CHAPTER 1 - Kobold Krafts (in the wind)

It was official. As of today, Yelz had been in Alysia Central Emergency Hospital for the same amount of time as she'd lived in the cozy walls of Patricia's Palace. Perched upon the rail at the end of her bed, Yelz tilted her head back and gurgled, tiny pink tongue flailing, as drops of spittle geysered forth like a fountain to splatter upon otherwise clean tile. Several other kobolds, Tikk, Hera, Veran, and Lin, mirrored the display, their voices rising in a cacophony of reptilian din.

"Glklklklklklklklk! Yip!"

"Yip yip!"

"Yiiiiip!"

"Yip yap?"

"Yipa yip!"

"What… auntie Yelz doing? Yes? No?" Kolky, sat in Johnna's lap in the corner, tilted his head one way then the other. As if the display of kobold culture would make more sense at a forty-five degree angle. A math book lay open before them, his sister and brothers out strengthening their wings with Tolly while he helped his father keep the lizards company. Kolky had no need for such exercise, as he'd been accepted into a junior Verwer league, gryphon style racing through trees. Though the still growing wing arms sprouting from his back were now covered in a fine layer of fur, preparation for his first primaries, and the sky still denied to him, Kolky would spend at least an hour after school with his new coach strengthening the appendages and learning breathing techniques.

"Ah, you see son, while Yelz's body may be healing, she is currently loosing her mind from being cooped up."

"Oooohhhh."

"I'm going insane!" Yelz dropped from her perch, landing with a bounce that saw her still hunched, feral and desperate. Within moments, her warren-mates were dragging her back to the prison of her bed, sheets more akin to bars tucked in with caring paws. "No, please! I'll start biting people. I swear it!"

"Yelz will end up in jail."

"Then you'll go actually mad."

"Listen to us, and the doctors."

Were it not for the promise of Andrew's daily visits, Yelz would bite her warren mates tucking her in with such care and worry, their paws gentle yet firm. It hadn't been so long ago that the poor kobold would have given her left ear to feel their touch and fuss, long conversations and nights scribbling away crossword puzzles and coloring in childish picture books… yet as the days grew longer and the meat on her bones filled out to their prior health, a lust for the sun on her scales and grass between her toes returned with such a fire as to burn away the socially starved pit in her stomach. Yelz wanted to do something. Go somewhere, anywhere! Somewhere other than the sterile walls and halls of the hospital. Not that the place wasn't nice- it was! Just… uuuggghhhh.

And the food.

Fuck the food.

Andrew had only been able to sneak in that singular plate of steak and eggs followed by a divine bowl of stew from her mother.

The last bastion of taste her tongue had been graced by. Cardboard had been her diet since. Sadness upon her pallet that competed with the same taste as taking a deep breath of air. Hospital life, with all its stale routine and gray monotony, was not for Yelz. Boredom tore at her restless soul! Cool pool waters and late night comedy standups, or waking Hershey up for girl talk, heck, she'd even beg Tolly for another ride through the sky at this rate! Anything to break up the same meal times and the same walking path and the same reruns on the much too small television, and-

"Uuuugggghhhhhh, I wanna leeeaaavvveeee…"

"Leave? No. Auntie Yelz can't leave. Doctor say stay? Yes." Kolky nodded, youthful wisdom dripping from every word as if they were gospel. Johnna tapped the still open textbook before said youthful gryphon's talons, grinning at the chick's groan. Kolky had worded that so eloquently! Why hadn't he earned at least twenty more seconds of procrastination? Alas, his father's insistent finger continued to tap the dreaded pages, drawing his eyes down to the numbers and equations. Yelz wasn't the only one ready to toss herself out a window.

"It's gotta be soon, I'm sure." Johnna scratched his son behind the ear, hovering to observe him tear through the simple homework with bored efficiency. Arithmetic came easy to gryphons. Literature and linguistics? Not so much. Yelz had offered to help once, a few days ago. Kolky had tilted his head, smiled, and finished the worksheet before his new aunt could offer twice.

On the dot, at exactly three twenty in the afternoon, the door blocking Yelz from her freedom swung wide. Doctor Bens was a good man, all things considered, but a dry one; humor was a foreign concept, as was levity.

"Miss Tinker? Time for your walk, don't want those legs getting weak or de-"

"Developing bed sores, yes. Please, anything to get me out of this room." Yelz hopped from the bed to the cold floor, foregoing her sandals once again to pad passed the old human. "Prison! Incarceration! Freeeedom!"

"Yes yes, I'm sure you're quite the tortured soul. Please be back in two hours." Doctor Bens made the wise choice to stand aside for the kobold cadre, a skill many in the hospital were turning into an art. The sound of paw pads upon clean tile had become something of a constant drone as of late; kobolds following nurses and doctors around like hapless puppies, carrying supplies and clip boards, taking notes, helping the cleaning staff sanitize, polish, mop, sweep, and cart away the never ending sea of trash. Males, larger in stature, assisted the orderlies in safely moving patients or wrangling those who had lost their faculties, while the more matronly helped exhausted parents watch over their children. In fact, more than one of the hospital staff had been heard lamenting the day Yelz would be discharged, as her warren would go with her. Yelz didn't care one single scale of her tail that the staff would have to go back to doing their jobs all by themselves. She wanted to flee, she wanted the sun at her back and the wind in her scales… across her scales… whatever.

The same nursing station, the same staff, the same hallways. Corro, Hile, and Vulu were standing on each others shoulders, a tower of kobold, Vulu guiding a mop while Hile worked the levers of a bucket and Corro steadied the trio. The same rooms and same patients, usually, same orderlies and same plains clothes officers. Witness protection would stick around until she was discharged or Greg was arrested, wherever that scumbag ended up. Everything was just… the same.

Same same same.

"Can I go outside?" Puppy eyes were effective, especially on humans, but when Yelz turned them upon the doctor walking next to her…

"Only the courtyard. You keep looking at me like that and I'll label you a flight risk." A green kobold, Zeta, tapped away on a tablet behind the esteemed health care provider, sticking her tongue out at Yelz. Traitor… "You still have nine pounds to go before you're up to healthy weight."

"Yeah yeah, I'm going to see the sun."

"So be it. Just be back before time." With that, Yelz sped away, her gaggle of warren-mates following behind. Stairs weren't as daunting as they used to be, so weak from malnutrition, the trip down to the bottom floor easier with every passing day, the heavy steel door leading outside a small obstacle for the combined might of four kobolds. Soon, cool autumn air caressed her pink scales, and more, she was wearing a hospital gown after all. Nothing had ventilation like an open-tail gown.

Gray walls of stone and glass rose in a horseshoe around the central courtyard, neat trees rising to cut the gloom with spears of color surrounded by bushes sporting buds of pink flowers. Winding paths, well worn from the slippers of patients and shoes of visitors, snaked through the miniature forest in languid curves, guiding the breeze and failing sunlight. Much like Patricia's Palace, peace was found here in the center of it all; patients stretching their legs and families passing the time, be it with calm or the tense anxiety of a loved one waiting for news.

Having silence was a rare treat for the lizard, her warren-mates spreading out to bask in an afternoon sun beam or explore. Wood wasn't exactly comfortable on a bare scaly ass, but what could one do? A familiar bench near the outskirts was her perch, a wall of bushes behind her blotting out the light to bathe Yelz in a pool of cool afternoon air.

Lean back, stretch, spread her toes…

All in all, things weren't terrible. Patricia had frozen her rent until she was back on her paws, the angel the old lady was, and several of her warren-mates were currently combing the local businesses for a job that would cover said rent… and still have enough for groceries… and gas… and play money, maybe. Hopefully…

"Ugh, no no, worry about that later." Speaking out loud was a new habit, after all, who cared at this point? "Aaahh-Ghphmph!" Calloused hands wrapped around her muzzle, an arm thicker than her leg lifting the flailing kobold from her bench and ripping her into the depths of the bushes like s crane snatching a fish. "Mmmpphhh!"

"Oi, quit that!" Andrew's hiss, half amused and part serious, turned the terrified struggles into enraged, if ineffectual elbows to the gut.

"You prick!" Yelz growled, her muzzle free. "I thought one of Greg's goons had snuck in or something!"

"Nah, just me."

"Why are you bold-napping me? You scared the scales! Off! Me!" Stage whispers punctuated each balled fist to the man's chest, fangs bared and ready to chomp his fingers if only they would come into range.

"Ah… well, yeah. I am kidnappin' ya. Wanna go on a ride?"

"… Huh?" Yelz blinked, stilling as an old couple passed by the path not too far away, their silhouettes broken by leaves and thin branches. One had scratched her ear. "Ride?"

"Yeah. A ride. Motorcycle ride. I'm gettin' ya out of here before ya swan dive out of your room." That… sounded amazing, actually. "At least for the night. Could have ya back before the staff finds out. Maybe. Ah, who gives a fuck."

"Won't you get in trouble though? This feels like a felony."

"Patricia said she'd handle it."

"Uh… huh." A stick was poking her tail. "Uh huh!" The whole freaking hospital was poking her tail. Bright blue eyes trailed up Andrew's shirt, Yelz narrowing her own as she… reassessed. The human had visited her almost every day. Most of her crosswords and coloring books and puzzles had come out of his own pocket, not to mention the long nights he'd spent sleeping in the corner of her room. There was a message there even the blind could read. Of course, there were days he couldn't, forced to work or the drag of fatigue proved too much or the obligations he had to others pulled him away. He'd been there though, more than anyone else.

And…

Hershey said he'd damn-near broken her apartment door and tossed the dragon aside to get to her the day they'd found her.

A smile broke out across the kobold's muzzle as she rose, leaves and branches shuddering as paw wrapped around hand, yanking as the duo ran. Ran from the bushes and tiny fake forest, ran from the hospital grounds, ran across the parking lot and ran and ran. Andrew overtook the little lizard, scooping her up and cutting a sharp right into the parking lot towards a motorcycle, a sleek if rugged looking Royal Enfield Himalayan. The girl was well cared for but obvious wear and tear spoke of long miles and longer nights hung up wet. Fat saddle bags bulged from her sides to frame a hard-case bungie-corded to the back, a tiny helmet with ear protection for kobolds sitting on the back seat next to his own, a half helmet of wind scarred black. Though… it had a bright new sticker along its side. It was a simple pink stripe, nothing more and nothing less.

Yelz yelped as the reptilian style helmet was forced on her noggin, a face plate falling in front of her muzzle and ears wiggling into the protective sheaths as Andrew donned his own, plopping his prize on the passenger seat.

"A-Andrew, I've never ridden before! I don't know what to do!" He just… giggled. It was evil, excited even. "Andrew! Where do I put my paws!" No answer, just more giggling. Fear began to creep up the lizard's chest as she watched him swing a leg over the bike's chassis, kicking at… something… A roar blared to life below her, vibration and rattles scrambling up through her spine to chatter her fangs. "Andrew! I'm in a hospital gown, I'm naked!"

"Ha!" Tires screamed as Andrew pumped free the kickstand with his heel, twisting the Enfield's throttle with all the gentle care of a horny college kid. Yelz screeched, the bike tilting as her arms wrapped around the man's midsection and cars whizzed by in a burst of speed.

"AAAAAAAAHHHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!" Wind tore at the hospital gown, nothing left to the imagination as Yelz felt wind on her scales, far more than she ever thought possible. Considering how her poor hospital gown was more of a cape at this point, that held true in more ways than one. Though her throat scratched with a scream, her soul sang with glee. Fear and joy tangled in a belligerent wrestle for control, her maw split in a rictus grin, trapped between terror and euphoria. A ride in the Acura could never compare, her maiden flight on two wheels, arms wrapped around Andrew's waist, soared on heights Tolly could only dream of. Once, Yelz had thought the loud machines obnoxious pastimes for ruffians. Maybe there was something to it, though?

Pedals met paws as fear began to subside, the road sparsely populated this time of day and the city falling behind the duo in record time. Light pollution faded as a final farewell from Alyssia, stars a still sentinel overhead, as the painted white lines of the road zipped by in a staccato march. Tension in Andrew's sides faded with every mile they ate, the solitude of growing trees and emptier roads ahead preferable to the hustle of the city some small part Yelz still saw as home. A crackle in her ear made her head twitch, watching as the man fiddled with some box on the side of his helmet.

"Comfy back there?"

"Ah?" A radio, she recognized the scratchy tone, one set inside her helmet. "Y-Yeah, you coulda warned a gal!"

"Didn't want security up my ass. They already said I couldn't take you out."

"They did?" Of course they did.

"Watched me like a hawk ever since I asked to." A shake of his head, one that wiggled his helmet. "Those damn cops too. You aren't off witness protection until you're out of the hospital."

"They still haven't found Greg?"

"You'd be the first to know if they did." The expectation of Greg behind bars had dwindled with each passing day, though hope still remained. No word on Sade or Moonbeam either. Yelz had prayed to Skie that the dancers had made it through the fiasco untouched. Anxiety had become the poor girl's new best friend, a welling problem her warren-mates were experts at sniffing out, nipping her ears to banish whenever memories of Wild Gregs reared its head. Moonbeam glaring and spitting at her fans, her sad gaze locked upon microphones she'd never get to use. Sade gazing at kobolds dragged off into private booths and stacks of cash tossed onto the stage, the gorgeous dragon covered in jewelry and silk streamers, all while men stood behind her and used her like a toy out in the open without a care in the world. It made Yelz sick, like graffiti over art and the painter just… didn't care. Where were they now? Safe? Better? Away from Greg… hopefully. Moonbeam's scowl was what came back to her most nights. That angry twist of such a beautiful gryphon- it wasn't right. Many things weren't, but that… "Oi."

"Ah? Sorry, I'm in my head again."

"You've a bad habit of that lately."

"I know."

"I've got ears."

"And I've a mouth." It was their little saying as of late, started two days ago. Andrew just mumbled it while reading a book. It had been him and her and the walls. She hadn't thought of the come back but the man's raised eyebrow had made the kobold feel so… silly. She talks, he listens. Then, after it was over, he'd always ask the same thing.

What are you gonna do about it?

Sometimes she'd answer honestly; nothing. Sometimes there wasn't anything you could do, but talking helped get her head on straight. Usually, that was enough. He'd shrug, nod, and leave it at that. He wasn't so callous as to ignore that a gal just liked to be heard. Sometimes Yelz already knew what to do, she didn't need him to fix it, just listen. Sometimes she did. Everyone needed help… she knew to ask for that now.

"Uh… where are we going?"

"Oh right. I just kinda grabbed ya, didn't I?"

"Yeah." He couldn't see her glare, but her tail was wagging. Had anyone been behind them, they'd have seen that and much, much more of the kobold. "You literally kidnapped me from a hospital. Under witness protection- you know, the more I think about this, the more I feel like you're going to jail. And that witness protection kinda dropped the ball really hard."

"Nah, Patricia said she'd handle it. She already got the cops on board so they'd let me take ya."

"Patricia is a landlord not a politician!"

"Bah, jus' enjoy the wind!"

"Ngh." Conversation over and replaced by the dulcet tones of jazz, why did he have a jazz station saved? Yelz settled in for the long haul, her rear already sore from the constant vibration directly into her scales. A two hour maiden motorcycle ride was not the best way to pop her two wheeled cherry, she decided, so when the air began to taste of salt and seagulls populated the sky, she couldn't have been more relieved. Motorcycles were cool, but maybe in moderation. Finally, the never-ending wind died down, Andrew letting off the throttle as road-top gave way to gravel. Yelz hadn't realized she'd been hiding behind the man, or that her scales were tingling from neck to toe, until he eased the bike onto its kickstand. "Hnnghghg- I can still f-feel the wind."

"Ah, yeah that'll pass in a few hours. You'll get used to it." Indentions marked where the man's helmet had sat for the passed few hours, his knuckles popping as he pulled the protective cover free to hang from the handlebars before standing with a sigh. Concerning pops left his spine, Yelz following suit to leave her own helmet on the seat. Trees fell away to rolling dunes that hid a falling sun, beams spearing the skyline behind them and obscuring the crash of distant waves and cries of mindless gulls.

Yelz had never seen the ocean.

A smile was the first thing that crawled across her muzzle, paws to her chest, as she started up the hill towards the sand. Yet, her excitement died when a hand fell upon her shoulder. Consternation warred with her glee, hadn't she come to- oh. Andrew had one of the bike's saddlebags open, a pair of her shorts and one of his shirts dangling in his grip. Right, she was pretty much naked.

"Ah, mhm." Shameless as any other kobold, one little flick of her claw was all Yelz needed for the tortured hospital gown to be left floating on the breeze, forgotten and discarded, her scales bared to the world and Andrew politely turning away as she donned the clothes he'd thoughtfully stolen from her own home.

"So, why did you have one of my shirts in your closet?"

"Hershey gave it to me."

"Of course she did." Andrew didn't wait, already starting up the slope to wait for the lizard at its zenith. "What else does she still have that's mine?"

"Guess you better ask her. Ah, I guess you better ask her, now that she's tak… en…" Whatever tease died on Yelz's lips as the kobold joined Andrew upon the dune, sand digging between her scaly toes, warm and soft. Water as far as the eye could see, the setting sun casting a blazing wedge of fire over cresting waves, carved the end of the earth into the great unknown. White, rolling troughs barreled onto the shore, periodic couples and gaggles of locals splashing in the warm waters, playing and dancing and surfing, some collecting around small fires or boomboxes or bright umbrellas. "Woah. Water."

"Yup. Water." Before he could ask her to elaborate, the kobold was already sprinting down the dune and towards the shoreline, sprays of sand cutting behind her in shallow arcs. Birds fled from her charge, salt filling her nostrils as the scent of the sea filled her lungs, sharp and full and heavy with the tang of the incoming night's tide. Yelz breathed deep, filling her chest with air untainted with smog or pine, expelling and pushing the salt away before gulping it all back in. It all felt so much heavier, so much more full. Where was Andrew? She wanted him here when she went in the water for the first time.

"Andrew!" As usual, the man was working. He'd lagged behind, carrying the saddlebags from the bike down to the beach, already dumping their contents onto the sand. A tent, shovels, other stuff that didn't matter. "Get your boots off! C'mere!" Thankfully, there weren't very many people out here with which to embarrass herself before, it seemed her man knew all the spots tourists avoided. Huh… when had she started thinking of him as her man? A few weeks ago? Probably when she'd made him give her a hug in bed and he'd just… done it. "Hmmm… my man. No no, getting ahead of yourself, girl."

"What's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to feel the ocean for the first time with you."

"Sap."

"Yup. What ya gonna do about it?" Her grin grew as that tiny, tell tale blush crawled across his face. It had been hard to notice at first. Hershey had pointed it out, since then, she'd seen it more and more.

"Do what ya say, I suppose."

"That's what I'm talking about!" A lift of the paw, his hand wrapping around her fingers. The water was warmer than she expected, his foot next to her paw leaving a pit in the sand as the first wave she'd ever felt crashed over her pink scales, foam curling around their ankles before pulling back out to sea. Again, warm and gentle, the crash of a wave, the pull of the water… Yelz sat, pulling Andrew down with her, uncaring how the water soaked her shorts- or his pants, for that matter.

The sun was dipping below the horizon…

Down…

… down…

… down…

…gone.

"There it goes." Andrew breathed, his hand still wrapped around hers. Was this real? After everything? After the hunger that gnawed at her belly, that pulled her stomach into her spine and made it hard to move? That stabbing pain in her gut. After the endless nights missing her family and staring at her phone under the covers, begging for a text from her warren-mates, or her matriarch? After the lonely nights in Wild Greg's typing away, praying and hoping for a raise so she wouldn't be hungry anymore? Banking it all on the whims of a monster, his charity, on the off-chance he'd keep a promise he'd never made? Was it okay, after lying to herself, to just sit here and enjoy the water with a man she was, again, hoping would accept affections she'd never voiced?

Was she doing it again?

Was it okay to be silent after everything everyone had done for her?

Yeah. It was. But fuck, was she okay with that?

What are you doing, Yelz?

"Andrew."

"Hm?"

Silence, but that was okay. She'd opened the door, now just standing in the threshold. But, he was giving her his attention. No rush, no fuss, initiative taken, that was enough. Yelz was doing, and that's all he'd ever asked of her.

"I uh… hm. This is harder than I thought."

"It isn't, just words."

"Shuddup! That's what I meant."

"Then ramble."

"Okay. Yeah, ramble. Like an idiot high schooler instead of an adult who knows what she's doing." Ramble, she could do that. She was good at that. Yelz was an expert at doing anything but what she was supposed to. "I feel so damn childish. Dancing around what we both know I wanna say."

"Well, ya can either just blab, or ya can work up to it. Stayin' quiet ai'n't gonna work though."

"Yeah so… ramble. Like… frick. I'm a mess, you know?"

"Yeah, ya are."

"Shuddup! Hah. When I got here I was lonely and a mess- dang it, I already said that." Sand between her toes… felt good. "I just, really really wanted to be with someone, you know? Like… romantically. 'Cause I was lonely. I missed my warren-mates and kobolds aren't really made to be by themselves. But… Hershey was all don't rush, shugah, ya usin' people ta mask ya loneliness. Get ya head on straight first. And… stuff."

"She's good at puttin' things into perspective."

"Yeah…" Yelz let the wind blow a moment, the waves washing over their feet. "She is. And she was right. So… I focused on work. And it was okay for a bit. Tolly is amazing, and I love her kids-"

"We all love 'em."

"And Johnna is so much fun. He makes me smile and laugh but… but it's like you said. When my apartment door shuts and the fun is over, my problems were still there. When I woke up in the morning, all those anxieties were still there. By the first scale, I love everyone at Patricia's Palace but, you were the only one who pushed me to try and fix shit."

"Riiiight, look at ya. Figuring out this whole, ah…" A pause, a squeeze, his fingers around hers. "Adult thing."

"It's called adulting, you fossil. But, yeah, you were the only one who kicked me in the tail to try and make it better. It has to be me, you helped me realize that. I uh… crap, this is hard part…" Yelz turned her eyes to his, pulling the man's warm hand to her lap. "I like you, but we really didn't start with the best foot forward did we?"

"No one does. Life don't work like that. Thought you had this whole being an adult thing down, though?"

"No? Who lied to you? Ugh… Lemme start over." Yeah… this felt better. "Um, m-my name's Yelz Tinker. I like ya, and I wanna get to know you." A blink, a chuckle, a genuine smile that dimpled the edges of his grin.

"Pfffft, Christ. Cheesy. Good to meet ya, I'm Andrew Hoff." Simple words that made the kobolds heart flutter. That made her pull his arm tighter to her chest and squeeze her eyes shut, happy tears threatening to join the tide below, her paws curling over each other. A rising moon cast silver beams across the two as she leaned on him, stretching her neck up to nibble his stubble, her fangs gnashing at his skin as heat burned beneath her scales.

Oh, by Skie, what am I doing?!

"Gnagn gnagn gnagn."

"The… fuck are you doing?"

"Gnagn gnagn- cobbing, gnagn gnagn."

Andrew blinked yet… didn't pull away, the sensation of her fangs gently chomping away at his cheek one he didn't find unpleasant. Strange, to be sure, perhaps it was a kobold mating ritual? Felt nice, at the very least. Yelz nearly crawled in his lap, wet shorts dripping as she let her teeth travel along his jaw, his neck, his collar bone, releasing the conquered arm to pull at his shirt collar. The taste of sweat and salt, his taste, cast upon her tongue like a net, sharp and full of a masculine tang. It made the lizard's nostril's flare, hungry for a different manner of meal.

"Don't think this is that kinda beach, Yelz."

"Gah, dang it! Maybe I wanna it to be that kinda beach." Better to not get arrested for jumping a man's bones for propositioning herself only moments before, however. With all the reluctance of a dog that had finally gotten its bone, Yelz pulled her muzzle away from Andrew's collarbone, leaving a smooch that promised more, gauging the man's reaction. Sure, they'd been getting… handsy, but nothing like this. "Ugh…"

PLOP! Splash…

"This is really okay, huh? I can have this?" Andrew found his hand once again in the kobold's lap.

"What, my palm?"

"No- you know what I mean!"

"Ha! Yeah, yeah… what, ya think ya don't deserve it?" Waves lapped at the duo long enough that the moon chased away the last of the sun, several twinkling bonfires roaring to life along the beach.

"Not… so much that I don't deserve it, just that it's happening."

"Did you think I'd say no?"

"No! No, maybe?" A nibble, a nip. Yelz couldn't stop herself. Why ask that? She could barely get her own thoughts in order and the man had to go and throw a boulder in her brain pond. Sinking her teeth into his wrist helped, his yelp did too. So did his laugh, more than everything else. A hand clasped over the kobold's muzzle, gentle yet firm, prying her mouth away like a dog munching on cable.

"Gah! Ha, agh, quit biting me! Are you hungry or something?"

"Yes. Especially if you're paying." Puppy eyes, Andrew was weak to them. Hershey said so… Hershey had told her way too many weak point on the man. Not that Yelz wasn't eager to try each and every one of them, but damn.

"Come on, I know a good food truck." Still holding her paw, Andrew lifted the kobold to her feet and drug the listless lizard back towards the dunes. Campfires and tents dotted the beach like a country concert, pillars of smoke rising to tickle the star filled sky like billowing fingers. Cool ocean air mingled with the dying summer breeze as night fell proper, stars dancing over head as bottles of beer and sticks of sweet herbs were exchanged in earnest. "Gah, damn it, girl." Like dead weight, Yelz dragged on the man's arm as they trudged through the sand, hanging on like a hatchling.

"Piss off, I'll hang on to my boyfriend if I wanna. I've never had one before. You… are my boyfriend now, right? Is that what this is?" Ears flopped across her skull, scaly brows furrowed.

"Maybe not so infantile a word, but yeah."

"Then what do we call it?"

"… Point taken."

Ambrosia, it could be called nothing less, wafted from Scorned Beef and Corned Holes, a quaint little food truck ran by a dragon of stark, purple scales. The line wasn't terribly long, a mercy upon Andrew's fingers, one of which found its way into Yelz's drooling maw.

"Fuckin'- ow, damnit." A whine escaped the poor kobold as he pulled his digit free with a pop, a trail of hungry saliva following before it snapped. "I'll feed you in a second, quit biting me."

"Hurry this line up, then!"

"Yes, I'll just make the burgers cook faster."

"Yes. Make them cook faster." A stamp of her paw, less of an indention in the sand than she'd like. "Do it."

"You're… pushier than usual." Damn him and his… his sexy raised eyebrow!

"Well, I've a boyfriend now! I'm all hyped up and excited and horny!"

"Not so loud! Jesus…" Andrew was well aware of the look the outburst earned, some confused, several scandalized, some knowing. A few winked, those were the worst. "Mind your business!"

"Buy me a burger! Do what I tell you, not what I s-say!"

Blink

Squint

"What?"

"Oh, just get in line!" Yelz attempted to push the man towards the wonderfully smelling food truck, paws stumbling as heat burned in her ears. Thoughts came with more difficulty than she liked, and for once, it wasn't a gnawing pit in her gut or the cold knife of anxiety lodged in her skull. No, no, it was something much more primal. More immediate. Something that made her paws weigh like lead and her tail coil around Andrew's calf. "There. Now you uh, can't get away."

"Was I… supposed to try?"

"… no." By the first scale, she was acting like a fool. Arousal wasn't some foreign concept to most kobolds, just listen to the rumors about the little lizards to know that, and Yelz had dealt with her needs in healthy manners before, but this… Andrew's scent, the taste of salt and skin on the tips of her fangs, the warmth of his hand in her paw, the way her tail still gave when he moved his leg no matter how tight she squeezed…

Focus, focus… focus on what? The music? Twangy blues wafted from the slowly approaching food truck in time with the scrumptious scent of cooked beef and sizzling hotdogs. Toe tapping beats and gnarly harmonica rips that made your lips curl. Was it enough to distract her? No. Was it something else to focus on besides Andrew?

Also no.

Damn it, Andrew! Take a hint and fold me like origami!

"Oi, yea?!" A boisterous shout from the food truck silenced the pink carton of lemonade's thoughts, her eyes darting up high to the purple scaled dragon leaning from the service window, a small hatchling perched upon his head taking orders. Maybe. What… what was it doing? Other than staring through people's souls. Judging. "Well, ya want a fuggin' burgah? Fookin' standin' d'eh takin' up mah toime!"

"Ah, piss off, Score. Yelz, what ya want?" Andrew's smile was wide, a familiar thing. Did they know each other?

"Uh, a… burger?"

"Hoh! Well, no shit! Come to the roight foo' truck. 'Course ya wan' a friggin' boigah. What ya wan' on it, lass? Sheesh!"

"Ah! U-Um, t-two patties… ketchup, pickles, bacon, uh… spicy mustard?"

"Twooooo patties widda pickles an'a ketchup wid' som' spicy mustard on that bacon. NEXT!"

"Just cook me somethin' ya bastard lizard." Andrew's grin hadn't faded.

"Eeeeyyyy, man after mah scaly 'eart. Wanna me spit innit too?"

"I'll shove your tail up your ass if you do." Score, with a flourish off his tail and a wiggle of his rear, turned to start working the grills, the tiny hatchling upon his head holding tight to his horns.

"You know each other?" Yelz pulled on the arm still in her clutches, trying to yank the man down to her level with little success. He seemed content with the fact she couldn't push him around. "You seem like it."

"Who, Score? Yeah, we used to know each other. Not so much now."

"Hm." Muscles tensed in the man's arm, eyes turning to scan the night's horizon. "Turned out to be a pretty night."

"It di-"

"Get yer fuggin' grub, aye?" Score damn near tossed a greasy paper bag with his tail, shoving Andrew's hand away from the card reader when the human went to pay. "Fugg off. Next!" Free food, ocean breeze, a hot human all to herself… the night was shaping up. Yelz followed along on Andrew's heels as they returned to their tiny campsite near the water, Yelz prepping the food while Andrew quickly pitched a cozy tent, an outline of a price tag sticker still visible near the base. It was serviceable… enough… for a man and a pint sized lizard at least.

Setting aside the hotdog covered in chili, jalapenos, and who knew what else, Yelz chomped down on her own greasy burger with a moan bordering euphoric. Light butter graced the bottom bun like the dashing of a winter's first snowfall, fresh and welcoming, promising more to come as fangs dug furrows through perfectly grilled beef. Juices burst along the kobold's pink tongue, lighting fires of flavor that tapped a dance over tastebuds unprepared for the deluge of ambrosia. Crimson ketchup swirled with eye squinting mustard, the tangy liquid biting right back with a spice that forced Yelz to curl her toe claws into the sand. Pickles splashed a contrast of tang, easing the journey into the first bite, a satisfying crunch opening the gate to a mouthful of perfectly sizzled bacon, just ever so slightly crisped at the edges.

"Hoh- phughck… oh yush… hungh…"

"That good, huh?"

"I'm gonna mess in the sand." Droplets of ketchup and grease fell in globs to ruin Andrew's shirt, shameless in her ravenous hunger as Yelz devoured the burger like it was her last meal on earth.

"That good." Andrew shook his head, scooping up his hotdog now that their shelter for the night was complete. A shove sent the perfectly crafted glizzie to the sand. "Mah hawtdawg!"

"In!" Pink paws pushed, forceful.

Needy.

Desperate.

Andrew found his own boots twisting, his back meeting the cheap nylon before the night sky vanished behind the tent's zipper, Yelz sequestering them both within the thin confines of a much too hastily bought shelter.

"A-Andrew, I need. Need, yeah- uh. Damn it." Tail caught, tangled in her own legs as she attempted to straddle his hips. He just wasn't getting it. He wasn't grabbing her. Pinning her down. Taking her. Were the signals not enough? Didn't she squeeze his leg? Falling again, onto his chest this time. Her heart hammered, so much faster than his, her fangs on his cheek, gnashing, his taste mixing with the remnants of beef and pickles. "Come on, ya gotta- and then. You aren't, please!"

"Yelz, take a breath, sweet'eart."

"No-"

"Easy."

"I've done good, haven't I? I'm tired of being lonely and now I have a boyfriend." Her paw on his hand, guiding it to her ear, the other to her waist. Why wasn't he just doing it? "I already told you everything down by the water."

"Yeah? Just ease up a sec-"

"No! Now! Hard. Need-"

"I ai'n't gonna break ya."

"I want you to."

"Yelz." Firm. Hard. The kind of tone that brought kobolds up short. "Take a breath."

"I don't wanna take a breath. I want to forget everything for a night. I want you to make me forget everything for a night." That hand she wanted to pull on her ear, to yank and force her muzzle first into the sleeping bag, instead slid down soft and gentle to her muzzle. She nuzzled into it anyway. "Fuck Wild Gregs. Fuck money. Fuck that damn budget book on my dinner table. Fuck the hospital. Fuck me. Please, please."

Andrew chuckled, sighed, and finally pulled her down with something resembling the force Yelz craved.

"Aight, lil' lizard." Warmth upon her muzzle, a hand upon her neck… Andrew's lips graced the side of Yelz's cheek with such a gentle touch that every aroused thought, every filthy desire, burned away, falling into a release of tired, desperate, joyful whimpers. Another, further down her muzzle, drew the first of unshed tears. Love, at last, paws gripping his shirt as if he would vanish were she to let go. Finally, his lips met hers, head tilting to match the strange mix of their anatomy, her paws reaching up to cup his cheeks, possessive and scared and wanting. Another whimper filled his mouth as Andrew held her there, letting his heat suffuse the kobold's worries away, a thumb brushing her tears aside. "Hey? I've gotcha."

And that, more than anything, broke her.