"What does he know?" I pouted and made a face. "It's got to be something important. It's like he's teasing me, y'know? Like he's choosing certain words just to ... mess with my head or something."

The dragon just sat watching, a casual head tilt, and then an impatient snort of air that seemed to say: 'what is this gibberish you're mumbling at me?'

I was sitting on the shed's floor, my guest lounging boredly in the dog bed. It had grown faster than I had thought it might, and was already as large as an average-size adult German Shepherd. The bed was still big enough, but at the current rate, it was going to outgrow it soon.

"Lucy hasn't text me back much either. She told me she wanted me to message her after school, and now she barely says a word. What's up with that?" I gave an exaggerated shrug. "Girls, seriously. So unpredictable sometimes."

It poked its head under a wing, letting out a low rumble. It was meant either as some kind of agreement or maybe because it wanted me to shut up.

Or, maybe, it was ready to eat.

"Oh shit, I forgot. You probably want dinner." Reaching behind, I dragged the latest package forward, meat ready to go. The dragon perked up at the sound of the plastic rustling, but for some reason, it didn't come straight to the source. There was a scheme at play, because it turned, approached the workbench and hooked its claws into the gaps on the legs and hauled itself up. Sitting on top, it angled so it was facing back towards me, then sat again and stared intently.

What's this about?

The eyes shifted from me, to the meat, then back again.

You want me to feed you, but not ... up close, by hand?

The jaw opened a fraction and it let go a soft deep trill, telling me I needed to hurry up before it really became impatient.

So, um, projectile?

I picked a big fat chunk and tossed it in the air. With an expert eye, the dragon plucked it cleanly from the trajectory, the meat caught skilfully in the teeth.

Neat!

It wasn't done, though. It didn't just eat. Instead, it flicked its nose skyward, letting go with the motion. The tidbit sailed up in the air, and as it reached the top of the arc, the mouth opened wide. A little gout of flame shot forth, engulfing the airborne meal, the flesh sizzling as it plummeted to the waiting teeth below.

Oh. Um ... shit.

It reared, standing tall, the wings snapping open, head high, and it called out, a joyous battlecry to celebrate the first instance of flame unleashed; a new milestone reached.