Hidden Gem

"...H... h-hi…?"

You stand as still as possible, finally coming face to face with the albino dragon that your mind was so stuck on the entire night. Although you were somewhat pleasantly surprised, you wondered as to how you were so close to him this entire time.

You had absolutely no idea that the albino dragon was so close by.

As well as to what made the poor guy scream like that. But since the dragon was hiding inside some pretty dense bushes, you could take a guess and assume that it was probably some sort of big fuck-off spider or something, if him jumping out of the bushes and brushing his entire body was anything to go by.

Though you definitely couldn't blame him. You would have done the exact same thing.

Still, his scream startled the hell out of you and definitely woke you up. Who knew you could jump back so many feet from laying down? Your reaction time was incredibly quick too, but as for your wits...

Of course, you had fully intended to reach for your shotgun, but a skillet could be just as deadly in the right hands!

...Right?

Not like it really mattered anymore. Hurting this poor dragon was definitely not on your mind, but you could only imagine how ridiculous you look right now.

Despite the fact that all you were holding was a skillet, the albino dragon seemed infinitely more scared of you than the other way around, which felt quite odd, since you knew for a fact dragons could breathe fire that could melt through a truck engine with ease.

The albino dragon was shaking in place, and was staring at you like a deer in headlights. Realizing this, you slowly begin to take a much more relaxed, casual stance and lower the skillet in your hand, sighing softly and smiling a little at the albino dragon.

"You seem... familiar." You ask rhetorically, which causes him to relax just a tiny bit, but he still refuses to make any sort of eye contact with you, instead just looking down at the ground and fiddling with his claws.

You hear him begin to mumble something, but you can't even make out a single word he said, "I didn't catch that. What did you say?" You ask politely, not wanting to hurt the nervous wreck of a dragon.

He rubs his arm and lets out a quiet whimper, before he speaks a bit louder, just enough for you to barely hear him.

"I-I'm sorry..." He says in a very quiet, guiltful tone.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"I... I'm sorry f-for how my friends a-acted the way th-they did back th-there..." He sniffles a little before continuing, "...I-I didn't mean for anyone t-to get... h...hurt..."

You raise an eyebrow, which causes him to grow more nervous, but you quickly continue before he can feel worse, "First of all... why do you refer to those assholes as friends? Especially after what the red one did to you."

He looks down at the ground, staying quiet and rubbing his arm, mentally trying to find the words to say.

"...I don't know..."

You take a couple steps towards him, and this causes him to visibly shrink down, as if he's expecting to get hit or yelled at or something... Or both.

Fuck... how much has this poor drake been through?

You softly smile at the albino dragon and crouch down to make yourself smaller and less intimidating, "Look, what happened back there wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for it... and neither does my friend. It was all because a power-nervous dragon tried to mess with a couple Royal Guards."

"...and just between you and me... what you did to help me was nothing short of incredibly brave in my books."

The albino dragon's ears perk up when you speak, but he doesn't make eye contact, until you personally say that what he did was brave. He then slowly looks up at you with gleaming eyes, finally meeting yours as his mouth opens a little bit.

"Y... you really m-mean tha-"

"Oh fuck..."

The albino dragon suddenly grows anxious and looks at you with a very worried look, "W-w-what's wrong?..."

It finally hits you that the albino dragon's eye was actually swollen and black. And although it didn't look too bad at first, it still must've hurt like a bitch.

You quickly rush over to your backpack and open it, quickly pulling out your now restocked first aid kit, "I just barely noticed how messed up your eye is. I got some supplies that can help you heal that black eye of yours though. Just give me a quick sec."

The albino dragon's head sinks down a little as the memory comes back into his mind. How scared he was, and how incredibly painful it felt, "Y-you don't have to use y-your medical stuff on me i-if you don't want t-to... especially if you're low on supplies or something... I-I'll be okay"

He then gently touches his swollen eye, and quickly jerks his hand back, "...it... it still h-hurts a little though..."

"All the more reason to help you then, silly." You finish grabbing the necessary equipment and rush back to the albino dragon, holding a half-unwrapped cold gel pack as well as a tiny flashlight, "Alright, answer these questions honestly. Have you've had any sort of double-vision, trouble breathing, or any sort of bleeding from your eye or nose?"

He slowly shakes his head no, still a bit nervous as to what you plan on doing. Sensing his nervousness, you begin to explain what you're going to do, "I'm gonna use this flashlight here to quickly inspect your eye and then I'm gonna give you this ice gel pack to put over your eye. It won't hurt or anything."

With your reassurance, he nods and tries his best to keep still as you examine his eye and the area surrounding it. After you do, you fully unwrap the cold gel pack and raise it up to his eye.

The albino dragon looks up at you, visibly worried. You smile a little, "This won't hurt you. I promise. This cold pack will help reduce the swelling and make it heal faster over time." He eases up a little bit and doesn't pull back when you very gently press the cold pack against his black eye. Although he does jump a little at the sudden cold feeling, he lets out a soft sigh and he brings his own hand up to keep it over the pack.

You smile and stand up, "See? I told you it wouldn't hurt. Now, you need to hold the pack for 10 minutes every 1-2 hours, and the pack itself should last about two days, even in areas as hot as the Badlands. You can thank magic for that one."

The albino dragon looks up at you and smiles a little, a small blush forming on his cheeks, "Th...thanks"

Your smile grows wider and you offer your hand towards the albino dragon, "My name's Anonymous by the way. Or Anon. Whichever you prefer."

The albino dragon looks at your hand, then back up at you, smiling and shyly taking it, "F...Fizzle. I'm Fizzle..."

You carefully help him back on his feet, taking note of how surprisingly soft and warm his claw is.

...Fizzle...

Oddly fitting to be honest.

...and cute.

You're a bit confused as to why that suddenly popped into your mind, but you quickly brush it off. You finish helping him up, then lead him over to your small camp. As you do, you decide to finally address the manticore in the room.

"So... what exactly are you still doing out here, Fizzle? Don't you live in the Badlands?"

...Or was he stalking you?

He definitely doesn't seem like the stalking type... but he is shy as all fuck, so maybe that could be a minor red flag, Not like he's really done anything bad though, so...

Fizzle rubs his arm and looks down awkwardly, nodding as he takes off the ice gel pack, a sad look forming on his face.

Noticing the look on his face, you think for a moment and put two and two together.

"...I'm guessing you don't want to go back because of the other two. Right?" You say what's on his mind, earning a nod from Fizzle. He then looks up at you, his eyes have an almost... pleading look to them.

...

...

You know exactly what he wants to ask of you.

You look down at the ground and sigh, taking a quick moment to think about this.

You weren't supposed to do things like this. At all. It all went against pretty much everything you were trained and told to do. You were looking to leave, sure. But not get fired.

...but you just couldn't see yourself sending him on his way back to the Badlands. Back to those two other dragons. There was no doubt in your mind that they would finish what they started with Fizzle.

No.

Fuck that.

Looking back at Fizzle with a serious, stern look, you begin to explain your idea, "Listen, Fizzle. You and I both know that, while I don't think you're a bad dragon by any means, you don't legally belong here."

You see Fizzle's eyes water a little bit, but he closes his eyes and looks down, nodding understandingly. He then lets out what sounded to be a quiet, choked sob, then you see his wings begin to unfold, but you quickly continue.

"No no, wait a second! Let me explain..."

Fizzle once again looks at you, seeing a very faint glimmer of hope in his watery eyes.

You sigh and continue, "...but I can compromise with you. I don't know how long it'll take for that black eye to heal, since I don't know much about dragons and such. But... I'll let you stay with me until it gets a bit better at least."

Fizzle's eyes widen in surprise, but then he begins to grow nervous, "F...f-for how long?"

"Like I said, I don't know how long it takes for dragons to heal their wounds, but... four days. No more. No less."

Fizzle's mouth opens and he begins to try and say something, but all that comes out is a barely audible whimper as he looks over his shoulder and sniffles.

"I don't... want to become some sort of a burden to you or anything, A-Anon... I c-can't imagine how busy you are with your Guard duties and all."

"...I c-can fend for myself out here... I'm not that w-weak... I can just... m-make some herbal medicine and use that t-to make my eye better when this pack doesn't work anymore! Th-then when it gets better... I c-can go ba... back ho-"

Before he can finish, you cut him off with a stern "No.", which surprises Fizzle. You then walk up to him, shaking your head, "That's not gonna happen."

You then smile, "Besides... after what you did to help me earlier, it's the least you deserve."

He stares at you for a couple seconds, before his wings fold back onto him and he reaches out suddenly towards you, giving you a surprisingly tight hug and taking you off guard. His head resting on your shoulder and gently nuzzling your cheek.

"Thank you, Anon...~" He whispers, still clearly listening to what he said despite your current state of shock. Fizzle then realizes what he's doing and immediately lets go of you, slinking back to where he was before and has both his arms behind his back, shyly going back to avoiding eye contact, his cheeks beet red.

You take a second to compose yourself, clearing your throat and trying to ignore the incredibly bright blush on your face. You look at Fizzle and smile, "O-of course, Fizzle. Just uh... let me set up the tent a bit to accomodate you."

Fizzle quickly raises his hands and shakes them, "Th-that it's not necessary if y-you don't have enough r-room... I can sleep out here if you'd l-like me to... I know how much others v-value their s-space and...stuff..."

You chuckle and shake your head, "That's not happening. You jumped out of those bushes for a reason and believe me, I don't blame you."

Fizzle rubs the back of his head and laughs a bit nervously, which only makes your smile grow as you grab your sleeping bag.

It was only big enough to fit you, but you could spare some blankets for your new dragon friend to at least lay down in. You could also let him use your pillow as well, your backpack was a comfortable makeshift pillow on its own anyway.

You look over your shoulder for a quick second to reach for your hammer and notice Fizzle staring intently at you, until he suddenly looks the other way, making circles with his leg.

...Was... was he checking you out?

Before you can think about it more, Fizzle awkwardly begins to ask you a question, "H-hey Anon..."

"A... are you from around Equestria? Because I-I've been around these forests and stuff for a long time... but I've never seen anything quite l-like you..."

"Uh... more or less. I do come from Equestria, but I'm not from there, per se. I guess you could even say I'm not from this planet."

Fizzle looks at you with a confused expression, but then his eyes widen as he puts two and two together.

"S...so... you're an... a-alien...?"

You smile and shrug, "Pretty much, to put it simply. I come from a planet where my kind are the only sapient species, as well as where things like griffons, manticores and dragons are all things of pure myth and fantasy."

You can see the expression on Fizzle's face quickly go from nervousness to curiosity, "Wow... r...really...? What's the name of your species?"

"Yup. I'd be more than willing to talk about it all more later, but the name of my kind is human. Or... I suppose the scientific term, 'homo-sapien'~"

The second Fizzle hears this, his blush instantly returns with a vengeance, making him look away from you as he fiddles with his claws. You smile and laugh a little, thinking to yourself that you're really beginning to like how easily flustered he can become.

You then stretch a little and let out a low yawn, which catches the attention of the slim albino dragon once more, making his ears perk up. "I don't have another sleeping bag for you, but I did what I could out of the blankets I had, as well as letting you use my pillow. Hope it'll be comfortable enough."

Fizzle shyly looks inside of the tent and is surprised by how roomy it actually looks. And considering that he usually slept on a bed made of dry grass and a single flat boulder, this was a definite improvement.

"I... I d-don't know what t-"

You gently pat his shoulder and shake your head, letting out another yawn as you get into your sleeping bag, "D...don't mention it, Fizzle..." You begin to make yourself comfortable, and watch with heavy eyes as Fizzle gets inside of the tent and makes his way to the makeshift bed. You see him cover himself up with the blankets and smile as he lets out a soft sigh and holds the blankets tightly against himself.

"Th-thank you again, A-Anon... this... feels nice...~"

"I'm... mmmh... glad I could provide... Goodnight, Fizzy."

Fizzle's eyes widen and he looks at you, shocked, "F...F-Fizzy...?"

You nod and smile lazily as sleep begins to quickly overcome you, "Y-yeah... I know it's... mmmh... not your actual name and all but it fits you because..." You close your eyes and are barely able to whisper out the end of your sentence.

"...it sounds cuter...~"