"Garzbo?" A voice spoke faintly following the slam of a steel door, as a blue reptile stepped within the cell. He was dressed sharply within a full three piece black suit, carrying a leather briefcase in one hand, while the other fidgeted with his tie.

In the corner of the dark and gloomy prison cell, a large, rugged figure sat hunched over in the shadows, back to the door. Despite the loud thunderous slam of the door the mountainous brute didn't appear at all disturbed, nor alarmed. Upon hearing his name however, he would turn his head slightly, a faint beam of light coming within through the barred window catching one eye, making it flash.

"Mister Doog! 'Ullo, how is ya?" The hulking lug asked cheerfully, moving himself around while still seated with a hefty grunt. Chains attached to manacles on either wrist would clank and rattle noisily as he spun himself around, the chains connected to the weighty steel collar he wore doing the same. "Meeb was jus' lookin' at mi comix...can't rilly read dem but dey got da best picshurs."

The blue reptile would approach just as Garzbo grabbed a handful of the graphic novels. As the reptile glanced then over he would catch sight of titles such as 'the goon' and 'the demon', as well as a comic simply called 'Wormy' with a quirky looking dragon on the cover.

"Dese are my favorites, me is so 'appy the gaurdz wuz lettin' me keep dem!" Garzbo continued to grin, setting a few of the comics down with the exception of 'the demon' and flipping through it excitedly.

"It's Doug, Garzbo...Doug." The reptile corrected, though doing so with a patient, kindly smile. "I'm glad the warden allowed you to keep those...it really is the least he can do." The reptile frowned.

"Oop! Dug, meeb is sorry, mi memory iz nub da best..." Garzbo frowned, reaching behind to his mountainous back and scratching at a jagged looking scar upon it. Two odd, bony protrusions jutted out from either side of his monstrous back, surrounded similarly by jagged and gnarled looking red scales. It seemed as if the brute might've had wings at one time, but had long since lost them.

"It's okay." Doug smiled, stepping over towards the dingy cot that served as the massive goliaths bed. It was so worn and warped from the weight of the gargantuan creature that it sagged so severely in the middle it nearly touched the floor. The reptile would seat himself upon this, albeit reluctantly, releasing a heavy sigh. "Garzbo...I spoke with the judge and he still feels it's...unsafe to release you. I've tried to relate to him your exceptional behavior but he wouldn't hear of it, and it's going to be another ten years before the next possible parole hearing."

The large behemoth merely blinked at the blue reptile, before his eyes shifted back to his comic. "Dere is a demon in 'ere wut folks wuz treatin' real nasty like, n 'e wuz bein' so nice to dem..." the brute squinted, flipping through a few more pages before stopping at the last four "But den he gitz real mad n' burnz 'em up...I is nub understandin' dat, Meeb would nefer do dat...me iz a good dragon, but if da judge is finkin' I shud nub git owt, wull, ‘e iz mush smarter den me so me fink he know best."

"I know you'd never hurt a soul Garzbo." The reptile again sighed, fidgeting with his scaly fingers as he rested them atop the briefcase in his lap. "You've been nothing if not the kindest, gentlest inmate in here. I know everyone's so cruel to you here, I've tried to submit a petition for better treatment on your behalf because of your good behavior but nobody's listening. Dragons...well, they're afraid of what you might do."

"I've nebbur 'urt nobody, I iz a good dragon." Garzbo repeated simply, doing so with a faint smile, not appearing at all upset by the unfortunate news Doug related to him.

"I know Garzbo, despite your wings being taken...and your eye being bruised beyond repair." The reptile gestured lightly to the dragons milky left eye with a fierce scar through it. Where a blue eye should've been a pale green one instead resided "You've been...alarmingly passive, cheerful and gentle. I wish I could do more, I wish I could do anything. The laws against dragon ilk are reprehensible, and no one in any position to do something about it cares enough to do so."

"It wuz cos mi parentz...n dere parentz, and dere parentz wuz so bad, hurtin' n' killin' so many poor folkz. If I godda stay 'ere 't keep dem safe I willz, long as I got my comix...n my lil' flower I wuz growin'"

The reptiles heavy grimace of frustration turned into a lighter look of quizzical interest. "Flower?" He raised his head a little "What flower?"

"Wull...actshully meeb fink it a weed, but it da only seed me could finds." Shifting himself back around, still seated, the hulking dragon would reach a brawny arm out towards Doug. Setting aside the comic he held in his other clawed hand, he would gently brush away some dust around something.

Tentatively with a puzzled look the reptilian attorney took the offered hand, rising from his seat upon the cot. He would peer down towards where Garzbo brushed away the soot and grime just as a small two leaf seedling was uncovered "Garzbo...how did you grow this?" The reptile asked in awe, thinking the dirt and mold on the concrete floor was totally devoid of anything that could sustain a plant of any kind.

"Meeb jus' left da seed dere, talked t' it a little, gave it some water...nub 'ard. Me hero does it, n 'e is mush smarter den I is!" Garzbo grinned, pointing then to a poster hung upon the wall with the words 'Mi hero' scribbled upon it.

The reptile glance towards the poster gestured to him, squinting at it. It took him a moment to register just who and what he was looking at, and once more Dougs eyes broadened in surprise "The Kilo...where did you get that poster? How do you know anything about him!"

Much like most law enforcement in that area where news of kilo had originated, Doug was of a mind that that being was dangerous, mostly due to the devastation his prison breakout had caused. He would turn his focus back to Garzbo, just as the big lug had begun humming to the little seedling.

"I hear fingz." Garzbo eventually responded, somewhat in a daze "He soundz verry brave n' strong...but e is a good fighter, me would nub be one, Meeb would nub wanna 'urt enywun."

"Have the guards seen this?" The reptile asked, appearing concerned. He didn't want to give any of the prison staff on duty another excuse to hurt the dragon, and idolizing someone who had broken out of a prison and caused massive damage, for whatever reason, might be cause for them to further sentence the already incarcerated dragon with yet still more prison time.

Garzbo glanced at the poster, appearing befuddled by the strange question "No...day dose nub come in 'ere, dey say I iz tu smelly"

"Well, just to be safe, we best take it down." Doug moved over towards the poster, raising his arms slightly to reach up to the rusty nails holding it into the wall.

"No! Please!" Garzbo cried, heaving himself upon his feet and stumbling over to where the poster was hung, getting between him and the attorney. "'Eez nub bad, he wuz nub doin' anyfin' wrong...like meeb, he wuz unfairly im-pris-end...like ya is always sayin' me is!"

Startled, though never thinking the dragon, who towered over him by a good five feet would hurt him, Doug stepped back. Looking up into the pleading eyes beneath jagged brows that were furrowed in worry, Doug exhaled deeply, shaking his head "Garzbo...I just don't want them finding yet another excuse to extend your sentence, and this could very well be one. How do you know he was unfairly imprisoned or didn't mean to do all the things he did? How can you possibly know this?"

"'Iz eyes...dey iz real kind like." Turning his head towards the poster, the chains that hung from his neck clanking softly, Garzbo smiled "Me bet he wood be a friend...he would nub cair if ya wuz big, or scarey lookin', nub if ya nebbur done nufin' wrong."

"Garzbo...I'm your friend." Doug said timidly, setting his hand upon the large dragons sinewy forearm "I know I rarely get to see you but I do care about your welfare, I've not done a good job at helping you, I know, but it doesn't mean I'm not trying my hardest." Saying this, the reptile felt a twinge of frustration. He wanted to get angry, wanted to rant and rave about how unjustly it was to keep someone who'd never committed a single crime, or even acted aggressively, locked up in such poor conditions. The dragon was abused both physically and verbally, yet he'd never shown the slightest bit of anger.

The dragon didn't respond well to anger, Doug knew, on those days the lawyer had been particularly exasperated and angered by the warden and judges rulings he'd vented his rage to Garzbo for a good thirty minutes. The brute had been so shaken up by Dougs uncharacteristic ferocity when the reptile had finally ended his outburst he'd found Garzbo seated in a corner, clutching his legs to his chest and quivering with tears in his eyes.

Garzbo had thought the reptile was angry at him.

After that Doug had never raised his voice around the dragon, doing his best to keep their short visits as pleasant as he could, despite always arriving with more bad news.

"Me know ya iz mi friend." Garzbo smiled, reaching one stocky arm up to his head, pulling off his checkered cap, this would reveal two chipped and broken horns on his otherwise barren skull. With the cap in hand he would press it to his barrel chest, resting it upon his heart "Me iz fankful me has ya...but folkz ken has more den one friend, hur?"

Doug reflected the smile as he looked up at the large dragon, though his eyes were sad, he would nod his head slowly. "Yes...I suppose everyone can, and should...certainly someone other than their lawyer." He laughed.

Doug would turn then, deciding to leave the issue of the poster be. He would walk over to the cot, retrieve his briefcase, while simultaneously checking his watch "Oh...shoot, Garzbo I’m sorry, I'm expected in court in few minutes." Doug grimaced, having had expected the guard to come inform him when it was time to leave, as he normally wouldn't allow much time to pass before pulling the reptile out.

He would turn back towards Garzbo, who, upon realizing Doug had to depart, got a dejected look, ears going somewhat limp.

Doug frowned "Garzbo, again, I'm really sorry, I hate leaving so soon but I have to get going...I don't know when I'll be able to see you again."

"Id is yur job, me understand" Garzbo grunted, rubbing the place on his arm where Doug had rested his hand earlier "Me will be gud." The dragon forced a smile, casting his disappointment away best he could, replacing the cap back upon his head.

"I know you will be, I'll try to get back soon as I can, but they may not let me see you for awhile." Doug did his best to restrain a scowl as another thing that enraged him came up, Garzbo was the only one besides really hardened criminals to have limited visiting times.

Doug would move towards the door then, giving one last look to the dragon as he raised his arm to knock upon the steel door. Unable to think of anything more to say, forcing a smile, he would rap the back of his knuckles on doors cold surface. It was only a second before the guard, in the form of a scowling timber-wolf, would unlock and open the door.

Stepping through the door, the reptiles blue tail flicking behind him, the lupine that had unlocked it would give the dragon within a loathsome sneers, before slamming the door shut again.

This time, Garzbo would jump a little at the thunderous noise of the door shutting, before turning himself away from it. Lumbering back to where he had unconverted the tiny plant, he would seat himself down before it, grunt, and retrieve one of the comics upon the floor. In his deep, rumbling voice he would begin to recite what he imagined the comic bubbles said, the basic story always the same, though the way it was told always a little different.

Garzbo would do this well into the evening, when the faint ray of light that had illuminated the seedling slowly faded, and the prison cell became even darker than it already was. Even when he could barely see through the darkness, he would continue making up what he believed the story the pictures depicted to be, doing this until he at last fell asleep, alone.

-=*=-

A bit of randomness here...this ones a little all over the place for me personally, but without going too overboard I'll just say it showcases some of my artistic influences while trying to connect with something new.

yea, that works.

anyways, this picture features 'Kilo' From monsters garden in the wanted poster, and is of course copyright his creator. More of his work can be found Here.

'The Demon' 'Werewolf by night' 'The Goon' & 'Wormy' are copyright all their respective owners.