FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Aw, shugah. Gimme a savin' throw, let's see ya try an' wriggle outta this." Hershey ran a paw across her scaly head, claw scratching at one of her fin-esque ears. "Why ya tryin' ta take a fully manned ship wit' a rogue class baby?" Pringles' shivers could be seen from across the table, the little rat-kin gazing down at the sci-fi D&D board with wide eyes, his sunglasses perched on his head. Hershey adored these game sessions, her apartment lively and full of vigor. At her side sat her ex, Andrew obviously gauging where he wanted his human artificer, ah… mechanic, to go next for line of sight. Yelz was doing the same with her kux'lar homebrew, the little red raptor figurine sleek and proud in the still-frame chaos of the combat heavy board. Patricia herself grinned as her forces closed in on Pringles 'Skrunkles' character, her own BBEG sitting much deeper in the ship. A nasty cyborg she'd been using to twist the other around while she watched the fun.

Paws skittered upon her tabletop, the dragon pushing down a spark of annoyance at the new scratches, and watched with bated breath as Pringles released a shining D20 from his claws. Time seemed to slow, breath coming quicker, harder, as if through a straw. A familiar clack of plastic on wood spread through the silent apartment like the wave of a bell, all eyes upon that which would decide Skrunkles fate. It twirled on a corner, dancing with death and fate… before falling on a stark red number one.

"Awwww noooooo!" Pringles grabbed at his own ears, falling to his knees as Hershey smiled warmly and moved Patricia's forces around the rat. "My Skrunkleeeessss…"

"Valiant though ya may be, ya rushed headlong inta danger, shugah blossom." Hershey let her voice, rich and honeyed, carry through the apartment to grace her players ears. "Filled wit' thoughts o' the man ya loved, Skrunkles uses the last o' 'is breath to whisper confessions an' hopes an' promises fer the next life into 'is comms unit, sendin' a message to Jack before usin' the last o' 'is grenades to blow the ship." Hershey let the rodents last moments linger before letting her gaze, soft yet firm, fall upon the rat. "Pringles, relinquish ya character sheet." With trembling claws, Pringles collected the sacred paper before padding across the table in front of his looming dungeon master, falling to a knee to present the sheaf as the relic it was. Hershey dipped her head, gracefully accepting the offering, and collecting the rat to sit on her paw. "Skrunkles has fallen! But y'all must go on!"

"Ooohhhh, I've met my end!" Chuckles and eye rolls abound as Pringles flopped across Hershey's paws, his own pressed to his forehead. "I release my soul into the goddesses loving, warm paws! My time has come. Though I watch you all from the beyond!" Hershey couldn't help a genuine giggle at the little guys antics. He was so… honest. So unafraid of shame, so unafraid to let others see him having fun. It was refreshing. It was… ah, she should focus.

The rest of the session went off with a bang, Andrew's Jack closing to do battle with Patricia's Glorious Angela that nearly resulted in a second character sheet being offered upon the dungeon master's pyre. Only a death saving throw and a dedication to constitution had saved him, though Hershey was already pondering permanent debuffs the human would have to be creative to play around. They had asked for a hardcore campaign after all. Soon, however, Hershey's least favorite part came and went; the end. Players packed up, thanked her for another great session, cleaned up their messes, and departed…

…all except for Pringles.

The little rat practically vibrated in the middle of her living room, eyes wide and shining and tail in his own paws. He always stayed after, regaling Hershey with tales of his newest online college course or new addition to his collection of miniatures or posters- his hoard. That he had one so extensive and guarded so much knowledge of each piece was, in dragon terms, kinda hot. Though, she'd never admit that about a guy that came up to her ankle. This time was different; Pringles smelled of fear, excitement, hope. Hershey felt a twinge in her belly at his gaze, his shuffling paws, his… fuck, how cute he was. Back in her prime, in the days of demesnes and kingdoms, Pringles would have made an amazing scholar. A repository of learning and scribing and wisdom. Though he didn't hold such titles in this harsher, modern age, Hershey didn't dismiss the effort the little rat put in to better his mind.

And his collection of little plastic figures was cool. Especially when he could recite the origin and tale of each one, like a historian of old cataloguing the adventures of knights. A blush came and went, a question on the dragon's scaly lips that would surely break the little guy.

"Um! A-Ah, I gots something for you! I uh… in my bag." A blink… another blink… his bag was right there, yet he stood like a deer in headlights. Hershey knew where this was headed, she was no young dragoness, and… she didn't find herself wanting to turn him away. "I just- ugh! I hyped myselfs up for this! Come on…" Paws slapped furry cheeks as Pringles began to pace. "I shouldn'ts, sorry!" A paw, green and the size of his chest, stopped him from running out her door. "Ngh! Okay okay okay! Ahhhhh!" Still screaming, Pringles shoved his paw into his bag and returned with a bouquet, a… quaint little thing. Yet one Hershey recognized. The yellows and pinks of the flowers were a common sight in the nearby forest, the twine of grass that held the bundle together still fresh and smelling of Terra. Hershey blinked, a paw to her chest as an unexpected wave of appreciation slammed into her like a truck. This wasn't some store bought thing, this had thought and effort and time in every weave.

Pringles flinched as the dragon lowered her nose to inhale, his fur ruffling and tail lashing under the gaze of the most gorgeous eyes he'd ever seen.

"Ya tryin' ya shot, lil' guy? Hoo, dearie me!"

"Hhhnnnhg! Ack… blththguh!"

"Well said, shugah blossom." Delicate, careful, Hershey plucked the flowers from Pringles paw which slapped to his face, covering his stuttering and wide, disbelieving eyes. Another inhale, the scent of home. "Why me?"

"You're so pretty. And- and so big and strong! And you listen! You listen when I talk nerdy stuff and- ouch!" Pringles flinched as his fangs nipped his own tongue. "You actuallys seem to likes when I talk abouts my collection. And you lets me come overs. And… and I likes you. I likes you a lot. I just… don't thinks you'd pick me so I'm…"

"Gettin' the rejection outta the way?" A nod, eyes wet that pulled at Hershey's heart. Pringles really had gotten attached to her, and the more she thought about it… his enthusiasm, desire to improve, always listening to others and how he hung on Andrew's every word. Despite his size, Pringles was a layered little rodent. "An' ya thinkin' ya know what ol' Hershey gonna say, huh?" Her smile was wide, full of bright fangs and mischief.

"No! No, of course nots. Just… I'm a nothings rat and only live for likes eighty more years and… stuff."

Ah.

Hershey settled on her belly, ensuring the front door was closed, before pulling the rat between her paws. He didn't resist.

Good boy.

"Ah done had many lovers, most dragons like me don't chase love. Cause ya right, Ah'm… gonna live longer than ya. But it ai'n't right lettin' that get in the way o' things. Love fer me, fer you… Ah'm honored when one o' ya find the one in me. Ah cherish those memories. They part o' mah hoard. An' you? Lil' Pringles? Just a rat? Gonna bop ya, if'n ya say it again." Pringles didn't flinch, only laughed and leaned into one of her paws, his own on her warm pad. Tears hadn't fallen just yet. "Ya funny, brave, always ready ta learn. Ya a catch! An' Ah love how ya know so much about ya hoard."

"My hoard?"

"Ya collection! So many lil' bits an' all o' 'em got their own story! An' ya know 'em all. Ya know… for dragons, showin' off ya hoard be like flirtin'?" Another wide grin, one that only grew as Pringles flinched in her paws. Claws curled around his back, keeping him in place. "An' baby, if'n you were a dragon? Ah'd take lessons on how ta flirt from ya."

"F-Flirt? Me? To you? I was just showing them off! I… you liked them?" A nod. "You… listened? Like my new Commander Fortisan model-"

"Leader o' the Seventy-Fourth Siege breakers?"

"You…" Hershey smiled as Pringles bit his lip, a cute little fang worrying at the skin. "Please please please…"

"Please… what, shugah?"

"Please!" Poor rat-kin, his eyes darting to and fro as his mind melted. His nose twitched, ears straight, eyes… bulging. That last one was weird but he couldn't help what he was.

"Hm… we can give it a shot, but! But…" Hershey let one of the toes of her paw settle on the rat's head as he looked nearly ready to pass out. "But, Ah'm a dragon. Ask Andrew, Ah can be… a bit possessive-"

"Good! I… I likes it. I like… feeling wanted." A gulp, a shiver… a confession. "I like doing what people tell me to. When I'm with Andrew, I feel safe, and when I feel safe, I feel in control. I feel the same with you. I want to… I want to be yours. I want to look up and you and feel like, yeah, this is where I belong. You listen. You remember. You don't make fun of me. I want to make you smile," Pringles let his maw split in a grin of his own, rushing to place his paws on Hershey's chest. Excited, eager, needy… loving. "I want to do what you want to do. I want to be with you. I want to make you feel good! I want to make you happy… I… ack… I wannnnggllkkk!"

"Easy, baby! Hahaha!" Paws scooped the rat up high, his claws clinging to her scales as Pringles devolved into begging gibberish. It was endearing, honest, and clicked every button the dominating dragon had. Was this really happening? Was she really… would any one care? Would it matter if they did? Life was short, especially for humans and kobolds and gryphons and rat-kin. Hershey wanted to be there for every moment each and every single one of them had, and here was one begging- pleading, to be with her for all of his time.

She wouldn't make the same mistakes as she had with Andrew.

A calm washed over the old dragon, calm and warmth and love. With a sigh, she raised Pringles to set him on her muzzle… and surrendered to his submission. If he wanted to be hers, she'd guard that responsibility as if he were the crowning jewel of her hoard. Because… he was.

"Mine."

Ah, there were the tears. Pringles collapsed on top of Hershey's muzzle, his paws gripping at her horns as she said yes. It was a dream he'd let himself entertain for a while, one where he and the dragon of his heart lived together forever, yet eventually discarded it for what it was; a dream. Yet here, now, with a few words and a confession… he was being given a chance. A chance to be someone's, to be Hershey's. Amidst all the endless nights of studying and learning from Andrew and painting his figures alone while listening to hours long lore videos about them. To making his own stories and adding them to forums and grinning with glee when one or two people said how cool his idea were…

To being perched atop the muzzle of the most amazing, beautiful, gorgeous, lovely, understanding dragon he'd ever met.

Was this a dream? If it was, Pringles never wanted to wake up. Cursing his own emotion, the rat-kin wiped his tears, sniffled his nose clean, and smiled at those two, great, jeweled eyes looking back at him as if he was the most precious thing in the world. For the record, at that moment? He felt like he was.

"Y-Yours."