Grand Spinning Gesture

Grand Spitting Gesture

The orange dragon with a cream underbelly sat cross-legged with both hands on their knees. Their eyes moved quickly, frustration written all over their face as they tried to quickly grasp the knowledge from the book faster than they could read. Their long tail thumped on the floor with an impatient rhythm. The dragon rolled their eyes and fell backwards dramatically. They lay there for a moment surrounded by books about courtship. They were never the reading type and, consequently, not critical of titles. After failing to understand Interspecies Romance just before accidentally looking into Good Boy Playboy, and many other books they briefly delved into, he lay there looking up at the ceiling fan defeated. "Well well, Roth, it looks like you've found yet another thing that isn't your fortè."  He spoke to himself, raising an arm in the air. "Damnit, Coby..." Roth remarked as he thought about the light brown wolf in question.

....He remembered the first time Coby presented him with the ranger's handbook. He remembered the weeks when they picked it up faster than Coby. 

"Roth, I swear...You've done this before." Coby said in amazement, watching Roth set up his rifle.
"You're just a really good teacher," Roth said with a smile. When Coby would relay the words to Roth, it just made sense. Roth never really had a problem picking things up when he was around. The only time they didn't need a guide was to learn roller skating. They remembered the first time he'd taken Coby to join him and the music in the derby. He admired Coby's persistence in learning the craft. Coby's need to catch up to Roth was admirable to him. When the skill gap wasn't so noticeable, they would test each other and make ruses. To them, it was just banter. Roth especially liked the days when the impatience or jealousy from others turned into nothing more than humorous anecdotes they could share. He enjoyed, even more, the days Coby felt inadequate during his soldier training, then his words of reassurance and motivation cheered him up....

"Why'd you have to be so different?" Roth said as he lowered his hand over his eyes, a hint of a blush forming on his face. Roth recalled the first time they'd met. It was 3 years ago, long before either of them knew half the life lessons they do now. "Four!" Yelled Coby as he struck a golf ball that hit Roth in the side of his head. Roth stifled a scream and groaned in pain, reaching up and clasping his head.  Coby winced as his ears lowered and his face scrunched up in regret. "Three two one go-" He said as he fled. Roth spotted him and gave chase. Other people in the area watched the scene unfold as the dragon tackled the wolf, causing them both to fall.
After a brief struggle, Roth roared at the wolf as he towered above him. 

 "Woah! Too far, it was an accident!"  Coby spoke up in an unusually annoyed tone, almost as if being caught made them docile. 

Roth stared in confusion but suddenly, acceptance washed over them. "That was pretty fun, but why did you run, you bum?" Roth said as he failed to acknowledge he was still holding the wolf hostage.

Coby couldn't believe what they were hearing. "You're..." Coby halted,  causing Roth to arch an eyebrow. "I'm..?"
"No- I..am...stupid?" Coby said, breaking into a nervous sweat.

"Were you just about to call me a stupid dragon?" Roth said, confused once again.

"Can you please get off me, sir? I am very uncomfortable."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Roth quickly got off Coby and offered him a hand. "What's your name?"

"Coby. What's yours? Mr. Eccentric?" Coby said as he lifted himself.

"Roth," he said, smiling with his two oversized canines looking into the wolf's eyes, with his arm still outstretched.  

Coby sighed and shook his hand. Forcing a smile, he spoke. "A pleasure."

"You're clearly  better at this than me, so let's shoot some shots."

Coby smiled genuinely this time. "Sure"