Loving In Each Other's Claws
Every tune erupted from Gabby's guitar, as her finger flicked the chords above the hole in the center. The hole, which fits the size of plump, delicious oranges. She was enjoying this more than the day off she was having from delivering the mail. She was rather disappointed that nopony was listening to her peaceful music, besides the fact that she was under a tree in a field full of grass. Well, except for some... dragon, that is.
"Those are some sweet tunes.", Smolder said to her girlfriend. She was holding a picnic basket full of food, along with a picnic blanket.
Gabby smiled. The scent of fresh food entered her nostrils as she took a sniff. "Whatever is in there smells delicious.", she said, pointing at the basket with anticipation.
"Aren't I supposed to receive a 'thank you' for complimenting your music?", Smolder asked with a smirk, as she took out the picnic blanket.
Gabby giggled, blushing. "Sorry.", she squeaked, putting her guitar on the tree trunk she was leaning against.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, you're great at that.", Smolder said, unfolding the blanket and laying flat on the grass. "My big brother, Garble plays music for me too, except it's with bongos. He would just do it all day, or a few hours a day." She gently lowered herself to the ground, feeling the woolly fabric underneath her hindquarters. Her legs tightly folded in front of her.
Gabby joined the dragon on the blanket. "Can we take out the food already?", she asked. "I'm hungry."
Smolder passed over the basket to Gabby. "Why don't you open it up and see what's in there?", she suggested.
Gabby licked her lips as she opened up the basket and looked inside. The inner site surprised her. The left section was filled with fruit and the right was filled with gems. She raised an eyebrow. "Is this all you packed?", she asked.
Smolder nodded her head.
"Sorry, Smolder, but I don't eat gems.", Gabby said apologetically.
"It's fine.", Smolder said. "But, the fruits for you, the gems are for me. I packed what you like and I packed what I like."
"Is that so.", Gabby said as she grabbed an apple. She took a bite of it and chewed on it's juicy insides. "Although, I've never seen you eat gems."
"Well, let's just say that Spike's the reason why I like these now.", Smolder said as she grabbed a green gem and popped it in her mouth.
Gabby giggled. In no time, she was done with her apple. She tossed it behind her. "Speaking of Spike, he's told me a lot about you.", she said.
Smolder grabbed a red gem, but paused before placing it in her mouth. She looked at Gabby with wide eyes. "You know Spike?", she asked.
"Uh huh.", Gabby answered. He and I are pen pals."
"Oh.", Smolder responded, before finally popping the gem in her mouth. She chewed it up, then swallowed it before speaking again. "Well, I see him every once in a while at school. But, he is a good friend nonetheless."
"You don't say.", Gabby said with a raised eyebrow.
Smolder nodded. "The first time I saw him, he was all 'which one is Smolder'.", she giggled, as she tried to do the best impression of Spike. "But, really, I'm not even kidding. There was another dragon standing right next to me, and he didn't which one was me. Turns out that it was just a changeling."
Gabby laughed. "Wow.", she chortled. "A changeling pretending to be a dragon? That's funny."
Smolder chuckled. "Totally.", she said. "But, that's besides what I'm talking about. Later on, we became great friends, because one time, he sprouted wings."
"I know.", Gabby agreed. "He told me that too."
"Although, he was having trouble using them properly.", Smolder said. "So, I decided I would teach him how. A few example lessons: how straight he has to soar and how forceful he has to land. And for the landing part, I'm super good at that."
"Really.", Gabby pondered. "Are they even sturdy?"
"What? My feet?", Smolder asked.
"Yeah.", Gabby answered.
"Go ahead, take a look at them.", Smolder offered.
"Huh?", Gabby asked.
"Take a look at them.", Smolder repeated.
Gabby smiled and reached over with both claws. She ringed her fingers around Smolder's ankles and slowly pulled them over to reveal the dragon's orange scaly soles. She put the right foot down, so she can poke the scales of the underside of the left one. She was surprised to see how tough and thick they were. "Wow, they're amazing!", she said happily, as she put the left foot down and picked the right one back up. She poked the bottom and softly pinched one of Smolder's toes. "It's like an strong mountain. Almost like dropping a stone without even breaking it. These are amazing!"
Smolder chuckled as Gabby complimented her feet. "Yeah, they are awesome.", she said with a shrug and a roll of her eyes. She pulled her legs back, but realized that her left leg was the only one she pulled back and her right one was still in Gabby's grip. She tried to pull it back, but it couldn't budge, Gabby's grip was too strong. She watched as Gabby playfully placed the tips of her fingers on the bottom of her foot. She gasped. "Don't you dAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Tickle, tickle!", Gabby chimed as she wiggled her fingers against the scaly bottom of Smolder's foot.
Smolder guffawed, kicking her left leg as she tried her hardest to not surrender to the ticklish assault, which made her wiggle her toes.
Gabby decided that she was satisfied and placed Smolder's foot on the ground. "Well, that was fun.", she giggled.
Smolder rubbed the spot under her foot where Gabby tickled her. "Was it really necessary to do that, even without my consent?", she asked.
"Just... thought it would be cute.", Gabby said nervously, playing with her fingers. "Sorry."
"Don't sweat it, Sweetheart.", Smolder reassured. "But, I would appreciate it if you don't do it again. If you did it while we're in the dragon lands, it would be embarrassing."
"Good point." said, shrugging as she reached into the basket and grabbed a pear. "You know, I'm glad we're here together."
"Me too.", Smolder agreed. She scooted towards Gabby and took her claw in hers, before the griffon could bite the fruit in her other claw. "Thanks for enjoying this day with me, Gabby."
"Thank you too.", Gabby echoed back. Again, she was close to biting her pear, when Smolder laid her head on her shoulder with her eyes closed.
She opened them up, half lidded, to look up at Gabby. "I love you.", she whispered. She closed them once more and snuggled into Gabby's feathers.
Gabby smiled at the sleeping dragon on her shoulder. She wanted to repeat that love quote back to her. But, waking her from her nap didn't feel right. At last, she bit her pear.