For the Birthday Girl - 2
Balile seized the end of the rod and tried to wrench it away. “You...arrogant diety!”
“This day only comes to each mortal but once a year and it is of utmost importance to them - especially an excitable girl like Lamica. Furthermore, I know you simpleton dragons limit your relationship with female to romance, but that is not good enough! If you expect to cultivate a relationship with the future matriarch of the Fire Monkey Clan, you need to invest in her personally - the good and the bad!”
Balile finally managed to pull the rod far enough to the side that it was no longer threatening to go up his nose. “What do you know of nurturing a mate?! You are but an untempered child!”
“He’s got a point, Sanami!” Ren called, her knobbed frog tongue hanging out the side of her mouth as she nailed up the banner, “Taro asked me to be his girlfriend when we were thirteen. You’re older than us and haven’t even been on a date!”
“Hey!” Sanami snapped, holding up a fist at her, “I keep telling you, I only just came of age a hundred years ago, stop rushing me!” He finally pulled back his rod from Balile and balanced it over his shoulders. “Besides, I’ve had plenty of experience watching mated pairs within and outside my clan within the Garden of Heaven.” He raised a finger. “Mates will spend hours carefully picking through each others fur just for the serenity of spending time together. As I said, not everything is about mating, unlike to you dragons.”
Pureya - the only other dragon in the room - finally lost the battle with the ribbon and fell over with a loud thump. “Um...can someone help me?”
Balile rubbed at his nose. “Hmm. Despite your inexperience, you may be onto something, little one. Very well, what do you propose?”
The rod’s holster manifested on Sanami’s back and he slipped the weapon into it with a giant, monkey grin. “Follow me, dragon, and I’ll show you.”
Leaving the others to their decorating, they trek through the jungle till they found human civilization, the journey ending in front of a dessert shop window, the glass encrusted with elegant, printed design. Sanami pushed a finger against the glass, leading Balile’s eye to an incredible, triple chocolate cake decorated with hand-made golden flowers.
“This is the target of our quest,” Sanami stated.