Earth

"No way you are real."

That's what Alex had said exactly two seconds after he saw six little beaks peck their way out of what appeared to be dragon eggs. That's what he thought as the turquoise little creature stared at him, white eyes begging to be loved or perhaps fed. He honestly wasn't sure but the noises seemed rather whiny.

However, let's dial back an hour or two because the origin of a story is just as important as its end.

Uriel, Alexander's psuedo-sibling invited him and Roisin Raisin to a block (floor?) party which really only consisted of four rooms as the complex itself was rather small. At the time he was supposed to go to pick-up basketball with his friends but Uriel being the mother she was, he couldn't disappoint her and decided that he ought to at least say "hi" even though he didn't know the others very well. Most were well above his age range and probably not athletic in any aspect. Still, he went and the first hour was tolerable.

They had chips, drinks, movies, and just about everything a generic party needed but one of them wanted eggs. He hadn't actually remembered who but he swears up and down it wasn't him. Well in the interest of saving cartons, someone pointed out that the half-carton of eggs would be more cost effective and it would have been if not for the fact that there were "mother fucking dragons!" inside. Really, the omelets sounded amazing and all but here they were with theses odd creatures.

"Scree?" the one presumably known as his dragon squeaked.

Ah yes right he couldn't retreat to his phone where things made sense.

"Okay well does anyone know how to take care of these things?"

The turquoise creature didn't so much crawl as slither away from the carton and towards him.

"Scree!"

"Anyone?"

Dragons.

This was the only thought running through Uriel's mind for the first few moments after he had cracked the egg over the pan and nearly fried a little scaled creature. Even now, a while after the event, with all his guests holding or staring at little dragons, he was still in a bit of a state of shock, hand unconsciously fiddling with the hair where he sometimes braided to indicate preferred pronouns.

"Ok, which fucker bought these? No, more importantly, where did you buy these? Because I'm thinking maybe you should never go there again. Ever."
"How the fuck do you mix up dragon eggs with chicken eggs?

"I swear I bought chicken eggs. Uriel shook his head a moment, trying to think straight. "The other 6 eggs in the carton were chicken eggs. I..." For the first time in the years he had lived here, Uriel was speechless and unsure of how to plan a way forwards. In the end it was someone else speaking that finally got the freaking out Uriel to focus.

"Okay well does anyone know how to take care of these things?"

Dragons, dragons. How does one take care of dragons. Dragons were predators. They... only ate meat? He didn't remember the myths well enough. "Uh. Food. They probably need to be fed. Dragons eat... sheep? Roisin, do you know any myths about baby dragons?" He knew the younger Ramos was a myths expert, and now with at least a semblance of a plan of response, Uriel visibly calmed down, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"I can get lamb chops sent up here. And there's milk in the fridge. I think that takes care of any dietary needs. They might need nests. Or caves? I'll.... I can check what habitats they like after I've rung my friend up to send the food over. I'll go make that call." Still shaken enough to stumble over his own mini-speech, Uriel began to fumble in the pockets looking for his mobile, before finding out that the coat currently being worn didn't have it. After cursing silently under his breath, Uriel began carefully moving around the dragons and people on the floor of apartment. "Keep an eye on the dragons." Saying that word still feels a little crazy. "And please someone close and lock the door and windows."

Noodle slithered around on the table, sniffing everything it got close to. Min watched, making sure it didn't bite anyone else, until he was startled by the sound of the trash compactor. Wait, trash...?

"Please don't tell me you did what I think you did."

Min slowly walked over to where Terry had stood, trying to think of a way to fix the situation. There was none. He stared for a few seconds, full of disbelief. No, no, it was okay. The eggshells weren't that important. Its not like the dragons needed them any longer. They were only important if you had planned to write down everything about your dragon. If you wanted to keep a log, and study it properly. Like he wanted to do. His data was ruined already. It could never be complete.

"Terry!" he yelled at the boy by the windows, getting his attention. Min frantically gestured from the carton to the machine. "You just, you just!!!!!" Dragging his hands down his face in frustration, he growled, "Terryyyyyyy."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He should've looked earlier. Why hadn't he thought to keep an eye on Terry as soon as he came into the kitchen? He couldn't blame his roommate for this. No matter how shitty they were.

When the machine had finished his job, Min didn't open it. He already knew what the result was. The eggs had turned to dust, already lost in the other garbage. There would be no way to tell which egg belonged to his dragon. He sounded more remorseful than angry when he muttered, "Why doesn't this damn machine have a stop button?"

"Uriel, I think it might depend on the dragon. I mean, all of these little guys look like they're from totally different species. It might just end up being a trial and error thing," Marilla offered, then turned her attention to the tiny feathered dragon which had somehow climbed its way up on her lap.

It had currently curled up into a tiny little ball of sorts, and apparently had been snoozing- up until Terry dropped his little hatchling on her lap as well. Then it backed up against Marilla's stomach, regarding the new arrival with a sort of hesitant curiosity before it bounded over, nudged the other with the tip of its snout, then quickly went back to its position against Marilla.

"It's Rilla, Terry! I don't know how many times I've said this, but I'll keep saying it until you get it into your head." She called out after him, then turned to watch the exchange on her lap. Her hatchling seemed more like a puppy than a dragon. It was sort of adorable.

All the while though also listening to Terry and Min's exchange, she raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the blonde, "Uh. Why'd you throw the eggshells out? Maybe they're supposed to eat them- certain animals have to eat their eggshells after they're born. I mean, it doesn't seem like it, since all these little guys just about ditched their eggshells, but you know, it could've been. Maybe we should all just wait a bit on doing anything hasty like that for a while."

Eggshells being destroyed? The middle aged man didn't care one bit about that.

Ned was paralyzed from the surprise and dread he felt as he was forced the responsibility to take care of a mythical being. Everyone seemed to be excited to have a pet dragon, but he only felt his wallet becoming lighter and his free time becoming more scarce.

"So, it's been a good long while already. Who's ready to play the naming game? Roi? Alex? Ned?"

Ned was terrified when he heard these words from Terrance, mostly because he actually had a terrible naming sense. Serena's name was chosen by his deceased wife, Jennifer. Ned was originally planning on naming his daughter "Prudence" after hearing his co-worker name his daughter "Hope", but everyone was against his idea.

Now he had to name something that he hadn't thought even existed. Ned read a few fantasy novels, where they would label the dragons with names such as, "Fafnir" or "Glaurung", but he didn't dare name it with something so grandeur. Otherwise, the others might think of him as old fashioned, which was one of his greatest fear. Ned wanted to stay hip and young to keep the "cool adult that you can totally depend on" image that was in his head. However, it's also crucial because this dragon has to live with the name for the rest of it's life, even if it's not with him in the future.

Ned racked his brain around for a minute and remembered an anime that his daughter was watching this morning. It featured an unknown being that was alien to human records, and named the unknown being with an acronym...U.M.A was it? Unidentified Mysterious Animal, that's right, that was the name. He quickly looked up the name Uma on his smartphone.

"Unidentified Mysterious Animal, the popular term for cryptids in Japan"

"What a wonderfully fitting name for the new born dragon." Ned had accidentally said it out loud.
After getting over the embarrassment, he turned to Terrance.

"Twerp, I know you're trying to rub off on our ideas but at least try to keep it unique, alright?"

He then turned to everyone else for feedback on the name.

"Uma has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Well, I hate to break it to you guys, but I've officially nabbed the best one of the batch. Look, it looks like the alien from Alien."

"Uh nice try but my dude here looks like," Alex paused for a second, glancing over at his dragon before realizing it had disappeared, "oh shit!"

"Scree!"

Alex looked over to the sink, finding the small creature bathing in one of the dirty dishes. It seemed to enjoy the half-filled bowl of water despite the remnants of food caked on the edges. Clearly his dragon gave no damns about being gross. He picked up the bowl and filled it to the rim so as to allow the serpent to swim more freely before setting it on the table. He paid no mind to the rest of the participants in the discussion until the idea of food popped up and Alex could only imagine what sorts of things this creature, this dragon could eat.

"Mine seems like more of a fish type of guy, but that's just a guess," he shrugged as he double-checked any other entrances and exits within the apartment. The last thing he wanted was one of them getting into the walls and plus, his dragon seemed happy in the water.

When he was finished, Terrance proposed the idea of naming all the dragons but honestly Alexander wasn't so sure. Naming it meant giving it an identity and thus sympathy should it ever get hurt. Granted his dragon was cool as hell but it'd be bad deals if the thing ever ran away. Not that he was thinking that far into the future.

"I dunno man, I want something cool and prophetic," he shrugged, "any ideas Roi?"

"You named your dragon after a dancer?" She squinted at Ned, a bit confused, before turning her attention back to the two hatchlings on her lap.

Her little one seemed shocked, having been whacked in the snout with the other's tail. It peered at the other curiously, a bit cautious now that it had been injured, and waited a bit before it dashed forward and gently nudged it, dashing back at about the same speed.

"I dunno what I should name mine. I mean, there are a plentitude of names, right? I'd like to name it something cool. But not pretentious and all the names I can think of are borderline pretentious and gah, honestly Ned, how on Earth do parents manage with the naming thing?" She froze then said, "Oh god. You know what this means? We're all parents now! Parents to tiny dragons who will likely grow up to be massive and are probably intelligent. Oh god can you imagine how rough this is gonna be? Like, I'm sure some of us be fine but there are people among us, I will not name names, who probably will have a rough time like this. I wonder if they go through stages like humans, oh dear, can you imagine if they do? Teenage dragon angst? It'll be the worst. Or terrible two's? Can you imagine a baby dragon temper tantrum? Oh gosh, does this mean that when we meet up in the future and discuss our dragons progress like we no doubt will, it'll be as though we're parents upping the progress of our children? Oh this has so many implications."

Grinning, she beamed at her tiny feathered dragon, "I mean, it might not have all that, but man, this little guy is cute and there's no way I'm not keeping him. Her. I dunno. How do you tell its gender? Should I go for a gender neutral name?"

Roi was in shock- but a good kind of shock. She was in disbelief that all her far-fetched, insane dreams had just hatched before her eyes. Literally.

"Uh. Food. They probably need to be fed. Dragons eat... sheep? Roisin, do you know any myths about baby dragons?" She'd heard Uriel throw out the question, and racked her brain. "Well, they seem to be following us around like little ducklings or some crap like that. Little scaly ducklings..." The white hatchling was sitting on the coffee table, and she tugged it away when it began sharpening its claws on the wood.

"Meat is probably a good plan, yeah... I'll check my sources as soon as we get this sorted out. I feel like somewhere it said that some hatchlings eat the eggs they were in for extra minerals and stuff, so better not-" Before finishing her sentence, Roi yelped. The little scaly duckling had tried to sharpen its claws on her legs. "You stop that, little one." The dragon looked at Roisin in disdain and scratched its talons down her legs one more time before leaping onto the couch and standing on her hind legs like a guard.

Getting up and walking over to the door, she shut it firmly and locked it. Knowing how aggressive her little hatchling had been to the table, Roi hoped that the wooden door could withstand the little dragon. Walking back over to the couch, she was startled by the trash compactor making weird crunches. She heard Rilla talking about animals eating their eggs, and knew she'd pointed that out earlier. "Well, there goes any hope of having them munch on eggshells. Door is locked and secure." Shaking her head and reclaiming her spot on the couch, she looked at the creamy dragon standing guard.

She looked at the little white dragon that had emerged from the first egg. "So you started this mess, little one..." She was staring into the proud hatchling's violet eyes when she was jerked back by the naming ceremonies. "So, it's been a good long while already. Who's ready to play the naming game? Roi? Alex? Ned?" She heard Terry say, and immediately looked back to the miffed white hatchling. "Well, aren't you just a little ball of sunshine." The dragon glared at her, and then jumped into her lap, curled up, and began purring much like a cat. Roi was surprised and nearly jumped back, but smiled softly when the purrs turned to snores.

Listening to the murmurs of name ideas floating around, Roisin tried to come up with a name for her new dragon. She'd decided that the hatchling was female, based on its mannerisms and oddly long eyelashes. It seemed right. Roi had so much experience naming characters and pets that she was trying to come up with an equally awesome name for the awesome mythical creature napping on her. "You're like a little sentinel... What about Sentenia? Does that sound right?" Deciding that Sentenia fit the girl hatchling still sleeping soundly, she watched as her friends and neighbors scrambled for names.

"Uma has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Roi nodded to Ned. Uma reminded her of something she'd watched recently, she couldn't put her finger on it however. She wanted to look it up on her phone, but Sentenia was laying on it, and Roi knew the rules. No waking up pets, ever. She didn't even want to know how cranky baby dragons would be if woken from a nap.

"I dunno man, I want something cool and prophetic, any ideas Roi?" She smiled at Alex's ultimate question, and watched the little hatchling swim around in the dirty bowl filled with water. "Well, I did have a shark once. I doubt your little hatchling would appreciate being named James Pond, though. In my defense, I was seven." She covered quickly before she could be teased. "Your little serpent dragon is pretty cute though. Any idea the gender?" Sentenia yawned and looked up lazily, blinking sleep from her now crystal-blue eyes. "That's a bit odd..." she murmured to herself.

Grabbing her phone before the white dragon settled down again, she looked up sea serpent myths. Checking her blog first to see if she'd posted anything on sea serpents, she sighed. No luck. Searching on the internet, she uncovered a picture guide to different kinds of sea dragons. "Hmm. Alex, I think your dragon is a Bakunawa. Says here that it's a dragon rumored to have swallowed the moon in ancient myth. Not much information here, though." Turning off her phone, she studied the little dragon. "What about Atlantic? Or Pacific? Sea names are pretty cool, like Carribean. If it's a guy, though, you might want to go a little manlier. Like, 'Sea Demon' or whatever."

Roi grinned helpfully and turned to her friends. She noticed Uriel working on food and picked up her white dragon baby. Sentenia yawned and rolled over in her arms. She eyeballed the hatchling's size and looked down at her hoodie pocket. Putting the baby dragon in the big pocket, she stood up carefully and maneuvered her way into the kitchen. "Need any help, Uriel? Milk is probably a good idea, but I'm not sure how well plastic or rubber'll stand against the fangs of these little ones." Roi glanced over at Rilla, who had her lap full with two hatchlings clambering around. Furrowing her brow, she glanced around. Of course. Terry didn't have his dragon, which must mean Rilla had both hers and Terry's. Sighing, she half-listened to Rilla's rant and leaned on the counter.

"Which one's yours, Rilla? The feathered one resembles more of a female, with body shape and all. I'm not so sure about feathered dragons. I'd assume they're all slender, but..." Roi stopped herself from starting a tangent. "Any name would be nice for yours. The other hatchling... Yeah, Terry was right. It kind of does look a bit alien." Watching it stumble around and lash the blue hatchling with a flat tail, Roi examined the thing from a distance. "It kind of looks like it can't see. Do you think it's eyeless? It could be, if it's a deep sea or a cave sort. They don't have much need for sight, since it's so dark..."

Trailing off, Roi smiled as her gaze swept the room. Sure, raising dragons would be a nightmare at times, but she couldn't wait.