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Jack zipped up his coat around his sweater. The gray, wet world outside was a far cry from the sunny day he’d missed yesterday. If he were going to call in sick he should have done it then. The tiniest knife cut into his toe with each step he took. An unsuspecting piece of broken glass in the kitchen had taken him by surprise this morning. At the bottom of the steps, he saw the tweaker from apartment 3A hauling armloads of trash out of his car towards the dumpster, probably the first time he’d cleaned it since the Bush Administration.

Irony was that he’d called in sick to keep an eye on Lys, only to find he couldn’t stand being near her right now. Big fights were the worst, they brought out the oddest parts of human behavior. Some couples cried and hugged, others yelled even more, but for him the best solution was to pretend that she didn’t exist. Being around her would make him want to pry about yesterday and that would start the whole cycle over again.

Doesn’t make any sense and it’s going to go on not making any sense unless someone tells me. It’s like a secret club. Did I make the right decision here? Was I ever in love?

A horn from a brand-new Corvette snapped him back to reality, he’d jaywalked halfway across the street lost in thought. The driver waved him on with a glare and he nodded like the fool he was. At least in the park there weren’t any cars waiting to run him down. An angry cyclist insisting on being out in the rain perhaps or a jogger, but no motorists. He had no idea what he was doing anymore. His apartment, a computer, a camisole. All of that was way more than an engagement ring as far as he was concerned. He’d opened himself up to her and she’d shut him out.

Of course I’m going to freak out. You look like you crawled across main street and someone hit you, it’s obvious and you won’t say anything. Am I supposed to pretend it’s okay?

He picked up the pace, kicking up puddles of water with each step. If she wanted to go it’s not like he could keep her prisoner, but giving him the silent treatment was bullshit. Call it old fashioned, but he was raised with the idea that it was job to protect her and if she didn’t like that then maybe they couldn’t be together. The thought of that turned him aside like someone had shot him in the arm. How could they not be meant for each other, despite the glaring obvious? The only succor he found was in the nearby park bench and its damp, hard wooden surface which seemed to petrify at the touch of his backside.

“I didn’t go through all of this for a spring fling, did I?” he asked the trees. They responded as best they could, keeping some of the rain off his head while donating a few leaves to the conversation. He hung his head back, thinking about what they’d been through. It’s not like it’d been a hair-raising adventure, but committing to someone outside of your species and risking ostracization had to be worth something. Too bad he didn’t know any higher powers into interspecies romance. His phone vibrated and in the mad rush to dig it out he dropped it onto the wet leaves.

“Typical.” He snatched it up and unlocked it, expecting it to be Lys. Instead, he saw a photo of an empty room. Familiar, but strange. He’d seen it before. No, he’d been there, many times in the past.

“Finally packed up, leaving tomorrow. You going to see me off? :)” It was Allison.

Jack sighed and took a deep whiff of melancholia. If he answered right away it’d be too obvious that he was upset, but if he waited too long then she’d know something was wrong. He counted down the seconds in his mind with his thumb hovering over the keypad.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Everything ok?”

He groaned. “Just keeping busy.”

The long pause afterwards told him that she didn’t buy it. How the hell was she able to see through his bull even through text messages?

“If you say so.”

A pound of sugar couldn’t make this sweet. “I do say so.”

A long pause. “Are things okay with you and Lisa?”

“Lys.”

“Lys. Are they then?”

And a longer hesitation. “They’re fine.”

The exasperated face emoji she sent spoke to him in ways she couldn’t know. He winced at the obnoxious little thing and her unerring ability to sense when things were wrong. Perhaps he should have confided in Al while he had more time. Perhaps he should have tried to make a thing between himself and her like someone with an ounce of sense would have. Perhaps he’d better stop with this train of thought before it led him where he shouldn’t tread.

“If you’re sure,” she messaged.

It was his to deal with. “I’m sure. You moved out then? Where are you staying?”

“Staying with Jill. You remember?”

“She the one who screamed all the time?”

“Yes…=P”

Jack rolled his eyes with a number of unfond memories.

“Maybe it’ll be easier if I come by tomorrow?”

He felt petty, but it was fact. He didn’t want to be reminded of The Screamer or her pink hair or her gaudy nails or her nasty friends or…

“Yeah.”

“Thought so :) Tomorrow morning then?”

“That’s good.”

“Alright. See you then!”

Jack was about to put his phone away when it vibrated again.

“Going to miss you! :(“

“Going to miss you too.”

He tucked his phone away and brushed his face. “It pours. It pours and pours and pours.” All around him the pattering droplets picked up, driving the irony home.

“Jack!”

He looked around for the source of the voice. A small figure approached from the other side of the park wearing a wet Judas Priest “Painkiller” shirt. Not who he expected to see and not who he wanted to see. More than anything he wanted to be alone to brood, but fate wasn’t having it. “What do you want Rodil and why in the world are you out here?”

The yellow kobold stopped in his tracks a few feet away. “Was going to get jacket and things and give back shirt.” He tugged on it, sending droplets everywhere. “Didn’t mean to get it wet.” He had a slight shiver and the draft in the air wasn’t doing him any favors. Jack tried not to care.

“Your grandma sent you then?”

The kobold’s tail lashed behind him. “She is not Rodil’s grandma. Pearl is a nice lady and very kind to Rodil.” It continued to slice back and forth as he glared up at Jack. “Kinder than you.”

He smirked and shrugged it off. “Well, you got her name now anyway. Probably upset about coming home without your jacket?”

The yellow kobold looked down at his claws for a moment, flexing them. “She didn’t say anything about the jacket, but could tell she was little upset.” He looked him in the eyes. “But she smiled at Rodil, said ‘These things have way of working out’.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Old people love to say stuff like that.”

The kobold kept his gaze fixed on him. “Well? Is true?”

Those big, sappy eyes kept pressing into him along with that muzzle. He shivered with each drift of the breeze; the only thing missing was a sad violin playing “Hearts and Flowers” in the background. “It usually does, usually.” Jack groaned to himself. “Look, I overreacted yesterday and I guess I owe you an apology.”

“Yes, okay.” The kobold stood there, expectantly. The falling rain filled the dead silence and Jack remembered he was dealing with someone who didn’t know the unwritten rules of human etiquette. Laughing nervously, he mustered up all his will.

“I’m sorry.” He almost stumbled over it, always harder in practice than theory.

The kobold nodded. “Thanks. Is not so big a deal, yesterday was rough. Lys had a hard time; I had a hard time.”

“’I’?” Jack raised an eyebrow.

Rodil’s demeanor shifted from calm to angry in a flash. “Do not start! Lys already giving Rodil crap.” His tail cut a swath through the wet leaves behind him, knocking wet patches up into the air which got picked up on the breeze and pushed away.

“Are you cold?”

He shivered again. “A little.”

Sighing, Jack undid the zipper on his coat and tossed it to the kobold who doubled backwards, not expecting the gesture. He looked at it for a moment before turning back to Jack. “What about Jack though?”

“I got my sweater, I’ll manage.”

“Can’t we just go get Rodil’s jacket?”

“Your clothes smell like sun-dried ass and I don’t want to wake Lys up.”

“Oh.” If only he could get underneath the forlorn expression on his face.

Jack offered a hand. “You need some help with that?”

“No, Rodil can do it. Is big is all.” He struggled to get his arms through the sleeves all the way and the coat draped part way down the pair of cut pants he was wearing, but he already looked a bit warmer. He managed to clip the zipper and pulled it up a bit to hold it all together. “There, how does it look?”

“Good enough for government work.”

“What?”

“Nevermind. So, about yesterday…”

Rodil’s tail did an odd spasm followed by a curl. “What about yesterday?”

“Don’t give me that. What happened yesterday? You two looked like the end of 80s action flick and your clothes smelled like you took a bath in the garbage dump. All I found in your pocket was a crusty paper clip.”

He leapt on the spot. “You went through Rodil’s things?!”

“The stinking pile of clothes sitting in my bathroom when I went to take a shower called to me and since nobody would tell me anything I decided to check for any clues, but you don’t even have a wallet.”

“Jack wanted to steal money?!” A loud rumble seemed to come up out of his belly and through his throat. While he held his arms out and swung his tail wide.

Jack gave him a knowing look. “I was joking, settle down.”

“Oh.” Like that, the “Tough Warrior” act was gone.

“But I’m not joking about yesterday, what happened?”

Nearby cars peeled through the wet streets, filling in the dead air as Jack continued to bear down on the kobold who glanced everywhere else now except up at him and the smell of dead leaves rode on the cold air. He began toying with one of the jacket sleeves in lieu of his horns. “Rodil shouldn’t say.”

Jack grit his teeth and leaned back on the bench. “What is with you damned creatures? Is this some kind of a secret club and I don’t get to be in it because I’m not three feet tall and covered in scales?” A single raindrop landed in his eye, but it was enough to make him surge forward with a pointed finger. “I’m getting fed up with this bullshit. I can’t live with someone I can’t trust.”

Rodil leapt back; his eyes turned to pinpricks. “W-what does Jack mean? What’s going to happen to Lys?”

Jack got up and brushed his rear, damp from the seat. “I need to walk. My ass is falling asleep.” He pushed past the kobold and took off at a brisk pace.

“Wait! What’s going to happen to Lys?! Hello? Wait up!” Rodil started following after him, over the hill, past the playground, through the row of oaks, past the really ugly modern art display the high school kids had set up last year, out into the open area where the joggers jogged. Jack kept right on going, ignoring the rain soaking into his sweater and the kobold pawing at him. “Hello? Is Jack deaf?” An early morning runner went past, turning to look, shaking his head at the scene. He went on, past the war memorial, the barbecue grills, and the restroom stalls.

Rodil threw himself in front of Jack, leaping up with waving arms. “Stop damn it! What is going to happen to Lys? Is Jack going to throw her out?”

He paused and stared up at the trees, humming tunelessly for a bit. He heard a low, growling coming from somewhere beneath him. “Man, isn’t it annoying when no one will tell you anything?” he asked the wet, molting trees. Again, they offered no response. “It's almost like being in the dark.” The trees kept their council. “It’s even worse when it’s someone you care about and everyone just buttons up like you’re not supposed to know.” Despite his impassioned statement, the trees continued to say nothing, but he did look down to see an angry kobold glaring at him, teeth bared.

“Rodil doesn’t need lessons. He isn’t a hatchling.”

“Seems like he needs a few to me. What happened yesterday?”

He started pacing about. “Can’t tell you.”

“You seemed ready to tell me yesterday until Lys shut you down.”

“Don’t want to cause more trouble. Lys loves Jack, Jack knows that, yes?

“Of course I know that.”

His tail drooped. “Is Jack going to throw Lys out?”

“Of course not.”

“Had a big fight after Rodil left though, yes?”

Jack ran a hand through his wet hair. “Roddy, couples have fights. That’s part of the deal, doesn’t mean I’m going to toss her out.”

“Rodil doesn’t want to be the reason for the fighting. Was his fault.”

“How?”

The kobold gripped both his horns and jerked at them. “Can’t say!”

Another jogger ran past, giving the two of them the odd eye. He was sure they looked the sight. Him in his damp sweater and the kobold in the baggy coat. At this point he almost wished another kobold would pass by just so he could ask a neutral party if they were all so blasted clannish. Rodil continued to grip his horns, a nervous curl on his muzzle. The rain ebbed and flowed in spurts and the cold was creeping into his shoulders. “You sure you can’t say?”

His claws clenched around his horns tighter. “Can’t say, can’t say. Want to say, but can’t.”

This wasn’t getting him anywhere. The rain kept falling, the cold kept creeping, and his stomach rumbled finding its appetite. “To hell with it. You want to get something to eat?”

The yellow kobold looked like he’d been asked on all expenses paid vacation. “Eat? Jack wants me to go eat with him?”

“Yeah, eat. You know, food? It’s cold out here and I’m getting hungry. I assume you still eat?”

“Yes, of course Rodil eats, but Jack means like eating out? Like at a place? Like nice food and not just whatever comes out of the refrigerator or the stove?”

“Hey! My food isn’t that bad, is it?”

Rodil raised his hands in defense. “No, no. But…is Jack trying to bribe Rodil?” His starstruck expression faded into a look of deep hurt and he took a few steps back like terrible something might happen.

Jack shifted from one leg to the other. The thought had crossed his mind, how could it not? But he felt like smoothing things over with the kobold and getting something in his stomach at the same time. “No, but are you saying you’ll tell me if I buy you some coffee and donuts?”

A flicker of a smile came to his maw and then. “No, can’t. Don’t make Rodil choose between donuts and snitching. Lys would be so angry.”

Jack felt amused and sorry at the same time, if he really pushed it he could probably buy the kobold off with junk food, but he’d already made up his mind that this was between him and his mate now. Making him betray Lys’s trust for a box of donuts was cruel in a way he wasn’t. “The only thing I’m going to make you choose is which kind of coffee to get.”

The kobold’s snout scrunched up. “Coffee is bitter and cold, but Rodil likes donuts.” His tail sprang to life.

“You’re not supposed to drink it like that. So you’re in?”

“Yes.” His tail started lashing out in all directions. “Can we get those meat and cheese things on the round soft bread and the—”

“Let’s not get carried away here. It’s gas station edibles, not a lumberjack breakfast.”

“Alright, Rodil is hungry and he’d love to go get this…gas station stuff with Jack, but what about Lys?”

“It’s just us guys. Let her sleep.”

Rodil nodded and the two of them went towards the apartment.

***

The yellow kobold peered out the back window watching cars, rain droplets, and anything else that looked interesting. His tail would pick up, swatting out dust from the seat whenever he saw something that caught his eye and then die back down again as it passed.

Jack flicked on the heater to some much-needed relief. “First time in a car, right?”

Rodil closed his eyes for a moment as the warmth reached him as well. “Rode in the back of trucks, but never a car. Never had to put on a seat belt.” He looked down and tugged at it.

The traffic light made a quick shift from yellow to red and Jack tapped the break, making a hard lean forward. He looked left and right, no cars in sight, yet somehow the precious nothing had the right of way. “Tell me about that then.”

Rodil tapped at the window, trying to force a droplet on the outside to continue its journey downward. “Did work for humans, whatever needed doing. Rodil was handy for things where someone small could squeeze in or climb up. Got paid, but only once in a while and then one day just stopped.” He shrugged. “Liked riding in the truck though and those humans weren’t too bad, even if they rubbed Rodil’s head too much.”

“Just stopped?”

“Rodil doesn’t have a phone, he came around regular and asked, sometimes there was work and sometimes not, but one day they were gone. All packed up and left. Probably shady, always felt off.” He turned his attention forward, glancing up at the rear view mirror. “What does Jack do?”

The lights might have taken their sweet time, but the rain didn’t. He flicked on the wipers. “I, uhh, drive a forklift.”

Roddy started watching them swing back and forth. “What’s wrong with that? Make it sound bad.”

“It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do.” Jack got distracted watching Rodil watch the wipers that he had no idea how long the light had been green, but an unfriendly honk from behind got him rolling again.

Rodil sprang forward only to be stopped by the seat belt, but then he started to laugh like he’d been told a joke. The yellow kobold’s laugh had a squeaky quality to it that sounded downright adorable, something Jack made sure not to mention. “Who gets to do what they want?” he asked.

“Not me.”

“Not Rodil either.”

Jack tapped his break again for a cream-colored SUV that decided it didn’t need to wait to turn. “Idiot.”

“What happened?”

“Just the usual morning rushers thinking they have the right of way and everyone else having to drive for them.” He put on the gas and continued down the road. “So how long have you known Lys?”

“Hatched same day.” He smiled wide.

“Do you guys really just lay eggs out in the open and let them sit?”

And then he glared. “No, don’t ‘just lay eggs’. Make it sound like kobolds are animals. Take care of them, careful, sacred things.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer to take them to the hospital? Most of them are accommodating for that now.”

He snorted loud and rolled his big eyes. “And then they know where you are, make you do paperwork, a whole lot of things.”

Jack pondered if his passenger was a conspiracy theorist. “You could get benefits.”

His gentle eyes turned to daggers. “Don’t talk to Rodil about benefits. Rodil’s parents took benefits after going on and on about how bad humans were for all his life. Always telling Rodil to avoid or lie, but then taking their ‘benefits’.”

Jack gripped the steering wheel and sucked in a breath. He’d stumbled over a hornet’s nest by accident and he didn’t want to kick it. “Right, how did Lys end up being where you were then?”

“Lys’s parents were living with us.” His scowl cracked into a smile. “Probably avoiding the police.” Then he realized what he’d said and clammed up.

Jack wanted to pry further, but he’d reached the convenience store and turned into the parking lot. He saw a car at every pump and an endless stream of bodies moving back and forth. It felt better than ever to have called in today. He took a spot right on the end and out of the way. “Alright, let’s go get it.” He unbuckled and got out of the car.

“Me? Go in there?!” He looked like Jack had asked him to volunteer for a suicide mission.

“Yeah, in there. It’s all in there.”

He gripped the seat belt, his tether to safety. “But Jack can go in and get it.”

“Come on, if Lys can go in then so can you. It'll be good for you. Besides, someone has to watch my back in case some early morning Karen tries to jump us.”

The kobold’s tail spasmed against the seat and he shrunk into the corner. “A what?! No, nevermind. Don’t need breakfast.”

Sighing, he closed the driver side door and came around to the back. Rodil was still cowering and watching the swarm go in and out. Lys had handled it a lot better. “You’re really afraid?”

He straightened up, trying not to let the commotion get to him. “Rodil isn’t afraid. He’s just careful and Jack is going on about weird things hiding inside the store waiting to get us.”

“It was a joke.”

“Don’t joke so much.” He undid the seatbelt and slipped out of the car then he looked up at Jack. “Well?”

“Come on.” Jack headed up the walk towards the store. As many people paid no mind as they stopped to glance, but only for a moment. Folks had better things to do than gawk. It was Rodil who did most of the gawking. “Don’t stop and don’t stare.”

“Sorry.”

The two stepped inside and Jack welcomed the burst of heated space as it enveloped him. Sausage and bacon mixed and mingled with coffee and cleaner. He stepped further inside to be wrapped up by the warmth and to take a moment to breathe in all the welcome scents of the day without having to do the morning dance. Then came the sound of scraping.

“Jack, help!”

Turning around, he saw Rodil tangled up in the doormat and several frustrated people trying to get by. His toe claws stuck to the stupid thing like fly paper and he started thrashing about. “Come on, I’m not picking you up.”

The kobold pried at his feet, dragging the mat with him. “Can’t get out, help!”

Jack slammed his foot down on the mat and Rodil walked off of it making a loud thwapping noise as he went. He checked his feet. “Thanks, what was that?”

“The doormat. I guess I should have warned you.”

“Hey, get out. We don’t serve your kind here!” The gray haired cashier waved to Jack as he finished ringing up a customer. He peered over the counter. “I didn’t know those things changed color.”

“They don’t,” Jack said.

“What happened to the other one then? Weren’t you goin’ steady?” He gave a sly smile. “You decide to trade up?”

Jack rolled his eyes as hard as he could. “No. It’s her friend, you jackwagon.”

“Name is Rodil,” the yellow kobold said, flashing a toothy smile.

The cashier nodded with a grin. “And it’s a guy! Is there something you’re not telling us Jack? You're getting into all kinds of kinky stuff these days.”

Jack discreetly flipped him off. “Hey, you got a customer.” He pointed to an agitated woman waiting at the counter with a coffee in her hand and the cashier went back to work.

“What was that about?” Rodil asked, cocking his head in the usual fashion.

“Oh, the guys here love to give me crap since I come in all the time.” Jack went over to the donuts and got out a box with Roddy watching the people as much as he stared at the goodies. “So, what was that you were saying earlier about Lys’s parents? She’s been trying to find them.”

He made a chittering sound in his throat. “May not want to find them.”

“Eh? Why is that?”

“When is Rodil going to learn to shut up?”

“Not today. What is it?”

The kobold began looking at pre-wrapped sandwiches in the mini-cooler. “Lys’s parents are alright, but…not the kind of kobolds want around for long. She misses them when they are gone and wants them gone when they are here. If Jack finds them will know what Rodil means.”

“I think I already have a good idea what you mean. Do things go missing?”

“They might.”

He started to take his pick of the donuts. A chocolate cake, a sour cream, a maple bar. “Do they fight?” Jack glanced down at Rodil and then back at the box. He’d need a dozen to be safe.

“Lys’s mother does, with her. B-but she loves her!” he almost shouted. “Ixby loves her daughter more than life itself, so is only fitting that she kills her.”

A cream filled, a jelly, a glazed. “That sounded rehearsed.”

“That’s because Lys’s dad said it all the time.”

Jack finished plundering the donuts and closed the box. “Anything else I should know?”

“Might be in jail.”

“I checked arrest records, but I didn’t find anything. At least not with the names Lys gave me.”

“Then not in jail.” Jack couldn’t tell if he sounded disappointed by that fact. “If Jack does find them then be careful. Lys’s father is okay, but mother can be…be…”

“Beeeee?” He loomed over the kobold, holding the box in his hands.

“Dangerous.”

Jack shrugged hard enough to send all the donuts to the top of the box, no doubt sticking some of their icing. “Great. So I have a classic psychopath mother-in-law? No wait, I have a psychopath mother-in-law who can shred the skin from my bones.”

“Only if she finds you.” He smiled while his tail wagged.

“Thanks Roddy, you’re a big, big help.”

“Rodil is glad to…wait, Jack is being sarcastic.”

“What’s that I’m hearing over there? Mother-in-law?” the cashier asked.

Jack deigned not to answer, instead he pointed to the coffee bar. “Let’s grab some drinks and get out of here before they start asking questions.”

“What did he mean, ‘kinky stuff’ earlier?”

“Shut up and get some coffee.”

“Can’t reach it.” Jack watched him spying people grabbing cups and pouring steaming cups of java. The kobold had a much better sense of smell, Jack watched as his muzzle seemed to trail after the freshly poured beverages, catching confused and surprised looks from would-be customers.

“I see what you mean.” Jack strode over when most of the current gaggle of people had cleared and pulled out two larges from the counter. “What do you want? Regular? Dark?” He narrowed his eyes at the “Brew of the Month” at the end. “Or pumpkin spice?”

“What is decaffeinated?”

“We are not getting decaffeinated.”

Rodil leered back at Jack’s deadly threat. “Okay, pumpkin spice sounds interesting, better than boring regular or dark.”

“Thought you might say that.” Jack poured two larges of pumpkin spice and stuck the lids on. “Go grab something else to drink.”

Rodil looked confused, shaking his head and glancing about.

“Behind you, down the aisle.” Jack pointed and grabbed a handful of creamers and sugar. “In the coolers.” He started carrying the stuff to the front. With two people in front of him he was able to keep an eye on Roddy as he looked up and down the drink cooler.

Pull the handle, pull the-you got it-no don’t get an energy drink you’re not going to need any more caffeine.

The line moved and Jack moved with it, he couldn’t see Roddy anymore so he had to trust the kobold to get something decent.

“Hiya Jack, just this then?” the cashier asked.

“And a pack of Camels.”

The gray-haired man raised an eyebrow and went for the smokes. “Having it rough then? Woman trouble?” He slapped the box on the counter.

“Don’t ask.” Jack pinched a lighter off the nearby display and tossed it on the counter. “Roddy where—“ he looked down to see the kobold standing there, “—are you? Just milk?”

“What is wrong with milk?”

“Nothing.” He put it on the counter.

The cashier looked it over. “All this?”

“Yeah.”

He rang it up. “Well, hope things improve, see you round.”

The two of them went for the door with Rodil giving the doormat a wide berth, pressing himself up against the edges of the door frame as he stepped out. Outside, the foot traffic only seemed to be picking up and they dodged several people on the way back to the car with their sugary bounty. “Sit up front,” Jack said before he got in. He set down the coffee in the holders and the box between them while the passenger side door opened. He bounded in, eager to grab at the coffee.

“Hold on, this stuff is burn-the-ever-loving-crap-out-of-you-hot.”

Rodil pulled his claws away, looking ashamed. “Sorry.”

Jack set the cups down in the holders and everything else down between them. “No idea how you like your coffee so I brought out a load of different creamers, there should be sugar too.”

“Rodil has no idea how he likes his coffee either or if he really likes it at all. He hopes he does.” The yellow kobold looked at the creamers and cocked his head. “What is ‘Irish Cream’?”

“It’s a flavor.”

Jack was expecting him to ask what it tasted like, instead the yellow kobold popped it opened and poured it out on his forked tongue. Rodil shook his head a few times. “Interesting, strong and sweet.”

“That’s why you’re supposed to put it in your coffee.” Jack sighed.

“How much should put into his coffee and what kind?”

“As many as you want-hey save some for me!”

“But Jack said—“

“I know what I said, but that doesn’t mean all of them.”

“But coffee is bitter.”

“Not so bitter that you want to drown it in creamer, come on. You already got like twenty of them in there.”

He flicked his tongue out. “Is not twenty, is seven and nothing to stir with. Suppose to just stick claw in and burn finger?”

“Stop being dramatic, here.” Jack handed him a plastic spoon he snagged along the way, much better than those wretched swizzle sticks. “Shouldn’t even need any sugar.”

“Sugar? Rodil forgot the sugar.”

Jack’s palm had a timely reunion with his face. He heard the packets being torn open. “Don’t use them all.” In the meantime, he took out his smokes and undid the wrap, flipping open the box he took out a cigarette and the lighter.

“Thought Jack stopped smoking those?”

He flicked it a few times and an orange flame sprouted up. “I thought I did too,” he said through pursed lips, “but enough is enough.”

“What is enough?”

“The stress is enough, that’s what.” He took a long, easy drag and the world seemed to regain a great deal of color though he knew he’d feel like crap about it later. He rolled down the window a little and blew the jet of smoke out into the wet, morning air. “I needed that. What?” Rodil stared at him with a shocked expression.

“What will Lys think?”

“I guess that all depends on whether or not she finds out. It’s not like I’m taking it up again.”

“Is Jack?” Rodil sipped his coffee.

“No and maybe if some certain people wouldn’t give me so much trouble I wouldn’t have started it up again in the first place.”

The yellow kobold put his coffee down. “So, this is Rodil’s fault? Did Jack bring me out here to try and make Rodil feel bad?”

“No, that’s a bonus.” He cracked a smile.

“Rodil doesn’t think that’s funny.” He started unzipping the coat.

“What are you doing?”

“Here, take it back. Rodil will walk home, wherever it is from here.”

“Hey now, don’t overreact. Roddy, stop. I’m sorry, alright?”

“Want to take it off anyway, is getting in the way.” He laid it on the seat behind him. “But if Jack is done teasing?”

He tapped a bit of ash off on the window and it flew away in the breeze. “Alright, alright. It was just a joke.”

“And Rodil doesn’t think Jack should be smoking.”

Jack looked over and narrowed his eyes. Roddy flashed a nervous, toothy smile. “Don’t push it.”

Rodil nodded and flipped open the donut box, gazing upon the confectioneries within.

Jack finished doctoring up his coffee and glanced over. “Don’t drool on them.” The kobold’s tongue had come lolling out of his maw.

“Sorry.”

“If you don’t mind me asking—“

He kept eying the donuts. “—Rodil doesn’t.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”

“Rodil probably doesn’t though.”

“Do you have any idea how old Lys is?”

“Lys is twenty-six.”

Jack did a double take, almost knocking hot ash onto himself as he made a short puff of smoke, then he leaned over for good measure, but the kobold kept looking over the donuts like they were all too good to eat. “Just like that? You’re so sure?”

He nodded. “Lys not very good at keeping track of her own hatching, but Rodil always remembered because we hatched the same day and Rodil bothered his parents and Lys’s parents about it.” He looked up. “Always try to give best friend something.”

“So you know what day then?” Jack perked up.

Rodil sighed and shook his head. “Know month. Is July. Early July because always remember the sound of fireworks, used to be scared of them. Might even be on the big day, but cannot remember exact day, sorry.”

Jack blew a long draft out the window. “Close enough for me. Thanks Roddy.”

“Rodil is glad to help.” He snatched up a maple bar and snapped down on it. “Mmmm.”

“So what’s your story then?”

The kobold looked over with half a maple bar sticking out of his mouth. “Mmm?” He snapped the rest of it down like a gator finishing off some unfortunate prey. “Rodil doesn’t tell stories.”

“I mean your story. You said you worked with some guys in a truck and you knew Lys right from the time you two hatched.”

A chocolate cake donut met its untimely end before the kobold decided to speak. “Don’t like to talk about the past, but we all live in one big place in what humans called a squat for a long time. It was okay, Rodil guesses. Except for being cold in winter, hot in summer, and Rodil’s parents always nagging Rodil to do more and never good enough.”

Jack exhaled upward forgetting he had smoke in his mouth, blowing it all into his face. “Sorry I asked.”

“Is not Jack’s fault that Rodil’s parents are shedded husks instead of kobolds. Is why spent so much time with Lys in the first place so not all bad.” Next went the glazed. “One day people came and said couldn’t live there anymore and that was that. Rodil’s parents took benefits and went to housing project and Rodil left, not want to be near them.”

The cigarette burned down to the filter without Jack noticing, it almost got him. “Damn. You’re killing me here.”

The kobold looked over. “Jack looks fine to Rodil.”

He laughed. “Go on, what happened?”

“Lost track of Lys and Lys’s parents for time then met up with Lys again and Red.”

“Lys mentioned something about him.” Jack began to smile as he thought about Rodil’s Halloween caper.

Rodil scoffed. “Stupid kobold, big trouble, but kept us together for a while. All ended badly though. Cops finally got after him and after us. Was his fault though. Lost track of Lys again…she was very mad about that.” He rubbed his stomach. “But Lys manages. She went back to her…”

Jack thumbed a new cigarette, but he became extremely curious. “To her what?”

He grabbed up another donut. “Nothing. Lys did what Lys does.”

He put it back. “And what does Lys do?” His need for nicotine dried up.

The sour cream donut hung on the end of his maw while he cast a guilty stare up at Jack and then he bit down. “She survives.”

“What aren’t you telling me now?”

He dropped the donut box onto the floor. “N-nothing…”

“Roddy…what. Is. It?”

“Nothing!”

“It’s something. Something to do with Lys?”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing to do with anything.”

“Oh, come on. Is there something else you’re keeping from me? Something about Lys?”

Rodil shrunk away, pressing himself up against the car door. “Stop asking, can’t tell you! Can’t tell you anything! Promised.”

Jack hit the master switch, locking the door just in case. “What has gotten into you?”

“Too many secrets to keep, that’s what. Shouldn’t have said anything and Jack shouldn’t keep asking. Is making Rodil very tired. Jack shouldn’t know what he doesn’t know and If Lys finds out…” He started nibbling at his claws.

Just what I needed, more secrets.

But he couldn’t help feeling bad for the poor creature biting his claws while having a growing sense of ire for Lys. He needed to have the truth of all things between the two of them eventually to make this work and he didn’t like her putting the burden of keeping secrets on her friend. “I’m not going to ask you anything Roddy.”

“But what about Lys?”

“What happens between me and Lys is between me and Lys. She’s going to need to quit keeping secrets.”

The kobold’s whole frame drooped. “But don’t want to cause trouble.”

“You’re not the one causing trouble. My little green mate is the one causing trouble, in fact she seems to be a champion manipulator.”

Rodil frowned. “Lys doesn’t mean to do what she does. Learned it to survive.”

“Well, she needs some new lessons then.”

Rodil nodded slightly. “Jack already taught her some.”

He didn’t know what to make of that. “Well, enough about her, pass me the donuts. Man, you went to town on these.”

“Sorry.”

“Not like I wanted the maple bar.” Jack plucked a donut out of the box. “In the end I think things have worked out well. You found…she who must not be named again and now you got your grandma.”

“She is not…Jack is teasing again. Rodil has Pearl and Pearl has been kind. Give him a place to stay and chance to earn it. Owe that to Jack.”

The creme-filled, somehow the kobold had missed it. “Me? How?”

“Jack told Rodil to ask for more work. Lead to Rodil getting place to stay so Jack is the reason why Rodil is doing better.” The kobold finished off his coffee. “And Jack is kinder than he looks too, even if he teases.” His tail flicked back and forth against the seat.

The morning didn’t seem quite so cold anymore. “Thanks Roddy.”

The kobold opened up his milk and finished it off in one swill. “Rodil is glad to help.”

***

With a rusty squeal the car pulled into the parking lot and Jack stepped out feeling fuller, caffeinated, and a bit more fulfilled than when he started. The passenger side door opened and closed and Rodil came running around the back with Jack’s coat in tow. “What is Jack going to do now?”

“All the other things I need to do today. Which includes washing clothes.”

The kobold nodded. “Yes, good. What about Lys?”

“Let me worry about her. She’s my mate, we’ll work it out.”

I hope.

“Okay. Thanks, Jack, for breakfast and the car ride and forcing Rodil to go inside. Was fun. When should he come by for clothes?”

“Give it a day or two.”

He nodded and began to walk away, waving as he went. At least he was on better terms now, but those pleasant feelings paled as he looked up the steps. He needed to have a long overdue talk, some answers, and to smooth things over all at the same time. Someone nearby was shouting, another tenant. Something about a mess in his car, whatever it was didn’t concern him. The steps wobbled with a vindictive creak, as if angry they had to go to work again. One of these days they’d give in spite. Jack stepped into the bedroom and opened the closet when he realized he’d left his coat with Rodil.

At this rate he’s going to steal half of my wardrobe.

He slid the door shut, nothing to be done about that now, but at least he was on much better terms with the yellow kobold at this point. He could get that settled after laundry day.

“Mmm, you’re back. Where did you go?” Lys sat up and then narrowed her eyeridges at him. “And why are you wet? Where’s your coat?”

“Morning, Sweet. Gave it to Rodil.”

Those yellow eyes of hers widened. “Gave it to him? What was he doing out there in the rain and what were you doing out there for that matter?” Her tail flicked once.

“I went for a walk and he was coming to give my shirt back and get his clothes.” He peeled the sweater off and took a seat on the mattress beside her.

“Why?”

He smirked at her. “What do you mean ‘why?’ I can’t go for a walk?”

“Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I called in sick.”

She began rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “You called in so you could walk in the park?”

“Yeah, and then I met Rodil and we had a chat.”

Her tail started to curl into her lap in lieu of a pillow. “But why did you give him your coat? Weren’t you mad at him?”

“Well, I was mad at him, but I’m not now and anyway I gave it to him because he was soaked and cold. You know how it is when a kobold looks like their suffering, all small and helpless.”

“Hmm, yeah. Why were you gone so long?”

“Wasn’t gone that long.”

“Long enough. What were you doing?”

He rubbed the wet out of his hair. “Went and had breakfast.”

“You took him to have breakfast?” She tried not to look offended.

“You were asleep and besides I felt sorry for him. You should have seen him wet and miserable out there.”

“Hmmph.”

“Like I don’t take you places. We went to the gas station and had donuts.”

Her tail continued to curl. “And you talked.”

“Yes, we talked.”

“About what?”

He waggled his head and laughed. “About stuff.”

She tugged at her tail. “Like what?”

He took a deep breath and straightened out his shoulders. Firming up his lips, he looked her dead in the eye and gave her a concerned look like the kind his father used to give him.

I might go to hell for this, but let's see how she likes it.

“Roddy told me about yesterday.”

She fell backwards onto the pillow with a sigh, her worst fears realized. “Jack…I can explain.”

“Well look…” he said, trying to coax it out of her.

“I-I-I didn’t know what else to do! I didn’t want to call you because I knew you’d freak out!” She flung her arms in the air.”

“Yeah? I freaked out anyway.” So far, so good.

She sat up, muzzle curling into a frown and it looked as if she might cry again. “If I hadn’t left my key in here we wouldn’t have gotten locked out.”

“And?” he said, trying to maintain the facade.

“And? What’s there to say?”

“You can tell me what he didn’t.” Now he felt clever.

She twisted and turned on the bed, clinching at her left horn. “He kept those guys off of me, but he wasn’t there for—“

He did a double take; his brow narrowed into an angle. “What guys?”

“Those pieces of sh…” her head tilted ever so slightly, “wait a minute,” a churring noise rose up in her throat as she leaned forward, “Rodil didn’t say anything, did he?”

Jack stood up off the bed. “What guys?”

She stood up on the bed. “You tricked me!” The green kobold bared her teeth and pointed a claw at him. “That’s so…so…” She snarled at him. “You used my friend against me!”

He forgot the guys and remembered that his mate had rows of needle teeth and sharp claws. “Wait, sweet! Let’s not do something that will put me in the hospital, or the morgue.”

She stopped and turned around to grab a pillow. “Grrr…” It hit him in the chest. “You deserve it, I can’t believe you’d lie to me.”

“Like you lied to me?”

“That’s different!”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is!”

“No, it’s not.”

“Alright it’s not, but it is!” The kobold slumped down onto the mattress.

“You got locked out?”

“’That isn’t all that happened.”

“I know, what guys are you talking about?” Jack sat back down and tried to place an arm around her.

She tried to push him back. “Get away! I don’t want to talk about it. That was really sneaky of you. Loathsome, vile.”

“Working on your vocabulary, I see.” He grabbed her up into his arms.

She feigned a struggle. “No, don’t! I want to stay mad at you. Humans are rotten, all of them.”

“And I guess kobolds are pure and good?” He placed her into his lap.

“And misunderstood.”

He wrapped his arms around her scaly body, pulling her in close. “Don’t you think there’s been enough lying?”

Her tension began to melt away and she nuzzled into him a few times. “Yes.” She sniffed at him. “Have you been smoking?”

“Maybe.”

She swatted him on the shoulder. “What was that about lying?”

“Well, you said it yourself, sneaky and rotten.”

“Don’t use my words against me and don’t start smoking again.”

He kissed her on the snout. “I won’t. Now, what about these guys? Are you going to finally tell me about yesterday?”

She buried her head into his chest and groaned long and loud. “I guess,” she said, all muffled. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“I get the feeling I’m going to hate it."