Three
Zamir
I followed Nolan intohis modest, one-story house—seriously, weren't dragons supposed to be rich as fuck?—and sucked in a breath as the various scents assaulted me. It didn't smell bad, by any means. A mild lavender scent hung in the air, but beneath it, I could smell notes of wet fur, litter, vegetation, and... was that feather dust?
When Nolan had asked me how I was with animals, I'd assumed he had a couple of cats, or dogs, or a mix of both. It turned out he did, but that wasn't all he had.
"Are those chickens wearing t-shirts? How drunk am I?" I asked as three brown hens pattered toward us before coming to a stop. Their tiny eyes slid from Nolan to me, and they made a sharp, clucking sound almost in unison.
As if my voice was an invitation, two dogs came tumbling out of the room at the back of the cozy living room we'd walked into. The dogs stopped short of crashing into the hens, panting in excitement as they wriggled in place. Like the hens, they wore matching red t-shirts with white polka dots on them.
Who would've thought this ancient, pierced dragon enjoyed dressing up his pets?
"Are there more?" I asked curiously, quite confident I'd heard at least one cat somewhere around here.
"I have two cats and two bunnies," he said as we walked deeper into the house, and I trailed after him. Aww, he called them bunnies. How sweet was that?
"Kitchen's that way, if you get hungry or thirsty," Nolan said, pointing to a doorway to the left. I leaned back to peek inside, finding a small but well-stocked kitchen. Did Nolan enjoy cooking? And why did I care?
"Bathroom's over there," he gestured toward another door, then pointed toward a door at the back of the living room. "That's my bedroom. Knock if you need anything."
I nodded, then eyed the other door, the one he hadn't mentioned. "What about that one?"
"That's the pets' room," he said, and I brightened.
"Can I see it? Please?" I begged, which wasn't like me at all. I must still have been drunk.
Nolan stared at me for a long moment before releasing a sigh. He led me to the ajar door, and pushed it full open to reveal the cats and bunnies I hadn't met yet.
The cats were curled up together in a large dog bed set against the far wall, two similar empty beds beside them. Opposite thedog beds was a large pen layered with hay, the door tied up with a string. Did that mean he rarely locked up the hens? They were free to roam all around the house?
Pressed against the wall adjacent to the door was a large rabbit enclosure with fake burrows for the bunnies to hide in, water bottles, and fresh green leaves of some kind.
A cat tree stood beside the open window on the far side, a screen keeping the cats from jumping out. I imagined they spent quite a while up there watching birds or people.
"I could sleep here," I suggested, eyeing the empty bit of floor in the middle of the room. It was carpeted, so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable.
Nolan didn't say a word, and when I glanced up at him, a look of disbelief painted his face.
"I'm not making you sleep on the floor. The couch has a pullout. Come on," he said, and I sighed, disappointed, but trailed after him anyway, feeling like one of the chickens who hurried after us.
Nolan brought me a pillow and some blankets, then set the couch up while I busied myself petting the two extremely friendly dogs. Thumbing the edge of the clipped ear of one of them as I scratched the other's chin, I asked, "What are they called?"
Nolan glanced up, pillow in hand. "The one with the clipped ear is Clip. The other is Muffin."
Grinning, I nuzzled Clip, then peered at the chickens over her head. They'd been watching me since I arrived, and I wondered if they were planning an assassination.
"What about the chickens?"
Nolan sighed, like he would rather walk around naked than continue this conversation. Was I getting on his nerves?
The alcohol made me feel all fuzzy, and I couldn't bring myself to worry about it if I was. It was nice to feel relaxed for once.
"Taco, Roast, and Nugget," he said, and it took me a moment to remember the question he was answering. When I did, I doubled over with laughter as Clip and Muffin started trying to lick my face.
"Those poor chickens," I gasped out, shaking with the force of my laughter. My belly ached as I tried to catch myself, but one look at the beady-eyed chickens and I cracked up again.
Nolan sighed deeply, hands on his hips as he straightened up. "All right, it's ready. I'm going to bed. I don't get up until nine, but if you wake up early, there's food in the kitchen."
