When I woke up, Helen wasn't laying next to me. As I got out of bed, I called out, "Honey? Where'd you go?"

"I'm in the living room!"

I stretched out as I slipped out from under the covers and left the bedroom. I was mid-yawn when I saw what was on the couch, which led to me nearly choking on my own tongue in shock. Draped over the couch, loveseat, and rug was a cherry red dragon, with massive wings and no limbs save for the swishing tail at the end of their body. The dragon grinned and said to me, "Good morning, Chelsea! You sleep okay?"

"Wh--Helen?! What is--what is happening right now?!"

"Um, it's what we...talked about last night, remember?"

"Last night?! But all we talked about was--" I stopped once it dawned on me: "Wyrm. You said wyrm, not worm."

Helen cringed slightly. "Ohhhh, I forgot to clarify what kind of wyrm I was referring to. I'm sorry. But, um, yeah, this is the real me. And if this is too much for you--"

"Whoa whoa whoa, are you kidding me? Honey, I love you like apples love peanut butter. And you could be any kind of DND monster you can think of, you're a nat 20 in every which way."

Helen giggled and replied, "Thanks, my lovely little geek."

I grinned mischievously as I walked over to her. "Besides, you're not the only one with a mythical secret."

"What are you talking abou--Oh my goodness!!"

With the faintest shadow of effort on my part, I lifted Helen into a bridal carry. As her wings flared out over us like an umbrella, I remarked, "You know, you're actually lighter than I expected."

"Chelsea, how the hell are you doing this?!"

"Come on, hon, it never struck you as odd that I'm almost eight feet tall? Or that I keep a kid-size baseball bat under the bed?"

Helen used her wings to shrug. "I mean, I was never one to complain about you being huge, and the bat was autographed, so..."

I chuckled and responded, "Yeah, the bat's not actually autographed. It's not even a bat in the first place; it's actually a cudgel I had disguised as one."

"Why do you have a cudgel?"

With a smile, I willed my own disguise to fade away. My skin changed to a dark red, my hair to a stark white, and my eyes to an almost sickly yellow. Once my transformation was complete, I looked into Helen's eyes and said, "Cause no oni worth their salt goes anywhere without one."