"Bee, come back! Please!" The man ran after the speedy dragon, thankful that there weren't too many people around that day. They turned a corner and the man grabbed at Besu's tail but missed. He dug into one of the pouches on his hip and pulled out a small biscuit - a kind of "dragon treat" the facility had developed. "Besu, look what I have!" He called.
Besu stumbled and turned around at the smell of the treat. He approached slowly, crouched down, but suddenly pounced on the man, effectively tackling him to the ground. He stole the treat and started running off again, thinking this was some sort of fun game.
(Besu is so cute)
(He just wants food and fun lol)
(I love him)
The man huffed and stayed on the floor for a moment. "Gosh dang- BESU." He rolled over and got to his feet, but froze when he saw someone a few feet away. "Jeremy." The other man smirked. "Having trouble with Bee?"
Jeremy sighed. "Just help me get him back, Jay."
The two of them rushed to catch up with Besu before he could leave their sight.
(So pure :D)
Besu chirped loudly, his claws skittering across the hard, slippery floor. He chased the scent of the kids from before, running quickly through the halls and avoiding the hands of the guards.
(He wants freeeeedom)
Jeremy nearly skidded into a wall when he stopped himself, and Jay questioned why they'd stopped running. The shorter man pointed down one of the halls and started to panic a bit as they watched the tour group from earlier turn the corner and head their way.
"Ooh, look! Dragon!" One of the children yelled, pointing down the hall at Besu.
Besu trilled with excitement and ran towards the kids, his tail wagging. He honestly just really wanted to play with them and not have to be behind glass.
"Whoa, whoa, hang on!" Jay stepped in front of the group as Jeremy grabbed Besu and held him back. They knew he didn't intend on hurting anyone, but he was big for a young dragon and could still cause some damage. Not to mention that the three adults in the group were probably very worried about a loose dragon now.
Jeremy slid a collar onto Besu and clipped a lead to it. "Sorry about that." He said to the group.
Besu struggled against the leash, making distressed huffing noises. He looked over at the kids and tugged harder at his leash, trying to get to them.
The little girl waved. "Hi, Bee!" She and the boy tried to get closer but were held back by the adults. The woman leaned down next to them. "No, no, little ones, that's a big dragon a-and…is he supposed to be out here?" She looked up at the two handlers.
"Ah, well, not exactly." Jeremy said, petting Besu to try and get him to calm down. "I went in to feed him and he slipped out. We'll be getting him back to his enclosure right away."
"Aw no! I wanna pet him!" The boy whined. "Please?"
"Um…I don't know about that. Jay?" Jeremy gently held Besu to the floor. Jay shrugged. "I mean, I'm his primary handler so I technically get to decide, but we really aren't supposed to let anyone who isn't staff interact with the dragons like this."
The children whined and begged, and Jeremy soon gave in to their wide eyes. "Okay, okay, look. If it's alright with your guardians, and if you promise to be gentle…" The woman allowed them to approach slowly, staying crouched and holding out their hands.
Besu stopped struggling at the sight of the children and sat down, leaning his head out towards them. He closed his eyes and made a soft trilling noise almost like a purr when he was pet, his tail thumping on the ground. The small, harmless bursts of light appeared around him again.
The little girl patted Besu's head, and the boy rubbed his back and neck. "He feels funny." The boy giggled. Jeremy waved his hand to disperse some of the light from his vision. "Yeah, he's young so his scales are thin and feel a little soft, but they are quite tough. Different dragons have different kinds of scales and aging rules, though."
"Okay, I think that's enough." One of the group men said, after he pet the dragon himself. He took the kids' hands and moved them away, much to their displeasure. "Can we take him home? He likes us!" The girl asked, and Jeremy laughed. "I don't think that'd be the greatest idea. Sorry, sweetie."
"Actually," Jay started, "the facility has been making some arrangements to possibly start a "Domestic Dragons" program, in which people can come and take one dragon home to live with them for a number of days. Like a dragon fostering kind of thing."
"That sounds dangerous." The woman said.
"Well, that's because it kind of is. Which is why we'd make sure the dragons available to take are the calmest and best-trained we have, and that whoever takes them has the proper requirements."
Besu tried to lick the children's hands, but he couldn't reach them, so he just sort of had his tongue hanging out a bit. His tail continued thumping on the ground and he looked up at his handler with a bit of frustration, biting at the leash. He really didn't like not being able to move freely. He wasn't doing anything wrong, right? He just wanted to play with some kids!
"Well then, maybe we'll look into that when it comes up." One of the men said, the woman nodding in agreement.
Jeremy moved Besu's mouth away from the lead. "No, Bee, stop it." He rubbed under the little dragon's chin and figured that maybe it'd be okay for him to move around a little. He eased up on the arm that was holding Besu down, and kept the lead firmly in his grasp.
"Be gentle, Bee - they're little." He said. The girl squirmed her hand out of the man's and happily knelt in front of Besu again.
Besu wagged his tail and stood up, moving closer to the girl. He rubbed his head against her hand, being careful not to hurt her with his horns. He made some more strange gurgling noises that seemed to be happy when he was pet.
The girl giggled, running her hand along his head. Neither Jeremy nor Jay had the heart to tell the people that Besu was assigned to be a Show Dragon when he got older. Maybe they could convince the ones in charge of the dragons' positions to change the fledgling's papers and put him in the Domestic Dragons program instead.
"I love him sooo much." The girl said. She carefully took Besu's face in both hands and rubbed his nose with hers.
Besu trilled softly, closing his eyes. He would likely be much larger as an adult, but he'd be able to use magic to control his size. Full grown, he would probably be about the size of a large shed or very small house. It seemed that he was really good with children though, and would be a very good domestic dragon. He'd never tried to be violent as long as he'd been here.
"Aww, that's sweet. Now he's made a new friend." The guide smiled. The group woman patted her daughter's head. "Don't get too attached. We don't even know if he'll be one of the dragons available to…foster."
The girl whined and hugged Besu's neck before her mother pulled her away.
"Alright, we need to get him back to his enclosure." Jay said, taking the lead from Jeremy.
The two parties waved goodbye as the tour group continued down the hallway.
"Now, Bee," Jeremy said, looking down at the dragon, "what if that had been another handler? Or one of the higher-ups? You could've gotten us into a lot of trouble, little guy."
Besu hung his head, whining a bit. He watched the group leave before reluctantly following his handler. All he wanted to do was have some fun, but here he was, being dragged back to a boring enclosure against his will. There was just nothing to do here.
"Hey, guys!" A cheery voice called them from a passing hall, and they stopped as a short, red-headed woman approached. She took no hesitation in crouching in front of Besu and petting him. "He ran off, didn't he?"
Jeremy sighed, hanging his head. "Give me a break; he's an escape artist."
Besu shied away from the woman's hand, seeming to be sort of pouting because the handlers took him away from the kids. He looked down at the ground and huffed.
"Aw, Bee, buddy…" The woman - Shelby - tilted her head at the annoyed dragon. "What happened?"
"There were these kids that Besu was making friends with, but we had to take him away because, you know, he's not really supposed to be out here at the moment." Jay explained. Shelby nodded, clicking her tongue at Besu. "I'm sure you'll get to see them again, buddy. These guys are just following rules and doing their job, you know." She put her hand out again, holding a biscuit in the other.