We arrive at my camper shortly, and I let him inside. It’s actually a pretty good size, it can drive, fly, has a bed, a poor excuse for a bathroom, and has cupboards of supplies. Soren stands in the middle of the Camper looking around silently.

I open my cabinet and pull out an old shirt, pants, and some random men’s underwear that probably came with some other cheap clothing I bought at a junk shop.

“Here, wear these.” I tells Soren, placing the clothing in in hands. I busy myself in the cockpit while he changes.

Then I start digging out rations to fatten him up with. He’s very quiet the whole time, and I wonder what’s on his dark and troubled mind. I set a plate of food down for him and he stares at it like he’s never seen food before.

“What’s the matter?” I ask, “Eat!”

He looks up at me in surprise and points at the plate.

“But...am I allowed to eat this? It’s real, human food?” He asks with disbelief. What the heck has he been eating, I wonder. These rations are nothing fancy!

“Yeah it’s food. You eat it.” I say, standing next to him. He slowly picks up a mealy Nutri Biscuit and smells it cautiously. Then he drops it back to the plate and stands up.

“I can’t eat this, I don’t deserve this!” He says, shaking his head and trying to back away from the table. I grab him by the shoulder and wrestle him back into the seat.

“You deserve this more than anyone I know and you will eat it, all of it, right now.” I demand, and cross my arms, watching to make sure he eats every bite. He grudgingly picks up the food and takes a cautious bite. And then stuffs the whole thing in his mouth, eyes wide. It takes him scarcely a moment to wolf down everything I gave him like a wild animal. I thought so. I want to ask him what he’s used to eating, but I worry it might set him off. I think I’ll wait. Tonight though, I am going to make him shower.

I pull him to the tiny bathroom, hand him a rag and bottle of disinfectant (nobody makes soap anymore,) and start to leave.

“Wait!” He calls in panic, “where are you going?”

“I’m going to give you some privacy so you can shower.” I give him a confused look.

“Shower?” He says quizzically.

“Yeah, you know where you stand under the water and-“ I get no father because he runs out of the room at the mention of water.

“Wait, Soren, get back here you weasel!” I grab his arm and hold him still.

“Let me show you what the shower is like, ok? It won’t hurt you, it’s not dangerous, it’s just like standing in the rain.” I patiently walk him back into the bathroom, and open the sliding door of the shower, which is hardly big enough to stand in.

“Rain?” He repeats uncertainty.

I turn on the tiny shower and wave my hand through the slightly rusty looking water dribbling out of the spout.

“See, just like rain.” I tell him. He looks more confident and sticks his arm in too. I show him how to use the shower and toilet, I guess he’s never taken a shower before or had a flushing toilet before. I feel a little worried to leave him in the shower alone, though. So I sit right outside the door while he showers.

When he comes out, I stand up and stare at him like an idiot. His wet golden hair is straight and smooth, brushed out of his stunning eyes. His now clean skin is porcelain pale, and he looks rather amazing, I admit, even though the clothes I gave him hang off his thin frame, making him look like a scarecrow.

I try to talk to him, but he’s very quiet and hardly answers. So I bring him to the cockpit with me and sit him in the passenger seat.

“You don’t mind flying, right?” I ask on second thought as I sit in the pilot seat and am about to grab the controls. The last thing I need is for him to have a phobia of flying. He comes the closest to smiling I’ve seen and shakes his head.

“How could I?” He snorts. For a moment I am confused but then I remember that the little freak actually has wings. I guess he can fly when he is in dinosaur form.

So we buckle up and I take off, the poor old Camper rattling and coughing in protest.

Soren seems to relax more when we get in the air. He sits comfortably in his seat, not rocking back and forth or biting his nails as usual. He looks much more calm and peaceful as he gazes out the window at the land below.

“So you can actually fly when you are transformed?” I ask him curiously.

“Of course!” Soren says, and he seems relaxed with the topic so I continue.

“Can you explain the whole dragon thing to me? How does that even work?” I ask curiously as we glide over the snaggly treetops in the rattling Camper. Soren launches into a detailed explanation of how he has two sets of DNA and something or other about switching which one or something. To be honest, it goes over my head. After only a minute or two of explain, Soren seems to reach his limit of talking and goes quiet. But basically I learn that it’s the most advanced technology ever to be created. The scientists could’ve made his other form anything. And for some reason they decided his other form should be a dragon, a fantasy creature from ancient fairy tales. I’m still trying to figure that out. That seems strange.