The Oak Tree
The sounds of a busy late spring morning permeated through the park, the saurians milling about on the busy streets under flawlessly blue skies. Cars passed by, some turning to curse the loud music from one while streetside vendors made steak sandwiches and hamburgers and hot dogs for predatory species as well as salads and other vegetarian dishes for herbivores. A little ways to the east on State Street...at the corner of State and Spiketail Road...was the entrance to Veterans' Memorial Park on the shores of Spring Lake. It was quite a large park. There were picnic tables scattered throughout so that saurians could have an outdoor lunch and open areas for playing football and a baseball diamond for that purpose as well. Closer to the lake, there was the obligatory bathroom and changing facility for those that didn't want to come in their bathing suits.
The section of the park along the water was nothing short of spectacular...the beach was sparkling clean, save a few leaves here and there as well as the waste of a patron who was in too much of a hurry to leave. Despite being in a temperate region, the water was at a reasonable, though still cool temperature and a few brave souls can be seen wandering out into the depths, only to come back out shivering and racing for the changing rooms.
But what stood out in the park is an old oak tree, which is taller than even the tallest sauropod known. A squirrel scampers down to collect a nut, then looked around before shooting back up the tree as a young tyrannosaur named Kellan sits idly and watches all the other saurians pass by. A group of college students, surely from the university a little further north, bask in the sun and study for final exams together while another glance revealed a young ceratopsian mother cradling her infant hatchling in her arms. Off to his right was a sight to which he has grown to despise...a raptor couple off in the distance under another tree cuddling, the male leaning against the trunk with the female nestled in his lap. Her feather crest fluttered as her mate began to nibble on her neck, the female's purring quite loud and vibrant in the park. A couple elderly saurians paused to take in the tender sight, sighing sentimentally before moving on.
However, Kellan would not buy any of it as he shuffled to his knees to fish something out of his pocket. The object was a small photograph of himself with three other tyrannosaurs, and it was enough to bring him to tears. It was the reason he moved eastward to begin with...in that picture was his parents and his mate-to-be...and the memories hurt him so badly that he packed up and left town. Now, Kellan was struggling to find himself in an alien world that he knew nothing about; though he had a job, it was nothing he was doing before as he was just a mere stock boy at the local hardware store. Paralyzed by the pain of having all he loved taken away from him, the tyrannosaur just sat there under the old oak tree and cried for about an hour and a half before he heard his stomach growl. Reluctantly, he got up and headed for a nearby café he had grown fond of.
Head hung low in shame and despair, Kellan headed off when all of a sudden...
"Ohhh, my box! Excuse me!"
He didn't realize that he had bumped into something...or rather, someone. Yelping in surprise, he backed away from what appeared to be a female ceratopsian...a Triceratops, causing her to drop the deep blue box she had in her hands. Kellan scrambled to help pick them up for her, to which she let out a healthy chuckle, the trike being a bit on the stout side and a lot older than Kellan's twenty-two years.
"Oh!" he gasped, "I'm so sorry! Lemme help you with those..." The trike smiled and gladly accepted his help in picking up numerous art supplies that fell out of the plastic box...pencils, erasers, paints, paintbrushes, small strips of paper she used to test colors on and a fold-up easel that she used when she was away from her home. She looked down at Kellan and smiled, a low rumble being emitted from the trike. She was wearing a deep blue spring blouse that left her midriff open with a denim skirt that came to just above her knees. Her left brow horn had a ring with a sapphire stone and her frill had two small rings on each side. But the thing that most notice about her is the fact that her smile looks like it was painted on in the morning as those that knew her knew she was always happy and in a good mood...even as she gazed at the young tyrannosaur.
"That's okay, dear," she told him, "we all stumble and fall sometimes. But it seems that you've done more stumbling than most I've come across." Another deep gasp came from Kellan, a hand coming up to cover a slackening jaw from the shock that she knew about his past...or something about him that a stranger on the street shouldn't know. She knew it and offered a hand to him. "I'm Ayane...Ayane Perkins. Might I ask what your name is?"
"I'm...Kellan, and...you're Ayane Perkins...the artist?!?" A slight giggle escaped Ayane's beak as she nodded, which amazed the young male. "Oh, Maia! I've seen a lot of your work in numerous magazines...you're amazing!" Obviously flattered, Ayane thanked him for the compliment and asked him what he did. "Well...I was in school to become an engineer. I've had a lifelong love of auto racing and I want to work on race cars for a living, so that's why I came here. That and...other...more...unpleasant reasons." Ayane let out a soft sigh as she looked over the rusty carnosaur, not at all intimidated by his strong carnivore scent, nor the sharp teeth that protruded from his top jaw. And despite being nicely built, Kellan didn't take it to extremes like the more muscle-bound saurians; just enough for him to get noticed...if anyone ever noticed him. Still, the look of concern on Ayane's face was enough to show Kellan that she cared as they continued to clean up the mess they made on the path.
They made their way out of the park and headed south on State Street on foot toward Ayane's condominium, each telling an abbreviated version of their life stories. Kellan had a fairly normal childhood...the middle of five hatchlings and lived out west in Utah. He got good grades in school and played basketball and soccer before deciding on his pursuit of engineering...that is, until a fateful trip to California to visit his mate-to-be's parents. Ayane, on the other hand, was a little more revealing...she met a fellow trike who was an aspiring entrepreneur and in the fifteen years they were together, his company, which specialized in high-tech components for automobiles, took off. That allowed her to pursue her one true love unhindered...art. She became a well-known artist in a few years through her adaptability and her willingness to do anything and everything.
But tragedy struck her as well when her mate was one of over two hundred saurians on an ill-fated 757 that went down in the Smokey Mountains the year prior. Ayane was devastated...but in a move that angered and alienated her from his family, she sold his company, which was worth close to four hundred million dollars. She did, however, give them half of what she was able to keep, which was around one hundred million dollars. Ever the charitable soul, Ayane took forty million of her fifty and gave it to various charities, then locked the remaining ten million away in the bank for her two hatchlings if anything were to happen to her. One of her mate's brothers, out of sympathy and remorse for his family's feelings and actions toward her, gave her five million dollars and her condo, which is on a prestigious stretch of State Street near the park. Not wanting to hear about Ayane's fortune and tragedy, Kellan quickly changed the topic.
"So, do you watch any sports?" he asked, being into sports himself. Ayane shook her head, but did offer him a smile.
"Not really...the one sport I do follow is ringball, which everyone follows." Ringball was right up there with soccer as the most popular sport in the world...there were many high-caliber leagues all over the world, but the world kept their eyes on the North American Ringball Association, or NARA, which was composed of forty teams in five countries divided into eight divisions of five teams each. The season is composed of two four month halves, playoffs included, culminating in the Grand Final played in January of the new year. Kellan perked up at the very mention of the game, a wide, toothy grin forming on his face.
"Really? Did you catch the Chicago-New Jersey match last night?"
"Nah," she said, "but I was able to catch the highlights of the game on Sportscenter, which my son must watch before school. That Line Judge needs to get some glasses or something cause Chapman was way offside, yet he didn't call it and he gets a five-pointer to win the game for Jersey. I don't think Jackie ever heard me bellow like that at anything related to ringball in my life " Kellan cocked his head back at the sound of an unfamiliar name.
"Jackie?"
"My son," replied Ayane, "He's sixteen and going through some tough times..." She trailed off to continue venting about the bad call in the ringball match from the night before. "...but anyway, Chicago needed that match to try and catch Indiana for that second playoff spot...now they're in a tie with Detroit for third in the Great Lakes division. I've got a brother-in-law who lives in Chicago and gets season tickets..."
"Heh, I betcha he was furious," Kellan snickered, "I know I was...he was a good three steps offside! At least it didn't erupt in violence like it did in San Juan after that Puerto Rico-Miami match a couple weeks ago." He was referring to a riot after a match where the Puerto Rico fans stormed the field in an attempt to pummel a Head Judge who gave their star lead a questionable penalty late in the fourth period. That call ended up turning the game against the home team and a few drunk fans started throwing things onto the field, and it escalated from there. Both of them agreed that it was uncalled for, but they knew that international ringball riots often made front page headlines and were lead stories on the five o'clock news. They soon arrived at the condo complex, known as the Dactylus Hills Estates, which was where a lot of the more affluent members of the community lived. Ayane smiled to the guard at the gate, then entered a four digit password and watched the gate open as well as the amazed look on Kellan's face before walking in.
From the moment you set foot or wheel inside Dactylus Hills, you were immediately surrounded by luxury. The complex backed up to the southeast shore of Spring Lake, where speedboats and yachts were moored and being a larger lake, those with the luxuries could take full advantage of it. After passing through the gate on Dactylus Drive, you were taken on a long, sweeping right-hand bend up to Swamptail Avenue. A middle-aged male Iguanodon behind the wheel of a brand new Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG looked them over at the stop sign, the car a sparkling silver color to contrast the mottled green face and the white shirt. He looked over Kellan and flashed his thumb-spike to him as a warning that Nature still felt it was necessary to equip his kind with, causing Ayane to snort and curse. She wanted to raise her tail at him in defiance, but the brash iguanodon had already sped off.
"That Bigley," she snorted, calling him by name, which was Horace Bigley, "I sometimes wonder if Maia really did compensate business sense for his lack of common sense. That tailhole should've realized that you were friendly on sight...I mean, you're a rex and I'm a trike. Makes sense, does it not?" A slight nod came from Kellan as they turned to walk westward on Spiketail with Ayane at his side, the trike continuing to rant. "If he's smart enough to hold a job where he can have a $3,000,000 home and drive a $150,000 car, then by Maia, he should know if someone is a threat or not by the company he's around!" Though the conversation soon turned casual and Ayane's voice softened, their tails kept on crossing over one another...whether by accident or not was left up to the one watching. After a conversation about post-Civil War times, a topic that fascinated Kellan, they turned southward again down a court that dead-ended in a circle, turning one back.
The first door of the building on the left...30032 Placid Court...was Ayane's condominium. Each "building" was really two two-story mini-buildings with garages on the street-side, each able to hold two cars. Fishing through her handbag for the housekey, she accidentally opened the garage door and that snapped Kellan's head around to see what was in it. He found a deep blue car with a blue roof on it, though the roof looked to be darker. A gasp came from him as he saw the blue and white quartered-circle logo of BMW in the center of the decklid above the license plate and turned to Ayane as she opened the door and offered to let him in.
"Like it?" asked Ayane as she turned to face him, knowing that he was intrigued by the car, "That's my new 330 convertible...got it for the frill room on warmer days." The tyrannosaur's jaw slackened a little bit as he slowly made his way toward the open door, which drew a deep, but still distinctively feminine chuckle from Ayane. "What can I say? I've always fancied Beemers...I also have an X5 parked next to that for my daily car. Really like the rugged-yet-sophisticated touch it has...a lot like an affluent ceratopsian." A smirk and a snicker came from Kellan at the witty remark as he walked in.
An abstract painting done by the condo's owner greeted Kellan as he walked up a short flight of stairs to the living room, which was painted a light beige color and furnished with a leather sofa and loveseat. A flat-screen television hung on the wall, turned off at the moment as Ayane's kids were at school while the wood floor lead directly into the kitchen, where she was rummaging through the refrigerator for something.
"Can I get you something to drink, Kellan?" she asked as he took a seat on the couch, "Perhaps this new tropical cocktail punch that the hatchlings didn't like...or something else?"
He nodded once. "Sure...I am grateful for your hospitality, Ayane. No one has ever gone this far for me since the accident."
"Oh, don't mention it...I've been coming to the park and seeing you under that old oak tree for so long. I wanted to talk to you and get to know you, but we just kinda...you know. It's funny how things happen sometimes." Ayane sighed softly as she poured a tall glass of juice for Kellan as well as a glass of wild berry juice for herself. She brought the glasses out and set them next to a cluster of juice and milk rings on the glass surface of the table, explaining how her kids never used the coasters. With a push of a button on the remote control, the midday news was on and they sat back and took in the happenings in their world.
Though the news was hardly anything romantic, Kellan began to slip an arm behind his hostess, hoping she wouldn't notice it. Ayane grumbled a bit, though it was at a story about an abduction attempt as she sat back. Then the tyrannosaur's arm brushed over her shoulder, to which she gasped and turned suddenly to face him.
"Oh?" Kellan jumped back, fearful that he might have stepped over the line, but all Ayane did was smile. "I'm sorry...but it has been a while since someone other than my kids touched me like that." He quickly apologized, to which Ayane smiled and told him that it was all right. Then in a brazen move of her own, she wrapped her arm around him and pulled the carnosaur into her in a bit of a warm embrace. Kellan closed his eyes and started to purr, leaning into the stout ceratopsian and losing himself in the sensuous caresses when all of a sudden, a cell phone rang. Both looked at each other, then to the cell phone that was on the table, which was silent.
"It's me," said Kellan as he excused himself to answer it while Ayane waited on the couch. "Hello?"
"Yo, Kellan! I was hoping to get a hold of you." It turned out to be Kai, his Albertosaurus roommate, which was a relief to him.
"Hey, Kai...what's up?" The tone of Kai's voice turned desperate in a hurry, which concerned Kellan greatly.
"I don't know...somethin' went down at the apartment in our building...when I got back, there were fire trucks and police cars everywhere. They wouldn't let me in to see if our apartment was affected...I don't know if there was a fire or what, but you better get your tail back down here at once!"
"Dude, that's gonna take me about an hour at least! Considering I walked all the way to Memorial Park this time...didn't take the bus or anything."
"I thought your car was out of the..."
"No it's not, Kai. They still have to see what's wrong with the transmission and why it's hesitating...man, I've gotta get going if I'm to be back to the apartment." A brief argument broke out before Kellan hung up and slumped back onto the couch. He told Ayane of the situation that had just came up and that he had to be leaving her. But just as he was about to walk out the door, he felt a hand brush over his shoulder. Turning around, the tyrannosaur was surprised to see Ayane standing behind him. She had turned to listen to the exchange and felt herself shiver, knowing exactly what the young male had been through. It wasn't too long ago when she was his age and down on her luck, having failed to gain admission to a prestigious art school which she desperately wanted to attend. To see this bright young saurian the way he was brought a tear to her eye as she wrapped her arm around him.
"If it'll make you feel better, I'd be glad to give you a ride over to your apartment," she told him in a soothing tone, "Not to mention it's a lot quicker than walking." She asked Kellan if it was the Hollow Glen complex on State and Cloud Road, which was three blocks to the south of their present locale. He told her that he lived in the River's Edge complex on Portman Street and Spiketail, which was on the other side of town, a good three to four miles away. Ayane chortled and insisted on taking Kellan; she was familiar with the entire Spring Lake community and knew just about where everything was. So she opened the garage door and after much consideration and debate, got into the convertible and soon they were away, top down and spirits high.
They got to the River's Edge Apartments about ten minutes after they left amidst Kellan's protests of Ayane maintaining the correct speed limit the entire way. "Kids," she grumbled to herself as Kellan guided her to building eight...where the mass of fire trucks, police cars and an ambulance were gathered in front of the building. The tyrannosaur wasted no time in jumping out of the car and racing toward the door, where he was promptly stopped by a Stegosaurus in a full fire suit and a miniature battering ram fixed to the spikes on one side of his tail. He told him that it wasn't safe to go in there yet until a full inspection could be done, so he snorted and slowly walked back over to where Ayane was situated near her Beemer. Now even more uncertain, Kellan just leaned against the side of the car and waited nervously.
A familiar voice could be heard nearby as Kellan's head dropped for a moment. He snapped back to attention so he could find the source of the voice. Walking to his left, he saw the familiar sandy-colored carnosaur that he had shared his apartment with over the past year...a wide grin formed over his snout as he went over to embrace him.
"Heya, Kai...glad to see you're okay," said Kellan. Kai cocked his head back and grinned a toothy grin of his own.
"Same to you, Kel. What happened?" The tyrannosaur said that he didn't know and that he was at the park when it all happened. When Kellan returned the question to Kai, he said that he was gone as well to work on a car with a friend of his. They conversed for a good deal while the firesaurs continued to sift through the building in order to see what was salvageable, during which Kellan introduced his roommate to Ayane. Kai was impressed as he had seen her artwork at an outdoor festival at which she couldn't be present...needless to say, they all enjoyed a few good chuckles during the agonizing wait for the fire crews to do their assessment. They were hearing a story about Kai in high school when one of the firefighters came out with a long look on his face as he gathered the residents of the building.
"Well...I'll be honest," said the firesaur, an Edmontosaurus, "it wasn't pretty. We think the fire started in apartment 203 and spread; 203 and 205 were completely gutted. Considering the fact that we got the call at about quarter to nine, all I can say is thank Maia there was no one in those apartments." When he heard his number...205... that was the only thing needed to send Kellan running. A growl of dismay came from Kai as he turned to run before he raised his hand to address the firesaur to ask if anything was salvageable. "Nothing in those apartments would be worth saving," was the response that he got and a headshake was all Kai could muster. He ran past Ayane, then stopped when she asked if everything was okay. All he did was shake his head while calling out Kellan's name and continuing his pursuit, now with the trike on his tail.
They finally found Kellan cowering behind a maintainance shed and sobbing, the stinging realization that everything he owned and worked to attain was gone like that too much for him. They both tried to console him but he would have none of it. After her first failed attempt, Ayane retreated to let Kai attempt to soothe him but all he got was a shaky reply from Kellan to leave him alone. Figuring that words wouldn't work and knowing that he was bisexual, the albertosaur sat down next to his friend and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, nuzzling his snout and licking away a tear that had slid down the tyrannosaur's face.
Holding the warm embrace, Kai heard a car pull up and smiled when he saw that it was Ayane's BMW. She shut the motor down and got out to see if Kellan was all right. A soft sigh came from her as she folded her arms and crouched down to look into his eyes.
"Kellan..." she said softly, "...I know this is a tough ordeal that you're going through." However, Kellan turned his back and looked at the ground, still sobbing piteously.
"You have it made, Ayane...you live in Dactylus Hills...you have a nestful of money. And look at me...without a friend, without a dime to my name and now without a home." Hearing that made Ayane shudder and clutch her heart; she only met him that morning and now she didn't know whether to leave him or to try and help him. However, being the kind soul she was, she reached down and wiped a tear away.
"Come with me tonight, Kellan. I've got an extra bedroom that I hardly ever use; it'd be nice to see someone in there tonight." This made him turn back and look Ayane in the eye again, which drew a smile from her. She began to coo softly as she got up and started making her way back to the car; turning back, she grinned as she saw that Kellan had joined her. Once he was in the car, Ayane asked if Kai also needed a place to say for the night; he had called his parents after hearing about the fire so he politely declined. After giving a goodbye, Kai waved as Ayane drove off with his roommate in tow, hoping that somehow things would get better along with him.
When they arrived back at Ayane's condo, Ayane looked at the clock and let out a gasp. The time had come for her hatchlings to come home for school, so she rushed him into the house and tried to remember where the extra bedroom was. The main section was where the bedrooms of Ayane and her three children were; Jackie had his own room while her two daughters, ages fourteen and eleven, shared the other. She then remembered that it was downstairs in the basement and led him down, flipping on the light to reveal a mini art studio, which Kellan was mesmerized by. Rushing through the room and knocking over things with her tail, Ayane hurried him into the spare bedroom, which had a nice bedsheet with a floral pattern and three pillows at the head as well as a dresser for guests to put their clothes.
"I don't want them to know about you yet " she muttered in a fretful tone, "Oh, dear..." She then told Kellan to stay put for a moment while she got him something to drink when suddenly, he heard a door open upstairs. Feigning sleep, he laid his head upon a pair of the pillows on the bed while he listened to the voices upstairs...
_"Were you supposed to go to your friend Kalina's house to study for your Saurian test tomorrow?"
"I was, but..."
"But what, Kaylie?"
"She wanted to go over to Adrianna's and see her new iguana...he's simply adorable!"
"I thought Kalina and Adrianna weren't talking. That's what you said on the phone last week."
"Mom! Are you trying to get me outta the house for the evening, cause if you are, then you should've just given me some money and told me to go to the mall or something!"
"Jackie was gonna go to a friend's house until 9 after ringball practice and one of Gainah's friends is having a sleepover. I want to see you out and about instead of holed up in your room on the phone and the Internet all the time..."_
Kellan knew that Jackie was sixteen but Ayane only mentioned the ages of her daughters. But after hearing that exchange, he started to associate names with ages. For one, their names were Kaylie and Gainah...and he could instantly tell that Kaylie was the older of the two. The dead giveaway to him was when Ayane called her by name; but he also knew that he wasn't taught the universal Saurian language until junior high, and eleven was borderline. Soon, the thoughts overwhelmed him and he fell into a deep slumber.
It wasn't until he felt himself being shaken rather forcefully that Kellan woke up.
"Kellan! Wake up, sleepyhead...you've been asleep since three. It's now six!" He groaned and slowly opened his eyes; yet even through the sleep-haze, he could see the frill and horns on Ayane's head. A smile came over his face when he realized who it was, and it brightened even more when he saw the plate in front of him. He knew the smell of garlic and herbs but the scent that grabbed him was that of a thick, juicy steak that just begged to be eaten. Sitting up, he playfully grabbed for the plate but Ayane smiled and pulled it away just before he could reach it. "I was thinking we could have a nice, peaceful dinner upstairs, even though I got carry-out tonight." Kellan rubbed his eyes and looked around in a state of confusion. He knew where he was but he didn't quite remember what was going on.
"Wha...carry-out?" he asked as he rose to his feet, "Who makes steaks and then throws them into a carry-out bag?"
"Ever hear of Quetzal's Delivery?" The tyrannosaur smacked himself in the head; of course he knew of Quetzal's as he had used their service before.
"Heh, I order from them all the time...where did you order from, Ayane?"
"The only place I know that has a little of everything...Cornucopia." Kellan gasped. Cornucopia was a reputable upscale restaurant to the south of their current location that specialized in steak and seafood as well as various vegetarian fare. He also knew that with reputation came a heavy price and was hesitant to either walk in or order from them through Quetzal's because of that. With a little further coaxing, the tyrannosaur followed his ceratopsian hostess up the stairs and into the main room, where a long table was pushed off to the side of the kitchen. There, a large plate of a vegetable stir-fry and a glass of fruit juice was awaiting with a large glass across from it so that Kellan could select his own drink. He simply walked over to the fridge and grabbed a large bottle of water and set the glass off to the side. Ayane blinked, though she didn't question his judgement as she announced the beginning of dinner while digging into her plate.
For about an hour, the two saurians conversed on various topics from things they did as hatchlings to more current issues like the upcoming elections. They couldn't help but to ask each others' preferred political alliances; Kellan was loyal to the Freedomist party, a liberal party in most sense but not as liberal as the Federalists, which were seen as radical in philosophy. Ayane was more of a moderate conservative, so she showed her allegiance to the United Saurian party while mentioning her disgust toward the ultra-conservative Preservationist party to which her husband was a sworn member of. After they both finished their meals, the trike got up and put what little dishes they used in the sink while throwing away the boxes that the food had originally arrived in. Kellan had gotten up to see what was on TV but as he stopped on something that looked intriguing, Ayane took the remote control out of his hand and flipped the monitor off.
"There is something I want to show you," she said simply, "It is in my bedroom." Kellan was naturally suspicious at first but knew she meant no harm; still, he couldn't help but to question her intentions.
"What is it, Ayane? I don't know if I'll like it."
"Oh, sure you will It's just my latest painting...which I don't know what to do with. Had an appraiser over the other day and he said it could fetch at least ten thousand with the right frame and matting. It's the reason why I've been in the park lately." Ayane threw open the door to her bedroom and let Kellan enter first. The room was simply enormous; the young tyrannosaur wondering why one person would need...or want that much space to themself. The centerpiece was a king-size bed with a rose-colored canopy draped over it, concealing blankets of the same deep red shade and numerous pillows as well. There was no dresser; only a door that led to a large walk-in closet, where the dresser and various outfits were hung up. But Ayane directed Kellan's attention to the back of the room, where a completed painting sat on an easel. It was that of a carnosaur sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree, a tear rolling down the eye on the side of his muzzle that could be seen as his head looked to be lowering toward the ground. Kellan gasped; though the saurian didn't look to be distinguishable in terms of species, he had a feeling that she had been studying him and using him in her painting.
All he could do is gasp and say, "Ayane...how did you?" She simply smiled and led him over to the bed, where she sat down and invited him to do the same.
"If you are thinking that I was using you as the model to which I did it, then you're absolutely correct." said Ayane, "Normally I'd ask someone's permission if I wanted to use them as a model, but I didn't want to approach you in fear that you would be defensive about it." Not knowing what to think, Kellan nodded his head and gave a weak 'uh-huh' as he took a seat next to the rotund trike, who quickly became aggressive and pushed him down onto his back. He uttered a note of protest at first but he didn't seem to mind, and even less so when Ayane began to rub his stomach under the crimson shirt he was wearing. Closing his eyes and rumbling softly, the tyrannosaur began to lose himself in bliss while letting the herbivorous saurian rub his stomach and gave his snout a kiss as she looked into his eyes and smiled. "Mmmmm...looks like someone's been working out..."
"Yes...rrrrrrrrrr...Kai's older brother runs the Jurassic Gym on Spiketail...he got me a membership there and I'm in there at least three times a week." Ayane said nothing as she lifted his shirt up and removed it, taking Kellan completely by surprised as she exposed his chest, rippling with muscle. She told him to relax while she grazed her nose horn gently over his pectorals, paying close attention to his deeply-colored nipples. Shuddering visibly, Kellan moaned out loud from the shocks that ran through his body. He did not know what she was doing to him; all he knew was that he was enjoying it as he began to feel his shorts bulging a bit. Ayane smiled when she glanced down, knowing how worked up he was getting.
"I take it somebody likes this," cooed the triceratops, "and would you mind if we did a little role-reversal?"
"What are you talking about?" Kellan gasped. But already, Ayane was unbuttoning his shorts and sliding the waist down to his thighs to reveal a sizeable erection, having freed his tail while she was teasing him with her horn. She let out a soft gasp at how big it was as she licked her chops.
"I was thinking I could play the meat-eater for a little bit if you know what I mean..." The trike grinned coyly as she began to unbutton her blouse slowly, uncovering her bust with a deliberate delay in order to further tease Kellan. He reached up to feel over one of the ample mounds of her bosom while Ayane smiled and crooned softly. She finally reached the last button and with a shrug of her shoulders, was free of the garment. Kellan licked his chops at the sight of her full bosom as he lied back and waited for his companion to make the next move, which was to straddle his chest while grinning widely. "Yes, I know I'm a little fat...okay, maybe more than a little fat. Please don't be offended...I know how young males are in their selection of females these days." But Kellan was far from displeased as he pulled Ayane on top of him, his hands moving down to cup her equally ample rump.
"Dear gods, no...I like you the way you are, Ayane." He leaned his snout up and gave Ayane a lick over the cheek, which encouraged her greatly. She grabbed Kellan's snout and pulled into a long, deep kiss as a soft, muffled growl was heard in the trike's mouth. Both of their tongues were busy dueling and flitting over the other, but Kellan's hand was busy as well as it was diving down toward Ayane's groin area. She still had on her skirt as she pressed the tyrannosaur to her in a tight embrace, hands rubbing in circles over his snout as he purred deeply from the treatment he was receiving. Another lick was felt over the horned saurian's cheek as she released her grip in order to straddle his hips. A deviant grin started to form as she traced over his hardened stomach with a fingertip, her tail swishing behind her like a wagging dog.
Ayane said nothing as she teased her young lover by rolling her wide, motherly hips over his groin, intentionally missing his organ. Then she rolled off in front of him and started eyeing Kellan with a lustful gaze as she took his member into her hands and nuzzled it with her horn. Kellan arched and moaned softly, taken a bit off guard by the sudden sensation of a moderately sharp horn rubbing against his manhood. But he let his golden eyes slide shut as he moaned again, this time by the feeling of his length being engulfed in Ayane's maw as she went down over eight inches, which was more than half of what he had. She crooned softly as her head moved up and down on Kellan's member, her tongue slathering over the thick piece of meat in her mouth while the hand that wasn't gripping the base rubbed over his finely-built chest. Kellan was helpless to do anything but moan softly and enjoy the ministrations that Ayane was giving him as it had been about a week since he received pleasure from someone. A small gob of salty precum oozed from his organ, which the trike promptly licked up with a wide grin.
Kellan was orally pleasured for several minutes and was close to climax when Ayane pulled off and licked her lips, then over her beak as she looked down and saw her skirt was still on.
"Would you like the honor, Kellan?" she asked in a deep, husky tone, a tone that reeked of lust and desire. The tyrannosaur growled and panted, desperate to sink himself into the warm recesses of the elder female saurian.
"Gods above...I would be privileged to!"
"I managed to unbutton the tail catch while I was suckling on your shaft. All you have to do is unbutton me in the front and slide it off." Kellan needed no more encouragement than that; he rolled Ayane onto her back and gave her a quick kiss on her breast before finding the button and making quick work of it. Slowly peeling it off revealed that the trike was free of any undergarments, her bare slit puffy and begging for a male to sink himself into. Kellan peered down and licked his chops, his member throbbing hard at the sight and the delectably strong scent that was being emitted from it. The last time he smelled something so wonderful like that was the last night he spent with his mate after her father gave him the lecture a father gives his prospective son-in-law about taking care of his precious daughter...and that was the last time the he ever mated with her.
None of that seemed to matter as Kellan looked into Ayane's eyes, warm amber orbs staring back up into him. He could see the need in those eyes as she reached up and pulled her down onto her plush form, cooing softly as she licked his cheek.
"Mmmmmm...take me, Kellan," she moaned softly, "It's been a long time since I've had a young bull like yourself...I want it so badly, dear..." Kellan's eyes widened and the tyrannosaur wasted no time in establishing himself, taking his cock and rubbing it against her slickened vent, drawing a soft hiss from her as she smiled. Then with a soft grunt, he started to push into her...being a mother had loosened up Ayane a little, but having been denied the chance to mate for so long still left her nice and snug for him as she gasped when she felt his thick member sinking into her. "Oooooooh...oh, Maia, it's been too long!" Kellan closed his eyes tightly, moaning as he felt the elder trike's warmth through snug vaginal wall while pushing his length deeper into her.
All that was heard for the longest time were two deep, pleasured groans as Kellan pushed himself to the point where his hips met Ayane's, both savoring the feeling of the erotic embrace while he reached down to rub her breasts. They held this position for a while, not wanting to do anything else but Ayane knew what she wanted as she reached up to rub her tyrannosaurian lover's snout. "Yes, that's it..." she crooned in his ear, "give me all you can."
Kellan smiled and pulled back about four inches of his impressive shaft out, then rolled his hips back into Ayane to her delight, crooning deeply while the young male huffed and groaned. Keeping his pace steady, his strokes were nice and firm while she moaned softly every now and then. In return, her wet tunnel started to contract rhythmically around Kellan's length as it moved through her, proving that she could still satisfy a male like she knew she could. He started to grunt and moan softly while Ayane reached for her lover.
"Mmmmhhh...ooooh, yeah...just like that," she whispered to him, "Keep going just like that, Kellan, my dear..." Her hands found Kellan's strong thighs, which continued to strain as they helped guide his cock deeper into the plump saurian beneath him. Feeling the urge, he started to thrust harder, but Ayane pushed back against him while whimpering softly. "Not yet...going slow allows you to savor the feelings, dear." She had him pause at the hilt, the young rex looking down at her with a confused look on his face. "I know how enthusiastic you are, dear...trust me. Go slow in me, and when I say to, you can let me feel your strength..." Kellan nodded reluctantly, but slowed down as Ayane wanted her to.
Though the pace wasn't like what he wanted, Kellan began to groan deeply after only a couple minutes of the slow, easy thrusting. He left all the work to Ayane, who continued to gently caress his cock as it passed through her snug walls, moaning softly while she reached up to gently rub his muscled chest and arms. One minute turned over to the next, and that minute soon became five as Kellan stayed locked inside his horned lover, rolling his hips into her and watching her breasts and belly wobble and sway with his movements. And Ayane was content to lie in the clutches of the young carnosaur, grunting and moaning as he took her masterfully, making her start to tingle over as she looked up at him with wide eyes and her mouth agape in wonder.
"Oh, Kellan," she whimpered, "ohhhhhh...this feels so good. Let me have it, darling...aaahhh...let me have it all!" Kellan blinked for a moment, then pulled out a little more than half of his twelve inches and drove it back into the trike, sending a shiver racing through her body as she gasped loudly. "Yes!" He growled deeply and started thrusting hard into her wet canal, the squishing sounds reaching their ears as Ayane shrieked after the first ten seconds of the fierce pounding. "Ahhhhh-yeeeesssssss! Oh, my dear gods Kellan...yes!"
Kellan didn't say a word as a deep, feral growl resonated from his throat, his mind focused on rutting the triceratops that lay beneath him. He reached over to grab her horns, trying to gain leverage as he relentlessly hammered away, his generously-sized balls smacking against Ayane's wide, plush rear as she whimpered and moaned loudly. She could see the fire in his eyes when they opened for a brief moment, squeezing her muscles hard on his pistoning shaft and making it hard for him to move through her. But his powerful hips kept churning into her depths, the tyrannosaur growling and moaning loudly as he felt his peak nearing.
"Ohhh...oh, I'm gonna cum!" growled Kellan between breaths, moving down to put more of his weight on Ayane.
"Don't tell me," she grunted, "just...let me have it..." But soon, Ayane felt her loins tingle all over and let out a shriek. She started to tremble all over as a high-pitched squeal, then a deeper bellow that shook the room escaped her gaping mouth. She reached up to pull Kellan down on top of her, squishing her stomach while her legs squeezed his waist, the trike squirming and screaming her rapture as the orgasm consumed her. Kellan kept going despite this, himself following soon after when he turned his snout skyward and roared loudly, the young carnosaur feeling the waves of his thick seed pouring out of his body and into the quivering female as their cries filled the room for close to a half-minute. They shook harshly in each other's arms while Kellan got off several good shots of his cum deep inside Ayane over close to twenty seconds while she bellowed, the feeling of a large, strong, healthy male bringing her to climax being intensified due to not having it in such a long time.
Soon, the screams and the bellows died off and all was quiet save the rough panting from both saurians, thoroughly exhausted after the hard rutting. It took a while for Kellan to get his bearings back, but when he did, he slowly pulled out of Ayane and flopped next to her, leaving a pearl-white and gaping slit. She leaned in and laid her head on his chest while a new sound filled the room...that of content and blissful cooing and purring. They both closed their eyes, savoring the wonderful afterglow that began to set in while Kellan wrapped an arm around Ayane's shoulder.
"Ohhh...oh my gods, that was so incredible!" gasped Kellan, nuzzling into the ceratopsian, "Thank you, Ayane..."
"No, thank you, Kellan," she said in response, "It has been way too long for me...I haven't felt this good since I lost my mate in the plane crash. I wish that your luck was better...it makes me sad to see such a young, energetic saurian like yourself so down and depressed. But I can feel your pain, Kellan...I know what it's like to lose a part of your heart like that..." She opened her mouth to say something, but the words never came out as she squeezed him tighter while fighting back tears. "I just find it hard to accept running into another saurian that has been through the same tribulations as I...and one so young."
A bewildered look formed across Kellan's face as he turned to lick her cheek. "I find this hard to believe too," he sighed, "I woke up today thinking there was no hope at all...and now...I feel as if there is..." Soon, Kellan started to drift off to sleep, despite the clock not having reached nine o'clock yet. He was sated and tired...but more importantly, he had been shown the light to make it through the turbulent stretch his life had taken. His dreams were of himself and Ayane as they danced and held each other on soft, puffy cloudtops while looking down at a world of peace and happiness.
When he awoke, Kellan looked over, hoping to see Ayane next to him. But she was nowhere to be found as he staggered out of bed to find his clothes, putting them on again to look for his hostess. Rubbing his eyes, he stepped out of the large bedroom and winced at the late-morning sun that came in through the window. He then made it a point to find the bathroom to take a shower; a half-hour later, he was ready to greet the day at last. But as Kellan started to stretch, cupping his hands behind his back and bending forward, he heard the door open and jumped back slightly. But to his relief, it was Ayane, who was in an outfit similar to the one she wore the day prior, the blouse that covered her bosom a light pastel green.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," she said, padding over to where Kellan was and giving him a big hug, "Do you realize that it's close to eleven o'clock?"
"Eleven?!?" gasped Kellan, "Shit...I slept that long? But I got up not too long ago and showered..." Ayane was listening as she ducked into her bedroom; when she came out, she had a quilt wrapped around her shoulders, which instantly puzzled the tyrannosaur. "What is that for?"
Ayane smiled back at him. "I was thinking we could have a little lunchtime picnic, seeing as how you missed breakfast." She folded the blanket up and put it in a large bag, then put the bag over her shoulder. "How about we get something to eat at a place by the park, then we'll have our lunch out in the sunshine...perhaps under that old oak tree?"
Kellan couldn't help but to smile and nod his approval as he took Ayane's hand, purring softly. Maybe this would be the start of something new and better than what he had, he thought as he followed the trike down the steps and into the warmed of another late spring morning. Only this time, he greeted the world with his head held high and a smile on his face as he held onto Ayane's hand tightly, not wanting to waste one moment as he knew that he would probably end up under that oak tree in the middle of the park again.
© Croco Chilton - 3/06