FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The air was cold in the room when Valen woke, the sun not yet reaching the small window, but he was still warm. Rathen stirred slightly in his arms, and Valen gently licked him on his forehead. His own head felt terrible, and he was having some issues remembering what happened last night. He felt as if his heart was beating inside his skull, sending small shockwaves of pain through him every time it did, making him grimace and scrunch his eyes shut. He tried to focus on something else, and found himself thinking back on what transpired last night.

He remembered drinking the ale, and remembered enjoying it, but after he relieved himself outside he found that his memories were… not missing, just not willing to come forth. He grumbled as his head throbbed again, sending his paws up to clutch at it. He was surprisingly not worried about why his head was sore, and found himself worrying about that. Was there something wrong with him? Most things that could breathe would be worried about a sore head, but here he was, just passing over the fact as if it were of no importance.

He let out a long, low, whine, shaking his head to try and clear it a little. His shaking seemed to wake his friend though, making him quickly quiet down as Rathen stirred beneath his paws. Valen quickly pulled his paws back from Rathen's back, allowing him space to move. Rathen woke quietly, looking confused about his surroundings before looking up at Valen, realizing that it wasn't still dark, but he was just covered by Valen's wings.

“How are you doing?" he asked, yawning and doing his best to stretch in the small confines of Valen's wings.

Valen's reply was to whine again, pushing his head against Rathen's chest, hoping that he could somehow help take the pain from his head. Rathen just sighed and rubbed along his snout with both hands, pulling Valen's head into a hug a moment later. Valen held still for a moment, enjoying the warm embrace, before pulling his head back. He started to pull his wing back, so that Rathen could get up, but Rathen quickly stopped him, reaching out and grabbing hold of the edge of his wing.

“If you do that, it'll let all the warmth out" Rathen explained in a sleepy tone.

Valen slowly lowered his wing back down, watching as Rathen wiggled around, trying to get comfortable again. Valen wrapped his paws back around Rathen's back, just under his shoulders, pulling him back against him, one hind leg draped over Rathen's legs. Rathen seemed happy at this, if his sigh was any indication, and Valen hugged him a little tighter. He wasn't sure why, but Valen felt very comfortable with Rathen, even if his wings were a little sore from covering them both the whole night.

Valen nuzzled his head in against Rathen's neck, breathing his warm breath down his shirt. Rathen seemed nearly asleep again already, and Valen was happy enough to wait there, holding him, until he wanted to get up. His stomach ached slightly, from not having eaten anything in a while, but he ignored it. For a few moments, everything was peaceful. Then the knocking came, Rathen letting out a disappointed sigh in reply. He pushed against Valen's chest lightly, but Valen held him tight for a few more moments, before pulling Rathen's body on top of his own and rolling over.

The door opened at the same time as Valen's wings, leaving Rathen to quickly try and recover from the unexpected shift in gravity. Alex stood in the doorway, clearly looking annoyed about something. Valen finally let go of Rathen, giving him a quick, encouraging lick on his shoulder before he could stand up.

“You ready to tell me what happened last night?" Alex asked, her tone hard and unforgiving.

“I already told you what happened last night" Rathen replied, wiping the saliva from his shoulder with a sleeve.

“I don't think you did" Alex said, staring at Valen for a moment.

“You can think whatever you want." Rathen said “But I've already told you what happened".

“Well, you said that you got in a scrap with a thief" Alex said, “and that your dragon there jumped in to help".

Rathen nodded, opening his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by Alex. “But can you tell me what thieves run around with their pants around their ankles?" she asked sarcastically.

Rathen kept quiet in return, sitting back down and leaning back against Valen, whose tail quickly came up to rest on his lap, the tip flicking idly against his thigh. Alex waited for a reply, but when none came she stormed across the room to Rathen, watching as Valen protectively placing a paw around his waist.

“You're gonna need to take your dragon out of my tavern" Alex said, jabbing a finger towards Valen's head, her voice sounding harsh and menacing.

“Why?!" Rathen blurted out, his voice suddenly pitching louder. “Valen didn't do anything wrong!"

“Didn't do anything wrong?" Alex asked, her voice rising to match Rathen's. “I heard the whole story from Jonah downstairs! If you won't stop your dragon from acting like a beast you can take him and leave."

Valen had no idea what they were talking about, but he wasn't going to keep taking these insults for much longer.

“You've got your facts backwards." Rathen said, standing up and raising his arms wide. “Does he look like a beast to you?" Rathen asked, waving his hand at Valen.

“He is a beast," Alex replied “and he acts like one too!"

Valen let out a low growl, warning her to stop.

“What did Jonah tell you happened?" Rathen asked, gently rubbing at Valen's snout, trying to calm him down a little.

“Jonah told me that Lucas stepped out the door, and that your pet followed him out there. Now, it's not too hard to figure out what happened out there after that" Alex said.

Valen quickly stood up off the bed, stepping forwards. He was not going to be insulted. Rathen quickly lowered his hand in front of Valen's face though, halting his advance only a step away from reaching Alex.

“You have no idea what happened out there" Rathen said, his voice lowering. “And Lucas deserves much worse than he got."

“Lucas may never use his arm again!" Alex retorted, “And all because he tried to defend himself!"

“Why do you think he needed to defend himself?" Rathen asked.

“Because your dragon jumped him, trying find somewhere to burry that cock of his!" Alex shouted back.

Valen was just confused now, why would he want to bury his member?

“Lucas was the one doing the burying" Rathen said through clenched teeth, his hands balled tightly into fists. “And Valen didn't even understand what was happening!" he finished, hatred boiling in his words as he waved his hand towards Valen angrily.

“What do you mean-" Alex started, halting her speech as the knowledge of what happened dawned on her. She was silent for a few seconds, her expression shifting into one of slight distress. “So Lucas was-" she cut off, clearing her throat with a cough.

“Yes," Rathen said, “Look at him, he barely knows more than a child" he continued, gesturing at Valen.

Valen disagreed with him there, he thought that he had knowledge on a great many things. A child could the vast amount of knowledge that he did.

“I- I'm sorry" Alex said, her shoulders slumping, eyes and voice both lowering together.

“That's why I didn't want to talk about it" Rathen said, his voice tight with emotion, “I don't think he even understands what happened last night"

Valen pushed his snout into Rathen's hand at that, making him look down and scratch along his snout. How did Rathen know about his memories failing? He nipped at Rathen's fingers, trying to get him to say more, but Rathen frustratingly didn't know what he wanted.

“I think he wants you to leave" Rathen said, “Just give him some time to calm down"

Valen was perfectly calm though, if not a little annoyed about not being able to communicate. He let out an annoyed whine, poking Rathen in the belly with his snout. Alex nodded to Rathen before stepping out of the room, leaving Valen alone with him. Rathen sat back down on the bed, patting the spot next to him in an inviting gesture. Valen stalked over to the bed before jumping on, crawling behind Rathen before turning around and half curling his body around him. His head was resting on Rathen's lap, and it seemed that Rathen's slow scratching was starting to relieve his sore head, the pain slowly ebbing away.

His scratches ended early though, when Rathen brought up the subject of getting something to eat. They both managed to get down the staircase this time, with Rathen half carrying Valen's weight, which was heavier than the barrels he had carried in. Valen's paws were wrapped around Rathen's throat as they walked down the stairs, keeping his body almost level the whole way. “You… are not… very light" Rathen had managed to make out through clenched teeth and gasps for breath. Once they reached the floor Valen had to wait for Rathen to move a few more steps, else he would be sent sprawling down the last few stairs that his back legs occupied.

Valen jumped off him, his paws making a soft thud under him. They made their way over to the bar lining the wall, Alex already having food prepared for them. There didn't seem to be much meat on the plate, but Valen ate what he was giving, finding the potatoes surprisingly pleasant. “I've told them what happened" Alex said, nodding towards a few of the people sitting in the room, who seemed to be avoiding looking towards Valen.

Did everyone know what happened last night except for him? He wished that someone would tell him, he should know if something bad had happened to him, but no one seemed to care how he felt about the matter. He finished what small amount of food was on his plate, but his belly was still empty, sending him sniffing towards Rathen's food. Rathen lifted his plate away from Valen as he noticed him getting closer to it, explaining that he “already had his breakfast" and “shouldn't be greedy".

Alex seemed to take pity on him though, and quickly put another plate in front of him. Valen eagerly began eating again, licking the plate clean after his few mouthfuls finished off what was on it. He felt a little better after that, not full, but not hungry either. He had then been told to go and do his business before he could head out with Rathen to go and shop. Rathen hadn't explained to him overly well what shopping was, but from what he had explained, Rathen imagined they would walk into a certain part of the city, and then find stuff that they wanted.

He didn't know what condition the stuff would be in, but Rathen seemed like he was pretty sure of himself. Valen had wanted to ride in the cart at first, but found himself slightly disappointed as he was forced to walk, as Rathen wasn't bringing the cart. He enjoyed the way that the world seemed to move around him, without he himself moving when he was in it, much like gliding above the clouds, but on the ground. Valen had been pointed at many times while they walked, and there was never a minute without shouting when people saw him.

It made him annoyed; couldn't they at least exclaim their joy at seeing him a little quieter? The guards also seemed to want to see him, though they did it with weapons held out in front of them. Four times they had been stopped by guards, and four times Rathen had shown them papers, letting them pass. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad, but the fact that they had only been walking for little more than ten minutes made the whole thing extremely annoying to Valen.

He was glad when they reached their destination, and shocked. There wasn't just things lying about on the ground, like he had expected, but instead there were several small wooden constructs, holding items on them, much like tables. There were people standing behind the table like things, and they seemed to exchange items for horrible looking brown coins. Why would they not at least use gold?

Rathen had stopped at one of the stalls, picking up a few cloth items, and passed coins to the woman standing behind it. Valen thought that the whole thing seemed simple enough, so decided to give it a try himself. First, after managing to get away from Rathen's side, he started looking for something that he would like. There weren't a great many things that looked appealing to him, but he soon found himself looking at metal weapons, such as the guards were carrying. Though they didn't look like they were in very good condition, Valen still found himself interested in them.

He wasn't exactly sure how gold was made, but this befuddled him even more. Had they found the metal in this shape already? If not, how were they able to shape it? Not even his claws could do much to the metal that some humans had worn when trying to steal from him. He found even more interesting pieces the more he looked, finding what looked like the clothes that humans wore, but made of metal instead.

He found the way that the sun shone from the metal items greatly alluring, and soon found himself with his paws resting atop one of the table things, so that he could get a better look. The person in front of him looked scared, but Valen didn't bother with them, instead poking his snout at the metal items in front of him, sniffing at them as if to help discern their quality. Quite a few people were gathering around, and found him to be more interesting than anything else in the area. One of them, a small looking human, probably a child, tried to touch Valen, but as soon as he felt their fingertips brush against him he quickly jumped back.

He was fine with Rathen touching him, but other people? Not so much, especially if he didn't see them coming. The crowd of people around him seemed to freeze, Valen turning his head, to look at all of them, wondering if Rathen was in the crowd somewhere. The child looked stunned, but again they held out their hand, making strange noises at him. It was as if they thought he was some sort of dog, trying to make to pet him while saying things like “it's all right" and “I won't hurt you".

The thought of the tiny child trying to hurt him made Valen huff a few times in laughter, as if they could hurt him. What could they do? Scratch at him with their inferior human claws, try and bite him with their blunt teeth? There was no way that the child would be able to hurt him. He still shied away from them though, as Rathen had warned him not to get to close to anyone, and besides that, there was the whole matter of being touched. The child had nearly reached him now, and he leaned his head back as far as he could as they tried to pat at his nose.

He backed up again, stopping when he felt his tail push against wood, sneaking a quick look over his shoulder to see what it was. It was one of the table things, several vegetables resting on it. He turned back again, only to feel warmth against his nose. He vision was filled by the child, and he quickly tried to pull away from them, only to have them follow him. They wouldn't leave him be, and he would surely be in trouble if he tried to shove them away from him, so he had only one option left, and that was to get Rathen to fix the situation.

He opened his mouth, not very wide, a made a loud noise. It wasn't a growl, or a roar, more of a toneless whine. It was the loudest noise he could hear, as the crowd was still silent, and the child jumped at hearing it, frightened. But instead of backing away, they put another hand on him, this one on his neck. He found their touch starting to agitate him, and tried to pull away from them again, only to have them follow. Luckily Rathen had heard the noise, and quickly shoved his way through the crowd.

He ran over to Valen, grabbing the child by their arms, and lifted them from the ground, turning around and quickly putting them down. He looked down at Valen, giving him a quick inspection, making sure that he wasn't injured. After seeing that he was fine, Rathen gave him a few short pats on his head. He turned around to face the crowd, waving for Valen to stand next to him.

“He doesn't like to be touched" was all Rathen said, his own hand resting on his head as he said it.

“Why are you touching it then?" someone called back from the crowd, earning a few shouts of agreement.

“Well" Rathen started, “because he knows me, and he won't try to bite my hand off if he gets too annoyed"

That seemed to silence the crowd, a few people looking at the child for a moment.

“The kid still has his hands" the same voice called out. “He doesn't look hurt to me"

“That's because I told my friend here to try and be good" Rathen replied, patting Valen on the neck for emphasis.

“Well why can't it just be good then, and let the kid touch him?" the voice called out again.

“Alright" Rathen sighed, “Why don't you come up and try and touch him?"

“Ok" was his reply, a ratty looking man stepping out from behind a few people in the crowd.

The man started walking forwards, his steps confident, his eyes fixed on Rathen, who ducked down next to Valen. “Just give him a little scare" Rathen whispered to him, giving his chin a quick scratch before stepping back. The man slowed down as he got closer to Valen, his hands held at his sides until he was close. He kept his confident attitude, reaching one hand out to lie on Valen's snout, only to have it intercepted half way. The colour drained from his face as he looked down at his hand, only to see the top of Valen's snout instead, his hand resting inside the dragon's mouth, with his sharp teeth pressing menacingly against his skin.

“So" Rathen said, moving closer to the man, “What do you think would happen if you tried to touch him, and I wasn't here?" he asked, gently grabbing hold of Valen's jaw.

Valen took his queue, letting go of the man's hand and pulling his head back, licking at his snout.

“How about we test that, hmm?" Rathen asked, “You try and touch him, and he can do whatever he wants"

The man just shook his head in reply, looking down at his hand as if expecting it to be missing.

“Ok" Rathen said, raising his voice, “for those that didn't hear, this big guy here," he continued, scratching along Valen's neck “isn't going to be as friendly to whoever touches him next"

A murmur rose in the crowd, and most of the people dispersed, leaving only a handful left to look at Valen.

“He doesn't like it when people stare either" Rathen said, looking at the few people left.

They quickly turned around as well, hurrying to get out of sight.

“Now" Rathen said to Valen, “why don't you stay near me, and not wander off again?"

Valen just nodded his head, but instead of following Rathen he headed back to the table with all the metal pieces on it, leaving Rathen to sigh and follow after him. Valen's attention seemed to be drawn to bad quality swords and armours. Rathen had no idea what Valen could possibly want with them, but he guessed that he did still owe Valen a fair bit for taking his gold.

“What do you want?" Rathen asked, watching as Valen's snout shuffled through the items it could reach.

Valen grabbed hold of a long, thin metal rod, that looked like it had yet to be worked into anything, and pulled it back, holding it in his mouth. The rod was half as long as he was tall, and it didn't look like it would be easy to carry. Rathen sighed, asking how much it would be, before handing over the coins. He was surprised that the price seemed pretty low, and guessed that they didn't want to try and rip off a dragon customer.

“You're carrying it" Rathen said, looking down at Valen.

Valen nodded his head, pushing one end against the ground so that he could get a better hold on it. He didn't know what it was, but he liked the look of it. It wasn't polished, or even very shiny, but he enjoyed the sight of it, and that was all that mattered to him. He held with one end in his mouth, dragging it along the ground, until Rathen got annoyed by the scraping sound and decided to carry it himself. Valen licked at the metallic taste left in his mouth, finding it strange. The taste soon had him wishing for food to wash it out of his mouth though, and he was left to try and tell Rathen what he wanted.

Valen grabbed at Rathen's shirt with his teeth, lightly pulling on it to get his attention. Rathen stopped walking and looked down at him, asking what was wrong. Valen's only idea how to show what he wanted was to start chewing on Rathen's shirt, which surprisingly got to point across.

“We can pick up some food up ahead" Rathen said, pointing towards a narrow street.

Valen hoped that they wouldn't be picking it up off the ground. The ground in the city was filthy, and he already needed to clean his paws, grime all over them. He would wait until they got back though, knowing that if he bothered with cleaning them now they would just get dirty again. Valen looked up from his paws to see that Rathen had gotten further ahead of him, and he quickened his pace to catch up to him.

“You know" Rathen said, making idle conversation, “I've never seen you use those wings of yours"

Valen looked up at Rathen, and then spread one of his wings out a little.

“I know I've slept under them before, but how big are they really?" Rathen asked, rubbing his hand along the wing that Valen had extended.

Valen bounded forward a few times, gaining some distance from Rathen, then full spread his wings, letting them beat a few times gently. His wings were quite large, and Rathen could definitely see that.

“How do you manage to walk with those things?" Rathen asked, surprised that they were so large.

Valen looked at Rathen for a moment, and then looked under his chest, as if to check at his male parts.

“Not those" Rathen said, shaking his head with a small grin on his face “these" he continued, smacking at one of Valen's wings to get his attention.

Valen lifted his head and huffed a few times, doing his best to imitate laughter, his chest puffing in and out rapidly. Rathen looked down at him, shaking his head more, his grin widening to cover his whole face.

“Come on" Rathen said, “Put those wings away, you're blocking people's way"

Valen tucked his wings back against his side, moving back to Rathen's side. Rathen pulled Valen's head against his hip for a second, scratching at his chin. Valen pushed his head into Rathen's hip a little, not much, just enough to add a little extra pressure on his face, enjoying the feeling. He stayed like that for a few more steps, before moving his head away, turning to lick at Rathen's hand. Rathen grimaced slightly as Valen's slimy tongue played across the back of his hand, flicking between his fingers before returning to his mouth.

“Yuck" Rathen exclaimed, rubbing his hand on his shirt, only to receive more licks from Valen.

By the time they actually reached the street they were heading for Rathen's arm was half covered in dragon slobber, and Valen seemed quite proud of himself. Rathen had given up at wiping his arm, as every time he did Valen would just lick it more, though his saliva had at least thinned out a little. Rathen led the way through a small doorway, Valen wriggling around to try and fit through, only to have his back legs stuck in the door.

Rathen had to turn around and give him directions on which way to turn for him to fit through, and once he was inside Valen kept his head low, and Rathen could have sworn his cheeks looked a little darker, though that was ridiculous. Valen had his head down, so he only had his smell to guess where they were, and once he took a few sniffs he quickly lifted his head. They seemed to be in some sort of meat wonder land, with it hanging from the walls and laid out in a selection for him.

Before he could even get near any of it though, Rathen set his hand on his head; a signal which he had learned meant not to do anything. He whined at Rathen, his stomach rumbling at the sight of so much meat. Rathen held his hand there though, and calmly started a conversation with the man behind the bench that had all the meat laid out on it. First, before they could even start talking about the food, Rathen seemed to think it would be fun to go into a detailed story about Valen, making him whine louder, his mouth watering.

The man behind the counter seemed to take pity on him though, and threw a small scrap of meat to him. Valen made sure to catch it before it hit the ground, not wanting it to become dirty. It wasn't much, but it helped to satisfy him for a while, at least until Rathen bought something. Like most human food he had seen, this meat was cut into several slices, and Rathen had bought quite a few. Valen had hoped that they were all for him, but his hopes were dashed when Rathen only gave him three, saying that the others were for later.

At least the metallic taste had been cleaned out of Valen's mouth now, instead leaving him to lick at his teeth and the inside of his maw. He was fairly satisfied with that while Rathen walked around to more of the table things, buying strange things. Valen didn't pay much notice to what Rathen was buying, instead looking around for more shiny things that caught his eye. He did find something that interested him, a small metal circle. He had no idea what it was for, but he grabbed it anyway lifting it up to Rathen, he said that he already had enough metal.

Valen was disappointed at that, walking around with heavy steps the rest of the time they were shopping, looking like a very sulky dragon. Rathen had noticed his attitude and had to stifle a few laughs. He found it funny to see a dragon acting like a child that didn't get what he wanted. Rathen did feel a little pity for him though, offering him another piece of meat. Valen denied it though, pointing his head upwards when Rathen offered it to him, even though he really wanted it.

Rathen had sighed at that, watching Valen lick at his lips for a few minutes before offering it again. This time Valen leapt at it, barely missing Rathen's fingers when he bit down on it, letting the juices run down his chin as he noisily chewed on it. Rathen had attempted to try and clean Valen's mouth a little, but now he just looked like he had been stabbed, drawing quite a lot of people, and one of the guard patrols he had run into before coming to see if he was ok.

One of them had attempted to pat Valen while Rathen talked to the captain, but everyone there had turned to Valen when he let out a loud growl, his head clearly pulled away from the hand. Rathen quickly explained that he didn't like being touched, and surprisingly enough, the guard that had tried to touch him actually apologized to Valen. It was the first time someone that wasn't Rathen had treated him like something that could understand him, and Valen was very thankful for that.

He was actually thankful enough to press his head into the hand of the guard, making them smile brightly as they rubbed along his head. There was still a limit though, and Valen pulled away after a few pats, looking up to a half stunned Rathen. Valen stuck his tongue out at Rathen, giving a big dragon grin when Rathen expression turned to false hurt. Rathen was glad that the guards seemed to be warming up to Valen; he had actually expected the exact opposite. Rathen and the guards said their goodbyes, and Valen pushed his head against the chest of the one he had let pat him, and got to see Rathen looking surprised again.

Before the guard could put their hand on him again though, he pulled back, quickly stepping out of their reach. He and Rathen started walking back towards home after that, leaving the guards to start asking about what Valen's hide felt like.

“What was all that about?" Rathen asked, “I thought you didn't like people touching you"

Valen had no idea how to describe what he felt, but he tried his best anyway. He opened and closed his mouth, grumbling while he did it to try and imitate talking, and then nodded his head, trying to show that he liked it. Rathen clearly didn't know what Valen was trying to describe though, so Valen just shrugged his shoulders instead. Rathen seemed to accept that as Valen not knowing, and focused on walking again after that. Rathen had a small cloth bag over his shoulder now, filled with all of the things he had bought, and was using the large metal pole he had gotten for Valen as a walking stick.

Before they got back to the tavern, Valen had heard running water, and insisted on stopping by a river on the way. It wasn't much of a river, and Rathen advised him not to go in it closer into town, as it wasn't clean there. Valen didn't want to go into town anyway, and instead padded into the chest deep water, rubbing his paws against his legs one at a time, doing his best to scrub the grime off of his scales, though there was still some of it in his toes that he couldn't get, he decided that he would get it later.

His paws didn't feel much different, but he did, he felt… fresher. He didn't like being dirty, and tried his best to stay clean. By the time they got back to the tavern though, Valen's feet were dirty again, and he wasn't very pleased about that. As they made their way in, Rathen dropped his bag of stuff of with Alex, telling her to store it somewhere for him. After that they headed upstairs, though there was still plenty of daylight to go before nightfall. Once they were back into their room Valen jumped up onto the bed, not making any room for Rathen, who decided to take his chances on the flimsy looking wooden chair against one of the walls.

While Rathen rested his feet, Valen began the task of cleaning his paws, first picking what he could off of them with his claws, and then setting his tongue to the task. He grimaced at the foul taste, but he continued nonetheless, wanting his paws to be as clean as the rest of him. He had to stop before he could even finish one of them, licking his tongue along the scratchy blanket under him, trying to clean the taste off of it. Rathen seemed willing enough to help though, getting a cloth that he scrubbed at Valen's tongue with.

After that he started on cleaning his paws, having to keep a tight grip around his ankles as Valen actually seemed quite ticklish, asking why Valen even cared if they were clean, saying that they were going out later anyway. Valen ignored him, just holding out his paws one at a time to be cleaned, then licking Rathen once it was done, rolling over onto his back so that he could look at them and make sure that they were cleaned properly. Rathen took that opportunity to sit down on the bed, leaning back against Valen's side.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes after that, only being interrupted when Valen started to play with his tail. Rathen still marvelled at how long it was, and how well Valen seemed to be able to control it. Rathen had offered Valen the metal rod he had bought for him, and Valen had accepted it, only to lie down on top of it. Rathen was wondering what Valen could possibly want with it, and decided that it would better serve to be smelted down and made into something. He would make it a surprise for Valen, and hope that he liked it.

An hour passed, and then they were back out on the streets, doing even more of the dreaded shopping that bored Valen so much. Rathen had decided to take Valen's metal pole, and Valen had created quite the fuss about it, wanting to keep it on the bed instead, but eventually Rathen had won the argument, just carrying it out of the room before Valen could stop him. Rathen had had to make two trips for the stairs, the first half carrying Valen down, and then heading back up for the pole.

Valen had been waiting for him down the bottom, seeming not to care about the pole anymore, but Rathen could still see him looking out the corner of his eye at it. Rathen didn't know why he was so protective over it, it wasn't useful in any way for him, and it didn't even look that good. Rathen was determined to try and get something that Valen could actually use out of it, and that was partly why they were going out right now. The other part was that he was going to look for a job, which he had explained to Valen.

He thought that Valen had understood him well enough; bet he never could be sure with him. He hoped that he would be able to understand the need for money, and not be confused about where Rathen was for several hours a day. There was a large forest outside of the city, which he was sure Valen could have fun in, hunting or doing whatever it was that he used to do back in his cave. Rathen stopped at a few places, asking if they were looking for work, all of which turned him down, except for one, which actually offered Valen a job over him.

After that they headed towards one of the local blacksmiths, where Rathen left Valen's metal pole before moving on to check more places later. Valen hadn't even noticed when he left it, and now he seemed worried that Rathen had lost it, no matter how many times Rathen told him that it was safe. Valen was quickly becoming bored with all of this “job searching" as Rathen had called it. They weren't even buying anything this time, and Rathen seemed to say the exact same thing to everyone he talked to.

The moon had set when Rathen had finally given up, and Valen felt slightly sad to see him looking so down about not finding a job. He gave him a long, wet lick along his cheek, making Rathen spit as if Valen's own saliva had got in his mouth. Valen just rolled his eyes at him, his tail coming to wrap around Rathen's wrist, just like how he had seen humans holding hands before. Rathen didn't seem to understand his gesture, but Valen thought it felt nice to keep in contact with Rathen.

Before they headed back home, they first stopped at somewhere they had stopped already, and Valen quickly started looking around as he remembered seeing the metal pole around here somewhere. He couldn't seem to find it, but there was something that caught his eye. There was a very large looking human talking to Rathen, and he had handed him a large shiny ring. Valen quickly headed back towards Rathen at that, wanting to see what he had gotten. And as soon as Valen set his eyes on it he wanted it. It was smooth, polished metal, and it looked very shiny.

He whined at Rathen for it, who laughed at him for a moment before holding it up so that he could see it better.

“That's your name" Rathen said, running his finger along the engraved letters, turning it slightly so Valen could see it easier.

Valen looked at the metal ring for a moment, standing completely still, not even blinking or breathing. There was a metal ring, with his name on it? He had never had anything with his name on it before, and he quickly pushed his head in closer, to better examine the strange human scribbling on it. His first reaction was a very heavy quickening of his breath, then a lot of licks directed towards Rathen who tried to hold up his hands in defence, but Valen wasn't having any of that. He licked Rathen's face from chin to forehead many times before finally settling down a little.

He looked at the ring again, wondering if it did anything, like he had seen other human things do. Once Rathen had wiped his face clean, or as clean as he could get it, he showed Valen what it could do, making his tail slap excitedly against the ground. The ring could open and close, a small leather strap looked as if it was worked into the metal, and there was a smaller piece of metal that poked through a hole in it, holding the leather in place, before locking into the ring. Valen didn't even know what he would use it for, just the fact that it could do something, and had is name on it was more than enough for him.

Rathen was willing to show him what it did though, and asked Valen to lift one of his paws. Valen did, wondering what was going to happen, only to feel to smooth metal close around his ankle. He looked down at it, giving his paw a few quick shakes to see if it would come off, and felt overjoyed when it stayed on. Now he had a piece of metal with his name on it, on him! Valen didn't settle for licks this time, instead jumping up onto Rathen and wrapping his paws around his back, knocking him to the ground with a big hug, his tongue slobbering all over the poor human.

He didn't even care where his metal pole was now, this was much better. He squeezed Rathen for nearly a minute, before getting off of him. Rathen didn't look quite overjoyed about the whole situation, but he couldn't help but smile at how happy Valen seemed. He enjoyed the bracelet much more than he had thought he would, and even now was holding up his paw so that he could look at it. Rathen had to grab him by one of his horns and start tugging before Valen started moving, and even then he wasn't even watching where he was going.

Rathen thought that he should have waited until they were back at home, where he wouldn't have to worry about being left to find his way back in the dark. They ran into the same group of guards again when they were leaving the market district, they must patrol the area, Rathen thought. Valen seemed to want to show off his bracelet to all of them, actually jumping up on some of them to show them, and letting them pat him. It was really quite amazing what a bit of metal could do.

Rathen had to drag Valen away from the guards after a while, letting them get on with their work, and now having trouble seeing the ground under his feet. He stepped on something once, and he shuddered as it screeched and quickly ran across the ground. Valen was finally starting to look away from his bracelet now, though not for long periods of time, but at least enough for them to make it back to the tavern in under an hour. Once inside Rathen had to sit through Valen running around and showing everyone his new jewellery.

Valen seemed tireless, but eventually Rathen started to get tired, so he called Valen over and started heading up stairs with him. Once they were inside their room, Valen grabbed hold of Rathen, pulling him down onto the bed in another hug, smothering him with licks while Rathen tried to squirm out of his grip. He still couldn't believe that Rathen had gotten such a thing for him, and couldn't help but show his joy about it. Valen had to try and calm himself down a little, before his joy could turn into something a little more physical.

Though, after thinking about it for a while, he wondered why things shouldn't get more physical between the two of them. After all, Rathen clearly liked Valen, and Valen was starting to think that he liked Rathen a little more than a friend. He thought about the matter for a while, Rathen still held tight in his grip. He dismissed the thought though, knowing that Rathen would never like him that much. The thought pained him, but he forced himself to face it. Valen let out a quiet whine as he pulled Rathen tighter against him, saddened that he would never be able to tell him how much he cared for him.

Rathen was oblivious to the thoughts racing through Valen's head, lazily scratching at his head while Valen hugged him until it felt like his lungs would burst. Valen reluctantly let go when he felt Rathen push against him, looking up at him with a pained expression on his face. He wished that he was a little more bestial, like many other dragons he had met. Maybe then he could show Rathen what he wanted and be done with the matter.

“What's the matter?" Rathen asked, worry crossing over his own face as he looked down at Valen.

Valen's reply was a sad whine, bowing his head and pushing it into Rathen's chest, where it received several gentle rubs.

“Are you alright?" Rathen asked, tilting Valen's head up to look into his eyes.

Valen nodded his head, a barely noticeable movement, but it seemed to soothe Rathen somewhat.

“Is it the bracelet?" Rathen suggested, reaching to grab at the metal ring. Only to have Valen pull his paw away.

Valen let his saddened expression drop away, filled with joy and wonder again at the metal ring Rathen had given him. He pulled the small human against his chest, a position that he was fast becoming used to, licking at his hair a little before resting his snout in the crook of Rathen's neck, letting his light breathing tickle him. Rathen sighed at the familiar warmth of Valen, letting his body be pulled up against that of the dragon, a pleased smile filling out his face at the soft breathing against his neck.

Valen stayed like that for a few minutes, hearing no complaints from Rathen, enjoying the feel of him pushed up against him. Movement reached into Valen's limbs when a shiver racked Rathen's body, forcing him to quickly draw his wing over the human, covering him and letting his warmth flow through their body. It was only a moment later that Valen realised Rathen had fallen asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly. Valen breathed in Rathen's scent as he felt himself being pulled into sleep, his nostrils flaring as his tongue came out to lick at Rathen's neck before succumbing to his own tiredness.

His sleep was plagued with dreams of Rathen, mostly of him showing disgust towards Valen, shouting at him and kicking him, saying that he never wanted to see him again. This was what Valen thought would happen if he tried to show any interest in Rathen. There were other dreams as well though, ones where Rathen was very accepting. These dreams left Valen unsheathed and hard throughout his sleep, his member throbbing gently as he thought of all the things he would like to do with Rathen.

When Valen finally woke he was greeted with not only comfort, but also a fair bit of pleasure. It took him a moment to realise what was happening. His member was hard, leaking pre, and grinding against Rathen's thigh, making a very visible mess. He could feel the blankets under him, and knew that they had been soaked through with his pre as well. A jab of fear lodged itself in his chest, seeming to make his heart stop beating. What if Rathen woke up? Valen couldn't let Rathen see him like this. He slowly removed his wing from around Rathen, only now realising how strong the smell of his own musk had been under the cover of his wing.

The scent of himself only seemed to arouse him further, causing him to let out a soft whine as his hips thrust forwards a few time involuntarily. Valen pulled himself back before he made things worse, looking down at his aching member. It had been some time since he had released, and even the lightest touch seemed to send his member spurting fresh strings of pre. As carefully as he could, Valen started retracting his limbs from Rathen, his heart thundering inside his chest so loudly that he was sure that Rathen would wake up deaf.

Once he had miraculously managed to pull himself away from Rathen without waking him up he rolled over, his back facing Rathen. He felt a pang of guilt as a light shudder ran through the human's body, but there were more important things he needed to deal with right now. Arching his back, Valen curled his body around itself, stretching his neck so that his vision was filled with his achingly hard member and heavy, plump looking balls. He leaned forwards further, inhaling deeply, and shuddering as his intoxicating musk washed through his mind.

The next thing he knew, his tongue was wrapped around his member, squeezing and stroking it as his hips weakly thrust back and forth. He tried to be as quiet as he could, holding back whines, moans and growls as his hot length rubbed against the ridged insides of his maw. Despite his efforts to be quiet, Valen could still hear his own loud slurps as he sucked on his own member. He tried to stop this by thrusting further into his muzzle, sinking his member down his throat. He succeeded, as the slurping noises weren't very noticeable now, instead being replaced by a more prominent shlick… shlick… shlick as his member was forced in and out of his throat, a visible bulge bobbing up and down his neck.

Luckily, Valen could feel himself fast approaching his peak, only holding back his growls of pleasure through immense willpower. Valen continued his small thrusts, his tongue greedily lapping at the underside of his member, poking and squirming against it. A few thrusts later, and Valen shuddered violently, his hips starting to slam back and forth rapidly with reckless abandon, his knot ramming against his tightly sealed lips. He had no thoughts about whether Rathen woke or not now, only focussing on releasing his pent up seed. His tail could barely hold still behind him, his throat trying to swallow his member whole with loud gulps now as it tried to milk him of his essence.

His release struck him like lightning, his knot swelling immensely outside his mouth, his throat immediately filled to the brink with the first spurt, forcing him to quickly gulp it down as his member unloaded its next thick shot. He had trouble swallowing it all, a fair bit of it washing back up to fill his mouth, not that he didn't mind the taste. Over nine gulps later, and Valen was weakly suckling on his member, licking and lapping up the steady drizzle of seed that was still forcing its way out. Even as he breathed he could taste his seed strongly, making him release a small whine.

Valen felt full already, and barely managed to stay awake. He had never released so hard in his life, and felt completely drained by it. His throat felt sore from the sheer amount of seed that had been forced down it, and he knew that he would taste his seed for at least the rest of the day. Valen heard Rathen mumble something behind him, and quickly pulled his head off of his member with a loud slurp! His member was still half hard and leaking a miniscule amount of seed, the knot still fully inflated, but Valen quickly rolled over, covering the patch of easily noticeable pre that he had created.

Just in time too, as Rathen's eyes slowly opened, looking unfocussed for a second or two before finally focussing on Valen. Valen thought about giving him a lick as a morning greeting, but quickly realised that would be a bad idea, with the large amounts of seed still coating his tongue and the inside of his mouth from what had overflowed from his throat. Instead, he settled with a nice nuzzle, rubbing his snout against Rathen's head, rumbling quietly as he did. Rathen had a smile plastered on his face as Valen pulled back, his hands rubbing across Valen's face.

“What's got you in such a good mood?" he half mumbled, before a yawn overtook him, his arms and legs stretching out beneath him.

Valen just grinned in reply, his tongue lapping up the seed scattered around his maw, pooling it in the middle of his mouth to savour the taste. Rathen frowned for a moment, taking a deep breath, and Valen felt like his life was about to end.

“Hmmm… what is that? Smells like… fruit? Some strange sort of fruit? Maybe honey?" Rathen speculated, sniffing a few times.

Valen's heart thundered away in his chest, feeling like it was about to burst out of his body. Rathen looked over at him and he acted quickly, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't know what it was.

“Smells kinda nice" Rathen finished, wiggling his body a little closer to Valen for warmth.

Valen felt his member throb weakly at the words, squeezing his back legs together a little, hoping that he wouldn't find himself hard again. Thankfully, his member didn't seem to get any harder, instead just sitting at half mast, as if waiting for some indication to either return to its sheath or start growing again. Valen let out the breath that he didn't know he had been holding as Rathen seemed to drop the subject of what he could smell, instead closing his eyes again and running a hand through his bedraggled hair.

Valen felt extremely lucky. He shouldn't have sucked himself like that, right next to Rathen. What would he have thought if he had woken up too it? Valen forced the thought out of his head with a visible tremble, thanking whatever gods the humans prayed to that Rathen had not noticed what had happened. At least, he had thought Rathen wouldn't notice. That was until he heard him speak again.

“Valen?" Rathen asked, making him look down at the human. “What's this?"

Valen's eyes went wide as he felt Rathen's hand close around the tip of his member, giving it a little squeeze as he tried to figure out what it was. A moment later, after Valen's member throbbed violently at the pressure it received, Rathen's own eyes went wide, his hand reaching down to lift Valen's hind leg. Rathen seemed to freeze at that, seeing his own hand tightly grasping Valen's member. Valen let out a long, low groan as his member rapidly grew to full length, looking down at Rathen as he stared wide eyed at the majestic pillar of dragon flesh.

“Valen…" Rathen managed, finally managing to pull his hand away.

By that time, Valen's mind was already racing, thinking about what he should do, what he was going to do.