The fruit offers no defense, which is probably wise.
I sit down. “Can I take one? Are they for me?”
“No,” the dragon grunts. “They’re for that river monster. I think he needs to cheer up.”
I take a fruit and munch on it. It’s actually remarkably pleasant to not have to deal with either the rind or the pit. “I like it when you’re being sarcastic.”
The fruit implodes in his hand and becomes a sticky goo. He snarls and throws the whole thing in a big arc over the river. “Forget it. They keep provoking me.”
“That’s really good,” I praise him. “Dragon-peeled fruits are now my favorite. Thanks.”
I’m actually moved. He did it for me because he saw me spit out pits yesterday. And for Vyrathion to do anything physical is obviously super rare.
“Don’t get used to it,” he says as he wipes his hand on a bunch of leaves. “This was the first, last and only time.”
“Oh. Well, then I’ll enjoy them.” I grab the other fruit he managed to process and bite into that, too. “Look. The river’s clear again.” Where the river was just a brown stream of mud yesterday, it’s now so clear I swear I can see the rocks at the bottom. “It’ll be hard for that monster to sneak up on us.”
“Perhaps,” Vyrathion says, not too interested.
“Actually, that gives me an idea,” I tell him. “My dress is filthy. And your pants aren’t as white as they were. Maybe we can do laundry.”
“Maybeyoucan do laundry,” Vyrathion says. “I struggle to think of a less dragon-like activity. But I’ll grudgingly supervise.”
“Okay. I’ll just finish breakfast. Actually, I might be able to drink that river water now.”
I get up and saunter over. Indeed the river has cleared up completely after the rain. It’s much lower now, and I can see the sandy bottom close to the shore. There’s no sign of the monster, and Clyde and the other Plood seem to have found something better to do than stand and wait.
I squat down and scoop up some water. It looks clean. One thing we girls have noticed on Xren is that we never get sick from the food or water. Probably the microbes here are so alien to our bodies that they don’t make us sick.
It tastes clean too, so I drink my fill and shake the water from my fingers.
I look over at Vyrathion. “You want me to clean your pants? You have to take them off.”
They’re actually not that dirty, which is mysterious, since he walked through that muddy river and the pants are white.
“What do you intend to do with them?” he asks.
“Just rinse them in water. Maybe slap them on a rock. Then I will tear them to pieces and spread them all over the island.”
He stiffens. “I highly doubt you’d be able to carry out that last part of the plan.”
I grin. “Yeah, me too. I guess I’ll have to settle for the first two parts.”
He takes off his boots and pulls his pants down. That releases his otherworldly cock, and while it’s not quite standing on end, it makes my eyes bulge even if I have seen it up close. It’s scary and alluring in equal measure. And a naked dragon is one of the world’s most astounding sights. I could just stare all day.
He tosses his pants over. “Do a good job.”
I examine the dragon pants for the first time. They must be some unusual fabric to repel dirt this well. I can’t identify it. It’s not plastic and not cotton, just as supple as silk and with a nice thickness to them. “I’ll see what I can do.”
After a single rinse and a quick scrub in the dirtiest places, the dragon pants shine like white silver in the sun. I hang them on a bush. “Leave them there to dry.”
“I do enjoy it when you explain obvious things to me,” the dragon says. “Because I was justitchingto put on that pair of soaked pants.”
“It’s my pleasure,” I tell him. “I’ll tell you more obvious things right now. For instance, I’m now going to launder my own dress. For that, I will have to take it of.” I pull it over my head. The underwear is somewhere in the bonfire hut, and it’s proven mostly a hassle and an unnecessary obstacle to some pretty great pleasure, so I think that’s where it’ll stay.
“You are naked,” Vyrathion says. “See, I can also state the obvious.”
I glance over at him as I start rinsing the dress in the river. “Good job. My turn: you really like to see me like that.”
