KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

  "Hbuh, wuh?" Drool connected the pink scales of Yelz's lips to her nearly flat pillow as her head rose, bones popping in protest.

  BEEP BEEP BEEP

  For those who work night shift, who burned the midnight oil, the sound of an unnoticed alarm was akin to an adrenaline shot straight to the arteries. Yelz shot out of bed with a cry of despair, her eyes shooting to her clock with pupils shrunken in fear.

  "No no no! I am so late! Johnna!" Another series of knocks had the kobold flinging her sheets off the bed with a whimper, paws skittering across the floor for the front door in a panic. "I'm here, I'm ready, I'm so so sorry!"

  "Ah!" Johnna turned quickly, his back framing the night sky as Yelz felt her guilt grow two-fold. It was dark already! The stars were out in force, like salt sprinkled into a pitch black tablecloth across the heavens. "Yelz, make yourself decent! Geez." What had been a pit in her stomach at oversleeping for an entire day turned to bone rattling embarrassment the moment the kobold looked down, her chest clad in an oversized shirt and her bottom bare of any clothing at all.

  "Ahhh! I am so sorry!" For once, slamming the door in a guest's face didn't seem all that rude. "By the First Scale, I can never show my muzzle in public again." Yelz covered said muzzle as she padded back into her room for a quick change into a simple tee-shirt and gym shorts, opting to go without shoes. Her paw pads were soft but they weren't delicate, sometimes it was good to be a bit rough on them. Johnna still had his back turned when she opened the front door. "I can't believe I slept through my alarm. Johnna…"

  "Ah, bah bah bah." A hand waved in her face, Johnna's ever present smile as bright as ever. "I figured you'd need it. You're night shift and you stayed up all day to watch Tolly's kids!" Yelz went to protest, only for a finger to press to her nose, silencing her. "Easy! No need for an ulcer. I changed the plans up a bit. Come on!" Relief washed through the kobold, her paws soft on the concrete as she followed.

  "Still, I'm really sorry- I feel like crap."

  "Girl, I get it. I work nights too. We'll still have a good time!" As usual, Johnna never failed to put a smile on her face. It was a skill she envied.

  "Ugh… you're too nice to me."

  "Or just nice enough?"

  "Stooop." Yelz rolled her eyes, but couldn't deny the heat that rose to her cheeks. Johnna sported an oldie but goodie, a Hyundai Tucson, something she could appreciate, lots of room and storage. Yelz walked a circle around the SUV, finding an appreciation for its space. Heck, she could probably fit half the warren inside! Of which, looked mighty cozy. "Shiny!"

  "Kobolds like that kinda stuff, yeah?" Johnna clicked his fob, making the lizard's tail twitch with the sudden beep and flashing lights. "All aboard! We've a long way to go across the street."

  "You drove all the way over, huh? Showing off or just lazy?"

  "You drove over last night for my world famous chicken, didn't you?"

  "Hey! I was testing my brand new fuel pump, thank you very much!" Any offense vanished the moment her scaly rear hit the passenger seat. It was so much softer than her own, almost contouring to her curves. "Holy crap."

  "Semi-modern amenities, eh?" The engine even turned over the first time he turned the key. Yelz wasn't jealous at all, nope. Her car was a heartfelt gift from her warren, its frame full of love from her kobold family. That made it more special than some sleek new thing with all the bells and whistles, right? Still… it was soooo soft on her butt. "Yeah, I had the same look when I sat in it the first time too."

  "Mine pokes my tail. I gotta widen the hole in the back of the seat."

  "I think I can take a pair of scissor to it?"

  …

  "I'll ask Andrew."

  "Yeah, ask Andrew." Johnna's laugh was warm, once again lifting Yelz's spirit after sleeping through their bird watching expedition. Still, he said he had a plan. The breaks didn't utter a single squeak when Johnna pulled into Gas and Gaskets, the interior dark. "Alright! Follow me around back."

  "My instincts tell me that's a bad idea." She did so anyway, blinking at how clean the back alley behind the station was. Though, alley wasn't really an apt description. A grassy field stretched into the distant forest of tall pines, green needles swaying in the gentle night. Yelz had been so busy ever since she'd arrived that there'd never been time to explore beyond the familiar apartments. Would Johnna had taken her into the woods if she'd woken up on time? A pang of disappointment rattled her as the man ascended a ladder at the back of the gas station, her tail coiling around her own leg as the trees beckoned. Adventure awaited in those pines…

  "Yelz! Up here!"

  "Coming!" Ladders were old hat to Yelz, her paws making quick work of the ascent. Gas and Gaskets' roof was just as clean as its parking lot, the only debris being tossed in a spiral of wind. It seemed Johnna's care extended to all parts of his store, even up here. The first thing that caught the kobold's attention was the red and white blanket spread out in the middle of the roof next to a basket of treats and cooler filled with what she guessed to be ice cold drinks. Though the center piece was a, frankly, huge telescope the human was currently fiddling with, its lens turned towards the twinkling stars above. "Woah… so, stars instead of birds?"

  "I have more than one hobby but most require looking at stuff really far away."

  "Like birds?"

  "And stars. Or small stuff! I've got a cheap microscope in my room over at Patricia's."

  "Which apartment do you live in?"

  "Ah, I'm Tolly's neighbor." Yelz ears perked at that. Twice now the gryphon had mentioned she'd been after the man, but said he'd been too dense to catch her hints.

  "What do you think of her? Tolly, I mean. Gosh, she saved my tail the other day." Yelz plopped down on the blanket, marveling at how soft it was. "I didn't know what I was going to do when the car broke down."

  "Tolly's great, isn't she? I've known her since college. Her and Andrew both. We all went to the same school over in the city." Johnna was too busy fiddling with his telescope to notice Yelz's generous side eye, one of the kobold's sizable ears flopping against her head. Since college, huh? Everyone in the Palace seemed to have known each other for so long. He'd have to have known Tolly's… previous amore.

  "Did you know uh… Tolly's old flame?"

  "Erkak'Dul," Spitting didn't put to justice the vitriol with which the man uttered the mystery gryphon's name, his mouth turning down in disgust. "How does someone meet a gem like Tolly and ditch her like that? After she lays little treasures like the kids too? I'll skin that turkey if he ever shows his beak around here again."

  "Woah." Now both ears were flopped, flat against her skull. "Didn't mean to dredge up bad memories."

  "Sorry, Tolly is just a really good friend to me. The way he up and vanished…" Johnna paused, angling the telescope ever so slightly. "She was so happy, Yelz. Tears, babbling, feathers all puffed out, tail lashing- the whole kit and caboodle. I've never seen her so excited as the day they figured she was with eggs. Erk was just… I dunno," Another pause, a sigh, Yelz knew that look; despondency. Tolly's past wasn't a fun topic for the gas station owner. "He wasn't. He just wasn't. He was nervous, jumping at shadows and twitchy. I thought it was nerves at being a parent, ya know? Heck, the thought of being a dad is terrifying to me! Next morning though…"

  "Gone, huh…" The roof fell back into silence. Yelz tilted her head, eyeing the man. He wasn't looking through the scope, no, he was staring into space, face pinched, brows furrowed. "You really like Tolly."

  "Huh?" Johnna blinked, looking over his shoulder. "What?"

  "Tolly. You like her. I can tell, I'm a lady. You… do like her?" Yelz tilted her head the other way, letting her ears flop. It was time to turn up the cute. Men, especially humans, seemed susceptible to her charms. Made hard talks easier. "Not prying! Ah, I mean, I literally am. You can tell me off, please."

  "No, it's fine. Not something you really chat about with someone you've met a few weeks ago, but... I haven't really talked to anyone about it. Hershey, maybe…"

  "She is really easy to talk to."

  "She is, isn't she? But yeah… I do. I really, really do. I'm just… being a little bitch. I've liked Tolly for ages, since college, and it's only gotten worse." Yelz let her lips purse to hold in any comment. What was that like? To like someone but be too scared to say anything and watch as she has kids with another man? Or… bird, as it were.

  "Tolly did say you babysit the kids when you ca-"

  "I fucking love those kids." Johnna's words came out as a whisper, hissing and sharp. Though it was his eyes, not… angry. A spark flittered in the color, a flame that flickered like a campfire. "I don't get it either. I normally go out of my way to avoid kids, but Tolly's little terrors? I wake up excited on the days I gotta babysit them. Elky and Holky are such deep buggers and Weny wants to learn everything! Kolky works so hard- too hard! I just wanna," Johnna stepped back, waving his hands close together as if ruffling the feathers of an invisible gryphon chick. "Pick him up and squeeeeeze 'em! Though, he nips me when I do. Don't care though, I'm gonna keep doing it."

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  It was a strange feeling, that Yelz's heart both swooned and dropped at the same time. Johnna was smitten, no, twitterpated. Like Thumper in that cute deer movie humans made way back in the day. Sighing, the kobold flicked open the nearby cooler with her tail, grabbed a soda that looked like generic brand Coke, and popped it with a deadpan look to the Heavens. It seemed the feathery touch and gentle nips of a beak weren't for her. A pang of longing for what she couldn't have- no, what she was giving up, rang through her like a sharp needle before ebbing off into something much more warm; joy for her new friend.

  "Johnna," Yelz stated, blunt and plain. "You are a dummy."

  "…huh?"

  "You're a dummy." A long, burning drink of soda made its way down the kobold's gullet, followed by a very un-lady like burp. "Why haven't you just told Tolly?"

  "Told Tolly what?"

  "Oh my- by the First Scale… Johnna!"

  "What?!"

  "You love her! She loves you! You like her kids! Go for it before I throw this can at you! Tolly has been tossing signals at you, man!"

  "Ah, I know, I know…" Johnna ran a hand through his hair, looking up to the stars without the assistance of his telescope. "It's not that simple though."

  "It really is." Another soda, the TK-KSSSSSSSSS filling the night air as sharp as Yelz's giggles. "It so is. Next time she comes a courting just meet her halfway and start a new, beautiful chapter of your life."

  "I'm half the man she deserves-"

  "Ugggghhh."

  "And I have no idea how to raise gryphon chicks! I can't mess it up! Being their… their… dad, is so different than being a babysitter."

  "Hm. Yeah, raising kids is way different than just watching them for a bit… but," Yelz sighed, taking a long drink of her soda. Bubbles rippled inside her throat, the burning a strange sort of pleasurable. At the very least, it eased her frustration at the man. "But you'll never be ready for something like that, and she won't wait forever."

  "She won't, will she?" Johnna's gaze bored through his telescope towards distant stars, a thousand yard stare that traveled light years away beyond the cosmic glimmer. "Who do I think I am though? I own a grubby gas station. She's a meteorologist, college educated-"

  "Ugggghhhhhh!"

  "And probably makes way more than me! What do I bring to the table? How can I provide?"

  "You bring you, Johnna." Yelz pitched her empty can of soda at the man's head, the metal sailing into the cool night's gloom. "You bring you."

  "Is that enough though?" Stars no longer provided the succor Johnna's wailing soul cried for, and that was his saving grace. Pulling his eye away from the telescope, as if guided by divine intervention, was the only reason he caught Yelz rummage for another can to take aim once more. "That's a full one!"

  "Yup." Wind bore witness as the man ducked, Yelz holding up a paw to track her target. In the end, she simply sighed, lowering the can of sugary delight to forage for a sandwich instead. "Go fall in love, Johnna."

  "I'm already in love."

  "That's what I'm saying!" Pitch the can she did, glaring as he dared to skitter away from her righteous fury. "That's what I've been saying!"

  "What do you mean?!"

  "Go tell Tolly how you feel, or I'll tell her for you!" That did bring the man up short, his eyes squeezed shut in frustration. Frustration at himself, at this wily little lizard, and at how scared the thought of Tolly's reaction might be. "Think of holding her on the couch. Or little Weny calling you Dad. Or Kolky, by the First Scale, he needs a father figure more than anyone I've met…"

  "He does…" Warm feathers, hopeful and tiny eyes… packing them lunches and praising the kids for doing good or correcting them when they do wrong. Snuggling with Tolly after sending them off to school. Of course it seemed nice, but why did it feel so good in his head? Answer was simple, of course, he knew why… So why was it so hard to just ask? "Fuck. I wanna be their Dad."

  "Thank you! Now go do it!" Johnna flinched as tiny pink paws beat on his side, harmless yet insistent. "Go go go! Right now!"

  "Right now? But she's asleep! You haven't looked at any stars!"

  "Right now!" Pap pap pap "Gooooo."

  "But stargazing! I set this up for you!"

  "Go fall in love with Tolly!" Pedicured claws kicked at his shin, earning the kobold a chuckle for her antics. "You and Tolly deserve to be together, stop wasting her time!"

  "Okay okay! I guess we can star-watch another time?" Victorious! Kobold power wins again. As usual, Yelz Tinker basked in the glow of her own overwhelming power, her adventurous might breaking through adversity once more. Not enough to keep her from helping to clean up, but enough to be smug while doing it. An eye roll was her reward from the human, which only served to pad her self esteem further. Though… it couldn't hide the giddy blush under the tanned man's skin. Now that someone had pushed him to action, he was excited to scale the mountain of love. Within the hour, the duo was back in Johnna's SUV and on their way back across the road that separated Gas and Gaskets from Patricia's Palace. "Thanks… I mean it."

  Yelz only nodded, waving goodbye as she pretended to sneak off back to her lonely, empty apartment. The sight of a tired, bleary eyed Tolly answering Johnna's soft knocks brought a smile to her face, one that was dwarfed by the bird's own grin as she nodded at… whatever it was the man had asked her before letting him into her home.

  "Good job, Yelz." Pink paws hugged herself as the kobold leaned against her Acura, stars witness to her actions. Though, as the company left and the cold set in, the loss of not one but two prospective amores came down on Yelz like an anvil. Happy as she was for both Tolly and Johnna, she couldn't ward away the creeping thoughts of being held in gryphon claws or warm arms. What could have been was a vile poison, her friends were happy and that should make her happy in turn.

  It did!

  Of course it did.

  Just…

  Yelz wanted that too.

  Foolish… she'd only known Tolly and Johnna a few weeks, and here she was tipping her toe claw into their lives and hoping for romance in return. It was because she was a kobold, she knew that… she did. Still, that didn't magically make the loneliness and jealousy vanish. It warred with her glee at seeing friends finally get together after supposedly so long gazing at each other from afar, content with them opening new chapters in their lives while also being displeased with her own writer's block.

  "Nope. Not letting the sad in." Paws pattered across the cold asphalt to Hershey's apartment just next door to Yelz's failed happy-ever-after, her claws clacking upon the dragon's door. "Hersheeeeyyyy." It took longer than Yelz liked for the wise reptile to answer her incessant knocking, her paws carrying her into Hershey's chest scales before the tired dragon even knew who was interrupting her sleep.

  "Wha'- ah, Yelz? Darlin', what be the problem at… three in the mornin', shugah?"

  "I'm gonna be alone forever."

  "Ah." Chuckles rumbled through the kobold as her despair was met with mirth, meaty paws guiding her to the familiar curved couch. "Come on in. Ah'll pour some o' the good sweet tea."

  "I slept through birdwatching with Johnna. We went stargazing instead." Yelz counted off on her clawed fingers, lying back on the plush leather with a flop. It was warm, the scent wafting from the cushion so very Hershey. "We got to talking. Came around to Tolly. I said just go for it already. Threw a soda can at him."

  "Atta girl."

  "Wah."

  "Mhm." Sweet tea was a balm that healed souls, or so Hershey claimed. Yelz was ready to put such wisdom to the test, her stomach growling at the thought of filling with something, even if it was nothing more than liquid. Fang curdling, throat burning, sweet liquid, but something in the belly nonetheless. Pink lips graced a much too large tea cup, one designed to withstand the claws of a dragon. It required Yelz hug the ridiculous sized cup on the coffee table and dip her head inside, uncaring of the indignity. Hershey nodded in approval, it was good to see people drink her tea. "Ai'n't that bettah?"

  "Pwaaahhh… yeah."

  "Good. Now tell Hershey what done got ya in a tizzy." Yelz flopped as they dragon joined her on the couch, draping her body across the big green paws that pulled her in. "Lemme listen."

  "I slept through my alarms for going birdwatching with Johnna, yeah?" It didn't take much for the kobold to gush, the dam broken and words tumbling with an easy flow. She'd told her warren everything, great and minor, and they had found confidence in her in turn. Secrets were a foreign concept. So when Hershey gave her the green light to yap, yip she did. "And he was so sweet about it, let me sleep in 'cause I'm night shift anyway, yeah? Set up this cute picnic on his gas station's roof."

  "Well, ai'n't that a thang!"

  "Right? And we got started but we somehow got around to talking about Tolly and how pretty she is-"

  "Birdwatching eh?" Had she eyebrows, they would be a wagglin'.

  "Right? But yeah, and he was like 'ooooh I'm not man enough for her, oooooh what do I bring to the relationship ooooh.'" A pink paw plapped across the kobold's forehead, Hershey chuckling at her antics. "I couldn't taaake iiiit."

  "Tha' boy twitterpated, but 'es a good sort. Jus' needs a push in the righ' direction."

  "I know. So I did. And he did! I'm proud of him."

  "Oh, good. Ah thought Ah was gonna have ta lock 'em in a room."

  "And now I don't have Tolly or Johnna!" Miserable kobold she was, yes. Yelz laid limp across Hershey's paws, morose, depressed, sad even. Love lost, even as distant as the prospects had been, still burned a yearning hole in her empty heart. Complete with leg kicking and tail coiling. "Wah."

  "Wah, indeed. Lil' lizard." A great, green nose snuffled between the kobold's ears. "Wah, indeed."

  "Ugh… am I keeping you up-"

  "Yeah? It's three in the mornin', honey."

  "Do you work today or any- ah… should I go?" A sigh washed over the kobold, heated and moist. Yet Hershey just smiled, nuzzling between her ears in what she hoped was support. In the end, it felt more endearing.

  "Nah, I got lots o' generational wealth. Historian, geologist, professor… Ah been lots o' stuff. Used to be a matriarch o'er territory leadin' some dragons."

  "You led dragons?" Yelz perked, ears ramrod straight like radar dishes. "How so?"

  "Ahhhh… Ah don't much like talkin' 'bout back then. Used to be what called an Empress o'er Queens what led hives. Waaaay back in the day though. Ah got old, peacefully-"

  "Hold on!" Yelz rose to her knees, paws on the green dragons chest." Hold on, hold on, hold on! You were an Empress?! You led an entire kingdom! Multiple hives! How o- glk!" Pain flooded her tiny maw as she bit her tongue, cutting her off from a terrible mistake.

  "How old am Ah? Hah!" A terrible mistake that was already made. "Cheeeeky."

  "No! No no no! Ohhh no."

  "Oh, don't get yer tail in a twist, lil' lemonade. Ah ai'n't offended. But yeah, Ah was an Empress. Ceded the throne peacefully an' all tha'. Took up some hobbies! Time changed an' now Ah'm here, Patricia's Palace be mah territory. Mah lil' hoard o' friends." A rumble passed through the dragon's chest, vibrating the kobold in her paws until she settled. Though it did little to assuage the blush that heated Yelz's muzzle. An Empress… and she was in her paws! Instincts demanded she submit, grovel and worship… but no, those days were over, right? It would feel so good, though. At least, that's what her head was saying. "Hmmmm, what ya thinkin'?"

  "That I want to do very embarrassing things."

  "Ah, kobold instincts. Cute, but… remember what we-"

  "I know, I know. Only if I want it."

  "An' ya said ya gonna get ya stuuuaaahhhh…" Hershey's maw split in a yawn that displayed rows of pearly whites to a suddenly cringing- and blushing- kobold. "Mlah mlah mlah… ah… only when ya get ya shit togetha."

  "Holy fangs… uh… yeah. I should let you sleep."

  "Ya should. Gonna be okay, lil' lizard?"

  "Yeah, I think so." As much as she didn't wish to, Yelz slipped from Hershey's hold and onto the plush carpet, padding for the front door with a frown. "Good night, Hershey."

  "G'Night, shugah."

  Night air bit at the kobold as she returned to the empty parking lot, the silver moon hanging in the cloudless sky like a perfect platter. The deep breath Yelz took refreshed her lungs, cool air chilling her chest like a splash of ice direct to her veins. Claws that had once clutched at her heart, dragging loneliness to the forefront of her mind, receded ever so slightly.

  "Time to go home." As usual, no cacophony greeted the kobold in her living room. No gaggle of lizards fought over the television or crowded the couch. None bumped about waiting for their turn at the bathroom or argued about who stole who's towel. There were no fights about who's turn it was to cook.

  Cook…

  Yelz's stomach made known its displeasure, the nightly free chicken on a stick or the single sandwich from Johnna's rooftop stargazing no longer cutting it.

  "Time to cook, actually. Gosh, I'm tired though…" Following the siren call of dinner, Yelz padded into her seldom used kitchen, groaning at the disappearance of her loyal stool. A tiny hop gave her the tiniest glance of the stove dials, too tall for her paws to reach. "Ugh… where did I put the dang stool. Uuuggghhh, I'm too tired for this. What do I even have in the fridge?"

  Cold air slammed into her bare toes as the sight of empty shelves forced her tail to droop. No jug of milk or carton of eggs. No carrots, no turkey, no noodles… there was only a single packet of honey-ham. A lazy flick of a claw tossed the last of her food into her maw, the slow chew of her fangs easing the worry that threatened to claw its way back into her heart. Just a slice of ham to finish her night…

  Yelz had forgot to get groceries. She'd been so focused on taking care of Tolly's kids… she'd forgot yesterday had been grocery day…

  Ears drooped…

  … tail on the floor.

  "Okay… it's okay! I've got some food. Just gotta check the book and budget for groceries." Just a bump in the road. Nothing to worry about. Adventures had obstacles, it was important to remember. The budget book lay stalwart on the dinner table, a layer of dust collecting on its open pages that was quickly wiped away. "Alright… let's see…"

  Wild Greg's still had her on probationary… no raise yet…

  … really needed that raise…

  Needed it.

  Between rent, utilities, gas… still paying off her uniform…

  Greg's promise that he'd pay her more if she danced on the bottom floor waltzed in the back of her head, if she was for… rent.

  Yelz felt herself whimper against her will. Heroes didn't whimper. Adults didn't whimper.

  …

  …

  …

  There wasn't enough money for groceries.

  "W-Work tomorrow. Yeah… Work hard, get some cash, treat myself! That's what adults do." Yelz nodded, limp ears flopping as she pushed the damned budget book away to skitter to her room. The quicker she slept, the quicker work would arrive. Pajama's slipped around her hips, lower than usual, caught only by her tail. "Huh… guess I'm wearing them out? I'll steal some gym shorts from Johnna or Andrew… ugh, gonna sleep this night away."

  Tomorrow would be better.

  Tomorrow would always be better.