FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 14

"Why I can't talk with Iris? She's my friend!" Flare grumbled, tail swishing back and forth in annoyance

Sparx sighed, stretched out in between his brother's horns he let a deep breath straight into the dark air.

"You or me?"

"You do it" Spyro urged "I'll have enough troubles with protecting my privates the moment I tell Iris to join us"

With another breath the dragonfly propped himself on his arms, adopting the stoic expression of an all knowing professor who is repeating the same studied theory for a thousandth time he looked at the anxious, burning student.

"If you're going to a store to buy stuff, you don't threat the owner with a knife"

Flare cocked his head, staring back at the glowing shape riding on Spyro's head as if the one responsible for the bright aura was insane.

"What?"

"Too subtle?" Sparx grinned "How about this" a finger rose up, eyebrows crunching in mocking concentration "If a tavern owner is looking for a bard to spice the place with a song he doesn't hire a mute"

"Are these idioms? I don't know what are you talking about!" Flare basically cried out, whining like a child demanding from his parents to buy him sweets. He dashed towards Spyro's side, sidestepping he kept pace with him, eyes pleadingly and with a dose of anger burying into the dragonfly.

"I want to see my friend!"

Spyro shivered uncomfortably, it was quite obvious that Flare didn't know what personal space meant, it was okay. It didn't stop the abhorrent quivers however, modesty and understanding didn't have enough power to fight back the repulsion of feeling a male's, hot breath on the back of his neck.

"Sparx" Spyro hissed through clenched teeth "plain and simple I beg you. Remember that Flare is part of our team"

The broad smile only stretched wider on Sparx' face, he patted the tense, purple neck below, only causing even more nervous ripples travel across the scales.

"I know, that's why you're bonding"

"Sparx!" the voice humming through the teeth remained unchanged, at least the tone, however a sensitive ear of a sibling caught notes that weren't meant for a normal person

Such notes carried their own coded messages. This one for example was one of the nicest things a brother can say to a brother.

Cut it out or I'll gauge your eyes out!

"Okay, okay" Sparx rose his hands defensively, letting out a chuckle, the body was forced to dance to another shiver when Flare's breath hit the purple scales a little more intensely this time

The discovery was just too tempting to pass up.

"Flare, dude, are you sure you really want to know why you can't talk with Iris?"

"Yes!" the burning drake blurt out, flames bursting from his fiery body

The combined force of warm breath and temperate caress of flames made Spyro's tail to stand up on end, every single gold fin seemed to pull at the back holding it, trying to break itself free.

"Ancestors" the purple drake grumbled, at the brink of his polite patience

"Okay then" teeth sparkled with their own aura, the gleam overpowering the natural glow surrounding the small body, Sparx felt a deep sense of vile satisfaction as he waved his hand invitingly

"Then lean on closer, I tell you a secret"

"Woah!" Spyro hopped forward as if someone spanked his butt

Sparx laughed, grabbing onto the horns to not fall down.

"No secrets! Alright?" the drake spun around, wings flaring open, ready to cover him if necessary

It was then when he heard the laughter.

He snarled, lips wavering, emitting a silent growl. He threw his head down before beginning to shake it wildly, rest of the body following suit, opened wings nearly clapping against the flanks like arms of a cheetah cub that pretends to fly.

"Hey!" Sparx cried out in between laughter, releasing the horns, unable to maintain his grip he darted into the air, both hands pressed against the aching with joy stomach "What was that for?"

"Look Flare, it's not that you can't talk with Iris at all" one last shiver ran through his body, he snorted as if shaking off a final touch of cold "The thing is, Terrador gave me an order, he told me that it's my job to gather up the team for the next journey. Talk with Iris if you have to, nobody is going to stop you, just, please, don't try convincing her in any way, I have to do it"

"Ha!" Flare growled triumphantly, pointing a triumphant claw at the dragonfly "I can talk, see?!"

Sparx clapped his hands mockingly.

"Well done man, back to the roots I see, again following a purple dragon's tail. That's what I call progress"

Whatever victory painted Flare's snout vanished instantly, he wasn't the brightest sort that walked this planet, but even he knew what irony of life is. His slate was wiped clean, he started from the beginning, nothing that happened before mattered.

Trauma however didn't fall under the rule of time travel or comforting words of friends.

It remembered everything.

He ran away from abusive purple dragons to land under the claw of another, starting fresh meant being your own master and yet, here he was, happy that a purple dragon told him that he can do whatever he wants as long as he doesn't cross the line set by the rulers of this city.

The feeling of being trampled down returned, ready to swallow him again.

This time it failed, merely bouncing off of him.

It was stupid, it was crazy, it took the joy away, but it didn't beat him down, because Spyro was a friend, not on the level of Cynder, but he was supportive.

He was different.

If he could ignore all the other things, force himself to forget about them, there is one thing that he couldn't deny in any way. He was here and heard it.

Spyro said please.

He was different.

Irony can screw itself, no matter how much he tried to deny it, Spyro also carried a spark in himself, he was a muse too.

He wasn't happy to be under the service of another purple dragon, but he wasn't mad either, at least now he felt that he had a choice in this matter.

He could say no.

The thing is however that he didn't want to.

Spyro was biting his lip so harshly that it started to sting, he knew that Sparx touched a nerve and knew that Flare is a temperamental dragon, when shoved against the wall he...for the lack of any better word, changes.

Sparx seemed to become aware of this situation as well, he realized that this time he might have went a tad too far with his teasing. One hand was restlessly scratching the side of the waist it hung next to.

To both brother's surprise Flare didn't explode, in fact after the initial burst of changing flames and theft of visible joy, Flare was acting normal.

In Flare's way of normal.

"I don't mind following Spyro, he's a friend" the enthusiastic voice coming out from the red mouth surprised both brothers, it was like all that shift on Flare's snout from earlier was just a trick of the mind

Both brothers exchanged dumbfounded glances.

"Is something wrong?"

"No!" Spyro cleared up with a startled yelp "Of course not" he rubbed the back of his head anxiously "It's just that..ummm...I'm honored that you trust me, we had a...rough start"

"It's okay, I like you!" Flare shrugged "I figured that if this is a world of clean slates, and I have a one already, a purple dragon should have one too. You don't have cool dragons like Cynder following you for nothing right? So I guess it's kinda awesome to forget about everything that was in my world and start fresh and you were filling up the empty slate with super stuff. No Beast will touch you, I'll try my best. Promise"

"Besides!" the dragon's body spurted excited flames "You have that spark in you! You are a muse!"

It was weird to hear compliments front another guy, especially the ones about being his muse, but Flare works and lives in his own way, taking everything literally in his case rips his words out of their true value.

Still, no matter how humble he felt, he just couldn't shut off the intimidating effect. Especially when this was reaching further than his personal discomfort.

He took a first step into forming his own trusted and capable unit.

His first step on taking the mantle of leadership that the legends spoke about.

The most scary part was that it was so damn easy, Flare joined without probably even realizing it. It didn't take much to convince him, in this world, and who knows how many more are out there in the other time zones, there are many people like him, who would put their lives in his paws without blinking.

It was terrifying.

He never believed he would ever think about it, but he really wanted to meet up with Iris and make her slap some fierce and blunt reality into him. Hopefully she will push this fear away and pull his tail back onto the earth.

Spyro scratched his chest, claws made unnatural, loud, crunching noises as they slid across his scales.

"Thanks, I...like you too"

"Hey!" Sparx protested jealously, dashing in front of the red nose, spreading his arms while he threw a furious glare at the yellow eyes "What about me?!"

Flare chuckled.

"You have a spark too, you're mean, but I like you too"

The dragonfly grinned, puffing his chest out and slamming fists into his waist he turned towards his brother, giving him a proud waggle of eyebrows.

"Gay" Spyro commented with a smirk

"Hey, hey, hey!" the fire drake pranced excitedly "You know what? Your name is Sparx, my wings are making sparks. Sparx-sparks. Do you hear it? Huh? Huh?"

"Yeah, hilarious" the dragonfly rolled his eyes

"I know!" Flare laughed, swinging tail drawing burning dashes in the air

The purple dragon smiled, this fear had also a good side to it, the more people you have the bigger are the chances for laughter and there is nothing more warming than happiness straight from the heart.

His head nodded, urging the group to continue.

"Let's go guys, let's get this mission done"

"Yeah!" Flare roared a childish battle cry, prancing in the wake of his friendly leader "I know you had an order, but I could help getting Iris on our side"

"Flare, dude" Sparx appeared in front of the red drake "The things I told you at the beginning, despite your hilarious, as expected, ignorance to it, meant something. I bet you know that our Ice Queen, Iris, is...special right?"

Flare nodded enthusiastically head bobbing lively, burning mane spitting fiery tendrils.

"Highborn girls like her don't like...well...everything and they don't have the patience of a priest like Coriza, neither they have the compassion of Cynder. We have to play our cards right here"

"You have cards?" the fire dragon looked himself over in panic "I didn't know we were supposed to take any!"

Spyro chuckled.

"No" Sparx grabbed onto the red drake's horns, nudging his head back into natural position "No, no, no, no" he intoned when the avian eyes looked at him "Idiom" he pushed back

"Oh" Flare huffed

The dragonfly took a deep breath.

"Anyway, you can't make dealings with Iris man, you too are...special and girls like her especially don't like guys like you. They have to feel that they are the only special ones out there, get it?"

"Nope, but Iris likes me! She's my friend!"

"She isn't"

Flare nodded, mane once more emphasizing the emotions.

"Yep she is, she kissed me twice!"

Spyro balked, head snapping back to look behind the shoulder.

"She did what?"

Sparx raised his hand, silencing him, throwing a knowing glance at the same time, reminding him that he shouldn't take what Flare says seriously.

While he thought that Iris really kissed him, Sparx acted as if he didn't believe the dragon, or simply discarded it.

"She also fed you her puke and made sausages out of you. Remember anyone of us doing something like that to you? Did Coriza or Cynder ever hit you?"

"Cynder smacked me once"

Sparx rubbed the back of his head fervently as if scrubbing the question and the answer from his memory.

"Did Coriza or Cynder hit you when you didn't deserve it?"

Flare frowned, concentrating.

"I...don't think so"

Sparx clapped his hands.

"See? That's why you can't talk with Iris when we're going to make a deal with her. We don't want you to get hit again for no reason"

"It's okay, I have a high tolerance for pain"

"Ancestor's rotten butts!" the dragonfly cursed, throwing his arms pleadingly at the sky

Spyro laughed, it was like trying explaining a young mole that he can't fly, no matter what you said the geeky mind always came with an answer, an answer that no matter the reason behind it always accurately silenced the question, countering it in his childish world of reasoning.

Flare also understood the questions for what they literally were, not catching the nuances behind them. He answered them honestly and countered them with his naivety.

It was funny.

It was funny to see Sparx struggling.

And finally, it was nice. In moments like those he wished he understood the world like Flare does, everything would be so much easier.

Easier.

This is the word he could use a little bit more in his life.

*

"There you are" Terrador announced with a warm smile "I apologize for the late notice, but with the things set in motion already we can't allow ourselves for much delay I'm afraid"

The Guardian wasn't alone, Ignus was accompanying him, both elder dragons were sitting near a water canal, one of many that runs through Warfang,. With architecture and technology surrounding them from all sides water was the only ingredient that was untouched by the advancement of scientific eras.

It was pure.

Judging from the relaxed muscles of both adult dragons, they both seemed to need it and both seemed to enjoy it.

From the two, Ignus was the one who broke the boundaries of normality and grazed formal ground by acknowledging Spyro's presence with a respectful bow.

"Purple dragon"

"Hi guys" purple eyes shifted towards the fire dragon "Thanks for getting Iris ready to talk with me, better to warn her about all of this, I don't want any trouble"

The elder drake shook his head.

"To clarify I haven't spoken with Iris about the plan at all, she doesn't know about anything"

"No?"

Spyro gulped, this didn't bode well, his eyes instinctively searched for some explanation in the Earth Guardian's eyes. Terrador knew just how volatile Iris is.

There wasn't any explanation.

Maroon eyes were comforting, directing the worry back at the fire drake, showing where all the answers can be found.

"Don't think that I failed in my task young dragon" Ignus assured, a tone of plea ringing in the hoarse voice "Terrador in his great wisdom decided to implement me in the plan which I greatly support. My support is exactly what would be the wedge that would ruin the plan if I decided to present and prepare Iris for it. My niece is a rebel, if I present an opportunity to her that I see benefiting she would do everything to thwart it. I know how it looks but you have to trust me, this is a very difficult relationship, it requires a certain...touch"

He didn't have problems with understanding, he got to know Iris for long enough to be able to tell that when it comes to her, nothing cannot be excluded. This was a girl full of surprises, many of them deadly ones.

Miss Impossible.

"I get it" Spyro nodded "But instead of playing her like that, wouldn't it be simpler to pretend that you don't want Iris to go with us so in spite of your wish she would decide to actually travel with us? "

Ignus smiled, besides amusement there was something else in that display.

Greed?

"This is a valid tactic, but not against Iris. You see, you might not be aware of it but she's an intelligent girl, she knows me just as much as I know her. That, and life taught her to resist obvious attempts at manipulation. Just a warning, don't play with Iris if you don't know how to reach her"

Terrador cleared his throat, rubbing his beard with a wince.

"I must say this is a very peculiar way of gaining potential allies, usually you convince them to join your side with promises of good fortune instead of fear and danger"

Ignus chuckled.

"I'm aware, but our family requires a peculiar method of approach. Iris especially, she might not admit it, but she is very sick, what you see here is a way of dealing with the traumatic past she had to deal with. Her young mind wasn't prepared for it and now we see the consequences"

"I hate to be the Dark Master's advocate" Terrador interrupted "But Iris is still a criminal with a prison sentence on her head. If she wouldn't want to work with you Spyro, you can always remind her of that. Either she works with you or she gets locked away"

'I'll try my best to convince your niece without threatening her" Spyro scratched his front leg anxiously "But aren't you afraid that leaving Iris with us is a good idea? I mean from the things you said, it looks like she would be better off with you"

"She isn't insane, just lost, change of scenery will only help her, if she is about to see a difference in the world than there is no better way of doing that then working together with a legendary purple dragon. Besides an adventure is better than-"

"Sucker!" Sparx roared triumphantly "First!"

"That's not fair!" a whiny voice panted from the nearby staircase, the owner out of sight for now "I can't flap my wings so fast!"

The dragonfly shrugged with a smirk "Shouldn't have agreed to race a dragonfly then"

"I didn't know that you are so fast!"

A steady, fiery light started to rise from the staircase, climbing higher and higher.

"Sucks to be you" he dashed towards the closest draconic statue, it stood at the top of the staircase he just beaten, without hesitation he began caressing its artificial cheek "Get up here, this beauty is waiting for a kiss"

"-known danger" Ignus finished his interrupted sentence with a whizz, his eyes drawn to the burning, draconic figure that climbed the stairs

Flare spotted the old dragon and froze in his tracks, his body dimming visibly. He broke the given word, he was supposed to stay away from Iris and yet he was with her, it was an accident, but it happened and her uncle knew it.

He could feel it.

"Spyro?" Terrador muttered, eyeing the recent arrivals intently "Did you read my message to the end?"

"No, no, don't worry" the purple drake chuckled nervously, head nodding at the recently arrived duo "The guys won't be doing the talking or assisting me. I just figured out that if it's up to me to assemble my own trusted and capable group I can start with the easier part"

"They will be joining you?" Ignus basically shouted, paw scratching at the bony plates on the back of the head

The yell startled the young drake, pushing his body into an instinctive, defensive pose. Only after a short while his mind understood that he is under no threat and turned what was once a trained posture into an awkward paw and muscle mess.

"I...yeah, we're going to take Flare, Iris and Danox with us"

The fire dragon's head rose up, ruby eyes landed on the recent arrivals. Red tongue made a round over his lips, his very dry lips that with every scrap of the red meat against them demanded a drink with stronger passion. Claws scratched the bony protrusions unendingly.

"Is something wrong Ignus?" Terrador inquired, concerned gaze observing the defeated expression of his fire companion who looked like someone who just forgot where he was supposed to go

The dragon looked at him, his mouth was opened but no words came out, they didn't have to, he already knew everything, the red eyes practically shaped into a form of confused question marks.

In the dragon he saw Age, something that also accompanies him for a long time now, in the dragon he saw the reflection of himself, past the exterior of scales. They were old and weak, confused and lost, he saw everything, in that brief moment he saw himself.

Senility.

It was terrifying.

Ignus blinked away the scary perspective, to Terrador's great relief, the fire dragon smiled, tongue making two more rounds around the lips before it slid back into the mouth.

There was no trace of saliva on them.

"No, of course not, surprised is all, this is a very...rich company"

"With the Veils on our doorstep, we need a capable group that will be able to counter the threat. Iris belongs to this group, hopefully she will be able to work together with everyone, as an exceptional dragon her skills are invaluable" the green dragon nodded, silently agreeing with his own train of thought "The risk is great, but the probable benefit outweighs it"

Ignus swallowed, again and again, merely contracting the neck muscles, all the fluid he spent on the threads, on the desperate attempt to keep them in his grasp.

He felt them slipping.

"I don't like risks"

"This plan has flaws" Spyro noted "But we don't have anything better, besides we need to be optimistic, if the history of this world taught us anything is that we're good in improvising"

The Earth Guardian scratched his sideburns, lips stretched into a proud smile, head bowed respectfully. In his mind he saw himself giving the young, purple dragon a standing ovation.

Ignus sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to keep your niece safe, even if most probably she would do everything she can to make my life miserable. As long as it will be in my power I'll do everything to bring her back"

"I'm not worried about Iris' safety, I'm worried about the consequences this plan might have" the fire dragon rose one of his paws, he watched as he twirled his claws

Clenched and unclenched his fist.

He didn't feel the threads, he didn't see where they led.

For the first time in a long while he felt completely lost.

Terrador placed a paw on the red shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. He had to put quite a chunk of strength into the clench to force himself through the extremely tense muscles.

"I'm aware that unknown is dread inspiring, we both faced this particular enemy. What your world didn't have Ignus is a purple dragon, if there is anyone who can do the impossible, it is Spyro. He had proven that theory many times already. The fact is that you are never on the loosing side if you put your faith into a creature a Prophecy spoke about"

Spyro's head impulsively dropped down, it was quite clear by now that he will rise to the role of a leader whether he likes it or not. It was as clear as the fear of never getting used to the praises, he doubted that he will ever shake off the intimidating effect that comes with his birthright.

There are some things in this world that you just have to accept.

Terrador smiled, nodding at the two approaching figures.

"Spyro affects people in a special way, they are drawn to him. Spyro already demonstrated what kind of power he has that is so enticing"

"Hey there gang!" Sparx flew around the three talking dragons "Are we starting this show already or not?" he started to cough into his fist "I'm...cough... cough... taking bets... cough... cough... what limb... cough... is my... cough... cough... bro going... cough... to...lose"

"Anyway!" he exclaimed, dashing towards Spyro's head and making himself comfortable on it, propping his chin on his hand "Time to let those two love birds fool around eh?" he waggled his eyebrows at the old dragons, patting the purple head below

"You're right" Ignus nodded "There's no point in delaying this any further, if it's going to work then it's better you approach Iris when she is in a better mood, like right now"

"Better mood?" Spyro licked his lips apprehensively "What should I expect?"

"Probably she'll tell you to fuck off"

"That's what you call a good mood?" Sparx mumbled in annoyance while he narrowed his eyes on the red dragon

"I've said better" Ignus retorted, crushing the glowing dragonfly under his fierce stare that didn't leave any room for jokes "Iris doesn't have good moods"

Flare's mouth opened, he had a completely different opinion on the matter, but he kept his voice in check. He already crossed Iris' uncle, he didn't want to draw his attention and speaking up, saying that his niece does have good moods, that she looks especially adorable when she plucks her feathers, was surely a way of making the red dragon to remember him.

His instinct told him that it would be better to remain invisible.

So he squeezed his tongue in between his teeth.

"How will I be able to tell when Iris has a better mood?" Spyro inquires further, it was a silly question, but if he is about to work with Iris, it is better to know every tiny nuance

"You won't end up bleeding"

He chuckled, he couldn't comment this in any other way, it was just so unnatural.

"You can find her just down the stairs behind us" Ignus nodded in that direction "She was somewhere at the bottom level"

"Good luck bro!" Sparx patted his brother's head, moving in front of him and rearranging his eyebrows with his licked thumbs "Just be yourself and everything will be fine"

"Thanks Sparx" the drake shook his head gently, getting rid of the invasive fingers

"And by yourself I mean someone completely else" the dragonfly spat on his two fingers, polishing the right gold horn

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I can always count on you"

Sarcasm.

He liked that.

Sparx grinned.

"I'm here to help"

"While Spyro takes a small step towards his destiny" Terrador looked around the group "I propose that the rest of us gets more acquainted and talk. Who knows how long we will have to work together"

"Yes" Ignus acknowledged, crushing the fiery dragon under his hard as a rock stare "Let's talk"

He didn't forget.

Flare gulped.

*

He made his way down the many stair steps that littered Warfang, trying to come up with an idea on how he will approach Iris and just how he will start the conversation. They didn't like each other, Iris didn't like anyone, it was more about him, he had a hard time convincing himself that a murder attempt on his friend can be forgiven.

The popularity of his gold heart wasn't just a made up story however.

He took her to the hospital after she nearly killed Cynder, he interrupted the moles when they tried to kill her, she in turn killed those moles with their own weapon, she could try to put a bolt in between his eyes right there and then if she wanted to.

She didn't though.

Probably knowing that she won't survive if she takes out the only guy that was willing to help her, especially if she had the strength to only pull out one shot.

It was most likely that.

Yet his heart didn't want to accept that their toxic relationship is based on dislike only, while it played a big role, he saw signs of something more tolerable in there.

Or it was just a habit.

Cynder didn't show any signs of good will either, yet he fantasized, held back and in the end didn't kill her, quite the contrary.

Look world where they are now.

Reaching mateship status with Iris was impossible, not that he really wanted that, what was important here was that this habit, this good heart, this instinct, or whatever it was saw some glimmer of hope. He didn't know for what exactly, maybe it was just this habit, whatever it was it didn't allow him just to rule Iris out.

Maybe there was no room for friendship here, which was kind of hypocrisy if he thinks about it. Whether he wanted to accept it or not Cynder had thousands of lives on her conscience, while he personally believed that she shouldn't be held accountable for things that she couldn't control, it was still her claws and her armies that caused death.

And most of people saw it exactly this way.

What he believed to be true about Cynder might as well be his own subjective view on the matter.

A view that accepted Cynder as his friend, despite what people thought and yet having troubles of accepting the possibility that Iris might be a friend too one day.

Her only crime was after all an attempted murder on his mate and an ugly personality.

One hurt soul and personality versus thousand of lost lives.

It was an unfair comparison, weighting deeds like that is the most stupid thing to do, there is no better and worse crime. Evil is evil, a bad deed is a bad deed, still he couldn't and didn't know how else he could explain all of this.

And perhaps it was this weird confusion that made him continue and give Iris and their future partnership a shot.

Flare wasn't the greatest idol to follow when it came to judging people, but he believed that there is more to Iris and despite everything he liked the blue dragoness, even when she put him through hell already.

Greatest or not, it was still far more than he had when dealing with Cynder.

He chuckled, Sparx might have been right, he always seems to attract the most complicated of girls.

Click after click of claws he made his way down, with each step telling himself that everything will be alright. After all what can a single girl do, it's not like because of a girl, let's say, a ten year long war can take place.

Right?

Sometimes when you look for someone you can't find that person even if that person did everything he or she could to stand out from the crowd. There was always at least one other soul that decided to look exactly the same way in that very moment.

There was no other girl like Iris.

She was impossible to miss.

His legs impulsively rooted themselves into the ground when he laid eyes on her, he still had a couple of steps to beat, but legs remained unresponsive.

Iris was on the ground floor, it was a small park growing in one of the corners of the city. A resting place, a fountain with a clear, cold water, bunch of benches, patches of green and flowers, with occasional tree here and there.

Basically a place of serenity and peace that can be found in every city. This one in particular didn't have many civilians walking around during nighttime, located at the edge of the city, near its natural border of a mountain, it wasn't a spot seeing much traffic.

This was perhaps why Iris decided to be here.

He couldn't really focus on her motivations, the surroundings also were unimportant to him, Iris alone was already far more his eyes and mind could handle.

She was there, standing next to the fountain, body in a relaxed pose, head lowered down, tongue princely lapping at the water.

She was breathtaking.

A sting of guilt scratched his heart, punishing him already for considering someone else stunning when he has a mate already.

He couldn't help it however, there were no emotions here, no attachment of any sort, it was just an observation and his mind couldn't describe what his eyes saw in any other way than rich, complimenting words.

Iris was stunning and no amount of denial will change that.

It occurred to him just now that he never got a proper look at her, there was always something in the way, a bandage, a table, overall aggression of his companions or Iris herself, basically there was always something.

Right now however he was alone and there was nothing and no one in the way.

Perfection doesn't exist, when you take Iris' personality into equation these words are true, but ignore it and she comes very close. If someone would ever create a dictionary where words aren't described by definitions only, but also images, picture of Iris would stand right next to perfection.

She was a golem, a heartless creature with a body sculpted by the most talented of artists into which life had been injected. A slender body, sharp, round curves where it mattered, thick thighs, a beautiful snout, piercing white eyes that caught your very soul. A tail that rested in between hind paws that only emphasized the roundness of her rump and stopped the heart of almost every male who observed its swinging, alternately revealing thigh after thigh, lust hypnosis. And the wings, delicate and godly feathery, colored from blue to heavenly white, just enough blue to make sure that you know that what you are currently admiring is real.

Iris' beauty was worthy of adoration.

He was sure that most of people think the same way as he does, no wonder Iris wanted to find a place where there isn't many people around. She was probably used to the leering, knew how to take advantage of it, but that didn't mean she liked it. Still, he was quite certain that she was smart enough to know that she won't get away from herself and there will be always someone following and looking her over.

Out of spite like most of the females or out of lust and admiration like most of the males.

Several people sitting around this place, talking and busy with their own things only confirmed that. You didn't have to be extremely perceptive to see where they eyes jumped constantly.

Iris' beauty was also intimidating.

Despite the praise he doubted she had many fans approaching her, besides the cocky ones that believed they are the kings of the world, just to be brought back to earth by her, he believed that many venerated her from distance.

This was the near aspect of perfection he thought about earlier.

Even he, who was deeply in love with his mate and considered Cynder as the most ideal of dragons was afraid of approaching Iris. He who didn't lust, nor felt any other emotional attachment to Iris, was scared of her.

He had no idea what it was, probably there is someone out there smart enough to call this somehow, maybe it had something to do with a psychological aspect of not wanting to ruin what was ideal. Whatever it might be, he wanted it gone and wished, as stupid as it may sound, to finally see Iris ugly personality.

It made thinks easier, allowed him to act normally, dispelled the charm.

Brought normality.

If she won't show that side of her, he was afraid he won't be able to mutter anything else, but a quiet hi.

Sometimes he wished to be naïve again, have the same amount of careless approach like in his younger years, like Flare has now.

Just to meet the world headlong without thinking much.

Why children want to grow up again?

He took a deep breath, forcing his legs to move, his paws obeyed with great difficulty, heavy beyond measure, her felt as if he would drag four lead pipes from the ground. He no longer heard the clicking of his claws, in his head he heard the pipes rumbling metallic tones with each step, they were so loud that it was just a matter of time before he wakes up the dead, or at least the nearby villages.

Nothing happened.

The windows remained shut, no one jumped over the walls, neither did the ice dragoness he looked foe turned around.

He imagined it.

"Hi Iris" something that couldn't be said about the rasp that came out from his mouth

Iris' feathers stood up at attention, her head immediately pushed back from the water and turned to face him.

He forgot just how cold her eyes *. A single glance was enough to send a chill down his spine.

"Goldie? The fuck are you doing here?" she looked around instantly, her eyes narrowing suspiciously "Where is your flame, moth?"

Spyro cocked his head.

"My flame?"

She didn't answer him, her piercing gaze focused intently on him, he could feel its grip on his soul.

His brain started to work on its own under this pressure, trying to resolve the mystery that was displayed before him. This was Iris' grip on people, especially that of opposite sex like him, you wanted to impress such a girl or at least in the worst case scenario don't disappoint her and make her become bored with you.

His dedication to this cause wasn't entirely motivated by his gut reaction, it was also his sense of duty speaking. He wanted to repay Terrador's trust and he won't be able to do that without gaining Iris on his side.

She was as extreme case of arrogance, the pinnacle of full of themselves, most, ice dragons, bombarding her with questions won't help his cause. You must understand creatures like her to keep them at least mildly interested.

Cyril was great practice.

His mind immediately began making connections, she called him a moth, asked him about his flame. What does things have in common, answer clicked momentarily, moths are drawn to a flame.

There is only one creature he is drawn to and Iris is a girl that isn't blind, most likely like most people.

Spyro relaxed, mind filled with clarity.

"Cynder isn't here, I came alone"

It worked.

Perhaps it won't be so bad after all?

Iris' head perked up, he wasn't sure but she really seemed curious about his visit, there was no obvious sign of spite like when they met on the Training Grounds. For some reason she seemed to be more relaxed, more calm, he liked to think that he was the reason behind this, but he doubted it. The doubt that he sowed in her after their last meeting surely played a role, but it wasn't the main ingredient.

"Is that so?" the accented voice sounded like a hum of a nymph who just found an interesting traveler

He licked his lips, this wasn't Iris he knew and met before. She wasn't the hateful, toxic creature like in the hospital, she wasn't either the sweet glimpse of the girl he saw in the training grounds. She was something completely else right now.

A shell.

An empty shell driven by nothing, but a whim, a soulless creature.

Personally, if he had to decide between hate and emptiness, he would take hate without thinking. A whim was scary due to its unpredictability. He never thought he'll say it, but he missed the hateful shade of Iris.

This dragoness in front of him was scary as she was charming, if he never would have met Cynder and never fell in love with her, he doubted he would be able to resist Iris' allure. It was both intimidating and inviting, she seemed to be equally dominant as submissive, susceptible to abuse. He could take advantage of her if he played his cards right.

At least it would look like that to anyone else who didn't know Iris.

Didn't know how she acted or heard Ignus' warnings about manipulation.

A demon of desire.

There was no doubt that unimaginable bliss awaited anyone who would fall for the charm and exploit it to his heart's content, yet he doubted that brief pleasure was worth the price of agony that would follow soon after.

He couldn't help himself but wonder, what the hell exactly happened to Iris.

Spyro swallowed, his whole body screamed at him, demanded to show her that he is really alone and entirely here for her. His heart however put a strong resistance and didn't allow him to fall under the weight of natural urges, he came alone out of respect and nothing else.

Heart pounded that conclusion quicker and quicker.

Blue tail began to sway slowly as if chanting a silent spell. Iris saw his nervousness, wasn't difficult to do and awaited his next move. She's been in this place already, probably many, many times before.

Ancestors, it was so much easier when she was full of hate and he full of anger.

"I need to talk to you" he swallowed again, his throat starting to burn slowly already, his mouth hardly produced anything to moisten it "Do you have a moment to spare?"

Iris sat down, for the first time since he met her she didn't act high and mighty, she simply was sitting there like a princess doing her duties, ready to indulge in her duties, ready to participate in the audition of the less important creatures that sought her attention.

What was more surprising she didn't hurl any insult his way yet.

"Humor me"

He couldn't read anything from the regal accented tone, all he could tell that it was different than her typical, venomous way of speech, there was always anger there. Here, here he even suspected that she will giggle, or at least smile, do something out of the ordinary.

When nothing like that happened he got reminded that this is no normal girl in front of him. A soulless husk, the voice, as alluring as it was, was in fact cold. Freezing cold like her eyes.

"What the hell happened to you?"

He heard his own thoughts intoning.

This time he caught himself on swallowing, instead of putting his already irritated throat through more torture he decided to clear it with a cough.

"You see, the Veils that appeared in this world might become active, my job is to close them before that happens. I'm looking for talented people that would help me with this task, I-"

"Fuck off"

Iris' voice cut him off sharply, he nearly chuckled at the sound that came out of her mouth, the exact same words that Ignus predicted her to say. That and there was also that hint of relief, a curse, an offensive interruption, this was the Iris he knew.

And as stupid as it may sound he liked the spiteful Iris more than that demonic shade.

"Talented people?" she sprung up, spitting the words in disgust "Who is clinging to your tail now? Tat? Fly? You expect ME to do the same thing? Follow along obediently like those shiteaters? You put ME in the same basket as THEM?"

She strode forward, the aura around her became extremely cold that even people that observed them from the distance shivered. Trail of frost was wafting from her nostrils, it was enough to tell that she is at the brink of slashing her claws across his snout.

It was funny how opinions change, after this display he stopped liking this side of Iris as well.

That and he also stopped liking himself, mostly because of the inability to get rid of the stupidity that poisons him from hatching. Iris was a proud ice dragon, very volatile proud ice dragon, the first mistake he made was in comparing her with the others. Even if he didn't mean it like that.

Still, her fury surprised him, she directed her hate at him before, but it was never so sudden, so fierce, it was like she felt betrayed and was swinging the dagger he put in her back in front of his nose.

"I'm not trying to compare you to anyone, I'm asking for your help" he tried to remain calm at the feeling of the invasive chill that grew stronger and stronger with each second, to the point that it started to sting his scales, serenity slowly started to become as elusive as painless experience however

"Help" Iris spat on the ground in disgust, stopping right in front of his nose in her advance "I've told you that you are nothing than a fairytale"

He had a really hard time resisting her piercing stare, Iris too had problems respecting personal space, but in her case she knew what she was doing.

"And I've told you I'm no hero"

With a snarl her paw shot forward, she grabbed him by the throat, he felt cold claws thrusting into his neck. Red dots started to form on the scales.

People gasped, not knowing what to do, if Spyro wouldn't be here they would already call the guards.

He reacted automatically, clenching his paw around her wrist. He immediately channeled his Ice powers and used the trick he learned from Iris and already practiced a little. Layers upon layers of chilling energy enveloped the blue wrist.

Ice dragons are natural wielders of Ice, they have a great resistance to this particular form of magic, but they weren't immune to it. Even Iris couldn't be indifferent to the growing, surprising, sharp pain piercing her paw scales.

She yelped impulsively releasing the throat and jumping back. Spyro held her paw for a while, locking her in place until he finally let go, the pressure she accumulated during her stopped dodge made her totter slightly on her legs as she was forced into an awkward landing.

"I am a purple dragon however"

Iris stared at her stinging paw, it was covered in a freezing coating just above the palm, she twirled her leg around, watching as the ice, ice that she thought only dragons of blue scales could create, tasted her flesh, poking her like a barbed tongue of a monster.

And yet there it was, a creation by a dragon of different scales, legendary scales, wishful scales. Her scales.

"You're real" her diamonds eyes shifted back at him, they were full of possessive passion of a fan that finally set sight on her idol

She was switching personalities like a dragon switches elemental attacks during battles.

Iris strode forward once more, paw shot forward, it touched Spyro's neck again.

He wanted to jerk his snout away, expecting her to renew her attack, yet he didn't move, his neck tensed and eyes bulged in surprise. He froze in place.

The soft paw that touched him had no intention of causing harm, it began massaging his neck instead, stroking it fondly.

He could hear his heart grinding to a rough stop when he caught a glimpse of those white eyes, those covetous, admiring eyes. They were cold as ever, but the greedy lust in them combined with the chilly, yet passionate neck rub instead of freezing his blood made it boil.

Back to the demon, this time the desire was over him, the dangerous creature was spreading her charm around him.

And he liked that far more than he should.

What the hell is wrong with him?

Why he finds dangerous, ominous girls so damn attractive?

"You are a dream come true" her accented voice purred

There was so much sexual tension in it that it reminded him of Cynder's grunts when they mated.

He felt his knees starting to buckle.

"W-W-What?" he stammered, the weak mumble a vent for his tired body

People that relaxed in the same place as them, or perhaps people that stalked Iris reacted emotionally to what they witnessed, their murmurs and gasps that were quiet before stirred up loudly.

Spyro was too shocked to notice.

Iris on the other paw wasn't, her head snapped in the direction of the insolent fuckers who dared to trespass where they didn't belong. Ants like them will never understand a creature like her, won't understand her environment, swine doesn't meddle with royalty.

The freezing gaze was enough to make them understand that, made them realize how insignificant they are and as expendable they are. One look was enough to make them realize that they don't want to find out the literal meaning of those words.

People immediately began to evacuate, feeling that they aren't the main actors of this scene, feeling that their eyes and comments are irrelevant, feeling that if they decided to test this theory they would regret it.

"I-Iris listen" Spyro muttered, voice no louder than a final, dying gasp, he placed a paw on her shoulder, gently

The blue head momentarily snapped in his direction, white eyes sparkled menacingly as they buried into his soul. The same eyes hungrily traced the length of his extended paw.

He realized his mistake, he touched her, someone who always protested fervently about any physical contact, he crossed a very dangerous line and began to wonder what he will lose first. Paw or nose.

He nearly fell over when those diamond eyes returned to devouring him with their intensity. Jaw dropped down in a silent scream when the blue shoulder instead of pushing away began to sway gently, forcing his unmoving, frozen in shock paw to caress it.

Ancestors grace, she was so delicate.

He couldn't tell what her plan was here whether she was provoking him to make a more bolder move or teasing him, giving him merely a taste of something he will never have. The only thing he was certain of was the fact that he forgot how to breathe and that his hanging jaw will probably remain in that spot forever.

"I want to know if you are legendary in every aspect"

Purple eyes blinked in shock, completely oblivious to the meaning of the spoken words.

The claws on his neck casted away tenderness, they sunk into his scales, gripping him tightly. Before he could hiss her whole body pressed forwards, making his extended leg bend, she silenced him by biting roughly on the lips of his stretched jaw.

His eyes threatened to pop out of their orbits, when the bite turned into a raw, devouring kiss, droplets of tears appeared in the corners of his eyes when her long draconic tongue broke every boundary of tender reserve and thrust deep into his mouth.

He choked on it.

Iris immediately put more pressure onto him, with shock and confusion wrecking his senses and a single paw in the air he couldn't keep his balance. Iris' body weight overpowered him and made him drop roughly onto his back. Before however he landed on the ground he hit himself directly into the spine on the fountain's pedestal, the hit sent a numbing pulse through his whole body.

Which was quite welcoming due to the rough landing of his head, otherwise he might have believed that his skull just cracked.

Iris never broke the kiss.

In fact she made it more rough, the paw that was holding him by the throat moved up and intensified its clench, propping his jaw and making his head tilt. This position allowed her to thrust her hungry tongue deeper into his throat.

Two small ice blocks clogged his nostrils, cutting off the last, free breathing canal.

His mind was shaking off the shock, sending alarm signals to his body. When his whole body was struck by a spasm due to the assault of the tongue his paws acted, getting a hold of the dragonesses body.

His whole frame arched up when he gagged again, tears no longer small droplets, began to flow down his cheeks.

One of Iris' hind paws landed on his groin, it was as rough as the rest of this experience. Getting this vulnerable area stomped threw him into another fit of gags, the alarm signal his brain was sending was getting louder. His whole body contracted, toes on his hind paws curled so tightly that bones snapped.

The soft, feminine draconic foot began to rub up and down along his crotch, warming up the only spot in a male's body that reacted to heat. The rubbing had nothing to do with passion, delicate sole of the draconic foot wasn't the only thing that touched the sensitive scales there. The claws were curled and didn't remain idle, scratching and cutting all the way.

His tail made a bounce, the tongue in his mouth and the paw on his neck stole all the breath from him. Not to mention the pain that didn't let him recover, he kept arching his body and gagging as he tried to scream and wrestle the tongue out of his throat.

He tried to squeeze his thighs, to block the invasive foot, but Iris' tail kept on swashing from left to right, her freezing tip bouncing off the thighs, empowering the numbness that coursed through him after the fall, forcing his muscles to stiffen and stretch.

She knew how to force a body into obedience.

The foot rubbed across the slit that protected his genitals roughly enough to make his whole crotch burn, the piece of sensitive scales parted, jerked and closed depending on the movement, movement that tested their flexibility to the limit. With each rub of the foot the burn became stronger as the sole and claw irritated the vulnerable pieces of male's anatomy further and further.

The moment she decided that the slit was warm enough and ready she sunk a single clawed toe into it, the claw made a tear in the vulnerable flesh within.

This was the moment when his brain screamed the loudest, the alarm roared with the strength of a horde of dragons.

YOU ARE BEING RAPED YOU STUPID FUCK!

It silenced the shock and numbness.

Only sheer agony remained, the bolt of pain that shot through him arched his body to the very limit.

Turned out that he had some breath left in him, he screamed all of it into Iris' mouth. Her white eyes widened, when the body below her got struck by an unexpected surge of strength, the tingles that ran through her body told her that it wasn't just natural second wind, there was magic involved.

She realized that a purple dragon when put against the wall has an unexpected amount of fierceness that she didn't find in any other male.

Iris realized what was happening, the scream that invaded her mouth not only puffed her cheeks out, but also cut off her own flow of air. She was choking. She let go of the throat, intimidated by the strength she shoved her paw into the purple mouth as she broke the kiss.

Just in time.

The purple mouth clamped down strongly, fangs slipping into her paw and crushing it, if her leg wasn't there the teeth would slice her tongue in half.

Iris screamed.

The unexpected gush of blood into his throat made him gag again, it threw his body into a fit, his whole body bucked like a startled horse. His hind legs kicked the dragoness on top of him, lifting her up and shoving the lower part of her body off of him.

The claw of her foot was still lodged in his slit however, the moment he kicked the claw was lifted out of it, not before it made another agonizing cut inside however.

Spyro screamed, with a wet, crunching sound his fangs slipped from the scales of the paw in his mouth, it popped from his maw, not before however he spat blood on it as he screamed. Lines of red, bloody saliva stretched between both sides of his parted jaw.

Iris fell on the ground, clutching her wounded leg by the wrist she screamed her own pain out, rolling from side to side, dancing like a cradle.

"The fuck Iris?!" he blurted out painfully, the two ice sockets shot from his nostrils, propping himself on his elbows he looked on his crotch, his eyes were wide and bloodied, a vein popped in each

From the opened slit two streams of blood flew down his tail.

The sight reminded him of the experience he just went through, he immediately began gasping and coughing for breath.

The sight also made the pain that much more stronger.

"I have a mate!" he rasped in between coughs

"I don't give a shit about your mate!" she yelled back at him, her voice wavering through tears of pain

"You tried to rape me Iris!" he kept yelling, eyes unable to move from his bleeding crotch "This is not how you make love!"

"Who the fuck said anything about making love you retard?!" she wasn't watching him, merely screaming at him as he was at her, she was too busy with clutching her ruined paw "I wanted to fuck you!"

"And you didn't find it important to tell me about it?!" he wiped his mouth, blood and shards of white scale got stuck on his leg

He retched, but nothing came out.

"You've told me you wanted to help! From everyone in this accursed world you were the only one I believed!" she groaned, her voice adopting a soft, squeaky howl "Fuck it hurts!" she cried out, accented voice wavering with tears

"How letting myself get raped has anything to do with me wanting to help you?!" after the shout he growled through clenched teeth when a pulse of pain shot from his crotch

"It would help me!" she slammed her healthy paw into the ground, with her upper body lifted she threw Spyro an accusing glare

"Then maybe ask next time!" he growled through clenched teeth, bending forward as his thighs impulsively squeezed themselves closer together, intensifying the pain in his crotch. He gently placed both paws on the oversensitive area

"I don't ask! I take what I want you dumb shit!" she roared at him, swinging her wounded paw at him

Blood splattered on his snout, with a furious growl he turned towards her, snout wrinkled in a bloody snarl.

Her white, tear filled eyes stared at him lively, burning with the intensity of a furious traveling companion. Or a neighbor you see everyday.

Her eyes weren't cold.

There was soul in them.

That thought relaxed his features when he realized that he was arguing with Iris, arguing with her like a pair of friends who done something very stupid and now blame each other for it. What happened wasn't stupid, it was terrifying and unnatural, but he simply couldn't focus on that, normality wasn't his field of expertise anyway.

Iris was talking with him, in her own way, not attacking, nothing, she just laid there, bleeding and yelling at him. Despite everything she really had an excuse to do so, her paw was a mess, even if she had it coming.

This was really crazy, but he couldn't stay mad at her, he should really after everything she done, but he couldn't. He saw the doubt he planted in her, the unpredictability of her personality is most likely toxic, most likely it will bite them in the ass sooner or later, most likely it was not worth the risk.

But he just couldn't ignore it.

She might not realize it, but she took the chance he proposed, somehow, his heart simply didn't want to allow him to squander it. This was his idea, he extended a paw to her and she took it, for some unknown reason she took it, at least that's what it looked like.

He didn't know what caused her to do so, she wasn't herself from the beginning, but there is no time to think about that now. His heart saw an opportunity to help someone, she might be mad and bad, but that didn't scare him off earlier, there was no way he will back away now.

He's crazy.

Everyone else would run away from dangerous, scary girls, he however couldn't.

"How about this" he wiped his snout, clearing the blood that splattered near his eyes "Instead of taking, what if you simply wait and let me give you the help you need?"

"Oh, so now you want to fuck? Wiener got restless after all?"

"No!" he protested sternly "I have a mate I love very much and I won't betray her by sleeping with someone else. Mating is out of the question"

"Yeah" Iris straightened, cleaning her wounded leg with her tongue indifferently "We'll see about that"

He sighed deeply.

"Look, Iris, I know how to travel through the portals, I can get to the other side of them. Help me and if there is anything you need regarding your world I'll help you get it"

Her head perked up, she leaned forward, licking her bloodied mouth.

"You can open portals to the past?"

"Not open, no, maybe it is possible, for now I can travel though the already opened ones"

She snorted.

"Then you're useless"

"That's why I'm asking for your help"

By the glimmer in her eye he already knew that he hit the spot, rubbing her ego seems to be an effective tactic. Seems like he knows after all how to reach her.

"Fine, I'll join your circus Goldie, just remember who's in charge. I'm helping, not serving"

He nodded eagerly.

"I know"

"Do you now?" she extended her wounded leg towards him "Then come here and clean your mess"

His eyes widened in shock.

"What?"

Her challenging glare remained unchanged, white eyes sparkling with menacing amusement.

He wished she was back her normal, cold self.

"I'll wait until you give me the obvious help I need"

He was played, she slaughtered him with his own weapon. While typically there was nothing wrong with cleaning someone else's wounds, it was a natural thing to do among dragons, here it seemed like the most sickest of fetishism, especially after their recent struggle.

He couldn't help himself, but to wince in disgust.

He should have tell her to fuck off like she did, they would probably end their relationship right here and now and never see each other again, at least not on friendly terms. He didn't really know why he hesitated on doing just that, but there was something holding him back.

Maybe he was just crazy.

Or maybe it was just that damn habit of trying to help everyone, something changed in Iris and maybe his damn natural instinct of a good guy wanted to work on it.

Which in all honesty led to the same conclusion.

He was crazy.

No matter how many times he realized this, the idea of retreat never crossed his mind.

The things he has to go through, luckily he didn't have issues with swallowing his pride.

He would never withstand the company of Cynder or Sparx if it would be otherwise.

He rolled onto his belly and got up, growling through clenched teeth when the agonizing burn in his crotch reminded him of its state.

He stepped forward, approaching the dragoness, despite her figure and snout he didn't find her beautiful in the slightest right now. His steps were awkward and full of chaotic limping, he kept his rump as straight as possible to avoid irritating the painful wound further.

He stopped in front of the bloodied paw on stiff legs, abhorrent wince wrinkling his snout that was only intensified by the feeling of blood sticking to the underside of his tail and thighs.

"You pissed yourself Goldie" Iris noted, looking below his belly and the drops of blood he left behind

He snarled, avoiding eye contact he drew his tongue roughly along the wounded paw.

Iris yelped, pushing her paw away, angry, chilly aura surrounded her as she glared at him.

"Help, not torture, play nice and I might even decide to lick your slit"

"Creep this thing further and I might decide to not want your help any longer"

She growled.

"You're lucky that you're purple" she kicked one of her hind legs below his belly, sharp claws touching the gold scales below

Spyro hissed, arching his back impulsively.

"Remember though that sometimes dreams become nightmares" she poked the gold scales ever so gently, making Spyro bit his lip and throw her a challenging glance

She met his gaze confidently.

"I don't like nightmares"

"Wonderful" he replied irritated, the tension and constant threats were getting on his nerves and he just wanted it to be over already

He will take a long, long bath after all of this.

"Do you want me to clean your paw or not?"

The wounded leg moved near his mouth.

"Gentle" she ordered sensually

He began licking the paw tenderly, focusing solely on it and the task, he didn't want to look into her eyes now, he didn't want to think about anything else, but the deed. A normal, typical deed of cleaning a wound.

Nothing more, nothing else.

The taste of blood never bothered him, yet this time he really had to focus to avoid throwing up, no matter how much he convinced himself that this is just a simple wound cleaning.

"You like the taste of blood, don't you slut?"

He didn't let her get to him, ignoring her words and her whole existence he continued working on the wounded, white paw. Putting his imagination to the test, desperately convincing himself that the hurt paw isn't white, but black.

Iris curled her toes, two claws slipped behind the purple lower lip, careful not to scratch the mouth that was so pleasingly serving her she nudged the owner of those lips to look at her.

He wasn't thrilled to see her.

She didn't give a crap about that.

"That's very good" she licked her lips, leaning closer, making their noses touch "We're going to turn the rivers red"