Heatwave
Chapter 3
As Naser continues living out his fantasy of being a drag racer, I am slowly getting swallowed by the backseat of the NasCar. Looking out the window I can see the dilapidated buildings whiz by in a blur. If this is how I die I sure as fuck ain't looking at my hellhole of a neighborhood. I turn to look at Fang, who isn't taking the impromptu horizontal rocket launch any better. She is holding on, one hand on the car door, the other on the groceries. I reach my hand towards hers and she grabs it with her own clawed appendage. She mouths, or rather snoots, an 'I love you' as the car finally starts slowing down.
Just as I start to relax and stop thanking raptor Jesus we survive the pink primadonna turns around.
"Fang, I wanted to thank you for asking Nasi to take us to the creek. I still can't believe he never told me about it," Her voice is so sickly sweet I've already exceeded my daily caloric intake several times over.
Fang gives a light scoff, "Nasi?", her annoyance at being forced to interact with Naomi is only dampened by learning her baby brother has a pet nickname. Naser looks at me via the rear-view mirror, a worried expression on his face, along with several beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"You two do look perfect together though. Even now you're holding hands, so precious," at those words I thought my ptero gf would separate her hand from mine but she held on. "If today goes well we should do more things together over the summer," Fangs' expression is completely blank, but her grip on my hand has gotten noticeably tighter. "We could even do another double date. Our first one went so well after all," Fang suddenly gets a thousand-yard stare while simultaneously deboning my hand with her own. "I'm so glad I got you two lo-", Naomi is cut off thanks to Naser deciding it's time for another round of drag racing. Passing out from excessive G-force is preferable to having to listen to Naomi drone on.
This time the excessive speeding only lasts a few seconds.
Fang is the first to recover, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"I thought I saw a group of skinnie gangbangers," he gives a strained laugh, "you can never be too careful." The car makes a turn off of the paved road onto a graveled one. "At least we made good time, we're almost there," he glances at me one more time, this time looking even more worried. Talk about being high-strung. Fangs' been holding my hand the entire time, the short talk with Naomi leaving its mark as her talons dug into my skin. We've arrived at the spot and she gives it one last squeeze and let's go, opening the car door before it came to a full stop.
The area is actually quite nice, it even has a table with a pair of benches under some trees shading the whole area. Close-by is a small concrete area, slightly blackened by soot. I guess people are too lazy to dig a fire pit and just use the area where nothing can catch on fire instead. Fang is already barking orders on where she wants what. Naser and I start lugging the grill to the spot while Fang grabs the grocery bags. All of them. She isn't even struggling like I was.
Naomi rushes up to her, "Do you need help, Fang?"
"Oh no, I can handle it, wouldn't want you to break a nail or something," Fang drops the groceries on the table before continuing, "Since you're the resident veggie expert you can prep all of them though." Just as Naser and I finish setting up the grill area Fang comes over to inspect our work. "Yeah, this will be fine. You can go ask your girl if she needs help. I've got this covered with Anon." Naser is about to protest, but before he gets a word out Fang cuts him off "Go, shoo." As her brother is walking away, Fang could help but snicker just loud enough so he could hear, "Nasi." Her brother continues walking away, but not without a noticeable shiver running down his spine.
"Alright dweeb, I know you're the fire expert, you want to light up the grill?" her racist remarks would be hurtful if she wasn't so cute. Fang hands me her pink lighter and what looks like a sugar cube. "What? Just light the damn thing and chuck it in." Not feeling like asking further questions I bring the cube towards the lighter flame. It instantly catches fire and I chuck it into the grill. Not before the damn thing burns my hand though.
"You could have warned me what would happen," my annoyance is obvious as I rub the burned appendage with my other hand.
"Aw, don't be like that," Fang moves closer and grabs my hurt palm, "Besides, I know how to make it better." As I'm about to protest she bends down and gives it a kiss. The ptero girl looks up and asks, "Better?" I can only nod, a slight blush coloring my cheeks. "Good, now help me get changed", she takes my good hand into her own and drags me towards the NasCar. I'm given a large towel while Fang grabs a change of clothes. From the looks of it there isn't much fabric, finally, Fang in a bikini will no longer be just my imagination. We go to a large nearby tree and Fangs tells me to hold up the towel. As she's about to go behind the makeshift barrier Fang briefly stops, "No peeking, Anon", with a wink she disappears behind the cover. I briefly ponder what the hell that was supposed to mean as her black halter top and jeans land on my head. Guess that answers my question. A few moments pass before I hear her speak "OK, you can look now." I drop the towel and see a completely different-looking girl in front of me. Gone is the edgy outfit and instead, Fang is wearing a light blue bikini set and matching jeans shorts that might as well not be there. "Well?", she gives a quick twirl, her long hair flowing around her.
"You look great," I manage, thankfully without stammering. Well, maybe a little stammering since Fang just giggles and grabs my hand.
"Come on, let's go back to check what the others are up to." As we go past the NasCar I throw Fangs' clothes onto the backseat, don't want Naser having any wrong ideas.
Approaching the bench we see Naomi hasn't made much progress on prepping the vegetables. The pink psycho looks up, clearly annoyed with how slowly the work is progressing, "Wow, Fang, cute outfit. Doesn't leave much to the imag-." She's cut off once again, this time by a loud bang. Maybe Naser was right, there are skinnie gangbangers around here. Thankfully I was wrong, it was just Reeds' beat-up van announcing his arrival. Reed parks the van next to the NasCar, possibly too close with how worried Naser was looking. The group starts spilling out, Reed in his usual casual swagger, while the girls look like they've just had a life and death experience.
"Wazzup broskis, we miss much?", Reed takes a quick swig from his trusty thermos, not really expecting an answer. Trish, Rosa, and Stella make their way towards us next. Stella is holding onto Rosa who is doing her best to comfort her.
"Calm down chica, I told you raptor Jesus would see us through", Rosa helps Stella take a seat on the bench. Even Trish looks rattled as she approaches.
Fang moves towards Trish, "What the hell is wrong with you guys?"
The purple triceratops slowly looks at Fang, "Here's a tip, if Reed ever offers to drive, say no"
Reed begins to protest, "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad"
"Yes it was!", all three of his passengers respond in unison.
"I know what will cheer you guys up, come on Anon, time to earn your keep," Fang grabs the bag of meat with one hand and me with the other.
In quick order, Fang gets the grill ready and starts expertly placing the delicacies on the grate. While she tends to the food, I'm bossed around, fetching plates, beer, whatever else she might need. Although bossed around might be too harsh, she is genuinely grateful that I'm helping her and does keep her promise of giving me a taste of the top-shelf beer we bought. As the first round is almost done she picks up one finger-sized piece and tells me to taste it. I slightly hesitate because I don't want to burn my mouth. "Come on Anon, if you get burned again I'll make it better, I promise," with her 'encouragement' I take a bite. It is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. "Well?", the ptero looks at me expectantly.
"It's incredible, you sure we can't just eat this round and let the others wait a bit longer?", the delicious food suddenly made me realized I haven't eaten anything all day.
"You saw the others need it more than we do, go cheer them up," Fang stacks the empty plate I'm holding with the grilled food and starts loading up more on the rack. "Hurry back though, I don't want to be without my assistant for too long", a quick pat on my butt sends me on my way.
Approaching the table I see the others have also gotten into the spirit of things. Reed and Naser are setting up some music by hooking up an oversized speaker to Reeds' beat-up van. Rosa is helping Naomi with the vegetable preparations, though compared to Rosa's expertise, Naomi is just getting in the way. Stella and Trish are setting up the table at a leisure pace, idly chatting about god knows what. Reed is the first to pick up the scent of freshly barbecued meat.
"Finally, I've always wanted to taste Fangs' cooking," the raptor abandons Naser, grabs a plate, and starts piling it high. The others barely get a few morsels before nothing is left to take.
"Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from," I quickly escape the ravenous horde before they can say anything. Coming back I see Fang absentmindedly swiping her phone with one hand and taking care of the grill with the other.
She looks up as I approach, "Well, did they like it?"
"Reed sure as hell did, the others didn't get much of a chance to sample anything," I hold up the empty plate, "hope you got a lot more for that bottomless hole of his." A few more trips back and forth and the food stopped evaporating as soon as I get to the table. The guys finally
got some music playing, mostly classic rock with some VVURM DRAMA songs mixed in. Stella is finally giving Reed a tarot reading, while the other girls chat among themselves. The last round is finally done, Fang and I make our way to the table.
As we walk back Fang picks up a sausage from the plate. "Watch this," she throws it a few feet into the air and then triumphantly snatches it as it comes down with a chomp. The ravenous ptero raises her eyebrows while I can only think to be slightly concerned about what I just saw. And kind of aroused. We sit behind the table and begin to chow down. At first, we just eat normally, but as the others become distracted by the idea of a swim, we begin fooling around. It was kind of fun watching Fang snatch an ever-increasing number of meaty pieces out of the air. She had quite the talent. Eventually the I had nothing else to toss into the air for her. That's when I notice I just fed her all my stuff while her plate was still full. We reached an agreement, in exchange for some of hers, I had to give her a kiss for every piece. A bargain if I ever saw one. When we got to the last one, Fang paused for a bit. She really didn't like giving someone else the last piece of her food. After a while, when she was sure no one was looking, the ptero lunged at me, attaching her snoot to my lips. All I could do is grab onto her and hope we didn't fall off of the bench. After what seemed like a good minute she relented and cut the last piece in half. She let out a small laugh, "You've earned it Anon," and pushed her plate towards me.
As I start going for my half I notice Naomi still sitting at the table. Were we really that distracted to not notice her?
"Don't mind me guys, just pretend I'm not here," her voice chipper as always, "Although I do expect a thank you basket or at least an invitation to your wedding."
Fang nearly choked on her beer, "W-what?"
"I mean, it's the least you could do. As thanks for getting you two lovebirds together," Naomi still thought of herself as some sort of Machiavellian matchmaker. Fang wasn't taking it well. Without my hand to crush into paste she had no outlet for her frustration.
"You barely did anything you condescending little bi-," out of nowhere came Reed
"Ladies, ladies, calm down. We're here to chillax," a quick round of finger-guns he continues, "But, if you two really want to settle something, may I suggest water wrestling?"
"Wha-", it's like the three of us became a hivemind.
"You already have teams and everything. It'll also be a good show for the rest of us," Reed turns around and heads back to the others. Fang thinks about it for a few seconds before coming to a decision.
"Fine, if me and Anon win, I'm right and your meddling mattered fuck all," she eager to fight Naomi. Guess that slap on prom night wasn't enough.
"And if Naser and I win, I get a fruit baster and you have to admit I was the main reason you two are in a relationship possible in the first place," I wasn't surprised Naomi wanted to take all the credit, even if I disagreed with her logic. The two girls didn't even shake hands before grabbing their respective boyfriends and going to prepare. The match was on.
I'm dragged a little ways away from the group by my furious ptero girlfriend. Eventually, she decides it's far enough for whatever she has in mind.
"Anon, listen, we have to win this. I'm not admitting she had any significant part in our relationship. All I need from you is to not get knocked out by the fucked-wing retard. I bet that skank is promising him god knows what if they win," Fang paused for a bit and shudders. "I know I can take her down, problem is Naser can take you out with one good hit," that was unfortunately true, Naser had a major height and strength advantage over me. "So I'm calling in all the favors you owe me, we win and consider them fulfilled," suddenly Fang grabs me and pulls me really close starts whispering into my ear, "I'll make it worth your while, I promise Anon." Her voice gets breathy and seductive, "I'll let you do anything you want, you can even tug my tail." She suddenly let's go and gets out her phone. Fang taps in her password and finds an image, "I'll even wear this," she turns the phone to shows me, "I wanted it to be a surprise, but you're going to need a lot of motivation to withstand Nasers' beatings." It's a selfie in front of a large mirror. In the picture Fang isn't wearing her usual attire, she isn't even naked as much as I'd have loved to see that. Instead, she's wearing fishnet stockings, a tight leotard, and a bow tied around her neck. I had to grab onto the nearest tree before my legs gave out from under me.
I was beyond motivated after seeing that selfie and hearing all the promises Fang made. Naser was going to have to kill me if he wanted to win, I sure hope he doesn't. We make our way to the water to find out Reed has changed the music to something akin to a battle track from a shitty 90s game. Naser and Naomi were also approaching, unsurprisingly Naser had a complete look of determination on his face. Guess Fang was right.
We could see an angry Trish grilling Reed, "What the hell did you do?"
"I just made a suggestion to keep things from getting too heated," Reed gave the tiny triceratops a wry smile, "Besides, you've said countless times you wanted to see Fang in action." Trish suddenly decided to become a chameleon and turn from mostly purple to mostly red. Reed notices both groups approaching and suddenly takes on the role of referee. "I see our two teams are ready. The rules are simple, each girl fights the other while sitting on their boyfriends' shoulders. The first one in the water is the loser. If both of you fall at the same time, you fight until one submits. I want a good clean fight, so no biting, eye-gouging, or breaking bones." Shit, how bad was Reed expecting this to get?
We get in the water and Fang climbs up on my shoulders, thankfully she's light as a feather. The other pair gets ready as well. There can be some cheers heard from our 'spectators'. Stella is excited because it reminds her of one of the animes she's currently watching. Trish is one hundred percent on Team Fang and calling for Naomi to get her ass kicked. Rosa does not approve but does not try to stop it either, maybe the ordeal reminds her of Mexican wrestling in some weird way. As we approach each other, Reed produces the sound effect of a fight ring and shouts, "Begin!"
Both the girls instantly lunge at each other, mostly preventing trying to prevent the other from getting a good grip. Down at water level Naser just stares and me.
"Anon, bro, you know I wouldn't want to hurt you. Again. But you have to understand, people have to pay for the shit Naomi promised me." Jesus, what did the pink psycho say to him?
"I get it, I don't want to think about what exactly she promised you. It's not like I wasn't given some encouragement from Fang either," I try to stall hoping Fang wins before Naser decides to topple us both.
"What? What did she promise you?", oh no, that just made him mad.
"Why don't you ask her?", my smugness comes and goes in a flash, just as Naser goes from calm to pissed and lunges towards me.
"Anon, I swear to god, if you so much as...", I steel myself, hoping that I buy my girl enough time before passing out from the beating I'm about to receive.
Nasers' sudden movement must have caught Naomi by surprise. Fang finally manages to get a good grip on the cream czarina, one hand on her arm and the other on her bathing suits. She tosses her several feet away like it was nothing. It was impressive and a little scary how strong she was when angry. Naser crashed into me, too late to change the outcome of the match. What he does achieve is knocking Fang off balance for a moment. She starts falling forward until she grabs on to her bothers oversized crest to stop herself from falling into the water. Fang ends up being in a precarious position, practically sitting on my face. Thankfully Naser can't see and I don't have a wine glass nearby. Fang pushes against her brother to get back in an upright position and lets out a triumphant cry. "Suck it bitch!", she raises up both arms and basks in victory.
As we make our way out of the water, Trish runs up to Fang with a towel.
"That was amazing, you just yeeted the bitch like it was nothing," if I didn't know any better I'd thought Trish was more than just happy her friend won.
"Yeah, I didn't even get my wings wet. Good thing my precious boyfriend used that big brain of his to stall Naser," Fang grabs me with both her arms and wings and pulls me close. Her voice was low enough for only me to hear, "I'm going to keep my promise when we get back to your place Anon, don't you worry." Fang gives a quick kiss and pulls away, I do my best to not start screaming 'It's happening' at the top of my lungs.
The rest of the day is uneventful, Fang grills the rest of the meat, much to everyone's delight. I spend my time helping her out, despite Fang claiming I didn't need to anymore. She even lets me be in charge for the last few pieces, it turned out pretty OK. The others go for a swim now that the creek is no longer an arena. Surprisingly Naomi doesn't hold a grudge and accepts the outcome. Naser on the other hand is crushed and spends a few hours sulking. I am desperate to ask what he was promised, but I know I'd regret finding out. As it starts getting late we decide to call it a day. We pick up our trash and throw it into the convenient bin nearby. When everything is packed and cleaned we say our goodbyes. The girls all hug each other, while the guys just do a quick fist bump. The road home in uneventful, apart from Naser still rushing through SkinRow to my apartment.
As we get out and say our goodbyes Naser shoots Fang a question, "So, what am I supposed to tell dad? He's
expecting you home today."
Fangs reply is casual, "Just tell him I'm staying a few more days at Anons"
Both I and Naser echo each other's thoughts, "He knows?!"
"Well yeah, why wouldn't he?", Fang pops the trunk of the Nascar and takes out a bag I haven't seen before. "Drive safe dickwing, "she slams down the trunk and gives it a double-tap to let her brother know to beat it.
We make our way up to my shitty apartment, the cool night making it bearable again. As I turn the key I can't help but ask, "So, what's in the bag? Extra changes of clothes?"
Fang just laughs, "You could say that."
"Don't tell me that's..."
"Mmmhmmm"
"And you just had that in your bothers' car the entire day?"
"So?"
"W-what if he saw"
"Are you going to keep asking dumb questions or are you going to open up the door?" We make our way inside, Fang heading towards the bathroom. She pauses for a bit before entering and gives me a look that can only be described as bedroom eyes. "I hope you have plenty of juice in the fridge Anon, it's going to be a long night"