"And what would that be?"
"I want you to keep going around with me. More importantly, I'd... like to make us an official item, if you're willing." There was something puppy-like in River's eyes as he stared at Melanie, almost pleading.
"'Make us an official item?' You talk like an old man sometimes," Melanie said, grinning.
"It's true. But what do you say?"
"If you're saying you want to date me or be in a relationship with me, then I say yes!" Melanie stood up and closed the distance between her and River before kissing him on the forehead. "You're a good man, River. I don't care if I'm dating a dragon. I care that I'm dating you."
"That's the best thing you could ever say," River said, putting his arms around Melanie. "I love you, Melanie. I really do."
"I love you too."
The duo leaned into a deep, loving kiss. It seemed that they were afraid to part, lest they lose their connection to each other, but the kiss did end eventually. "Do you think we should tell the others?" River asked.
"If you don't have a problem with it, then I don't. You should make it an official announcement in the chatroom," Melanie said.
River chuckled, "That'd be something. 'Here's today's update: Melanie and River are an item.'"
"Can't you just say we're dating or in a relationship?" Melanie giggled and gave River a playful shove.
"All right, all right. 'Melanie and River are in a relationship, officially." River leaned forward and gave Melanie a kiss on the lips. "Maybe we should tell them right now. I can go get my computer."
"That sounds like fun," Melanie said. "Let's do this."
Chapter 8
After stopping to dry off some more (which he had completely forgotten to do in the heat of the moment), River returned to Melanie with his laptop in tow. "Let's give them the good news, shall we?"
"Sounds like a plan. Is it loading yet?" Melanie tried to look over River's shoulder to see where he was going on the computer.
"Come on, be patient... I just turned it on," River said, watching his computer boot up.
"Being patient is hard," Melanie whined. "I want to see their reactions."
River tapped his password into the computer. "Look, we're at the desktop now."
"Okay, I get it, I don't need a play-by-play," Melanie said.
Soon, the chat program was up, and River began typing. "Hello, everyone. I have an important announcement to make."
"Are we getting a new member?" Fay asked.
"Did we lose someone?" Erin asked afterward.
"Don't keep me in suspense!" Marissa chimed in.
"Quick, tell us, my break's almost over," Leo wrote.
"Melanie is with me right now," River typed. "I wanted to announce that we are officially dating."
"There we go, bomb dropped," Melanie said. "This is where the fun begins."
"This isn't a prank, Melanie," River said back.
"I know, but I really want to see how they'll take it."
Indeed, the responses were flowing in. Leo gave a quick "Congratulations!"
Marissa was next, with a "That's wonderful! Have fun, you two!" and a heart emote.
"I'm so glad you found someone, Riv! I have to say, I kind of thought this was going to happen from the beginning," Fay said.
"Do you want a medal?" Erin's response seemed sarcastic at first glance, but she was still typing. Eventually, she added, "jk, im happy for you two, have fun."
"Oh, Erin, always a charmer," Melanie said. "I'm going to tell them thanks."
"Be my guest, but do something to let them know it's you," River said, scooting the laptop over towards Melanie.
"Mel says thank you," Melanie typed in. "There, is that okay?" she asked.
"Perfect."
"Hi Melanie!" Marissa replied. "Have fun over there!"
"I'll be sure to pass your congratulations on to her," River typed.
"What are you two up to?" Fay asked. "Just visiting?"
"Probably none of your business, wink wink," Erin quipped.
"Nasty," Marissa said.
"Not nasty, just what happens," Erin replied, adding a shrugging emote.
"I'll tell you more about what happened later," River typed in. "See you all later tomorrow." He then looked to Melanie. "Any last things you want to say to them?"
"That sounds so final when you put it that way," Melanie said. "Tell them I'll answer their questions when I get home."
"Sounds good to me." River typed in, "Melanie will answer your questions when she's home and at her own computer." Once he sent that message, he closed out of the chat room window and closed down his laptop. "Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, is there anything you'd like to do? Together?"
"I can think of a few things," Melanie said. "But we never did actually go swimming together. How about that?"
"I'd like that," River said. "And I promise I'll keep my fins to myself this time."
"Well... you don't really have to," Melanie said through an awkward giggle. "I mean, it'd be nice to swim with you as a human, but if you'd prefer to be a dragon, so be it."
"That's very generous of you." River stood up and took a few steps towards where the basement was. "Shall we?"
"Right behind you." Melanie followed River back towards the basement. "I didn't bring my pendant... so I guess I won't be able to understand you if you want to be a dragon. I guess I should start bringing it from now on."
"It would help, yes, but if you forget, you're not doomed. I'll just have to play a game of dragon charades with you." River opened the door, looked to make sure Melanie was behind him, and went into the basement. Once they got there, he gave her a scrutinizing look. "Do you need to change, or are you wearing your swimsuit under your clothes?"
"I've already got it on," Melanie said. "But I left my towels and cover-up in the car. Sorry about that."
"Don't worry. I have plenty of towels," River said. "I'll make sure you're dry before you go."
"Thanks." Melanie looked towards the large pool. "How cold is the water?"
"I don't think it's that cold, but I might just be used to it," River said with a mischievous twist to his lips.
"Oh boy. Well, here goes nothing," Melanie said, taking cautious steps towards the stairs in the shallow end of the pool.
"Do what makes you comfortable, but that won't stop me from showing off a bit." Laughing, River went over to the deep end and backflipped into the pool. Melanie felt a twinge of nervousness in her chest, as she expected him to shift again, and the notion of sharing a pool with even a friendly dragon was still a bit unnerving. Fortunately, the River that came up was still quite human. "That's my favorite trick, but you get a lot of water in your nose if you're even slightly off."
"I bet," Melanie said, stepping into the water and wincing. "This is cold," she whined, well aware that she was probably exaggerating a bit.
"Only one way to get used to it," River said. "Dunk yourself under the water!"
"Oh god," Melanie said through a shudder, taking another step down the pool stairs. "I can't do that. Then I'll be totally cold."
"Ah, well, far be it from me to force you into it," River said, starting a backstroke to the left side of the pool. "Take your time, but if you don't get in soon, you'll be all wrinkly for nothing!"
"Oh no, what a tragedy," Melanie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She took another step down. "Well, it's kind of more bearable now."
River had switched to breaststroke and was making his way towards the shallow end. "One more step!" he called out.
"Okay, fine, I'm going in!" With that, Melanie stepped off the stairs and into the shallow end of the pool. "I'm here, I made it, I didn't die by touching the water."
"It's water, not lava." River finally settled about a third of the way down the pool's length. "Come to me, Melanie!"
"All right, all right." Melanie swam to River, much more awkwardly than he swam to her.
"Hello, handsome."
"Hello, beautiful." River took Melanie into his arms and spun her in the water.
“Your swimsuit is very cute, by the way. I think you could be a little riskier with your choices, though.”
“Maybe for you, I could do it,” Melanie said. “How skimpy are we talking about?”
“Not much point in wearing it if you might as well be naked,” River said with a shrug.
“My thoughts exactly,” Melanie said. “I’ll make sure the essentials are covered.”
“How does that saying go? ‘Short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover everything.’ Right?” River drew Melanie a bit closer to him as he spoke.
“That’s for skirts and writing,” Melanie replied, snuggling against River. “This would be better if we were somewhere warm and less wet.”
“True. It’s hard to snuggle when you’re wet. But we only just got here, so unless you really want to get out…” River’s expression lit up suddenly. “Oh, I know what I can do. I can show you a stupid dragon trick. Stay right here." River swam away, and Melanie swallowed nervously as he dove under the water. The shadow and shape under the water shifted and grew; she felt herself tense in preparation to flee all over again. The serpentine head rose from the water again, then approached. River lowered his head to Melanie's level and she stared, admiring the mystical creature that was right in front of her.
Suddenly, a spray of water hit her, somewhere between a misting and a hosing down. Melanie sputtered and yelped as she tried to get her bearings. When the spray dissipated, the dragon was there, looking almost smug. "Don't tell me that came from your nose," Melanie said. River nodded, then made an almost dolphin like squeal. "What?! Ew! River, that water could have had dragon snot in it! You basically just sneezed on me. Gross." The next dragon dolphin squeak sounded a bit put out. "Don't get like that with me, silly. You sneezed on me. Nasty."
River stuck his dragon tongue out at Melanie, then returned to the deep end and dove underwater. The shadow under the water shifted and shrunk, and a human surfaced instead. "Lighten up," he called to Melanie. "All I did was spray you. No dragon snot involved whatsoever."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Absolutely! Dragons do it all the time," River said, swimming closer to Melanie before stopping about halfway to her. "It's, uh, actually a mating dance kind of thing. Or just affectionate."
"Scales are probably better at absorbing dragon snot than skin is," Melanie quipped. "But, mating dance, huh?"
"Stop saying dragon snot." River laughed and began swimming towards Melanie again. "And yes, mating dance. But first, I have to catch you."
"Oh boy," Melanie mumbled. "Catch me if you can!" She took off, swimming as fast as she could, yet somehow, River caught up to her with a remarkable quickness.
"You forget that I was raised in the water," River said, grabbing Melanie's arm.
"Geez, you're fast," Melanie said sheepishly. "Do you mean literally raised in the water, or figuratively?"
"Why not both?" River pulled Melanie in for another hug. "Would you like to frolic some more, or would you like to dry off?"
"I think I'd like to go back on dry land soon," Melanie said. "Sorry, I'm kind of a landlubber."
"That's fine. Let's go dry off." River exited the pool with Melanie, then swiftly fetched a towel and draped it around her. "Better?"
"Sort of. I'd prefer to be totally dry before I claim I'm better."
"You really are a landlubber," River said, patting Melanie on the back. "It's all right. We aren't all ducks."
The duo eventually went upstairs to River's living room and relaxed on his couch. Melanie leaned on River, enjoying the warm feeling of his body by hers. "I forgot... I always get sleepy after I swim."
"Really? That's kind of odd." River put his arm around Melanie, almost cradling her. "It's fine by me if you want to take a nap."
"Can I take a nap with you?" Melanie asked, her voice going quieter, as though she would fall asleep right then and there.
"Of course. That emotional moment back there was a bit draining for me, if I may be honest." River adjusted himself so that Melanie could lay on him better, and Melanie shifted her position to match him.
"I don't blame you," Melanie said. "I was pretty hard on you."
"And I don't blame you either," River said. "I'd be shocked if I was in your position, too."
"I'm sleepy," Melanie mumbled. "I'll talk to you more later, okay?"
"Of course. Rest up, Mel."
It would be some hours later when Melanie woke up, judging from the sunset coming in through the windows. She could hear River's quiet snoring nearby; she looked up, and sure enough, he was fast asleep. She did not wake him; instead, she snuggled up closer and let herself drift back up. Even if the man next to her was really a dragon, she felt safe by his side. She had no regrets about officially being in a relationship with him and she hoped that the warm, cozy feeling would last forever.
Chapter 9
Eventually, Melanie and River parted, and Melanie went home to find some intriguing private messages from two of the other members of the group.
Erin's message had come in earlier. "Hey Mel. How'd the date go? Got any fun details? Tell me everything, I’m curious, 'cause River has a real mystery man vibe to him and I’d like him to be less of a mystery."
Melanie's response was simple. "I don't kiss and tell, sorry. But we had nice time together," she typed, adding a smiley face for good measure.
Erin's response to her message came with a surprising quickness. "That’s all? Wow so tame. Lol, jk, take good care of him, ok?"
After Erin's usual shenanigans was a message from Marissa. "Hi Melanie. It sounds like you heard the truth about everything, from what River told me. You know I'm the same kind of dragon River is, right? We're both water dragons. What did you think when you saw him as a dragon for the first time?"
"He told me about everyone, yes," Melanie replied. "Honestly, it scared the crap out of me. I almost drove off and never looked back. But he persuaded me to come back, and after a while, I got used to it. Is it true that spraying someone with water is an affectionate gesture for water dragons?"
"Very true," Marissa typed back. "If he did that to you, he must really care about you. I mean, sometimes kids do it to each other for fun, but it's kind of different then."
"I guess there's just some kind of cultural inconsistency here, because I was very worried about being sprayed with dragon snot," Melanie replied.
"LOL, don't worry, there's no snot involved," Marissa wrote. "Just water."
A bit later, an e-mail came in from River.
Hello everyone,
I'm here to announce another Riverflow Club meeting. This is a special one, different from all the others. Everyone will be receiving special instructions through their private messages in the chat room. Please keep an eye on your chat windows.
In other news, the meeting will be held at my house. The address and some directions from popular places are listed below. I hope to see you all there.
-River
The mention of a special meeting definitely struck Melanie as curious, especially with the secret messages that were going to be going around. She clicked around to send River a private message. "So, what's with all the secrecy?"
"You'll see," River replied with a remarkable quickness, as though he had been waiting for the question. "I guess, now that you're here, I should tell you what your instructions are, shouldn't I?"
"Might as well," Melanie said.
"You only have one instruction. Bring your pendant with you to the meeting," River wrote. "See you there."
***
Some time passed; in between work and other daily events, Melanie would sign on to the Riverflow Club's chat room and spend the rest of her day with everyone there. Even as she was in the main chat shooting the breeze with everyone else, River would be privately messaging her on the side, proba
bly with something flirty. Sometimes, she would find texts on her phone if River wasn't in the chat room; he had a particular fondness for saying good morning and wishing her sweet dreams. She always thanked him and tried to do the same, though sometimes she dropped the ball (not that he ever reproached her for it).
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