Max knew that now more than ever he had to keep his good name. He had turned into a dragon the night before, of course, but had only made noise for 20 minutes and had left when the townspeople had started to pelt him with rotten tomatoes.
And two spoiled nectarines, which had told the dragon all that he needed to know about the them.
They had food. Enough to waste it.
The dragons had been all red-peppered over nothing!
It was a sad truth, but a truth Max could not forget or forgive.
The dragon shifter put on a robe over his leather leggings and redid his man bun.
As a human, there was no danger of him getting red-peppered. He wanted to see Big Capybara during the daytime. To bask in the fact that there was not even a single coffee mug to be given, for... Max had bought all the coffee in the town.
And all the protein shakes, but that was neither here nor there.
****
The Big Capybara streets were filled with people who looked like they would sell their firstborn for a mug of coffee, or at least a cup of green tea.
Max did his grocery shopping just the way he had always done. Some turkey sausages found their way into his shopping bag. Then, of course, the cheese and the bread.
It was a miracle that there was cheese and bread to be had at all, Max mused, as he noticed that even the cocoa milk was gone from the shelves.
His was the chaos. His was the right for vengeance.
He smiled, went to Martha the cashier, and then waited for everything to be totaled.
"Five golden coins, sir!" Martha, the normally cheerful cashier, now had bags under her eyes. Max had seen her eat more than one dragon sausage over the past months.
He wasn't sorry.
"Here, hon," Max placed the money on the counter and exited the shop. Only to see the young policeman from before nursing a steaming mug with something.
The smell of coffee was earning him the glares of everyone present. But the policeman just kept on drinking, a forgotten doughnut by his side.
Max smiled at him, then made his way to the man.
Alex knew that he had failed. He knew that the dragon was going to just keep on ignoring the police.
The man, probably the dragon's butler, sat opposite him with a grace that hinted at a mind well-rested and a morning cup of coffee.
"Pray tell, officer," Max said, as he took out a croissant and began to eat it. "How come you have coffee, but the townsfolk do not?"
Alex knew that this was a provocation, but he didn't let it bother him.
"Did you think about going to the group therapy with your dragon?" Alex asked, as he drank another gulp from the bitter brew.
He knew that soon, even this was going to be a luxury.
"My dragon doesn't want to go to therapy. He wants vengeance."
Alex nodded. He had figured as much.
"Then, sir Dragon," Alex might be new to the whole case, but that didn't mean he could not read the cues. "You have the right to remain silent."
The cuffs snapped around Max's wrists. The dragon just snorted.
"I may not be the biggest dragon around, but all the local lawyers work for me." He was even sure that they were going to continue to do so.
After all, he supplied them with coffee.
All hail the holy bean powder that held the loyalty of all those who were addicted to it!
"That might be the case." Alex did not kid himself. He knew that the force of nature that was the dragon was not going to give up so easily.
But he still needed to try and detain him.
"But I can't let you keep waking us all up at 3 in the bloody morning! This has to stop! It is madness!"
Maximilian looked at the human with all the spite he had built up in himself.
"If you wish for me to stop," if this policeman was truly idealistic and wanted to stop the nighttime apocalypse from happening, then he had to sacrifice more than just a cup of coffee! "Then become my bride!"
Alex blinked, wondered if there was something wrong with his coffee, or if it had simply been rebrewed with old coffee that should have found its way to the compost pile by now.
He looked at a mother, whose child was tugging her across the street towards an office building.
Her lipstick was done so, as if she was a clown.
The body was moving, but the eyes were closed.
Alex knew that Big Capybara was slowly filling up with zombies.
He needed to do the right thing.
He looked at the dragon, whose man bun was as red as an apple. At the man's strong body. Sniffed the air and noticed that the caramel bonbon scent was still strong around him.
"If we are to be married, then you have to pay for all of this," Alex said, as he waved his arms around to show the dragon the extent of the damage. "And become a holy hero!"
Max blinked. Alex took off the cuffs.
"And if you do," Alex continued, as he gently massaged the dragon's wrists, "I'm yours."
Max saw a system screen before him. He had to... donate coffee to Big Capybara?
"And what is my guarantee that the world traveler won't try to red-pepper me?" Max asked, as he snatched Alex's hand in his and began to make small circles with his thumb on it.
"If he does, then we will red-pepper him." Alex had never been surer of himself.
"Do you promise?" Max leaned in.
Alex turned his cheek towards him.
The dragon chuckled and laid a kiss on it.
And so, a policeman took one for the Big Capybarians.
Max left with a full shopping bag and the promise of coffee flowing like a river towards the town with the giant capybara fountain. Something he was going to keep. No matter what the price was.
And Alex? He touched his cheek, trying to think about the life he had agreed on.
The life as a consort to a dragon, who could caw like a raven at three in the morning and still look fresh as a daisy the next morning.