FSE

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Broken Secrets

Chapter Two

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Fyrdrgon

After their first time together, Car and Fyr grew closer and closer, as if they had always been together. What Fyr had thought was just a summer fling, a sunny romance that would come to an end when they moved into Autumn, became so much more than that. It was hard to tell just how much time was passing, feeling as if they had been with each other forever, but, in reality, all it had been was three weeks past that first, devious time out on the island in the middle of the lake.

Soft kisses in the evening when his parents were out. Even though they were more than old enough to be doing what they were doing, in their twenties, it was different still when they both lived at home. Fyr knew that her mom didn't much care what she did, as long as she was safe and happy, but she still had to take into account some things, like her own comfort and that of her mother too. For the first time, she wanted a tiny bit of space and privacy, though still returned home and was around enough for that to be easily accessible to her.

It was not that she wanted to be away from her mother forever, after all. Fyr was just a little infatuated and that was okay too.

Of course, there was still the matter of her brother, Kao, for Car, the blue drake more suspicious than Fyr had been, at least before she'd gotten her innocence broken, her heart shattered. Maybe that meant that something had happened to him that he'd never told Fyr about or maybe it meant something else entirely, but neither were things that she could get out of him. They'd been closer when they'd been younger, but, with all his sports and friends, things had changed, as was the case for so many siblings.

Yet, despite him being her younger brother, Kao still looked Carenath up and down suspiciously, his chin even tilting as if he was trying to make it obvious what he was doing. Fyr scoffed, one paw on her hip.

"Little brother, what on earth are you doing? Say hello!"

It was something that she might have said to a much younger dragon than Kao, never usually referring to him as her brother either (it always came out weirdly), but her brother did not react. He merely carried right on with what he was doing, rocking back on his heels, nostrils flaring in a puff of distrust.

"You'd better not hurt my sister, Carenath," he said, using the drake's full name rather than the nickname that was in common use for him, even around their house. "I've seen guys like you before... I know what you're like!"

Fyr rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright, that's enough of that. Maybe you can be protective and take care of me when I actually need it, hm, Kao?"

Kao growled as she flapped her paws at him and ushered him from the living room where they'd been standing, his teeth showing - though that was merely part of being a dragon and could not so easily be hidden. With a dragon, they were often on show, regardless of what they were doing or what expression they were making.

"Fyr, come on! You can't be serious, just let me..."

"Let you - what? Kao? Hm? He's my boyfriend, not yours!"

For there was nothing, not really, that a brother could do about a sister's boyfriend unless something went south there (then there was plenty that a caring brother could do about that). He was just puffing up his chest, trying to state what was or was not okay when, really, everything was fine the way it was already.

"Jeez, Car, sorry about that."

She offered the drake a smile and a half-shrug as if to say, "what are you going to do about it?" but Car was already laughing.

"No, it's fine! I've seen Kao around, I'm sure we'll get on. It's sweet that he's so worried, makes me wish I had a sister too."

"And I'm sure she would be as much trouble as you are!"

She slung her arms around his neck, standing up onto the tips of her toes to make herself a little taller again, though they were already well-matched. He laughed and kissed her, taking what was offered, his tongue twisting around and playing up against hers as he deeply and passionately kissed her.

It, perhaps, was not all that much of an appropriate kiss for the length of time that they had been together, but was anyone worrying about something like that? They could do what they liked, the passion of their lips coming together with a light sheen of dampness bringing rise to fresh lust, keen in the cool of the morning. Although things were getting warm for their kind of summer, they didn't want to spend too much time indoors, though the two of them could be persuaded for some certain acts...

"Eeeee!"

Fyr squealed as Carenath used her bodyweight against her, toppling her over the back of the large sofa onto the cushions, bouncing, threatening to topple off, but his tail was quick enough to catch her.

"Got you!"

She laughed, clinging to him, one leg half hanging off, though she could not find it in herself to care when he was so close to her, the heat of him alluring. Fyr had never considered how possible it was for her to feel as attracted to another as she did to Car, but tracing her nails tenderly down his arms, feeling the lines of muscle under his scales, would never get old, not to her. There was always something new to explore with the drake, her heart pounding, something that was becoming very familiar to her thickening at his crotch.

"I think you're happy to see me," she breathed, eyes alight, though half closed, lips a hair's breadth from his. "Very much so..."

The dragon sucked in a breath, body shuddering. His length hardened, thickening up quickly, though there was only so much room in his underwear and shorts for it to go, the tightness uncomfortable.

"I always am... But we're not alone here."

Fyr muttered something rude under her breath, though it was not something that could be helped as they sat up again, Car taking a little more distance. He couldn't help that he needed to calm down, trying to cross his ankle over his opposite thigh, giving himself room to breathe, though there was not a single position with a hard-on that could ever be comfortable without his length being shoved where it belonged.

But maybe that would have been a little crude to say out loud, heat prickling down his neck, rubbing the back of it, sliding Fyr a look.

"So... What should we do?"

Spending some time inside until things calmed down, for both of them, seemed sensible, so Fyr tugged the living room curtains across a little more to reduce the glare and reflection off the TV screen, the gaming systems already set up. Due to Kao, they had pretty much every modern console imaginable, though Sasha had had to be a little savvy to be able to get them for her kids. She, however, was not about to let them go without anything, even if they could be quite a steep price when purchased new.

That didn't mean either that Fyr did not enjoy playing on them, though Kao, perhaps, was a touch better than her, as he spent more time on them. Her attention had been taken up by studying and, later, working, as busy as she'd ever been, so he had reaped the spoils. But platformers, RPGs, even shooters and driving games - everything was in her wheelhouse, something that she had picked up at some point out of curiosity, though only some had stuck.

"Oh, I haven't played this one in ages!"

Car grabbed an older game with a purple dragon on the front, not the sort of game that Fyr expected him to go for, but she stifled her giggle.

"Sure... Oh, Kao's got the new Fast and Furious, we should try that later!"

But not all games had to be slick and serious, sometimes they could simply be funny, and she would not make a comment about him choosing the only game that was easily accessible with a dragon on it. Some of her older collection was in the loft and Fyr made a mental note to get it down later, though it was not her, in particular, that seemed interested in a touch of nostalgia. But that was more than alright, considering that it meant that they could spend more time together.

It was good too to laugh at old games, cycling through some of the open collection, what was stored on the rack beside the TV, where the games themselves were not digital only editions. Neither Car nor Fyr could agree on what they thought about that, for while the digital editions (no cases) were more convenient, there was something about having the physical disc or, going back further, the cartridge, that was simply satisfying.

And she was happy too to sit there and rest her head on his shoulder, careful of his horns, though she knew well enough how to manage bits like that when she was a dragon herself. It wasn't too bad, not really, laughing with him, his fingers resting on her thigh whenever there was a save screen or loading screen or whatever, which she supposed meant that he had calmed down for the moment. The dragoness wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not, at that time.

She wanted him there, one way or another, and she had to be focused, to drink in every moment like sips of summer sunshine, sweetness on her lips. So content was Fyr, however, that she didn't hear Kao re-entering the room.

"Hey... What's this?"

Kao peered over the back of the sofa at the TV, though Fyr did not think to ask why he'd been crouching down back there. She would have hissed at him, if that had crossed her mind, but it did not seem as important right then and there, though she still eyed him suspiciously.

"What does it look like we're doing?"

She was a little snappier and snarkier with her brother than she really had to be, but that was simply the way of it, how some things were between siblings. The majority of the quibbles and quarrels were not anything major and that was how Kao ended up sitting down on the other side of Fyr, a controller clasped tightly in his paws. No way was anyone getting that away from him!

"I didn't even know this was a three-player game!"

"Yeah, but it looks a bit weird with three active players, the way they split the screens," Car said with a frown. "It's like they only wanted two or four players with this one... Weird."

"The second one on the Xbox fixed that, I think," Kao said, but he was more focused on controlling his digital car, the collection of pixels on the screen, than being eloquent in conversation. "Something about not always having four players... Everyone's online now these days, but you know. It was a thing back then even."

"Mhm."

The games allowed Car and Kao to get a little closer to each other and, afraid to break whatever kind of truce Kao had made with her new boyfriend, she said nothing. She did not have to serve either of them, but everyone took turns grabbing snacks and drinks, though it was her, of course, that had to insist gently that they eat something "proper" and got sandwiches sorted. When she came back, however, she saw that Kao and Car had ever so slightly closed the space between them on the sofa, talking animatedly about some obscure game that, frankly, she'd never got into.

But if what she thought was boring was something that could bring the two of them a little bit closer together, she was not going to complain one bit about that, even if it was kind of funny how easy it had been, in the end, for Car to win over Kao. It was the sort of thing that she thought only happened in movies and the like, or, well...maybe that was just the way Kao was.

From that day on, though she always had the sense that Kao was keeping an eye on something that she didn't quite understand, the two of them understood each other a little more. To see them bond over video games was a good thing indeed, even if it did, in the end, surpass Fyr's interest in gaming. Still, it was nice for her to relax, to take some time to herself to read, legs kicked up over Car's lap or the arm of the sofa, head laid back, the stresses of work and general life falling away.

She'd have to find something to do, something to take forward, soon, but she was sure she still wanted to take that agriculture course and find an internship, which she was grateful for being well funded currently. There was always a call for work experience students too, in an "interim job" setting, allowing them to get a wide range of experience in different agricultural sectors without committing to a single line. Once she knew a little more about what she wanted, she could commit to it and take on what she wanted, but Car had thrown a spanner in the works there.

She was ahead of everything, though she had no family connections in agricultural work to make the leap that she wanted to, which wasn't the best, but not a massive hindrance to her. she would make it work, she was sure of it, though Carenath taught her too that it was okay to slow down sometimes. That was what she'd been missing as she played games with him, enjoying the sound of him and Kao laughing together, as she read with him or sat and watched the sunset with him.

He slowed the worries in her heart, how her mind always seemed to be racing, brought her back down to a level where she was able to think clearly again. That, once achieved, was a hard thing to want to let go of, even if it would have meant getting back to the grindstone of furthering her career, her life. She'd focused so hard on it and now she felt like she'd been missing out on something the whole time, turning away from moments that could have been so much more. Maybe those things were false constructs in themselves.

And the sex... Wow.

There was nothing like having sex with Car. Had the guys she'd had sex with before even known what they were doing? Ah, but experiences came with time and getting said experience, so she could not judge them too harshly. When Sasha and Kao had gone out for the day, Fyr took her time with Car up in her bedroom, the curtains drawn. Anyone who knew that the two of them were home alone would have been more than able to guess what they were up to, but no one did know, everyone none the wiser as to them enjoying each other's bodies.

Car was never in any rush when it came to sex, even, perhaps, when he should have been, tenderly kissing up the length of Fyr's body, lipping and nuzzling, spending plenty of time on her breasts. The scales were softest there, in particular when he got closer and closer to her nipples and he couldn't get enough of the way that she clung to his horns and grunted, arching up to meet him when he trailed his tongue around her nipple.

It was so good to be with her, taking his mind away from everything else that could ever have been present, any worries about life ahead that he could have had. It just was so simple with her, paws clasped, breath mingling, rolling their hips as delightful passion got the better of them time after time again.

There seemed to be no limit as to what they could do together either as the drake worked his way down her body, leaving a trail of soft, sweet kisses in his wake, her tail curling back and forth. Fyr's panties, however, were still on as he pressed his lips up to her sex through the soft fabric, which was barely any protection or her against the playful wrath of a drake's tongue.

"Mmm... Oh, Car..."

Her moans drove him on, even as the dragoness tried to clutch at the headboard of the bed, though it was a solid one, not one with any gaps or slats in it, which was a shame. She looked so beautiful, so hot, when she arched up, clinging to it, cries rolling forth. But his parents were around a lot so he couldn't use his bedroom, not for that sort of thing with her, all that much. Not considering how loud the two of them could be when they were certain that they were alone. That and after Fyr had checked and double checked the door was locked about six times.

Damn, she was cute.

"Ohhh!"

Her cries rose as his tongue snaked into her panties, tugging them lightly aside as they sprung back against his long, slippery appendage. But the bronze dragon was not to be dissuaded as he explored her body, not for the first time, diving deep into her hot, sultry depths as he tasted her essence. The sweetness of her honey, less tart than usual, poured over his tongue as he resisted the urge to lap it all up, for that would have meant drawing back and not being pressed as close to her as he was, which would have been a shame indeed. Still, a lusty, young drake like him could not help but want it all, one way or another, something that he had not yet learned that he had to take in modicum.

Having everything, well... It simply wasn't possible. But Carenath didn't know that yet.

He pushed his muzzle more and more hungrily between her thighs, driving deep, his tongue curling up inside her, hungry for more, more than he ever had been before. She moaned, humping up against him, though both dragons were right where they wanted to be, cries rising, her legs wrapping around as much of his shoulders and torso as she could. She had to have him, had to have more, his tongue flickering up, unknowingly, against her G-spot. He didn't have enough experience to know how to hit it every time he lapped up into her, but it was easier to lean into her, his nose pressing up into her clit, Fyr's moans and groans leading him on.

"Ohhh... Car... Please..."

The dragoness may not have known what she was begging for, but, yes, more, so much more. She needed it all as she cried out repeatedly, squeezing her legs around him, flesh softly pressing around his head even as her thighs closed in. Heat flickered up through her crimson scales, the yellow of her stripes, which curved around her sides, no break in them at the centre of her back where her spine was, all on show. But Car had seen every inch of her, or so it seemed, over recent weeks, the dragons more than simply enjoying their summer romance.

He knew she was close when her toes started curling, the tension in her muscles a little more aggressive, breath catching a little bit more. They were all small, simple signs, but Carenath knew her well enough to catch them, his heart lifting, passion rising, the hardness of his cock bare and on show, throbbing for release. But he wanted to take care of her first, his hide warming through at the thought of pleasing the dragoness, caring for her in all ways, not only her sexual needs.

Fyr's hips rose against him, nose crushed into her clit, but Carenath was not about to stop, not when his heart was pounding so hard, so vehemently, humping, grinding need driving him on. It was all he could do to keep slurping up inside her and would have paid more attention to her clit if she had afforded him the opportunity to do so. But she could not, would not, clinging to his horns, a claw brushing one of his frills, yet the passion of the moment was far, far too steep for anything else at all to come to pass.

Panted breaths heralded the encroach of her orgasm as his tongue flickered up inside her, moaning, grunting, whimpering, heaving for breath with every roll of her tits. He bore down deeper inside her - and Fyr could not hold back for a single moment more as orgasm crashed over her.

She hardly knew what she was doing or where she was in a moment like that, crying out, her tail weaving back and forth, need overcoming her like nothing ever had before. Pleasure exploded, sweeping her up and far away, yet she was still present in the moment, every sensation crashing through, her scales aching strangely, nerve-endings that she had never even considered flaring up with ecstasy.

But her drake was there, her sweet dragon, his muzzle stained with evidence of her orgasm, so much more coming to pass. While she was still in a daze of climax, her folds soft and plush, her passage rippling and clenching weakly in the aftershocks of pleasure, she ground back, rolling her hips, letting him scoot up behind her. There was no other desire in her heart but for his cock, the need with which he could fill her, though Fyr barely recognised the dragoness that she had become.

When had she become so openly passionate, so openly lustful? It didn't seem like her and yet it was a part of her that Car had drawn out of her, his cock slowly easing into her from behind.

"Ohhh..."

"You feel so good..."

He kissed the back of her neck as he pushed inside, spooning her, holding her leg up with one paw as he pushed her knee up a little closer to her chest, allowing him easier access to her pussy. The wetness of her folds practically slurped around his cock, clinging to his thick length, though it was easier for his cock to slide inside her when Fyr was soaked. He was, after all, a little on the larger side than most dragons. But that worked for them, if Fyr was warmed up first, needing to go easy or gentle otherwise.

"Harder."

But Fyr could not let him be gentle with her forever when she could have something more, something harder, something a little more... Well, she didn't quite know what that liking in her was yet, but she wanted to find out. Slow and sensual was all well and good but she was in it for all flavours that were to be offered to her, panting heavily as the drake nipped and kissed at the back of her neck, the round of her shoulders.

He would do anything at all that she desired, moaning against her, hunching his muzzle down, grunting. He needed it, grinding in, her pussy holding his cock perfectly, hardly wanting to pull out after he had thrust in all the way. The head of his cock crammed up to her innermost barrier with the deepest of his thrusts, though he was careful not to slam into it, for that was not something, not for any dragoness, that would be pleasurable. Yet her body was hot and ready for him, backside grinding weakly back to him, her breath catching already.

He trembled with pride. His dragoness with climax again so quickly...if only he was good to her and good about it.

Fyr's head swam with luxurious ecstasy, his paw snaking around, finding her clit. She was still sensitive after the first time, but she wanted more, licking her lips, tongue lashing out down the side of her muzzle. It was a carnal thing to do, something sluttier, something that she never thought she would have usually done, but Car opened all those doors and so many more to her.

She wanted it, whispering his name, a tiny part of her mind aware that she was closer than ever, all over again, tail trying to curl around as much of his waist as it could. Carenath growled, nipping at her shoulder, and she trembled, embracing it as she embraced him, craving more.

That was all she wanted, all she needed, panting, heaving, her breasts rising and falling more and more sharply, desire coursing through in heady pumps of lustful breath, again and again. Orgasm gripped her, but even through that, all she could focus on was the thickness of his cock, how her velvety folds clung to him, the tightness of her pussy only getting tighter around his thick meat.

It was needed, raw and raunchy, the slop of his cock disappearing into her filling the bedroom. Alas, they would not be alone there for all that much longer, the afternoon swiftly disappearing, one session of sex, pretty much, slipping into another and another.

He thrust and thrust, pressed as close to her as he possibly could be, thrusting harder, her body rocking with the force of it. He ground into her as her pussy clenched around him, gripping him so tightly that, for a moment, he thought that it might actually be difficult for him to thrust - but things would not go quite that far.

Not quite.

But pretty close.

He couldn't hold back, Carenath snarling softly as he drove in, her body welcoming him, his dragoness tipping into yet another orgasm, one rolling into the next. Her body rippled around him as if she was trying to draw every last drop of lust from his body, craving it all, needing it so much more...but it was not under her control any more than it was for Carenath.

Lust was there to be enjoyed, two bodies panting and twisting together in the throes of it, the drake growling deep in the back of his throat as he ground in as deep as he felt he could go. His nuts ached with the need to cum and he filled her, spurt after thick spurt drooling forth, pumping after pump. Fyr, of course, was on the pill, though they had used condoms a couple of times, just for the sensation and, well, to see what they felt like. They were both undecided on that, however, Carenath and her committed to each other - at least for their relationship. Who knew what the future could bring?

But that did not matter in the pursuit of deviant delight, need coursing through as he rested against her, holding her tightly with one arm, tracing mindless patterns on her arm with the other. She was there and the moment was there for them to enjoy as they pleased, whimpering softly, panting lightly, whispering sweet nothings to each other in the afterglow. His shaft softened slowly inside her as she ground back against him, though it was a gentle roll of her hips more than anything else, needing something, though she was too sleepy and contented in that moment to take it for herself.

They cleaned up, though showered separately. For all else, that still felt like something that was a more intimate act than sex, something that brought a manner of closeness in another way than mere sex ever could. But it allowed them to cool down afterwards, softening the tension in their scales, that strange need that, for dragons, could leave them feeling like they were itching. For they did not shed their scales like other scaled creatures, even though some of them could come away from time to time. They would always grow back, which was a relief if they were ever scraped off, though they could scar too on occasion.

Fyr leaned back against the wall of the shower, having let Carenath shower first while she rested and recovered. It was amazing, truly, to have a drake like him in her life, though she did not quite know how she had gotten so lucky there. It did not make sense, not wholly, but she didn't need to worry about that. All was right with the world and she was more than happy to carry on with things just the way they were.

Carenath towelled off quickly, re-dressing, though he did wish that he had clothes there for a change. That was a bit too forward though, not unless he kept them in his car, and was a dead giveaway if anyone said anything about the fact that he was wearing different clothes to the ones that he had arrived in. No, it meant that he had to jump through too many hoops to try to make a fib work, even though it was not that bad of a lie.

It was strange that, as adults, they still felt the need to ever so slightly hide the fact that they had sex. They did and it was normal, healthy even, but they still did that, ever so slightly. It was not a shameful thing but a perfectly normal thing, though Carenath still blushed at the thought of Fyr's lips on his, how good the curve of her body had felt up against him.

"Oh!"

At the bottom of the stairs, he crashed straight into Sasha, Fyr's mother, grabbing at her, blushing, stumbling, stammering, laughing awkwardly out loud. The drake did not quite know where she'd come from, but the dragoness had appeared there as if from nowhere, wearing a long, flowing summer dress that was form-fitting while being appropriate for her age.

"I didn't see you there, I'm so sorry!"

Carenath fumbled with his words while Sasha laughed and stepped back, shaking her head.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Kao says I'm like a mouse when I'm moving around this house sometimes, that's all perfectly normal, no worry at all."

But he worried, blushing, stepping back, putting space between them, though it was the first real time that he'd met Sasha up close. They'd seen each other in passing, in the driveway, but it had felt like there was something distanced there, which was perhaps the way it should have been. Carenath squirmed inwardly. Maybe he should have thought of bringing her a gift or something? Was that something that was done in dating those days? He didn't even feel like he knew that, but could only try.

"Do you want a drink?" She offered him, halfway to the kitchen already as if she had thought much less of their interaction than Carenath did. "It's such a hot day!"

It was nice of her to offer him something and maybe taking the drink would allow him to avoid the question of, well, where Fyr was at that moment. He didn't want to make things too obvious, but leapt at the chance to distract her all the same.

"Sure! I'll bring a case of coke around next time, I've been taking way too many while over here, hah."

Carenath rubbed the back of his neck. Was that okay to say? Oh, he wanted to be good, didn't want her to think that he was mooching off Fyr's mother, but something in that moment had his tongue tied into knots the way that it never had been with Fyr.

What was wrong with him?

Mutely, he sat at the breakfast table in the kitchen, the one that was used for quick meals, informal meals. He'd peeked into the dining room at Fyr's place just the once, but it was hardly a spot that he had spent all that much time in with his family, not when it came to good memories and the like. It was always somewhere stiff and rigid, somewhere where he had sat with family members that he didn't really see in any other location, distant cousins apparently people that he was supposed to interact with and understand at those times.

Breakfast tables... They were easier for conversation and they were more relaxing still, as Sasha poured his drink into a glass when he would have more than happily taken it straight from the can. The drake supposed that that was the more civilised way to be in the end.

"Thanks, I appreciate it!"

He was too bright, too chipper, feeling too warm even though the patio back doors of the kitchen, looking out over the garden, were open. It was a warm breeze that flowed in, but even that was cooler than his scales actually were.

It didn't make sense. Yet, in another way entirely, it made the whole world of sense. He'd only understand that later.

Thankfully for Carenath, Sasha more than understood how to put a young drake at ease, sitting demurely, her dress covering as much of her body as it needed to, flowing softly around her knees. It was light and summery, however, and she did not take into consideration that it showed a tiny bit of her cleavage, her brassiere supporting, holding her just right to be comfortable.

His eyes wandered, as much as he tried to keep them to himself. But what was he supposed to do - he was just a young dragon and dragons like him still had needs! Of course, the fact that he had spent time upstairs only a few moments ago with his wonderful girlfriend didn't seem to register in his mind, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"So, where are you working now, Carenath? You finished your studies also, didn't you?"

It was not a dig at him but merely Sasha making conversation. She smiled gently, pushing a drink to him across the table, though her own was boiling on the counter. She still liked a cup of coffee on occasion, even though the weather at that time was less than amenable to it. Without ever finishing a full cup, she annoyed Fyr to no end with the wastage, despite coffee being as cheap as anyone could have liked it to be there. It was not as if, of course, Sasha drank particularly high-end beverages. She had a thought in mind that it all came from pretty much the same place anyway, especially when it came to the basic ranges.

Carenath pondered the question.

"Yes, but I think I'm going to do an extra course - not for the degree, but something that gives me some work experience too. I was doing finance."

There, he'd said it: that was something that should always put a mother on his good side and Sasha's eyes warmed a little more to him instantly.

"Ah, I must have forgotten. What an excellent career path for you, I'm sure you'll know that it'll set you up well. Fyr's always had her heart set on agriculture, though I can't blame her. I was never much one to be stuck in an office all day either and I think she's picked that up from me."

Carenath's ears perked up.

"What did you do? Or do you still work? I mean... Oh, that came out wrong..."

Sasha laughed.

"No, of course, not, don't worry about it! I know it looks like I must be home and around all the time, but my office moved to flexible work hours, though I was only doing part-time when that happened. It suited me far better to be home more, though it can be quiet here when Fyr's out and Kao's doing his thing. I wouldn't have gone back into office work if the boutique work had not sadly come to a close, but you know you've got to keep money coming in. It's one of the unfortunate things in this world."

Car sighed.

"Yeah, I figure as much. No money...and that's that, isn't it? I know I still live with mom and dad, but I'm starting to see that more and more. It sucks, but...isn't it better to realise that now than later?"

Sasha smiled warmly.

"Honey, you'll do fine if you're holding that in mind now. But don't let it consume you, okay? You're too sweet to let yourself worry about things like that at your age, not when there is no concrete need."

His fingers tingled, something moving over the back of his paw, and he realised a moment before her paw touched down fully that it was her paw. Sasha clasped his paw warmly, softly, closing her fingers over the top of his in such a pause of motherly comfort that Car would have thought that he was back home. It was softening and sweetening and, despite the churning nerves in the pit of his stomach merely from being around her, he relaxed, just a bit. It was hard to be anxious when he was with Sasha, as much as he wanted to make the best impression possible with her mother.

But Sasha seemed to make it so easy for him, so much so that even Car felt the tension slipping from his shoulders. Was she like Fyr to the point that he felt drawn to her too? He couldn't explain what, to him, was inexplicable, feeling as if there was something of a pull from him to the dragoness, something that made him want to shuffle his chair in closer.

He smiled. Sometimes, little moments like that were not to be dug into. Not that much.

"Thanks, it really helps to hear that. I can't talk about this sort of stuff with mom and dad, I don't want them to worry. But I am worrying too much about things that haven't happened yet, aren't I?"

Sasha nodded gently, the warmth of her paw seeping into his.

"Yes, honey, but it's all going to be okay, so let it go from your mind. I've seen Fyr worry time after time about things that have not yet come to be, so you feel free to come talk to me if anything like that is going around in your head again. Sometimes, all it takes is saying it out loud for things to be alright again."

The drake's tail flicked under the table, his heart a little lighter. He had not realised that he'd been carrying a weight there, to begin with. How had Sasha seen through that?

"If you are concerned though, I can help with a budget," she went on, leaning back in her seat a little. "I've done plenty of that in my day, what with raising these two dragons. You could say that I've had a hand in finance myself, though I don't have qualifications like you do, Car."

She laughed, moving her paw from his, Car's cheeks a little flushed.

"I'd say that I helped with Fyr's budget, but that dragoness barely spends anything at all yet seems to have everything she needs regardless. I don't know how she does it. I could learn a thing or two from her!"

He chuckled.

"That does sound like her... She has a plan for everything!"

"And a particular way that she wants to do it too!"

Carenath laughed. That was true, very true, though she had introduced him to so many secret new spots around his local area that it was a wonder indeed that he had not come across them before.

"Yeah, but that's just one of the things I like about her. Amongst others..."

He blushed again, rubbing the back of his neck. Sasha smiled, allowing him a moment while she went to pour her cup of coffee, which had finished brewing to perfection. That time it was ground coffee that she was allowing to seep through filter paper, something a little different. Not her usual, it must have been a gift that Kao had bought for her, but, of course, had been picked out by Fyr last Christmas.

"You're sweet, Car, I'm glad she met you. Kao's even said something about you being alright!"

Carenath laughed.

"Really? I thought he was going to hit me the first time we were officially introduced here!"

"Oh, that's just Kao. Fyr's always been incredibly independent, my sweet girl, but Kao thinks that he has to protect her. I can't imagine why, but it's nice to see that he's looking out for her in his own way as much as she's looking out for him. They didn't always get along when they were younger."

Footsteps on the stairs had them turning their heads, Fyr reappearing, though her scales were still ever so slightly damp from the shower.

"Oh!" She started, jumping a little as if she had not expected Sasha to be there. "I didn't realise that you'd come home, mom, but it's good for you to meet. I guess introductions don't need to be made anymore!"

She smiled, though her heart beat a little more quickly, urgency tugging at her chest. What did her mother think of Car? Did she approve? Not that she needed her mother's approval, of course, to date anyone, but it was one of those things that would be nice to have either way.

Sitting down with the two of them, everything in Fyr's little world, her body still faintly tingling after her fun with Car, was right. Simply so, all was fine, all was well, all was exactly as it was meant to be. Nothing needed to be different as conversation flowed between them as easily as she could have ever expected it to, talking about what movies were coming out soon, even arranging loosely for all of them to go see one. They might even have invited Carenath's parents too, though Fyr had not yet had the chance to sit down with them and see what they thought about her. In passing, however, they had seemed more than nice enough, just like Car.

She smiled, Car's tail brushing hers under the table.

More days like the one that had just passed would suit her simply fine.

More than fine, in fact.