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Anon had little time left. Worse, he had no idea how little, which only put him on the edge even more. He was like a mouse stalked by a cat, unaware of when the predator is going to strike.
Nothing in the sky but clouds. That didn’t necessarily mean he was safe – his eyesight wasn’t all that great, but a flying wyvern was going to notice him way before he noticed her.
On the bright side, the safety was within grasp. Funnily enough, the best place to hide from a dragon is a dragon’s lair.
“Please, be home…”
It was hard to recognize the structure as a home, it was more like entrance to an underground bunker. Anon knocked on the wooden door so thick that he wasn’t sure it could be heard on the other side, and waited. Thankfully, it only took a moment for his friend, Marbie, to open.
“Hi, Anon!” She cheerfully greeted him. “What’s up?”
Instead of a normal response, he quickly ran inside past her and down the slope into her living room.
“Close the door!” He quickly yelped. She complied, curious what’s gotten into her friend. “If anyone asks, I’m not here! I need to lay low for a bit!”
“Lay low?” She really felt she deserved an explanation. “Come on, what is-”
Knocking on the door interrupted her. Strong, impatient strikes that might have broken weaker doors.
“Anon!” An angry girl’s voice managed to reach them. “I know you’re there! Come out, you coward!”
Marbie, still lacking information, glanced at Anon who vigorously shook his head. It didn’t take a genius to understand his intentions.
“What are you yelling for, dummy?” Marbie tried to dissuade the girl outside. “You know this is my house, not Anon’s. His looks completely different.”
“Don’t you play dumb, Marbie! I saw you let Anon in! Just tell him to give up already!”
The wurm gave Anon a bemused stare. Coming here might have been a mistake on his part after all, and she didn’t want to deal with the drama.
“Halley, just give it to me straight,” Marbie told her, already fed up. “What did Anon do to you?”
“Why don’t you ask him?” Halley snapped back. “I bet he’ll spill the beans in no time.”
Marbie sighed and opened the door. She didn’t let Halley get past her like Anon did; instead she grabbed the wyvern by the wing and dragged her to the living room where Anon was hiding.
It was a cozier room than expected from the entrance that led to it. It was nicely lit with magic fixtures, and the solid rock walls had their charm complimented by the furniture. That was no primitive dragon’s cave.
Marbie made Anon and Halley sit down on a huge couch big enough to hold her entire body and looked down at them.
“Try fighting down here and you’ll really see what a mad wurm is like,” she warned them, standing over them crossed arms. “Alright,” she cleared her throat and pointed at Halley. “You first. What is this all about?”
“Anon got cold feet and said he doesn’t want to come on our date,” Halley answered annoyed and shot Anon a glare. “And he promised he will!”
“Now, now,” she hushed her. “Maybe Anon had a good reason. Why don’t you tell us?”
“…I panicked,” Anon admitted with embarrassment.
“Really?” Marbie tilted her head. “That’s not like you at all. You’ve always kept your word whenever you said you’re taking Halley on a date.”
“Yeah, easy for him when he’s the one choosing what to do,” Halley interjected. “But I come up with something and it’s suddenly a huge problem.”
At least one thing was made clear. Anon was always the one who came up with activities to do, so it must have been important for Halley to take initiative for once.
Still, that left plenty of questions.
“So what were you guys planning?”
“Bungee jumping,” Halley answered. “I mean, he’d be jumping, and I’d be flying next to him. I thought that’s gonna so cool, but noooo!”
“That does sound cool…” Marbie nodded and looked at Anon. “Don’t you think so too?”
“I…” He murmured awkwardly. “I saw the bridge… It’s really long way down, and you know…”
It almost made sense, but something wasn’t adding up.
“You’re scared of heights? No way that can be right. Halley gives you rides on her back all the time, doesn’t she?”
There was not a peep in the room. Anon was still looking away in shame, and Halley got red-faced as well.
“Halley?” Marbie verbally poked her. “You do give Anon rides, don’t you?”
“No…”
And there was the missing piece. Likelihood of a wyvern asking a man to ride her was low, and if one wanted that, she’d rather encourage the man to ask her. Now, the odds of a man scared of heights choosing to go out with a mamono known for flight…
“Oh boy.” Marbie sighed. “I thought you’d have asked her for that already.”
“I love Halley, but not for that. Just like a guy who loves a holstaur doesn’t care about big chests.”
“More like a guy who loves a holstaur and is scared of big chests,” Marbie quipped.
“See?” Halley pouted. “I knew this is dumb.”
“Nowhere near as dumb as fearing big bosoms,” the wurm corrected her. “Halley, this isn’t an uncommon fear in humans. You think it’s dumb because you can fly, but it’s like fear of drowning to a mermaid, or cave-ins for me.”
“It still is…” She insisted, even though she wasn’t so confident about it.
“Either way, I think I get it.” Marbie nodded and looked at Anon. “You wanted to ease Anon into flying, and it turned out to not be so easy. But I think you can still make it work. Anon, you know Halley would never hurt you, right? So let her show you there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Anon and Halley looked at each other awkwardly. Marbie didn’t interrupt them and waited for one to make the first move, which turned out to be Halley who gently hugged him with her wings.
“Sorry,” she whispered just loud enough for Marbie to hear. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“But I promised you. And…” He managed to overcome to awkwardness to make eye contact with her. “I know you’ll keep me safe.”
They sat in a quiet embrace, with all the anger gone. Who knows how long it would have lasted if they forgot they were sitting on their friend’s couch, said friend watching them with a smile.
“Thanks for the help, Marbie,” Anon said gratefully. “Guess the two of us should be going. The instructor lady is probably already waiting for us.”
“Oh no,” the wurm grinned. “I’m not just letting you go.”
“Huh?” They both got concerned for a moment.
“It’s supposed to be like flying, right? I’m a dragon too, so now I wanna what it’s like too. I’m coming with you.”
The view alone was breathtaking. It was enough to look to the horizon from this massive bridge, and the ravine below felt unreal from this distance.
“Miss?” The succubus instructor felt uneasy talking to Marbie. “I’m sorry, but your friends didn’t say you were coming. I didn’t bring the gear for someone of… your size…”
“Don’t worry about me.” She gave her thumbs up. “I’ll manage.”
The instructor turned her attention back to Anon and Halley. He was already fully equipped and just needed to psych himself before fully committing to the jump.
“I double checked, sir. Go whenever you’re ready.”
“Right.” Anon rubbed his hands. “All in preparation for the real thing.”
“You should have asked me sooner,” Halley said sarcastically, but with a genuine smile.
“It will be fine, Mr. Anon,” the instructor encouraged him. “Just take some deep breaths to relax, and-” She stopped when she caught something with a corner of her eye. “What the hell are you doing!?”
“Wheeeeeeeee!”
Marbie leaped over the railing and plummeted into the bottom of the valley. It seemed like she couldn’t survive the fall, but instead ended up leaving a hole in the ground and reemerged as if the ground was water and she just performed a cannonball in a pool.
“ᴵ'ᵐ ᵒᵏᵃʸᵎ” She yelled. “ᵀʰᵉ ᵍʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ᶦˢ ᵍʳᵉᵃᵗᵎ”
“Hey, watch it!” The succubus really was upset at her. “You could have damaged the bridge! People get sued for that!”
“ˢᵒʳʳʸᵎ”
Anon was as ready as he could be. He raised his hands and jumped, his body now facing head to the ground. His heart was pounding like mad, even if he understood he wasn’t in any real danger.
He felt the time slowing down when he looked to the side and saw Halley diving along with him. Their eyes met for a very brief moment, in a circumstance that was unlike anything else they had experienced before.
If this was what flying was like, he really was looking forward to the real deal.