Overly Familiar

Matt liked to think that he was a pretty normal guy. That he was just living his life with there being nothing extraordinary about him. He knew at some level that this wasn't technically true, but it was still what he told himself. Nobody else told him any differently.

As he was off from his job for the weekend and his only real friend was on vacation, things were getting pretty boring, so he decided to have a little walk around town. It was a pretty small town and at even at its best, there wasn't an overabundance of things to do there.

A little shop here, an old movie theater there, stores that Matt had been in more times than he could count, including the one he worked at. He enjoyed the walk there and back more than anything else. He had to walk along a path through the woods to get into town.

He'd always loved the woods. When he was younger, most kids his age liked video games and TV, while he always wanted to be outside. The smell of nature, the sounds of the birds and the rustling of the trees as the wind blew through them always made Matt feel at home.

His reverence for his surroundings was momentarily shattered as he heard an unfamiliar noise of something heavy hitting the ground. Feeling comfortable enough in the woods to head off the path, Matt ran towards the sound. Whatever it was, it hit a lot of branches on the way down, and he hoped it wasn't a nest or something.

Matt's eyes widened as he saw what had caused all the ruckus. At first, he thought it was a snake and then as he got closer, it appeared to be a bird, but once he was near enough to kneel by it one thing was abundantly clear. Matt was very familiar with the animals that were native to his woods and whatever this thing was, it was

not

native.

He didn't even know what it was. He could see why he kept getting it confused for other animals. It had a long body and scales like a lizard as well as a similarly reptilian head, but it also clearly had wings that resembled a bat's. The word dragon came to mind if nothing else, even though it looked small enough to fit in one of his hands.

But just as the identity of the creature itself was a mystery, so too was its condition. One of its four legs looked broken and half of its body appeared badly burned, and those were just the visible injuries. Falls like that usually came with loads of internal injuries as well. Looking up, Matt tried to see what could have caused that much damage to...whatever this thing was. There was no indication of what did it but his attention quickly turned to whether it was alive or not.

Watching its small body, Matt could see it moving slightly with its ragged breaths. He didn't know how it was supposed to breathe, but it was a safe assumption that this wasn't normal. While the injury and the animal in question were foreign, the situation of finding an injured animal in the woods was not. The animal kingdom was a brutal place. Matt tried to do his part for the weaker ones, to give them a chance.

He always had a curious connection with animals. He would have been a vet if his town had one for him to work at. But as he would have with any other animal he found, he decided to take matters into his own hands, quite literally in this case as he knelt down and gently scooped it up into his hand. It was surprisingly heavy for its size, which at least explained the loud thuds it made during its descent. Once he was sure it was as safe as it could be, Matt headed home.

It wasn't just Matt's connection with animals that was curious. He wasn't officially trained in medical techniques or anything of the sort, but when he took an animal in, they always got better. If they were breathing when he found them, they survived. And all he would do was just take care of them. It was peculiar, but no one really questioned it. Then again, no one ever really saw how little he did compared to the extent of the injuries. He kept that information pretty close to the vest. Laila was one of the few who knew the truth and she just wrote it off as Matt having a "gift".

By the time Matt got home, the dragon creature was already remarkably improved. Its breathing was even, and while the burns still looked pretty bad, they weren't as bad as when he found it. As curious as Matt was about the creature, doing what he could to help took most of his focus. Healing happened regardless, but when he was cognizant of what he wanted, it went much faster and the creature clearly needed the extra effort.

Because this was such a normal situation, Matt's house was already stocked with bandages and various first aid supplies, as well as multiple different sized cages that came in very handy for the occasional carnivores that he took in. Wrapping up the burns as well as setting and bandaging the broken bones, Matt did all he knew and then it was just...waiting until it got better.

Looking at the unconscious creature, Matt estimated it would probably be a week or two before it could fly out of here under its own power. Assuming it could fly. The wings looked like they could support flight and it did fall from pretty high up from what he could tell, but its deceptive weight made him question it. Due to its mysterious nature, Matt decided to err on the side of caution and used one of the smaller cages.

Once that had all been settled, with his boredom more than satisfied, Matt did his usual pastime of turning on his stereo and reading a book as he bobbed his head to the music. Time passed and before he knew it, a restful sleep had claimed him.

***

Matt shot up from his slumber at a horrible screeching sound that drowned out the music still playing. He let out a groan as he was able to put together that his new friend was clearly awake and probably not happy about the cage. "I'm up! I'm up! Calm your shit!"

The screeching continued, making it that much harder to go towards the source of it. It was like nothing Matt had ever heard, solidifying the oddness of the creature. Maybe it was being transported and got lost somehow. He could be looking at a new species, or maybe even an engineered one. He supposed he'd know for sure if the Men in Black knocked on his door, though that could easily just imply that it was an alien.

As Matt reached the cage, which he left purposely across the room from his bed, the creature continued the piercing noise, flapping it's wings weakly and using its jaws to bite at the bars of the cage in between shrieks. "I have all day here." Matt grumbled, glaring at the creature.

When it saw how close Matt had gotten to the cage, its wings spread wide as it shrieked again, not an uncommon reaction from smaller animals to make themselves seem bigger. Even its long black tail was waving from side to side as if it were a weapon, which in its case, it very well might be. The tip of it ended in somewhat of a diamond shape that definitely had some weight to it. Matt continued not to react to the display and sighed, staring at it with an unimpressed look until it wore itself out. "Now what did you get from all of that? You're still in the cage, aren't you? Starting to see how you got hurt. Now stop moving around. You're hurting your leg."

The little dragon creature growled menacingly back at Matt, its red eyes split somewhat like a cat's. It continued to look back and forth, trembling and clearly in panic mode. Considering its last memory before waking up in this cage was probably being attacked, being on guard was completely understandable.

"You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you." Matt stated calmly. He wasn't sure if it knew what he was saying, but animals usually tended to understand him. Why treat this one any differently? It looked at him suspiciously, pacing back and forth.

"Stay off your leg, I said. You're going to end up staying here longer if you injure it again." Matt scolded, just to get more shrieking back at him. "Right. Good talk." He grumbled, putting a cover over the cage, putting his stereo back on, and getting some more sleep.

***

The next morning, Matt woke up to sweet silence. He was tempted to take the blanket off to see how his new guest was doing, but he decided to get it some food first. It seemed mostly like a lizard, so he went out to catch some bugs. It didn't take him long to find a variety and to get back to his place.

Keeping quiet for the most part, Matt slowly made his way to the cage, listening intently. He could hear breathing so that was a good sign. With a sigh, he slowly pulled the cover off to see the little dragon practically glaring at him. "If you scream at me again, you're not getting any food." He threatened, motioning to the bugs.

The dragon looked at the bugs and back at him and let out a low growling sound. Its body seemed to shudder with the effort, but upon closer inspection, its leg was doing a little better compared to yesterday though the burns clearly had some time to go still.

"Growling. I suppose that's better." Matt rolled his eyes as he opened the bag he had and slowly let the bugs out. Even injured, the dragon moved quickly as soon as it saw movement and they were all gone in a few seconds. Matt chuckled as one of the flying ones tried to get away just to get snapped up at the last minute. He specifically got a wide variety to see what it preferred only to see that its preference was clearly anything that was too close while it was hungry. As soon as it was finished, it turned its red eyes back to Matt, growling again.

"Yeah, you struck me as a carnivore. I'll get you some water in a second." As it wasn't screaming anymore, Matt continued to get a better look at it. As if it knew what he was doing, it stared right back with an almost dull glow in its eyes. He assumed it was a reflection of the light. Once again Matt asked himself the million-dollar question. "What...are you?" To which it growled back at him in response. "Yeah, yeah. Water, I'm getting it."

He spent most of the day just checking on it and keeping it hydrated. This was a little tricky since overall, it avoided the water he brought but there were small cautious drinks eventually. Luckily it seemed to realize the situation and didn't do that ear-piercing shriek anymore. He'd definitely graduated to growling and that was a lot easier to deal with. When Matt wasn't checking on it, he put some music on and did some more reading to pass the time. He did notice that except for when it was sleeping, the dragon never took its eyes off of him. It made him a little antsy, as if it were waiting for something.

But eventually Matt was able to get into a groove with his new, cautious guest. When he had work again, he made sure that it had enough food and it was usually ready to eat again when he returned. Like with all animals that stayed with him, the wounds got better day by day, though personally he thought that while it clearly was healing, it was doing so slower than most. But then again, he couldn't figure out for the life of him what the damn thing was, despite all the research he put into it so maybe it just healed slowly in general. The internet didn't seem to have a clue. He was genuinely beginning to think that he'd discovered a new species over the genetically engineered experiment theory. There was just something about it that didn't seem artificial. Not that Matt exactly had load of experience with genetically engineered animals, but it was more of a gut feeling.

He was getting so accustomed to things that he ended up getting a little reckless. It was easier to feed it by opening the cage as opposed to trying to fit the food through the bars, and since it didn't try anything the first time he did so, it became part of the daily pattern. But on the fourth day, when he was feeding it a little too casually, the dragon took advantage, darting at his finger and giving him quite the deep bite before trying to escape again. Through the pain, Matt's reflexes remained sharp and he closed the cage back on it before it could get out. This time they were both glaring and growling at each other.

"Now look here! You are

not

getting out of here until you're better. I don't care how much of an asshole you are. All you're gonna do is piss me off!" He stared down the dragon, who instinctively spread its wings again once more trying to intimidate him. This wasn't the first stare down he'd had with a difficult animal and it probably wouldn't be the last. They just glared at each other in silence. To be honest, as annoyed as he was, he had gained some respect for the creature. It could have tried to escape the other times that he opened the cage, but it waited until his guard was dropped enough that it could make its move. At least he knew when he did release it, it would be smart enough to survive. That said, he did take the bite personally.

Its growling got louder and eventually it turned into that loud shriek again, but Matt didn't budge. He just continued to silently glare at it with malicious intent. He knew there was something...off...about this whole situation. Something unique. He didn't know what, but there was just this feeling he was having deep inside that he couldn't break the stare until she did. His ears hurt from the noise and his finger was still throbbing from the bite, a few drops of blood dripping on the floor, but Matt refused to lose, enforcing his will on the creature. He kept staring until its scream ebbed and eventually there was something of a...spark between them, and she backed up and broke the eye contact, giving him a few apprehensive glances. Matt let out a chuckle and relaxed. He didn't know why but he knew he wouldn't have any more problems with her from now on. Now he just had to take care of his finger and hope that whatever she was that she wasn't poisonous.

***

"I really hope you're not a dude." Matt teased as he opened the cage door. It had been three days since the biting incident and that feeling he'd gotten that the dragon wouldn't be an issue anymore couldn't have been more on the money. He only used the cage now when he went to work and even then, that was just to be safe. There was still a slight limp, but her leg was doing much better. And he knew this because the next time she escaped from her cage, she'd only done so to run up his arm and rest on his shoulder like a parrot. She made no motion to bite him again, so he just let her stay there, and when it was time to go back in the cage, she'd do so willingly. This time, she stayed in his hand for a few moments, letting him look her over, as she let out a small grunt.

"Well,

excuse

me." Matt replied with a smile. "I don't know what you are, and I can't see any obvious genitals, so I have to assume you're a girl. If you're not, my deepest apologies." The burns were doing much better now as well. They were at the worst on her lower half. The upper half looked almost completely healed, with one exception. There was an odd little mark that remained on the upper middle side of one of her front legs. Since that area was healed, Matt had to assume that it was a birthmark or something. His healing abilities didn't help too much with things that weren't injuries. After the little checkup, she ran up his arm to rest on her assumed place on his shoulder. He did worry that she might be getting too attached to him. She was almost becoming like a pet. But then again maybe he could keep her as a one since she wasn't supposed to be in the woods anyway. For all he knew, releasing her would mess up the ecosystem. He'd figure all that out when she was healed.

What was important for the time being was getting some food for himself. Another thing that he quickly noticed about the dragon was that she didn't just eat bugs. She ate

everything

. If it was edible, she'd eat it. Half the time that he'd make himself a sandwich, she'd crawl down his arm and eat a third of it. He tried to shoo her away at first but then it became easier to just make bigger sandwiches. She did get into hunting moods where she'd chase down flies or spiders or any other unfortunate living things that happened to be in his house. His personal favorite was flies because it turned out that her wings absolutely worked. Watching her fly after them like a dragonfly from Hell was way more entertaining than it should have been. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was showing off.

After they'd eaten, Matt relaxed into his usual music and reading combo. The library in town was small, but there were new books every now and then, and occasionally they were interesting. Personally, Matt preferred fiction, same with when those few occasions when he checked out the local movie theater. Short of the animals he'd take care of now and then, his life was definitely on the boring and mundane side. It was nice to throw himself into fantastical worlds of futuristic technology, wizards and superheroes. The dragon seemed to enjoy them as well as she followed his gaze across the pages. Matt chuckled as he turned to look at her. "Can you read? I'm not going to read these out loud for you."

The dragon responded by turning in his direction and licking his lips with her forked tongue. Matt immediately jerked back in surprise as he laughed. "Hey! No licking!" Her eyes seemed to narrow, and he could have sworn that she almost smirked as she darted at him again and again trying to reach his lips, forcing him to put down the book as the laughter shook through him. "Stop! Stop, ya little puppy dragon!" She was still too injured for him to risk physically holding her to keep her away from him, so he finally surrendered and let her lick him a few times before resting on his hand. When he pulled her up and looked into the luminescent red of her eyes, and he could have sworn she had a look of victory in her body language. "Seriously...what

are

you?"

***

Matt wouldn't exactly call himself lonely, but the town was small and most of the girls he met found him weird except for Laila. That said, he wasn't exactly a virgin either. Even a town as small as his had parties every now and then. And when some girls got wasted enough, they didn't care if he was the weirdo guy in the woods you take your injured pets to. Laila didn't approve of such promiscuity, but Matt was a guy and he had urges. But there hadn't been any parties in a while, and the dragon just seemed...too intelligent to masturbate in front of. So as he slept, that left his subconscious to fill the void. Matt always had very vivid dreams. Sometimes he'd remember them and sometimes he wouldn't, but he was always aware of whether his surroundings were real or not.

Currently, he was dreaming about Amy, the cute girl who works at the ice cream shop. As usual, he was aware that it was a dream and as such was a lot more forward with her than he ever was in real life. They'd only hooked up the one time at one of the aforementioned parties. But here, it was all in his head. Here, she would do whatever he wanted. He bent her backwards over the counter, the other patrons at the store no longer mattering, leaning into her as they kissed deeply. He loved these kinds of dreams. He wanted to get to the good part before he woke up, but the kiss felt so

good

. It was like he could really feel her lips pressing against his. Like he could actually taste her when he parted those lips. It felt so real that he just wanted to savor it all. The intimacy was tangible.

There was almost a connection between the two. The more he kissed her, the deeper it became. Amy moaned into Matt's mouth, surrendering to his will. It only flamed his desire for her all the more. His hands cupped her cheeks as he pressed harder against her, feeling the warmth of her body as her legs wrapped around his waist. He desperately wanted to fuck her, but he couldn't break the kiss. It was becoming too intense. It wasn't even the kind of intensity that would make him cum. He couldn't explain it, but he felt a spark. A spark that seemed all too familiar, though he couldn't put his mind on why. He moaned back into the kiss as the intensity increased. Amy reached up and moved one of his hands to her neck.