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The Program Of Cultural Exchanges, a key component of the lofty "Peaceful Coexistence Initiative" between the Reservation and the Republic, was unsurprisingly going nowhere. Let's be real, did anyone actually expect this fundamentally romantic effort, meant to patch up the ugly wounds of hundreds-year-old interspecies wars, to succeed? It swiftly turned into a perfect cover for a burgeoning tax haven and an unending tide of smuggled goods, the scale of which was becoming downright scandalous. Moreover, many sincere but naive activists and do-gooders who claimed that stereotypes about dragons were merely a social construct, carelessly enrolled in the program and quickly learned in practice how far these mostly alien sentient creatures were from the idealistic picture they had painted in their minds.

But Lazare wasn't like that. He lived in a small town, adored dragons since childhood and dreamed of meeting one. Preferably intimately. But he also knew how the world works, he knew that stereotypes are there for a reason, he knew that all the hatred of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers was not for naught. Dragons can't be trusted.

So before he signed the contract, he prepared himself. If you count reading an abstruse psychology textbook on dragons as preparation, of course. From it he found out that dragon races aka the colours of their scales, were indeed indirectly related to their character. For example, the "metallic" silver and gold ones were prideful, while the "chromatic" black ones were cruel, the green ones were flighty, and the red ones were scheming. Whether this is true or not, we'll leave it to the conscience of the textbook's author, a man named George and his anonymous co-author, but Lazare believed in his heart that mutual hobbies would iron out any differences, provided they could be found. So much for psychology. It works between humans, it'll work with a dragon.

Lazare had an empty country house and a month's holiday planned. So, when they informed him that his application was approved and invited him to go through the formalities, he did it with a light heart. He signed a contract in which he agreed to take in a young dragon from the 1st to the 31st of August.

He got a red male. Lazare smiled. A male. Luck was already on his side. Although the good mood was slightly dampened by the Clause 20.

Clause 20 - Waiver of Claims.

In consideration of participating in The Program Of Cultural Exchanges, you agree to absolve us of any liability for any and all damages, including, but not limited to, serious injury, death, or emotional distress, arising from your participation, even if caused by our negligence.

"It's no big deal, just keep it together and it'll all work out fine".

He was convinced of his success because, among other things, he had an 'ace up his sleeve', a secret so bizarre it never made it into any books. A secret that only a 'true fan' could ever unearth. No male dragon could resist it or so he liked to dream before drifting off.

---

However, in order for the armour sewn from human skin to acquire its magical powers, it had to be sprinkled with the blood of a friendly silver dragoness who lived in a deep cave. And they were willing to go for the murder, oh yes, they didn't even have to be asked twice. Soon, while the party was pretending to ask for her help and distracting her, the cutthroat was approaching the vulnerable spot under her wing joint. Like a feline shadow he glided forward, his feet barely touching the stones, the poisoned dagger clenched tightly in his hand.

Step by step he approached closing in steadily...

• Not so fast, pal - the red dragon commanded - Roll d20 for your stealth check.

The dice rolled and came up... 1. Critical failure.

• Really, Lazare?

• Unbelievable.

• Alas, the cutthroat had no clue how pathetic his attempts truly were. - sarcastically continued the red dragon - The dragoness was so kind that she felt a little sorry to kill you guys. Tail attack my darlings, roll the dice...

The tactical game created by the Red Clan was extremely sophisticated and somewhat similar to chess, except that the pieces were player-created characters. The exact rules took up two books written in Clawrite, and behind all the actions were complex mathematical formulae. The plot was telling, a group of wicked bipedal adventurers were harassing the dragonkind and killing everything in their path. The more they killed, the stronger they became. Zul played the role of narrator and minor characters, counting all the maths in his head as well as an arithmometer.

At first, Lazare's buddies had serious doubts about this whole exchange program thing.

• Greetings to you, my human friends. My name is Zulreinteg, but everybody just calls me Zul.

However, soon they couldn't tear themselves away from the game. The 8 hours of their lives passed almost unnoticed.

If Zul curled up in a ball, he'd be no bigger than a medium-sized horse. Slim, lean, agile, and as charming as the devil himself. His black scales tinged with red, shimmered beautifully in the sunlight.

The textbook wasn't a waste of time, though. The human noticed that the dragon talked carelessly during the game, enjoying himself and joking around, but the keen gaze of his clever orange eyes gave him away. This tempter serpent played Lazare's buddies like a violin. Barely perceptible movements, well-timed words and the atmosphere on the lawn in front of the house, were under his complete control. Even his bassy voice with its pleasant accent was enchanting. By the time they finished the game and went home, they felt like his best friends, even though it was the first time in their lives they had seen Zul.

In the board game it was called charisma, and Lazare was sure that Zul had quite a high score. But whether he was evil or good, or even what he was like, was hard to say.

"When you think about it, he didn't say a word about himself at all. Who he was, how he learned the human language and why he decided to enrol in the program. Courtesy. Politeness. Cheerfulness. Evasiveness. Often answers a question with a question and cleverly avoids uncomfortable topics. I called my buddies over just in case. We ate pork, I offered to play cards, but he said he had something better. And then he began to work his magic. Oh, maybe he's doing it subconsciously. Who knows, he's red after all".

He vividly remembered the scaly body sitting on the cushions, with his large folded wings and long tail. A row of bared sharp teeth, a slightly turned head and half-closed eyes. The charming smile of a dragon. His whole human nature literally begged to smile in return.

"On the other hand, who cares? I've got a male dragon in my fucking house and I'm thinking bullshit for some reason. So what if Zul pulls a few strings, as long as it's fun for everyone. Or maybe you wanted them to send you a violent bastard who's killed more people than you've eaten croissants, eh? He's so handsome, I certainly enjoy being around him, so I have a feeling it's going to be a fun holiday".

"Have you had a peek at what his vent looks like yet?".

The man shook his head.

"Not yet, I have to feel the ground first".

"While you're feeling the ground, he'll be gone".

"Shut up. Dragons are very proud, cunning and dangerous creatures. Vindictive and prone to cruelty. One mistake and I'm fucked".

To be fair, his reasoning made sense. Many humans had paid for their folly with their lives in the claws and teeth of dragons. The lives of members of an aggressive and short-lived humankind was not considered valuable in their culture.

---

In theory, dragons could live in human houses, but they caused too much destruction, so Zul pitched his spacious tent in the backyard and unpacked his few belongings. It was already dark.

• Did you fly all the way here?

• No, I travelled with my stuff in a freight car. It was a bit rough but at least I didn't have to flap my wings. It's fine.

• Erm.. What kind of work are you involved in, Zul?

• I do some painting, so to speak. I'm on vacation now, I take it you are too, so we're going to have a shared holiday, Lazare.

• Are you an artist?

• In a way. Would you like to see some of my work?

• Sure.

They went into the tent and the dragon took a folded sheet out of his suitcase. When he unfolded it, the man saw a crudely drawn, but truly epic labyrinth of intertwining lines, mysterious signs, numbers and pictograms. It was a circuit diagram of some device.

• I'm a freelance circuit engineer.

• Did you come up with all of this on your own?

• Yeah. I'm a redscale, my kind like nothing better than to come up with something clever and devious, like a plot or a scheme. I design electrical circuits. It's almost the same thing, actually. - The dragon closed his third eyelid, then opened it again with difficulty. - Lazare, I'm a bit tired from the journey and our game session, so if you don't mind, I'll have a nap. Tomorrow I have some paperwork to do and some letters to send, so if it's all right with you, we can go together. Good night.

• Good night Zul.

The man turned round and was about to leave.

• Lazare.

• Yes?

• Thank you for taking me in. - The words of gratitude were obviously hard for the dragon to find. - I know all these stories, so, I won't be a problem, I promise. I'm done.

With these words, the tent door rolled down, closing the entrance.

---

The next day, after breakfast, they went into town. In fact, a dragon outside the reservation did not cause a stir, but people looked at him suspiciously and tried to avoid him. Zul didn't seem to mind, walking lightly on four paws in his fingerless leather boots and gloves, paying no attention to the people. His orange eyes, however, inspected everything around him.

That was the day Lazare began to get an answer to his unasked question, he finally realised who he was dealing with. They went into various places, the magistrate, the post office and other bureaucratic dens. And everywhere the same thing happened. His courtesy was such a finely sharpened rapier that hardly anyone noticed its touch. To every person from whom he needed something from, he gave a tip, as he put it. It was a variety of gifts, and sometimes envelopes of money. And each one came with a story. It was not a humiliating handout and even less a vulgar bribe, of course not, when they heard the magic words they were sincerely sure that it was a deserved reward from a respectable dragon foreigner who appreciated their hard work on merit. No doubt he could persuade a starving soul to accept a diet plan. And miraculously, who would have thought it, all the doors opened for him, the staff showed up, the right forms were found, stamps were affixed, lunch breaks were cut short, and two hours of waiting turned into "right away, Mr.Dragon". Touché.

• You should always give to the lower and middle ranks. The bosses will forget you immediately and won't even pick up the phone afterwards, that's the way it is. - The red dragon shared his worldly wisdom.

• Zul, aren't you ashamed?

• Me? I have business to do and you guys just love money too much. You know what I've figured out? You humans like to dream. You're the dreamer kind. And you dream much better with money.

• What about your kind? You like gold too.

• Oh, Lazare, please, not you. Who put this dragon's golden hoard idea into your heads? Who cares about gold? We didn't even have money until you came to The Archipelago in your boats.

• You didn't have any money?

• Of course not. Money is just an equivalent, it's a function, an abstraction. It's worthless. And you've made a fetish out of it. Would you eat gold or drink it? A steam engine is made of steel, not gold. That's how your leaders run you guys.

• Then what's valuable if money isn't needed?

• Having what others need. Simple as that.

• And what do others need, Zul?

• Dreams, Lazare. They need someone to make their dreams come true. Like dreams of great electrical circuits. - He grinned.

• In other words, you're a Marxist.

The dragon stopped and looked at the man.

• I'm red of course, but not that much.

And then he couldn't stand it any longer and laughed a bassy but infectious laugh, it was hard to resist his charm. They moved on.

• Well, then, do you have any alternatives of your own?

• I do. Drinking cheap booze on a reservation surrounded by enemy soldiers. How's that for an alternative? Sounds like a tempting one, huh? Look, I'm a realist. What's the point of me inventing another system if I'm gonna have to use the one I've got? So I just use it. And besides, Lazare, I'm a young drake, I'm not even 50 yet, and you're dragging me into these difficult theoretical areas.

• What about your clan? I hear they're good at this stuff.

• Of course they are. The Babylonian Brotherhood of the Red Clan have been known to run the world from the comfort of the Reservation.

• Zul, I'm serious. Do they have any ideas for an alternative economy?

Zul realised he couldn't laugh it off. He 'loved' the atmosphere of his own clan so much that he had signed the contract for the exchange program at the first opportunity.

• Lazare, if only you could see them, the self-proclaimed intellectual crème de la crème of dragonkind. Think it's a room full of professors? The Red Elders aren't economic theorists, they're bunch of utilitarians and pragmatists. They know that by understanding probability distributions, they can optimize decisions and control outcomes. They can control systems that are inherently uncertain by using stochastic control theory. There's maths involved, very complex. In practice, this means they're constantly adjusting their strategies based on the latest random curveballs. Even if they fail to control the chaos, they can at least try to predict the next disaster and minimize the damage. But guess what, they couldn't give a single fuck once they hit a thousand years old. Premium rum and undercooked beef slathered in butter and rosemary, that's their only craving. - With his tail, the dragon stood on his hind paws and lightly poked the man in the shoulder with his fist. - Lazare, to hell with them already. You better tell me what you like to do in the summer.

• Well, there's a sea nearby. It's cold, but in summer it's good for swimming. I like swimming. Do you like swimming, Zul?

When the dragon heard about the sea, he flapped his wings and jumped a little on his hind paws, but quickly came to his senses and said calmly:

• The water is where we belong.

• It's about 20 kilometres from here. There's even a bungalow for rent on a small private island, but it's a bit expensive. You can fly to the beach, I'll take the bus.

• Flying 20 kilometres to get there and then back? Lazare, I'm on vacation, remember? I don't want to fly anywhere.

• Oh.. Then we'll need a lorry. But I don't know where to find one.

He knew from the look in the dragon's eyes that a lorry would be found.

---

A few days later, they found themselves standing on the beach. The dragon wore his flight goggles, but the lenses had been replaced with dark green ones to protect him from the sun.

The few holidaymakers eyed the apex predator warily. One child was on his way to Zul, but his mother grabbed him and hurried him away.

• Lazare, please go and ask how much a private bungalow costs.

• Zul, it's very expensive.

• Oh humans. Don't worry, as your guest I'll pay for everything. Come on, go on.

After a few minutes, realizing the man was running late, he went to check on it himself. A quick look at the counter sufficed to reveal the cause. Four black signs crossed out with a red line hung on the side. Cigarette. A bonfire. A dog. And a dragon's snout.

• I tell you again, young man, rules are rules and there can be no exceptions.

• There can be no exceptions for ordinary guests - the red dragon's accent became much stronger and more expressive - but madam, as a VIP to a VIP I'll tell you that there are always... - he turned his head towards the man - Lazare, please take a walk for a while - he made a gesture with his wing.

Ten minutes later, the dragon and the human were on their way to the fifth boat. A cashier's cheque was clutched in his wing finger.

• All right, the island is ours till tonight, you row the boat and I'll fly and wait for you there.

• You know what? I just have no idea how you do it.

• Diamonds are a human female's best friend. Isn't that what you say? I'll tell you what, Lazare - he raised his clawed finger - corruption will ruin this country.

• No shit, Zul. No shit.

---

The island was nothing more than a patch of forested land a kilometer off the coast. It boasted an impact crater on its side creating a bay with a rickety pier and a shabby bungalow. Its only noteworthy feature was a fringe of trees that effectively shielded all the clients' activities from prying eyes.

As the man approached the island by boat, he saw Zul lying on the sand, reading a book and making notes with a pencil. When the dragon saw him, he hid the book in his hip bag with a casual but rather nervous movement.

"What is he hiding from me?"

• Lazare! Can you believe the bungalow even has a fridge with a liquor bar in it? All included in the price. I've already made us a couple of lemonade cocktails, so get rowing while they're still cold.

To put it bluntly, a hobbled big shed with no walls, a plank floor and a rainwater tank on the roof could hardly be called a bungalow.

• Lazare, come on, finish your drink and help me take off my boots.

The dragon shook his paws impatiently, the human had never seen Zul so excited. He had already removed his hip bag, flight sungoggles and gloves, and now he was clearly itching to jump into the water. As Lazare squatted down and untied the laces on his hind paws he looked up and there, next to his tail, was his protruded pelvis bone, and a little closer, the horizontal line of his vent...

• Lazare, please, hurry up with those nimble fingers of yours.

Once he had managed to unlace his boots, he set them down on the sand and they made their way to the pier.

• Here I go!

He sprinted helping himself with his tail, jumped and flapped his wings vigorously as he gained height, then folded his wings, stretched his paws forward and dove into the water at full speed like a gannet. Soon the satisfied dragon's head appeared above the water.

• How's the water!? Is it warm!?

• It's fine!

Lazare took off his clothes and ran barefoot along the pier. Leaping into the air, he curled and cannonballed into the water, sending splashes in all directions.

"Fine!? Really?! It's so cold!" - engulfed by water, he floundered briefly before coming up to the surface.

Indeed, this sea was far from tropical. Nevertheless, his body adjusted, and he managed to feel a smidgen of warmth.

Lazare did the breaststroke and Zul swam like a dolphin arching his whole body. They'll never be champions, but let's give them points for having a good time. Soon the dragon attempted to perform a jump-out trick. He plunged into the deep water and accelerated to the surface like a torpedo.

"Fuck".

Alas, all he could do was half jump out of the water, then flop back in with a loud splash.

Lazare couldn't suppress a mocking grin.

• I didn't quite make it as a dolphin. Guess there's not much call for swim practice in the mountains.

Lazare felt a little ashamed, obviously Zul was swimming in the sea for the first time in his life, and it was the humans who had forced them into the mountains, away from their tropical ocean homeland.

Suddenly his face was splashed with water and all compassion was swept away. He wiped his eyes. The red dragon raised its front paw for another attack.

• Ah, that's what you are!? Now you're gonna get it! - The man forcefully scooped up the water with his hand and splashed it over the dragon's head before he got another splash.

They splashed around like children. So what, it's vacation time. So let's embrace their immaturity and call it bonding.

---

After they had a good swim, they got out of the water and headed for the shower area. It was a large piece of tarpaulin on the ground next to the 'bungalow' and a shower head on a flexible hose welded to the tank.

• Zul, just look at this, there's hardly any water in it.

• It's fine, pour it on yourself first and then what's left on me.

So they did. First, the man quickly rinsed off the rest of the salt water, and then he began to walk with the shower head around the sitting dragon with its wings lowered to the ground. The pressure of the water, warmed by the sun, grew weaker, forcing him to move closer and closer. In the light of the sun, his wet black scales cast a dark red particularly beautifully. The sight was so mesmerising that he unconsciously put his hand to his neck and stroked it gently. The scales were very warm and a little rough. After a while, he suddenly came to his senses and stopped dead in his tracks. The dragon stared at him in surprise, not in the eyes, but slightly lower. The man looked down and realised that his swimming trunks were literally bursting with his fully erect penis. Overcome with embarrassment, the man blushed and couldn't bring himself to look up again. He was about to mutter some silly excuses when, from the corner of his eye, he glimpsed something his mind refused to accept as real. When he turned his head, however, he saw that the tapered phallus that had emerged from his cloaca was growing larger and larger with each throb. Its tip was impatiently groping the air around it, clearly demanding attention. The man raised his head and met the confused look in the orange eyes. The atmosphere was agonizingly awkward, thanks to their embarrassment and, let's be real, their barely-contained lust, they could barely string a sentence together.

• La.. Lazare, could you.. take off your trunks? Since you've seen mine.. I'd like to see yours..

As if hypnotised, the human pulled his trunks down, still unable to believe this was happening to him. The man's penis stood proudly erect, clearly anticipating something pleasurable. Curving his long neck, Zul lowered his head until the man felt the dragon's hot breath on its head. He sniffed, inhaling the unfamiliar scent, bringing his nostrils very close to it. They both dropped to a whisper.

• Would you mind.. if I licked it once?

• Be my guest.

The dragon had already begun to stick out his tongue, but suddenly he shuddered and lifted his snout sharply at the man's face.

• Lazare. You and I are straight. You and me. We're friends, right? So this is just gonna be a friendly lick. Okay?

• Yeah, sure.

• Friends do things like this and it's totally fine. It doesn't make us like 'them' at all.

The man brought his face closer and touched the dragon's scaly lips with his lips, a soft smack was heard.

• Wh.. What did you do that for?

• I'll explain later. You just stopped where you offered to give me one lick. In a friendly way, of course. - Lazare reminded him.

Sure, as if anyone believed for a second that one lick was where it would end. The dragon's long tongue licked the man's penis cautiously at first, but then he got a taste for it. Standing on all four paws, he licked the head, the shaft, the testicles, then wrapped his tongue around it and took it all into his mouth. The dragon's sharp teeth touched the man in the area behind his scrotum, scratching it a little. The dragon's mouth was so hot it felt like his penis was on the top shelf of a sauna.

Lazare tried to clear his mind and just float in the stream of pleasure created by the 'friendly' movements of the naughty tongue. He knew that if he tried to grasp what was happening to him now, if he remembered how that handsome dragon, that silver tongued devil, had shyly asked him to do it, he would come in a second.

• Zul.. - the human's hands stroked the dragon's long, scaly snout. His thin skull, delicate and perforated with numerous cavities, often caused hands to delve into the pliant facial muscles upon touch. Zul spread his folded wings and pulled Lazare closer with his winged fingers. His claws scratched the skin of the human's back a little, but he didn't care, he groaned and moved closer, tucking the dragon's nostrils into his groin. Meanwhile, the dragon was groping the shaft of the penis through the scrotum, at the same time pressing the testicles against his gums, and then the naughty tongue moved further and licked there. The penis twitched and grazed his intricately grooved palate, tracing the soft leathery spikes. Lazare felt like he was about to reach the point of no return.

• Zul, wait wait or I'm going to cum, hold on. - The human pressed his hands lightly to the dragon's lips and stepped back.

• Is that bad?

• Of course not, but first I'd like to make you feel good too. Erm.. In a friendly way.

• Well, then.. If you really.. Anyway.. So.. Where my phallus comes out of the cloaca, there's a tiny hole under the knots. Lazare, could you lick me 'there'? - The man was on his way to the highly arched tail without even listening while the clearly lost in his own multidimensional labyrinth Zul continued to speak. - It's very clean, but if you find it disgusting don't be shy to say about it. Please don't, just say it. I won't take it personally I promise. We'll think of someth... Ooooh!

Lazare put his mouth to the tight entrance to Zul's cloaca and kissed him 'there'. With one hand he massaged his fully erect 25 centimetre phallus and with the other he held his raised tail. He licked the entrance around his cloaca in a circular motion and then slid his tongue inside. He tasted the salty seawater. The whole of the dragon's body shook, his wings flapped and his neck arched like that of a swan.

• Oh Goddess, Lazare! Yes! Right there!

He had always wanted to be licked THERE, but had never dared to ask anyone, not even himself.

The phallus tensed, seemed to swell even more, its tip encircling the human's finger, lavishing it with pre. Pulling his face away for a moment, Lazare lubed the cloaca with that finger and brought his lips to it again. The taste changed, becoming slightly sour, but more importantly there was strange but pleasant flavour. The strong masculine scent of warm resin, tree bark and countless combinations of spices, the sweet aroma and sour taste complemented each other perfectly. Lazare began to lose his head, he was no longer licked the cloaca, he savoured it, he plunged his face into it. He touched the delicate skin with his soft nose and inhaled his scent. And it responded to him, making wavy movements as it tensed and relaxed, squeezing his tongue and lips. It was even better than he had dreamed it would be. The vibrations of Zul's satisfied growl echoed in the human's head. Even though he really wanted to, the dragon didn't allow himself to groan in pleasure. Suddenly he pulled back slightly, crouched low on all four paws, and raised his tail even higher, thrusting his pelvis upwards. He couldn't muster a word out of sheer embarrassment, but let's be honest, even an idiot could tell what he was after.

Zul's cunning mind, accustomed to navigating the intricate web of social norms and unwritten laws of the Red Clan, would say that only females are allowed to do such things. However, it seemed as if someone had yanked out the electrical cord out from it, leaving it sparking and frayed, so now his body just did what it thought best.

Lazare smeared the pheromone-scented pre on his penis and took a step into the unknown. All his night and sometimes day dreams had always been building up to this moment, and now the moment had finally arrived. The tight cloacal opening was touched by the head of his penis.

It was time to play the trump card. The secret of Lazare was this: Mother Nature did not intend for penetration into the cloaca of the aroused male dragon, so when the phallus was erect, it constricted cloacal walls and took up most of the available space, making it very tight inside. As a result, especially the first few times, the experience between male dragons could be extremely painful. The human penis, on the other hand, was just the right size, and moreover, when fully penetrated, the head reached 'dragon button' - a particularly sensitive point, the gentle stimulation of which gave the dragons incredible pleasure.

As Zul felt the penis enter the hole between the phallus knots and the wall of the cloaca, he shuddered, subconsciously expecting a painful strain, but surprisingly sighed with relief as the penis entered gently, stretching the walls pleasantly. Lazare began to thrust, the bumpy walls touching his penis pleasurably, his testicles throbbing against the dragon's fully erect phallus. He held on to his thigh with one hand, the other to his tail, which rested on his shoulder. The dragon's body went limp, the new sensations more pleasurable than anything he had experienced before. As the penis entered, the bumpy walls of his cloaca stretched, creating a pleasant tension, then relaxed, providing the desired relief. There was not even a hint of pain or discomfort. He dropped his wings and head onto the wet tarp and gave a squeak. It wasn't the most dignified sound for a dragon, but Zul didn't care at the moment.

The mysterious effects of the male draconian pheromones gradually grew stronger, and now Lazare stood outside his own fishing hut on a deserted and forgotten island. There they lived together, man and dragon. Lazare's mind was filled with words and images, as if he were telling himself a story. Silently or in a whisper? It made no difference to him now.

"Zul, my boy. You're so clever. Charming. Handsome. You were suspicious of me at first, but then I proved you could trust me. And then you turned out to be hard on the outside, but so soft on the inside".

The dragon moaned softly in his deep voice.

"Yeah. Just like that. I'm gonna make you feel good. I'm gonna make you feel so good you'll want to be my dragon. You want to be my boy."

The dragon breathed faster and faster with each thrust. The sound became more squelchier.

"You like it, don't you? You like it when I make you feel good. I like it too, Zul, I do, my boy, you're so hot inside, your cloaca is so tender, so vulnerable, so easy to hurt, but I'll do it so gently that you'll want to stay with me. We're gonna live together, we're gonna hang out together."

The dragon's body shivered, his phallus tensed and arched, he breathed fast and heavy.

"You don't trust humans but I'm different, I'll never betray you, you'll trust me and let me sleep next to you. Sleep in your paws! Cuddle me close to you!"

The dragon gave a throaty gasp, his phallus tensed up and shot a load of semen at the man's feet. Then another. And another.

"I've made him cum, Zul my boy my beautiful boy I can't hold it back any longer!"

The man sped up as much as possible and gave a few more hard thrusts and started to cum himself. Inside. One by one his cum charges saturated the hot and tight pulsating cloaca. Then a gentle wave of calmness flowed through the body.

"I am... I'm flying."

Actually, he was flying somewhere, or maybe falling, it was hard to tell, where he was now didn't really matter. Lazare remembered his charming smile. He remembered his lean, scaly body, his long neck that he wanted to wrap his arms around and never let go. Lazare had little interest in girls, and not much interest in boys, either. He'd always wanted to be with a male dragon, and now the lines of their destinies had converged in the same place at the same time.

"Zul. We did it. It worked out just like I dreamed it would. And even better. Of course you'll be gone in three weeks and I'll be alone again. But this time is ours. I'm so glad you flew into my life, Zul".

With this thought, Lazare finally landed his whole body on the water-soaked tarp. He opened his eyes and saw a slightly wobbling pinkish-green sky through strangely shaped trees and heard the sound of the waves. He closed them again and the gentle current carried him somewhere far away.

Zul's paws also went under and he collapsed onto his side. The explosion of pleasure in his head was so strong that the flow of thoughts in his mind came to a complete stop. The conscious part of his personality simply shut down, leaving only silence. Calm and pleasant, like the gentle waves of the sea caressing his paws. He was under water in the sea, the very sea that he had dreamed of seeing since he was a young wyrmling.

---

They reached the beach without saying a word and lay down on the sand, exhausted. The dragon lay on his back, wings open, and the man lay a little further away, their heads side by side. They had a few more hours before sunset, so they stayed on the sand and watched the cloudy sky. Gradually the dragon regained the ability to think rationally, but he didn't try to comprehend what had happened, he decided to leave it for later. Although he already knew that the wonderful memories of that August, of being taken from behind in the cloaca for the first time in his life, would stay with him for the rest of his life. After a while, Lazare stood up, put his arms around the dragon's head, looked down at him and kissed him on the scaly lips under his nose. The dragon responded by licking the human's face with his tongue.

Lazare then briefly explained to Zul how interspecies kissing worked, as he saw it.

• First you have to bare your teeth a little...

However, he hadn't yet got to the point of what other connoisseurs romantically called 'nom', which in practice meant putting your whole head into the mouth of a dragon whose teeth were sharper than a razor. Perhaps because there were still the faintest traces of common sense clinging to his mind.

In the end, Zul never grasped the concept. His kind had a delightful tradition of lovebites, now that made sense to him. He had this persistent urge to take a nibble at Lazare's neck from behind, the front, or at least from the side. But every time he looked at that soft human skin with a healthy dose of skepticism he thought it would be better to abstain.

• Lazare.

• Hmm?

• Promise me you won't tell anyone that you and I have... You know... I'm not like 'them', okay? And neither are you. But if everyone finds out, they won't understand it, they'll just think I'm like 'them' instead. I mean, believe me, 'them' aren't the most popular guys on the reservation.

Lazare brought his lips close to Zul's scaly ones and kissed him again.

• I promise.

• Good, because otherwise I'll bite your head off.

Zul licked the man's lips and nose gently.

---

The middle of August. They were walking down a city street, discussing homemade radios. The locals, though they continued to avoid the red dragon, seemed pleasantly surprised by his politeness, courtesy, and generosity. They would have taken up arms if there had been a whole clan here but they were willing to tolerate one exotic guest. Not everyone was so open-minded, however.

Suddenly an empty glass whisky bottle flew at Zul's head, and he dodged it at the last moment. The rumble of a car driving away drowned out some foul insult. It was one of those who often sat in the local bar and called dragons barbarians and vermin on the body of the planet. People like him always complained that sixty years ago they had been locked up in the reservation instead of slaughtered with chlorine shells.

The red dragon's face was expressionless as he looked at the shards.

• Zul, you're not thinking of an accident, are you?

• Eh? What? No, of course not. Why would you think that?

• Zul, please. Don't. You shouldn't do that. Let's just slash his tyres or...

• Friend, come on, do you even hear yourself? Calm down, take it easy.

Lazare stared at Zul, trying to figure out if he was lying or if the drunken escapade hadn't hurt the dragon's legendary pride.

• Lazare, with that look, one might assume you're just dying for some redscale philosophy. All right, you asked for it. Do you know why we're down to a few thousand? Not humans, mate, our own bloated egos did us in. You think I'm gonna blow my resources, time, money and energy on this guy? For what, a cheap thrill? A brief moment of satisfaction? If someone is a problem, I'll eliminate them for practical reasons, not for some emotional whim. Stay cold, keep it strategic. Revenge is amateur hour. Got it? So, what were we talking about?

Within ten minutes, he was laughing awkwardly as he tried to scoop ice cream out of his glass cup with a tiny spoon. The sight was so amusing that the customers in the café where Lazare had bought two portions, couldn't help but smile.

"How on earth do you have it all combined in you? Who are you, Zulreinteg. A chaotic good dragon? Or maybe a chaotic evil one?" - His mind was once again on the character sheets from their gaming session. It would be so delightfully easy if this two-dimensional morality grid could sum up the intricate nuances of sentient life.

---

The whole time they had been together, this question had been a torment to Lazare. It haunted him during their meals, during their leisure activities and conversations, even during their 'friendly' sex. The worm of suspicion ate the man alive.

The dragonkind psychology textbook was useless, but there was another book that seemed to explain what was happening much better.

A paranoid thriller about secret service mind games.

"Could Zul be a spy? Not sabotaging or diverting, of course, but infiltrating. He's clever. He's cold-blooded and calculating, but he pretends to be friendly to avoid suspicion. He is a master at manipulating people, he spares no expense, he... What if he created his image to use me to achieve his goals? He sets a trap, and I get caught and make up my own lies. He's red, and reds are like that. It's like all that Babylonian Brotherhood bullshit about how the dragons didn't evolve on the archipelago, but came straight from outer space and are now rule the world while leaning back on a cushion. They're probably made it up themselves, spreading these rumours as a smokescreen. It's their nature and their way. Stochastic control theory. After all, it's the Red Clan that understands us best, and they were the ones who secretly negotiated with the Republic when the situation for their kind became hopeless. The reservation itself is probably their doing as well. So Zul is working for them. It all adds up. Doesn't it?"

Who knows? :3

"Or not. On the other hand, what goals can be achieved in this shithole? I'm just an ordinary guy, not much depends on me. Besides, wouldn't it be easier for him to act like a stereotypical dragon from the books rather than an eccentric xenophile opportunist? On the contrary, all he does is draw attention to himself. Maybe I'm just being paranoid and full of shit. That's Zul, my boy Zul. He's not like that. He couldn't do this to me, could he? The book. What was he reading on the beach? I see him with the book all the time, but he always hides it from me. And he wrote something in it. I've got to find out what it is, because the answer is in that book."

---

That day they decided to have a barbecue. Dragons were carnivores and ate only meat, the list of recipes for which ran into thousands. However, their choice of spices and seasonings often horrified humans, and they were only prepared to eat such things at gunpoint. So it was decided that they would make do with nothing but salt. While Zul was busy barbecuing, Lazare went into his tent. There were almost no belongings, an empty suitcase, flight goggles, spare gloves, a dragon first-aid kit, several leather folders and a huge mattress. And on top of it lay a hip bag with a corner of a book sticking out. Lazare, unable to resist the temptation, looked out of the tent to make sure the dragon was still busy with the meat. Then he reached into the bag and pulled out the book. It was in Clawrite, but Lazare, who had been a dragon fan since childhood, could read the runes.

"Let's see what you're hiding, my red friend."

Lady Evur.

The personal and social psychology of the humankind for open-minded dragons.

A fascinating practical guide for those in search of friendship with humans.

They're not as bad as you think, read it and see for yourself.

A neatly folded piece of paper served as a bookmark in one of the book's pages. He opened the book to that page and saw sketchy illustrations of dragon snouts with baring teeth. A charming smile. A welcoming smile. A friendly smile. Opposite the malevolent smile was a short comment in pencil - NO.

"Thus my dear kinfolk, you can make a good impression on your fellow human. It may seem silly and even humiliating at first, but believe me, 'smiles' are very important for them. (Pencil comment: true - they love it). But don't get carried away. Remember, they are easily frightened and, contrary to popular belief, their aggression is more often caused by fear than by greed. Practice in front of a mirror and you'll be fine".

Then Lazare unfolded the piece of paper and looked. There was an awkward, almost childish drawing on it. In the centre was a dragon. Its wings were outstretched, its mouth open and its eyes squeezed shut with joy. A crowd of humans hugged it. The inscription read: 'Me and my beloved humans'. Some of the figures were labelled. The one embracing his neck was 'Friend Lazare'.

Tears came to his eyes.

"That's it, I'm an absolute asshole. A spy, an infiltrator. Zul.. So that's who you really are. You're even softer on the inside than I..."

He heard dragon footsteps approaching.

"Oh fuck! No! If he finds out I've seen it, I'm totally fucked!"

The man realised instantly that he was holding something so deeply personal that if Zul found out, he would never forgive him. And just like that, Lazare would lose someone he had dreamed of all his life.

How utterly surprising that this story ended up so miserably.

"I don't have enough time to clean this up without being seen.. I can't believe I did this.. I screwed up.. I'm not a friend.. I betrayed his trust.. He's going to leave.. He's just going to pack up and leave forever.. I'm such an moron fuckface dickhead.. Please fucking help me.. Somebody please help me!!!"

Step by step he approached closing in steadily...

• Not so fast, pal! I roll d20.

And it was so. An astonishingly beautiful black obsidian dice with golden numerals rolled on the very fabric of the Universe.

! 20 ! - Critical Success.

• Zulreinteg! Zul! Zul, are you there? It's me! An urgent telegram for you from the Institute.

• What the hell, I thought I told them I was on vacation, didn't I make it clear?

• Don't fret, you're gonna love it.

Lazare had heard the distant ringing of bells, as if the Dragon Goddess herself had smiled upon him. But time was short, so he quickly put the book and the piece of paper back into hip bag and carefully returned everything to its original state. Then he left the tent. Just in time.

• Lazare, I am the winner, can you believe it, I am the winner of a competition, one of my projects is the first place winner!

The red dragon sat down dog-like, pulled the human to his chest and hugged him tightly. He didn't notice the cold sweat on the man's forehead.

• Congratulations. Erm.. Are you getting paid? - Lazare said the first thing that came into his head.

• You humans are really turned on by money. Of course they'll pay, but that's not the point. What's a teletype? A typewriter with a motor. What if you combined it with a cathode ray tube and put the text on the screen instead of on paper? How about that shit? Eh? Oh mine fucking meat! Where are my tongs?!

While the red dragon tried to save their dinner, a sketch remained in the man's mind.

"Beloved human friend Lazare".

Before, he hadn't been sure how elastic dragon's rhetoric of friendship was, so he had been reluctant to ask permission to sleep next to Zul in his tent. But now he had made up his mind.

• Of course. Sleep next to me if you prefer. - Permission was given surprisingly easily, even routinely.

In the night, the dragon lay on his side and made an inviting sign with his wing to join him. But seeing his clawed paws made Lazare think of an ambulance, so he went inside and pulled a leather jacket over his naked body.

With a heart full of amorous intentions, Lazare made his way back to the tent, hoping to share a moment of intimacy with Zul. However, his desires were met with the soft sounds of his slumber. He didn't wake even when he settled down beside him and laid his massive but surprisingly light paws on top of him. The sight of the serenely sleeping dragon made his heart warm.

"His strength and constitution are certainly low. It's all about charisma and intelligence".

A strange thought crossed his mind before he finally fell asleep.

---

Summer was almost over, with only a few days left until the beginning of September. In the evening, the dragon decided to start packing, but his thoughts were interrupted by the touch of an embrace on his chest. It was Lazare, who was surprisingly quiet today.

• I love you Zul. I love you so much... - The dragon arched his neck and looked down at the human hugging his chest. Lazare looked straight into the orange eyes. There was an awkward pause. The man was clearly expecting an answer, but it was stuck in his throat and his mind was racing.

"Should I laugh it off? Say something ironic? A hint? An ambiguity? An evasion? A pretence? A clarifying question? Quoting someone else? A stalling tactic? Fuck! I can't say that. Can't. Can't. Remember what happened back then."

He was immediately flooded with a painful wyrmlinghood flashback.

A deep, gentle lotus gong reverberated, evoking a humble bow before one of the Red Elders. Before his father.

"But I just wanted to befriend humans, that's all! I just wanted them to love me."

"And look where it landed you! You better get that shit out of your head, son, there's no such thing as friends, just like there's no such thing as enemies. There are yesterday's partners who have become rivals. And yesterday's rivals who have become partners. Do you want to be loved? Then remember once and for all, if you reveal your soul, everyone will think you're a weakling, they won't respect you, they won't appreciate you and they won't love you. Always think what you say and never say what you think."

Despite his father's wisdom, he felt deep within his soul that this was a moment of fateful decision. He had to be candid. He had to tell it like it was.

"Lazare.. He's so.. friendly. He tells the truth that he loves me.. I.. I.."

• I.. l..ove you too, friend Lazare. - Zul's words broke through the lump in his throat. He forced that out of himself as if squeezing the final bit of toothpaste from an already exhausted tube.

The embrace grew tighter as the man tucked into his breastplate and the dragon stared up at the ceiling of the tent.

"Was I right to confess? I said it without thinking, I said it as it was. Shame on you, red one, shame on you" - this didn't happen to the red dragon very often, the influence of his clan's atmosphere and colour bias was very strong. But instead of the expected shame, for some reason he felt very light. And wet.

"Wet?"

The man suddenly backed away silently and sat down on the mattress, his face slightly flushed and his eyes moist.

• Lazare, what's wrong with your eyes?

Zul moved his head towards the human, studying his face. The man didn't look in the dragon's direction and made no reply.

"Wet human eyes... Hmm... Seems to be an extreme form of grief. Why? Ahh, of course. Expected."

• I get it, you're sad because you're human, but for some reason you fell in love with a dragon, and a male one at that, of course you're right, it's all extremely sad and we...

• No! God, of course not! Zul, no, you don't understand. I... I just don't want you to leave, that's all.

• Oh. That's all? You're an emotional one, mate. Do you want me to stay a little longer? You could have just said that, it's fine with me. It's fine, don't get upset. I can work from here, I mail them all my projects anyway.

• Zul, what about your visa? Our exchange contract ends in September. And they'll take you away.

• Oh, that little issue. Lazare, you're really something. Just scribble a fawning intercession to Lucien in the city magistrate. Say, you're so obsessed with their coexistence mumbo-jumbo that you can hardly breathe, you know, all that political crap they're so into right now. Then slip him the envelope, the one stuffed to the brim, and make sure he knows it's from me. And for the Goddess's sake, keep quiet about... - the man launched himself at the dragon like a deranged fan, grabbing his head and rubbing his cheek furiously against his long snout - ...about this. - He added with a choked voice.

The man pressed Zul's head to his chest and wanted to hug him tighter, but quickly remembered how fragile the dragon's skull bones were. Then his hands lifted Zul's muzzle to his face. The Dragon meekly allowed himself to become kissed. He bared his teeth and stuck out the tip of his tongue, having long since resigned himself to this strange human practice.

"Well, since he shows me that he loves me so much, what can I do?"

This was not something that was usually written about in books on human-dragon relations. The dragon sat up like a dog, arching his neck, embracing human with his wings and wrapping his tail around his leg, while Lazare turned his head sideways to touch Zul's teeth with his lips and greedily sucked the tip of his tongue into his mouth like spaghetti, licking it with his own tongue. His hands went all over the dragon's scaly snout, stroking and scratching. He loved the taste of his dry tongue, loved the firmness and softness of it, loved the way the tongue responded to his every move, groping his mouth, exploring his smooth teeth and gums. He liked the smell of it. Hell, he liked everything about it. He felt a strong pressure in his shorts.

"My boy Zul loves me and will stay with me! No one will take you away from me. No one."

When Lazare ran out of air, he let go of Zul's tongue and pressed his hands over the dragon's lips, opening his mouth wide to study it closely. He loved the sight, the even row of sharp teeth, the fleshy tongue, the numerous folds of pink skin, the intricate palate with soft, leathery spikes. Zul's fresh, minty, hot breath wafted across his face.

• You have such a pretty mouth.

• Lazare, I see where you're coming from but... - he struggled to speak with his mouth open. Dragons don't have vocal cords, they make sounds directly from their throats using a tracheal organ called a syrinx, but trying to speak without using his tongue made his accent even more amusing. - ...but other clients are also in line.

His eyes pointed down. They were filled with the earnest hope that the man would leave his "pretty mouth" alone and move on to more important parts. Seeing the fully erect phallus and taking the hint, Lazare let go of the dragon's lips and stepped back to remove his clothes.

• Well, then you're more than welcome to lie on your back, Mr Zulreinteg. Just a moment, I have something for you. A gift.

Zul rumbled with anticipation as he lay on his back, his eyes twinkling with excitement. In recent weeks, the redscaled performed a breathtaking feat of mental origami, folding and twisting Lazare into a neat package that fit snugly within his rigidly heterosexual self-image. After that, embarrassment was a garment he could finally shed.

Lazare had already taken off his underwear, letting his fully erect cock out. Now that the weight of their impending departure was lifted off his shoulders and their friendship had moved to a new level, he was in no rush. On the contrary, there was a relaxing sense of relief in his body.

• Tadah! - He held a glass vial with a yellowish liquid in it. Natural jojoba oil, a fine and expensive lubricant. He intended to use it for their farewell sex, hoping its scent would remind the dragon of his human friend. He had no idea jojoba oil was scentless, but who really cared about such trivialities? With the way things had changed, the bottle would run out quite fast.

Lazare squatted beside the dragon's undertail and uncorked the vial, pouring the thick liquid onto his hands.

• This oil is for my beloved friend Zul and his most beautiful cloaca in the world... - He slid his oil glistening finger under the knots and began to lubricate the folds around the entrance. The soft pink skin squeezing under his finger and responding with wave-like movements. With his other hand he wrap around the dragon's phallus and stroked it - ...oil for a tight cloaca, a cloaca that wants to be entered gently and softly... - As Zul felt being penetrated, he rested his neck on the mattress, closed his eyes and moaned. He was no longer ashamed to moan. - ...just as my gentle finger has now lubricated you from the outside, now it will lubricate you from the inside. I'll lubricate that nice bumps on your velvet walls and then even a little further... - Lazare felt the walls of the cloaca clenching and unclenching rhythmically. It sucked his finger in. He could feel the quickening rhythm of the dragon's heartbeat as he drew his finger closer to a particular spot.

• I love it so much when you touch me 'there' Lazaaaaahh!

Lazare simultaneously took the tip of the phallus into his mouth and pressed the dragon button with his finger. Zul's entire scaly body twitched like an electric shock and phallus's tip wrapped around his tongue, actively wetting his mouth with the draconic sour juice, his pre. He added a second finger, moving it quickly in and out as he played Greco-Roman wrestling with the phallus with his tongue. He widened the cloaca by spreading his fingers apart, stretching it a little and then releasing it with stroking motions. It was getting hot inside and the flexible phallus began to arch. Zul jerked his wing and the whole tent shook.

• Lazare wait, stop I'm losing it, wait a bit or I'll burst. Lie down. Lie on your back on the mattress, I've been dying to try one thing with you for a long time. I'll be right back.

Once free, the dragon stood up jerkily and leapt towards the suitcase, blocking the view with his wings, his tail wagging impatiently. Shortly after, Lazare heard Zul sniff deeply with one nostril, then exhale loudly through his mouth and shake his head.

Must have been a serious case of the sniffles, poor drake. Yeah, let's go with that.

Whatever the case, Zul turned around and walked over to the human, standing on top of him. Then, with his wings on the tent floor and his tail held high, he sat down on his hind paws next to the human's groin. Lazare guided his penis so that it was just under the knots of the phallus, and Zul, without further ado, leaped onto the cock and drove it all the way in cloaca. He mounted the man, but of course he did not sit on him completely, even though his slender body was a lightweight by dragon standards, only about 130 kilos. Then he began to thrust, moving his pelvis much faster and rougher than the human. The jojoba oil did its job perfectly, the dragon clenched his jaws in pleasure, bared his teeth and sucked air through them, growling loudly. The shackles of civility had fallen, and now he felt a strange satisfaction in the more painful stretching of his cloaca. Each time he sat down, he tried to squeeze as much of the man's penis into him as he could, deliberately sitting down so that he could hit the button harder with its head.

• Lazare, you're a great friend, but you're too afraid to hurt me. I am a dragon after all! I don't care about pain, I find pleasure in it! I am the smartest, most cunning and most attractive red dragon in this town! Yeah! Who dares to rival me?! No one? That's what I thought! Anyone who crosses my beloved friend Lazare will face my wrath! Has everyone heard me?! There's no such thing as friends, huh?! Just because you've never had any, you OLD FUCK!!!

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Lazare did not hear this fiery speech. Perfumed with the strong musky scent of male pheromones, he now lay on a deerskin in his dragon-boy's lair, his inner sanctum. Zul rode him in the dim light of the oil lamp and the man enjoyed himself immensely. He had grown accustomed to the furious pace and now helped the dragon with his own pelvis, striving to meet his every thrust. The sweet tension built up inside him. The heavily lubricated bumps of his hot cloaca caressed the head of his cock with each thrust.

"My boy, my favourite Zul, you.. you trust me, you love me, you won't fly away from me.. you.. how precious you are.."

He savoured the sight of the muscles playing under the dragon's scales, savoured the deft movements of his beautiful body, just a little more and he...

"What is it?"

He saw someone's dry, white, tooth-marked bone being held out to him.

"Hmmm.. He probably wants me to..."

Lazare, do you take Zulreinteg to be your dragon boy?

• Mmmmmm - the man moaned, and as he got closer to the bone, he opened his mouth.

Zulreinteg, do you take Lazare to be your best friend?

Zul roared, he was almost at his peak.

In that case, I pronounce that now you're a couple. You may cum.

Suddenly Zul opened his eyes, the human was holding his wing finger in his teeth for some reason.

"I was lovebitten by him!".

That was too much. The dragon gasped, and then a bright, blinding flash of light erupted in his head, obliterating all thoughts, followed by a wave of heat that spread through his entire body, from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, and a moment later a shockwave of pleasure that tore everything in its path apart. The muscles of his pelvis clenched with such force that bumps of his cloaca now dug into the man's cock. They screamed together, each in his own way. Lazare's seed fertilised the cloaca generously, and the dragon's first load flew straight into the human's face. The second hit his own chest. The third flew somewhere towards the suitcase. His phallus was out of control, shooting in all directions. The tent filled with the ozone smell of dragon ambregris, the sweet smell of the sea.

Zul collapsed onto the mattress, exhausted and dried out. Lazare remained on his back, for some reason still clenched wing finger in his teeth. They lay side by side, breathing heavily, just as they had on the private island. They didn't have the energy to kiss, though. As they inhaled the pleasant scent, it was as if they could hear the sounds of the sea and swim in it.

---

• You're such a dirty and messy dragon, Zul.

The human smiled as the warm water from the garden hose washed away the traces of their wild voyage. The satisfied dragon sat down on his forepaws and raised his tail shamelessly, enjoying the stream of water directed straight into his cloaca. He rumbled and flexed his pelvis even more.

Soon they were snuggled together in the well-ventilated tent. The man, as always, was wearing his leather jacket, now badly scratched.

"Hot as Hades".

He rubbed his cheek against the dragon's chest.

"But the most important thing is that my Zul won't fly away, that makes me really happy".

With these pleasant thoughts, Lazare drifted off to sleep.

"Stay. That's easy to say, I won't be living in this tent all winter, will I? I've got to think of something. A more permanent structure, perhaps? I wonder how many circuit diagrams I would have to draw to pay for it? I hope my screen teletype becomes popular. Speaking of which, 'screen teletype' sounds a bit awkward, it's not just a typewriter, it's a terminal for input and output of data. So.. Video.. Nah, it might make them think of moving images.. Hmm.. Display! 'Display terminal'. Perfect".

Satisfied with himself, he looked down at the human who was sleeping soundly in his paws. Then he couldn't help himself and gave him a light bite on the back of the neck, licking up the blood as it came out. He couldn't resist, the temptation was way too much. Bearing the grin of a cat that knows it's gotten away with something, he drifted off into sleep.

---

As our heroes enjoyed a carefree vacation, never missing a chance to corrupt the local staff, Lazare's buddies were eagerly sharing stories with everyone they knew about the exotic game brought by the red dragon. At first they played on the Zul's set with an amateur translation. Pretty soon an official human language edition appeared. By the end of October, it turned out that there was already an entire Role-Playing Games fan club, which kindly asked Zulreinteg to join their ranks. The dragon, who had become a bit more open in recent months, was a little shy and asked all the members to hug him at the same time. He outstretched his wings, opened his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut with joy. This is how they were photographed by the newspaper reporter.

That's how it goes.

In the end, every participant in the story walked away with something of their own.

The red dragon Zulreinteg, who everyone just called Zul, went nowhere and his visa gradually became permanent. He found the human friends he had always wanted, especially Lazare. On his drawing he was now labelled 'Best Friend Lazare'.

When he signed the contract, 'Best Friend Lazare' was prepared for almost any compromise, but instead he got exactly what he'd always dreamed of, namely his male dragon love interest. 100 per cent straight and absolutely, most definitely and totally non-gay of course. It just so happened that they both liked males who were not of their own species. Lazare had always wanted an active role and Zul a passive one, so they were a perfect match. A truly mind-blowing coincidence. Almost makes you believe in fate, doesn't it? Their 'delicate' relationship was kept secret, though it was obvious to anyone with a discerning eye.

Politicians from the integration caucus, once they got the success story, didn't hesitate to use it in their dirty political games.

Some bully driver ended up nursing a black eye after a bar brawl. I wonder which poor life choice led to that?

Relations among sentient species have seen a slight improvement, pushing the war a bit further away. Lazare was right, mutual hobbies can genuinely mitigate conflicts.

As for the dragonkind...

Le Fanfaron.

Bilingual Edition.

PEACE AND CHECKMATE: DRACONIAN CHESS PHENOMENON TAKES NATION BY STORM!

Peaceful coexistence initiative scores big with draconian chess craze. Board game mania causes chaos: production plants buckle under pressure!

In the cozy office of the reservation chief, the black dragon held a newspaper in silence, unable to believe his eyes.

• So, who was all in a tizzy? They'll axe the initiative, scuttle our ship. Any luck, huh? It's almost amusing to see how a single letter can send one pawn on a north journey to meet another. Then, all I have to do is lean back on the cushion and watch the dominoes fall. Patience is a virtue, it is said. Indeed it is. - Came the soft, hoarse voice of an old red dragon.

• Stap my vitals! Did you truly plan all this out? He's not even one of our agents. Your foresight utterly intimidates me sometimes, Captain.

• Aah, you scared of me? Aye, you should be, for I am your Captain. We are gonna sail around this world again, mate, mark my words.