Cut and Run Ch. 17

Cut and Run Chapter 17
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Ok, Recap.
Last night I got woken up from what was supposed to be a rather enjoyable dream, by an old and annoying friend of mine. My brain. As a result, I ended up with a bad case of insomnia.
Gee, thanks a lot.
But, it turned out for the better. That’s because it was the night when Pirin gave me some vitally important advice concerning Dragon-Husbandry. That advice came in handy, (Pawy?) later when Frazziss’ eggs decided they wanted a change of scenery.
Afterwards I slept soundly for the rest of that night and well into the next morning. I was under the impression that the worst had passed for that day
Ah fuck me. I never seem to learn, do I?
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In my life, I’d long ago decided that waking up is a pill. It’s doubly so, when my sleep cycle is so screwed up, that I wake up at the Crack of Noon.
I opened my eyes to discover my line of vision blocked by a wad Frazziss’ unkempt hair. Normally, I’ve got no problem with snuffling her hair, as she’s got an enjoyable natural scent that permeates it. But it was annoying to have a that one stray strand, that just insisted on tickling my nose every time I breathed in.
So, what do I do? I reached out a paw to stroke that annoying strand away, and that’s when I flinch.
I flinch, from the pain of moving out of the same position that I’d been in for hours and hours. Taking stock of the situation, I notice that half of me is numb, and the other half is so cramped up that I wish it was the part that was numb.
Fuck. I can’t win for losing.
 “Ehhh!,…. Aaah!,…. Errrr!” I grunt/wince as silently as I could then, trying my best to not to wake Frazziss up. As I try to carefully lift my head smoothly up off of her shoulder, with a limited success.
‘Ack! Neck-kink!’ I whine to myself, trying not to whimper from the pain.
Slowly breathing in, I look about and try to remember what the hell’s going on.
‘Brooding chamber. Yeah.’ I blink, looking about. ‘Why are we sitting on the floor of the brooding chamber?’ I ask myself silently. Then my eyes go wide as I remember.
‘Oh yeah, that’s right!’ I smile to myself. ‘Babies!’ I think, as I forget my pain and shift my head to look down at my two most precious treasures. Right then, is when I feel a shit-eating grin that threatens to split my face apart.
‘I’m a Daddy! YAY!’, was my first thought, congratulating myself as I swallowed a half-chuckle/half-sob that’d been welling up in my throat. Then, that first thought was soon overwhelmed by an insistent second thought.
‘I really need to take a piss!’ I realized, feeling the call of nature pounding away on my mental door. Part of me wanted to immediately take that call.
Yet, I didn’t.
What I really wanted to do, was to just sit there and admire those two wonderful orbs that were sitting in between Frazziss and I. I felt like I could sit there all freaking day and bask in their beauty.
But that’s enough about Frazziss’ Tits.
Just kidding.
As much as I enjoy the sight of Frazziss boobies, I’d have preferred to stay there and appreciate my newly-laid kids more. Much more. But Mother Nature wasn’t about to let itself be denied.
So, with a bevy of suppressed groans, and hissed gasps from flexing my cramped muscles, I slowly manage to ease Frazziss’ head up off of my own shoulder.
Then, carefully supporting her head a paw, I laid her down upon the warm sands. She must’ve been sorely tired, as she didn’t so much as let out a growl of protest.
Carefully, gently, I arranged her so that she was curled up around our children. As I pulled myself up to full height and did a full stretch of my wings, I peered down and noticed that Frazziss had woken up just enough, to start stretching her limbs out straight.
She yawned before I did, which made me yawn in response. By the time I was done with mine, she’d already reached out with her paws and clutched her eggs to her tummy, with her tail curled up protectively around them.
Tilting my head, we silently made eye contact for a second. I smiled down at her, and she smiled up at me, as we blinked at each other languidly, happily. I felt a few second tick by, as I watched her lazily closing her eyes then falling asleep in a heartbeat.
I would’ve stayed and admired the view some more. But even a Mighty Dragon-Incubus such as I, could not hope to prevail in the battle against his overly full bladder.
Staggering my way half-asleep out of the chamber, I managed to yank off my sandy loin cloth and nonchalantly tossed it onto the bed. Right then I had to freeze, as my numbed parts started to get their feeling back.
Have you ever gotten to ‘enjoy’ having both your legs wake-up after they’d been asleep for a while? It’s not very fun, is it?
Now add a numbed tail into that mix, and you end up with one severely annoyed Dragon. It was then, that I began to understand why we Dragons have a reputation for being cranky when we’re woken up. I can’t imagine how pissed I’d be if I were in full-Smaug mode all of the time.
Oh, what’s that you ask? Dragons are one of the few Monsters out there, who can transform themselves back into their ‘Pre-Maou’ state. But, we can only do it for a short time. It’s taxing on our Mojo when we do.
I did it, once. It left me wiped for days after, too.
 After a few minutes of suffering, I then limped out of the bedroom and stomped down, the hall till I found the main bathroom. True, the Master Bedroom bathroom was closer, but I preferred to not use it as much as possible.
What’s the big whoop? I put in a lot of fucking work to make that little waterfall-urinal look and work nice. I’ll be damned if I don’t put it to use as often as I can.
But the main reason, is that Frazziss complained that the sound of a constant waterfall, made her want to pee all of the time. Which is not such a good idea for a Dragon who wants a decent night’s sleep. Myself included.
So, while I was there pissing away with my best-buds in hand, I was feeling good about life. True, I’m a little stiff in the neck, and I still got a few stray pins and needles in my tail. But, all things considered, I decided that I’m feeling pretty darned great.
That changed in a heart-beat, when I heard a voice.
“OH MY!” said the voice, admiringly. Which had the annoying effect of causing my twin urine streams to cut off.
‘What the fuck?’ I thought, as I turned my head to see whoever the hell it was, who just spoke. After the events of last night, I half-expected to see one of those ‘Meals-in-a-Can’ Order Knights standing there behind me.
I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath, when I saw who it actually was. It was a Bicorn, and she looked nice, really nice. But then, which one of them doesn’t?
I’ve seen a few of them clopping around during my lifetime. But this was the closest I’ve ever been to one before. I’d never allowed myself to get too close, as I’d heard they had a reputation of being ‘man-eaters’. And I was told that by a Dark Priest, of all people.
“Hello!” she said, all sweetly smiling from pointed ear to pointed ear. I couldn’t see much of her features there then in the shadows. This was because she kept herself well into the far end of the Centaur-stall she was standing in, undoubtedly doing her ‘business’.
Oh, yeah, bathroom stalls. Just a quick bit of info. When I put in the Main-Bathroom, I made sure to include every one of the varieties of Mamono water-closets in it. A good host provides for his guests needs after all.
“Uuuuuhhh, hi.” I shot back, embarrassed, as I turned my hips away from her view. I’d been so intent on taking a whiz, that I forgot to put on a clean loin cloth. The result being that I was buck naked, and she’d gotten a grand view of me and Best Buddies in action.
‘Crap! I’m more tired than I thought!’ I thought wearily.
“Who are you?” I finished, looking around desperately for something to cover myself up with, and coming up with,…nothing. For some reason, every last towel was missing.
Strangely, she didn’t reply then. Instead, she just tilted her head and continued watching me and my antics.
‘Ah double-CRAP!’ I thought unhappily, gritting my teeth. I decided to make a quick run to the bathroom’s exit archway, but that was when she’d decided to come out of her stall. Which also had the nice effect of her cutting off my avenue of escape.
But, it also gave me the opportunity to see her full on, and I had to admit she was rather easy on the eyes. In a gothic sort of way.
She was your standard Bi-corn, in that she had a dark sable coat that traveled from her rump all the way to her humanlike waist. From there on up, she wore a shiny black-leather laced corset that accentuated her already ample bust. That corset was matched with a pair of black fingerless gloves that went well above her elbows. Looking up, I noticed that she had inky hair that fell straight down to her shoulders.
The parts of her skin that weren’t covered in that silky sable coat, was pallid enough to be almost blinding in its whiteness. I also noticed that she wore a pair of black leather skull motif saddlebags; slung over her horse-back.
When we finally made eye contact, that already large smile of hers, morphed into a leering grin. Which, for some reason made me swallow involuntarily.
“Why you must be Allen Belushi.” She breathily stated, as she took a step closer to me. “I’ve heard so much about you!”
“Uh, yes, yes I am!” I replied with a friendly smile, covering up my groin with my paws.
“I do believe that we’ve not been introduced.” She said huskily, not making eye contact with me. It would’ve been difficult for her to do so, as she seemed to be more fascinated with my paws right then. Or, what they were covering up, that is.
“My name is Gigi Vache!” she continued, as she held out a hand towards,…uhhh, me I think. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like she was reaching more towards my crotch.
 I intercepted that hand of hers, then shook it firmly. When I did, her smile faltered for a second. Then she raised her head to look at me full on with her eyes boring into mine.
“Well, nice to meet you Gigi,..!” I began, trying to pull my hand back, and failing. She wouldn’t let go.
“Oh please!” she interrupted, “I’d prefer it if you called me by my new name: Travesty.” She cooed. She then started slowly licking her lips sensually. When she did that, I started to feel my Best-Buds starting to twitch in anticipation. Since I had only the one paw covering them, she couldn’t help but notice their reaction.
As she glanced down, I noticed her leer get even more intense. Sensing danger, I brought up some polite conversation in an effort to distract her.
“So, Travesty, what brings you out to my Cave today?” I asked, as I tried once more to retrieve my hand/paw.
“I’m here at the behest of Jamal. He asked me to come along, to help you in moving.”
“Help me move?” I asked, confused. Then it hit me. ‘Oh, that’s right, I clean forgot! It’s Moving Day!’ I shouted to myself.
“Yes silly. It’s your moving day, don’t you remember?” she giggled coyly as she lifted my hand up to her face, and before I could say anything in reply, she had somehow managed to get one of my fingers into her mouth.
“UHhhhh, Travesty. Please don’t do that!” I asked, as she started to suck on it. I tried to retrieve my hand as quickly as I dared, but when I pulled back, she took a fierce hold of my wrist to keep my finger in place.
Things went rapidly downhill from there.
“Travesty! Please, NO!” I hissed, worried about getting caught. But, she didn’t. Instead, she continued to leer at me through her eyebrows, as she slurped away on that finger.
She was one sneaky little minx, I had to admit then. As I was so distracted by my finger getting sucked, that I didn’t notice what she’d been doing with her other hand.  It, had found its way to my groin, and she managed to give my fore-dick a pumping death grip.
By that time, we were practically dancing around that bathroom! I had to get a little more physical to try to get her off of me. But damn it! No matter what I did, she wouldn’t let go. It was like she was part Scylla!
Every time I managed to get her to loosen her grip on one part of me, she latched onto another! All the while, she either kept leering like a madwoman, or suckling on another part of me.
“Oh, come now, Allen!” she breathed once, when I finally managed to get my finger out her mouth, “You know you want it! I can feel it!” she growled, when she started pumping one of my dicks enthusiastically.
It was about that point that I was giving thought about using a breath weapon, when I heard a voice.
“Hey Travesty! Where are you?!” came the sound of Jamal’s voice echoing through my Cave’s hallways. A wave of relief washed over me, when I saw the look of panic that appeared on her face.
“She’s over he,…!” I attempted to shout out, but I was cut off when she slapped a hand over my mouth. Looking back at her, she was shaking her head furiously with a pleading look on her face.
‘Gotcha!’ I thought triumphantly.
“You’ve been stepping out on Jamal again, haven’t you?” I concluded, as I gently pushed her hand away. She looked really scared then, as she nodded.
“Go on ahead and greet Jamal. I’ll come out after a few more seconds. If we work together, we can both make sure he doesn’t find out about your little indiscretion, ok?” I asked carefully. When I said that, she started to look relieved. I in turn breathed a hearty sigh of relief, when she turned about and made to leave.
But before she was gone completely, I had to ask.
“Travesty? I don’t get it, why do all this?” I spread my arms apart to indicate what nearly got out of hand, around me.
“If you didn’t want him to,…you know?” I asked, tilting my head, “Catch you in the act?” She hesitated for a second or three thinking, biting on her lip. Then, with a guilty look on her face, she explained.
“Well, I’m almost to the point of being a one-penis kind of girl,” she whispered guiltily, “But, when I saw you standing there and urinating, I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve got TWO penises!” she leered back at me, with her tongue hanging out. I noticed a droplet of saliva that fell from its tip.
“AND!” she continued, “I could sense that you’re a kind and devoted husband. How could I NOT want to take a bite out of you?” she cheerfully reasoned, as she quickly clip-clopped away.
“Oh Maou! Jamal would be seriously disappointed in Travesty, and royally pissed at me, if we got caught!” I whispered to myself.
I waited half a minute and listened carefully, as she and Jamal met up. They talked furiously together for a second and I blew out a relieved sigh when I heard the sound of her hooves retreating down the hall. I knew that was my cue to grab me a clean loin-cloth and make myself presentable. I peered around the archway, and looked both ways, just to be safe. Luck was with me.
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After that, I stomped my way back in the direction of the kitchen.  That’s because I could hear a number of voices chattering away. Of course, once I stepped in, Jamal was the first to notice and announced my arrival.
“Hey! Look what the cat dragged in!” He shouted, which earned him a dirty look from Pirin, who was preparing something at the cooktop.
Everyone else turned, waved, or smiled a hello. I noticed that they all had some food in hand or paw, munching away. It made sense, after all it was everyone else’s lunch time.
 “My apologies for being late!” I called out, looking around the kitchen and adjoining dining area. “But, I think you can understand the reason! I’m now the father of a pair of,… Eggs!”
Every one present laughed with the exception of Pirin. She, just gave me a long-suffering glare and shook her head exasperatedly. After that, I received well wishes and congratulations from everyone else present.
Looking around, I nodded and gave thanks to them all. Then, I did my Duty as Host, and formally invited them into my home one by one, making polite conversation.
“My Home is Your Home” I said to Jamal and Travesty, who immediately resumed their canoodling they’d been engaged in when I’d entered. “If you two need a room, go ahead and use one of the guest rooms.” They stopped long enough to smile back at me and asked fordirections.
After I’d sent them off, I turned to Tallia the Minotauros, who had herself some arm candy. He, was a beefy middle-aged looking dude whose name was Street. It did my heart good to see her with somebody else, her being a widow and all. Please understand that I had no problem providing her the Essence she needed. But, I had LONG since paid back Frazziss’ owed-favors, and it had been starting to get tiresome. Why? Because was, how to put it? Vigorous.
Mitzi the Shoggoth-Doc was there, and she had a firm hold of some Emo-type dude with a kazillion face piercings. But he seemed to be a pleasant sort, even if I didn’t catch his name.
 Cria my work Super was there as well. She pulled me to one side to inform me that I was ‘way overdue’ for another one of my quarterly performance reviews. Also there was a couple of my other co-workers, Lateef the Anubis from accounting, and Una the Cyclops. Sadly, neither of them had a beau, yet. Both, gave me some not so subtle hints about who’d they’d prefer to have stand in for one, during the interim.
Plus, there were about five or six of Frazziss’ fellow Rangers, including Catarina the Kobold. All of them had come to lend an appendage with the transport of Frazziss’ old stuff into our cave. I thanked them all for coming, and then I excused myself to get up to speed with Pirin.
“About time you woke up Loknarr!” Pirin smiled as she lightly punched me on my arm by way of greeting. “I was starting to think about sending out a search party!” she joked.
“Har har!” I replied, rolling my eyes. “So, what’s the status report for the move?” I asked.
“Well, everyone here is taking a break for lunch, and as you can see I’m cooking for them, including making breakfast for you and Frazziss. She stated, as she turned back to her cooking. I looked over her wing and noticed what she’d been making. A whole stack of omelettes. My mouth started to water something fierce at the sight of them all.
“Oh cool! Frazziss will definitely need that. Thanks, Pirin!” I complimented her, as I gave her a head-pat. She smiled in response and handed me a dish loaded up with a couple of already made ones, telling me that it was my breakfast. Which I proceeded to wolf down using my paws. Delicious.
“Second,” Pirin continued, frowning at my using my hands to eat, “everyone here has unloaded the first two truckloads of Frazziss’ belongings, after lunch they’ll be ready to go back for the rest.” What she said then, made me stop eating. As it sounded awfully weird to my scaly ears.
“Wait, what?” I replied, caught off guard. “First two truckloads?” I asked, confused.
“How can she have so much stuff? Sure, I knew that Frazziss was a hoarder. What Dragon isn’t?
After living with her nigh on a year, I just knew that she couldn’t have fit several truckloads into her Apartment, and I said as much to Pirin.. Pirin just looked over her shoulder at me with a half-smile and replied.
“Oh, yes she could’ve. Didn’t you know that about Dragons?” she asked.
“Know? Know what?!” I demanded, my brows furrowing.
“Well, Male Dragons have their specialized Nest-magic to make caves for their women, right?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah. It’s something I’ve learned, but what does that…” I began, but she held up a paw. I stopped and waited.
“Well, Female Dragons have their own specialized Nest-magic too.” Pirin began to explain patiently. “Their magic allows them to pack many items into a small space. Sort of like that TV show you like to watch, what was it? Doctor Whom?”
“Doctor Who.” I replied evenly.
“Whatever!” she waved her paw around dismissively. “The point is, that box that he’s always traveling around in?”
“You mean the one that’s bigger on the inside?” I asked, she nodded.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if his people used Female Dragon magic to create it. After all, most caves really aren’t all that big. How else can Dragons pack so much treasure into such small spaces?” she smiled. Her explanation left me dumbfounded and wondering.
Still, I had my doubts, and after finishing breakfast, I hoofed my way to outside my Cave’s main entrance, and just about shit a brick.
‘What the Fuck?’ I silently mouthed, utterly surprised at what I saw awaiting me out there. Looking left and right from the rear of the moving truck, I saw what could only be described as a cargo ship Flea Market. There were dozens of boxes and furniture littering the place. I walked around the area for a short while, weaving my way in and around several items, scoping shit out.
It was like someone had made a raid on some antique warehouse, then dumped it all out onto my front porch. There were massive wardrobes, rolled up carpets, several vanities, at least a dozen long bookshelves, and stacks and stacks of boxes. Some were cardboard, others were wood. A couple were metal.
‘What the fuck is that?’ I wondered, looking at one particularly long rolled up carpet. I unrolled it a little to discover that it was a floor-to ceiling tapestry.
“Oh Maou! Somewhere out there, has got to be one pissed off Museum Curator!” I laughed aloud. Then I got serious.
“Where the fuck am I going to put all this?” I realized. Even as extensive as I made the Cave, I knew then that we’d be hard pressed to find sufficient space for it all.
Yeah, I know, Frazziss could’ve ‘magicked’ more space to stick it all in. But she’d told me several times that she wanted sufficient cave to properly display everything of hers.
‘Looks like I’ve still got my work cut out for me.’ I grumbled with a sigh. ‘A husband’s work is never done it seems.’ I concluded with a growl.
Pirin appeared next to me almost by magic then.
“There you are!” she cheerfully squeaked. “I’ve got Frazziss’ breakfast ready for you to take to her, it’s sitting in the kitchen staying warm.” She bounced.
“Ah, thanks Pirin.” I replied “Not to sound lazy or anything. But why didn’t you bring it to her yourself?” She didn’t reply at first, just gave me a long-suffering look. Ah heck, it seems like that’s her standard expression she gives me of late. She sighed dramatically then, holding the back of a paw to her forehead.
“Really Loknarr?” she asked surprised, cocking her head enough for some of her hair locks to fall over.
“She just laid her eggs! For the next few days, YOU are the only one she’ll feel safe enough to accept food from.” She explained. “If I tried to, she’d probably try to bite my head off, literally.”
“Oh!” I replied, shaking my head in disbelief, as I sauntered off.
“Hey Wait!” Pirin cried. “A couple more questions!” she demanded. I did an about half-face in response.
“Yes?”
“All the volunteers want to know, where do you want everything put?” I blew my cheeks out with my breath, as I thought about it.
“Just have them put everything they can inside, either in the living room, or along one side of the main hallway. I get the feeling that Frazziss will be having me constantly rearranging everything for a long while anyways.” I replied, Pirin nodded thoughtfully in response, agreeing.
“What was the other question?”
“What about Nocti’s box?” she asked nervously. I had to think about that for a long minute with my tongue sticking out.
‘Well, Frazziss isn’t going anywhere soon, I guess.’ I decided. ‘But if it’s Nocti’s stuff, she’ll not anyone to open it.’ I mused.
“Hmmmm,” I went aloud. Then the answer hit me.
“How big is Nocti’s box?” I asked. Pirin looked at me funny, but she indicated with her paws about how big it was.
“Well,” I stated, “I’d been thinking about making a Hope-Chest for all of Nocti’s stuff for Frazziss. Tell you what, after I give Frazziss her breakfast, I’ll go ahead and whip up a temporary one. That way, you and Angelique can go and put Nocti’s box inside of it, all without having to worry about Frazziss getting all fired up!”
“Uhhh, Ok.” She replied. “What’s a Hope-Chest?” she asked. After that, I had to explain what one was. When I finished, she had a grand smile on her face.
“That’s a wonderful idea, Loknarr! Making a Cenotaph for Nocti!” I was about to point out to her, that a Hope-Chest wasn’t necessarily a Cenotaph, but I didn’t want to start quibbling about details right then. I had stuff to do.
After a couple more questions and answers, I made my way to the kitchen, grabbed Frazziss’ breakfast, and made my way over. All the while stepping carefully over or around those, who couldn’t be bothered to find a guest bedroom. Hey, Mamono will be Mamono after all.
When I arrived back at the brooding chamber, Frazziss was nowhere to be found. I thought nothing of it, so I sat the breakfast tray down next to the eggs. I chose that moment to admire my kids once more. Sitting down next to them, I decided to pick up and say hello to my daughter first.
Big mistake.
For no sooner than I did that, did I hear a staccato of big stompy feet rapidly approaching. A second after I lifted my head in puzzlement, is when Frazziss just about dove into the room.
I could tell that she was royally pissed right then! I knew that, because she had a large quantity of smoke coming out of her nostrils.
‘Ut-Oh!’ was the first thing that came to mind when I saw her.
“WHAT!” she began, “DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!!!” she demanded in a roar, her eyes blazing a furious red, while she stood looming over me.
I immediately discarded the first answer that came to mind, which was: “Nothing.” I remember that that shit never worked with my Mom, and it sure as hell wouldn’t work with this Mom.
“PUT DOWN THAT EGG!” she roared again, making my ears resonate as her she spread her paws around my head, her thumb claws inches from my face. I kept my eye contact with her as best I could then, as I slowly laid that egg back down to the waiting sands. Once I did that. She gently, yet very firmly put her paws to my head and twisted my face to match hers.
“DON’T YOU EVER TOUCH MY EGGS WITHOUT ME NEARBY, AGAIN!!!” She growled into my soul with an extreme emphasis then, so deeply that I felt my core vibrate.
“Yes Dear.” I replied not blinking, noticing just how many sharp teeth she had.  Then she let go of me.
I retreated quickly in my best crab walk to get away from her. Until I couldn’t retreat any further. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed that I had somehow managed to reverse crawl all the way to the far end of the chamber away from her.
It was that point that I remembered to start breathing again. But it was hard, considering that I had to swallow my heart first.
Looking back, I noticed that she was closely inspecting the egg I’d been holding, with both her eyes. She sniffed it constantly, with the occasional licking of its surface. After a few minutes, she set it down, and did the same to its sibling.
I tried to stand up a few times. But every time I did, she’d stop what she was doing and stare at me with a predator’s eye, pinning me to the spot. I stopped trying after the first three times. It took her awhile, but eventually she was satisfied that her eggs were intact. She then stood up and approached me on a direct line, then she crouched herself down in front of me.
“What were you thinking?” she demanded, thankfully not tearing my throat out first. I told her, and got a severe tongue lashing for my trouble.
Long story short, I ended up getting a short, yet intense, lesson of the propriety of a Male Dragon being allowed near an egg. It didn’t matter if the Eggs were sired by him or not, the Mother would treat him like he was a Thief. Those Eggs being her Greatest Treasure, after all.
Which, in a way, made sense when I thought about it later.
She was quick to forgive me though, after I brought up the fact that I’d brought her some breakfast. True to what Pirin had to say, she wouldn’t touch any of it until I handed it to her first.
 After she’d eaten, she became a lot more amiable, and even was laughing again when she lay down to snuggle with her eggs some more. Where had she been when I entered? In the bathroom.
And I, realized that I had a shit ton more to learn about Dragon Husbandry.
Sheesh.
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After that, I was able to get a quick stone box thrown together for Nocti’s Hope-Chest. I decided to worry about decorations later. I managed to give it to Pirin, just before the moving truck went back for the last batch. Why the rush? The Dorm Manager wanted it refurbished as soon as possible. Living space is at a premium, especially for Mamono.
Until they got back, I went ahead and lent a paw towards getting all of Frazziss’ stuff inside, then directing where I thought it should go. That took a bit.
Sheesh! I knew that Frazziss was a packrat, but I had no idea she held onto just about everything in her life!
Frazziss showed up after the first hour, and she took over the management of where to put stuff, thankfully. Naturally, everything I came up with to put stuff- was wrong.
But, I didn’t complain, or interfere with her decisions. I knew better. I’d been through another woman’s nesting phase before. Yeah, my first wife. Chief Maou Rest Her Soul.
After a half hour, my Mom popped in. Literally. She teleported herself in near the front entrance. Which started up another round of introductions to all concerned.
In between Frazziss stepping out, and the volunteer work crew’s return. I gave out a few ‘nickel-tours’ of the joint to everyone involved. I got the usual polite ooh’s and aaah’s.
Naturally, every guy there wanted to know why I put a waterfall in the main bathroom. With the result, that every single one of them had to try it out, after I explained. Ah hell, even a few of the women did too.
‘I guess I’ll need to put in some handrails, or the equivalent.’ I mused, after seeing how soaked Cria got after her attempt. ‘Another project to add to the list.’ I decided.
Naturally, everyone wanted to see the Eggs. Frazziss refused at first, but with some gentle persuasion, I managed to get her to agree to it. In the end, she’d only allow one person at a time to see them, and only at a distance. My Mom was most ecstatic when she got to see her ‘grandkids’.
Finally, the truck returned with the last of Frazziss stuff. Thankfully, it wasn’t jammed to the gills like the previous two trips. In amongst the rest of her stuff, sat the stone Hope-Chest that I’d made.  When Frazziss caught sight of it, she was puzzled.
“That’s not mine!” she stated quite firmly, puzzled. “Where did you get it?” she asked Angelique. I stepped in and tapped on Frazziss shoulder.
“Actually, I made that to be a temporary Hope-Chest for Nocti’s stuff.” I explained. “Here, open it! Then you’ll understand.” Frazziss complied bending over to do so, while giving me an odd look.
But once she did, I saw her eyes go wide as saucers, as she gasped.
“Nocti!” she whispered reverently, reaching out for her first-born’s box. It was about a cardboard cigar box in size, I reckoned. Both Pirin and Angelique were standing by patiently, both curious no doubt to see what was inside of it. I knew I certainly was.
Carefully, Frazziss knelt down in front of the Hope Chest and reached in, took ahold, and then slowly pulled it out. I took a quick glance at Frazziss’ face then and saw the most tenderest look on her face.
She held it in her paws for several seconds, staring at it. Then, she placed it gently on the ground in front of her, then spread apart the cardboard flaps. I was disappointed when I saw what was inside.
To my eyes it appeared to be nothing but a collection of junk. I saw a whole bunch of shiny candy wrappers, a few of those foil-wrapped chocolate coins, a number of earring backings, and more than a few chunks of Iron Pyrite.
‘What gives?’ I wondered.
“Nocti!” Frazziss sobbed. I knelt down next to her and gave her a hug. She leaned into me.
“What is it Frazziss?” I asked, wondering what the big whoop was.
“Her Hoard.” Frazziss replied softly, looking up at Angelique with something akin to adoration.
“You found my baby’s Hoard! I’ve looked all over and I could never find it! Where was it?!” she demanded, rising to her feet.
Angelique was surprised by Frazziss’ reaction, but she stood her ground.
“Behind and under the Grand Piano.” She replied evenly. Then Frazziss did something that shocked the hell out of me. She gave Angelique a hug while thanking her profusely.
While those two were making nice, I turned and took a second look at Nocti’s “Hoard”. After I knew what it was, all that junk started to make more sense.
All of the candy wrappers were tinged gold. The earring backings were gold plated. The stale chocolate coins? Those were wrapped with- you guessed it, Gold Foil.
“Well done Angelique!” I said, giving her a thumb’s up. Angelique looked back at me over Frazziss’ shoulder, blinking nervously. Then I could feel my smile freeze when I realized something.
‘Grand Piano? What fucking Grand Piano?’ I thought in consternation, while looking back at the Cave entrance. ‘Where the fuck am I supposed to fit a Grand Piano in this place?’
Then I realized something else.
‘I don’t even know if Frazziss can even play the piano, what with her claws and all.’
‘Sheesh! Just when you thought you knew a person.’ I fumed silently.
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Well after that, it was a quick study to get everything inside, and Frazziss had everyone put the remainder of stuff into a general ‘staging area’ for her to rearrange to her heart’s content. Which is to say that I’ll be doing the bulk of the heavy lifting and moving, mark my words.
Sure enough, there was in fact a Grand Piano. Something called a Steinway. Frazziss promised everyone there, that she’d demonstrate her ability to play it, once we had it in a nice acoustic spot, had it generally warmed and tuned, etc, etc.
By the sound of things, it’d be all set along about the time we decided to throw our House Warming Party. Of which, I’d promised to invite the Lilim in Charge of California, the Lady Morrigan herself.
After that, I was pressed to cook alongside Pirin and Angelique. We had promised to feed that cohort of our friends that had helped us move, and they all ate like, well hell, like hungry Mamono. Which most of them were.
It made for a long ass day. But it was a productive one. But, I was dog tired when the last of everyone finally left. My Mom on the other paw, had insisted on asking for and receiving permission to stick around for a while longer. She cited that there was ‘something important’ she wanted to ask me about.  What, she wouldn’t tell me immediately.
Even with all of Frazziss’ crap, we still had a couple of open guest rooms available, so I showed her to one. I told her to go ahead and get comfortable, as I still had to help out with the kitchen clean up.
She waved me off, stating that she had to prepare for the ‘important something’ and it would take her a bit to get ready anyways. When I left, I noticed her pulling out an arrangement of bottles from her carryall carpetbag. But I didn’t think anything of it, then.
It took a while, but eventually Pirin, Frazziss, Angelique, and I, managed to get the kitchen and dining room cleaned up to something approaching an organized chaos.
Afterwards, I sat down with them all and we discussed the events of the day. I could tell that everyone was all tuckered, so I kept the thanks short then. As I made to leave, Angelique approached me and asked me to visit her in her room, before I retired for the night. To which I promised.
I made my way back over to my Mom’s room, and when I entered I found myself flabbergasted at what I saw. It was like she’d set it up to be some sort of Alchemist’s Lab!
“Oh, there you are Allen, my only living Son.” Said Mom the Hot Babe. For some strange reason, she had changed out of her standard Dark-Mage’s robes. She was now wearing something that looked a lot like a chain-mail Merry Widow. Which I found to be rather distracting, considering how much of a Hot Babe she’d become.
“Oh!” She said delightedly, when she saw me eyeballing her outfit. “Do you like it? It’s all the rage in Royal Makai I’ve been told.” She said while holding her arms out and twirling around once. Which had the surprising effect of making my heart race.
“Uhhh, Mom?” I said after swallowing. “What’s with all of the bottles and stuff?” I asked, pointing around the room.
“Oh that?” she replied, dismissively waving her hand at them. “They’re for later, after I’ve asked that important thing I’ve been meaning to ask you about.”
“Which is?” I asked, in a low tone.
“I’ll get to that!” she replied, taking me by the hand. “Here! Come! Sit with your Mother!” she invited me, smiling.
Since just about every other surface was covered with bottles both filled and empty, the only free spot was the sandstone slab/bed. She hopped herself up onto one end, and then patted a spot next to her. Warily, I chose to sit on the far end, as far away from her as I could manage. For all the good it did me. No sooner than I had sat down, she was right there next to me.
“Uuuh Mom?” I asked nervously, noticing that her position allowed me a more than adequate view of her cleavage. “Could you please not sit so close to me?”
“Why Allen? Are you afraid of your Mother or something?” she giggled.
“Uhhh, no. I’m not, aaahh, errr, uuuhmmm.” I explained, trying and failing to not look down her spathic-ness. Laughing, she scootched herself a foot away. Which wasn’t quite far enough for my taste. But, it was better than nothing.
She, looked up at me something akin to adoration, smiling. I looked down at her, waiting expectantly for her to get around, for whatever it was she’d been wanting to ask. After several minutes of this, I chose to speak.
“Well.” I said, tapping my hand on my thigh. I expected this to prompt her.
“Well.” she replied, beaming, not saying another word. With another minute of silence.
“There was something you wanted to ask?” I demanded finally, getting tired of this shit.
“Yes Allen!” she cried, “There was.” She reached out and grabbed one of my paws with her hand.
“Do you remember when you were a boy, and your Father forbade my getting you for your birthday, a G.I. Joe Doll?” she asked.
“Action-Figure!” I snapped. “They’re called: Action Figures!” I griped. “Yeah, I think so.” I replied, thinking hard in remembrance.
“As I recall, you ended up bringing me one home anyways.”
“Yes, I did!” she replied, nodding and smiling cheerfully. “Even though your Father groused about it for the longest time, I defended your choice of toys.”
“Uhhh, thanks?” I replied. Not sure what her point was.
“Do you also remember that time you got suspended from school for three days?” she prompted again.
“Yeah, yeah. I definitely remember that.”, ‘I think I managed to scare the Gym Teacher so badly, she had to retire as a result.’ I recalled.
“It was memorable, because Dad never once said a word about it. I’d have thought that he would’ve blown his stack!” I replied, suddenly wondering why he hadn’t.
“The reason he didn’t Allen, is that I hid it from him.”
“What?! Hot Damn Mom!” My eyes went big. “Oops Sorry.” I apologized then for cussing in front of her. She waved it off, excusing me. “Why do that?”
“I’ll explain soon.” She replied, still smiling. I was starting to get nervous, as she continued.
“Do you remember the time in which you totaled your first car?”
“Yeah, I do. As I recall you told Dad that you did it.”
“Yes, I did Allen. Do you know why?” she questioned. I shook my head.
“I did that,” she began with a beaming smile, “and all of the other things, before and since, because you were MY boy Allen. That’s what good Mommies do for their babies.”
“Well Ma, I wasn’t a baby when I was driving that car, and I really should’ve taken respons,…” I stopped when she gave me ‘The Look’.
Yeah, you know what ‘Look’ I’m talking about. Every Mom has it. She gave me hers then. I shut up.
“The reason I’m bringing that up now, Allen. Is that as Family, we’re sometimes called upon to make a small sacrifice of our own desires, for another family member’s well-being.” She finished, then took in a big breath, that made her chest heave alluringly.
“Now, I need a teensy little favor from you.” She stated, while holding her thumb and forefinger. THAT statement of hers made me sit up straight! Every time she mentioned the word: “Teensy” it usually meant the opposite.
“Uhhhh, Ok,” I replied, licking my lips. “What did you have in mind?”
“I’m glad you asked.” She replied with a smile that made my gut sink.
“As you know Allen, I’m now an Apprentice Dark Mage.” She looked at me expectantly.
“Uhh, yeah. The Dark Mage you’re apprenticed to, is Auntie Belinda? Right?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” she replied, waving a hand in dismissal. “The point being Allen, is that being an apprentice means that you have to prove you’re capable of obtaining certain Spell Components.”
“What kind of components?” I asked, not liking where this conversation was headed.
“Specialized ones.” She replied. “Do you remember Shakespeare’s Witches in his play, Macbeth? They were actually Dark Mages, by the way.”
“Uh-Huh,” I replied, “Eye of Newt, Toe of Dog.” I recited from memory, automatically, waggling my head.
“Tongue of Dog actually.” She corrected. Which made me frown for some reason.
“The point of the matter, my only surviving child, is that Dark Magery requires a certain number of esoteric spell components.”
“What kind of esoteric components?” I asked, my voice lowering. She sighed and gave me another smile before pressing on.
“Mamono components” She stated. “Things like Manticore venom, Mermaid blood, Tentacle sap, those kind of things.” She stated patiently.
“Oh, I think I get it! You’re asking me if I’d be willing to give you a part of myself?” I replied relievedly. Mom nodded her head so vigorously that she caused her locks of strawberry-blonde hair to bounce.
“You mean, like some of my cast-off scales, or claw parings?” I asked innocently. Her smile froze, as she sighed.
“Something like that, yes.” She replied through that frozen smile. She then reached out and grabbed ahold of my paw using both hands, then pulled it to her chest.
“Yet not quite.” She continued. “I was thinking of something a bit more, shall we say, perishable?” she tilted her head, and gave me a soulful smile.
“But what kind of Dark-Mage stuff requires something perish,….” I stopped and stared back at her in confusion. Yet in my mind’s ear, I could hear a set of Dominoes clacking together in sequence. ‘Click-click-click-click!’ they went. I felt myself sitting back in response to where my mind started to wander.
Then something occurred to me that caused my blood pressure to drop. I looked at her and thought of Dad’s miraculous healing from his near fatal Cirrhosis.
‘How did she heal him again?’ I asked myself. Then as that last mental Domino clicked to a stop, it finally hit me what she’d been getting at all this time. I fixed my eyes on her and spoke.
“You want,…..my Semen?” I whispered hoarsely, incredulous. She nodded once as stood up straight and sighed. Happy to see that I finally understood.
My reaction was immediate.
“MOM! EEEEEWWWWWW!” I shouted as I jumped to my feet. “I can’t believe you’d ask me such a thing!” I replied, trying not to gag.
“ALLEN, ALLEN!” She shouted, trying to placate me with her arms raised. “Try to calm down! Allen! I’m talking to you! Don’t you run off like a little boy!” Mom said firmly, crossing her arms at me while I tried to sidle my way out of the bedroom.
“You’re a grown ma, errr Dragon! Act like an adult!” she commanded. I stopped trying to escape, which says something about the Power of Mom. But I refused to meet her eye.
“Allen.” The suddenly Creepy-assed Mom said to me then. “I want you to understand why I’m asking.” She began. I still refused to make eye contact, but I stayed where I was.
“In the Continent of Mists, Dragon body parts are still considered some of the most powerful components for, amongst other things, medicine.” She explained to me in patient tones.
“Remember that, Allen. MEDICINE” she emphasized. She took a step towards me. I didn’t retreat.
“Ever since the Great Maou came to power, the availability of certain MALE Dragon body parts has, how should I put it?” she declared as she tapped her chin in thought.
“Dried up!” she smiled, not quite giggling at her joke. I winced.
“Now, I’m sure you’re probably aware of what the primary component for what many Mamono Healing Potions are made out of, aren’t you?” she asked, taking another step towards me.
“Uh-huh.” I whimpered, frowning.
“What is it Allen? I want you to say it.” She implored me firmly. It took me a few minutes, but eventually I was able to say it.
“Semen.” I whispered as quietly as I could. She smiled fondly at me as she took another step, close enough to touch me. But she didn’t, not yet.
“Yes, it is, Allen, yes, it is.” She stood in front of me, staring up at me. “And do you know WHY human semen is a requirement?” I shook my head. Honestly, I didn’t know, nor did I care to find out. But, I got the feeling I was going to anyways.
“Because of the Essence in it, Allen. Dark Mages, and many other spell-casters can put that Essence to good use, like Healing others or Improving crop yields.” She explained.
“But!” she ended, holding up a finger. I forced myself to open my eyes and look back at her. She stared at me with a stern expression.
“Even the most powerful of Human Essence potions, can’t heal major body parts, like lost limbs, or an eye.” She said quietly. I didn’t say anything then.
“But, a long time ago there was one kind of Essence that could, Allen. I think you can guess which kind.” She stated quietly, as she reached out a hand and placed on the side of my face. Damn her!
“Dragon Essence.” I answered rhetorically, as I sighed in resignation.
“Yes Allen, it is, it was, and it could be again, with your help of course.”
“Mom.” I whined. She placed a finger on my lips and continued.
“You’re the only Male Dragon in existence right now, Allen my son! In time, undoubtedly there will be more, other than your newly laid son.” She smiled, encouragingly.
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Well, after that crap, I ‘agreed’ to at least think about giving her some irregular donations. Which is what all the bottles she lugged over was for. She even offered to ‘help’ with the extraction, which I resolutely and politely declined.
Though I had to admit, if she could’ve found someone who looked a lot like her…Ah never mind.
She was happy when she ported out, even though she left empty-handed. We both knew that my agreeing to ‘think’ about it only meant one thing. She’d get what she wanted, eventually. That’s what Moms do after all. I knew that, because my Mom could out stare a goldfish. I had one when I was a kid. It blinked first.
After she had departed. I sat and stared at the collection of empty bottles she left behind for the longest while. I was just thinking and contemplating.
Eventually, I got up and meandered my way back to the kitchen area. Angelique was there, fretting about, trying to get every last little thing back into its proper place.
“Hello Allen!” she half-mewed, upon seeing me come in and ‘kalumph’ myself into a dining room chair despondently.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she sat herself down onto my lap.
She listened attentively and snuggled up close, as I recounted the events of the last 24 hours. She seemed concerned about my bad dream with Girly, nuzzled my neck as I told her about Frazziss laying, and giggled when I told her about Travesty’s antics.
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked suddenly?
“Frazziss is snuggled up to her eggs.,” Angelique replied, “she’s all tired now. Nyan.” I raised an eyebrow.
“Pirin went to bed a half hour ago, she was very tired! I’m not surprised, considering everything she’s been up to, the last couple of days. Nyan.” That mew, made me look at her concerned.
“I wanted to thank you for all of your hard work, Angelique!” I replied with a smile. Which made her smile. “You’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty in making sure the move went smoothly!”
“Well,” she replied. “Since I’m now a part of your household, I thought I haven’t been pulling my weight. Nyan.”
‘Odd.’ I thought. ‘She’s mewing quite a bit. She must be stressed about something.’
“Oh, you most certainly do,” I reassured her, “between your job at the Majestic cooking up meals for high-paying guests, and everything you’ve done around the place, I’m surprised you have any energy left at all for me!” When I said that, my reward was a long slow blink, just as we touched noses. Hers left a small wet spot on mine.
She then snuggled into me something fierce, as she started purring contentedly. We stayed like that for a few moments. I had to admit, I rather liked having such a big purr-blanket. Finally, I spoke.
“Well Angelique, I’ve noticed you’ve been mewing a lot this evening. Is something the matter?” I guess my question hit the mark, because that was when she stopped purring, as she raised her hackles.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her quietly. She slowly lifted up her head and faced me with a tremulous look on her face.
“It’s all right, I won’t condemn you or anything. If there’s something wrong, I want to be able to do something about it.” I continued, trying to encourage. After that, and a few other comments, I finally managed to get her to communicate.
“Well,” she began softly, her hackles still raised. “There is something I’ve been wanting to ask you about.” I nodded at her patiently, expectantly.
“Since, we’re all doing fairly well now, and since you’ve got a nice large cave in which you and Frazziss’ children have plenty of room in which to play,…” she continued, then hesitated.
“Which we’re at now, in no small part to you.” My reply boldened her.
“There’s something that I’ve been having a desire for.” She stated seriously enough to roll over and face me full on.
“What’s that?” I asked with a nod.
“It’s something that I think would be good for your first pair of children.” That got my attention!
“You are thinking of having more, yes?” she asked, suddenly afraid.
“Yes, of course!” I replied. “All in due time yeah.” She smiled and placed both her paws down on my chest as we touched noses once more.
“I was thinking that I’d really, really, I mean REALLY, like to have,…” she began.
I nodded at her once more. Encouraged, she replied with something that left me flabbergasted. Yet, in a way, I should’ve seen coming.
“Some Were-Kittens.”
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