Meko wasn’t the greatest at remembering

          Every single day he ‘forgot’ that he had left a mess of yarn for James to trip over. James got to the point where he was using his wind magic to walk in, subconsciously knowing that there would be a trap laid for him. The marbles Shardas had given him every day for not being bad would quickly diminish after that.

          Meko chewed.

          Everything.

          James’ favorite leather boots? They were more like shredded boots. His bed cover, even the wood of his desk was chewed.

          And he had coffee whenever the dragon wasn’t looking. He had definitely learned how to make the coffee which made him go completely nuts. Shardas groaned and covered his ears as the small creature screeched out Katy Perry songs at the top of his little lungs. He also pooped in James’ shoe. The marbles kept going in and (mostly) out of his jar.

          Finally James had had enough. He was trying to watch boxing over the sound of Meko’s wings flapping super fast and his horrible singing. He got up. “I am throwing away the coffee grinder!” He announced.

          “WHAT?” The griffin squeaked, looking at him with huge eyes.

          Now James had the coffee grinder in his hand, holding it up for all to see, a slightly maniacal bloodshot look in his eyes. “I’m gonna do it!”

          Shardas went to his knees. “No! Not the coffee!” he cried, spreading his arms.

          “Yes. Yes the coffee,” James said, letting go of it. It spun a few times before hitting the trash with a thunk.

          “Coffee.” Meko peeped.

          “Coffee,” Shardas whispered.

          “Coffee.” James said, slapping the top on the trash can. “No more.”

          “You.. monster!” Meko whispered, plopping on Shardas’ head.

          Shardas’ lower lip wobbled.

          Don’t worry I’ll get a new one, James mentally rolled his eyes at his dumb dragon.

          Shardas exhaled in relief. Meko shifted back to human form. “Can I make cookies?” he asked, his lips forming into a pouty face.

          “Yeah sure,” James grunted.

          “Yay!” Meko said, whipping out the ingredients, the coffee fiasco all but forgotten.

          Indeed, the very next day, James wind walked inside with a brand new Keurig coffee machine. A newfangled, fancy device with a slick exterior design and fancy buttons that would be virtually impossible for a young griffin to discover. James neatly touched down on the other side of the pile of yarn to see Shardas walking around the kitchen with a human Meko wrapped around his leg.

          Meko liked that a lot. Being dragged around, his arms around Shardas’s legs. It was like some sort of weird game. He even did it once with James.

          Once.

          “I got it!” James announced, setting down the black box with a smirk on his face. “Our new coffee maker!”

          “Oh thank goodness,” Shardas turned around. “Here I was thinking I was going to get broke off starbucks.” He said, taking one final sip of his coffee cup before tossing it in the trash. He smacked Meko’s hand with his tail as the griffin boy made a grab for it. Meko pouted but wrapped his skinny arms around Shardas’ legs once more, his belly sliding on the floor as he was pulled forwards.

          “Wow this thing looks like it could take off to the moon!” Shardas whispered as he saw the cover. “Reowr.” He made a growling sound.

          James chuckled and got out his pocket dagger his brother Darius had given him a century ago. He made quick work of the tape before reverently folding back the box and pulling out the shaped Styrofoam. After a dramatic pause, he unveiled the coffee maker in all it’s splendor.

          “It’s… beautiful,” Shardas whispered reverently, hand over hearts.

          “That it is, my dear dragon,” James smirked as he plugged it into the socket. Immediately the blue light blinked to life.

          Meko shifted back to tiny griffin form and nuzzled James’ leg, purring softly.

          “Not gonna work,” James said smugly as he began to work on the coffee maker.

          Problem was, the coffee maker was not only griffin proof, it was also grandpa proof.

          James fiddled, pushed, and rattled the coffee maker for an hour. Shardas telepathically tried to offer suggestions, even disassembling the back of the coffee maker before putting new batteries in it, and put it back on.

          “Water low?” James whispered, his words whistling between his grit teeth. “What’s that mean? I need more? I’ve got it full to the top!” he said, shoving the mug of water back into the groove, some water sloshing out of the rim.

          “Maybe it’s malfunctioned,” Shardas said, basically head to head with James. “Maybe we should take it back.”

          “You know what?” James held up his hands. “I think we both just need a breather. Let’s go sit down and watch some boxing.. get our heads on straight.”

          Shardas sighed in relief. “Sounds like a plan to me,” he said, putting down the mug and ambling after him towards the TV room.

          It was a great match. James watched in horror as his favorite wrestler got pounded again and again before the wrestler made an incredible come-back, attacking his opponent with lightning fast punches until he cowered in the corner, his hands weakly over his face. Then the sweaty man clad in naught but red and white boxers dealt a nasty blow to the side of his head and the man fell forwards in defeat.

          Shardas shook his head. “That sucked.” He said as he carved an eagle out of wood dexterously with his talon fingers. The wood shavings slowly drifted to the floor.

          “Want some coffee?” a little voice piped up.

          “Why yes, thank you,” Shardas said, taking the coffee and sipping it before nodding at the good taste and ruffling Meko’s fur.

          Meko purred and once again fastened his arms around Shardas’ leg.

          “Vanderra is like a panther in wait.” James said, leaning back on the couch. “You see what he did there? Tired out El Torro, made him think he’s winning, then pah pah.” He made to punch an invisible opponent.

          Shardas nodded, taking another sip of his coffee before setting it down to finish carving the eagle’s delicate wings.

          Meko shifted to his tiny griffin and crawled onto James’ lap, curling up on it to become a purring ball of fluffy warmth. James offhandedly pet him, realizing his fur was as soft as velvet. “Hm.” He grunted. “Oh great. Derrick is on next! He’s the best from Colombia!” He said, settling back on the couch for another good fight before his eyes narrowed on a certain coffee cup. “Is that coffee?”

          “Mhhm,” Shardas said, continuing to carve the feathers down to the thin shaft and every plume, tongue in teeth.

          “Where did you get that from?” James said tightly.

          Meko scampered out of James’ lap as Shardas answered. “Meko-“ then his eyes widened. “Meko did!”

          “Did Meko..” Suddenly the little blue griffin swooped into the room carefully holding a mug in his claws. He hovered in front of James, holding out a coffee mug with a smile.

          “Thanks Meko,” James said in surprise as he slowly took it from the creature. Meko purred and crawled back into his lap, curling up there, his owlish eyes closed peacefully and his big ears pulled backwards. Even James had to smile down at him as he took another sip of his coffee, stroking his fluffy little back. “Good griffin,” he whispered softly.

          And he could swear Meko had a smile on his beak.