Breeding Program 2

Breeding Program Part 2: Hypothesis


Brian was about halfway through a lengthy set of prayers to a variety of deities when he realized he should have been dead before he started them. His head should have been already snapped off his shoulders and rolling across the grass like a soccer ball. But he wasn't dead — he could feel the cold and damp from the wet ground he was lying on. He hadn't be mistaken about what happened, though. The heat and smell of the Night Drake was still overwhelmingly close, and he could still feel the teeth poking into the skin of his neck. But the strange thing was that it was almost gentle.

He forced open his tightly shut eyes. Oh yes, Nox was still there, his considerable turquoise-and-green bulk rising above Brian. He still had Brian's neck in his mouth, but he wasn't moving. He seemed to be making no motion to bite down or pull away. He was also growling continuously... the vibration shaking through Brian's whole body.

Suddenly, he realized that, in his panic he had misinterpreted the dragon's pacing. There was no reason for a Night Drake hunting prey to relax his camouflage before striking; the prey would see this and run away (and most prey was much faster than a human). What Brian had thought was a hunting stance was actually a courting stance, which was a derivation from hunting, just like the play behavior among puppies or kittens is.

This meant that Nox's action wasn't meant to kill Brian; it was meant as an invitation to begin the mating process. That's why he was still holding his neck in his mouth: he was waiting for a response!

Summoning all his courage to make any motion at all, Brian let out a scratchy little growl and pushed up against the chest of the dragon. Nox immediately released his jaws and jumped away. With a cry of relief and pent up terror, Brian rolled over on his side and then sat up, grabbed at his neck (as if unsure that it was not torn open) and stared bug-eyed and panting at the young dragon.

"Y-you! Get. GET! Shoo!" he yelled out, waving his other hand pathetically.

Nox wasn't bothered by this, and didn't even seem to notice. He resumed his pseudo-hunting behavior, pacing around. Brian started to scoot over on his butt toward the door of the Blind. If he could just get inside, he could make a phone call to get some help. The dragon wasn't going to kill him, obviously, but he wasn't about to let him get away, either. They weren't the type to so easily take no for an answer.

Typically, Night Drake courting behavior involved several rejections at several points. A male, once he became interested in another male or a female, would pace around them; the prospect could reject them immediately by snapping at them or making noises or any number of things. The male would then show his intention to mate by knocking over the other dragon and gently biting their neck. A submissive purr would mean acceptance, but this was an extremely rare outcome (typically coming from young females). Usually, a growl and struggling away would happen. This action would repeat, often with the prospect being solicited by several different males dozens of times, with many males trying again after others have had a chance. Accepting of the invitation meant immediately mirroring the tackle-and-bite on the same male who had just done it to him or her. This began phase two of the courting, where more trust would be built but where rejection could still happen if it didn't go right. Because of this, the only real way for a Drake to permanently reject a male was to select another male and leave with him to mate in the forest.

But as Brian once again found himself getting body-slammed by Nox and his neck again tenderly held in the dragon's mouth, his mind was spinning with why this was happening. Nox should have long since left the area with his own mate, not stuck around to court someone else, much less a human. He pushed the dragon away again, angrily.

Coughing, this time struggling to his feet, Brian couldn't help but yell out: "Get out of here! Go home to your mate!" while simultaneously chastising himself because he knew the stupid dragon couldn't understand his words.

He had managed to get a little closer to the door this time, but Nox was circling again, ready to pounce again. He was growling, but there was also a slight note of whining creeping in there. He was losing confidence. He wouldn't give up, but his youthful inexperience was showing. He'd never be able to court another Drake male with such a performance; this is why the young males always ended up with females. Brian kept shuffling toward the Blind, avoiding falling within Nox's range for as long as possible. Eventually, the dragon jumped on him again, but with much less vigor. After he was rejected by the human a third time, Nox was now whining a LOT, and Brian was about close enough to the door to consider making a run for it.

Brian looked back toward the office, his legs quivering with anticipation of a dash to freedom, but then stopped himself. This wasn't right. He shouldn't be running away. Oh sure, dragons were dangerous predators that could kill you in a second... but wasn't he just five minutes ago complaining to himself that he had never been able to touch a dragon? Now, here was a Night Drake that was clearly really confused about his proper mate (did she die in the forest somewhere, leaving Nox to come back alone?). Brian was in a position to do what no scientist could ever do before: hands-on research with a conscious dragon. He couldn't pass up this opportunity, not after spending his whole life dreaming of a chance to make a breakthrough with dragons. He had just touched and been touched by a dragon several times, and wasn't dead, wasn't even hurt. This had to continue. There was so much to learn!

Something still wasn't making sense, though. Night Drakes that lost their partner would mourn them, not run off and try to find someone else after they had all paired up. Courting behavior only happened before a male had the chance to breed at all. Which meant... His eyes opened wide with shock. Nox was pacing, but now he was also trembling, whining like a hungry hatchling, his eyes no longer narrowed — rather: open and submissive. Brian had been so focused on the dragon's head (and teeth) that for the first time he noticed something else. Hanging between Nox's legs was a fat, desperately throbbing erection, dripping all over the ground.

That was it, then. The young dragon hadn't mated at all, and after all this time, after six days holding it in, was still waiting to release. Brian felt a twinge of empathy; he had just been doing the same thing, but he knew it was much worse for a Drake. Not getting to cum was a discomfort for a human, but could be dangerous for a dragon. He recalled reading about a case where, back in the old days, a male was kept locked up alone under study when he went into heat. After eleven days of screaming and ripping his claws bloody in attempts to escape, the dragon had died of heart failure. This was caused partially by stress, but mostly by sepsis, which in turn was the result of massive infections in his prostate and other accessory glands. Or, as one of his fellow researchers had called it: the worst case of blue-balls in the history of the animal kingdom.

There was no getting around this fact; if Nox didn't get to mate, he was going to die in a few more days. But there were no others around anymore, so in his desperation, he had returned to select the only large life form around.

"No," Brian said to himself. "That's still not right."

The fear and desire to escape was gone. Left in its place was the rational, calculating mind of a scientist. Brian wasn't going to walk away at least until he figured it out. A Night Drake did not give up on a potential mate just by being rejected, but would still try with a different ones if it happened enough times. The females were ALWAYS fairly receptive, even to a young and inexperienced male like Nox. Even if he had been rejected many, many times, he would have gotten a mate eventually. Even if all the other males left, he would have then chosen a female. There was no such thing as a truly gay Night Drake, especially considering if the alternative to picking a female was death. It was as if the courting behavior had been on permanent pause because—

"There was no response!"

That must be it. If a Night Drake solicited a potential mate, he would await a response (either a rejection or acceptance by mimicry) before moving onto another one, or trying again. So the only theory that made sense was that Nox had somehow selected Brian, but because he was unable to get to him, just sat waiting outside the Blind for days. That must have also been the source of those creepy sounds he had been hearing. But why? Why? Why would an otherwise perfectly healthy young Drake suddenly decide to select a human for a mate? How would he have even known he was in there, as they only found each other by the smell of semen and raging hormones.

He looked down at his own crotch. He had to be smelling of sex, because he hadn't jerked off in a month and had been dripping pre into his own underwear all day. Every time he so much as thought of something sexy, while staring at those damn lifeless TV screens, his penis would leap to attention and start going like a leaky faucet. He had been desperate to have an orgasm, in a way not unlike a Night Drake in heat. Semen from all animals was pretty close to the same stuff, so it probably smells similar (not that Brian had ever had the chance to get close enough to a dragon to see what his smelled like).

All these Drake males had come to this place, literally dripping with lust and need, while seven human researchers sat in a nearby office; but one of them was in the same state. Poor Nox had probably smelled what he thought was another dragon in heat, from inside the Blind, and sat outside it like a lost puppy waiting for a response this whole time. Now that he had found out it's a human and not a dragon, he'd gone far too over the edge with desperation to care. All he knows is that he needs to mate, and now.

Brian gritted his teeth, wincing. He couldn't imagine the pain Nox must be in. The juvenile's wings were drooping, his body shaking, his whines now more like whimpers, and his eyes full of despair. Would he even last long enough for Brian to call the other researchers, get them over here, and get Nox sedated and prepped for an electroejaculation procedure? It wasn't even a certainty that it would work. Dragons weren't like other animals, and Night Drakes didn't ejaculate like other dragons. This whole process could take days; the veterinary staff was a hundred miles away in the city, and specialized equipment might have to be shipped over from cross-country.

"Besides, he chose ME," Brian thought, a little bit of pride shining bright on the top of his conscious. He also caught himself wondering if forcing Nox to cum while unconscious, without giving him the satisfaction of actually mating, was just another type of cruel. Night Drakes needed companionship and comfort, not just an orgasm.

There was still the possibility that he was wrong, of course. This could be some bizarre unknown type of hunting behavior. Nox might suddenly change his mind about sex and kill him anyway. But Brian didn't think so. He was a scientist, and he had a damn good hypothesis.

"So... how should we test a hypothesis? By experimentation, of course."

It was much easier to say it than to do it. He stood there for another few moments trying to decide if there were any other way, any other option. There wasn't. Even more, there was no reason to stall any longer. Gathering his willpower, trying not to feel foolish about it, Brian raised his arms up like wings, and started to pace around Nox, making growling noises. He got the young dragon's attention immediately. Nox stopped moving, stared at the human, his eyes wide, his head tilted slightly.

Brian ran towards him with all his might.