Firedrake x Sini Part IV
The Pizza Dragons

 blazing_maniac as Firedrake

 xsini as Sini



The city streets were lively and bustling with the citizens out and headed their own ways in different directions and a couple of dragons were wandering through one of the main roads. Jungle creatures on the sidewalks would stare at the two dragons as if they’d never seen dragons before (inconceivable), but they kept on and got used to it after a while. Sini hadn’t said anything of his intent to walk the streets yet but his stomach was groaning and he sighed, frowning at Firedrake.

“There’s so many goods-shops around here. There’s so many people. But where’s all the restaurants and stuff?” he asked. “I’m getting kinda hungry. I hope we find somewhere to eat soon. I- I have that gemstone thingy and maybe we could sell it to someone like the looking glass for food.”

Firedrake looked around as his stomach had started to growl as well. The few creatures who heard the growl seemed to shrink in his presence but he paid them no mind. “I guess we’ll have to ask around since I don’t have the slightest idea where to start.”

So the two dragons continued down the main road of the city, searching the store signs, their hungers growing and impatience with it. A couple of cheetahs were holding slices of pizza in their paws and Sini’s eyes lit up wide. Firedrake’s mouth was already starting to water at the smell of the pizza.

“Hey! Y-You guys. Where’d you get that pizza?” Sini asked.

The cheetahs were startled, staring at each other momentarily.

“We- uh. Oh. You mean the pizza?” One of the cheetahs asked. It seemed to him for a second that the dragon wanted to eat him.

“There’s a pizza place a few blocks down called ‘Hearth Stone’,” the other cheetah said. “You’ll see the big yellow sign, then you take a right. Keep going until you see a window with a picture of a pizza in it. You can’t miss it.”

“That sounds yummy. Thank you,” said Sini.

“Hey,” Sini said with a smile, turning to Firedrake. “D’you like pizza?”

“The better question is, who doesn’t!” Firedrake grinned wide at Sini. “So let’s make haste before our stomachs cause an earthquake.” Firedrake added with a loud growl from his belly. Not wanting to startle the tigers further with a different comment he thought up at first.

“Okay.”

They followed the directions of the passerby and came across a beaten hole-in-the-wall type shack where there was a window with a picture of a mouth-watering pizza spread across.

“This must be it,” said Sini excitedly, as he flung open the door to a room that was covered in smoke. He inhaled the smog and was coughing and had to walk back outside before coming back in and opening the window.

“Sheesh. I wonder if we came to the right place,” Sini frowned with doubt. “Hello? Anybody in here?” he shouted.

When the smoke cleared a giant anthro elephant in an apron came rushing out to the front bar, shouting in return, “Yes, yes! We’re experience s-er, difficulties! One moment, please!” then returned to the backroom.

Sini was coughing up and hacking and tried to shelter his lungs by digging his face into Firedrake. “I dunno about this,” he choked. “I bet we can find pizza somewhere else…”

“I feel kinda bad for him though. I’ll go and see what I can do if you want to stay outside till it clears out.” Firedrake nuzzled Sini’s neck. The smoke wasn’t bothering him as badly as Sini but Firedrake was used to smoke anyway.

“Oookay,” Sini said and hurried outside to the fresh air. Firedrake continued on after the large elephant. I hope he’s alright.

Sini was sitting outside the restaurant when Firedrake and the elephant emerged from the smoke. “Well Sini I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is the oven is broke, but we’ve come up with another method for making the pizzas.”

“What is it?”

“Well that would be us.” Firedrake said with a grin. “Sound like a plan? As long as we’re working and not too busy we can make a pizza for ourselves along with getting paid for ours hours worked.”

“Oh, I get it,” said Sini, turning to the elephant. “We can make pizza for you. Don’t you worry about your oven, sir-”

“Olly. And you are?” the elephant cut in.

“My name’s Sini,” the dragon said. “And this is my friend Firedrake- if you didn’t know already. But don’t you worry about your oven. Because dragon fire is twice as effective when it comes to baking pizza!” He grinned.

“I’m glad to see such a quick response. Our oven broken down literally minutes ago, and I can’t recall the last time I saw a dragon in Auberon. What brings you two here?”

“We’re hungry,” said Sini.

“That’s not what I meant- but okay,” Olly chuckled. “If you two want to work for me, your first shift will start… immediately.” he handed the two dragons his largest uniforms. “They might not fit as well as they have my other employees. But give ‘em a shot.”

Firedrake put the chef’s hat over one of his horns as the rest of the outfit looked like it would rip if he tried to put it on. “Well I’m up for the challenge. How about you Sini? I think the change of pace would be nice and we can pay for our room through here. We’ll need to air out the place first so we can at least breath.” Firedrake looked towards Sini, excited as can be.

“This sounds like fun. Let’s do it!” Sini exclaimed.

He put on the chef’s chat and it was too tiny for his head but he let it lay crooked on top of his head anyway, with a proud look on his face. Sini came back inside and began flapping his wings to air out the room. After a couple of minutes the air became clearer and it was easier to breathe.

“You guys, come on in. It’s better now.” Firedrake walked in and into the back. He opened a few windows to help remove the remaining smoke. The oven was shut down and taken apart slightly revealing its internal structure.

“Alright if we’re going to make pizzas how are we going to cook them evenly?” He looked around for something to use but kept looking at the oven. “I don’t think the stones will withstand my fire…”

The elephant nodded and returned to a pantry in the back of the backroom, searching through its content as if he’d known just the cure for Firedrake’s dilemma but he’d misplaced it. For a few minutes longer his face was dug into the place of pots and pans until he pulled out these large, titanium pans which had collected dust and had obviously never been used.

“I kept these in my pantry ever since I started the pizzeria,” he began. “I’ve never been able to make use of them! The pans would not get hot enough to cook the food in the oven and then the food would be heated unevenly.” He placed the pans on the side counter. “But maybe, just maybe, you two have a fire hot enough for these pans to be put to use?”

Firedrake picked one up and handed another to Sini and blew the dust off of his and stifled a sneeze from it. They seemed to be in great shape but he was still a little unsure. He coated the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of crystal just to be safe, and blew a gentle flame on it. The crystal produced a dull glow but the pan stayed intact. “That’ll work for me.” Firedrake grinned and looked between Olly and Sini expectantly. Olly looked happy with the result and Firedrake offered a hand to borrow Sini’s pan. Sini handed it to him and Firedrake coated it with the crystal handing it back to Sini. “That should do it.” Firedrake grinned.

“Thanks Firedrake,” Sini grinned back. “I guess we’re all set, now. So let’s do it! But- how do we make the pizza?” Confusion swept across his face.

The elephant man saw in a language without words that Firedrake was not an apprentice in the art of pizza-making and glanced at him, catching his eye, expectantly.

“I think your friend may hold the answers,” Olly said with seriosity.

Firedrake chuckled slightly at the attention. “Well it’s been a while but I think I can recall a few pizzas I’ve made. What dough do you use and how fresh are the toppings? I’m not going to ask for details on how you make the dough and a few other things since I’ve worked with a rather secretive fox about his methods. Even if it was a brief period of time”

“We make doughs for both thick crust and thin crust pizza,” the elephant replied proudly. “We have workers out in the farms who freshly chop our vegetables and deliver the pepperoni each day. It is- or- was the reason our pizzeria was listed in the top 3 pizzerias of Auberon!”

“Good, good. Alright where do you store it all and when should we start?” Firedrake looked around for a dough press, freezer, and the topping counter. I’m feeling like a meat-lovers pizza right about now.

The kitchen was square with the stone oven in its center bearing two oven doors on it’s front and back. Counters ran along the front, back and left side of the room giving plenty of space to work on. There was a single service door leading to the back for employees and for delivering more ingredients for future pizzas and right next to it, on the doors right, was the walk-in freezer for perishable goods. There were empty dough trays sitting on a rack near the sink in the back and to the left of the room along with a dishwasher and window. The dough press sat in the middle of the counter along the back wall and had a few metal pills lying next to it just waiting to bring a pizza into the flames to cook to a golden brown.

Firedrake made his way to the walk-in freezer and opened the door. The door was surprisingly large but not large enough for Firedrake’s shoulders but it was enough for him to reach his head and a single arm in but he could only reach halfway in. He telepathically picked up a dough and started massaging it gently in his hands to warm it up slightly and then grabbed another handing it to Sini.

“Alright so I’m going to try it out my way first if that’s alright Olly. My favorite part is hand-tossing the dough.” Firedrake grinned as he started to flatten out and work along the dough’s edges to stretch it out with his fingertips. Once it was stretched out far enough Firedrake picked it up and rested the dough on the backs of both his paws. In a quick, fluid movement he tossed it in the air slightly over his head and caught it again on the backs of his paws. He repeated tossing it and started getting his forearms involved until it was about twenty-four inches in diameter which he then placed the stretched dough on an empty pill.

Sini watched Firedrake as he picked up the dough and threw it over his head then tossed it repeatedly. He stared at his own dough like he would a mystery substance. Throwing it up into the air and catching it then repeating the cycle, he tried to emulate what Firedrake did with the dough and the dough began to stretch out. When it was readied, he laid the dough onto an empty pill with care. Sini looked proud and satisfied but turned his head quickly to Firedrake.

“Okay- what’s next?” Sini asked.

“Well what pizza are you going to make? At this point we’re going to need a base, so there’s marinara and alfredo here.” Firedrake picked up some of the marinara sauce and with a large spoon, evenly displaced it on the dough and keeping the dough’s crust line untouched. “I’m going to make a meat-lovers pizza if that’s ok Olly.”

Olly was watching studiously, the process of the two making their pizzas. “Go ahead,” he said with a nod of approval. Firedrake nodded and looked back at Sini. “So what do you have in mind Sini? I’ll help you if you’d like.”

“I was thinking of making a thick-crust pizza, with pineapple and bacon! Oh yeah, and maybe some olives and some pepperoni too,” said Sini. “Where are the condiments? Olly?”

“They’re over here Sini with the other toppings.” Firedrake picked up his pill and made his way over to the other table, leaving plenty of room for his friend. “Alright here’s what you’ll need.” Firedrake pulled the lid covering the topping themselves. Feeling underneath to make sure the freezer was still working properly. “You want white or red sauce with it though? Honestly I think both sound good.”

“White sauce sounds fancy,” Sini remarked.

“It’s basically alfredo sauce but slightly different. Of course Olly may have made it different from what I’m used to. I’m going to use red sauce or marinara since it has less cheese in it and the tomato compliments the meat more than alfredo. But that’s just me.”

“Oh,” said Sini. He hadn’t thought about the compliments of condiments. “I think I will start simple. I’ll make a pizza with the white sauce and mozzarella and then pineapple and bacon but nothing else,” he stated.

Sini came to the condiment table and opened up a couple of the containers where the condiments were stored, staring into them. “What happens next?” asked Sini.

“Alright get some of your base and spread it around the top of the dough. Leave about an inch away from the edge to keep your crust line.” Firedrake studiously looked over Sini and his pizza.

Sini took some of the white sauce and spread it across the top of the dough as he was told, keeping it an inch or so from the corners, then took some pineapple and sprinkled it over the dough evenly, doing the same for the bacon. It looked tasty and he wanted to eat it already.

Firedrake nodded at Sini’s work. “I like it! Now let’s get mine done while you top your’s off with your cheese of choice.” Firedrake took some mozzarella and spread it across the marinara. He added pepperoni, ham, sausage, bacon and added some black pepper to top it off.

Sini found the mozzarella and sprinkled it over the top of his pizza the nodded.

“Alright.” Firedrake added a touch of parmesan to his and picked up the pill, turning towards the pans Olly has given them. Firedrake gently blew his pizza off the pill and into the pan. He handed Sini his own and waited until Sini was ready.

Olly was observing the two closely, cradling his one and only clipboard and an ink pen in his arms. It made Sini nervous but he knew he could do it.

“Okay. I’m ready.” Sini said.

“Ok so now’s the hard part.” Firedrake made a small flame and put it under his pan. “And now we wait and try not to kill the crust. Here Sini.” Firedrake nuzzled Sini with his nose and made him glow a dull blue for a second. “You should be able to hold your fire now if you couldn’t already.” Firedrake grinned and went back to his pizza which had produced a bubble that he aptly popped.

“Thanks.”

Sini spat a burst of flame under his pan and held it in place. He waited as the pizza bubbled and began to cook.

They sat like this for a few minutes and Firedrake watched his and Sini’s pizza closely. He picked up his pizza gingerly and glanced at the bottom which had started turning golden brown with a little touch of black. Returning it to the pan he checked the crust and the toppings and deemed it good to eat. He walked near the door leading to the lobby where the counter was marbled and had a cutting board and pizza cutters. Sliding the pizza out of the pan he cut it a few times making eight large slices and made room for Sini who joined him.

When Sini’s pizza finished cooking and turned a golden brown, he smiled and sniffed it happily. It was like the scent of any other pizza he’d eaten. It was legitimate. The cheese was melted and he smelt it with the sweetness of the pineapple, and the meaty bacon. His mouth watered but then he shook himself out of his daydream, heading toward where Firedrake was by the counter and lifted his pizza from its pan, placing it on the cutting board Firedrake had used, slicing his own pizza into pieces of eight.

“Is it eatable now?” Sini smiled back at Firedrake, his tongue hanging out of his opened mouth.

Firedrake picked up one of his own slices and sniffed it. The aroma made his mouth water and he took a large bite out of it. He purred and closed his eyes in delight as he savoured the blend of flavors in his mouth. He licked his chops and went in for another slice.

“It’s ready to be devoured Sini!” Firedrake grinned and took another bite. He offered a slice to Olly and moved a slice of his pizza towards Sini. “Here’s a slice of mine if you’d like buddy.”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Sini exclaimed.

He opened his mouth and took a giant chomp out of the pizza slice. He took a chew and his eyes brightened instantly. His expression was blank yet somehow it screamed joy and some drool dripped from the sides of his lips until he wiped it off. Olly was just now taking a bite into his slice.

“This is… nothing short of what I expect from a Hearth-Stonian,” Olly confirmed. “Welcome to the team.” He turned and looked around at the pizzeria. “Well, to be honest, I’ve never worked with anyone else before. I’m my own boss and my own employee. This has been a one-person sole proprietorship since its opening.”

“I’m glad you like it Olly and more than happy to help out.” Firedrake smiled and took another chunk out of a pizza. “So why are you here all alone? I would think you would have a workforce of some sorts here to help with orders and the register?”

“My wife tells me the same thing,” Olly murmured. “I’ve got a steady deal of work I carry out each day. I’ve even thought of hiring new employees in the past, before the oven broke. However, each time I thought about it, I came back to the conclusion that, in order to sustain the quality of my pizza, I shall make it myself. I treat it as a form of art. It is a good feeling to feel the pizza be molded by my own hands.” His eyes flickered toward Sini and Firedrake.

“When I watched you two make the pizzas, I thought about the art form. I had my doubts and didn’t know what I would do before you two baked these… wonderful pieces.” He stared into the two sliced-up pizzas on the countertops. “Now I have reconsidered. I think the times have changed and call for new employees and I am ready. You two are hired.”

“Well thank you very much. I’m flattered.” Firedrake blushed red and looked at his feet. “Just glad I still have the touch and you did a great job yourself Sini!” He joking nudged Sini’s shoulder. “So what’s our plan of attack for the day?”

“Thanks Firedrake. I did my best. And thank you too, Mr. Olly, sir,” said Sini with a grin. “Today? Well, we could finish eating these pizzas first, and then-”

And then the bell above the door jingled as the door swung open and a small fox came in, wagging his tail and sniffing the air of the room. His face brightened in its atmosphere. He wandered on up to the counter where Sini and Firedrake and Olly were behind it.

“Hi,” said the fox.

“Well, hello!” Olly said. “How are you today- sir?” He stuttered before the use of ‘sir’ as the fox appeared very young, but it was a word he was used to saying.

“Oh! Sini- Firedrake. I’ll let you two handle our fox gentleman here.” Olly hesitated, but turned and left the two dragons, into the backroom.

“Hey! What can I do for ya?” Sini asked the fox.

The fox looked at the two dragons, frightened a little, but summoned the courage to respond.

“I- I would like a- um, can I have a small, 12-inch pizza with pepperoni and mozzarella, with pepper and onions on top, please?”

“Pepperoni, mozzarella, pepper, onions,” Sini murmured to himself as he wrote with the pencil onto a piece of paper, on the countertop; he found a notepad and the utensil lying nearby conveniently. “Do you want white sauce or red sauce?”

“Normal sauce. Red please,” the fox added.

“Got it! Your order will be ready in a few minutes!” Sini could cook the pizza extra-fast without burning it. Before he turned away, he added. “What’s your name, fella?”

“Ralph.”

“Ralph.” Sini added scribbles to the paper. “That’ll be $9.”

The fox reached into his pocket, pulling out an old brown wallet, digging through it and finding a five, three ones. The rest in change. Sini took the dollars and change from the small fox’s extended palms. “Thank you. Have a seat! I’ll be with you in a bit” He smiled and returned to the backroom.

Firedrake showed the fox to his seat at one end of the bar when the bell jingled again. Firedrake looked towards the door and grinned. “Welcome to Hearth Stone Pizza! How may I help you?” Firedrake asked still smiling. The new customer, a jaguar this time, paused for a moment at the sight of the large dragon but regained his composure. “I didn’t think Olly would ever hire somebody so long as he was running the shop? What changed his mind? The jaguar asked.

“Heh funny story there. Well his oven broke and we’re kinda just filling in since we were here soon after it broke. So there’s a first for everything right?” Firedrake chuckled slightly.

“Ah, bummer on the oven breaking down but how will you cook the pizzas now?”

“With a hope and a prayer. And fire. Still have plenty of fire to spare. So what can we do for you today?

“Alright I’d like a 12-inch pizza with white sauce, pepperoni and mushrooms.”

“Will that be all today?”

“Can I get a water as well?”

“You sure can.” Firedrake nealt down and grabbed a water glass. “Fountain’s on the left and water has free refills, at least that’s what this cue card says. That’ll be $9.50 please.” The jaguar pulled out a thin black wallet and pulled out a $10. Firedrake accepted the money and gave the fifty cents change back. “Here’s your change and we’ll get on your pizza right now and it’ll just be a few minutes.” Firedrake waved the jaguar to his seat and went into the back.

Sini was in the backroom with a pan held out in front of him and a fire lit beneath the pan. Within it was the pizza the fox had ordered: pepperoni, mozzarella, onion, and pepper- with red sauce!

“I’m starting to get the hang of this,” said Sini at the arrival of Firedrake.

“Good to hear Sini!” Firedrake patted him on the back. “We got another order. This time a alfredo pepperoni with mushrooms. I’ll get on that now if you want to take the front Olly.” Olly gave him a nod and, wiping his hands as he went, walked to the front of the store.

Sini put his pizza onto a dish and brought it out to the counter where he cut its radius into slices then called out to the fox. “Your pizza’s ready, Mr. Ralph!”

Ralph got up from his seat and hurried over to the counter with excitement, picking the dish from Sini’s paws. “It smells great! Thank you!”

“No problem.”

The fox sat down on a stool by the countertops and set the dish down, picking up a slice and taking a bite into it. He seemed to enjoy it. Sini was glad.

Firedrake took another dough and started working on it. In a few minutes the pizza was done and ready to serve. He sliced it up and placed it on a large plate, just big enough to meet the edge of the pizza. He walked it out to the jaguar waiting patiently at one of the bench tables.

“Here’s your pizza sir and I hope you enjoy your meal.” Firedrake said with a warm grin.

“Thank you sir.” The jaguar replied and grabbed a slice of pizza as Firedrake returned to the kitchen.

A leopard lady in a high-class outfit entered the pizzeria and a leopard male followed in her footsteps through the door. They grumbled and groaned and spoke of the mistakes the grocer had made while bagging their items. They remarked about the faux pas of the furry commoners who’d bumped into them so rudely in the main street. The lady slumped down into a stool by the bar but the male marched up to the counter and declared:

“Excuse me? Yes. Yes, you- dragon. Hey!”

Sini was headed for the backroom but heard the leopard and turned around.

“Yeah? Er- yes?”

“Don’t ignore me. I’d like to make an order,” the leopard stated.

“Ah. Right. What would you like, sir?” Sini asked.

“Lemme take a look, will ya?” the leopard grumbled, pulling a monocle out from his coat pocket and adjusting it to his right eye, examining the menu hung atop the counter.

“Pepperoni, ham, beef, canadian bacon… hmm…”

Sini was reaching for the clipboard when the leopard shouted: “Hey- woah! Don’t write anything down yet. I’m just looking.”

“Of course. I was just getting ready to-”

“Honey,” the leopard lady said, standing up and getting to the male’s side. “What’s the trouble?”

“Nothing dear,” the male assured her. “This dragon here is having a difficult time waiting while I decide on my order. That’s all. What would you like?”

“Dragon?” the lady asked. “Where’s the elephant? I thought this was a one-person business. The elephant always did so well on taking our orders himself,” she recalled. “This is why we don’t let dragons into pizzerias…” she sighed under her breath.

“Nothing we can do about it, dear,” the male told her. “What would you like?”

Sini bit his tongue as the lady nabbed at him of all the toppings and ways she’d like her pizza prepared, and then as Sini took her money, she added snappily, how long the dragon should cook her pizza and to what temperature it should be when it comes out of the oven, and then told the dragon that if they didn’t carry thermometers she had her own, but Sini didn’t hear it because he was already off to the backroom, cooking up a half-assed pizza of whatever the hell leopard-lady and her male half wanted. Pepperoni, mozzarella, (extra mozzarella, to be precise), olives, black pepper, mushrooms, bacon, onions, barbeque sauce, avocado, lettuce, garlic, basil, check. The other ingredients? Sini couldn’t find some of them. He was almost sure the leopard lady started spewing out condiments of which to add that didn’t exist on the menu.

The hell with it, he thought, tossing the pizza into the pan. Firedrake looked at him and shook his head having overheard what was going on out front.

It was browned and it was cooked and if it was a little too golden for the leopards’ tastes, he didn’t care. He returned to the bar and hollered for the customers and they came.

“Here you are,” said Sini softly.

The lady snatched the pizza from him and went to a seat by the front window, as far from the dragon as she could sit. When her hubby sat down on the opposite end of the table by her, they grabbed a piece of pizza each from the dish but stopped.

“This pizza has no kiwi! We asked for kiwi,” the leopard male shouted.

“All out of kiwi!” Sini shouted in return, beginning to lose his patience.

But he settled down. For as they took a bite into their slices of pizza, he was reminded of the secret ingredient, the poison he added to their mozzarella, which he thought the customers would enjoy personally. Or maybe he would enjoy it personally. Anyway, it would put them to sleep for a good day or two and that would be enough to satisfy the dragon…

On the third chew, the male’s eyes twitched and his head clonked out against the table. The lady yipped in surprise but then, too, fell unconscious.

“Hey, Firedrake! We’ve got a couple of sleepy-heads out here.”

“Odd that they would just fall asleep like that. Guess they’re inflated ego finally tuckered them out.” He winked at Sini and flashed a sly grin that only his friend could see as he walked in from the back. “I’ll let you have first dibs-- Er I mean I take the one you don’t carry out and we’ll move them to the back so they won’t bother our other customers.”

“Of course. All for the customer’s sake,” Sini nodded, grinning.

He stopped in front of the table on the side of the male leopard and tsked at the feline’s drooling across the wood-top.

“Out you go,” he said, picking the leopard up by his furry backside and carrying him outside of the pizzeria. He turned a corner into the nearby alleyway. Firedrake picked up the female leopard by the scruff of her neck and followed Sini out.

Sini looked at Firedrake, turning the corner into the alley and showed the look of knowing exactly what they both intended to do.

“Shall we… escort these two to a safe place for the night?” Sini asked, lifting his head and scratching under his neck a tad.

“Let me get that for you.” Firedrake scratched the ‘itch’ on Sini’s neck but let a small, knowing grin break his lips. “Of course we’ll have to keep an eye on them! We can’t just let people come to our front step and fall asleep for no apparent reason! They could end up hurting themselves or someone else.” Firedrake snorted slightly trying not to laugh to hard and put is free paw over his face. “But for now let’s stow them away and get back to work.”

Sini patted Firedrake on his back and lifted the male leopard to his mouth, widening it. “I won’t argue with you about that. Work comes first!”

He dropped the head of the leopard into his open mouth, shutting his lips over the leopard’s torso and tasting the furs, his drool slipping from each side still. With his giant tongue beneath and wrapping around his prey, he pulled the leopard’s lower legs into the mouth, and then accompanied them with the leopard’s tail and feet. A bulge began to form in his throat. He swallowed some and the fleshy throat muscles of the dragon pushed his prey down. Then he stopped when the bulge hung in the middle of his neck, moving only slightly in slumber. He grimaced as he gazed at the bulge below and scratched at it.

“Mind helping me push down this workload, buddy?”

Firedrake chuckled and placed a paw on his friend’s throat bulge. “Of course, Sini.” He said and licked the dark dragons snout. Firedrake gently massaged the leopard in his friend’s throat, slowly working it down. “You alright there Sini?” Firedrake asked as he started to rub the bulge and Sini’s chest. Sini nodded and Firedrake returned to his work at hand and purred slightly. The bulge disappeared in Sini’s crest and after a moment reappeared in Sini’s gut with a wet squelch and it gurgled happily with it’s new package. “There you go mate.” Firedrake smiled and licked Sini’s neck.

“Thank you, Drake,” said Sini happily.

His belly was filled up with pizza and with live prey now and it felt good. His stomach growled as if it were suddenly awoken. Now he had equally as much of a craving for prey as he did for pizza.

“You should get back to work as well, my friend,” Sini added.

Firedrake giggled at his friend’s growling belly. “We’ll find a cure for that later but I need to take care of my leopard.” Firedrake opened his maw wide and slide her onto his tongue. He licked all over her and around his mouth before tilting his head back and letting her enter his esophagus. She started making a bulge upon her entrance and she started to squirm weakly in her sleep. Firedrake let her slide slowly down until she managed to get herself stuck just outside of his stomach.

“Sini I could use a hand with this.” He pawed at Sini’s handpaw slightly and gestured at where the leopard had gotten stuck.

Sini came to his friend’s side and grasped above the belly where the bulge of the prey was, squeezing it tightly and smiling. Then he massaged it downward into the bottom of the blue dragon’s gut till he heard a wet ‘plop’ and Firedrake’s belly expanded beneath him. Sini poked at the new bulge and nuzzled into it, chuckling.

He stated finally, “I think our work here is done.”

“Thank you Sini.” Firedrake nuzzled Sini’s gut as well. “Well back to pizza making.” He grinned. “Oh and we’ll have to do something with your special pizza you made and these jerks were so rude to fall asleep in the middle of enjoying.” Firedrake glared somewhat at both of their bellies. “Quite rude, they were.”

The black and purple dragon nodded in agreement.

“We could have a taste of it ourselves. Without falling asleep, of course. No secret ingredient, if ya know what I mean.”

“I guess we could. No point in letting it go to waste and dispel whatever rumors we may have just started.” Firedrake laughed. “Wouldn’t want too much attention since we’re the only dragons here and people disappearing is a fast way to get it. For better or for worse.”

Sini agreed that it would be rather suspicious for two customers to nod asleep simultaneously after taking a bite of pizza. He made his way back to the inside of the pizza place with Firedrake, their bellies hanging out below them a little bit. There the pizza was on the window by the table still. Sini snapped his claws and the effects of the secret ingredient were nulled and he handed a slice to Firedrake.

“Don’t fall asleep on me, now,” Sini joked.

“I’m a dragon. We don’t do that sort of thing.” Firedrake quipped and took a bite from the pizza. It tasted alright but the ingredients flavors clashed a little too much. But was good all the same. He looked at the ceiling and all around the room as if waiting for something. “Nope! Nadda thing! Wonder what their issue was.” Firedrake said behind a poker face and shrugged. He looked towards the two other customers. “Pardon me but would you like to help us with this? No point in letting it go to waste but if you opt out then it’s not an issue.”

“Sure. I’d like to try it,” the fox said hesitantly but smiled.

“No thanks. I’ve got plenty to help myself with already,” said the jaguar, chuckling.

The fox took a seat at the table where the leopards’ pizza remained and picked up a slice, taking a bite out of it. “Hey. Not bad!”

“You think so? Yay.” Sini cheered.

Firedrake patted Sini on the shoulder. “Job well done Sini:” Firedrake licked Sini’s cheek slightly “Very well done.”

“I appreciate it, Drake. Thanks.” Sini grinned and dug his face into Fire’s. “Have all you want, Ralph. There’s plenty here. You too, bud.”

Firedrake nuzzled Sini’s neck when Olly walked in from the back. “What happened to the last two customers?” He asked and looked around. “I heard quite the commotion earlier and then silence. Did they leave early?” Olly looked all sorts of confused.

“It’s nothing to be too concerned about Olly. They ended up falling asleep after eating some of Sini’s custom pizza here and we had to put them somewhere safe. However Ralph, Sini and I have tried it and nothing happened.”

“That’s odd.” Olly frowned. “Must have been a rough day for those two. They sure made an awful lot of ruckus while they were ordering. Anyway. Keep up the good work, you two!” The elephant patted the two dragons on the shoulder and trudged back to the backroom with a grin.

“Can I take this pizza home with me- along with my own pizza?” the fox asked curiously.

“Sure.” Sini smiled.

“Thanks you guys!” Ralph smiled back and hugged the two dragons, then hurriedly took the pizza box and took his own pizza from his table. “I have to go now. My family will be worried if I stay out too late. Farewell!”

With a wave back at Sini and Firedrake, Ralph was out the door.

“I get the slight feeling we’re going to see that fox again in the future. Of course you make a good product and that should keep bringing people back among other things.” He smiled at Sini and ran a finger along his belly gently as he turned to help Olly in the back.

Sini began to follow Firedrake to the back but a customer came to the door and Sini returned to the front corner to tend to him.

The night continued on, as any other ordinary night would, but there was a long pause between the in-and-out arrival-and-departure of the customers and business began to slow down. Sini was out at the front counter. Olly was returning from the backroom to check on the dragon.

“How is it going, Sini? Do you like the job?” Olly asked, smiling.

“Yeah, it’s fun.”

At this point, the elephant was far less critical of the quality of the two’s pizzas and more concerned that they would remain hired. He was growing quickly accustomed to over-looking. Supervising, and not worrying about managing two positions as natural as it’d become in the past couple years. A great weight was lifted from his shoulders by the arrival of these two unexpected guests. Of all things, two dragons.

A foot burst through the door and the door slammed against the wall even as the bell above it innocently jingled in the wake of the arriver. It was a wolf of gray fur, zipped-up in a black leather jacket, chain jangling, stunner-shade sporting. Dark blue jeans that he’d ripped with his own claws for fashion’s sake. He chewed on a toothpick which hung from the side of his lip and he grinned mischeviously as he flicked a coin up and down in his left paw. His other paw was tucked into the pocket of his jacket. The boots he wore were far from comfortable but, as useless as its unique appearance was, he fancied the zippers on the side and the buckled-straps that hung on top of them. So the overall douchebag of a wolf slung himself cooly over the front bar, slouched over, and he murmured to the dragon in front:

“Uu-yeaawh. I’ll have a drink,” said the wolf. “I’ll also have a 12-inch pizza with everything on it.”

“What kind of drink?” Sini asked. “Do you want white sauce? How about anchovies? Did you know everything-on-it costs extra?”

“Cut the crap, dragon. Just hook me up.” He slid a twenty dollar bill across the counter then shut his eyes and rested his head over the wood.

Sini took the twenty reluctantly and slid it into the register.

“Umm do we even have alcohol here Olly?” Firedrake turned to the elephant as he was tossing a dough for the new order.

“We have some aged wine for the most part but I’ll go see what we have in stock.” Olly left out back to check the cellar. After a few minutes and when Firedrake was done putting the last of the toppings on the pizza did Olly return holding a small but long bottle.

“Here’s some of the Auberon Ale I ordered a few days ago and it’s our strongest at 80 proof. I’ll take it out to him while you’re cooking that Firedrake.” Firedrake nodded to him and went back to cooking the pizza.

Olly poked at the face of the wolf on the countertop. The wolf’s eyes opened. The elephant was holding the bottle of Auberon Ale in front of his face. “Wake up, fella. Here’s your drink.”

“Took long enough,” the wolf grumbled to himself. Sini growled at the wolf from across the counter and the wolf kept quiet for a while.

Firedrake walked out of the kitchen carrying the pizza in front of him. “Here’s your pizza sir, I hope you enjoy your meal.” He didn’t wait for a response before he turned and walked past Sini, giving the dragon a classic ‘Really?’ look, glanced back at the wolf and rolled his eyes.

“Now there’s a pizza,” said the wolf.

“Sorry,” Sini replied.

“Listen to your dragon friend and keep quiet,” the wolf added, snickering.

He bit down into a slice of pizza and downed his ale greedily. A few more wolves in black jackets entered the pizzeria- three of them- and they sat down beside the first wolf, eying his pizza.

“Why didn’t you wait for us?” one of the wolves said.

“Not cool. You ordered without us.”

“I was tired of waitin’ for you guys,” the first wolf said. “And I wasn’t planning on paying for the lot of ya. Sit down and have a drink.” He slid the bottle of ale down the counter to the others.

The three new wolves joined the first and they greedily dove into the pizza and bottle of Auberon Ale. Once the first bottle of ale was downed they ordered another to share and with that one gone in a flash did the wolves become more belligerent. The group had started hassling other customers and grinding on the nerves of the two dragons and elephant.

“We need to do something about them since they’re upsetting our other customers. The two of you have any ideas on how to get them out without causing an uproar from the wolves.” Olly was washing the counter in front when he walked to the back with an exasperated look.

“Don’t you worry about the wolves,” Sini assured Olly. “We’ll take care of them and clean up after the mess they’ve made…”

Sini stepped behind the groups of wolves who were standing over a couple of the other customers at one of the window tabletops and tapped on one of the wolves’ shoulder.

“‘Xcuse me,” Sini began. “I’m gonna have to ask you all to leave. We got a complaint from one of our customers over there at that table,” he pointed at a table on the opposite end of the room, “and you’re causing a whole lot of commotion. Bringing attention to yourselves.”

“Who do you think you are?” the first wolf demanded. “You weren’t here in town more than a few days ago- in fact, I don’t think I’ve seen you since today. Here y’are asking us to leave! You haven’t been an employee here for more than a few hours, now, have ye?”

“Jeff’s right. I suggest you go back to your counter and play your role,” one of Jeff’s wolf-mates chimed in.

All of a sudden, the wolves were feeding off of each other and barking at the dragon with a whole bunch of alcohol-influenced nonsense (or possibly they always acted this ignorant). But a look of rage flashed in Sini’s eyes and he was trembling and he was about to charr them all to ashes.

Firedrake walked out as the yelling was getting more intense and the fact they were insulting Sini was the tipping point for him. He joined Sini and patted his shoulder on an attempt to cool his temper slightly. “Look here you little shit. We may be new to this town and shop but you have no right to insult us and in case you haven’t noticed, you’re playing with some real nasty fire here. Now I’m only going to ask you this once. Grab your things and get out before we have to force you out.” Firedrake growled at the wolves as he towered over them.

Sini, ignited by the demeanor of his partner-in-crime, stood taller and grinned down at the wolves. “Yeah! Go on- get out of here, you damned wolves. You,” he said, pointing at the first wolf. “Take your posse with you.”

Apparently one of the wolves had the nerve to crawl onto Sini’s back and struck him over the head with the ale bottle and Sini stood motionless with the glass over his head for a few seconds before turning back to the wolf on his back with his eyes lit up furiously. He snatched the wolf up with one paw and headed for the door.

“Yup, that settles it. You’re coming with me...” he growled.

“Hey- hey, woah, woah woa- let me down!” the wolf shouted.

Firedrake snatched up two of the wolves with his teeth before they could react and turned to walk out the door.

“H-hey! Put me down you bastard!” One wolf yelled and flailed about.

“You can’t carry me around like some toy!” His partner added and tried punching the muzzle that was holding him in the air.

“Oh what! Am I to much for you!? Stupid lizard!--” Firedrake cut the wolf short with a swipe from his tail, tripping the him and then, still using his tail, wrapped him up tightly.

“Do I look like a lizard to you? I don’t do the whole tongue thing.” Firedrake snapped through clenched teeth and gave them a single good shake to try and shut them up.

Sini made his way to the alleyway at the corner of the street but didn’t reach it entirely. The wolf scratched at his face and he roared in anger. On the sidewalk near the opening of the alleyway, he dropped the wolf and slapped him hard with his tail into the brick building wall and the wolf collided with the wall, collapsing face-first onto the cement. Sini crept closer.

“Sorry. Your fun time’s run dry.” He picked the wolf up by his backside and lifted him into the air above his widening mouth. “Now it’s my turn to have fun!”

“No! What are you doing? Stop that! Get- off!” the wolf pleaded.

Sini looked back at Firedrake and saw the wolf wrapped up in his tail and smiled.

Firedrake grinned and dropped the tail blade where he stood and turned to offer his friend the gift wrapped wolf. Holding it up high over the dragon’s head, and playfully swung it slightly from side to side. The wolf went wide eyed and he tried to yell and break free but Firedrake only squoze a little tighter.

“Oh? What’s this?” Sini asked. “A gift for me?” he chuckled and looked back at the wolf he was holding. “You’ll have to wait your turn, my dear.” Then he turned to the wolf wrapped in Firedrake’s tail and stretched his maw open as widely as possible as his drool drenched the concrete.

“Aaaah…”

Firedrake giggled and in doing so shook the wolf hanging from his teeth slightly. They continued to struggle to break free but to no avail. Firedrake lowered his tail into Sini’s maw and gently worked the bundle down. Firedrake smiled at the bulge he had created and purred, earning a few disgusted and shocked responses from the remaining wolves. Sini gulped the bundle further and further down, still keeping his wolf pinned tightly. After a few more strong gulps, Firedrake’s tail and the wolf entered Sini’s belly with a wet plop.

Sini finished slurping up his meal and his belly gurgled, delighted.

Firedrake released the wolf and retracted his tail, now dripping with drool and stomach acids. He dropped the wolves down into his paw, and nuzzled Sini’s belly happily. After a moment he pressed the wolves against Sini’s belly to listen and feel their buddies squirming and colorful language.

Then Sini patted his belly and handed the wolf in his paw to Firedrake. “I’ll let you handle this one,” he said. “Clean up after the mess he’s made…” Sini grinned devilishly. The wolf who they hadn’t brought outside was watching cautiously, peeking out from behind a pole, which Sini spotted. But he didn’t react yet. He turned to Firedrake and opened up Firedrake’s mouth with his paws and took the wolf from Firedrake and shoved him into Firedrake’s open mouth.

Firedrake happily took in the wolf and closed his lips around Sini’s paw, using it to force the wolf deeper. The wolf was halfway down his throat when he released his grip on Sini’s paw and using his own now to push the wolf further down as he relaxed his throat muscles. The wolf plopped into his stomach and started punching his stomach walls and yelling obscenities. Firedrake purred and rubbed his belly, squishing the two wolves together in an awkward forced hug.

“I know you want to join him.” Firedrake teased. “To bad you’re not mine to enjoy.” Firedrake reached over and signaled Sini to roll onto his back.

Sini flopped onto his backside and held his paws up in the air as his tail wagged left and right. He stared at the wolf in Firedrake’s paws intently and was excited.

Firedrake grabbed the wolf by the scruff of his neck and lowered the wolf into his friend’s maw. Gently pushing down and holding the wolf in place as he grabbed the sides of Sini’s mouth.

The dragon’s tongue wrapped around the wolf and tasted him gently.

“Ooh. He tastes like pizza!” Sini exclaimed. “Or maybe that’s an after-taste from earlier. Anyway, I like it…”

“Stop!” the wolf looked pleadingly at Sini, then back at Firedrake, with a terrified gulp. “We won’t cause any more trouble at the pizza place- I promise!”

“I know you won’t.” Sini grinned.

Firedrake removed his paw and nosed the wolf deeper into Sini’s throat. The wolf disappeared down Sini’s throat and Firedrake pulled his drool covered muzzle free.

Leaning his head back and crouching down onto his belly, Sini smiled and gulped at the wolf. The wolf kicked, struggling frantically against the insides of his throat. But Sini continued to gulp until the wolf was but a bulge in the middle of his throat. He raised a paw to it and scratched the bulge down and it fell down into his gut, increasing in size. It stretched out above him as he lay on the concrete and he murred in joy. It made bubbly sounds and the wolves hadn’t given up their struggles.

“Thank you for being such a cooperative meal,” Sini said to the wolf. “And thank you for serving me, Firedrake,” he added and smiled.

Firedrake bowed his head and wings to Sini, nearly touching the ground with his nose and his arms before him. “More than happy to assist you in anyway I can Sini.” Firedrake replied and in a quick movement he did a backflip and landed behind the wolf hiding behind the pole, causing the wolf to jump and fall on his backside. “Now what do we have here? Another meal for the taking?” Firedrake snickered and licked his chops. The wolf scrambled to his feet and ran blindly into the alley, not breaking eye contact with Firedrake but ran head first into Sini’s bulging gut, once again falling onto his ass.

“Where d’you think you’re going?” Sini laughed. With his muzzle he pushed the whimpering wolf back toward FIredrake.

Firedrake was crawling low to the ground like a tiger stalking his prey. He couldn’t help but grin at the wolf’s terrified expression as he pressed up against Sini’s paws in desperation.

“I’ll make this quick wolfy.” And Firedrake pounced on top of the wolf, pinning him to the ground and licking him over. “Hmmm.” Firedrake took the wolf’s flavor in and a long sniff of the air. “Nevermind, I lied.” He continued to lick the wolf until he was soaked. The wolf groaned in disgust from the bath but the dragon’s claws were digging into the ground slightly and the pressure didn’t give him much wiggle room.

Firedrake finally picked the wolf up with his claws and dangled the wolf over his head. With a flick of the wrist he tossed the wolf up and clamped down once the wolf fell, yelling as he went, down past his teeth and swallowed the wolf whole in a single gulp.

He belched happily and rubbed his gurgling gut as it grew with the new wolf joining the others who had already made the journey down. The two wolves were fighting valiantly against their fleshy prison but gained no ground as they only made it more entertaining and pleasurable for the dragon.

“Hmmm, the alcohol really does add a little flavor to the dish.” Firedrake remarked and went over and flopped next to Sini, rubbing his friend’s belly.

“I noticed that too,” Sini laughed. “Not bad at all.” He belched back and crawled on top of Firedrake, snuggling into him. “We’re 3-3. Think we’ll get any more tonight?”

“Well I’m not used to this end of town but you never know some let’s hope so more show up.” Firedrake flashed a hungry grin and licked Sini’s nose. The wolves in both of their bellies were still fighting back but Firedrake could feel their energy waning and after a few minutes were still, fast asleep.

“Have a nice rest,” Sini told the wolves inside him, smiling. “We should probably head back into the pizzeria now. There’s not too much time left on our shifts anyway.”

They returned to the shop and while they received a more orders and met a few more friendly customers, the rest of their shift was uneventful. The sun shifted from high-noon to dusk and a storm had moved in about an hour-or-so and the downpour showed no signs of letting up. Firedrake was sitting and watching out the front window. He always loved rainy days, they seemed to relax him, making him feel like all the worries and problems of the world just wash away in an instant. He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

“Hey Sini. How do you feel about rain?” Firedrake asked but didn’t look away from the window.

“I don’t mind the rain. Other people tell me that they dislike it; that they hate when their fur coats get soaked, or when they get all cold from being wet. Rain is more like a cool sensation to me. Plus, when everyone has left and gone home, in the rain, it’s quiet outside, and you can stand outside to just… think. Calmly.”

Sini moved to the window where Firedrake was and peered through the window, watching the droplets of water race down the fiberglass.

No more business for tonight, Sini predicted.

The street lamps were the only energy left outside and only an occasional passerby could be seen; bundled in a leathery jacket or under a hood, most of them were presumably not in the mood for pizza.

“Well,” said Olly, coming to the middle of the two dragons from behind, “It’s 8:55 now. Doesn’t look like we’ll be having any more business for the night, either. Your shift officially ends at nine, but you two can make your leave early. Thanks for all the help you gave me today.” He smiled.

Sini shook paws with the elephant. “No problem, Olly. Thanks for the free pizza!”

“Makes me wonder why I ‘aven’t hired anyone, all these years,” Olly murmured to himself. “But. Neither my oven has broken down nor have two dragons come to my pizzeria in those years.”

Firedrake shook Olly’s paw firmly. “Always happy to be of service.” Firedrake smiled warmly at the elephant. “And well fate has a funny way of showing itself, even in the smallest of things.”

The three of them made small talk for a few moments more before the dragons bid Olly good-bye for the night and stepped out in the rain.

No one was outside now. Except for the two dragons. The rain was a lonesome sound and there was the sounds of their feet in the puddles as they walked back home. Unusual; a surprise it was to see the fox from earlier and another, lighter-colored fox behind him, each heading for the two dragons. They stopped in front of Sini and Firedrake, out of breath, torsos bent.

“Hi… hey,” Ralph gasped, smiling. “I’m so glad I could catch you guys.”

“Hey- Ralph, is it?” Sini recalled.

“Yeah. Listen. Please don’t get mad at me, but I was watching you guys earlier, and I saw you- when you ate the leopards. I peeked around the corner and you were there. I was just curious, honest…”

Firedrake brought one of his wings over the two foxes and stood beside them. “What’s on your mind Ralph? Or did you want to wait till we can get somewhere out of the rain?” Ralph was soaked to his core and his friend was wearing a poncho. “We can take you to our hotel if you’d like and we can talk there out of the weather and get you cleaned up.” Firedrake gave the foxes a friendly smile and looked at Sini as to ask if it was ok that they tag along.

“Come on, you guys. Hop on my back.” Sini notioned the two foxes to crawl on so they did and hung on to Sini’s shoulders. Him and Firedrake took off to the hotel.

They landed at the Auberon Inn and checked in with the receptionist and they’d tread up the stairway to the room of the two dragons. Sini picked the key out and opened the door and let the foxes in first then followed Firedrake inside, sprawling over the king-sized bed with a long sigh.

“Here we are!”

Ralph eased up. “This is a nice place.”

His friend, who hadn’t spoken at all, finally spoke. “Are you sure they’re friendly, Ralph? I don’t want them to hurt us or chew on us. I’m scared.”

Firedrake walked a little further into the room. “First and foremost I can assure you that no harm shall befall either of you but you raise the question on what the two of you had planned. You’ve got me curious but that’s not too hard to do.” Firedrake said with a chuckle at the end but quickly went back to looking at the foxes now intrigued.

“Earlier today, when I saw you guys eat the leopards, I was scared,” said Ralph. “But that was because they were bad guys. You seemed nice to us. I have to know: what happened to the leopards? Are they hurt?” Ralph touched Firedrake’s stomach and put his head against it and listened to the inside, frowning.

Firedrake giggled slightly at the touch but didn’t move a muscle for the curious fox. “They’re just asleep and will probably wake up sometime tomorrow morning. A little grossed out, sure, but just the same as when they went in.” Firedrake grinned but remained still.

“Ralph brought me here to keep him safe,” said the other fox. “Don’t you dragons do anything funny, now, because I’m watching you!”

“It’s okay, Tommy. They’re nice, I think. Look!”

Ralph poked Sini in his muzzle then felt his hands around Sini’s face and Sini’s eyes twitched a little but he smiled.

“Don’t worry, Tommy. I’m not gonna hurt you or Ralph and neither is my friend Firedrake.”

“You have my word on that. If you don’t want to you can always opt out but that’s entirely up to you.” Firedrake added.

Ralph nodded. “I trust you guys. Hey Sini? I wanna see the leopard. I wanna know how he’s doing and what it’s like in- there,” he said, as if referencing the stomach of the dragon was a taboo. He was pointing at Sini’s stomach, though.

“I’ll show ya,” Sini told Ralph, opening his maw. “See for yourself!”

Ralph hopped up and tried to climb into the dragon’s mouth but had a hard time getting in and fell on the floor. Sini frowned and bent down, opening his mouth and scooping the fox up then wriggling the fox’s squirmy body down his throat. It was a small gulp for a young fox, but it tasted good all the same.

“Ralph! Don’t!” Tommy cried.

But Ralph was already an addition to the bulge below Sini’s belly and Sini flopped back onto the king-sized bed, stretching out, relaxed, with his lips all drooling. He wrapped his arms around his gut and squeezed it then burped.

“See? Nothing to be afraid of,” Sini assured Ralph and Tommy.

“What have you done to Ralph?” Tommy whined.

“It’s okay, Tommy. Hey! There’s others in here, too! Oh- sorry, mister wolf. I didn’t know I was sitting on you.”

“Are you really okay, Ralph? Honest?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Tommy walked to Firedrake’s side and pawed at Firedrake for attention. “Now me! I wanna try.”

Firedrake nealt down and brought his head level to the fox. “Allow me to give you the tour.” Firedrake opened his maw wide for the fox and allowed him to step in on his own will. The fox gingerly placed his paw on Firedrake’s tongue and felt around for a second. After a few moments he took a long stride and crawled to the back of the dragon’s throat. Firedrake tilted his head back slightly and let the fox slide in and down. Almost instantly the fox added to the bulge that was Firedrake’s belly.

“You alright in there Tommy? Sorry if it’s a little crowded but it’s surprisingly stretchy.” Firedrake purred and rolled onto his back.

“I- I like it in here!” Tommy exclaimed. “I can come out whenever I want, right?”

“Of course. Just let me know when you want out.”

“Thank you. You pizza dragons are kind after all,” Tommy concluded, smiling. “Ralph? How are you?” he asked, muffled.

“I’m okay, Tommy. It’s very warm in here. Do you think we can sleep here for the night? Sini? Firedrake?”

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.” Firedrake quipped and grinned at Sini.

“It’s raining and it’s dark out. Sure, you can spend the night! And if you need anything, just holler.” Sini smirked.

Firedrake got up and crawled into the bed beside his friend and patted his shoulder. “Another wonderful day huh?” Firedrake said as he got comfortable on his back and resting his head on a pillow before picking it back up and looked towards Sini.

“Another wonderful day,” Sini agreed. “I learned how to make pizza and we made a few friends at the same time.”

He thought of Olly and Ralph and Tommy. Working at a pizzeria was more than just making pizza and eating it, he realized. It’s a new experience. A new memory. Auberon’s most recent memory of dragons, in fact. Years without a sight of the species in the city but they’d returned once again and they were the pizza dragons.