Big Melons
Big Melons
Gren Drake, 2011
Judith arrived at the cafe first, stopping to order a coffee. The service was friendly and efficient as always. Dropping a couple of packets of creamer onto the saucer, she picked up the beverage and looked for a seat.
Both she and her friend and sometimes-lover Zinal were well known there. The staff and other customers accepted both of them without trouble, but not everywhere was so accepting, discrimination still flourished in some parts, but the growing sakin population in the bay area was forcing more people to have interact with them, often thus realizing that the treatment of sakin in popular media was rather inaccurate.
Since the breakfast rush was over she had no trouble finding a table and chose one in the corner with a good view of the bay. As the cafe was on the tenth floor, none of the shorter surrounding buildings blocked much of the view and she could see the yachts scattered over the water. Even the people moving about the marina were visible, though they looked like little more than ants. She enjoyed watching the activity from afar, though rather less so up close.
The sun shone through the window, heating cafe and furniture alike. Since she was still pale from winter, she appreciated the sun when-ever she could get it. Zinal would appreciate the warmth; he was always saying that it was too cold and threatening to go back to Razaz Nudar where they had a 'real climate'. This pleasantly warm day was barely past chilly for the decidedly tropical sakin. She took it as he meant it, in jest. He had too much to lose by returning there: friends, a good job, her.
She set the heavy cloth bag on the table along with the saucer and cup before settling into the padded chair. It was not long before Zinal arrived; he worked a couple floors above the cafe and almost always took a break at midday so she'd started arriving then. She watched him as he ordered his own refreshments, admiring his slim build and the way his thick tail swayed as he walked. As she did, she reached into her bag and pulled out a box of sweets imported from Razaz Nudar; she didn't like them, but he did so she picked up some whenever she went by the little shop that sold them. The storekeeper, a sakin she suspected of being elderly, gave her a strange look sometimes, but had never spoken. She wasn't sure he even knew English.
"Kaki tar lijan kazi," Zinal said. Although no sakin were employed by the cafe, the staff understood Nraevan well enough that they could serve customers quite satisfactorily in that language. He paid, pulling the money from a wallet he kept tucked inside his oversized vest, before setting his eggs and coffee on a tray and glancing around. He quickly spotted her, no doubt helped by the fact that she was usually at the same table.
After he made his way over to her, he threaded his tail through the back of the chair, careful to keep it out of the aisle. Getting one's tail stepped on once, he'd told her, was enough. They discussed their respective mornings as he ate his lunch, sharing details of little interest to others and that, indeed, would have been of little interest to each other had they not been so close. Once he'd finished eating he set the tray on a nearby table.
"Did you get them?" he asked, leaning forward. His ears were perked hopefully.
"Yes." Though in theory a surprise, her 'present' had been decided by both of them a few weeks earlier when she'd discovered his secret pleasure. As she spoke she pulled the concealing cloth down to reveal her pair of pale melons, both large and unblemished. He was salivating at the sight, especially as she ran her fingers over one and smiled, enjoying his obvious pleasure. She would never have thought them so appealing to the carnivorous reptile.
He reached out with one hand, caressing them. Without hesitation, she placed her hand on top of his, the feel of his familiar scaled skin comforting to the touch. She could feel the tension in his hand as he pressed his fingers hard against the pale flesh, denting it slightly.
"Careful," she said, lifting one finger whose claw had actually pressed into her melon's skin. "You wouldn't want to damage them now do you?"
"No," he said. "They're just so incredibly smooth, so unlike anything back home. And so big. I've never seen them so big."
"They're larger than I really like," Judith admitted, "but I know how you like your melons and I didn't want to disappoint you; they're as big as I could get them."
"Oh, I'm not disappointed at all," he brought a second hand to join in the caress. "I'll bet they're quite full, too, ready to spill their sweat nectar with the least excuse."
"I don't doubt it." She gave him a lustful grin. "Why don't you stop by after work; I've got no classes this evening so we can make an evening of it. You, me, and my melons. What do you think?"
She could see he was actually salivating at the thought. "I like it." he licked his lips with his long, pointed tongue. "But I don't want to wait that long. I just need a taste." He leaned forward, running his dexterous tongue over her melon's pale flesh as his hands massaged it. "Mmm." His copious saliva ran all over, staining the cloth that had, until recently, concealed her melons from public view and soon would again.
"Oh dear! Now I'll going to have to toss that in the laundry when I get home."
His tail brushed her feet under the table, its tip twitching against her leg. "I'd be happy to help," he told her, pulling back from her melons only reluctantly.
"No," she said. "There isn't really anything to help with. I'll just toss it in with the rest of my clothes."
"More time for these delightful melons, then," he said, taking one of her hands and holding it against her salvia covered melon.
Then he leaned back, digging one of the sweats out of the box and popping it into his mouth for a moment before swallowing. She could see the bulge as it slid down his throat. It was small and easy to miss if one wasn't looking for it, but she'd watched him eat on and off for a couple years now.
"Mmm. I'd love to sample more of your luscious melons, but I need to be getting back. See you tonight?"
"Oh yes," she said as she joined him in standing. "Yes, definitely."
He put a hand on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck briefly before turning and leaving the cafe, his sweets tucked under one arm. She shook her head as she concealed her melons once more behind a layer of cloth; how had a carnivore come to love honeydew so much?