Greely splashed around in her tub of algae infused water croaking out every foul word she knew. The winter blues were bad enough, but to be a frog blasted with alligator skin…gah, the humiliation.
“How you doing in here, Gree?”
“Riiibit!”
“Couple more minutes then?”
A couple more, hell, maybe a few months spent babying her skin would return her to toad-like, but she’d never have the smooth suppleness she once had without the right setting. What would it be like being a beautiful frog with warty, itchy skin? She already had dating woes, with one man being the biggest problem by far, but what would this do to her chances of finding Mr. Right?
“Gree?” Karma was back and Greely thanked her lucky stars for such a good friend. Shifting in her current state was damned painful, so to have someone willing to lift her out of the tub was a god-send.
“Riiibit.”
“Sweetie, I think I may have found the solution to your problem, but you need to trust me…think you can do that?”
Trust Karma? Well, of course, she did. Though her tone didn’t sound very encouraging. What had she done? Gone to Lex for an elixir of some sort? Contacted others in the frog community for advice? Man she hoped that was not it…better to take a chance on the elixir.
“Hello, Fair One.”
Greely looked up at the mountain of a man sitting on the tub ledge and fell from the lily pad she rested on. Erol, blacksmith extraordinaire, sexy as hell and mega old fashioned dragon. How could Karma have done this to her? This man had been the cause of some of her dirtiest fantasies and real-life mortifications and now he was seeing her at her worst. Some friend.
“Riiibit…Riiibit…Riiiiibit!”
“Hear him out, Gree…he may have the answer to your problem.”
Right, how could a fire-breathing dragon help?
“Miss Greely, your lovely skin has been sorely abused in this dry mountain air, but I have a cream below my grotto that will heal you. Would you grant me your trust long enough to get you to the pool of nutritive dung saliva or PONDS for short?”
Greely swam back and forth in the pool afraid to trust the dragon, but equally fearful of not. She had to do something…one could not live in a bathtub. “Ribit.”
“Thank you, Fair One.” Erol addressed her friend once more. “Please get me a towel we can soak in this water and wrap around her for transport to the underground beach.”
##
Greely snuggled into the damp towel he gently warmed with his fire. They’d descended to the beach where it was always summer-like as it was warmed from the hot springs surrounding the area. The air in his grotto would be warm and moist, just what his mate needed. He hoped she would trust him to get her down there.
“Fair One,” he spoke as he removed her from the cotton cocoon. “It is time to enter the water. The grotto his far enough down that you will not be able to hold your breath, therefore I will need to assist you…but I will need more trust then I’ve asked of you so far.
“Riiibit?”
Erol handed her over to her friend and proceeded to allow his dragon freedom. Once changed he stooped down to Karma’s level and looked Greely in the eye. “There is only one place I can carry you safely down. Please know you can trust me.”
The sudden burn into the air warmed the area he wanted her placed…
##
Greely looked into the yawning cavern of the dragon’s mouth and thought this went way beyond trust. No way would Karma put her inside with those sharp teeth and flicker of fire at the back of his throat. She was wrong, though, because that was exactly what her friend did.
~~~
Serena
10 comments:
Poor Greely and her skin condition! In cold weather my heels dry out and crack, sometimes to the point I can't walk on them. I have to slather on Vasoline after every shower. I know what she's going through.
On the other hand ... "nutritive dung saliva"? One might prefer the disease to the cure.
Unless said cure is being delivered by a chivalrous, studly dragon. Trust him, Greely, trust him!
Oh our trusty, studly dragon is most definitely going to apply and reapply! ;)
My mother has that cracking heels issue as well. Her Doc suggested when they get bad to use Vasoline every night before bed and wrap her feet with saran wrap. I kid you not... she tried it and it does help. Go figure.
Oh Greely, you adorable frog shifter you. I feel for ya. But, studly dragon help is on the way. And the fair damsel froggie will be rescued from her skin condition. ~yay!~
On the topic of cracked heels or feet, there's a couple of products that work better than vasoline, at least, in my case. One is I think it's called Udder Balm, it's in a green container, and it was developed for cracked cow udders.
The other is what I'm using currently, which has a lot of good-for-you ingredients. It's called Cooling Mineral Gel, and the brand is Jason. It has a similar consistency to Vasoline, but is better for you.
Yep, she sure will, Savanna. ;)
I've tried Udder Balm and while it works it was really stinky to me at least. How does the Mineral Gel smell?
To me, I love the smell, which is one reason I even use it on my face. Although with the peppermint/menthol oil in it, it is really stimulating. If you don't like the smell of wintergreen oil, then you probably won't like it.
Mint and menthol don't usually bother me to much, so maybe. It's the flowery and obvious perfume scents that set me off.
I have no sense of smell, so I probably could use the dung saliva, or menthol, or just about anything.
Lotion works on my arms and legs, but I have to have cream for my face and hands, otherwise they itch. I used to use Pacquins, but I think they went out of business. Ponds works for me, that's why I suggested it for Greely.
There aren't any synthetic smells in the Jasons... just essential oils like the menthol and wintergreen... but I have a fondness for wintergreen especially.
I think I tried Ponds... what? 35 years ago, and never liked it. I've never liked any of the commercial stuff, except for Noxema, but that's been basically bastardized too.
Pacquins? I've never heard of that product.
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