I breach the water's surface with a sharp gasp.
We have some free time to kill, so we ate a bunch of mushrooms and are now goofing off in her wildlife pools while we wait for news from Zip. I'm having the time of my life swimming around like this. With a laugh on my tongue, I call out to Umbra. "I got… I got something! Some… Something new!"
Her tail gradually reels me in to where she's sitting at the edge, soaking her legs and looking heart-stoppingly gorgeous in her open black robe. "Oh? What is it? And where was it? Please, don't go too deep. I don't like you heaving for air like that…"
"It was… Wasn't too deep." I put the little critter into the bucket and cling to her long, long, long legs. "I just stayed under… To watch… Observation."
"My point still applies. What did you observe?"
"It moves. It does. Very fucking slowly. But it moves." Once I catch my breath, I fish it out and hand it to her. "Those stubby bumps on the underside wiggle. And it kind of shimmies the legs around. It's bright orange. What is it?"
"A starfish snail," she says with a smile, feeling the swirly shell. The thing is as big as my fist but in her hands it looks tiny. "Yes. They use these five arms to pry open small shellfish. Molluscs and such."
"Ohh." I dry my hands off and start sketching. "Starfish… Snail… Mhm. Counterclockwise shell. Spiny. Dark blue. Metallic looking interior. Fleshy bits are… orange… Okay. That's another snail down! You can let it go."
She feels around and gently sets the snail on a rock just below the surface. "You're free to go, little thing. Excellent find, Crimsy. I wonder what you'll pick up next."
"I think I just found my next critter already."
"Oh? How exciting. Tell me more."
"Well, it's red. And black. And very big."
"Hm. What could it be? I'm not sure. Do you have it?"
"Mhm. It's in my hands right now."
"Crimsy, your hands are on my… legs. Oh. Me?"
"It's you! Hahah! You must be caught and studied!"
"Yes please," she giggles, pulling me closer between her legs. "You may study my body. In depth. I encourage you to be thorough…"
"Don't twist science with your perversions! For shame!" I giggle too, kissing her thighs and kicking my feet, happy as can be. "Actually… I'm not sure I know what kind of creature you are. I've never seen a draconid with horns of bone like you have. You're a dragon, but what kind?"
"Hm. Good question. You first. Please. The full seven descriptives."
"Have I not… Hm. Okay. I'm a raptblood white-red monochromatic axehorn dorsalblade serraspine wyvern. Remember? You've felt me all over dozens of times now."
"Yes, but the nomenclature helps me visualize it more. Monochrome–so you have no patterning. Your scales are all white. I was unaware of that. How nice to know. My turn?"
"Please? If the great Goddess of the Dark will kindly grace me with such secretive and mystical knowledge…"
"You're so cute," she titters, poking my nose with a claw. "I'm not technically a draconid. I existed long before your kind did. As such, though we do share some key notable features, many of mine are of course different. For some of them, I've made up my own terms, but I also use your terms for others. For example, I am monochromatic as well."
"Slipstream."
"Yes, you're keeping up. And I am diving now. Which means… getting serious? Yes. I'm a voidblood red-black monochromatic osteo-lancehorn bladetail primordial dragon. Or a cosmic dragon. I tend to alternate between the two."
"Wow," I exhale, falling deeper in love as I gaze up at her. "Amazing… I love it. I love you. Hells, you're incredible in every way. Do I truly get to have you all to myself?"
"My one and only, yes. Indeed. I'm yours, Crimsy."
"And I'm yours just a little bit more, Umbsy."
"Mmhmhm. Yes. My pet wyvern on a leash. You are mine."
She tilts all the way forward and I lift myself up using her knees so she can kiss me, as if I'm a sea serpent draconid from the deep blue. Just seconds after her tongue goes down the back of my throat, we are once again rudely interrupted by Vander the Black.
Holding my entire backside in her hand, Umbra growls, "This had better be good news."
"It is, my Queen, Her Rose. Success. Without incident."
I gasp and laugh. "That's my Zip! Aced iiit! Clean fucking course!"
"Wings," Umbra whispers with a sharp smile as she pierces me on her knee at the water's edge. "Outstanding. You were correct. You knew just the person for the job. I'm very pleased, Crimsy. With you and with her. Vander, see to it that they're compensated. Add another quarter on top."
"Of course, my Queen. It will be done."
"Where's Zip?" I ask, eager to see her again and hear the story. "Can you bring her here?"
"She's still up there. A hummingbird spell was sent to the Barrows, and those three words were all that it contained. Success. Without incident. Wise of her to stay. Too much back and forth would expose her collusion with us."
I sigh with heavy disappointment. "Yeah… Okay…"
"What would you have us do next, my Queen?"
"Allow the smoke to clear. One week. Then, another message. In the meantime, continue combat training and small formation maneuvers within the martial legions, constriction and restrainment forms of dark magic within the arcane legions. And have Graves assemble the intelligence division to meet with my Rose and I this evening. Aside from that, as per usual."
"Understood. I'll take care of it. Oh, and Crimson?"
"Hm?" I was distracted watching the fish. "Yes?"
"Good pick," he nods with a slight smirk. "She'll do just fine. You two know how to find me."
As he flies away, I snicker and cling onto Umbra again. "So, you were saying? Something about how pleased you are with me. I'd love to hear more about that…"
"The moons and the stars could not compare to your brilliance nor resplendence, my little rose," she croons to me, brushing my wet hair behind my ear and caressing my cheek in her palm as she gazes through me with adoration plain in her rosy expression. "How exceptional, your mind for strategy. How effortless, your talent for rulership. How exquisite, your ability to look so breathtaking while doing so."
She almost curved me there.
"Oh, yes, I look grand. I'm sure I'm quite the sight."
"You look unbelievably so. In mind. And you feel even more breathtaking. I mean this in the sense of 'breathtaking' being literal. That feeling is choking. You feel this way, because you… Cut throats. You take the breath away. And I admire how skilled you are in terms of doing so."
"You're saying my ability to kill is something to be admired?"
She blinks. Twice. "Yes… I am a little evil. Please, don't tell anyone. My people think I'm a paragon. But what's the point of a life without any mischief, however mild?"
"Are you classifying murder as mild mischief?"
"Are you implying that it cannot be so?"
"You are a little evil. That's okay. I accept that about you."
"Ahh… Thank you…" She draws closer. "And now I shall be mischievous. With you."
"As if," I chuckle, wrapping myself around her. "You could never kill me. I wouldn't allow you to. And you would obey my objections. Because I'm perfect and you adore me and cherish me and–"
"Wings."
"Wiiings, drac. I love you. I really do."
"And I adore you, my luscious rose." She lays back on the stony floor, bringing me down on top of her to kiss and touch and feel and nuzzle. Mm. It feels so good. Moreso than usual, on account of the psilocybin in my bloodstream. While licking her way up my neck, she whispers, "More progress is made. Flawlessly. Every day that passes… We draw closer. To the inevitable conclusion…"
"Death to the Goddess of the Light," I sneer, trying to be a little evil myself too. "And… Hm. Can we… Can we maybe flay Lucien and the others? Alive? Or is that too evil?"
"There is no such thing," she hums with a fanged grin, gazing up through me. "I wish for you to be as malevolent as you desire, sweet rose. And these snakes have earned every possible extent of your wrath. No torture would ever be enough."
"I'll have to think about it." I kiss her once, twice, thrice. "I love you, Umbsy. I'm eager for whatever comes next."
"And I adore you." She kisses me back, still smiling. "It will be quite an enjoyable maneuver, this time."
"Oh? How's that? What are we doing?"
"Next… We'll be plotting something of a heist."
"Ohh, wiiings, drac! Fucking wings! Up!"
"Mhmhm… Yes. Wings indeed…"