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Because Casey lived in the United States in 2019, because he had a serious anxiety disorder and no lack of things to be anxious about, he of course considered what he might do if someone he knew got shot and killed in a mass shooting. This was not that, but when Jerawk suddenly cut off with no update for Casey, he had spent the night frantically pacing and trying anything to keep calm. It didn't work. The panic attack hit while sitting in the shower at 2 a.m. He rocked and vibrated and cried while his heart raced and the world around him fell into a hole. Jerawk was dead. There was just nothing he could do about it. This strange new friend lost in a sudden act of violence, and Casey really had no one to tell about it. He didn't even know how to process grief for something like this, or why he felt so deeply for someone he'd only been speaking to for a week.

In the morning, he saw a message on the ansible from Teneer: Greetings! Our servers will be going offline for approximately twelve hours while we do some routine maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Casey sent a flurry of messages asking the worthless bot about Jerawk, about the attack, but the messages bounced back. Casey tried to go about his day. It was the weekend so he reached out to some friends in the city and spent as much time as he could outside his apartment. It helped some. His anxiety hummed and ticked, but distraction kept Casey from completely dwelling on how his new friend was likely in a crematorium or whatever it was dragons did for their dead.

When Casey returned to his apartment, he went to his bedroom closet. He threw off his shirt, revealing the scars that scythed under his nipples, his chest and stomach flat. He grabbed a small box from the top shelf and retrieved his pipe and a small baggie of weed he'd been saving for a rainy day. He planned to check the ansible again, then smoke everything he had and hopefully pass out before he completely panicked again.

When he leaned over his kitchen table to check the ansible, something between a gasp and a squeak fell out his mouth. On the screen a new message read, I'm so sorry Casey. I got taken to a hospital and didn't have my phone and they disconnected the ansibles by the time I was allowed to leave. Casey put the packed bowl on the table and completely forgot about it as he sat down and read a string of messages from Jerawk. He described briefly what happened, his concussion, and being shook up.

Casey messaged him back, Fuck, I'm just glad you're okay. I was freaking out Jerawk.

He barely needed to wait before Jerawk messaged him back. Hey! I'm glad to hear from you.

Are you still, like, working in the warrens?

Noooo, they moved everything out of there and, well, they demolished the place.

Seriously?

Our queen is very dramatic. Casey laughed a little and went to the fridge to get a beer. When he returned to the table Jerawk had sent, I had to tell Kyle and Chisur about you, by the way.

How did that go?

Okay, they've got a lot more to worry about. And I've kinda been put on leave till my concussion is cleared.

I mean, that's good right?

Yeah. Two weeks off. I'm still a bit shaken up though.

Ugh, I'm sorry :c

I'm sleeping in Kyle and Chisur's suite and that helps. They wake me up if I start having a nightmare, and I get to take care of Eska for them while I stay up to chat with you.

Oh, their baby, right?

Yep, bouncing her on my lap right now.

It's so weird. I'm at that point in my life where all my friends have kids.

Except you? The question blinked on Casey's screen like it was an earnest one.

None, and never will. I canned my ovaries a couple years ago.

Canned?

Right, where to even begin with this conversation, and was it one Casey even wanted to explain? It was already complicated enough explaining to humans how being on testosterone while still keeping a womb often led to a myriad of health problems. Getting a hysterectomy was just safer in the long run. Then there was the dragon thing. And who knew what their anatomy was like. Casey hadn't even told Jerawk he was trans. Just didn't seem like a thing that would ever matter or come up.

I'll explain it to you when you visit, Casey joked. Suffice to say, I'm infertile and fine with that.

You still want me to visit, huh? Jerawk's message left Casey a little taken aback.

He took a drink from his beer, rested his hands on the keys to type something, then took another drink.

Um…

You know I bet I could if you want to meet.

Casey's throat felt really dry. Time for another drink. This time he drained the rest of the bottle and realized he had to pee. He typed brb then went to the bathroom. He sat on the toilet with his head in his hands, face flushed and mind reeling.

He did want Jerawk to visit. It embarrassed him how exciting it seemed. He fantasized about it: take Jerawk around D.C. Just his dragon pal and him visiting the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the Lincoln Memorial, all the nonsense tourists traps. But that wouldn't be what would happen if he actually visited. He'd be spending his entire time at Casey's one bedroom apartment. Casey alone with the dragon. Casey who had not been alone in his apartment with another… sentient being in almost a year. He didn't know if hosting an alien or hosting company scared him more.

And still, he wanted to see Jerawk. He knew that sure as he knew he had been sitting on the toilet five minutes longer than he needed to just to avoid going back into the kitchen.

Never a good idea to leave a friend on read. When he got back a string of messages waited for him:

I've got two weeks where I've been ordered by doctors to take it easy, and I've got the two best mages in Archayon who could easily get me there. Then, Sorry, I'm not trying to invite myself over. There's probably a lot of logistical stuff to think about and it could be really risky. Probably should have kept my mouth shut, lol. And, Did I do that right? Is that how you do lol?

Casey smiled by the time he finished reading everything. It was a relief to know all this made Jerawk just as nervous.

You nailed it, Jerawk. And I want you to visit.

This time Jerawk took several nerve-wracking minutes to respond. In that time, Casey managed to get through half another beer. He was drinking a little too quickly. He felt a little buzzed when he saw, I really want to meet you Casey.

Me too. Casey felt a little flutter in his chest and shook his head to try and dismiss the feeling. I've never had guests sleepover in this apartment, but the couch should be big enough for you.

Do you not have a bed?

That flutter just became a rush of blood pounding in his ears. Uh, I do. I guess it makes sense for you to take it while I sleep on the couch.

Why wouldn't we sleep together? Casey nearly squeaked when Jerawk said that. Casey had told the dragon he wanted to fuck him but he didn't mean it like—this was supposed to be them hanging out. Two totally cool friends. No… whatever it was dragons did.

Casey tried a meek, It's not a very big bed.

I won't mind, I promise :-)

Casey wanted to die. How did people just say no without being completely anxious about upsetting someone who mattered to them? Deep breath Casey. Like the therapist said, it was about making his boundaries clear, not accommodating others.

***

Jerawk's soft, digitigrade feet padded back and forth across the main room of Chisur's suite. The light overhead was dim, Eska slept in a crib beside the couch. Jerawk had just gotten her asleep and now chewed on a single claw while he read over the most recent message Casey sent: I'd sleep better by myself.

Was this a human thing? Did they all sleep better alone because they had the space to? Or was this a Casey thing, or something Jerawk had done to upset the human? And the way Casey said it… was Jerawk now supposed to tell Casey how he slept best? Jerawk always slept better with others.

“I don't remember the last time I saw you this nervous."

Jerawk flinched and whipped around to see Kyle awake, the black dragon watching Jerawk from the doorway to Chisur's room.

“Um…" Jerawk slid his phone into the small pocket below the hem of the skirt he wore. “I… You're supposed to be sleeping?"

Kyle smiled and gently shut the door to Chisur's room before he said, “Strange dreams woke me up. Thought I'd check on you and Eska." Kyle crossed the room as he spoke and looked in on the crib. His daughter slept with her limbs sprawled and tongue hanging from her mouth again. Satisfied, Kyle asked Jerawk quietly, “What's wrong, love?"

“I… hmm…" It surprised Jerawk how embarrassed he felt when asked to share this. Kyle sat on the couch and patted a cushion beside him. Jerawk reluctantly sat beside his mate before retrieving his phone. On the screen Casey had sent another message, Sorry, I'm just not comfortable with sharing a bed with anyone.

“Talking with Casey?"

“Yes, here," Jerawk simply handed the phone to Kyle to scroll through. A gentle glow illuminated the black dragon's claw as it ticked its way through Jerawk's conversation.

Kyle chuckled and shook his head. “I see… It's like you've forgotten what I was like when I got here, Jerawk."

“What do you mean?"

Kyle handed Jerawk back his phone. “Compared to you, I was touch starved. So much so I thought all your little touches were affection."

“Well they were," Jerawk said with a frown.

“Yes, but…" Kyle rested a palm on Jerawk's knee, “For humans like Casey… humans from my culture at least, that much touching is something only partners do."

“Oh…" Jerawk glanced at his phone again and it finally clicked, “Ooooooh."

“He's just nervous because you both see this differently. Whereas it's totally normal here, for Casey, the only time you're supposed to share a bed is with someone you're very close to."

Jerawk nodded. “I get it. Thank Archayon you're here Kyle, I'm pretty sure me and Casey would never understand each other if you didn't translate stuff for me."

Kyle laughed softly. “You figured me out. I'm sure you'll figure Casey out, too. Were you going to tell us you planned on visiting, though?"

“Well, I'd have to, right? I'm not sure how I'd get there without you and Chisur."

***

Casey had the ansible on his lap while sitting on the couch. The little machine rested there while he watched Netflix and tried to keep his cool till Jerawk finally responded with: It's okay, Casey. I didn't realize how casual that is for dragons compared to humans. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, so I'm happy to take the couch.

Casey sighed, and typed, Thanks. Then, a smile creeping along his face, Are you really going to visit?

Yes! I just talked with Kyle about it and he is happy to help get me there c:

Casey barely recognized his grin as he wrote, Five days from now work? I'll be off work for a couple days so we'll be able to hang out all day together.

Yes!

I can't believe we're going to do this. I can't believe I'm going to be responsible for hosting the first dragon on Earth.

It'll really put the Nation of Casey on the map.

>.>

;-)

***

Work moved slow and the nights moved fast as Casey tried to prepare for Jerawk. Kyle, through Jerawk, assured Casey that dragons ate food similar enough to humans that Jerawk would be fine. As long as he didn't have any allergic reactions… To the junk food in Casey's fridge, to the fibers on the couch, the spot of mold he still hadn't gotten out of the shower. Normally, Casey would spiral thinking of just everything that could go wrong with this visit, but the thought of Jerawk being there in the scales buoyed his feelings.

Each night they chatted well past midnight. Any of the original pretense of their conversations had fallen away, and now they shared stories about each other, their lives, what their worlds were like. Casey planned to introduce Jerawk to anime, and had a lineup of movies for the dragon to watch. Just certifiable classics like Akira, Princess Mononoke, Ghost in the Shell, etc. The best in Earth culture, Casey had joked. He made that joke again and again, about delivery foods, his crummy apartment, even himself. The best in Earth ambassadors, he'd said.

And Jerawk had responded with, Well, you're the only human on Earth who's won me over. So you're not wrong.

And Casey couldn't sort his feelings out with Jerawk. He'd been in enough relationships, good and bad, to know he felt something akin to a crush for the dragon. But not like a sort of awash-in-emotions crush. Jerawk was a personality just conveyed through text and it felt difficult to know if any of those feelings might linger once Jerawk arrived and all their interactions didn't come filtered through text. Casey might find they didn't get along at all. Those thoughts still made Casey spiral sometimes: the thought Jerawk might catch a common cold and die horribly seemed far-fetched compared to the chances Casey would say or do something and Jerawk would end up hating him.

Those thoughts dogged him all day the Friday Jerawk planned to arrive. His shift at the library tortured him with a lack of things to do. He stewed until he couldn't even stop his hand from trembling when he tried to get his key into his apartment door. When he shut the door behind him, Casey dropped keys and they only halfway fell into the bowl before the cheap ceramic tipped off the end table by the door and spilled its odds and ends all over the floor. He cursed and stooped down to pick the stuff up. It was while he knelt there, scooping odds and ends into a bowl, he heard a thunderous crack! and Casey screamed, falling back against the door as hot air blasted across the apartment. A lamp fell over, the papers on his dining table scattered across the carpet, and Casey's ears… They were ringing, like a gun went off right next to him. And standing on his couch—

A yellow dragon with dark violet stripes, his arms and wings fanned out. The membrane of the wings were the same violet as his stripes; he had bright green eyes and dark black hair tied back in a bun. He cried out “Sasey!"

My name, he doesn't know—oh god what if I have his name wrong.

Casey fumbled with words while the dragon stepped off the couch, arms still held out, “J-J-Je—"

“Jerawk!" the dragon said with a pleased nod, a trill on the “r" that Casey hadn't expected.

“Casey!?" shouting from the other side of the door. Damien.

Jerawk paused, brow furrowed. “Casey?" the dragon intoned as if Damien was the one who had Casey's name wrong.

Casey got up and put a finger over his mouth and tried to shush the dragon. Jerawk copied him, shushing Casey back before cocking his head and asking, “Greeting?"

“No, I need you to hide while I talk to my neighbor."

“What is… hide?" Jerawk said with some trouble. He seemed to dramatically work his tongue on each word. Of course, something miraculous translated all their conversations so it only seemed Jerawk spoke the same language as Casey. How had he not even considered—why did Jerawk even come if he wasn't fluent—

Pounding on Casey's door. “Casey if you're in there I need you to open up, man. I need to make sure you're good."

Casey shoved Jerawk into his bedroom and pointed at the ground. “Stay." He shut the door on Jerawk's face and went to the front door.

Out in the hall, several of the neighbors had poked their heads out while Damien stood looking ready to kick Casey's door in. Casey shut the front door behind him and Damien asked, “Casey? Yo Casey," he grabbed Casey's shoulders and only then did Casey realize how badly he shook. “Take a deep breath, man. What's going on?"

A mistake. A horrible, comic error.

“I…" Casey's mouth opened and shut. He licked his lips and couldn't meet Damien's gaze. “Explosion."

“Yeah, we all heard, what the fuck was that?"

“Microwave."

“Microwave?"

Casey saw several people around the hall watching the two of them closely. Casey nodded and yelled, “I left a fork in there!"

Casey wished the words came out better, but… well it worked. Damien let him go and asked, “Your microwave blew up?"

Casey nodded.

“Shit man, do we need to call anyone?"

Casey shook his head.

“And you're sure you're good?"

Another nod.

Damien studied him a moment longer, then sighed, “Alright man. You look real shook up. You sure you don't need something?"

“I'm good," Casey said, hand groping behind him for the doorknob.

Damien dismissed him with a wave. “Whatever dude."

Casey found the knob of his door and practically fell backwards into his apartment. He shut himself inside and sighed. Closing his eyes, he tried his best to focus on his breathing. Jerawk warned him about how loud traveling here might be. He just wished he had a better excuse than—

A weight pressed up against Casey. The human gasped as he felt himself in a tight embrace. Jerawk hugged him close and nuzzled against Casey's cheek. The dragon, he noted, felt warm and, despite the scales, was soft and smoothed like shaved and lotioned skin. Jerawk smelled good, too. A dry, warm and masculine scent like the sweater of a boy who stayed over. A little rumble ran up his chest and throat, close to a purr but not quite. He was here. He was here and happy to see him. Casey hugged him back, shuddering against the dragon. He took another deep breath of the dragon, and felt all the tension inside him begin to unspool.

***

Casey broke off the hug before Jerawk. The human was smaller than the dragon, a fact that Jerawk did not expect. Casey described himself somewhat before the visit: thin and short, light brown skin with a couple of moles on his face with thick, dark hair cut short. Jerawk didn't expect to be a few inches taller, or for Casey to have glossy black hair, ears pierced. Or for his lips to form a cute little bow on his mouth. Or for his jaw and cheekbones to be sharp lines rather than soft or round. Or those moles to be set one above a cheek bone and another on the temple opposite the cheek. Or his scent, which was everywhere in the apartment. The smell reminded Jerawk of nights out in the Atrium on dry dirt paths.

Casey's mouth broke into a grin, showing off his funny, blunt teeth before he said something in his language. Jerawk knew some English from Kyle, but he'd not exactly picked up how humans spoke with their, frankly, much different mouths.

Jerawk nodded and said a line Kyle helped him rehearse: “I have spell, to help with… speaking. I need… knife?"

“A knife?"

Jerawk nodded and just hoped he had the right word. Casey walked across the room to a section separated by a countertop and a patch of tiled floor rather than the old dun carpet that covered most of the apartment. From a drawer, Casey retrieved a long blade and held it up to Jerawk. He said something but Jerawk didn't understand, he just pointed and chirped, “Knife!"

Casey muttered in his clunky tongue while he crossed the apartment and handed the knife to Jerawk. Chisur taught him the spell he needed to channel, and while Jerawk was by no means a skilled mage, Earth hummed with energy. In Chisur's focusing chamber, Jerawk needed to concentrate for several minutes to build the magic needed to shape the language spell. The spell made the translation of their words automatic between them, so they might speak their own tongues but understand each other perfectly like they had over ansibile.

He tapped into the energies of Earth and found the planet a hostile force. Chisur warned him this might happen, but Jerawk only opened himself to those energies for the briefest moments to take what he needed to craft the spell. It was a complex pattern literally imbued and transmitted in blood like most old magic.

When he was ready, he opened his eyes to find Casey gaping at Jerawk. A slight glow radiated off his scales. Jerawk held the knife out and ran the blade across his palm. It was a little blunt, and took some work to open a gash in Jerawk's palm. Casey gasped and covered his mouth, but Jerawk fixed him with a hard stare and said in Casey's language, “Trust me." He offered the knife to Casey. “Now you. Help us speak."

Casey nodded and said something, laughed a little dryly, and set the knife to his palm. With a grunt, he dragged the blade across his skin. Jerawk nodded and offered his bleeding hand in a shake. Casey, a little pale, took it. Soon as their hands clasped, Jerawk let the magic travel between them and they both felt a warmth flush through their bodies. The dragon then used the last remains of what he channeled to quickly heal both their hands so only a red welt remained across their palms.

Jerawk nodded, “There. Thank goodness, we can actually talk to each other now."

“You can… speak my language now?" Casey asked. Now that Jerawk was not spending time trying to decode what Casey said, he found his ears flicked a little at the sound of Casey's voice. It was a high, boyish voice that Jerawk immediately found endearing.

“No no, it just lets us understand the languages native to each other."

“Oh, uh, umm…"

Jerawk beamed and held out his hands again. “I'm here!"

“Jerawk… I… sorry I'm just overwhelmed," Casey plucked at the collar of his jacket.

“Maybe we can just have a seat and talk?" Jerawk offered, motioning to the couch. “Your apartment is huge by the way. It has three rooms for a single person."

Jerawk looked around this main room. Along the same wall as the door was a stand with a large screened device, some electronics beneath it. A poster on the wall of stylized, drawn humans that Jerawk did not understand. A dingy, old couch big enough to lie across, a small round table pushed against the wall with three chairs to it. The ansible rested on it, then there was what Jerawk gathered to be a large kitchenette. Along the wall opposite the door sat a desk, another screen with more electronics, and above the desk a slit in the wall showed outside the building. The glass of the window was opaque so no one could look in or out.

“Huh, I guess it might seem that way with how crowded you made Archay sound."

Jerawk had sat on the couch and patted the cushion beside him. “I know you're not as comfortable with touching as me, but can we sit by each other, at least?"

Casey swallowed and a lump in his throat bobbed before he said, “Yeah…" and sat next to the dragon. He glanced at Jerawk then at the dark screen in front of them. “Sorry, you're naked—I mean I know you told me that would happen but I'm still… this is all very strange."

Jerawk worked his tail around Casey's back and the human flinched, which made the dragon frown. “Are you scared?" Jerawk almost put a hand on Casey's thigh, but stopped himself, hand hanging in the air a moment before he set it down in his lap. Casey seemed not to notice.

Casey said, “I guess I'm… really nervous. I barely got home before you popped in here and I just—"

“Oh, I'm sorry. I guess our timing must have been off. I was just so excited…" Jerawk sighed and looked at Casey through the reflection of the screen across from them. “I should have sent you a message first to make sure you were ready."

“It's okay," Casey said. “To be honest… I might have told you I wasn't ready for you to come. I've been losing my mind all day at the thought of you being here."

Jerawk's frown deepened. “I'm sorry, if you'd said anything I'd—"

“Gah," Casey hugged himself and took a deep breath.

“Casey…"

“I'm an anxious person, Jerawk. You've done nothing wrong, I just…" Casey took another deep breath, “do this to myself when something is really important to me, and nothing has been this important to me in a long time."

Jerawk's earfrills twitched a little at hearing that. He didn't know what to expect but this… the urge to hug and touch Casey washed over Jerawk. So great it left the dragon feeling frustrated on top of something… else. Something even Jerawk felt scared to name.

“Casey?" Jerawk spoke softly, and finally the human looked at him. His lips pinched together and eyes quivering a little. Jerawk wanted to say how important all of this felt for him, too, but now seemed like the wrong moment. Too much at once for his friend. So the dragon joked, “I think it's really sweet you're taking this ambassador thing so seriously," Jerawk had to raise his voice to be heard over Casey's laughter, “But I promise you the Nation of Casey will be on good terms with me no matter what." Jerawk's grin felt impossible to suppress while he listened to Casey's high laughter.

***

After that first awkward conversation, they were able to relax some. Casey showed the covers of different anime movies and they settled in to watch Spirited Away, which Jerawk watched in silence for most of the film. The human had changed into pajamas and through the movie they stuck to drinking water and eating pizza rolls which, Casey noted, Jerawk snapped down in single bites. They sat on opposite ends of the couch, but Jerawk's tail stretched between them and idly, seemingly without the dragon's input, rubbed up and down Casey's bare foot. The touch left Casey a little flustered—mostly because he recognized that he did want the dragon to touch him more, but he was too afraid to ask Jerawk to keep prodding at Casey's boundaries.

When the movie ended, Jerawk turned to Casey and said, “I have so many questions."

“Um… yeah?"

“First, how is it humans have such a good idea what dragons look like? I mean, obviously we're not flying noodles but I've known dragons who look like Haku. There's a whole country in Archayon with dragons just like that, Kyle disguised himself as one at one point. We don't have an Archayon equivalent for humans."

“You mean you don't have any weird socks of flesh with human heads and bird legs flying around in your movies?" Casey asked, smiling a little at the horrifying thought.

“No! I must talk to Kyle about this when I get back, there has to be some kind of explanation for why humans have some idea of dragons but dragons had nothing to go off of with humans until we discovered Earth," Jerawk said. The dragon sat on his knees in the middle of the couch, leaning in towards Casey.

“Was that it?" Casey asked.

“No, my second question is why did so few spirits have magic? Wasn't their world magical? Clearly if Haku was imbued with magic by simply being a river spirit—"

“I think you're overthinking it," Casey said. “Did you enjoy it?"

“Oh I loved it! The world seemed so open and bright and lush," Jerawk scooted a little closer. “Are there places like that here on Earth? Big open fields and blue lakes?"

Casey giggled a little. “Of course. I would take you out of the city, but I'm not sure we'd be able to get very far without attracting attention."

Jerawk sat back on his calves. “I'll see it all eventually, I'm sure."

“I guess there's a lot of the planet you're going to have to visit in your job, huh?" Casey said.

“I suppose, but there will be more ambassadors than just me, eventually. I meant that I'll see it with you."

Casey felt heat rise to his cheeks. “Me?"

Jerawk smiled and nodded at the TV. “Yeah, like this movie. It's always better to see things with friends, right?"

“Heh, jeeze, Jerawk," Casey squirmed a little on the inside. The dragon's brand of earnest friendship felt hard to handle when it came in person. “You really think I'm the best person to see the world with?"

Jerawk quirked his brow. “Aren't you the best ambassador Earth has to offer?"

Casey giggled. “I suppose you got me there."

Jerawk beamed. “You've got a really good laugh, Casey. I'm glad I get to hear it."

And the red on Casey's face came roaring back. He sprung off the couch while a tangle of emotions pumped through him, and knowing Jerawk watched him while Casey went to the fridge felt painful. “You want to try a beer? I sprung for the fancy stuff for your visit." The human bowed his head into the fridge so the cold air washed across his face helped calm him down some. What did he feel about this dragon? And did Jerawk share that and if Casey did what would that mean about the two of them? Also was Casey attracted to… In a sense he knew the answer to that question. Casey, being as small as he was, tended to prefer partners who didn't tower over him. Plus he couldn't stop glancing at the lines where the bottom of Jerawk's abdomen reached his iliac crest. Two longer violet stripes highlighted the groves in his scales and Casey really wanted to run his fingers along there and—oh no…

This visit would be much more difficult than he thought.

“Uh, Casey? You okay?"

Casey shut the fridge door without grabbing anything and said while still facing it, “Yes! Sorry, I spaced out a minute."

“I said we can just stick to water for now. I'd rather save that other stuff for tomorrow night when we've spent a little more time with each other."

A little spring of disappointment made Casey realize he'd hoped to invite Jerawk to make a move on him while they were drinking. That way if Casey screwed anything up he could just blame the alcohol and not on the fact he was a total—

A scaled hand squeezed his elbow. “Hey Casey? Can you look at me?" Reluctantly, Casey faced Jerawk. The dragon's bright green and reptilian eyes studied Casey's brown human eyes for a moment before Jerawk said, “I know you're scared or anxious or whatever else, but I really want you to know I'm a very patient dragon. I promise you're not doing anything wrong, and that I'm confident there's nothing you can do to upset me this weekend."

Casey nodded. “I know Jerawk… I know that."

“How about you put in another movie, and I'll take care of refilling our glasses, alright?"

“Okay," Casey took a deep breath, and on the exhale said, “I'm sorry I'm like this."

The hand on Casey's elbow slid down his arm to squeeze his palm. “You don't need to apologize."

Casey nodded, and managed to find another joke to cut the tension: “I know, but you'll find I'm Earth's very best at needless apologies." It was with laughter they settled back into watching another movie.

***

Casey's nerves returned later that night. Like a cloud that hung always with the promise to dump rain. After watching Akira and talking about it and anime in general for half an hour, a lull in the conversation spurred Casey to suggest they get to bed. He brought out some pillows, sheet, and spare blanket for Jerawk and then retreated back to his room.

At first excitement kept him lying awake. He went through all the things the two would watch tomorrow, gleeful that Jerawk seemed as interested as Casey was. And he had no point of reference either, so Casey got to see his raw reaction and genuine enjoyment to these movies. But these feelings of excitement and what the two of them could share turned back to other feelings still rolling around him. And the rain dumped on him after that. He stared at the ceiling in boxers, a ceiling fan turning overhead and low light from the window over his bed filtering the bedroom in the glow of street lamps. Occasionally, he heard cars pass. A siren sometimes.

The acknowledgement of his surroundings flashed in and out with his feelings for Jerawk. At one point, he thought about trying to masturbate, but he was terrified the dragon would be all he thought about. He… definitely had a crush on the dragon. Casey wanted to touch all over Jerawk's body, see where he reacted to being kissed, fall asleep with that dragon's scent next to him, their chests together. He wanted to listen to the dragon breathe. Letting himself feel all these things, Casey rolled from his back onto his side, pulling his knees close. The tension of all these unexpressed things balled up inside of him while he curled into a ball, too, hugging a pillow close.

Jerawk had two partners already. Both Casey knew made Jerawk really happy. Both of those partners were dragons. Also, Jerawk lived on another planet. How did they make that work? Casey knew, deep in his gut, Jerawk would never leave Archayon for him. And Casey didn't want to leave Earth. He'd spent the last fifteen years making a life here in D.C. He had friends, ex's, people he considered family. He'd have to leave them all behind for just a single person. It was ridiculous to even consider. He liked Jerawk a lot. But how much of that liking was Jerawk's exoticness? How much did they really get along? What would Casey feel if he told Jerawk what he wanted and the dragon didn't reciprocate? What did Casey do if Jerawk reciprocated and the end of the weekend came? Casey had done long distance relationships. It's how he ended up in D.C., and while he didn't regret moving across the country and he and his ex were still good friends, he didn't want to go back to a long distance relationship as if the only compatible person to him lived literal lightyears away. With the type of person he was now, putting himself out there took too much work not to have that person physically around Casey in some way.

Then there was coming out. Fortunately, far as Casey could tell their genitals looked more similar than Casey expected. Still, coming out to potential partners always brought a potential rush of heartbreak and anxiety. Coming out as trans was what cost him the relationship that brought him to this city (the words, “I just don't think I can be attracted to another guy" still crushed Casey into a ball when he thought of them).

Casey squeezed the pillow to his chest hard as he could, body quaking a moment while he tried to just force these emotions out of him. He bit back a sob, feeling frustrated and hopeless. Like Jerawk already rejected him. Casey just wanted to hold the dragon and be held and not think for a moment about what being held meant or what kind of future they could share. Shut off his brain and enjoy the company of someone he so dearly wanted to deepen his relationship with.

A knock on the door nearly startled Casey from the bed. He scrambled to pull a sheet over himself before he said, “Yes?"

The door cracked and Jerawk said, “Sorry, I, uh, need to use the bathroom?"

“Right," Casey's only bathroom was through the bedroom. A flaw, he supposed, of having company over if they didn't share the bedroom.

Jerawk walked to it and stopped in the door, groping for the switch before yellow light rushed into Casey's bedroom. An overhead fan spun on and Jerawk stopped in the door. “Casey?"

“Yeah?"

“How does this work?"

The toilet. A little embarrassed to be in his boxers, Casey sidled past him and pretended to sit on the toilet like he was using it. “Then you go, and turn this handle to flush."

“What about my tail?"

“Oh."

“Yep."

“Umm… you should be able to sit the other way?" Casey said, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry, humans don't have tails."

“It's fine. I just wanted to make sure I didn't do anything wrong."

Casey nodded and went back to his bed, making sure to shut the door behind Jerawk so the dragon knew that act usually remained private as well. When Jerawk finished and opened the door, he didn't leave but instead said from the lit doorway, “Is it okay if I ask you something, Casey?"

Casey, who had been trying his best impression of sleep, sat up and grunted, “Hmm?"

“Those scars on your chest…"

“Oh, I… I had breasts at one point. These are my top surgery scars from when they removed them."

“And they couldn't remove the scars?"

“Heh, I suppose dragons can do that in Archay?"

“Well, yes. I didn't mean to pry, I was just curious if you chose to keep the scars, is all."

Casey shook his head. “You don't care that I used to have breasts?"

Jerawk shrugged. “Dragons change their bodies all the time to suit what they want. It's not unusual."

They both hesitated a moment. A cricket singing by the window suddenly cut off its song, a pause where the only noise came from the fan; then Casey heard the sound of rumbling thunder as a summer storm encroached. At the same time, they lifted their voices and tripped up on each other's names. Jerawk recovered first: “I can't sleep."

All of Casey's emotions still threatened to turn over, but, for the moment, a question kept him from betraying that. “Is something wrong?"

“You're wrong." Jerawk said it with such assertion that for a perilous second Casey thought the dragon was about to say all the worst things the human had thought of himself today. But Jerawk yanked him from the ledge with his next words, “I think you would sleep better with me in bed beside you."

Casey's mouth hung open. It was not what he expected. Perhaps more importantly, he did not want to protest.

The dragon took a step to the bed. “It's been driving me crazy, but I've been trying to respect your boundaries, but I want to touch you so badly—"

“Fuck…" Casey began to blush.

The dragon took another step. “You want it, too, don't you?"

Casey nodded.

Another step. “Then what are we waiting for, Casey?"

“I'm scared, Jerawk." Another step. He was at the foot of Casey's full-sized mattress.

He stayed still for a moment and asked quietly, “What are you scared of?"

Casey knew he trembled. Backlit by the bathroom light, Jerawk's green eyes practically glowed and his stripes looked black. He took Casey's breath away, even with the question asked with such grief that the human knew he needed to answer with the truth, needed Jerawk to know none of this… fear in Casey had to do with the dragon.

“I'm scared of falling for you and then losing you."

Jerawk's eyes widened a moment before his expression softened. “Oh, Casey…" Rain started to fall outside, a few watery taps on the window enunciating the sure fact the world would continue moving no matter what they resolved in this room.

Casey laughed nervously. “I'm really bad at this stuff, huh?"

Jerawk didn't answer. He climbed into bed, and crawled up to the human so he leaned over Casey. The dragon's muzzle right there, a few inches over his face. And Jerawk's eyes… piercing and—Casey felt his breath catch when a scaled hand cupped his cheek.

Jerawk whispered, “I want us to fall for each other." Lips dipped down, soft yielding yellow scales brushed his mouth. The wind outside gusted and rain exploded across the window. Jerawk's brief touch left Casey struggling for breath—like this was Casey's very first kiss. The scent of the dragon now made all those feelings blow against him like the rain outside. Jerawk simply waited, warmth and patience in his eyes before the smaller human grabbed him by a horn. The exposed horn was soft and smooth, cooler compared to the rest of the dragon. He used it to bring Jerawk back to his lips, whimpering a little in relief when Jerawk kissed him more fully. Despite their different faces, it was surprisingly easy to kiss the dragon. His lips weren't quite as pliable, but that didn't matter as much when a violet tongue (reminiscent of his stripes) pushed into Casey's mouth. Its tip came more pointed, but quickly widened to match the human's blunter tongue's width. It ran along the roof of Casey's mouth, teasing back to his throat before it dipped and dug beneath the human's tongue, seeming to fill most of the space of his mouth.

This, the human enjoyed much more than he expected. He hadn't given it much thought, but God his back arched and he moaned a little, hands running down Jerawk's scaly back. The texture so different from flesh, another strange excitement for Casey. It had been years since even simple kissing made him this hot. Then Jerawk broke it, and Casey tried to pursue him, leaning forward until the dragon placed a finger on his lips. Casey's eagerness made Jerawk chuckle.

“Does this mean we can sleep in the same bed?" Jerawk asked with a grin.

Casey managed to contain some of his smile and challenged the dragon, “I don't know, is there anything else you can do to convince me?"

“Hehe, is that what you really want?" Jerawk asked while his palm rubbed down Casey's exposed side.

“I did tell you I would fuck you."

“You did, didn't you?" Jerawk said, his voice sultry and almost lifting into a growl while he squeezed Casey's hip. “Something tells me I'll be doing the fucking tonight, though." The dragon did growl, then, and his claws extended a little to prick at Casey's skin. That little touch, just that little touch made Casey release a soft, breathy moan. Jerawk chuckled and asked, “You like claws?"

Casey's face was getting red again. He nodded. “Mhmm."

“Scratching?"

“Yeah."

“Biting?"

“Fuck yes… Jerawk."

The dragon grabbed Casey's hand and led it by a finger to his muzzle. He opened his mouth and pricked a finger on one of the front canines. It was sharp enough to make Casey gasp a little before Jerawk released the finger and asked, “You sure you want me to?"

“I like bleeding, Jerawk." And it was true.

“But is that what you want for our first time together?"

“I…" Jerawk was right. Casey did want Jerawk to mark him up, but Casey first wanted to know they worked as partners. Beyond this strange, thrilling chemistry that mixed between them, he still had no clue how dragons did anything.

Jerawk told him, “We'll have all weekend to explore, you know."

“You're right," Casey agreed, still finding words difficult over his rushing heartbeat. “You can still be a little rough, though, right?"

“Heh, of course," Jerawk whispered before his muzzle slipped down to Casey's throat. Those sharp teeth grazed his skin, and their touch filled Casey with a throbbing heat. A scaled hand worked under the waistband of his boxers and cupped Casey's mound. The human huffed before a scaled finger slipped between the wet lips of his labia and flicked up against his cock. The two inches of engorged flesh rising from his clitoral hood ached at the dragon's teasing touch. Jerawk's teeth nipped Casey's collarbone next, and at the same time he wrapped dick between thumb and index finger, rolling the flesh between his digits while his remaining fingers rubbed and teased the lips of the human's sex.

“Je-Jerawk…"

Breath washed across Casey's ear, that violet tongue flicked against Casey's earlobe a moment before Jerawk asked, “Yes Casey?" Casey, breathless, mouthed the dragon's name again while those fingers teasing his sex slid inside his vent. Jerawk's thumb pinched his cock tip to the dragon's index finger, and when the human's back arched he felt claws from the dragon's other hand scratch down the small of his back. “Say my name again."

“Jer—ahwk!" Casey already felt incredibly on edge. Tangled bundles of heat coursed through his core. Most partners he needed to guide more but Jerawk… Jerawk…

Lightning flash—thunder. One answering the other outside, just like Casey's body answered Jerawk's.

He smelled it before he saw it. The heady scent of a male arousal. Thick and strong, potent in a way other men never had been before in Casey's life. A scent too strong to ignore, and when he glanced down he saw it. Another flash of lightning gave a clear view: an ebon shaft pushing out from Jerawk's slit with a spaded tip and winking urethra leaking pre down the shaft. Casey reached for it, his partner's gasp echoing his own when his palm touched the dragon's cock. It was hot. So much so Casey almost pulled his hand away, but that slickness, the throbbing ache inside it… He wondered if Jerawk too had lied awake thinking of all the ways he wanted to touch and kiss the human. The dragon's hips rolled forward a little and the shaft pushed up, tip rubbing against Casey's forearm. Pre smeared there, slick and warm and thick. He felt it drip down to his wrist in a solid line. Casey liked boys and liked dick, but this was something else. And all while he touched and began to rub Jerawk's shaft, the dragon kneaded his sex, teased his dick, and stoked the heat in his body.

Jerawk broke their rapturous, breathy silence then to suggest, “Can you lie on your back?"

Down the bed, Jerawk led Casey on his back. The dragon spared Casey a single, sweet kiss before he worked his muzzle down his body. Jerawk planted kisses and nips, occasionally sucking on Casey's flesh, sometimes soft, sometimes hard enough to make Casey groan and leave marks on his skin. A few hickeys scattered down his stomach before Jerawk pushed his muzzle against Casey's dark pubes and took a breath. An inhale and exhale that sounded deep and satisfied before Jerawk's eyes flicked up and he swore, “I don't ever want to forget this scent." He shuddered, not just lust but those feelings of affection surging back dangerously before Jerawk's tongue teased across Casey's cock. The trans man scratched at the bed while that dexterous oral muscle twined around his dick. The throbbing flesh was tugged into the dragon's mouth, and Casey bucked his hips, legs opening a little wider to encourage him. Now in Jerawk's warm, sucking maw, the human needed to bite down on his wrist to keep quiet. His noises muffled while his cock was surrounded in a home of wet/warm slick that worked carefully around his flesh.

Then Casey felt three insistent fingers begin splitting open his sex. His cunt clamped down, the heat and tension now extended from his navel all the way to those fingers invading his vent. The first set of knuckles inside him now, those scaly fingers slick with Casey's juices before they pistoned once, coming out before shoving back in harder. They pressed up, curled up, those teasing digits working the roof of his vent. They teased his g-spot only a moment before backing out. Another piston. Those fingers pressing inward, Casey's whine a ripple of the sensations that coursed through him as those fingers moved in. He felt his wet dripping down his taint, Jerawk's tongue still squeezed Casey's cock. The dragon growled, vibrations ran over the human's cock and he was able to think how surprisingly good that felt before Jerawk blasted the rest of Casey's thoughts out of his head. Those fingers began pumping inside him. They rammed his g-spot. Casey's back arched, his hip raised and the sensation quickly became so much he tried to roll over. To close his legs, but Jerawk's freehand kept a thigh pinned to the bed. And Casey quaked and bit down harder on his hand to keep from screaming. The heat in his body became unbearable, and soon the walls of his cunt and his cock throbbed and spasmed, clenched and cumming. He was cumming, and the dragon kept working those fingers inside of him, practically pulling Casey's slick cum from his vent as it spilled in weak little rushes across the bed. His body shook while Jerawk finally stopped teasing his cock. The human groaned when his shaft was exposed to the air again, slick draconic saliva spilling down his clitoral hood while Jerawk slowed his fingers to a slow grind.

Casey huffed and panted, releasing his hand from between his teeth and staring at the ceiling. He knew Jerawk watched the human carefully, but Casey, covered in a sheen of sweat, was barely there. The storm outside felt very far away by now. The rain had slowed some, becoming a steady, continuous washing of water across the Earth. And sitting up in the bed, Jerawk''s hips pressed forward and his cock, that slick tower of ebon flesh, rubbed against Casey's mound and along his dick. Casey had spread eagle for him without even noticing, opening his legs in a clear offering of what his body wanted even as his mind struggled to keep up with all it felt.

“Casey, I'm going to fuck you," Jerawk swore. He seemed in that instant, not the gentle and friendly flirt Casey had fallen for, but a domineering stud Casey was totally helpless against.

Panting… “Fuck Jerawk… please…"

That hot cock flesh resting against Casey's mound wasn't enough. Even if his orgasm before was immense he greedily wanted more. He wanted to feel Jerawk filling him up. Jerawk wanted Casey to feel it, too. He grabbed Casey's hand and led it down to spade tip. Casey helped Jerawk line up the dragon's dick with his cunt. Casey kept his hand resting on top of the slick, hot flesh. Then it started to push inside him. He felt his labia press inward under the weight of that shaft. He did not know how big it was exactly, but it certainly filled his cunt when that hot flesh began to enter him. Casey groaned and his hand fell away as Jerawk opened him up. That cock parted his walls, still slick and wet enough with the lubricant of the human's cum that the draconic dick passed easily into his body.

Jerawk's hands rubbed under Casey's thighs, worked beneath the man's knees before he pulled the legs up. By then, only a third of that cock ached inside his vent. But once his backside was raised a little off the bed, Jerawk sighed and let himself sink inside Casey. Both partners moaned as they joined together. Their heartbeats felt between each other, their pulses racing each other. When Jerawk hilted, Casey felt a firm bulb of flesh resting against his mound and finally noticed the dragon's knot. The fact there was more left Casey a little short of breath. He'd taken toys as big as Jerawk, but not another man. No man had ever left him this warm and full, the dragon's heated shaft reaching his farthest depths with a single thrust; the thickness of the ebon shaft so great Casey's walls felt every little vein along the glossy flesh.

The two lovers watched each other, panting for a moment. Jerawk's wings had fanned out a little, making the dragon seem even bigger over Casey. The human reached up and touched his partner's scaled belly, feeling firm muscle beneath that glossy hide. Those abdominals clenched beneath his fingers and that cock bounced at the flex of muscle. It made Casey shudder and respond with a clench of his own. Casey's digits followed the downward sloping trails of violet stripes that pointed toward the dragon's crotch. His palm teased his smaller dick, but it wasn't what he wanted. The tips of his fingers rested against that throbbing mass of dark flesh still pushing up against his entrance. Hot as the rest of that shaft. Jerawk quaked a little, grip on Casey's legs tightening a moment before the human broke the silence:

“This… this is supposed to go inside me, too… doesn't it?"

Jerawk huffed. “Yes."

“It's going to ruin other men for me if you do."

Jerawk grunted and Casey felt him flex again inside Casey's vent.

Casey licked his lips, his voice a little dry: “I want you to ruin me, Jerawk."

Jerawk snarled, the claws on Casey's legs dug into his skin a little.

“Fuck me, Jerawk."

The snarl turned into a rumbling growl that mingled with the thunder outside. Casey had provided the lightning, and now the dragon's lusts echoed back. Jerawk drew back. When that pointed tip slammed in again it almost hurt. The dragon folded the smaller human's body further together, nearly pushing Casey's knees to the bed. Jerawk fucked downwards into his cunt and he forgot about quiet. He moaned, a boyish loud sound that filled the room while that ebon dick churned up his cunt. That knot bounced against Casey's dick, and he bounced against the bed, the mattress creaking some while Jerawk fucked down into his partner. While his dick plumbed Casey's sex, the dragon leaned in and kissed him again. The desperate press of those lips muffled any more moaning. Casey's hands wrapped around the back of Jerawk's neck. That tension began coiling back through his body as he tasted that violet tongue again. Tasted his cock on that tongue. Casey whimpered a little, the rough smack smack smack of the dragon's knot on the human's yawning pussy was almost painful for them both.

But that cunt gave more and more. The fist sized bulb caved in Casey's entire mound. And when it pulled away, the glossy black flesh of the dragon's knot glistened with arousal. The human trying its best to let another species take him. Breed him. At the same time as that thought, Jerawk's knot punched its way through Casey's gaping entrance and tugged roughly as the dragon tried to pull away. Jerawk snarled and bit down on Casey's shoulder. He didn't expect it. The human screamed, a keening cry as fangs punctured flesh. It usually took some amount of pain to get Casey off, and that mating bite sent him over the edge again. His back arched, his hips bucked and tugged on Jerawk's knot, teasing and squeezing it with his entrance. That bite clenched deeper. Casey's hands scratched across Jerawk's back, and the dragon had wrapped the human in his arms. Casey hooked his ankles together above Jerawk's tail to keep the dragon as close as possible.

That cock jumped inside Casey when it came. Jerawk's first shot of spunk, like his cock, felt hot inside Casey. His scream mellowed to a groan as that heat flooded his core. Draconic seed spilled in copious shots of cum. They sought a womb Casey no longer had, and for the first, dizzying time in his life, he regretted the decision. Not that a dragon could breed him anyway. That didn't stop seed from boiling up from the dragon's internal testes and pumping through Jerawk's throbbing knot. Enough spunk it would have easily spilled messily onto the bed if not the tie plugging Casey's cunt. The human felt his core grow tight from cum as it spilled inside him. His normally flat, pale brown belly began to swell a little, pushing up against scales yellow and violet. And through all of this heat and pleasure rocked Casey's body. His legs felt numb and wobbly, his cunt milked weakly at the cock still exhausting itself inside his passage. His mind was cast adrift in a numb daze of cloudy pleasure. He felt stupid with it. Panting with a bit of drool spilling from his lips. Jerawk kept his jaw tightly clamped on Casey's shoulder, the dragon occasionally quaking and breathing furiously through his nose while his dick dumped enough seed the knot around his pussy failed and thick strands off-white cum began sliding down Casey's backside.

Outside, the storm continued dumping its rains. The thunder chased the lightning, and the city was washed. But in his apartment, on his bed, Casey didn't notice any of that. All he recognized was Jerawk shuddering against him. The dragon's heart beating loudly against Casey's.

“Jerawk…" Casey whispered the dragon's name with a touch of wonder only possible when you discover a word or idea that helps realign your entire life.

“Jerawk… Jerawk… oh Jerawk…"