Derek quietly closed the door to his bedroom, leaving his girlfriend laying on the bed, a new stuffed toy. He felt a stirring as a stray thought about exploring that form of hers crossed him mind. Realizing that he was straying from his goal, Derek firmly put out thoughts of the collar to focus at keeping his parents from intruding at an inopportune moment.
Nearly stumbling down the stairs and falling, Derek caught the last railing to steady himself. A few steps more and he burst into the kitchen to find his parents looking jet lagged and disheveled. Derek's dad was mechanically eating cereal which he'd forgotten to put milk in. He'd also forgotten to shave.
"Oh, there you are." Derek's mom smiled. She sat at the table with her husband and was nursing a glass of orange juice. Her eyes had dark bags hanging under them, her hair was mostly combed but a few stray strands stuck out at odd angles. "Did you enjoy your time alone in the house?"
Derek's cheeks flushed red. Coughing and turning to the fridge to hide, Derek nodding. "Yep, it was pretty good." He rummaged around, the cool air tempered his hot face. He pulled out the milk and handed it to his dad.
"Ah, I knew there was something missing." Derek's dad poured milk into his bowl.
"Sorry about your deal, Dad." Derek idly rubbed his back and near where he had had a dragon's tail.
"Yeah, you win some you lose some. Always next time." He went back to munching cereal.
Derek pulled out a couple of muffins from the pantry and put them on a plate. "You know, you guys look like you need some quiet. I've got some homework to do and I might go over to Mike's later. If I do, I'll write you a note, OK?" Derek edged toward the stairs.
"Oh, that's fine, honey. Yeah, just let us know if you go anywhere."
With that said, Derek took the stairs two at a time and rushed into his room. A sigh escaped him as he closed the door. He put the plate of two muffins on his dresser and flopped down next to his wonderful tiger toy.