>>46531175His search didn’t take too long.
“Hi, Kris!”
He turned and saw a light brown hand waving at him from the edge of the pool, and he looked down to see his childhood friend surrounded by shimmering blue water, her hair wet and glistening, and her eyes livelier than the summer sun.
“Hey! I’m not too late, am I?”
“Nah, just fashionably late.” She giggled. “Thought you’d be the first here, silly!” It was hard to make out with her fur, but where it was thin around her eyes, Kris could swear he could make out a little blush.
“There were a few delays.” At this point, his cheeks were flushing too, and he hoped that maybe the sun could offer a good enough explanation before it came up in conversation.
“It’s alright. Not like you showed up an hour after or something. Where’s Susie?”
“She’s uh…” Kris looked back to see the dragoness continue to scarf down all the barbecue she could get her hands on. “She’s busying herself with our dads’ handiwork.”
“Ahaha! Yeah, that’s her alright…” her eyes then met his again, but the excitement had subdued into something more sober and feeling. “How’ve you been, Kris?”
It had only been a few days since their last hangout, but kris understood the subtext. “Doing a lot better.”
Her smile grew warmer, and his with it. There as a second or two of silence as the two just took each other in. For a moment, they caught each other’s faint blushing, and the two cleared their throats, looking for something to talk about and clear the air with.
Noelle’s eyes turned up to the water slide above them. “Anyway, I was about to hit the slides if you’re interested.”
“Oh man, how long has it been?”
“It’s been a hot minute! Want to see if it’s just as scary as it was when we were kids?”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s go then!”
