A great little picture  jaavik and I got from the amazing artist  intricatevision of our *other* kobold characters - the purple aspiring-knight Tiktaalik (who's under a curse and doesn't know it yet!) and and the blue wizard Korelian (who's used to be miserable and lonely until Tik saved him from an irate dragon). They're both in a surprisingly good mood, considering that about a fortnight before this picture was taken, their Clan had been almost wiped out in a religious uprising, forcing them to flee...

So without further ado here's a little story to explain the situation - and don't forget to +Fav the original! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15792070/
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“No, more of a ‘Kch’ sound… Ki-kch-en… Kitchen!” The blue kobold says, patiently pointing to the scroll in his hands, leading the piercing blue eyes of his purple companion over the words written there. “You’re almost there, Tik!” he grins, giving Tiktaalik an encouraging pat on the back. “Try taking that helmet off for a change, no wonder you can’t see the letters…” he adds, with an amused sigh. Tiktaalik loved that helmet; hardly ever took it off.

“K… ki…” the purple kobold splutters, contorting his face with the effort. “K… kic’t-hen,” he thrusts an emphatic claw towards the kitchen; within, an unsuspecting human boy of 9 or 10 wrestles dirty pots into a trough. “Kicked! Hen!”

Like thunder, a pinniped bellow erupts; a ladle lashes like lightning. The boy preternaturally flops like spaghetti tumbleweed and in the same motion slams the door with a parting, withering glare.

Had he been rude again? Tiktaalik sags, spitting the vagrant helm-strap out of his mouth. “W-want… eats… f-from… kic… k- …sxor wer dask di vi verth,” though necessary, the reluctant words vacate his mouth with a mutter, like the muck from a gutter; adjusting his special helm, the aspiring little warrior tries to hide the un-Knightly flush of pink in his cheeks. “T-the words are too long for my fat… stupid tongue,” he huffs, now in whispered yips and barks. Tiktaalik’s belly growls, and his muzzle grimaces in sympathy. “Korel… you’d better go buy it or we’re gonna starve.” Tik sighs. “Human-lunch is so hard.”

Korelian gently reaches up and tugs the loose helmet from Tik's head. "There. Better? You're doing really well, you've only been learning two days!" he chuckles. "Whatever Kray said, you're no fool, Tik... now, hmm, maybe you should try ordering something from the kitchen? Practice makes perfect!" he grins. "Forming words in the Common language is hard for us kobolds, humans have little lips and make lots of sounds with them. We've got to roll our tongues to try and sound similar enough to be understood... Uncomfortable, yeah?" he nods, to himself. "Dragons have it easy, they can mimic most speech sounds..."

"Go on... Go to the bar and ask for the stew. Like I did yesterday? I'll be right here to help if you get stuck", he says, gently pushing the brave warrior towards the innkeeper with a grin.

Clouds part; the slumped little snout brightens. A Quest! Nodding intrepidly, treading tentatively, Tik jumps down from the human-sized stool to arrest the mutinous words for the innkeep. Boyish enthusiasm leaves him marooned at the bar as the badger-like man drums his fingers.

“W… w-want h- hsss… hsss-choo. F… from kicked. Hen.” The innkeep wriggles a bemused finger into a furry ear.

“…chick’ns got up ya nose?” The man ventures. The odd, purple critter did loiter outdoors a lot, back round the stables with that… overgrown weasel of his, or whatever it was. “’ere son, blow into this,” he helpfully thrusts a grubby cloth into the kobold’s snout. Tiktaalik flinches, filling with panic. This wasn’t stew! Was the man scolding him? Did he do something rude, again!? Oh suck, he forgot..!

“P-pl… eese!” He stammers, groping for sense. Wait, NO! Did that word have to go first, or… or last? Helpless eyes turn askew to Korelian, who encouragingly waves from the table. Tik swallows hard, seizing the blue kobold’s proud smile in his mind’s eye. No, he could do this, he could…

…his attention lists to the tavern wench filling a mighty mug with that tasty ‘ale’ stuff he’d tried last night. He was ailing this morning alright. It hadn’t really helped his sore stomach, but he’d appreciated waking up to find Korelian hugging him in his bed to make him feel better. “It’s okay,” he’d queasily smiled to the stammering wizard, “it was nice of you to try.”

…he didn’t really feel like stew anyway. “I buy! Into!” Tik holds up two claw-tips for clarity, and pointing at a nearby cask. The innkeep follows the purple purposeful finger. This wasn’t so hard after all… he just had to point at stuff!

“What? Ale? Yester-night you little folks had way too much…” says the dubious innkeep.

Tik yips, grinning with triumph. The man understood! “Ale!” he echoes, capsizing his Treasure-pouch and shoving a modest hoard of assorted bits of gold, silvers and coppers over the counter. “I pay! This much!”

The man’s eyes are dazzled, “…buuut, well.” He seamlessly says. “Ain’t we all entitled to a good time, man and God and, erm… lizard alike, eh..?” The jovial innkeep chuckles, looking suddenly quite pleased and forgiving.

Korelian suddenly leaps in, a hand on Tik’s shoulder to reassure him. "Erm... he means, we'll pay for a half glass each", he adds, trying to avert the expensive misunderstanding. "...and a bowl of stew from the kitchens, each, too, please!"

The innkeeper looks disappointed as he viscously hands back much of the coin Tiktaalik had handed over; but checking the handful of coins, Korelian feels sure he'd taken more than the cost of a meal and drink from Tik’s purse.

"...okay, maybe... That was a bit *too* advanced", Korelian says, a little sheepish, cursing himself inwardly. "...maybe after lunch we can try a few more exercises...?" he says, grinning.

Tik's blue eyes dart around the room a little wildly. "Er, it was, I wasn't hungry! Erm, stew's okay now, I wanted to try some of that 'ale' stuff instead. Yeah,” he says, his purple muzzle blushing furiously.

There’s a long moment of silence as they both wonder what to say next.

"Oh! Er, my helm..." he says, grabbing it quickly from the doubtful Korelian, and pushing it down low on his head to cover the blushing. Maybe Blue hadn't seen..? He relaxes as the cool metal slides over blushing cheeks, feeling oddly relieved.

Korelian chuckles. "...we all make mistakes, Tik. But we can learn from them, right? Er... once we've recovered from a big and expensive ale lunch..." he sighs, "...we can try asking directions around town. Okay?" he says, grinning up at the silver-covered dragon-like head, concealing the familiar purple face beneath. He sighed; Tiktaalik loved that helm far too much.

But he kept grinning. The blue wizard always felt so much happier in Tik's presence... and he knew why, these days. Truthfully, he had no idea how the aspiring young knight, with a head full of ideas about snatched kisses from rescued damsels, would react to… that. 'When do I tell him how I feel about him', he wondered yet again. Yet again the answer came easily: 'Another time. Another time...'