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They awoke later much in the same fashion that they had the night before. Khaesho still glowed with a just a ghost of bioluminescence, barely even enough to silhouette him, much less light the room. This time though, he awoke to the remembrance that his cocks were still buried to the hilt in Shou's soft body. With a twist, a pull, and a wet popping noise, he pulled his cum-soaked dicks from her. Without his meat acting as a cork, his seed flowed out of her in a veritable stream, staining the furs they lay upon. For a moment, he thought about continuing where they'd left off the night before, but his stomach growled in protest. He was hungry; he would need to hunt soon, if not right now. He debated going out alone to catch breakfast, but decided against it. He didn't want Shou to wake up alone in the dark caves. The tunnels were labyrinthine in their convolutions, and it had taken him a long time to memorize their turns. Instead, he set about waking her, gently running his claws through her hair, gently scratching her scalp as he contracted his body around hers, squeezing her softly.

"Good morrow, my dear. Did you ssleep well?"

Shou was sleeping, pressed against him, and her hips still spread. Even in sleep her body ached, but her muscles twitched with the occasional pull, and she shifted just slightly against him, no more than she might normally move in her sleep, but something she couldn't control. Then he was pulling out of her, and there was a whine from her unconscious form. The ache in her body was pronounced enough to already start drawing her from the easy rest that she had found. Her fur was matted with traces of his dried slime and the cum that had spilled around them. An adorable little moan escaped as eyes fluttered, and sleepy blues looked up towards him blindly in the returned darkness.

"Mm... Khae..sho..?" For a moment confused, before she smiled. It could be heard in her voice, "Mornin'... mmhm, and you?"

Then she tried to move, and she whined again, with pain this time. The ache that had been slightly pleasant before was shot through with pain. Her hips had taken quite a beating from the pounding he had given her, and although she had adored every moment of it and wouldn't trade such roughness for anything, she certainly felt it today. Trying to move her hips was sending bolts of discomfort through her, enough to know she'd be limping for a while. It had been a long time since her last partner, and she had just taken a pounding in not just one, but both her holes from a rather well-endowed hemipene. Khaesho smiled as he hugged her close, talking softly into her ear, licking it slightly as he did.

"I slept wonderfully, far warmer than I've been in a long time."

She laughed, until she realized just how high a compliment that was. Not much was know about the Naga, they kept entirely to themselves, but it was common knowledge that they were as cold blooded as any Civilized reptile. It helped them thrive in the heat of the deserts, but so far from the golden hot sands, warmth was something to be treasured. She arched her back, whining a bit as she stretched sore muscles. His voice sounded a bit different than it had the previous day, and now that she was thinking, he'd sounded different last night too. He still spoke slowly, as if every syllable needed to be considered, but his pronunciation was a bit better, he no longer halted his speech after every hard consonant, the dry rasp was lessened, and the slur on his S's was less pronounced.

"Then good, I'm glad..."

"You were ssertainly a... delicious morssel, but all the same, I'm... famished. Would you care to join me for breakfasst?"

He had a habit of pausing and tilting his head before attempting a particularly difficult or obscure word, and it almost looked like someone was feeding him words to use from cue cards. She dismissed such a notion, as his question of breakfast caused her ears to prick forward, and her stomach to growl. Flushing pink from his casual aside to what he'd done last night, she nodded a little bit, then her brows knit and the wolf girl tilted her head some.

"I would... but... is there somewhere I can bathe first..? My fur..." A glance down revealed her still damp, slimy, matted mess of her lower half, and she blushed a bit deeper.

The question gave him pause; he'd never bathed before in his life. Water was precious in the desert, and though he'd heard rumors of the "Civilized" willingly submerging themselves in water, he'd passed such nonsense off as pure foolishness. Her casual question made him reconsider his earlier doubts. He shed his skin often enough to keep himself from becoming too dirty, but even on bad times, he could usually scrub off whatever was on him with a few handfuls of pine needles. It only just now occurred to him that such a skill was unique to Serpents and some other reptiles; the furry ones would need to clean their fur. After thinking for a moment, he remembered a cavern deeper in the mountain where water collected into a moderately sized pool. He'd avoided such rooms unless he sought to slake his thirst, but they'd serve her purpose quite well.

"I do not have... ssoap of any kind, but there are pools of water deeper in the mountain. If I remember correctly, ssome of them are even heated by the earth's... magma. They should do well, I hope."

Ears pricked towards him, hanging on his every word since she could not see him. The darkness kept her vision for now, his odd light was fully vanished. Her hands stroked scales lovingly as she made a little whimpered noise as she shifted against his coils, cuddling into him.

"Oh, that's alright, I just need to wash out my fur... Will you show me the way..?"

"Gladly. Jusst let me untangle myself... and I'll ssee if I may... procure... some light."

He slithered forwards, causing his entire length to slide across her torso in odd patterns as he unwound himself by moving forwards until his tail slipped off of her. She laughed as his scales slid along her fur, squirming under the tickling sensation. He fell silent then for a second, two, five, then snapped his fingers. A pale blue orb of light appeared, bright enough to light the room without hurting their eyes. The azure luminescence, unlike the yellow tinged light of sunlight, firelight, and light bulbs, gave everything a harsh, washed out look, but it was light enough to navigate. Shou sighed, and slowly began to move, rolling onto her side. Then onto hands and knees, and up. Unsteady on her legs, she felt the pain spread through her hips and let out a little whine. It was a welcomed pain, but it hurt to move all the same. Glancing at him when she saw that light, her eyes widened in surprise. Breath caught and she stared at the orb, before her eyes jerked to his face.

"Magic..?" Breathless and excited, she took his hand, and gave that careless 'let's go' grin.

"Yess... I am one of the few who is 'blessed' by the divines, and it is part of the reason I'm out here instead of in the Desertss. It is an interessting enough sstory, and I could tell you how it startss as we walk."

"That's... amazing."

He heard her whine in pain, and clicked his tongue in displeasure. He let go of her hand, left the light floating, and turned down in a tight spiral, coming up between her legs and lifting her off the ground. Her head was more or less even with his, and her grabbed hold of her arms until she clasped them around his neck, carrying her in what Bipedals might call a "Fireman's carry." She gasped, caught off guard by the sudden movement. It caused a twinge of pain in her hips, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her through the black-gleaming caverns. She was rubbing her cheek against his as much as she could, an affectionate nuzzle into him.

"I take it you're a little sore?" he said with a twitch of sarcasm.

"You noticed?" Her sarcasm matched his, only to fade with her soft laughter moments later. "Yes, very, but... I like it... even if it makes walking difficult. I would like to hear your story though... please tell me."

"I would... but I have a friend, who I think would enjoy the telling much more. He remembers it better than I do too."

"What?"

"Come now, Kalokin, say hello."

For a moment, Shou thought that living alone in a cave had driven Khaesho into schizophrenic hallucinations; she'd heard that could happen to people who lived alone for too long. The silence stretched on indefinitely, until the pale blue ball of light began to shift. It grew creases, and its outer edges shrank inwards until a small, glowing blue serpent floated in the air above Khaesho's hand.

"So that's it then, eh? You find a hot dame and get in her pants, and now you tellin' our biggest secret? Come on man! Lest you'd forgotten, we're none too welcome around here! The _peasants_in town don't need another reason to hate ya. They'll spin it off that I'm some demon living in your head, here to eat their babies or some other nonsense."

In contrast to Khaesho's careful tones, Kalokin spoke quickly, not even bothering to finish some words before he started on the next. He spoke English flawlessly but for his odd haste.

"Shouyousei, thiss iss Kalokin, the ssSerpentss' deity of... Trickssters and Thievess. He is... well, for lack of a better word, he is trapped inside my mind, bound to my body. He's the reason I'm not baking in the desert sun right now, so that means he gets to tell the story."

"What, so you're just ignoring me now? Hey, rot brain! I'm trying to save both our hides here! You had no idea how she'd react, hell, she probably thinks you're just screwing with her, using magic to make a puppet."

The sound of a voice that was definitely not Khaesho's had her looking up, and she blinked at the sight of the snake of light in his hand. Ears pricked forward, and she found her curiosity was sparked. The strange voice had her tilting her head just slightly, and before she could think of what she might say, she murmured softly.

"You know, I'm right here, it's kind of rude to talk about me like I'm deaf or dumb, and I assure you I am neither."

"Oooo, the dame's got some sass! Careful Khaesh, you might have bitten more than you can swallow."

Khaesho lifted him up some, and she smiled reaching out with one hand, in an attempt to touch the glowing snake like form, curiosity burning to the forefront. There was a tiny curling of fear in her stomach, fear of the unknown, but it was overwhelmed by elation and desire to learn. The wolf was pressing ever closer, as she grinned some, a flash of canine fangs.

"You're a God, right? He is a God, right?" Turning her head some to look at the Naga. "Then why would he be so worried about a simple wolf like me? I mean, there are plenty of rumors about this place without me adding fuel to that fire - not that I would, I get enough trouble from the press as is." He winced slightly, and she hid her face against his neck. He was tense, very tense, and he'd been afraid she would judge him, or think him insane. Feeling the agitation in his shoulder, she licked along his neck and let a soothing rumble vibrate from her chest. She pulled herself up a little, so she could look into Khaesho's face as much as she was able. "Wait a minute; did he call me a 'hot dame'? A God called _me_a 'hot dame'?!" Then a more mortifying thought. "Gods above, he's seen me naked!"

Khaesho laughed, hard enough that he had to stop and just shake for a while.

"Shou... that binding thing? It's all encompassing. He is a part of me, can ssee, hear, tasste, and feel everything I can. He has felt you naked, from the inside no less. The good newss is, since he's already sseen you without even a shred of... modesty, there's no way it could get... awkward... right?"

"So, I wasn't just fucked by two dicks, I was fucked by two men, and one of them was a God..." Suddenly aware of her words, she whimpered in surprise at how vulgar she had been. Khaesho had a pleasant laugh though, and she glanced up at him. "No way it'll be--" but then Kalokin let out a long wolf whistle, which was quite a trick considering that snakes can't whistle and he shouldn't have known what a whistle of that kind meant to her.

"And DAMN is she fine! I tell you Khaesh, at least ya have good taste in women. I mean, did you feel the way she squirmed? Oh, wait, yea you did. Speaking of which, girlie, you were only fucked by Khaesho, I was just along for the ride. The MOMENT I get to work on you, believe you me, you'll know."

Khaesho laughed again as Shou buried her head into his neck, red with embarrassment.

"Gods above, give me strength." She mumbled

"I'm still here lady, no need to call the rest of my family down."

Khaesho interrupted before Kalokin could say anything else to make Khaesho regret introducing him.

"sssSettle down, Kalokin. Now, why don't you tell her that sstory? You can even cast a few illusions to help the narration."

"Alright, alright, heat your scales already! Let me see..."

He drew the illusionary form more upright and his tonality changed as he assumed a tone Shou would have expected from an audiobook, not a trickster.

"Khaesho is a Desert Naga, born in the vast wastelands at the west end of the world. The Snakes who inhabit the deserts do their best to resist all advances of modern technology, favoring instead the worship of 'Heathen Gods,' and I use the term 'god' lightly; it loses something in the translation. We did not create this world, but we do safeguard it, as best we can. There are four of us that they worship, myself included, and each snake has a favorite deity, usually passed down through family lines. Once per lifetime, a Deity will descend from the heavens and inhabit the physical body of the most devout follower. This symbiotic relationship gives the Serpent in question access to his or her magic, improved physical and mental aspects, and a longer life expectancy; we take care of ours. It also gives the Acolyte direct access to our vast knowledge, a good advisor in hard times, a best friend, and often times a lover. Before you ask, no, neither of us are bisexual, we're just good friends. The god in question is strengthened by the Vessel's soul, and the Vessel provides a comfortable place to rest when needed. If this seems steeply tilted in the mortal's favor, that's because it is. Our job is to help guide, protect, and nurture our Naga, and we can do this best from inside a Vessel. They are the blessed of the divine, and are given immense honors, and no acolyte has ever failed to do at least something great with their lives. Back when I was still allowed to pick a few, my chosen became master thieves, but I'm getting ahead of myself."

"Khaesho was born to a middle class family and he lived a good life. His father was a guard, a peacekeeper, and he wanted nothing more than for his son to follow in his footsteps. Naturally, Khaesho rebelled against his will and ran off to fall in with a local gang of tricksters and thieves. They were nothing too impressive, and they did nothing more than rob the occasional market stall of a few shish-kebobs of meat. Their shoddy skills meant they were caught often, and more than one of their number ended up spending a night in the jails. Khaesho had a fast tongue and a faster sprint speed, which got him out of most trouble but even so he had numerous close scrapes. His luck changed for the worse when his tendency to act without thinking ran ahead of his ability to get out of the aftermath."

"One day, his father confiscated something strange enough that he told his family about it over dinner. During a raid on a smuggling operation, they'd found a series of bottles of liquid that, when mixed, glowed in bright colors. It was a curiosity, something to be locked away in the royal vaults, but when Khaesho heard of the liquids, he immediately thought of how he could use them for a prank. With the liquids, it would be easy to impersonate one of the divine's blessed, even if only for a day. Deep in the dark of night, he lifted his father's ring of keys and snuck into the guard station, where the bottles were being kept until word from the palace arrived on what to do with them. He was a thief, and like all others, he sought my approving eye in the hopes he might become blessed. Failing that, he wanted to make his friends think he was blessed for a few hours, so he stole two jars, one of each to make him glow blue, and got out without getting noticed. He mixed the two vigorously before slathering himself, and to his immense satisfaction, he glowed a radiant, pale blue that was a shockingly similar color to my personal color; what you see now. He set out to enjoy the night, demanding petty offerings and scaring his friends, but he forgot one important detail. I'm Kalokin, the Thief, the Trickster, the Fool's Burden, the Night's Blade... my titles go on for a while. I had long ago stopped claiming physical vessels, because the moment I did, my Vessel was immediately jailed for the remainder of that Serpent's lifetime; The people had learned from experience that a Trickster God loose on the streets was a bad idea. Partially from mercy towards my faithful, but also because a life in prison is fatally boring, I stopped visiting the physical realm."

"So, the moment Khaesho was spotted, he was immediately thrown in jail on suspect of being my Acolyte. The chemicals wore off the next morning, and he begged forgiveness, claiming it all as a harmless joke. The guards themselves didn't know what to do; impersonating one of the blessed was a new crime, one without precedent, because nobody had ever been stupid or skilled enough to try it before. They knew not what punishment would be suitable, so they sent a message to the king asking for advice, and decided to keep Khaesho in prison for the day it would take to get a reply, just in case."

"Now, mind you, I'm not very well liked by the other gods. Something about "unceasing practical jokes" made them one and all angry with me. After one prank that even I can admit was a little bit tasteless, they'd had enough, and decided to cast me into the physical realm, binding me to a physical form so I could spend a few decades in jail. They looked into the mortal realm and saw a snake imprisoned for impersonating an avatar of a deity. This blasphemy enraged them, so rather than wait for the snakes to pass judgment, they passed their own. They cast me from the divine realm, binding me to Khaesho's mortal body; Khaesho would spend his life in prison for committing blasphemy, and I'd suffer punishment there with him. When the emissary from the palace showed up to interrogate Khaesho, he burst into the room with the full power of an Avatar of Kalokin, god of tricksters and thieves. Dilemma solved, but he was still jail-bound because of me. Neither of us wanted to spend a lifetime in prison, so I reminded them why they wanted to keep me in a cell, and used a shockingly simply array of magics to get us out; I didn't even really need to try."

"Khaesho reached the marketplace, stole everything he'd need for a long journey, and set off east towards the civilized lands, east towards the edges of the desert. He would be imprisoned for life in any Serpent city, but he travelled far, far past the edges of the desert, far enough that even the idea of a Naga was more urban legend than documented fact. Shunned by a society that considered him a savage and a heathen, he found a volcanic cave not far from a decently sized city. The warm mountain became our home. To the city by the slopes, he became a legend, a black monster of the night come to eat their children. Many remembered the caves that riddled the mountainside, but any time the people brought guns into the mountain with a thirst for blood, they could never find his cave. He remained a legend to them, told to any hiker passing through, but none who came armed for violence. Sometimes, an occasional hiker would get lost, and wander into the caves to seek shelter, but they invariably reported all manner of nonsense, everything from demons, to monsters, to demon possessed monsters. We survived off of game hunted from the forests, and sat here, content that a life living wild was at least better than life in a cell."

"So, yea, we had the option of exile, or life in jail, and after being chased out of towns with gunfire on our tail, we kind of gave up on civilization of both kinds."

"Awww... that's so sad." Shou reached forwards again to try and touch Kalokin, and this time, Khaesho brought his hand further back so that she could. Her hand brushed through empty air; the glowing snake was slightly warm, but had no physical substance.

"Remember, Shou, that he, is in here"

He gave his head a meaningful tap; because of the binding, Kalokin was unable to leave Khaesho's body.

"I will certainly keep that in mind, but I am likewise sure that he probably appreciates that I give him some consideration as an entity separate from you, even if that consideration is given to a snake shaped light he assumed a form in for only a moment. You both might be there, but you're both... different. You are the same, but you are certainly not the same."

"True, which is why I'm bothering to mold the light into a snake at all. It gives you something to talk to, and it makes me feel better."

It was reasoned as if it were the most logical thing in the world. Truth be told, she had a heart far too big for her body, caring about others to the detriment of herself more often than not. That translated into affection for the Naga who she had enjoyed the night with, and likewise for the entity that was within him. He had given her a semblance of privacy instead of scaring her out of her wits, which he easily could have. Khaesho was actually mildly surprised that he hadn't yet; Kalokin loved scaring people.

They arrived at the pools just then, and Khaesho tossed the glowing light into the water. Mid-flight, it re-formed into a sphere, and it plunged into the depths without so much as a splash, sinking all the way to the bottom. It glowed brightly enough through the crystal clear water to light the whole cavern, and the light rippled with the water's waves, casting flickering and warping shadows across the roof. Shou carefully clambered carefully off of his back, moving slowly with stiff joints. A thin trickle of water flowed out of a series of holes in the walls, burbling into a quiet waterfall that fell into the shallows below. The pool started out shallow, but after a few yards it quickly deepened. From its vantage point at the bottom of the back of the pool, the light revealed that the back wall did not extend all the way to the bottom. Instead, a gap remained, potentially leading to an unexplored part of the cave. This far into the mountain, the lava warmed everything; the stone floor was warm beneath her feet and his scales, not unpleasantly hot, but easily noticeable, and the water would be likewise warmed.

"Thank you, Khaesho... for last night, and this..." She blushed, and it made the markings on her cheeks stand out - the whorls under her fur that tinted the grey almost silver. Her paw pads were warm from the floor as she walked over to the burbling pool, and she touched the water - pleased with its heat before she stepped into it. With a soft groan, her aching form moved slowly deeper. Once she was waist deep she whined, wincing and glanced at Khaesho, blushing darkly. Khaesho watched Shou walk into the water with no small interest, and when she thanked him, he nodded and coiled himself comfortably on the shore a respectful distance from the water's edge.

"It wass my pleasure, lady Shouyousei."

Shou she huffed gently at being called a lady and smiled before dragging her claws through her fur. It was no spa bath, but she still tried to work as much of the dried slime and cum from her fur as she could. He appreciated her body for several seconds, before uncoiling himself to creep down as close as he dared to the water to get a good look. He looked rather odd, chin on the ground as he slithered closer to the shallows. He flicked his tongue out, tentatively tasting the water and air. He drank a little, shivered, and then looked back up to Shou.

"I sstill don't know how you can bear being wrapped in water like that. I know this isn't even cold, but still.... the idea of it is just..."

She glanced at him, belly to the ground with his body trailing safely out behind him, and a slow smile curled her lips.

"Are you afraid of the water, Khaesho?"

He squirmed, clearly uncomfortable with Shou being in the water at all. Shou's hand dipped, and before she changed her mind, she splashed the water at him, chuckling softly.

"Come, I'll teach you to swim!"

The sparse wave of water caught him completely by surprise. He hissed violently in shock and surprise, yanking himself backwards before calming down with a disgruntled look.

"Not nice... though I sssuppose I did deserve it."

"Mmhm."

He dipped a single claw into the water, and shudders wracked his entire length.

"But it's so... wet! How can you jusst... I mean look at it! At you!"

She laughed at his antics, grin wide across her fce. It was with great delight that she put both hands in the water, and with a shove, splashed an even greater amount in his direction. He yelped again, but he was at least watching for it this time, so it didn't quite catch him whole by surprise. He did glare at her as water dripped from his scales.

"Come on, Khaesho! It's supposed to be fun! Being in the water is like being weightless! If I could, I reason it's what it feels like to fly!"

Then she took a few steps back, winked, and taking a deep breath dove under. The water was clear, so she could still see her, but she was swimming down, down - towards the orb at the bottom. Her breath held, little bubbles floated to the surface. And even though he could see her - there was a mounting tension. How long could she hold her breath? How safe was it for her to be under the water like that? Khaesho watched her dive and felt fear grip his heart in an iron vise. The answer to the first question didn't matter, because the answer to the second question was: ABSOLUTELY UNSAFE IN EVERY WAY, SHAPE, AND FORM! For several seconds, he seriously considered using his magic to haul her to the surface, but with a massive effort, he restrained himself. She eventually re-surfaced, laughing at his obvious fear, and he glared daggers at her.

"Alright, Alright, I'll try it, jusst don't go underwater again. It's not safe down there."

Laughing at him still, she smiled warmly.

"Come on, Khaesho, you can't let fear rule you forever. Life is about the moments that take our breath away!" She spread her arms to indicate the wide world around them - though they were in a cave. Diamond bright droplets of water clung to her fur as she grinned warmly to him. Her fur was sleeked against her body, and she made for a rather impressive figure, twirling like that. With a disgruntled sigh about crazy women and what they convinced him to do, he started forwards. He held his head higher off the ground, trying to keep as much distance between his face and the water as possible as he slithered slowly into the clear shallows. It was pleasantly warm, but it felt absolutely wrong. At first, all he felt was the weight of it pushing against his scales, but after a minute or so, the water seeped began to soak through his scales and skin enough for him to feel how wet it was. It was too late to back out without looking foolish though, so he clenched his jaw tightly, and did his very best to keep his spine ram-rod straight; his head was far enough out of the water that his skull nearly scraped the low ceiling. Shou laughed at his stiff-necked posture.

"Come on, come a little deeper. Sink down, relax... you're so tense." Swimming up to him, she got her feet under her, and reached out to touch him. Reaching for his hand. "Trust me... it might feel weird, but you won't get hurt... I won't even urge you into the deep water."

Panic lanced through his eyes, but he managed to calm himself. She had trusted him... she had trusted him to let him eat her, it would be rude if he didn't show at least as much trust for her. He lowered himself enough to grab hold of Shou's hand and she gently coaxed him further down.

"How do you know it won't hurt me? What if it soaks through my outer layers of skin?!?"

"Khaesho, you bleed right? Blood is a liquid, in fact that slime of yours and your saliva... that's liquid too... If it's inside of you." She explained patiently, smiling tenderly to him as she tugged him a little bit deeper. Smiling softly, coaxing him further into the water.

"Yes, but that'ss inside, not ssloshing against my scaless."

"I was completely under the water a few moments ago, and I'm alright... does it really hurt, or are you just being dramatic?"

He twitched, but as she pulled his head lower, he distracted himself by concentrating on Shou, rather than on the horrible feeling of being almost entirely submerged.

"It doesn't hurt... but it feelss-sso... so wrong. It is rather warm though, even if it is so horrifyingly wet."

Despite his continued objections, he continued to allow himself lower, until his jaw was even with the waterline. That was as deep as he was going to go; no way was his head going underwater. Now that he was beside her, Shou relaxed, letting him just enjoy the water with her. She floated, having gone deep enough that the water was over her head if she tried to stand, and she smiled softly to him. Treading water, she splashed him lightly, playfully. Attempting to relieve some of the tension she could see in his form.

"It is only water, Khaesho. There is a great ocean, miles and miles of water, the coast stretches for what looks like ages... it's beautiful, I went swimming there once."

"Ye godss, that ssounds HORRIFYING."

"Joo called me, boss?"

"Damn it Kalokin, cursing doess not mean that I need your help."

"On the contrary, I think it means I need to come compliment whatever ruffled your scales that much to scare a curse out of your stiff-spine. What are you up to n- HOLY FUCK, YOU'RE UNDERWATER!?! SHIT, GET OUT OF THERE MAN, FAST!"

Not waiting for the snake to move himself, Kalokin wrapped Khaesho in blue light and bodily dragged him from the pool. Khaesho was secretly relieved to be out of the water, but he got so few chances to get under Kalokin's scales that he decided he could swallow his fear if it meant watching a god tremble in horror.

"Aww, but I just got comfortable! Here, let me just..."

Khaesho started to slither back into the pool. Again, Kalokin summoned forth his magic, but Khaesho was expecting it this time, and actively fought the god's will. Neither of them were particularly good with physical magic, so it turned into more a test of Khaesho's ample muscles than anything else. After failing to prevent Khaesho from returning to the water, Kalokin's magic vanished.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! You're fuckin' CRAZY man, leave me out of this."

Khaesho abruptly felt Kalokin's absence from the front of his mind. The god was still there, but he was cutting himself off from most, if not all physical sensations.

"And that marks the first time Kalokin has ever run away like a scared hatchling. He's retreated deep into my mind... I'm not sure he can even hear me right now, and he certainly can't feel the water."

Shou's eyes widened as she watched the interaction between Khaesho and the entity she couldn't see. A soft snort, then a tremble of her shoulders as she moved into shallower water, before she finally began to laugh. Full and warm, brilliant and happy - it was a sound that echoed around the chamber. Delight filled her voice as she moved towards the edge of the pool and smiled brilliantly to the Naga.

"It is certainly something to tease him over, but..."

Her stomach growled, and she blushed. Climbing from the water, she stood beside the pool, dropped to all fours - which gave him a unique showing of her water-slicked cunny and tight ass. A second later, she was shaking, slinging water in every which way, as her fur was still damp and fluffed up significantly. She turned to stretch, and then sprawl on her tummy, as she grinned to Khaesho. Jaw on the floor, her tail wagging over her full rump, she chuckled softly.

Khaesho certainly enjoyed the view he was given, and he probably would have started something then and there if not for their hunger. He all too happily left the water, stretched his spine, and ran a hand from her shoulder all the way down to that deliciously plump rear end.

"Mmmm... Crooked Boness, but you are a beautiful ssight. Help me get my sskin off, then we can go get ssome food."

The stroke of his hand along her body prompted her to make a pleased noise as she pressed into his touch. She rose up onto her hands and knees then pushed herself upright, sitting on her feet. She blushed at his words and replied with a soft murmur, touched with something... almost sad.

"You're too kind..."

Did she not believe him? It was hard to say as the emotion was fleeting, driven away by curiosity over his phrasing. In response to her raised eyebrow, he carefully placed a thumb against the skin of his throat. With a slight prick, the claw punctured through. He dragged it upwards, looking for all the world like he was slicing his throat open. Really, he only cut through the uppermost, currently waterlogged layer, but it still looked fairly deadly. In a matter seconds, he'd completed the cut to his jaw. His skin was starting to peel above his top lip, and he grabbed it there and pulled. His hands moved carefully, and his skin started to peel away, inch by inch, as he pried it away from his body. He'd never been this soaked before in his life, much less attempted to shed while wet, and his skin made a sick squelching as it peeled and tore away from his skull. It flipped inside out as it did, and the loose, dead skin looked like a pale grey hood hanging behind him. He slit his chest open down the middle and his skin started to come away from his shoulders.

"Here, grab this arm... no, no, not my whole arm, reach over and grab the skin and hold tight... now pull."

With her help, he peeled both arms free, and the skin was torn down to his belly, which meant the hard part was over. He slithered forwards then while Shou kept a firm hold and crawled out of his old skin as it inverted not unlike taking off a wet sock. What was left behind was a faded grey, torn, waterlogged replica of his skin, with curiously opaque lenses for the eyes. Khaesho smiled as he stretched, incidentally affording Shou a wonderful look at him post-shed. If his scales had shone like dark obsidian before, now they sparkled like black diamonds. The unsteady and wavering light cast a thousand gleaming stars against the ebony of his scales, and his gray belly shone like the dark stone of the mountain.

"Handsome..."

Shou whispered the word before she could stop herself, and her cheeks flushed when she realized she had spoken aloud, but she couldn't keep her eyes off him. Khaesho responded to her in the only way that he felt was appropriate. He slithered over and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her with all of the passion he felt. He let go of her face with one hand only to grasp her body, pulling her closer to him so he could coil himself loosely around her. He continued in this manner for several minutes, making sure that she felt absolutely appreciated. He'd caught the uncertain note in her voice earlier, and he was going to keep kissing her until he was sure she was happy. The kiss startled her, but she melted willingly into it. His passion prompted her to grip his arms and press into him as he wrapped her in soft scales. She slid her arms around him, holding him close. Her fingers trailed along the slickness of his scales, and she let out a strangled little moan. The passion seared her, and she was dazed. She was amazed that someone could kiss her in such a way as she nestled into the wrap of his coils. Breaking the kiss only when she required air, she panted softly, her breath warm, her voice quivering.

"W-what... was that for..?"

He shrugged, as if it were a silly question.

"Partly because you looked like you needed it. Partly because I wanted to. Mostly just because I could."

"Thank you..." It was said with a smile, as she glanced up at him before his stomach growled like a beast in its own right. She laughed, nuzzling back into him, her eyes closed and her face nestled to scales for a moment. He smiled and nuzzled her back affectionately.

"Letss start ssliding. I think I know of a short cut to the surface near here, but even so, it shall be a solid ten minutes to fresh air, and then we still need to catch breakfast."

"Lead the way, I shall follow." So long as it didn't get too dark, though she had a feeling that blue light orb would be coming with them. A soft hum as she glanced at it, thoughtfully. "Such a fantastic trick... I wish I could do that." A cute little pout appearing on her face as she thought of magic.

Khaesho laughed, and the ball of light bounced out of the pool and back into his hand. He and Shou set off again, making their way through the winding passages towards the surface. He spoke in a singsong voice, as if reciting part of a poem or song.

"Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it..."

His voice resumed normal tones, and he chuckled lightly.

"It is an old ssaying from the desertss. We are sSerpentss, and you are of the Civilized. Even if one of the other great spirits was willing to bond with you, attempting to mix two souls that are so different... I doubt it would end well. They think like Naga, they act like Naga, and they appear to us as Naga. You and yours are quite far from us."

Shou nodded solemnly as they began winding a path towards the surface.

"Most of us have forgotten the names of the Gods, I couldn't say I know any but Kalokin's name - and only because you told it to me." She tilted her head some, and hummed a little as she considered what to tell him of the village, the town. "Science has taken place of magic in this world, and people see it only for the materials they can gain... they've lost sight of beauty, and wildness... They no longer see magic in the stars."

"That ssounds like the worst loss of all."