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Hey, folks! Welcome to Free Association, Episode 31! If you're new and you like sappy fags (not the same as soppy rags or sapping flags), RAPIDLY RELOCATE YOURSELF THIRTY EPISODES PRIOR! *drill instructor yena*

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_ Wednesday. _

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When the cars were parked, when he'd returned his mom's keys and discussed the panther's report with her, when he'd taken off his shoes and jacket... Daniel retired to his room again, with his friend, and shut the door. It was fully dark outside, now. The TV was still aglow, their game still up and paused. "Now we get to relax!" the dragon said lustily, stretching his arms out.

His friend giggled, and tried not to stare too much at the dragon's nice build under his shirt and jeans. "Yaaay."

"I'll say..." Daniel replied, giving him a completely unwarranted but much appreciated beaming smile. "I wanna just hang out and get comfy with you. Play video games and stuff."

Wonder if that's all he wants to do... Wonder if he maybe wants to continue from last night...

Continue on to what, exactly?

Well, he could fathom a guess... Even a sheltered rich boy eventually discovers internet porn. In college. After his first roommate all but types in the address of a big amateur video site for him.

Not that he hadn't known what to do with porn well before then... One thing his parents had not been able to shelter him from. His own curious paws and imaginative mind. That was all a young guy needed, right? Not that he'd turn down the porn...

Or a, uh... friend...

Daniel flopped down on the bed again, spreading out, and then picking up his controller from before and grinning up at his friend. He patted the bed next to him.

Since when have I been this shy?

Gulp. Siddown. Tailswish. Smile. Daniel fiddled with his controller, but didn't unpause the game. They sat there in silence, one looking at the other, the other looking at the TV, both unseeing.

"Um..." Daniel finally managed to say. He drew his gaze back to meet the mammal's, and immediately dropped it to the bed. "I... I really wanna relax... all the way, like."

"Okay..." the older replied, paws resting between his knees anxiously; he gave a shy chuckle.

"And, uh... one of the ways I feel more comfortable... well..." Daniel glanced up again, back down. "Well, would you... mind, if I took my pants off?"

The mammalian male caught his friend's anxious glance and faint blush. "O-oh... uh, n-no, not at all!" he stammered, feeling something leaping to attentiveness below his midriff.

Ear-fucking-perk.

Daniel chuckled a bit, still embarrassed. "I just... I guess I just like hanging out in my boxers, and we're pretty good friends right?" He grinned, fumbling with his belt. "I'm comfortable enough with you, it's not a big deal. You can do it too, if you like, it's really comfortable..."

"Heh... O-okay..." the other male replied, looking down at his pants and blushing a bit as well. "I... I guess I do it with my roommate sometimes... mostly on Saturdays right after we get up... we're lazy, heh... We wear exactly the same kind, same brand even, it's kinda funny..." Gingerly, he lowered his paws to his waistline, squirming his footpaws out of his shoes.

"Good that you have something in common!" Daniel replied, with a little wink that made his friend giggle a bit. The dragon's zipper went zzzzzp. "Do you ever get them mixed up?"

"Heheh, sometimes..." the other male admitted sheepishly. "I've opened the wrong drawer before... It's really obvious when we try to put them on, though... his won't even stay on my hips, he wears like XL or something, whereas small barely fits me cause I'm so skinny..."

Neither of them could pretend like they weren't watching the male next to them. They both knew the other was watching. They both knew the other knew they were watching. And so on.

"Oh jeez, I know that feeling," the equally-skinny drake replied. "How the elastic slides and gaps when you suck your stomach in? Argh, thin people problems..." he moaned, and got a giggle in response as he undid his button. Casually, he slithered his legs out of his jeans. His muted black watch plaid boxers stood out strongly in contrast against his yellow scales. His legs were completely furless.

I... I wonder... he has body fur, right? I mean, other than the mane... I know reptilian folks aren't really like feral reptiles, they thermoregulate and bear live young... And dragons are probably more closely related to mammals than reptiles anyway. But, scales... and no nipples... right? Man, he should have paid more attention in biology. Who knew this sort of information would become important in quite this way?

Daniel kicked his pants off, and his companion unzipped his own and pulled them down to his ankles, before bending over and tugging them off one leg at a time. Then, he straightened up, and sat there fidgeting in just his t-shirt and nondescript white briefs.

The two partially-undressed males looked each other over.

Neither individual's choice of underpants was particularly effective at concealing their respective erections.

Then, Daniel shifted himself a bit closer to the other, smiling and wrapping one arm around his shoulders. "C'mon, let's hang out."

So, they did. The two friends sat crosslegged on the dragon's bed, scooting back to lounge against his pillows. They picked up their controllers and resumed gaming. They chatted idly, tails flicking between their bare legs. They shifted closer and closer, until their hips nudged together, the soft cotton of the older male's underwear rubbing against the somewhat coarser woven plaid of the younger's. Daniel's boxers were static-y, they made his friend's feathers tingle.

It was a lot like last night. Daniel wasn't holding him this time, but they were very close, close enough that it was possible not only to hear each other's breathing, but to feel it. Feel body heat and small movements and just that sense, that awareness of the other's presence. And yeah... it was nice. Daniel was right. It was relaxing, to just... hang out. A friendly experience, with that subtle sexual tension underlaying it. That was nice. The ability to just glance over and get the eye candy of a nice bulge, attached to a nice guy who didn't mind when he caught you looking. The reptile even smiled when he did so, one of those smiles, playful and delighted. It was all nice.

It was growing late.

Daniel reached a section that he had to do by himself; the second player wasn't able to follow for the moment. One controller now lay idle. The paws which had occupied it lay idle too, for the moment, resting atop their owner's white-striped-blue waistband, and the sliver of fluffiness visible between it and the hem of his t-shirt. Slowly, his digits worked against each other, fidgeting distractedly, lazily, never ceasing their anxious motion. Meanwhile, the eyes which had directed them a moment before observed... strayed... lingered. The dim flicker of the TV was like white noise, blurring and muting their actions.

A train was coming. More slowly this time... perhaps it had been coming for a while, even days. But, it was nearly here, now... he could almost smell the diesel fuel, hear the squeal of the brakes.

Slowly... tentatively... the gryphon reached out, and placed one trembling paw on Daniel's knee.

His scales were so smooth. Big, there, relatively speaking; none of them were much larger than the eraser end of a pencil, but in other places, like around his eyes, they were much smaller, closer to the size of the head of a pin. So smooth, and cool to the touch, almost... slippery... but firm, protective.

Daniel didn't seem to react, as his friend's paw slowly rubbed across his knee and slid around to the end of his thigh. He was busy, occupied with the game, trying to progress. He frowned in concentration.

He didn't tell the other male to stop.

Gathering a little more of his courage... the avian gave him a gentle stroke. Short and hesitant... followed by a longer, more caressing one.

A response. Daniel's eyelids lowered slightly. Visibly. He didn't look away from the game.

Stroke.

Strooooke.

That one nearly touched the hem of the dragon's boxers... the next was a bit more conservative.

"That feels nice..." Daniel rumbled, his voice almost a whisper. The motions of his pawdigits on the controller had slowed. He uncrossed his legs, putting them up at a forty-five degree angle.

Gulp.

You're petting this guy's thigh.

Yeah. He was. And the stroke-ee thought... it felt nice.

Felt pretty nice to the stroke-er, too, all things considered. He was glad they hadn't decided to take off their underwear, or something like that. He needed something to soak up the pre.

Speaking of underwear.

The hem of Daniel's boxers danced against his digits. The cloth was so soft, so light... so warm...

A shiver went up the dragon's spine. The gryphon watched his mane tuft slightly, his tail flick.

Daniel set his controller down.

After a moment of mutual hesitation, the dragon glanced at him, and murmured, "You can keep going if you like, Mitch."

The gryphon gulped, and slowly resumed his gentle petting, now focused more on Daniel's inner thigh, dipping into the leghole of his boxers with each stroke. The dragon leaned back against his pillows lazily, eyes half-open, breathing through his slightly-open mouth.

The fly of his boxers was sticking up. It twitched occasionally. It was kind of hard not to watch that.

It was hardly something Mitch could have done all at once... but this slow, progressive appreciation of Daniel's scaly hide was not something that he could just halt, either. His paw went deeper into the drake's underwear, slowly, over time. He ended up with it basically stuffed up Daniel's boxers, nearly in his crotch, caressing the very upper edge of his thigh. He could feel the folds between Daniel's leg and abdomen, and was acutely aware that his paw was only a couple inches from that twitching object that was supporting the dragon's tented fly. The scales under his paws were growing smaller, and looser... Daniel made a very soft noise... almost a moan.

Yes, dragons had body fur. Apparently. It was thick, and the border between it and his bare scale was very defined, instead of fading slowly. The gryphon shyly allowed his pawdigits to work into the very edge of it, scritching a little at the scale beneath it. It was nothing like his own long, skinny feathers, somewhere between feather and fur, in some places more like one, in others, more like the other. No, this was thick, luxurious, silky fur, small-bored and voluminous, fairly straight, but a bit scruffy. Not too long. So smooth, it was almost slippery. So warm...

Daniel was all but purring. His eyes were almost shut. He was smiling.

The gryphon was slowing down, now, caught up, unable to go any further without a significant spike in his courage. He became aware that, when he held his paw still... he could feel a sense of heat, radiating against his knuckles.

I can't remember... do male dragons have a scrotum? Or are they like lizards?

Wouldn't be too hard to find out, would it? Daniel was hardly protesting. In fact, in the last few minutes, his legs had spread a bit, and he'd angled his hips up; he seemed almost to be inviting the other male to keep heading in that direction.

Mitch gulped.

Slowly, he drew his paw back out of the dragon's underwear.

Daniel's eyes opened; the drake looked at him silently. He seemed to grasp the unspoken subtext of the gesture: That was enough for tonight.

Mitch hoped he wouldn't be disappointed. He didn't look it... but the gryphon still found himself feeling a little anxious.

The TV dimmed itself to save power. It was quiet.

The reptile spoke up. "I want you to stay," he said, very softly. "Please..."

Mitch looked at his footpaws. "I..."

"Please. Stay here with me." The dragon's voice was gentle yet emphatic; he rolled toward the other male and reached out one paw to touch his arm. "I want you... here, in my bed, with me. Don't... don't leave me alone again."

The gryphon rubbed his paw against the underside of his beak, trying not to meet those soft yellow-green eyes, now so wide and glistening. His chest was pounding. His paw smelled like boy dragon... "I..."

"You're my best friend..." the reptile continued, mournfully, "or, I want you to be my best friend... I want to be close to you, like... like last night..."

"Dan, I..." The gryphon gulped, blushing. "I, I've never even... slept in the same bed as... as another guy, before..."

The dragon's paw slid down and touched his own... but shied away, before it could become a pawhold. "I want to be good enough friends that we can do that. That it's not a big deal."

I've never felt like this about anyone before... Does that mean it's okay to... do something I've never done before?

What were they going to do, anyway? Just... go to sleep?

He wished Jonathon were here. The pragmatic raccoon always knew when to tell him he was being stupid. He hoped the guy was okay; why hadn't he sent a text yet?

Heh. Never mind that Jonathon would probably flip out, if he saw his immature, obnoxious gryphon friend half-naked and playing with a guy. Mitch could hardly believe it himself. What the hell was he doing?

What the hell was he waiting for?

The gryphon looked up at Daniel, and gulped. "O-okay."

Those olive-green eyes lit up. "You'll stay?"

Tentative smile. "Yeah... I'll stay."

Daniel tackled him with a sudden boxer-clad hug, taking the gryphon by surprise; he blinked and slumped back onto the dragon's pillow, covered in reptile, giggling.

"Heh... Yaaaay?"

Daniel looked up at him, face rubbing firmly against his chest in an embarrassing sort of way, and smiled in that way he had. "Yay," he murmured, warmly, softly.

A little nervously, the gryphon twisted his paws around, clutching the hem of his shirt. "I... I've never... done anything like this before, so..."

"Like what?" Daniel asked softly.

"Like... like what we're... going to do?" Mitch responded, a faint question creeping into the sentence as well.

"Heh... well... that's fine with me..." the dragon rumbled. "...just as long as you're here." He swallowed visibly. "I... I like you so much, Mitch..."

A slow, soft smile. "I like you too."

The dragon had to leave, after that. Go out into the living room, tell his mom that Mitch was going to stay the night. Mitch wasn't sure exactly what he said. He was too embarrassed to listen in. He wondered if he'd be allowed... He wondered if the lady-dragon's response would be a scowl or a knowing smile... there was no way she couldn't have noticed the enormous crush her son had on this new friend... However that conversation went, permission seemed to be granted. Daniel went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth. Mitch went to the bathroom, too. Unlike the dragon, he put his pants back on first, giving a shy little grin when Daniel chuckled.

And then... the door was closed. The door was locked.

They were standing on either side of the bed. The TV was still on, providing that dim glow from the video game they hadn't shut off.

Daniel was looking at him. He was looking at Daniel.

Slowly, the dragon reached down... gripped the hem of his shirt, and tugged it up. He slithered out of it like a snake. His skinny torso was blocky, faintly muscular; he had a little patch of black fur between his pecs, and another surmounting the waistband of his boxers.

No navel. Daniel had been born live, like every other species Mitch could think of, and had hair, unlike most 'reptiles' of feral persuasion or non... but that apparently didn't mean his prenatal development had gone quite the same as mammalian species. Or postnatal, if the lack of nipples was any indication.

The gryphon mirrored his friend, shedding his shirt; he let his pants resume the floor where they had lain. His feather-furs were overall a sort of dusty brownish-gray, heading more towards gray-black on his shoulders, a bit more towards red on his knees and elbows, and more towards light gray or tan on his chest and stomach.

The dragon was watching him. His scaly paw trailed across his stomach... wandered down to his fur, his waistband. His long tail was swishing behind him, flicking that mane that was so darn fascinating. His thumb slid under the elastic; his digits gripped.

Mitch's breath caught. He was tense, excited, yet very nervous. There was a damp patch where he'd been pre-ing so hard earlier. He watched, shifting his weight between his footpaws, flicking his tail, holding one wrist with the opposite paw behind his back.

Daniel smiled at him, then, and withdrew his paw, leaving his underwear in place. The gryphon breathed a little sigh of relief... and disappointment.

The dragon flopped onto his bed, lying facedown atop in with a groan of contentment. That onyx mane ran from his short forehead all the way to the tip of his tail, never more than an inch or two wide, but four or five inches long in places, and eight or longer in the ruff at the tip of his tail. It was that same thick, scruffy fur that the gryphon was now more familiar with, but it was very straight, and very springy, giving it that magical, flashy quality as it swished through the air. Broken only by the waistband of his boxers, it splashed across his shoulderblades and spiked between his ears. Daniel looked back over his shoulder at the other young man and grinned a bit, looking for all the world like a pinup model with his tail flicking playfully.

Then they were crawling under the blankets, two friends, two guys in their underwear, one familiar with the setting, the other acting out of bold awkwardness, tentatively reassured by his companion. It was almost like last night... minus a few articles of clothing. Plus a few connotations.

Is he going to hold me again? Is he going to... do something else?

The dragon grabbed his controller and told the video game console to shut off. He poked the remote, and the TV did likewise.

And now... it was dark.

Two young men, lying next to each other in bed. They didn't say anything... yet, there was no indication either of them were about to go to sleep. All there was was darkness, and silence, and the soft sounds of someone else breathing nearby... being in the same bed as someone else was so very strange, even if it was a double bed, so there was space for the two skinny males to lie without being up against each other. It was just... the awareness, of the other occupant. All the little indications. Slight movements of the covers. Body heat. Sounds. Even... that intangible sense, that people referred to as 'personal space', the 'bubble'.

Daniel was in his bubble. It was a double, not a king; there was no way not to be. But... Mitch wasn't so sure he would take a larger mattress, even if it were offered. Heck... he might not mind so much trying to make a single work. They were skinny. They could do it... with some creative arm placement and... interesting positions...

He heard Daniel move.

The dragon shifted, stirred, slid a little closer under the blankets. The gryphon's ropy tail squirmed between the sheets. He resettled himself. They still weren't touching.

Mitch wondered if Daniel was as hard as he was. He hadn't been able to get rid of this boner, in some capacity, ever since the dragon had taken his pants off. Now it was full and throbbing, again, leaking precum the way it tended to... the gryphon had always been a drippy little faucet, ever since gym class in freshman year of high school had first caused him to notice that... aspect.

He wondered if Daniel usually jerked off before he went to sleep... the gryphon didn't do it every day, but when he did it, it was invariably at night, after Bill had gone to bed. This probably would have been a prime night for it, with how hard he was, and the way his balls were aching. He supposed it had been a few days... not to mention his 'muse'.

The dragon shuffled a little closer.

"Give me your paw..." he heard, the faintest whisper, an almost-silent exhalation. Mitch felt his cock twitch.

Trembling, the gryphon replied, "W-what are... you gonna do with it?"

A beat of silence. A rustle. "Uh, hold it... If... if that's okay."

And, at that... Everything seemed to settle into place, in the gryphon's mind. Slowly, shyly... he smiled. His paw slid down into the space between them... and a moment later, he scooted over a bit. A warm, scaly pad met his own; Daniel's digits wrapped around his palm.

Both males sighed.

It felt nice.

He wasn't sure he would be able to do it, anywhere but in a dark room underneath the blankets... but Mitch couldn't pretend that it didn't feel nice. He couldn't pretend that he didn't want to hold paws with a guy. Not just any guy. With Dan.

Daniel scooted a bit closer, again. They were inching in toward the center of the bed, feeling each other's body heat against their sides. The dragon's slow breathing was discernible in the slight shift of the sheets, in the sensation tingling upon the long, fur-like feathers of the gryphon's upper arm.

So strange, just to think, that they'd only met two weeks ago, at the Fall Expo. This darn dragon dude who was so good at Forza that he beat Mitch, the semi-official king of Forza, and then went on to beat Mike (who was ahead of Mitch by some total fluke that was not worthy of note and was put in his proper place by the gryphon after both were out of the running)... and was only defeated in the final match by a crazy-good bear guy who had about as many facial expressions as he had tails. Just this nice, slightly younger dragon guy, enjoying himself alone at the expo, nice to talk to, nice to hang out with a bit after Mitch asked if he wanted to join their group of college friends (minus Jonathon for the day, for whatever reason the coon had been busy)...

Nice to talk a bit more to after. Nice to get to know. Nice to text randomly in class, chat with on Steam. Grab a soda with, when they ran into each other in the university library, where the dragon was getting research materials for his advanced high school english class.

Now Mitch shifted closer. Their paws were crammed between them now; he could feel Daniel's boxers against his knuckles. Daniel's tail wrapped around his leg, making him smile even more.

And through it all, his heart had gotten more and more... fluttery, was the only way to describe it. More and more of this funny feeling, when Dan smiled at him, when his mane flipped and his subtle biceps flexed... when the dragon called him cool, nice, cute. When he would pat Mitch's shoulder... hug him... ask to hold paws...

Their paws were just the right size for each other. Dragons had thick digits, with blocky canine-like claws, while Mitch's were more slender, with a bigger palm and smoothly curved, feline-like claws. They fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

Finally, the dragon lifted said paws out of the way, and scooted right up against his friend. Their hips pressed together once more, their sides, their knees. Their shoulders bumped.

The dragon sighed in contentment. Mitch felt it against his chest. And it seemed at last, they could go to sleep, like this. Side by side.

One more thought occurred in the gryphon's drowsy mind, and he had to voice it.

"Dan?"

"Hm?"

"...You're right. There's... more going on here, than just... what we're saying," he admitted. "Though... it seems stupid to fess up now."

He could almost hear the dragon smiling. "I thought maybe I was just imagining it, for a while... or maybe just... being idealistic, speaking for myself..."

"You're not imagining it..." the gryphon replied, awkwardly. "It's there, I just..."

A beat, the sound of breaths.

"...I just don't know what it is, yet..." Mitch confessed, in a small voice.

The sheets moved as Daniel stirred; he wrapped his paw a little more securely around the gryphon's. "Neither do I," he rumbled.

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Thanks for reading! I love it when people leave comments on my stories, so don't be shy!

A note regarding the title: My use of that title on this episode was very intentional. I've heard that phrase used over and over again to refer to men beating each other up, or being horny bastards, or acting like idiots. I don't like any of those associations... which is why I used it on a chapter as romantic and gentle as this one.

Ginormous kudos to :iconFrost Byte: for being the first one to figure out Mitch's identity, and for doing so with a very thorough analysis of my earlier hints! Daniel and Mitch were the only characters who mentioned the Fall Expo, you realize - Daniel to Brad in episode 9, Mitch several times to Jonathon. It wasn't that hard to figure out, though, after Mitch's dialogue in episode 24 and Daniel's infamous car switcheroo... I think I was a wee bit too revealing, in the end, but those two bits were too fun to leave out! It was a fun charade, though... and leaves many questions unanswered.

See you guys next week.