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[Wedding - Craig Armstrong]

Orchid

The three days passed as if they were nothing. I learned much in my journey. I returned to the cliff where I promised Lazaro I would be before the night's final hour, and Mother returned to her duties, going far up north for the other forests that needed her care.

I sat there on top of the rock by the cliff, as I usually did. I was excited to see Lazaro again, and I began to think of how happy he would be once he saw the blooming orchid flowers that trailed down my back. It was not very hard to adjust to my new body, and Mother had new clothes to give once they bloomed.

In the distant cities, the crows of the cocks were faint. In the horizons, the light made its first appearance. In the bushes, I saw Lazaro step out.

"My love!"

"Orchid!" He beamed as he rushed up to me. Our arms intertwined behind our backs and our lips collapsed. I realized how much I missed him. He was the special piece inside my heart and I wished moments like these lasted forever.

"You- you changed!" he said as he eyed the flowers on my back. "What happened?"

"Do you like it?" I did a little pirouette in the air, showing him the flowers that trailed down my spine like stepping stones. "It is as Mother did to me, metamorphosis."

"Orchid, you're beautiful!" he cried as he rushed over to me, pulled me to a hug, and launched me up.

I screamed in delight at the sudden push of the air and as my feet left the ground.

"Thank you!" I said as he put me down. "I am beautiful!"

"Oh! By the way, I have something for you." He brought out of his pants a small stick with holes in it. The stick was made of bamboo and was finely shaped.

"What is this?" I held the stick in my hands and spinned it in between my fingers. The wood was unbending, yet soft and easily slid in between. "This is a very lovely gift!"

"No, no. You don't use it like that." He laughed as he took the stick away to him. He put one of its ends to my mouth and began blowing onto it. He covered some holes on its top, yet let others be free. When he covered a few holes, the tune changed, and when he covered the other holes, the tune also changed. The other end of the stick produced a beautiful melody that... that felt so familiar, so beautiful.

"That is amazing." My mouth gaped wide open. "What do you call that?"

"A flute," he simply replied as he gave it back to me. "It's something you make music with."

"May I try?" My eyes twinkled with joy, ready to toy with the flute however I wished.

"It's all yours." He sat beside me on the stone. "Do what you want with it."

"So this is its name. A flute."

"Exactly."

"I have heard the same sounds the flute makes, once."

"Really?" He swerved an arm around my back and held my shoulder as he pulled me closer to him.

"Yes." I laid my head on his muscled legs, letting the sun drape my black fur. "A few times whenever I get close encounters with people like you. They all used strange instruments, but I vaguely remember one of them using a flute. They would think they are alone and play for as much as they can. They would call themselves bad, but in my whispers, I called them amazing. I always wished for a chance to use their strange gadgets one day. I did not know a day like that would come."

"I thought you had plenty, and wished for little," he chuckled as he caressed my head, tingling my nerves and half-lulling me to sleep. "If you told me you wanted an instrument like that, I would've bought or made one for you a long time ago."

"I do have plenty and wish for little. Collecting people-gadgets is simply among them." I sat up from his legs as I held his back with one hand for support.

"Is that right?" With his snout, he gently nuzzled my cheek and kissed me with it. "If I collect things from the city and give them to you, will you be happy?"

"I cannot tell you to do that." I held his chin, gazed at those brown eyes. "Mother suspects me already."

"That's a disappointment. I wanted to explore with you, let you see my world."

"Speaking of worlds..." I leaned into his ear and held his chin. I could feel him grip me tight, as if anxious for a secret I was about to spill. "I gained something in those three days I was with Mother."

"What is it?"

I smiled, a decrypted one. "Follow me, and you shall have your answer."

I brought him to a place far off the forest where only Mother and I knew of. The place was so deep into the forest that no Civilized ever dared enter.

None until Lazaro.

I called the place my heart, where the butterflies fluttered as much as they wished to, the flowers bloomed at their own time, and the birds were free to sing.

The flower field was the most beautiful part of the forest. Here, in this field, they were allowed to be themselves as they intermingled with the green grass. Pink petals, yellow, and white. Some were equal in a circle, some had their petals cupped like a bowl, some liked to be prickly. This way, that way, they were everywhere in the field.

"Orchid," he gasped, eyes wide and his body paralyzed. "This place is-"

"Beautiful, such as I?" I giggled.

The scales on his face tinted a light pink, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Let me show you what I can do." I ran up the field's center, called for the rain's name as I raised my hands up high, waiting for the raindrops.

And it came in drizzles while the sun shone in harmony. It dampened our clothes, not too much to be drenching, not too light to be dry, but enough to be fun.

"You can create rain?!" he asked.

"No," I laughed, "I command them!"

I pulled Lazaro along with me. We both laughed together as we ran in the fields. I loved how the sunlight shone his scales greener, and the rain accentuated the shape of his face, his body. The way his white shirt stuck to his body and became a translucent thing, as if he and the rain wanted me to look at his muscled body.

My feet fell on muddy land, and I lost my balance. Our clothes stained with dirt, I slipped down to the ground, Lazaro followed not long after.

"Love, are you-" He did not finish his words when he saw me laid on my back in the grass. Satisfaction formed my lips as I gazed at the sky.

"Rainbows." I pointed at it with my muddy furred arm. I loved how it threaded the sky with its soft colors from red to yellow to blue. "They hardly appear."

I turned my head to see him. He beamed, only fixing his eyes to me. "Did you know?"

"What did I know?"

He sat up from the field and curled to a ball as he hugged his thighs. "When it rains and the sun still shines, someone out there is being married to someone else."

"Marrying? Mother told me that means someone seals off their love to another. Is that correct?" I realized that even as mud, sweat, and rain covered his every scale and horn, he was still as handsome as ever.

"It means more than that," he said, legs unfolding as he leaned closer to me. "So much more."

"Then what does it mean then?" I asked. We were close, I could smell the rain from him, the fertile soil, the breath of the Civilized.

He closed my eyes and kissed me, tasted his saliva and the feel of his tongue on mine.

"So this is what you mean."

"If I could," our lips departed, a bridge of saliva left behind, "I'd bind my soul forever to you. I'd swear a thousand oaths to protect you, make you the happiest man on Earth."

"Then if I may." I held his hand, our fingers clasping each other's. "Swear to me. Not by the sun, nor the moon, but by Destiny that you will keep our love known only to the stars, and they shall see our secrets and shine ever brighter with it ."

He caressed my face, the rain making him all the more beautiful. "That, I can do."

For the rest of our time, we played. We wrestled each other in the dirt and grass, crushing some of the flowers beneath us. He was careful not to hurt me, yet I gave it my all to take him down. When I knew I had no chance against his strength, I tickled his sides. He laughed suddenly and pushed me away, yet I did not cease my assault. I tickled his armpits, and he rolled in the grass to protect himself. He was helpless in his laughter, yet he thrashed his limbs around to make me cease. I did not care when his elbow struck my hips, and when his shoves toppled me down. I tried to straddle him, but the way his legs shifted and the way he rolled around and tried to hit me made it impossible. I tried to grab his feet, but he pulled away before I could grab him.

I tickled him. We forgot the mud and dirt that splattered our faces, the sunlight that bathed our bodies warm with yellow, and the rain that showered us, leaving us to slip against the soft grounds.

I eventually stopped. We simply laid down on the grass together, gasping for breaths. My muscles ached from the work, yet thanked me for its use. "I wish to know, have you not told me that your brothers tickled you against your will?" I looked over to him, the grass floor blurred out of my vision, all focus went to Lazaro. "If that is so, then why do you enjoy it when I tickle you?." I gently caressed the side of his cheek with one hand.

"Let me ask you this." He held my muddy hand, a romantic glint in his eyes. "Is a kiss from an enemy different from a kiss from a lover?"

I paused, gave it some thought as my hand glided through his scales. "Yes, one is mockery. The other is love."

"It's exactly like that." He chuckled. "When they tickled me, all I wanted to do was escape from their grasp. But when you do it, I can't help but just be addicted to it, let myself indulge whenever you tickle me. And to go along with that, when I say no, you take it as no. You don't go beyond."

"Is that so?" My eyes widened in newfound realization.

"Yes." He lightly bit the base as he looked at me lovingly.

"Does that mean you allow me then, to tickle you?"

"Right now? No, you had your fill already. I'd much rather sleep with you like this. Bed of flowers, soft winds and rain. But any day, any other day, Orchid, and I'd love to submit to you.''

I laughed, "I cannot tell if you are foolish, or too drunk in love."

"Maybe both." He guffawed.

---

Once more, we did not notice when the sun peaked. When the clouds ceased to rest from the rain. When the birds stopped their singing. But we noticed the demands of our bodies as the mud dried to dirt and leaves and seeds attached to fur and scales.

"Oh, Orchid." He stared at the flowers on my back and head. "They're all crumpled and ruined."

"Do not be consternated," I said as I straightened the petals as best as I could. "They will be better soon enough."

"Uhuh, I need to clean up." Lazaro stood up from his rest. He wiped the dirt off of his body and took off his shirt, but it did not fully clean him.

"There is a river nearby," I replied. "We can both wash ourselves there."

"Wonderful."

---

The river sparkled under the afternoon light. Fishes swam and birds dove to get their prey. Lazaro took off his shirt and threw it off to the riverbank. I saw him hold the rim of his pants, but hesitated with an avoidance of my eyes. "Are you going to look away?"

"Hm?" I cocked my head. "But we are men here. Lovers at that."

He puffed. "I suppose you're right."

When his pants dropped to the grass, I saw his member. I realized that this was the first time I've seen another person's penis like this. The tip was odd, its skin folded back together. It was not like mine. Is this what all Civilized men have?

"H-how is it?" His voice was timid, barely audible against the rush of the river's waves and the leaves' rustling with the wind.

"It is a weird penis."

"W-weird?!"

"Is that how all anthro penises look?" I replied. His penis was bigger than mine, that I can say in the least. I also did not have my foreskin done like that.

"W-well, most!" he blushed.

I nodded, "Then it is a fine penis."

He scowled at me. "Tsk, nevermind." He jumped into the river without mercy, splashing water all over me. He took a deep breath before he dove. With every stroke and push of the waves with his arms, he moved forward. His legs propelled him, rising from the surface and then back again. His muscles flexed beneath the surface and rippled with his moves.

Lazaro pulled himself out of the water soon after, all the dirt washed out from him. Water cascaded down, and the sun glistened his green scales. The river floor was shallow, and he was on his feet, the surface only reaching his waist. He stretched his arms, and I let the cool breeze embrace him and whisper on my black fur. I put my feet in the river, letting it dangle in the waves.

"You are beautiful," I said.

"Humph," he sulked, his back facing towards me as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Why are you angry?"

"It's nothing."

"Your body and your tone say otherwise." I straightened the flower on my head to defend against the splash of the rivers.. "Why do you lie?"

"I'm not." He dove into the waters again.

I wanted to join him, so I swam, felt the rush of the river take away the heat from my body.

When I rose out of it, water flowed down my black fur, made it heavier than it was without. He, too, was out of the riverbank, merely eyeing me as he wiped away the water off his eyes.

"Do you want to see something impressive?" I asked.

He gave me a questioning look, "Sure."

"Hehe." I stood tall in the waters, eyeing the fishes close by me. Even as we swam, they were hardly intimidated by our presence.

For years, I have been catching fishes with my own fangs and claws. Sometimes, I would miss. Most times, I caught them.

I watched them, and I predicted their every move. My breathing became slow, and I became aware of everything that happened around me. I was aware of Lazaro's stare, the breeze, and the flow of the river itself. I knew what to do to catch them, but I stood still, awaiting that right moment.

When that moment happened, I dove into the river and caught the fish with my own two claws.

It wiggled and flapped its body futilely in my grasp as blood seeped out of its body and tainted my fangs.

And he simply looked at me, just utterly amazed.

"How was that?" I smiled, fish still in between. I knew how the anthros get their fish. They would cast their long rods into the rivers, or throw their nets to the seas. When I asked Mother why they could not just do it just like I did, she said they found it to be primitive. Yet I knew my method was fresher, cleaner for the body and soul.

"H-how did you do that?"

"Heh, are you no longer angry?" I said, as I walked to dry land and let the water seep to the ground.

"Just... forget we had that conversation."

I frowned. I did not understand the problem. I told him he had a fine penis, and that was all. Perhaps I should have not mentioned that his penis was odd.

"What did you want me to say?"

"I said forget it!"

"Please, do tell me." I threw the fish away, not caring if another ate it, or it were to see another day. He was more important.

I touched his hand on the grass and caressed his face with my other.

"Nothing!" He swiped my hand away from him and turned his back to me.

At that moment, I was afraid. I had no intention to upset him, and now I was at risk of losing the love of my life, the man who had my heart.

When a thought came to me, I leaned in forward when he was not looking at me, and stole a kiss on those green scaled cheeks.

He turned, angry at that peck I gave. I only continued to look at him before his gaze softened, and an idiotic smile spread across his face.

"Fine, you win!" He raised his knees and hugged himself together like a ball. "I... wanted you to say that you liked what you saw, but...you sounded unsure of yourself."

"That is all?" I widened my eyes. The Civilized were bizarre, always astonishing me in ways more than one.

"...Yeah."

I chuckled, wrapping my hands around his arm as I leaned on his shoulder. "If it is any consolation, yours is bigger than mine, and I like it the way it is."

"Whatever." He laughed too. "That's good enough, I guess."

---

After we had our fun in the river, we returned back to the flower fields. In the sunlight's final remnants, he bid me goodbye, yet I wanted to do something special with him. As thanks for being with me, for making me less lonely. I asked him if I could walk with him until I reached the edge of the forest. He agreed, and as we evaded low hanging branches and stepped down carefully from sharp slopes, we made jokes, and told each other of our lives. Suddenly I knew of schools and the things he was taught. I could not understand him, but I smiled regardless. He told me of his friends and family. How they joked around and made trouble. How they stayed up late in the night to be in places they were not supposed to be.

Before we reached the end of the woods, a small, empty road marking the barrier, he tried to fit in as much as possible all the memories he made into our conversation in the forest.

As we bid our actual goodbye with a kiss on the cheek, I wished instead that I was born Civilized, just like him. I envied him for all the good memories he had just by being himself. A part of me began to hate. To whom the hate was aimed at, I did not know. Maybe Mother, who made me a demigod in the woods. Me, perhaps, for not being more Civilized. Or maybe it was Lazaro, for showing me his life to begin with. All I knew was that, maybe, my life would have been so much better if I had a life just like him, less lonely.