practising!"
"We'll help you, if you'll let us," Ethan whispered softly, as the twins slowly snuck towards the bed, keeping their movements slow and unhurried so as not to startle the tiny creature.
They sat together on the bed, less than an arms-length away from the now-dozing dragon, and began to croon softly. It was less singing, and more harmonising, and together the three boys watched in awe as the tiny beast curled up in Kurt's arms, and fell asleep.
"Wow," murmured Ethan, sliding one hand through his blond hair.
"Yeah," Evan replied, his hands shaking with the force of keeping them in his lap, so as to not reach out and stroke the tiny thing.
"It's a handful, that's for sure," Kurt muttered, turning back to his desk to try and finish the homework he had begun just before the dragon had woken up. "It would be so much easier if I had the use of both hands. Unfortunately, he's taken over my writing hand, so I have to try to write using my left!" Kurt commented with a frustrated growl. The twins looked at each other and slowly made their way forward.
"We'll hold him, Alice, if you want us to," Ethan whispered, his voice hushed in pure awe.
"I think we'd like that very much," Evan agreed, his voice as soft and gentle as his brothers'.
Kurt looked over at them tentatively. He really did have to finish his homework, and having the dragon wrapped around him made things so much more difficult than they had to be. That decided him. He'd give it a try.
"All right. Here, Ethan, you take him first," Kurt slowly shifted the bundle in his arms, lifting the baby gently into Ethan's waiting arms. He unwrapped the tail from his arm, and settled it, hoping fervently that the dragon wouldn't wake up.
All three boys sat perfectly still as the baby opened one sleepy eye, looked around at the new boy holding it, let out a huge yawn and slipped the eye closed again in sleep. They released a breath as one as a soft snore escaped the tiny creature, and together they relaxed.
"Thank goodness for that," Kurt sighed softly. "But that means you'll have to stay here until I'm finished my work. And you'll have to be quiet, so as to not wake him up."
Ethan shook his head softly, refusing to utter a single word and risk waking the tiny bundle, which was now clinging to his arms.
Evan reached over, and softly, delicately, stroked a finger over the tiny head. The little lizard moved into the touch, rubbing his scales against Evan's finger contentedly. It yawned again, and snuggled deeper into Ethan's arms, and sighed gently back into sleep.
The two boys continued to stare lovingly at it, while Kurt proceeded to finish his homework.
"Blaine, seriously, if you want to hang out, you'll have to come to my dorm," Kurt said into the cell phone, which was balanced between his ear and his shoulder, while scratching the back of the nearly two foot long dragon, who was proceeding to crawl up his arm.
It had been nearly two weeks since the dragon had been hatched, and Kurt had had one hell of a time trying to keep it hidden from the teachers and other faculty at Dalton. Most of the students in Windsor had seen it by this time, but not many from the other houses knew it existed. Merril from Hanover had seen it a couple of times, as she had been over in Windsor studying with Wes and David for a final. Bailey Tipton knew about it as well, as he had been walking outside at night, heading back to Stuart, when he caught Kurt and Reed trying to teach the young beast to fly.
"I think he's still a bit too young," Reed had exclaimed, as the creature flapped his wings in a similar manner to what Kurt was showing him.
They still hadn't decided on a name for the poor thing. Wes and David adamantly wanted to call it 'Draco', but Kurt didn't want the Harry Potter reference.
Blaine still wasn't comfortable around it, although he tolerated it for short periods of time, when absolutely necessary.
Funnily enough, it ended up being Blaine who came up with the best name for it.
"What do you mean, you don't want to come hang out if it's going to be here?" Kurt was beginning to become angry, since Blaine really hadn't been there for him for nearly two weeks, and he was sure it was something that he had done wrong.
"I'm sorry, Kurt, but I refuse to go near Norbert, ever," Blaine blurted over the phone. "It's not that I don't love you, because I do, but I just don't like lizards and that thing is close enough to one to scare the pants off me!"
"Norbert?" Kurt asked incredulously. "And here I was trying to avoid a Harry Potter reference." Kurt sighed softly, wondering what he should do. "Alright. If I get one of the other guys to babysit, will you come over and hang out with me?" Kurt huffed gently, hoping the other would answer affirmatively.
"All right," Blaine answered immediately. "I'll be there in about ten minutes, okay?"
Kurt agreed, and hung up the phone. He tried to decide whom to call to babysit, when his door opened and there stood Dwight, in all his Winchester glory. Kurt shook his head softly, not trusting the hunter to take proper care of little Norbert.
"Kurt, can I borrow … um… it, for a little while?" Dwight looked embarrassed that he even was asking, but his face told Kurt that he really, really wanted to take care of him. Dwight hadn't spent much time with the dragon, but Kurt figured he would be able to ask the Tweedles, who both knew more than even Kurt did about the care and maintenance of his treasured friend.
"Make sure you keep him hidden at all times," Kurt warned, as he handed Norbert over to Dwight reluctantly. "Keep him away from the kitchen, and for the love of everything you hold sacred, keep him away from Pavarotti!" Kurt yelled, as Dwight shuffled out the door holding onto the little dragon.
"And his name is Norbert!" Kurt shouted one last time, before Dwight disappeared around the corner. Letting out a small sigh of either regret or peace, he wasn't sure which, Kurt turned back to his homework, which had once again been neglected in favour of taking care of Norbert.
After a couple of minutes, Blaine showed up at the door. He looked around the room nervously, and finally began to relax as he noticed Norbert wasn't there.
"Hi," Blaine offered shyly, his smile just slightly short of being completely open and friendly.
"Hi, yourself," Kurt replied, his eyes lighting up at the small amount of nervousness in Blaine's smile. "I'm glad you're here."
"Me too," Blaine smiled back, a genuine one this time, and he moved over to sit beside the boy on the bed. Wrapping his arms around Kurt, they snuggled for a few minutes, and then Kurt buckled down and they began to work on his homework together.
Thus ends chapter one of "Hatchling". Up next? What happens when Dwight takes Norbert hunting? And a surprise character shows up, looking for a bit of revenge! Stay tuned, folks!
Sorry to everyone who read this earlier, before I put in the proper breaks. It must have been difficult to read! I'll try to remember proper breaks next time! Thanks for reading all!