Ryan flew out of his house, heading for the school as fast as his wings would take him. The clear sky overhead was just beginning to darken; a perfect night for fireworks.

Halfway there, Mitch and Raissa pulled up alongside, both of their larger forms overshadowing his.

“Wohoo!” Mitch cheered as he pulled a quick loop, “I love Independence Day!”

“Did we even have anything to do with the American war for Independence?” Ryan asked curiously.

“Dragons have been involved in every war,” Raissa answered, “You just don’t realize it. World history is Sophomore year.”

Below, the school came into view, and the three descended toward the back parking lot where Saisha and Shalou waited for them.

A large picnic blanket was already stretched out in the narrow stretch of pavement, cookies and condiments laid out on it.

“You bring the hotdogs?” Saisha asked of Raissa as the older girl landed and transformed.

“Of course,” Raissa pulled several packages of hotdogs out of her spacious pant pockets, “But I can’t cook ‘em until Riyu brings her flat grill,”

“Not a problem,” Shalou spoke up, “There’s Grace and Riyu now,” He pointed to the two large shapes coming down to land.

Riyu dropped the barbecue held in her front claws before transforming and stepping back to view the sky, "Great weather for fireworks,” she commented.

“I remember the year that it rained,” Grace spoke from next to her, setting the large box she held on the ground before transforming as well “That was horrible,”

“Speaking of which, who’s bringing the fireworks?” Ryan asked, looking at them.

“Eric said he’d bring them,” Raissa said as she crouched down and lit the grill,

“Great, he’ll probably want to lit them too, the pyro,”

“Better the Storm Dragon than the Fire Dragons,” Mitch glared at the two, particularly Riyu, before flopping on the ground and scarfing several Oreos.

“You’re just jealous that you can’t light ‘em, Ice-breather” Riyu shot back, flecks of Oreo hitting the blanket.

A loud yell from above them caused everyone to look up as Eric came in for a landing, plastic bag full of fireworks carefully clutched in his front claws. “I got the Fireworks! Time for some ‘sploshins!”

“You aren’t blowing up anything till the hotdogs are done!” Raissa yelled back, carefully placing several hotdogs on the grill.

“And until then, I brought milk,” Grace smirked and lifted the lid off of the crate she had flown in. Inside were enough bottles of milk for them to have at least two each. Grace pulled two bottles out and tossed them to Eric, “And two bottles of pasteurized, for the fireworks lighter,”

“Gee, thanks,” Eric sighed and flopped down on their picnic blanket and popped the top off of one of the bottles, “I suppose there is one downside to being the one to light off the fireworks,”

“No offense, “Mitch grinned and knocked back a bottle of unpasteurized, “But we don’t want a drunk guy shooting at us with bottle rockets,”

The argument may have continued, but the unmistakable smell of cooked hotdogs coming from the grill was a little distracting.

“Hotdogs!” Saisha quickly snagged a bun and slathered it in mayonnaise, then ran over to the grill, “Me first!”

Fortunately, there were enough hotdogs to go around and everyone received one. Raissa put a second batch on the grill, and they were ready to start.

“We’ll start with the small stuff first, “Eric transformed, confidant that his hard scales would protect him from any misfires. Grasping a firework in his front claws, Eric lit it with a quick zap from his tail prongs and they all leaned back to see the colorful explosion in the sky.

“If that’s a small one, I can’t wait to see the big ones,” Ryan muttered to Mitch, who was already halfway through his second bottle and having trouble retaining his human form.

Mitch giggled, “It’s totally awesome. You shoulda seen last year’s finale. Epic, jus’ epic.” He took another swig, and Ryan was forced to move as he got a face-full of bright blue tail feathers.

Ryan sighed and shook his head, then grabbed a bottle of milk for himself and chugged it in one go. The results were almost immediate. Ryan swayed as his vision blurred, and he felt himself forced into his dragon form. Sitting down heavily, Ryan snagged another bottle and cheered at bright white explosion in the sky above.

“Ya know,” Mitch said conversationally, words beginning to slur, “This ‘s what holidays are all about,”

“How ‘zat?” Ryan focused on his now-fuzzy friend.

“We hain’t got prezents, or a big fancy party. We got hotdogs and a bag a dragon-brand fireworks,” Mitch tried to take a sip from his bottle, not noticing that it was empty, “We got friends. Good ones. Thas what holidays are about.”

Ryan goggled at his roommate, surprised that he had actually managed to say something profound, “I guess you’re right,”

They sat in contemplative silence for a moment, then were forced to scramble out of the way when an errant firework shot straight towards them.