Note- I changed storm plate to flood plate.
Flood plate, an artifact that every kingdom uses in moderation. It was a small plate created with many enchantments to absorb water. During storm when the rivers are on the verge of flooding people use these plates to control it.
it's tied onto a rope and lowered on the water surface. The moment it touches water, the flood plate starts absorbing copious amounts of water. This way they controlled flooding.
Yukiya yanked the small Flood plate out of the ground. "I never knew this could be used for such a bad purpose as well," she said with her fists clenched.
As soon as the plate left the ground. The rain water started wetting the dry sand, making a puddle of mud.
"oh lord, this... this is a miracle," a loud shout was heard nearby the corridor.
It was the old lady. She and her grandkids were kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down their faces.
she noticed them, the old lady rushed over to them and knelt down.
"Thank you... thank you so much kind benefactors. If it wasn't for you, my grandkids would have starved to death. Thank you so much," she cried loudly.
The old lady cried her heart out, looking at her saviours. When the drought started, she lost hope for life. Later on Old Rye started fussing, knocking at her door. She felt even more hopeless after.
But one day these couple ended up on her doorstep asking for help. She could not bear to chase them away. She invited them as her last hope of kindness.
Yukiya was stunned, but still she quickly acted soon and lifted the kind lady up from the muddy ground.
"It's the opposite. if it wasn't for your help, we would have slept under the rain." Yukiya softly whispered as she patted the mud off of the old woman's skirt.
She held her shoulders and whispered, "you shouldn't kneel to someone so young. instead you should just hug,"
Yukiya tightly hugged the old woman close. she could feel her tears soak into her clothes, but this only brought joy.
In her peripheral, she saw Long Ki smirking fondly at her.
"We have proof, now all we have to do inform the regional King," Long Ki said and still held his sleeve on her head. "good work,"
Yukiya gazed up at him through her lashes. Recently whenever the dragon got close, she could smell a faint smell of cedar wood. it was quite intoxicating.
"You.... your incense is too strong," she mumbled and stepped away. her face was getting hotter by the minute, so she hid it with her own hands.
Long Ki sniffed his armpits with a confused look. "But I'm not wearing any incense," he mumbled.
"Then what is that cedar wood incense that I smell on you," She said with a sceptical look.
Long Ki dashed away from her and hugged himself. "wha.... what!!!! you smell that," he stuttered with his eyes wide open. the cedar wood scent is his own scent mark.
he had been unconsciously trying to scent mark her.
'oh my god..... I'm going crazy!! why didn't I realise that in emitting my scent like that,' he thought scratching his head vigorously. He gazed down at her with a blush.
"do you hate it?" subconsciously he wanted her to like his scent mark. sometimes mates get attracted to each other if their scent is compatible.
Yukiya threw him a casual gaze, but her eyes were never steadily on him. "I like it. But the scent is too strong. Try to use less quantity," she mumbled.
Long Ki scurried over to her and leaned down. "do you really like it? Really?" he whispered close to her ear. He could smell her tantalizing lotus fragrance emitting strongly next to her ear. 'she smells so good,' he thought as he sniffed her again.
Yukiya stepped away from him, holding her tingling ears. "why are you sniffing ah?"
Her flustered gaze met his smoldering eyes. All of a sudden her heart started to beat as if it was going to beat out of her chest. 'oh my god something is terribly wrong with me,' she held her heated cheeks and dashed through the rain.
"hey wait, you'll get wet," Long Ki shouted after her.
This statement made her panic even more. "No, I'm not wet* ahh," she shouted without looking back.
Watching her dashing back, he couldn't help but chuckle. "she likes my scent ahhh why does that make me so happy," he squealed as he jumped into a nearby puddle.
He ran around the garden with a cheerful smile on his face and the old lady noticed it.
She held her little grandchildren and whispered, "children when you are old enough and married. you and your loved one should also be as lovable as them," she pointed to the red dragon who was running around happily in the rain.
After playing around for an hour, Long Ki happily skipped over to their shared room. he held the floor plate in one hand and pushed open the door.
Yukiya who was standing next to it ran over to her bed in a hurry. she rolled herself in her blanket and feign sleep, but her little feet was exposed outside.
Long Ki sat next to her and tapped her little pink feet. "you really like it?" he whispered.
The feet under his palm disappeared into the blanket.
"hmm that's nice. I like your scent too. a delicate lotus, smells so serene," he whispered in a husky tone.
The little Koi fish hiding under the blanket blushed harder. she could feel heat rushing into her face like crazy. and her feet.... the place he touched burned. 'this is crazy..... I'm going crazy,'
"Yukiya, are you listening? Yukiya... Yukiya...," he cheerfully whispered her name again and again.
Yukiya curled herself even more. 'shut up you stupid dragon.' she held her pounding chest.
"Yukiya.... Yukiya," he whispered as leaned closer to the bundle.
Listening to his voice getting closer, she panicked. Yukiya kicked his chest, keeping him farther from her face. "You.... I'm sleeping," she mumbled.
"you can talk so clearly while sleeping?" Long Ki whispered with a chuckle. He held the jade like feet. He softly massaged her little toes.
Wherever his fingers pressed, her skin went pale pink and then turned rose pink. 'so cute,' he thought, and brought it next to his face.
His massage felt good, so Yukiya did not pull back.
"You have a mole here," he whispered as he poked a small mole on her heel. unexpectedly without even realizing it, he kissed it.
"ahhhh, what are you doing ah," She yanked her feet from his warm hands.
Long Ki chuckled at the wiggling little bundle. "that mole is cute," he whispered. He leaned down without restraint and laid next to her.
"shut... shut up.... hey, why are you sleeping here? Go back to your bed," her muffled voice came from inside the blanket.
Long Ki hugged her close. "Why? don't you like my scent?"
"What does it have to do without your perfume? You idiot let go," Yukiya stuttered within the blanket.
Long ki snuggled closer to her and whispered, "cuz that's my.... leave it. You liking it is more than enough," he said in glee. His heart fluttered, snuggling into her. "I think I'm going crazy," he mumbled.
Yukiya peeked out and touched his wet sleeves. She pulled his hands away from her waist and whispered, "You are drenched, you idiot. Get changed,"
Long Ki shook his head and snuggled close.
"Don't be stubborn. Go change," she said in a firm tone. But the stupid dragon did not let go. 'Tsk this guy..' she knocked his big head. "Go change or get out,"
Long Ki pouted. "okay," he whispered.
He silently got out and pulled out some dry clothes from his ring. "Yukiya... Yykiya?"
"what?" she whispered.
"you can look here if you want. truth be told, I did look a little when you were changing. it feels unfair that only I got to look, so you can look now," he said.
Yukiya peeked out and subtly gazed at him. she could see his firm back that was rippling with muscles. his broad shoulders and his forearm were bulging with raw power. 'He probably trained a lot to be so ripped like this,' she thought with a gulp.
Suddenly he turned back towards her and a stunning vision was firm abs flashed in front of her face. "See what you like," he whispered and held her little feet.
Yukiya silently kicked his hands away. "you pervert.... peeping tom... why would I want to watch you ah." she shouted as she closed her eyes firmly.
Long Ki leaned down and nuzzled against her.
Even with a layer of blanket in between them, Yukiya could feel his hot skin burning onto her body. She struggled a little bit until he was little too heavy for her to move.
He slowly breathed in her intoxicating fragrance.. "why not? Either way, after marriage we get to share out bodies," he said without any reservation.