"A Wing and a Lair" - Chapter One: "Just Julie"
"A Wing and a Lair" - by S. Ryan "Odontus" Wood
© 2017 - S. Ryan Wood
Chapter 1 - "Just Julie"
[Scenario: Julie, a small Greenlandian ice dragon, has a female neighbor visit and after a short conversation, her friend leaves her with an empty tea cup and some frustrating desires that she looks to resolve on her own.]
It was a day like any other as Julie awoke with a massive yawn and a wide stretch of her fifteen-foot wingspan that never failed to knock over her bed-side lamp and alarm clock. She opens her slightly-crossed pink eyes to gaze outside at the sun rising in the distance and pulling back the blanket of darkness that covered her room and the world outside. She started to rise up from her bed, but realized her horns had once again become wedged between the mattress and headboard, pinning her down in a state of obscenity-filled morning anger.
She recalled days when she had easier fights with local slayers and bullying females that made fun of her eyes and shyness as she wrestled with the mattress until, in one bold move, she jerks her head forward and flings herself to the floor. "Oooomphhh!" she mumbled, rubbing her head and stumbling to her feet. She picked up the sheeting that chased her onto the floor and tossed it back on the bed as she made her way to her fire pit where a boiling kettle awaited her daily morning coffee preparation.
Julie was expecting her neighbor, a younger Greenlandian female named Nuuk who was much like herself, but recently married as of six months ago. Julie remained single though having had many friends in her past who took interest in her. The twist in her life was that she did not realize until later that she only found intimate interest in other females, which made finding a mate anything but difficult. While Nuuk did not give concern to how her own lair was kept, much less Julie's, she proceeded to tidy up the lair and make it presentable for company.
Her cousin Donny had stopped by the night before and with a few of his friends, left behind a clutter of squirrel carcasses and sheep bones barbarically consumed throughout a night of poker and swapping 'guy talk' about the gorgeous dragoness they had 'bagged' during the last week or so. Donny did not have his own place, so his sweet serpent-pleasing cousin's lair
became his party destination at least once a week. She did not mind much as he was still very young and, well... stupid! She strides about the lair with a small burlap trash bag and picks up the remains between her fore-talons, trying to breathe only through her mouth and sparing her nostrils from the stench of the males' midnight munchies. The sun soon rose high enough over the adjacent ridge to fully engulf her lair and allowed for a good chance to survey the damage as she retrieved another waste bag for her own fish bones. "A dragoness' work is never done!" she thought to herself as she looked for her Hackberry broom and began sweeping the floor. She usually kept a nice lair, but this week left her tired and uninspired to partake in any cleaning activities, but Nuuk had already invited herself as she always did, so what harm could one more visit do?
Julie kicked up a substantial amount of dust as it stirred with the air, dancing in the sun's rays that beamed through her lair's entrance. The smell of soil and mildew hovered in the cozy cave as she worked her way from one side to the other, slowly conglomerating the debris into a convenient little pile next to the entry. Using a reward poster she had found outside a local village, she swept up the clutter and tossed it over the edge of her front porch - a cliff that jutted almost a thousand feet from the valley below. Looking around, she was finally satisfied with her morning's work.
With her housework done, Julie opted for a quick bath in a nearby farm pond, for she wanted to look her best for the visiting dragoness! The farmer who owned the land was out of town, so she knew she could enjoy a cool dip without being evicted from the soothing spring-fed pool. She stepped onto her porch and spread her wings to sense the direction of the wind, then dropped forward, soaring toward the valley below and picking up air speed as she leveled off toward the farm. It was a beautiful spring morning with a few puffy clouds drifting overhead and the smell of the nearby ocean surf gently penetrating her nostrils that flared with the energy of a new day. Birds vocalized as she soared by their flocks, yielding to her "rocking chair" wind drag that trailed behind her rather large body. The fields beneath her rolled by as she started decreasing her air speed and hovered to a soft landing next to the water's edge. The dragoness leaned down to take a refreshing drink as she surveyed her environment with a cautious eye, for she had experienced unfriendly elements here before.
She dipped her head into the water while crouching by its edge, then raised up letting it flow onto her back and wings. The cool liquid trickled down her sides moistening her scales and wetting her feathers as she repeated the motion twice more. Julie was not a young creature, nor was she considered old at the experienced, but still wonder-filled age of 314 years. She was a rather attractive female by most male standards. She was slightly over fifteen feet in
length and stood almost ten feet tall with powder-blue scales that protected her dorsal side while snow-white feathers quilted her underbelly and part of her face. Her gentle pink eyes were cat-like with a slight disorder that made her appear cross-eyed, but giving a look that could melt the heart of any male that should gaze into them. She had a very shy misdemeanor about her and a small degree of naivety about the world as she had never acquired the full education so stereotypic of her family. Most other females in her clan were taught to be proper and kind-hearted which she was, but Julie never fancied the fighting skills that dragonesses of her family were expected to learn and she was mocked by others to the point of being driven away from her family. She had lived alone ever since.
Julie gracefully slid into the shimmering water and soon submersed herself under the surface as she made her way toward the other shore. A small wake trailed behind her as she thrusted her way through the pond using both her wings and her forelegs - both quite muscular yet svelte and well-defined. Reaching the shore, she tucked and rolled, returning to her entry spot, now swimming on her back and allowing the sun to warm her belly as she back-stroked with her wings and stared at the blue sky above. The serenity of the pond would last only briefly as thoughts of her soon-to-be houseguest began to fill her mind. She made her way toward the shore and emerged from the water.
Born Juliestia Capuletta, she had changed her name to simply "Julie" after leaving her homeland just a few years earlier. She had made a few friends since arriving here - mostly acquaintances, but usually kept to herself due to her timid nature. She had made a good friend in Nuuk as she helped her get settled into a strange new environment, taking Julie under her wing as both a friend and neighbor. As she shook herself off, the sunlight caressed her scales and feathers in a dazzling star-like display while drying her slender serpentine-like body in the morning's warmth. Water gingerly dripped from her tail and underbelly to the ground beneath her while rolling down her sculpted neck and wings. She finished drying herself while standing by the water's edge, beaming like a spotlight in the sun's radiant glow. Feeling clean and re-energized, she thrusted herself toward the sky and returned to her cave to meet Nuuk.
It was no secret in the community that Julie was a "sexually confused" female, but her neighbors seemed to have accepted her while keeping their distance, much like a zookeeper feeds a ravenous tiger. They often referred to her as a 'shy, quiet little female spinster' or 'that sweet little thing on the northern cliff', but never took the time needed to really know her or learn about her past. The only one that made such an effort was Nuuk who was about to make her weekly visit. Julie always thought of her as a caring soul with a sweet and considerate disposition since day one. Her mate, a western feral named Lucane, was not quite so outgoing and often scowled at her whenever he caught her glimpse. Despite his unattractive disposition, Nuuk remained genuinely friendly and emotionally generous to those around her.
She maintained a low altitude during her return to the lair so as not to be detected by the neighboring farmers who were now outside working their crops and livestock. She had spent almost an hour at the pond - a bit longer than her usual visit, but she needed the time to herself before entertaining her guest who was enroute and soon to arrive. The extended swim caused her underbelly feathers to shrivel considerably as she became quite uncomfortable with ten minutes still to fly. In an attempt to alleviate the itch, she dropped even lower and scraped the canopy of trees below with her abdomen, grinding branches and limbs free and sending them crashing to the floor below, though merely scratching her rustling feathers. "Ahhh!! MUCH better!" she thought to herself.
Descending to her "landing mode", she eyes her front porch and notices Nuuk walking up the path from the valley as she extends her wingspan to slow her speed and touch down perfectly in front of the lair's entrance. Nuuk sees the younger dragoness and extends her greeting, "Good morning Julie!" she says cheerful and somewhat 'fizzy' neighbor. "A nice landing as usual my sweet friend!" she conveys, always having pleasant things to say to everyone. Nuuk was around 50 years older than was Julie, though her figure definitely did not show the disparity in their ages. Although she was a mother of four (which had grown and left home years ago) and never had to hunt or gather, she spent much of her time exploring the surrounding countryside looking for new farms, or 'Bahhh-fets' as she jokingly called them. She had a light brown set of medium-sized scales throughout most of her body, except her face and abdominal region, where a light coat of fur drizzled her skin's surface. Her horns were slightly above-average with dark brown eyes and a voice not necessarily deeper than hers, but more resonating and well-pronounced. Her wings folded very neatly behind her strong back, she relaxes in the corner of Julie's freshly-cleaned lair. "The place looks lovely, my child!"]
"Well... Thank you Nuuk! I just fluffed a few sheep-skin pillows and tossed out my cousin's trash from last night's drunken drake-fest!" as she too sits down in her twig-tapestried sofa. "Would you care for some wine or tea? I heated a kettle this morning and the water's still hot."
Nuuk expressed her interest. "I would LOVE some! I decided to make a trip to the beach this morning and bleach my scales a bit. I hate looking this dark during the summer months!"
Julie admired the older female's scales as she wished she had such a dusky complexion. Her light blue scales and white wings never had the ability to tan in this warmer climate, though she had become quite accustomed to the tropic-like temperatures in comparison to her homeland. She nods, "I'm sure you do!" smirking then giving Nuuk a lively smile. "I've been meaning to visit the beach, but I just have too much to do around here." sighing with a sorrowful expression.
"Who are you kidding here, Jules??" Nuuk remarked. "You're an agoraphobe! You need to go with me sometime and meet some new neighbors. It's been almost three years now and most others at the beach don't even know who you are!"
Nuuk was right. Julie had not been anyplace that she could meet new acquaintances. "I know. You're the only one who can read me like an old book! I don't know WHY I can't muster the courage to get out and mingle. You know how shy I can get!"
"Relax darling! Maybe you just need to go as part of a group. I'd be happy to join you tomorrow if you'd like; besides, there's a good friend of mine I'd like you to meet."
Julie cringed. Is this a blind date that she sensed? These encounters never worked out for her in the past and usually concluded with her date's disappointment and premature departure, followed by a night alone watching the fireflies play outside her lair. "I'm not so sure, Nuuk." shaking her head. She had not dated any males for at least two years, but had experienced a few innocent moments with a couple of dragonesses that seemed to have influenced her quite heavily.
"I won't take no for an answer. It'll be a girls' day out on the beach! You're gonna have fun and I KNOW you'll like Elmorous!" the assertive female insisted.
Julie tossed around the idea for a bit, then with a great deal of reluctance, agreed. "I'll go but ONLY if you let me get a look at him before you introduce me! I can tell much about someone just by their appearance!" she said as she inconspicuously glanced over Nuuk's appearance while she was admiring Julie's lair. She always admired how assertive and yet how charming Nuuk was and occasionally had romantic thoughts of her.
"I'll fly over and pick you up in the morning darling!" taking one last sip of her wine before showing herself out. Julie stood on her porch as Nuuk flew away, her scent still hovering in the air. Julie returned inside to relax and give further thought to tomorrow.