The darn thing was heavy, to say the least. It was heavy and sleepy and occasionally had the tendency to raise it's little snout and grab a mouthful of her hair, earning some gentle, if distressed coaxing on Maria's end to get him...her...it to release her. She supposed that she should have been grateful that Great Dane sized Heartless - recognizable by the emblem on its chin - dragon was only a baby, otherwise it would put all of her into its mouth.
It was kind of cute for something that had the potential to grow up to by roughly the size of a skyscraper, and was still learning how to control its storm like abilities for which it was named for. Already it had managed to zap her once or twice with the sheer amount of static electricity it kept stored in is beard, making it difficult for her to give any sort of affection without it shocking her.
Baby Storm Rider also had the natural inclination to put just about anything in its maw, be it pillows, sticks, fingers, hair, her laundry - it had quite a taste for her thongs and socks, and only one sock per pair that it ate. Maria found that she couldn't get too cross with it, though. After all, it was in a place that it wasn't familiar with, scared and alone, and she hadn't been able to locate the parents. In the event that they were still alive, it would have been hard to miss two, full grown dragons terrorizing New York.
For as much as she loved the little guy, she couldn't keep it, and she had told it as much, though it didn't seem to understand, having continuously nuzzled her chest with its head, growling affectionately. She had found him, but she had to let him go and get him out of Manhattan before he became too big and people noticed. Still, she couldn't just abandon him, and that was when a thought occurred to her.
Xigbar. Xigbar knew about dragons and had made mention to her on more than one occasion his fondness for them, particularly one that he had corrupted in the past called 'Storm Rider'. Though she couldn't be certain what kind of dragon this one was, she was sure that the gunman would be more than willing to take care of it. It was fucking dragon! Who in their right mind could say no to that? Plenty, obviously, but Xigbar wasn't exactly in his right mind that majority of the time anyway.
And wasn't it convenient that it also happened to Valentine's Day when she eventually managed to locate the Freeshooter? She had been wanting to get him a little something, but was certain that he wouldn't have appreciated the normal sentiments such as a card, chocolates, or even sex. Well, maybe sex, but a dragon kind of put that to shame even.
Before Maria even had the chance to call out to the black cloaked male, however, Storm Rider rushed passed her in a blur of yellow and brown and blue and orange, it's cymbal feet crashing loudly against the ground as it went straight for Xigbar's ponytail, his mouth clamping down around it, leaving Maria to chase after the young Heartless.
"Hey!" She called out, doing her best to avoid the trail of static in the baby dragon's wake. With a happy chirr, the dragon released Xigbar's hair, crashing over to Maria to nuzzle against her. With a a nervous chuckle, she tilted her chin in Xigbar's direction.
"Happy Valentine's Day?"
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At the familiar sound of cymbal-like feet and clanking, he tried to turn. Not soon enough, as the small creature latched onto his ponytail, earning a yelp and a cuss from the man. Once he was freed, he whirled around to get a good look at Maria. And the thing she held.