Meddle Not in the Affairs of Dragons
 

John absently checked the time on his mobile. It was nearly time for the bi-weekly group meeting to start. The meetings were something that every person partnered with a dragon had to attend twice a month, and John had ended up needing to break his Wednesday night routine and show up on a Thursday instead. None of the people at the meeting were familiar, really, so John just took a seat and waited for the meeting to start.

Bree ended up sitting next to a new guy, which she took in stride. Because the meetings were only mandatory twice a month, she ended up meeting new people all the time. She just sat next to him quietly, nodding to him in greeting, and settling in for the meeting. Hopefully this time things wouldn't go on forever; she didn't like leaving her companion home alone for too long. She tended to get bored, which was when things started catching fire.

John nodded in return, unknowingly hoping the same: he wanted to get back to his partner before the dragon got too bored. Because letting Sherlock get bored was a Bad Thing.

Finally, the meeting started, and the leader stepped into the middle of the ring of seats.

"Good evening," she said. "Welcome to the support meeting. As always, we'll start with names, so any new faces in the group can get acquainted with everyone. I will start: My name is Rosette, and my partner's name is Wadsworth."

As introductions went around the circle, John absently tried to pick out any expensive-looking jewelry or trinkets he could see. Dragons usually gifted their partners with something from their troves, and the humans in question tended to wear them. John himself had a rather gaudy ring on one hand that Sherlock had given him, and it pleased the dragon to see John wearing it.

Finally, it got to his turn.

"I'm John," he said. "And my partner is Sherlock."

"My name is Bree, and my partner is Charlotte." Bree smiled a bit at the group in general. She did have a present from Charlotte, a gold and silver cuff bracelet that she wore all the time, but tonight she had it hidden under her jacket.

Once they were done with introductions, Rosette nodded and looked at the group in general. "Alright, next order of business. Is anyone new to dragon handling? Or does anyone need advice or tips?"

As the meeting settled into normal orders of business, Bree leaned back in her seat, choosing to watch rather than participate.

John settled back as well. He wasn't new to dragon handling: he'd been partnered with Sherlock for a few years, now. He felt confident in his handling of the dragon by now. There were some new handlers in the group, John noticed, and he couldn't help a bit of a nostalgic grin. He remembered those early, harried days with Sherlock.

When, after an hour or so, the meeting started to wind down, Bree glanced over at the guy next to her. He looked pretty comfortable, hadn't had any questions. She did notice the ring on his finger, but it was the wrong hand to be married, so she figured it was a gift from his dragon.

"Another attendee because it's necessary?" she asked with a bit of a grin.

John blinked at the sudden conversation, but fell into it easily enough.

"I would have been here last night," he said. "But I wasn't able to get out. What about you? John, by the way, John Watson."

"Bree Cavalli. This is my normal night, but there's always new faces showing up." Bree smiled faintly. "I'm just glad it's only mandatory twice a month and not every week."

"Oh I know," John said, grinning. "Sherlock would never stand for it if it were weekly. He barely tolerates it now."

"Leaving Charlotte alone for an evening is generally a bad idea," Bree said with a grin. "Last time I came back to a smoking fireplace. Everything around it was on fire."

That made a chuckle burst out of John before he could stop it.

"Sorry," he said, grinning. "Bit of a firebug, then, I take it?"

Bree couldn't help but grin in response.

"She's a fire breather," she said with a bit of a shrug. "She gets bored, she sets things on fire."

"Sherlock can, though I think he prefers not to," John said. "I've see him breathe fire once or twice, but he doesn't make a habit of it."

"Makes sense. Not all of them like to. I just have the pyro." Bree grinned though. "At least she's normally pretty well behaved."

John grinned.

"Wouldn't trade it for the world, right?" he asked.

"This one I wouldn't trade for anything," Bree agreed with a grin. "How about yours? You've got a favor so apparently you're not doing so bad." She grinned at him teasingly.

John chuckled.

"Sherlock is a little... ostentatious, we'll say," he said, touching the ring he wore. "He rather likes to show off. What about you?"

"Charlotte can be. Sometimes she's content with just knowing, sometimes she wants to be more obvious about it." Bree shrugged. "She gave me a cuff, so I can wear it and hide it or show it as I like, or as she demands."

John nodded a bit, grinning.

"Dragons can be demanding creatures," he agreed. "Say, would you like to get tea with me sometime?"

Bree blinked at the offer but smiled.

"Sure. When is good for you?"

"Saturday afternoon?" John suggested after a moment of thought. "Unless there's a better time for you."

"Saturday afternoon should be fine." Bree got a piece of paper and pen out of her purse, scribbling down her number and handing it over. "That's my cell, I don't have a home phone."

"Ah, thank you," John said. He looked around briefly for something to write with. When he found one, he wrote down his own mobile number for her. "Here," he said. "My flat doesn't have a landline either."

Bree grinned knowingly. "Is there any tea place in particular you were thinking of? Or shall I shoot out ideas?"

"I wasn't thinking of any one in particular, no," John said. "Was there one you liked?"