Tristan walked the creaky planks of the boardwalk, taking in the hot sun as his eyes passed over various wares from here and there. Detailed tapestries from across the sea depicting divine waves, spices with names he had never heard of, all of these enticing but he had his gold set on something a little rarer.
As long as his math was right, his love's heat wouldn't begin for another few days. Ryn had tried to warn him not to be around for it, which he felt was odd. Tristan felt like the opposite was in order, just with a few tricks. A glass flask burbled in his backpack as he pulled the straps tight, entering a craftsman's shop at the end of the pier named "Custom Pommels".
He waved to the shopkeep as he walked in, an older woman who only gave him a glare of warning. A broad case was placed on the counter between them and opened. Her warning look didn't waver.
"This is just for show, any intended use will result in injury."
"Not even a most likely?" He asked, taking a bite out of a handful of fried dough.
"Does this face look like a most likely? Any intended use on yourself or others will result in injury. This is a display piece."
"That's why I'm hanging it over the hall I do business in. You know, assert dominance and that garbage."
"I figured you for one of those asshole traders."
"I'd hope so. How much?"
Dropping off a small coin purse, Tristan clasped the case shut and departed, heading back into the little boardwalk. Finding a nice secluded spot beneath the hustle and bustle he settled atop a few support beams. Waves brushed against the sturdy wooden pillars below washing up some discarded bits of food. The roar of the crowd was less audible here as he perched on the thin beam. In one hand he held the glass flask, filled with a violet liquid. Flecks of silver reflected the filtered sunlight above. On his lap he opened the case and inspected the ware inside, its texture seemed appropriate and the design as realistic as he could guess. He had to admit it did feel a bit odd not stealing for her for once, but custom delights required custom orders. Satisfied with his purchases, he swung up the beams back to the boardwalk, headed inland towards the cloud crested mountain ahead.
That's when he heard a roar. He knew he wasn't imagining it as several others turned their heads as well. A shape roved through the clouds. Odd, heat wasn't supposed to be today. He heard the roar again and felt a tinge of familiarity and a touch of joyful panic. Stowing the case over his back he ducked behind an alleyway as the crowd fell to a full panic, running this way and that.
With a lashing tail and snapping wings the red dragon crashed into a boardwalk, decimating a pineapple stand beneath her. Chunks of fruit simmered on her heated hide as she growled, snorting.
"TRISTAN." Her powerful voice bellowed, "NOW IS NOT A TIME FOR GAMES."
She gave him seconds before upending another fruit stand, whipping melons against stores with her tail and stomping hard enough to splinter the walkway. The support beams groaned under her weight as she passes them, skulking the boardwalk.
"BOY!" She bellowed again, "YOU ONLY MAKE THIS WORSE FOR YOURSELF!"
Catching his scent, she lowered herself in a predatory stance. Her claws splintered the wood beneath her and her tail swayed, following the trace of him to the alley. His oceanic scent came strongest from behind a crate, but she let her pace read as continuing to search as she drew closer.
The boardwalk wiggled, and she felt tremors beneath her claws. A headbutt shattered the crate before her and she locked her jaws around Tristan's shoulder with half his body beneath the boardwalk. With just enough care to keep from injuring him she pulled him from a would be hiding place, growling fiercely at him.
"Good morning! That time already? In my profession its so easy to lose track of the days-"
A fierce snarl rippled in her throat, her body just barely squeezing in the tight space with her sides brushing each wall. A heavy claw forced down on his chest, her scales radiant with heat and now fragrant with bits of fruit. "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT TRYING TO FLEE."
"You know I have escaped you before."
She snarled again, lowering her head to his as her tail lashed, crashing through a window in the tight space. Her snort cast a heated breath over his skin as her claws tightened around his body.
"YOU COULD HAVE MADE THIS EASY, NOW I WILL NOT BE DENIED. SATISFY ME."
His eyes widened in genuine surprise, "you mean back at your lair, right? And we're going to fly on back now, where we'll have more privacy-"
"DID I SAY ANY OF THAT? NO. SATISFY ME NOW." She snarled again, eyes wide and intense with her need, tail slapping the boardwalk hard enough to shatter its wood planks. She sat back, waiting expectantly. His eyes drew down from her intense gaze, following the heaving muscles of her body as she panted. They glistened with unintentional fruit juice, and he followed the trail of softer scales down lower her body.
"You know, this isn't the most romantic-"
With another fiery snarl she rended his clothes, tearing them off. Her hot tongue slicked up his bare chest, over lean muscle and warm skin making him moan as the slick muscle pressed up his neck with firm intent. The she gripped him, and pushed him down her body, nearly hiding him under her bulk. Tristan drew fingertips along her smoother scales to illicit a full bodied shudder from her, claws flexing next to his head piercing the wood.
He looked up to caress her scales, he drew a line through the mess of fruit and licked it off his finger. "You're delicious today, have you tried something different?"