I tossed and turned again, fluttering in and out of sleep. The night felt warm, sweaty, and uncomfortable, like a hug from a creepy drunk uncle during a family gathering.
When the dim light of dawn finally lightened the sky, I dressed eagerly and headed back to the beach to train with Lady Talia. I checked over my shoulder the whole way, unable to shake the sneaking suspicion that I was being followed. Little more than shadows revealed themselves.
Lady Talia was just setting her things down when I arrived. I waved with a haggard salute.
"Good morning," she greeted me. Her voice sounded as tired as I felt. "Did you sleep okay?"
"In this weather? Hardly. I was curled up next to Wynnie all night, and even though she runs cool, the bedroom felt like a furnace."
She glared at the rising sun. “You probably would have fared better next to me.” Her cheeks reddened, and her clarification came tumbling out a touch too fast. "What I mean is that dragonkin tend to run cool. Some suggest our ancestors, the proto-dragons, were lizards with cold blood."
"Are they?"
"I don't like to think that I'm descended from mindless wyrmlings, but I must admit… our kind definitely operate at a lower body temperature."
The two of us limbered up quickly and quietly, side by side. Even conversation felt like a chore in the oppressive morning heat. She ran me through a few drills, rushing through some exercises. Descended from lizards or not, it was clear she was overheating. Perspiration dotted her garb, and her skin glistened a sparkly, iridescent sheen, like someone threw glitter on an abalone shell.
Not that I was faring any better. My clothes were already discolored from sweat, and my lengthening hair was plastered to my forehead. One pernicious trickle of perspiration dripped down my beard, tickling me something fierce.
It felt like my head was going to pop like a kernel of corn from all the heat. Yet despite my discomfort, I’d rather faint than quit early on her. For some reason, I desperately didn’t want to appear weak.
To my relief, Lady Talia gradually slowed our pace before finally growling loudly in frustration.
"Let's call it a day. I hate to end early, especially when the raiders could be on their way at any time, but it's unhealthy to train too hard in this kind of weather."
I breathed out a heavy, ragged breath. It was still midmorning, and I was sure that already, the temperatures were higher than what a rectal thermometer would read. I could feel the sunburn slowly coloring my skin, and the breeze coming off the ocean did little to take the edge off.
"Do you think the raiders are coming soon?" I asked.
"Who knows? It's not like I have any way to track them."
"One of the merchant ships that came in yesterday said they saw a black ship on the horizon, maybe a day or two out."
"Unlikely that it's them," Lady Talia said, chewing her cheek thoughtfully. "Better safe than sorry, though, I suppose."
"What can we do? I mean, besides continue training me with a sword."
"I’d send a rider up to Northridge, but they never come down here to help. Useless, stuck-up louts.” She hissed. “They think they’re so fancy with their rampant criminal activity and big, fancy jail."
"So, they’re always busy with their own problems?"
"Oh, absolutely. It’s a veritable den of iniquity. Your minxy demonkin hire would fit right in, I’m sure.” She regarded my curious expression and offered a bit more explanation. "They're a larger town. Slighter bigger port, but a much larger land route. It's a bit more popular as a trading hub, so they get all kinds there. Bandits. Thugs. Confidence men.”
"Sounds rough."
“It probably is. The rumors paint a villainous picture. I wouldn’t know, of course. I never go there.”
I stifled a humorless snort. Her declaration reminded of public sentiment around Portland, Oregon before I’d died and been reborn. People who’d never been there were convinced that it was a lawless haven burning itself to the ground.
The folks who lived there reported nothing of the sort.
Rather than get weirdly and pointlessly political, I changed the subject. “I wish the breeze would do its part to cool us off.”
“If you want to cool off, just strip down a little.”
Her gruff suggestion took me off guard, and I couldn’t decide whether to feint, parry, or counterattack. So, I went with something that required less energy. “Um.”
“To take a quick dip, I mean. The water’s still borderline frigid.”
I glanced down at my clothing, which was soaked through and sticking to my skin. My shirt clung desperately to my chest even as I tried to peel it away with my thumb and forefinger.
It felt like several pairs of eyes were on me, even though Lady Talia’s were all I could see. I felt exposed somehow, yet I hadn’t removed a single article.
“Yeah, just take that shirt off. And your trousers. Down to your skivvies.”
“Are you just trying to get a peek?” I teased.
“I… well… no, you see. I… augh!” Lady Talia sputtered with mounting frustration that, I had to admit, was almost cute. “Here, see? It’s just to swim!”
With a single, sweeping move, she wrenched her top off. Two swaths of cloth formed an X over her chest, barely cupping her modest breasts. The hint of a chiseled six-pack tried to hide under her abdomen.
I didn’t mean to stare.
“What?” She shrank slightly, as though suddenly embarrassed of every toned inch.
“You’re, um. Very, uh.” I was going to say something highly inappropriate. “Shimmery.”
“Dragonkin don’t tan! You should know that.”
I shrugged. Maybe I should. She was still one of two dragonkin I knew, and the other one was more of a peripheral acquaintance. He’d come into the inn a couple of times looking for a pint, but we’d had to break the bad news that we were a dedicated cocktail bar. I didn’t even know his name.
Lady Talia scowled at me as she stripped off her pants. Pearlescent legs corded with splendid definition went on for days. Finally, I understood why showing ankle used to be scandalous. I could somehow imagine them hooked around my neck.
“C’mon.”
She motioned for me to follow as she strode toward the crashing surf. My feet tripped over themselves as I struggled to disrobe further. The crashing waves were already to her calves by the time the first splash of water hit my toes.
I yelped.
That shit was cold.
“Don’t be a baby.”
I was a fucking baby, and that’s all there was to it. It was like someone shot ice water out of a canon at me right after being in a sauna. It felt like taking a cold plunge after a hot tub soak.
She powered in further until the surf crested over her waist. With the grace of an Olympic swimmer, she pushed forward into a breaststroke. The rearing form of a cresting wave approached, and she disappeared beneath it, reappearing on the other side a second later, hair wet and wrapped around her. She waved for me to follow her in.
So, what the hell, right? I toughed it out.
Sand swirled up my boxer shorts, exfoliating my inner thighs. The icy chill of doom gripped my sack, shrinking it immediately. Air coughed from my lungs, unbidden.
“You can swim, right?”
“Yes,” I said, hoping I still knew how. The last time I’d tried was in a pool. Mostly, I’d treaded water while downing a full bottle of pink bubbles. “Are there any jellyfish in here?”
“Sometimes. And sharks, too. You’ll probably be fine, though.”
“Great,” I mumbled.
My nipples hardened as I submerged fully. Muscles in my jaw tried to chatter, but I clamped them tight. In a minute, I’d adjust.
“Refreshing, right?” Lady Talia sidestroked up to me.
“A little,” I admitted.
“Most people don’t swim out here. It’s too cold.” A guilty look twisted her lips. “It would be ironic if we got hypothermia in this weather.”
My teeth chattered, no longer able to stop themselves. “It’s kinda nice, though.”
“It is.”
For a minute, the two of us just bobbed in the surf, rising and falling with the waves as they reached the shore. Birds hunted the shallows, and a few kelp fronds floated aimlessly by. My dragonkin companion lay back and closed her eyes, then reopened them.
“We shouldn’t be out here.”
My body felt warm. I’d heard that was a warning sign. The beginnings of panic coursed through me like electricity. “Are we going to freeze to death?”
“What? No.”
“A riptide?” I tried to gauge our distance from shore. Then, I looked down. “Sea beasts?”
“No, Drew. I… my parents wouldn’t approve. Alone, half-clothed, with a boy? A human boy.”
“Strict?”
“I’m a dragonkin.”
Something told me that was answer enough. She made her way to shore with me trying doggedly to keep up. Water cascaded off her, beading up and rolling down her skin as though she were hydrophobic.
Gently, she wrung out her hair, then squeezed out excess water from the athletic X-bra she wore. Hard, visible nipples announced themselves through the fabric. So, she couldn’t be completely descended from wyrmlings, I figured.
The oppressive heat had us almost dry by the time we dressed.
The two of us packed up her weapons in relative silence. She made sure to keep her blades from getting covered with sand, lest it dull the edge or scratch the finish. I helped where I could, but mostly just stood by feeling useless.
Still, we walked back up the rocky path from the beach together. I carried the weapons through the difficult trail, partly to be chivalrous and save her the effort, but also because my workout had been short and I wanted to get a bit more cardio in.
I'd been noticing a bit more of a change in my body lately. I still had the love handles, but they weren't quite as grippy. Not only that, but the faint outlines of muscles were now visible beneath my skin.
It was good to feel back in shape. It was hard to overstate what that could do for a guy's self-confidence.
My relationship with Wynnie probably had something to do with that, too. The near-constant attention from Shivai wasn’t hurting, either.
Before we parted ways, she paused, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"You're coming along pretty well, by the way."
"How so?"
"Your balance isn't bad, and your speed isn't terrible either." She cast her gaze up and down my body. "And I admire that you're sticking with things. So far, you seem to be a man of your word."
"Um, thanks."
"I didn't expect that. At least, not when I met you. Now, I do expect it. Please don't make me regret it."
"I won't."
“And it was nice. Swimming with you, I mean. I don’t get to do that often.”
“It was, wasn’t it?” A reluctant smile crept across my lips. “Cold as balls, though. Almost makes me happy to be back in the heat. We should do it again sometime, though.”
“Erm. Yes. We should.”
Her eyes shifted back and forth rapidly, and suddenly she lurched forward with an awkward lack of grace. It was a small lurch, just a few inches, but I immediately flinched backward in response.
Only then did I realize what she was up to. She had extended her free arm out as though to embrace me.
Yet I'd recoiled.
Instead, her hand simply patted my shoulder. She left it there for a few seconds, giving it a short rub up and down, one time.
There was no way that was what she meant to do. It reminded me of when one person wants to shake hands, but the other puts out their fist to bump it.
Like that, but slightly worse.
"Welp, see you later!" An odd note of tension entered her voice as her eyes searched for an exit. "Gotta go, um, do things. Constable things."
With that, she fled with as much dignity as she could. I wanted to call out to her, but I knew better than to drag out an awkward moment right during its peak. She'd probably be at the bar later, and we could laugh about it over a drink.
At least, I hoped she'd be in the bar later. I'd missed her last night. I was getting used to seeing her more often, and the thought of going two nights without her dropping in just didn't feel right for some reason. Already, she’d carved a small presence into my little corner of the Breakwater Inn.
I wondered if she felt it too: The way we’d each worn grooves into the foundations of the town—and in each other’s lives.
“Constable?” I called after her. “First one’s on me tonight if you drop in.”
For a second, her stiff gait lurched haltingly, as though she couldn't decide whether to stop or speed up. Her shoulders lifted, then fell dramatically, probably with a heavy sigh. It was all she could do to not look back.