That Single Pringle

Description

Billie is an animal-loving collage student working at AngelDust, a local Magic provider as a temp job while she slowly gets qualified to be a vet or something like that idek.

Chapter 1

"Hello. This is AngelDust customer service, how may I help you?" I chirped cheerily into the phone.

"Finally! I've been stuck on hold for over half an hour!" The voice on the other end complained in a loud, whiny voice.

"I apologize for any inconvenience, what seems to be the problem?" I asked, not letting their tone break the friendly facade that all the employees were forced to wear.

"The problem is that I ordered ten gallons of magic, but only received four ounces." They growled through the line.

I turned to my computer. "Could you please give me your name, sir, so I can check?"

"I already gave you my name. SEVEN TIMES." He yelled, clearly frustrated.

"You may have given your name already, but not to me." I responded.

"Gavin. Smythe. G-A-V-I-N S-M-Y-T-H-E." He angrily spelled out.

I sighed, looked up the name, then said, "It says here that you ordered four ounces."

"Are you stupid as well as deaf?" Gavin yelled into the phone.

"Sir, you must have filled it out wrong. We all make mistakes. Regardless, it says here that the maximum amount of Dust you are permitted to buy is five ounces. Even if you had ordered ten gallons, you probably wouldn't have received it." I calmly explained.

"And why the fuck not?" he demanded.

"It says here that the last time you bought larger quantities of Dust, it resulted in an armed robbery. AngelDust has a policy about buyers who use our products illegally." I explained.

"And what might this 'policy' be?"

I could practically hear the air quotes. Now that I thought about it, the man seemed a bit drunk.

"That policy might be that once someone uses magic provided by AngelDust in an illegal manner, the maximum amount they may buy from AngelDust in the future is 5 ounces." I rattled off this information from memory. It was quite common that former criminals would try to get their hands on magic in such a stupid manner.

"I was framed." He tried.

"That may be so, but the AngelDust magic company doesn't want to be responsible for any illegal activities that may be executed using their products."

"I'm sure they don't."

"Sir-" I leaned forward but that did nothing to stop the dial tone. I signed, exited out of the customer profile, then reached up to tap my earpiece so that I could move onto the next customer.

I silently cheered when the clock signaled that my shift was over. I shot up from my desk, grabbed my bag, and was out of that building in no time.

I found an empty seat in the subway car and sat down. I slid my backpack down off my shoulder, dropping it at my feet. From my pocket, I pulled out my phone, and started scrolling though my recent messages. Most of them were just memes from Jaylan, my roommate and best friend.

The only thing I found that was of any real importance was a message from Amy, who wanted her study notes back. I didn't respond, but made a mental note to get them to her later.

A few stops later, I got off of the train. I was on the platform, on my way to the stairs leading up to ground level, when I heard a pathetic high-pitched screeching. Instinctively, I headed towards it. After a moment, I found a small dragon huddled in a dark corner.

When I reached down to touch it, it screeched again and flinched away from me.

"Shhh." I cooed soothingly to the creature. I removed the sweater I had tied around my waist, and carefully picked up the dragon, wrapping the soft cloth around it. I held it gently in my arms, like a baby.

It struggled briefly, but soon seemed to realize that I was there to help and quickly calmed down. I carried the dragon up off the subway platform, and down a few blocks to my apartment.

When I entered, I was greeted by Jaylan, who sat on the couch, absorbed in his phone.

"Hey, Billie-" he looked up at me, and groaned in annoyance, "No. No. Not again."

"What?" I asked innocently, dumping my backpack on the floor. I gently placed the dragon and it's new sweater nest on the kitchen counter.

"Not another stray." He whined. "We've talked about this."

"Why not?" I whined back in a semi-mocking tone.

He started to open his mouth in more protest, but opted out for just glaring at me. This was a common argument that he often lost.

I smirked, and slowly started unfolding the sweater. Jaylan stood up, and quickly made his way over to it when he saw the bloody body.

"Who would do such a thing?" He stared at the poor creature.

"I don't know. He could've gotten into some kind of accident of his own, but there's a lot of sick people in the world." I went over to the sink, and ran an unused washcloth under the water. I rung it out slightly, and went back to the dragon. It cried out slightly as I cleaned its wounds.

When I finished, you could clearly see that it was covered in several bleeding lacerations in a variety of sizes. It was sitting on its hind legs, unable to balance properly, as one of its wings was broken.

"Hold on." I ran off to my room, and grabbed a large first aid box from on top of my desk. I returned with it back to the kitchen, where Jaylan was taking photos of the dragon.

I placed the box on the counter, and opened it. The box was full of necessary items needed to fix up most wounds on most breeds of dragons.

This particular breed was called a Flügeleder. It had two strong hind legs, and two, large wings tipped with claws shaped like a falcon's talons. The skin of a Flügeleder is thick and leathery. This particular one was varying shades of dark blue.

I removed a little bottle from the box, and shook out a little golden pill. After recapping the bottle, I gently grabbed the dragon's head, and forced the pill down. When I let go, the dragon glared at me, then seemed to smile as the painkillers kicked in.

As the dragon calmed down, I set to work, stitching up the more severe wounds, and applying specialized bandaids to the more minor ones.

After I fitted it with a splint, Jaylan took more photos of the dragon. By that time, the dragon appeared very appreciative of me, and rightly so.

"Thank you," it carefully squeaked out in a reptilian accent.

"It speaks!" Jaylan declared overdramatically.

I rolled my eyes. "It's just a baby." The creature was about the size of a small housecat.

"What's your name?" Jaylan asked the creature.

"Wendell." It said.

"Well, Wendell, how would you like to get off of that cold countertop, and join me on the couch?" Jaylan suggested.

Wendell nodded, and Jaylan picked him up and carried him over to the couch.

I shook my head, and pulled my laptop out, placing it on the counter (the other end of where I'd been fixing up the dragon) and plugged it in to charge.

I dragged over a stool, and logged on to study. I looked over at my bloody sweater then shrugged.

I could clean that up later.

Chapter 2

I leaned back in my chair, frustrated.

"So, anything interesting happen at work?" Jaylan asked.

"No. There was some guy trying to buy too much magic, and he got mad at me, but thats pretty much it." I said.

"Ah, the wonders of working in customer service." He said sarcastically.

I threw a pencil at him. "Shut up."

He laughed. "Don't worry, you're almost done with collage, and once that happens, you'll be the best veterinarian in all the land."