There were no words to describe dragon flight aside from pure terror and excitement. It was as close to a free falling roller coaster as Dan wanted to get. His hands slid over the smooth golden scales, finding little to hold onto. Small spikes popped up along Valeska's back and neck at random intervals. He tried to hold onto them in ways that wouldn't end in him getting impaled.

It was a smooth flight for the most part. Valeska kept them above clouds where possible. When they thinned she dropped down to the mountains. They were both past caring if anyone spotted them. The mention of a cozy bed and full meal sapped away their inhibitions fast. Besides, who would believe anyone who did see them?

They'd left the wooded area, which turned out to be Los Padres National Forest, just past midday. Dan's yes or no approach to questioning Valeska hadn't gone horribly, but it hadn't gone well either. At least he knew that she really did just want to go home.

From what he'd gathered, Valeska had fallen into some sort of enchanted sleep while trying to get home. Some time recently she'd awoken in a white room strapped to a table. Men in white surrounded her, jabbing her with needles until she finally broke free. From there she'd exhausted herself and wandered into Dan's home seeking refuge. Her only goal now was to get home and learn what had happened to her people.

Thanks to a few fleeting moments of cell service, Dan had been able to find both their location and wherever it was Valeska needed to be so desperately. An ocean voyage was in their very near future if she was at all accurate. It didn't even surprise him to know the Shakespearean talking dragon was from somewhere in England. He should have guessed it right away.

The money she promised him sounded real as well. Even if it was an actual gold horde he could find ways to sell it off for real money. Some quiet part of him began to dream he might even keep his mother's house. That dream was almost too painful to think of. Instead he turned his thoughts to more mundane goals like paying off medical debts. Maybe he could even retire before he turned eighty.

Valeska banked as an updraft hit her left wing and Dan's stomach plummeted the thousands of feet to the ground below. Then she tilted down and he really thought that would be the moment he died. Instead he tumbled off her back when they landed and then she rolled into him in her human form.

"Bid me th're is a safe lodging to stayeth nearby," Valeska muttered. A yawn interrupted her before she could add an insult to the end of her sentence. She'd taken to adding subtle slights at the end of her answers once she realized he was going to treat her like a child. Thankfully the shifting did tire her out enough to also shut her up.

Dan rolled onto his stomach and pushed up to his hands and knees. Signal was back in full on his phone, showing off a sickening amount of missed calls and notifications. Now that they were back in a city he'd have to get around to answering them and officially taking time off work. At least he wouldn't have to worry about travel funds while flying Air Dragon.

A glare glinted off of his phone screen from the street lights in the parking lot they'd landed in. Dan had to tilt his phone to check the map. Five cheap hotels popped up within walking distance. Relief flooded Dan's body when he saw the few clothing stores open this late were also in his price range.

"Alright, you're going to wait here while I get you something to wear that won't make us look like escaped convicts from the psyche ward," Dan said, gesturing to his dirt covered clothes and her brown potato bag dress. Two cleanly dressed adults would blend in with the night life crowds in the area. "Got it?"

Valeska clambered to her feet to stand over him. "I has't nothing. Taketh me to our lodgings," she ordered him. It took less struggle to understand her attitude now that she'd shown her true colors.

"I'll show you after you look normal. Wait here," Dan insisted.

They bickered back and forth for a while before Dan managed to get her tucked away on the side of a building with strict instructions not to speak to anyone. He was a block away before he realized he could just leave and she'd never find him. What did he owe her anyway? Dan dug his fingers into his hair harshly.

His mother would have helped her without question. She also would have helped the deposed prince of a foreign country who'd been deposed and asked for her help through email. A real life dragon would have exploded her mind. It was almost as if she was there egging him on. "Fine, fine, just a little longer," Dan muttered under his breath as he entered the large mall.

Close to an hour later he was dragging Valeska into a public restroom and shoving clothes at her along with soft pretzels. The woman was ravenous and demanded a larger meal. He'd gladly agreed in exchange for her total cooperation for the night. Dan didn't need her running her mouth in her old fashioned insult ways while he was trying to keep them incognito.

Valeska stepped out of the small bathroom, wiggling her feet every time she took a step. "These contraptions art horrible," she whined. The laces for her sneakers trailed after her.

"You have them on wrong. Sit," Dan told her, guiding her to a nearby bench. He knelt down and quickly pulled her shoes off to switch them to the correct sides and did up her laces. The white socks covered in tiny lizard graphics made him laugh just as much as when he'd first spotted them in the store. "Is that better?"

She took his hands and let him pull her up so she could take a few cautious steps. "So thee doth knoweth some sorcery," she gasped. The new shoes were silent even as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"I know the way of the credit card," Dan joked.

"Is yond a very new line of sorcery, this credit card?" she asked. The pretzels disappeared quickly during the short walk to the hotel Dan had called while she changed. They were the closest with open rooms and a full breakfast service that he would absolutely be treating them both to. They deserved something nice after the night they'd had. A bag of food for the night swung from his hand. It wasn't anything much and certainly not what Valeska had demanded of him.

Dan waved the palm sized blue card at her. "It's not magic, Val. It's money." A passing man glanced their way, eyes locked on Dan's hand. Between Dan's pointed glare and Valeska's fiery eyes, he moved on without causing a scene.

Her nose crinkled at the nickname which she was quick to correct him on before asking any questions. "Yond cannot beest wage...money," she added the last word after some thought. It seemed that enough people had passed her while she waited for her to begin realizing the way she talked was the outlier. She'd been quieter since he returned, taking time to pick apart both their words.

"Well, it's not actual money. This credit card connects to the place where my money is and tells people how much I have so I can buy things," he explained in the most simplified way he could.

Valeska nodded and tried to take it from him, missing it by inches when he pulled it away. "And yet tis not sorcery. This lodging... place becometh stranger at every turn. I would like to knoweth about these horseless carriages, cars" Her hand flung out to the right to point at the passing traffic,

"I'll find you a book in the morning," Dan muttered around a yawn. The thin string of his remaining patience was strung tight between his last nerves. He had really thought her sudden choice to fit in better would lessen her chatter. Instead he found the curiosity of a child dropped in a room full of touchable fun. "For now, let's eat and sleep, please."

Their room wasn't spacious or grand in any sense of the words but it had two beds and Dan was more than happy to drape himself across the nearest one. He tossed a bag of snacks onto the other and pointed at it. The cold brush of recycled air chilled him instantly. "We stay in this room until morning."

Crinkling bags answered his demands. Valeska was elbow deep in a family sized bag of chips with two empty water bottles by her side. Her first choice of deer or maybe a fat cow hadn't even made it onto the imaginary shopping list. Its absence in the bag of snacks brought up promises of a long hunt while he was left screaming in a tree.

"Thee may sleep, Daniel. I shall guard us for a time," she promised him. "What hast been done to these potatoes to makeththem so delightful?"

"Tans fats," Dan answered. As an afterthought, he flipped on the television and found a channel playing kids cartoons. The other bed squeaked in protest at Valeska's hurried retreat towards the headboard. "It's fine. It's... it's like a play. It will help you with speaking like a normal person."

Valeska inched forward on the bed towards the television. A flashy superhero show was wrapping up and promises of something more educational flashed across the screen. She watched with half lidded eyes.

"I didn't think I'd be a screen time parent, but I get it now." The background noises of Mr. Rogers lulled Dan into a deep sleep where he floated above clouds made of sneakers.