{"sf1_id":null,"sf2_id":"ewQQ5XXn","title":"Titan's Quest part 1","author":"toplek","words":7964,"posted_at":"2026-04-03T23:03:22.000Z","tags":["Dragon; Dragoness","Giants giantess","Kaiju","Macro Micro","Titans"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/ewQQ5XXn-titan-s-quest-part-1","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/ewQQ5XXn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/d3/5f/d35f3618-3ead-48ea-974b-de76a545488e","description":"A man finds himself in a delicate situation involving three titan dragon sisters, a mysterious quest and a bit of family drama.","content":"TITAN’S QUEST  \nPart 1  \n  \nDarkness… Nothingness… Numbingly overwhelming boredom… A brief flash  \ninformed him that it was coming to an end… again…  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nIt was another boring day. Another day in the city of „Who-the-fuck-cares number 41”.  \nPeter didn’t bother eating nor cleaning his face in the morning, instead choosing to lay in bed  \nfor as long as he could, trying to convince the universe that it was not workday already.  \nRegretfully, the world was not easily persuaded. He put on clothes and slogged out of his tiny  \nflat at the last possible moment. He’d again do absolutely jack for the entire shift.  \nWell, not completely nothing – he had to kick one machine in a specific spot exactly at  \n12:37 each and every day thanks to a peculiar software glitch that would make it rotate and  \nweld the missile’s hull forever, instead of passing it along. The machine and its code were so  \nancient that only one retired engineer knew how to program, let alone debug it… And the guy  \nsure as hell wouldn’t be coming over for that headache.  \n  \nNo, kicking it once a day was perfectly fine. Peter had automated and optimised the  \nentire production line to the point that his presence was basically redundant… Or at least  \nwould have been, had he left any schematics or instructions. This state of affairs pleased him  \n– the looming threat of the entire line breaking down into oblivion without him kept his bank  \naccount filled with more money than he knew how to realistically spend.  \nThe intended, but unfortunate effect of it was free time for him and his coworker Paul.  \nTime they’ve tried to fill with things that certainly were not good for their mental health –  \ntoday for example, Paul insisted on showing Peter some isekai, all the while claiming it was a  \ngift from God.  \nIt was not. It was dogshit and Peter voiced his opinion several times during the first  \nepisode while quietly wondering what was he doing with his life. He took out another cookie  \nand once again violated the company policy by compromising the production line’s sterility.  \nBy the time the third episode was on, he had completely dozed off, designing an automatic  \n‘thing-kicker’ in his mind. It would free him from doing the very last thing he was contracted  \nto do, repairs excluded. The upside of the ‘kicker’ was not having to make an entirely new  \nmachine…  \nThe sirens howled, their wails pulling him out of the garbage induced coma. He  \nglanced at his coworker’s face.  \n“We should get moving,” Paul said with slight concern.  \n“Nothing’s gonna happen. As usual. The thing will be dead long before it ever reaches  \nus.” Peter shrugged.  \n“Probably. But you know as well as me that they won’t let us stay here regardless.”  \n  \nPeter sighed with defeat, beginning the long trek towards the fire exit. “It’s just all  \nmore trouble than it’s worth. We won’t even make it to the bunkers before we have to return,”  \nhe mumbled with a hint of annoyance.  \n“Well, it’s not like WE were actually doing something important anyway, right?” Paul  \ncountered.  \n“Yeah, only watching your garbage.”  \nPaul glared at him, visibly mad. “Excuse me for not having the exact same tastes as  \nyou. Me and my wife love it,” he declared with offense.  \n“Really? Or maybe only SHE loves it, and you are trying to convince yourself that you  \ndo as well? Silent treatment much?” Peter responded while making mocking puppy eyes at  \nhim.  \nPaul sent him a death stare. „Fuck off.”  \nPeter snickered, reveling in the tiny, and completely pointless victory.  \nThey’ve made their way outside, where they were met with view of company buses  \ngetting crowded with wage slaves, less commonly referred to as ‘workers and engineers’.  \nDeciding that he really, REALLY did not have enough strength to wait for OSHA-approved  \ntransport, he disregarded the rules and made for his car. He sat inside and…  \nThe ground quaked. Not slightly – his car jiggled on the dampers as if he was driving  \n200 an hour on a dirt road ravaged by tractors. A few car alarms made themselves known.  \n“What the…”  \n  \nBefore being able to properly voice his outrage, the earth shattered and his car leapt  \nstraight up half a meter, before landing and beginning the jiggling process all over again. All  \nalarms in the parking lot went off.  \nScreaming. He looked at the crowd of people and saw them running away in all  \ndirections in sheer terror. Well, all directions, except right towards him.  \nHe caught a glimpse of something massive beyond comprehension in his rearview  \nmirror. A single, brownish, digitigrade foot the size of two trucks was where cars stood just a  \nfew seconds before.  \nHe floored the gas pedal, trying to get as far away as possible. The monster’s form was  \nhidden by the roof of his car, but he didn’t really care to get a good look. Especially since a  \nsecond foot came crashing down on a few wailing cars, flattening them in an instant and  \nsilencing their alarms for good.  \nRight when he started to believe he’d make it to the exit, the world around him broke.  \nWith overwhelming rumble, something bigger than he could imagine landed exactly in front  \nof him. His car jumped for the last time, airbags going off, before slumping to an abrupt stop,  \ncrashing into an enormous, brown toe. The seatbelt pulled him backwards, forcing the air out  \nof his lungs.  \nRegaining his senses took him a few seconds. Two titanic paws right in front of him,  \ntheir orientation suggesting the monster was looking directly at his car. Frantically  \nunfastening the seatbelt, he tried to open the door… Which proved jammed. The door got bent  \nfrom the outside... Somehow. Leaping to the other side to try the passenger’s door, he felt a  \nsudden acceleration. Straight upwards. He looked out of the window and in horror realised  \nthat the monster had picked up his car.  \n  \nThe metal above him shrieked when titanic fingers casually peeled off the roof… and  \nthen went after him. The monster plucked the screaming man out of his car, lifting him even  \nhigher, while discarding his car to the ground.  \nDragon. A titanic dragon with scales of bright gold was holding him and, while its  \nenormous, dark orange eyes studied him with flat, merciless intensity of someone judging if  \nthis particular pebble had anything distinct about itself. He tried to struggle, desperate to push  \nthe titan’s fingers away from him, but it was no use. Wouldn’t budge.  \n“If I let go now, you will just fall to the ground and die, you know.” He heard a  \nbooming, feminine voice.  \nFreezing, he looked at the monster, completely dumbfounded. Did it just… talk?!  \nTwo nearly identical dragons began flanking the one holding him. His body could not  \ndecide if it wanted to faint or have a heart attack right now and that inner struggle was the  \nonly thing preventing either, even if barely.  \n“C-can we keep him?” asked the smaller monster on the left.  \nIt was also gold, but the exact tint was much darker, almost bronze-like. Its voice was  \nalso distinctly feminine and oddly… shy?  \nSHY?!  \n“It’s all stupid. Like hell it will actually do anything,” said the monster on the right.  \nIts voice – while also feminine – was much deeper and sounded quite annoyed. The  \nmonster on the right seemed the biggest of the three, while its scale colour was the exact  \nmiddle point between the other two.  \n  \n“Silence. Both of you,” said the monster holding him, focusing its attention on him  \nagain. “We wish to know your… capabilities, human.”  \nHe looked at the monster, dumbfounded. It was all so bizarre… So unbelievable, that  \nhis brain was quite literally shattering from stress and confusion.  \n“See? You broke it already. It’s even more useless than it would normally be,” said the  \nmonster on the right.  \nThe monster holding him turned its head. “Ni, do you understand the concept of  \n‘silence’?”  \nNi… So, they not only speak, but they also have… names?  \n“What?” he finally blurted out.  \nThe monster holding him turned to him again and wriggled the fingers of its other  \nhand, as if trying to calm itself down. “I understand that you are terrified. Hard to think in  \nyour state. So, I will ask again. What are your capabilities?”  \nIt took him a few seconds in his state to comprehend the question. “I… I… Ughhh…  \nWhat do you want to know?”  \n“F-favourite color!” blurted out the monster on the left.  \n“Your taste mostly,” said Ni with an evil, predatory grin.  \nThe monster holding him sighed. “Your name. Age. Any skills you may have. That  \nsort of thing,” it specified.  \nHe blinked several times, looking at all three golden dragons before him. “W…  \nWell… I am… Peter Smith. I am 27. My favourite colour is blue. I am an industrial engineer  \nand… and I am quite sure all humans taste terribly, so why would I be any different?”  \n  \nThree golden dragons looked at each other for a split second, before returning their  \nattention to him.  \n“An engineer, aye?” asked the dragon holding him, moving him ever so slightly closer  \nto its face, prompting another round of struggles.  \n“You might b-be useful for us!” the one on the left chirped.  \n“I still want to eat him,” Ni shrugged, apparently unconvinced by… whatever  \nconvinced the other two.  \nThe one holding him gave Ni an annoyed look, then returned its gaze to him. Or more  \nprecisely, directly to his eyes. “Yes… You really could…” his captor replied a bit absentmindedly.  \nHe did not like that look…  \n“He’s so cute…” said dragon on the left.  \n“Yes dear…” sighed the one holding him, before massaging its own forehead.  \n“I mean… thank you?” he whispered, even more confused than before.  \nDragon on the left tapped his head with a finger… To be honest, to him her finger was  \nmore like an entire ceiling, but… “You are w-welcome, little one.”  \nNi puffed and rolled her eyes.  \nThe dragon holding him finally decided to stop having a headache and looked at him  \nagain. “Regardless… I take it you are intelligent?”  \nFully expecting to wake up at this point, he scratched his head, considering his  \noptions. He had no idea about their intentions, so trying to lie was equally as likely to set him  \n  \nfree as telling the truth. Or get him killed. Ultimately, he decided to roll with the truth, at least  \nmostly. It was easier to remain consistent this way. “Well, it depends…”  \nHis captor raised an eyebrow. “Depends? On what?”  \n“On who you ask? Like… I’m pretty good at making stuff and figuring things out…  \nBut not exactly at reading other people and… You get it,” he answered, anxiously glancing  \nbetween all three.  \n“Oh. We weren’t looking for that anyways,” commented the dragon holding him and  \nthought about something for a split second. “Pray tell little one, you can figure difficult things  \nout, right? Calculate them and all.”  \nHe looked at the dragon incredulously. What was that?! A surprise job interview? “We  \nrarely calculate things ourselves. Machines do that for us.”  \nThe dragon blinked, visibly bewildered by his statement. “Machines do…” The dragon  \nshook its head. “But you CAN do it, right?”  \nHe didn’t know if it was just his imagination or not, but the pressure on his waist  \nseemingly increased…  \n“Y-yes…” he responded, shaking from fear of… what could have happened if he  \ndenied it.  \nThe dragon stopped and began considering his words. Ni rolled her eyes again, while  \nthe last dragon simply looked at him with interest.  \n“What about your creativity skills?” it finally asked. “I mean, making things and  \nsolving problems never seen before.”  \n  \n“I am… used to solving problems. There are many things that can break or decide to  \nstop working correctly in a factory.”  \n“That’s not exactly what I asked. I mean… you've had to come up with creative  \nsolutions quickly while under pressure. Correct?”  \nHe almost laughed out loud about how insane asking him about ‘pressure’ was at the  \nmoment. Getting a hold of himself was tough, but he did manage it. “Yes… A lot of things  \nI’ve made were never seen before…”  \nThe dragon holding him nodded. And Ni became… suddenly interested in what he had  \nto say.  \n“So, you think… outside the box if necessary, correct?” asked the dragon holding him,  \nits eyes getting even more inquisitive.  \n“I mean… Yes? As long as safety allows it that is…”  \nThat was probably the biggest lie he had ever told anyone. Lack of safety had never  \nstopped him from optimising before and it sure as hell wouldn’t change, no matter how much  \ninspectors whined about it.  \nThe dragon holding him thought about his words, nodded… and smiled at him  \nslightly. Or maybe, at itself. “Good to hear. And what about… what was that term again?” his  \ncaptor turned to Ni.  \n“What term?” she asked with annoyance.  \n“When you have a thing that is… expensive… and another that is cheap. But the first  \nis more effective than the second, so you compare them and…” his captor stumbled over its  \nwords.  \n  \n“Oh that… Shit, what was that word.” Ni scratched her chin. “The one that the shipmidget said, right?”  \nThe motion revealed Ni’s chest for the first time, and he realised that what he took for  \na pattern on her chest was in fact a set of discoloured scars. Four enormous claw-marks ran  \nthrough her chest, ending just up of her abdomen.  \n“Yes, the ship-midget,” his captor huffed, its nerves seemingly getting to it. “Do you  \nremember it.”  \nDespite his eyes anxiously jumping between the two, he caught a glimpse of the third  \nmonster… slowly shrinking into itself as it observed the other two.  \n“Hey, get off me!” Ni growled. “You don’t remember it too, so maybe…”  \n“C-cost-benefit…?” mumbled the third dragon.  \nThe words shut them up and his captor’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Yes, that! Thank you  \ndear.” It turned to him again. “You can make cost-benefit analysis, correct?”  \nAs weird as it sounded, fear began leaving his body. Not because he was not terrified,  \nno. He only had so much space for various emotions, and right now, confusion was violently  \npushing out everything else.  \n“To the best of my…” He shook his head. “What are these questions? What are you  \ngetting at?!” he almost yelled, the frustration going against the horrific fear.  \nThe slightest hint of amusement appeared on the dragon’s face. “We're simply  \nassessing your skills and capabilities, human. And you could be very useful to us.”  \nNi began grumbling angrily, the look of frustration on her face. Did she really want to  \nhim THAT badly?  \n  \nThe dragon holding him turned to Ni. “Shut up. Just please, shut up for a moment. You  \nknow we don’t have much time left.”  \nNi obliged but now looked even more livid because of that.  \nThe dragon on the left smiled warmly towards him. He reciprocated with an extremely  \nnervous smile of his own. In response, the dragon gently touched his head with a giant finger,  \nits expression kind and sweet. Ni huffed with annoyance again.  \n“Regardless…” The dragon holding him took a deep breath. “You are coming with  \nus,” it announced and began walking west… Towards the ocean…  \nInto the exclusion zone.  \n“WAIT! WAIT!” he yelled as the buildings began rapidly shrinking behind her  \n“What… What do you need me for?”  \nThe dragon gave him a stern look. “I will tell you when the time is right,” it answered  \nand slightly loosened it grip, making him start sliding deeper into its palm.  \n“WAIT! WAIT!” he yelled, grabbing onto the titanic thumb. “Will you… let me go,  \nonce you are finished with… whatever it is?”  \nThe dragon holding him began considering the question, while the one on the left just  \nshowed… concern on its face. “If you prove yourself useful, and you cooperate, we might let  \nyou go. There's no need to kill you.”  \nNi made another grumpy puff.  \n“But that depends on your cooperation and usefulness.” His captor gave him a heavy,  \nmeaningful look. “If you try to escape or prove to be useless… then we might change our  \nmind regarding your fate.” The corner of its mouth almost imperceptibly twitched.  \n  \nIt then ever so slightly moved so he could get a better look at what was behind. Ni sent  \nhim a mocking kiss, licked her lips, and gave him the toothiest grin he had ever seen – the  \nnightmarish, monstrous maw filled with nothing but fangs longer than his entire body… The  \ndragon on the left looked at Ni creeped out.  \nAll of his panic suddenly returned. “Please, don’t give me to her!”  \nHis captor glanced at Ni before returning its gaze to him. “Like I said… Cooperate.  \nDon’t be useless. And it will be fine. Aye?”  \n“Fine! Fine! Anything! Just don’t give me to her!”  \nHis captor smirked with satisfaction and hid him from Ni. But even then, he couldn’t  \nget the sight of her eyes filled with nothing but pure hunger out of his mind. He spent a few  \nminutes hanging onto the thumb, as his captor seemingly didn’t care if he was outside or  \nnot… And to be fair, didn’t need to care. His arms – not used to straining themselves for so  \nlong – were beginning to give way. Only a matter of time until he fell into the tight spot in the  \npalm below…  \nNo, he shouldn’t think about it. He needed something else to focus on… Something…  \nHe looked down and got a… more than mild case of acrophobia. The sudden hit made him  \nlose grip and fall into his designated prison for good.  \n“No… Please…” he whimpered and tried to claw himself out.  \nHe felt the gargantuan hand moved around him slightly as his fingers tickled its palm,  \nwhich scared him with the prospect of getting crushed by an errant twitch.  \n“I-Ichi…” he heard a quiet voice of the third dragon.  \n“Yes dear?” his captor responded in an… extremely different tone than before...  \n  \nIchi… So that was its… her name. Sounded like nothing he had ever heard, but…  \nTruth be told, it would have been more surprising if it was something familiar.  \n“You… you s-shouldn’t treat him like t-this… It’s… wrong…”  \nHe caught a glimpse of a yellow eye from far above. Then, the eye rolled.  \n“You want to carry him?” Ichi asked.  \n“I… I m-mean yes… I would want to hold the tiny…” it said barely audibly, despite  \nits size.  \n“Try not to break him too much, okay?” Ichi advised, extending her arm.  \n“Thank you, sis!” it said with unmistakable joy as she plucked him from her hand.  \nHe found himself cradled in monstrously big, white palms, with the only exit showing  \na huge, golden head entirely focused on his tiny form. Visibly shaking form, which it finally  \nrealised.  \nIt lowered her head towards him, which caused him to panic and try and move back.  \n“H-hey… don’t worry, little one. I will… keep you safe. I p-promise.”  \nHe felt her hands slightly twitching under and around him. It most likely did not even  \nrealise it, but for him it resembled sitting in one of those massaging armchairs.  \n“I… thank, you, uhmmm… m-miss,” he mumbled after a few seconds of staring down  \nthe titan point blank, gambling that it was also a female.  \nShe smiled at him warmly, confirming that he guessed correctly and began gently  \npetting his head with one of her titanic fingers. That tiny bit of kindness… of comfort… It  \ncalmed him down. In Ichi’s hands he felt like a plaything… Here he felt… well, not that much  \n  \nbetter, but still. Well enough for his body to finally convince itself that he was not in  \nimmediate danger.  \n“It’s v-very nice to m-meet you… l-little one…” she whispered. “I-I’m Kendall.”  \nHe stared at her blankly. Of course she was. The only thing capable of fucking with  \nhim at this point… happened. Of course she, for some godforsaken reason, had a name that  \nwas familiar…  \nSomething exploded right next to Ichi’s right leg. She jumped away on instinct,  \ncausing the ground to tremble.  \n“Damn midgets gonna blow us up!” Ni growled, her voice tinted with panic.  \n“They’ll leave us alone if we leave their territory,” Ichi shouted and ran.  \nTwo other dragons also ran. For the first few steps, he was violently flailing inside  \nKendall’s hands, until she closed them a bit tighter, securing him in place. Something  \nexploded again and he heard Ni howl. “MY ASS!”  \nHe spent around a quarter of an hour tightly squeezed between Kendall’s hands before  \nthe dragons stopped to take a breath.  \n“Let me take a look…” Ichi said, kneeling behind Ni.  \n“Stupid fucking midgets shooting at…” Ni angrily mumbled.  \nKendall suddenly remembered about him and loosened her grip, causing him to fall to  \nthe bottom of her palms again. When he looked up, she had a guilty look on her face. As he  \nwatched one dragon inspecting another, he realised that they both had brownish patterns on  \ntheir tails, backs, and thighs. They resembled… thick spikes or triangles, buckling around  \n  \ntheir forms. On a double take, they also had similar patterns on their forearms, albeit much  \nsmaller.  \n“You’re lucky your butt is so plump, sister,” Ichi poked with the slightest hint of  \namusement, pulling out a tiny bit of shrapnel from Ni’s scales.  \n“Shut up!” Ni scoffed angrily.  \nOr at least, the shrapnel was tiny to them – it was probably around the size of his  \nentire leg. He sighed heavily, realising that his last hope of rescue was gone. The military was  \nunlikely to waste any more missiles just to rescue one person…  \n“Are you all right, little one?” Kendall asked, visibly concerned.  \nAnd then, something happened. His last two braincells collided, producing an idea. A  \nhorrible idea, but at this point all ideas were horrible. It all hinged on how naïve the monster  \nwas…  \n“Yes… I am fine, miss Kendall…” he stuttered and looked up. “C-can I call you that?”  \nKendall smiled at him warmly and nodded.  \n“Get going. I don’t want to tempt them again,” Ichi nagged, beginning their march  \nagain.  \nHe heard Ni grumbling, sulking, and seething. Kendall seemed very determined to  \nboth keep up with Ichi’s fast pace and not to crush or drop him… And from her facial…  \nsnoutal… expression he gathered that in her case, this passed for quite intense multitasking.  \n“Stop acting like a child, Ni. It’s barely a scratch,” Ichi said.  \n„On my ass,” Ni grumbled. “I’m gonna fucking destroy them, you hear me?”  \n  \n„Come on, it’s not that bad. Will be gone in a few days tops,” Ichi patted Ni’s  \nshoulder. “Get a hold of yourself and focus.”  \nReluctantly, Ni obliged.  \nIn the meantime, he was going through the entire conversation in his head, trying to  \nget something to latch onto. Something he could realistically use… Exploit to start a  \nconversation without it sounding TOO forced… And he actually found something.  \n“Miss Kendall… you’ve said that I am cute before… That was very nice of you,” he  \nsaid, giving her a fake flustered look.  \nKendall smiled and blushed, which almost threw him off enough to instantly ruin his  \nplan. How a scaly monster was capable of blushing was just…  \n“You… y-you are very cute, little one. S-Sorry if I’m… being weird or something. I jjust think you look lovely… that’s… t-that’s all…” Kendall mumbled, trying and failing not  \nto smile.  \n“You too look… very pretty, miss,” he forced through his teeth, desperately trying not  \nto focus on the fangs.  \nKendall somehow turned red and tried to hide her flustered expression, though she  \nclearly did enjoy the compliment. “I- I’m glad… t-thank you… I hope that… my words don’t  \ns-seem too… w-weird to you.”  \n“Trust me, from all of this, this is the least weird thing right now,” he replied with a  \nhint of forced amusement.  \nKendall giggled. “Y-yes… I guess it… it is…”  \n  \nNi looked over her shoulder, hearing giggling and quiet conversation, her expression  \nas annoyed as ever. “You are just flirting with him now, aren’t you?” she asked.  \n“Is she ever not flirting? It’s her natural state,” Ichi snarked from the front.  \nKendall blushed again and looked at her feet in embarrassment. “H-hey… I don’t…  \nalways flirt. I-I can be serious too… s-sometimes…”  \nIchi shook her head, her lips curled with slight amusement. “No, you can’t. You were  \nflirting with a rock you drew eyes on just last week, dear.”  \nNi scoffed and put her foot down a little harder as if trying to make a point. “Yeah, it's  \nsuper sickening actually. Good for nothing moron…”  \n“NI!” Ichi yelled with a threatening tone, turning her head around.  \n“What? You know it’s…”  \nNi suddenly stopped when Ichi locked eyes with her. They promised murder if she  \ndared to continue. Ni couldn’t withstand the gaze and nervously looked away, which  \nprompted Ichi to nod and focus on walking away. Kendall glanced at Ni with a mixture of  \nguilt, sadness, and anger… No, more pent-up frustration and helplessness.  \nAs the silence after the face-off was getting uncomfortable, he looked up at Kendall  \nand gestured to her to lower her head. She seemed a bit confused at first but did oblige. “Wwhat is it?”  \n“You can flirt with me as much as you want miss. I do not mind, really,” he whispered.  \nKendall’s eyes widened. She blushed heavily, clearly surprised by his words and how  \ncasual they were. Truth be told, he was equally as shocked by how smoothly he was  \n  \nbullshitting her. She took a few moments to get over her flustered state. “Y-you... you d-don't  \nmind it?”  \nHe smiled warmly and shook his head. “I really appreciate how kind and gentle you  \nare to me, considering how... huge you are.”  \nKendall giggled, getting eerily similar to a schoolgirl. “O- oh wow... I um...” she went  \nsilent for a few moments, trying to collect herself „T-thank you for saying t-that. I-I was  \nworried I w-was scaring y-you…”  \n“Right now… I’m scared of your sister Ni… You won’t let her eat me, right?” he  \nasked with concern.  \nHer eyes widened, a panicked expression appearing on her face. She looked upset at  \nthe very thought. “No no no, of course I w-won’t. A-as long as you're with me, she w-won't  \ntouch you, I p-promise!”  \nHe nodded, satisfied with her reaction. It seemed that he had one monster on his side  \nalready…  \nShe gently pulled him a bit closer, securing him against her chest as well and let out a  \nhappy hum, trying to focus on walking, yet unable to stop herself from glancing at him every  \nfew seconds and smiling each time.  \nNi noticed it and huffed disapprovingly.  \n“Ni, stop it, really,” Ichi admonished with a tone suggesting an infinite well of  \npatience. “You’re acting childish.”  \n“I'm not! She is! Fawning over the stupid thing like it’s...”  \n  \n“Ni...” Ichi turned around, the look in her eyes betraying just how much she disliked  \nNi’s constant attempt to reach the well’s bottom. “We need him. Put your jealousy aside for a  \nmoment.”  \n“I am NOT jealous!” she yelled. “I just don’t see the point of pampering it like that!”  \n“And yet you're pouting like a small child every time she pays him any attention. If  \nyou feel this strongly about it, you could volunteer to carry the human yourself.”  \n“Pfft, yeah, right. Why would I want to carry it?”  \n“That's what I figured.” Ichi let out an annoyed sigh. “You're making a fuss just to be  \ndifficult...”  \n“I…” she hesitated and her expression suddenly hardened. “Even if I do, so what? She  \ngets to do what she wants all the time, but I can’t?”  \nIchi suddenly stopped, straightened herself and took a deep breath. And then turned  \naround, radiating something… beyond ominous. “Kendall, come here dear,” she asked  \npolitely, but with a very noticeable aura of command.  \nKendall shrank under her gaze and instantly came over. Ichi hugged her, caressed her  \ncheek…And then, she took him from her hands, walked over to Ni, and forced him into her  \nhand instead. “Here, sister. Now you have nothing to complain about,” she announced with a  \nsatisfaction betraying years of pent-up frustration.  \nNi looked at him, almost as surprised as he was. When their eyes met, his body got  \ninstantly paralysed with immense dread. “The fuck? I didn’t ask for this!” Ni scoffed, closing  \nher hand around him.  \n  \n“Incredible. I could have sworn that you were just complaining about Ken having a bit  \nof fun with the human,” she eyed the bigger dragoness. “Now she doesn’t have him. Problem  \nsolved, right? Play with him all you want.”  \nHe tried to scream from horror, but his lungs were too compressed to produce any  \nsound beyond a silent, choky whimper of a man whose life was about to end.  \n“But know this, Ni…” Ichi huffed. “If you break him… You will go get a new one.  \nAlone. Understood?” She poked her chest with a finger.  \nNi scoffed and grumbled, her hand absent mindedly fiddling with him, threatening to  \nbreak his ribs at any moment.  \n“UNDERSTOOD?” Ichi repeated more forcefully.  \n“Yes… understood…” Ni mumbled.  \nIchi nodded, turned around, and returned to walking. He could feel Ni moving a  \nsecond later, quietly cursing under her breath with the attitude of a hurt hellhound pup. The  \nworst part was… she seemingly forgot about him. He got repeatedly accelerated forwards and  \nbackwards along with her hand, along for the harshest ride of his life. As his consciousness  \nbegan slipping away from lack of oxygen and a severe case of motion sickness, he felt  \nadrenaline flood his system and… prompt him to bite her finger.  \nHis teeth had no chance to pierce her skin, but it was enough to grant him the sliver of  \nher attention.  \n“What?!” she snapped, bringing him to her eye level.  \nHe didn’t respond, for he could not. He simply looked at her, feeling his body going  \nlimp. And surprisingly, she finally realised what was happening. The hand opened, leaving  \nhim lying on her palm, heaving, and desperately gasping for air.  \n  \n“Fucking midget…” Ni rolled her eyes. “Almost dead from just holding you…”  \nHe tried to push himself up but stopped halfway as a coughing fit caught him. Her  \nfinger turned him around like a beetle so that he was facing upwards and looked at him with a  \nmixture of annoyance, contempt and… was that concern?  \n“And she expects you to help?” she mumbled and shook her head. “We’re gonna  \nfucking die…” She looked into the distance.  \nHis reprieve didn’t last long as she began absent-mindedly bouncing him up and down  \nlike one would do with a pebble… which to be fair, in her mind, he probably was. The only  \nreason why he didn’t get hurt was because her palms were just barely soft enough to cushion  \nhis falls.  \n“Ni, please…” whimpered Kendall, visibly distressed.  \nThe look in her eyes suggested that she was fully expecting Ni to break her toy for the  \nfun of it. Again.  \nNi’s head suddenly snapped to her sister, and she stopped juggling him. “Or what?”  \n“You know what,” Ichi said matter-of-factly.  \nNi sighed through gritted teeth.  \n“P-please Ni… Be c-careful…” Kendall begged.  \n“Relax. I’m not gonna break him…” she glanced at him and grimaced. “Not on  \npurpose at least…Ey midget. You good?” she asked, forcefully poking his belly.  \n“Oughhhhh…” he moaned.  \n“See? He’s fine.” Ni responded, failing to convince even herself.  \n  \nAnd with that, their exchange ended, leaving them to just march in silence, at least if  \none discounted their thundering footsteps. Meanwhile he found himself under constant watch.  \nA constant watch of two furiously red eyes pulled straight from a nightmare. He whimpered  \nagain, curling into a ball.  \n“Oh, come ON! I didn’t even squish you that hard!” Ni huffed, forcefully rolling him  \nonto his back again.  \n“Just… stop…” he heaved and surprisingly, she stayed her hand. “Oh fuck I’m gonna  \npuke…”  \n“Oh no no no!” she waved her titanic finger. “You puke on my hand and I WILL wipe  \nit off along with the rest you. Capiche?”  \nHe slowly blinked and… laughed. Weakly, but laughed. The threat was original; he  \ncould give her that. Slowly, yet methodically, he worked his arms higher and higher and after  \njust a few short minutes he was sitting again, with head almost between his knees.  \n“Oh, fuck me…” he huffed.  \n“Not sure how that would work.” She shrugged.  \nHe snorted, not believing that he really did find the dumbest pun in history funny... On  \nsecond though, he could have had a concussion, so…  \nHis mind focused on his plan again. Sure, he suffered… more than a major setback,  \nbut he didn’t die yet. The first monster was easy. Literally had training wheels with how dumb  \nand… touch starved it was. Was that the right term for it? He sure as hell couldn’t think of a  \nbetter one at least. Eh, no matter. It wasn’t a time for bickering over definitions with oneself –  \nit was a time for bullshitting dragons.  \n  \n“So… miss Ni…” He somehow managed to look up again. “I take it you won’t be  \neating me after all?”  \n“I don’t know, APPARENTLY?” she puffed. “Unless Ichi changes her mind at least.”  \nShe glanced at her. “But lucky for you, that bitch’s stubborn on the best of days.”  \n“I’ve heard that,” Ichi commented without turning.  \n“Go-od,” Ni mocked, trying to replicate the rhythm of Ichi’s sentence.  \nHe glanced at Ichi and almost unconsciously noticed that her feminine features were  \nmuch more pronounced than Ni’s, whose muscles were smoothening out all kinds of curves.  \n“Huh? What are ye looking at?” Ni asked when his gaze lingered a bit too long on her  \nhips.  \n“Nothing, it’s just…” he hesitated and decided that mentioning his observations very  \nwell might have been his death sentence, instead opting for curling into a ball and trying to  \ncalm himself. Which was way easier said than done. Still, as much as he would want, the plan  \nwouldn’t accomplish itself.  \n“Why… why do you want to eat me… miss Ni? There are far tastier and filling things  \nto eat,” he asked, shocking even himself with how bold it sounded.  \nShe glanced at Ichi and then focused on him again. Her eyes blinked. “True… But you  \ndo look quite tasty. I just want to try you,” she answered and gave him an evil grin.  \nHis guts contracted, while his heart tried to explode and stop at the same time, which  \nforced it into a perfect equilibrium that prevented either from happening. It allowed him to  \nnotice one important thing in her blood-red eyes. Uncertainty. Or maybe hesitation.  \n  \nVague memories from years ago began flooding his mind and he thanked himself for  \ntaking that stupid psychology course in college and he… noticed a pattern. Or at least, he  \nthought he did. Who could have thought that non-STEM trash actually had practical  \napplications?  \n“Miss Ni I…”  \n“Call me ‘miss’ again and I swear I’m gonna throw you,” she cut him off.  \nHe hesitated and almost dropped the attempt. “Right… Ni?”  \nShe blinked, as if hearing him address her like that was bewildering. “What do you  \nwant, midget?”  \n“Why…” he took a deep breath. “Why are you so jealous of Kendall?”  \nShe recoiled as if hit by a sledgehammer. Suddenly her fingers curled, and he was no  \nlonger sitting on her palm – now she was holding onto him, with just his upper body sticking  \nout of her hand.  \n“The fuck was that?” she growled, bringing him closer towards one of her eyes.  \nAs many times before, he instantly regretted his choices. But at this point it was too  \nlate to back down – he had to push deeper into bullshit. “Why are you so jealous of her…  \nbeing happy?”  \nNi glared at him, clearly not pleased by the question. “Jealous? Me? Of what exactly?  \nHer dumbass fawning over you? You stupid or something?”  \nHe pushed against her index finger, and she surprisingly loosened her grip a tad bit,  \nletting him breathe without straining himself. “That's not what I asked. You are clearly not  \nmad about WHY she is happy, just that she IS happy.”  \n  \nNi sneered and grumbled. “Just that she is happy…” she repeated mockingly. “Fuck  \noff midget. You don’t know shit about me.”  \n“That is not an answer,” he blurted out before his common sense could stop him.  \nHer eyes narrowed. “I'm not jealous! I just think… she's too soft. It's ridiculous!”  \n“And because she’s soft, she doesn’t deserve to be happy?”  \nNi sent him a death stare. “That’s not what I…” she paused… and then let out a  \nfrustrated hiss capable of giving instant heart attacks.  \nAs he reeled and trembled from what he had created, he heard… laughter. His head  \nslowly turned, revealing Ichi who was trying and failing to contain herself while constantly  \ngiving them amused side-eyes.  \n“Stupid idiot…” Ni scoffed, though he couldn’t tell if it was directed at him or her  \nsister.  \nShe took a few deep breaths and… deflated herself. “Look midget…” she sighed,  \nmassaging the bridge of her nose… snout. “I just had the worst couple of days in my life…  \nNot exactly high on spirits.”  \nAnd so, his feeling was vindicated. She really was making others miserable as a  \ncoping mechanism. A wave of satisfaction and self-importance flooded him – he felt like the  \nsmartest man in the universe and was almost surprised that his brain wasn’t overspilling  \nthrough his ears just yet. But there was no time for glazing himself.  \nHe nodded. He got exactly what he wanted, but now it was time for the make-or-break  \nmoment, and what it involved was making him extremely nervous. He reached out and, taking  \nadvantage of her sulking, placed his hands on the tip of her snout. She stopped massaging her  \n  \nforehead and looked at him, half-bewildered, half-curious. And if he was seeing correctly…  \nthere was also a bit of fear in her eyes.  \nHe caressed her muzzle in large, circular motions as her nostrils contracted and  \nexpanded in regular intervals, pushing torrents of air in and out. She loosened her grip and let  \nhim stand on her palm, which he used to get closer and push his forehead against the snout as  \nwell.  \n“Stupid midget…” she scoffed quietly, but without anger or malice this time. “You’re  \nweird…”  \n“I know,” he replied bluntly, which got a slight chuckle out of her.  \n„You know… I don’t think I’ve ever held a human… at least like this before.”  \n„There is a first time for everything,” he responded with a somewhat forced smile.  \nShe smirked a little and brought him down towards her chest and slightly pressed him  \nagainst it. „… You know, I kind of want to squish you…” she commented absent-mindedly.  \nHe tensed, trying to ignore the all too visceral vision her words brought him. “It’s nice,  \nso… maybe later?” he forced out of his stiff jaw.  \nShe snickered again and slightly petted him. “Yeah, I guess we can delay the squishing  \npart a little longer.”  \nHer expression has softened up significantly and she was looking… almost pleased  \nright now.  \n“We can do it as long as you want... or at least until Kendall grows too Jealous,” he  \nadded jokingly.  \n  \nNi smirked with amusement and put her other hand to support him as well. “Sounds  \ngood to me. Wanna bet how long till she gets all red-faced?”  \n“Now that’s just mean,” he mockingly berated her.  \n“Yeah, I’m a mean bitch. Shocking, I know.”  \nHe burst out laughing, surprising himself with how honest it was. And he felt her…  \nrelaxing. He also saw that she was really enjoying having someone helpless to protect. She  \nradiated… purpose.  \n“I like you Ni.” he said, snuggling into her chest.  \nShe glanced at him as if he had just declared that he was an alien. “That’s a hell of a  \ndeclaration after I wanted to eat you.”  \nHe quickly pushed away the thought of her ripping out his arms and legs, then  \nswallowing them one by one for fun.  \nShe forced him against her chest a bit harder, but still not with enough force to cause  \nhim any distress. Honestly, she looked a bit sheepish, clearly unaccustomed to all this  \nkindness she was subjected to after her behaviour. She couldn’t help but grin each time she  \nlooked at him, even though she tried to keep a straight face.  \nIchi glanced at them, the look in her eyes betraying curiosity. She then made sure  \nKendall was also still there, apparently out of habit. Her sister looking at Kendall reminded Ni  \nof her existence – Ni glanced at her again, smirking at the sight of Kendall’s tormented  \nexpression.  \n“Really?” he berated her.  \n“Oh, come on! Tell me it’s not funny.”  \n  \nHe tried to peek over her hand and look at Kendall. Ni saw it and pushed him up.  \nKendall followed behind Ni’s, slightly to her right, walking in complete silence and bearing  \nan expression so anxious that it bordered on comic book overreaction. She glanced at Ni again  \nand got startled when encountering his gaze. She rapidly looked away. Not quickly enough for  \nNi not to notice, as he felt her body vibrate with a silent chuckle.  \n„Yeah... It is kind of fun,” he admitted, amused by the dragon’s reaction.  \n“Oh, this pesky human…” Ni commented obnoxiously loud. “No wonder you liked  \nhim so much… I’m gonna keep him if you don’t mind.” She looked at her sister again,  \nexpecting a reaction. „Look at her. She's completely red-faced!” she laughed.  \nIt was a lie when she said that, but her words really did turn Kendall’s face into one  \nbig tomato. He tried his hardest not to laugh. „Yeah... I honestly had no idea that dragons  \ncould even get red-faced... You know, the scales and all…”  \n“Really? Never seemed weird to me.” She shrugged. “Anyways, got more idea how to  \nmess with her?”  \nHe hesitated, seeing that she was way into this. On one hand he was glad to not be a  \ncenter of her attention for a change, but on the other… He glanced at Kendall who seemed to  \nbe on the verge of crying. “Don’t overdo it. You don’t want her to cry, do you?”  \nNi’s expression suddenly changed as the concept registered in her mind. She was  \nrapidly snapping between her playful malice and the regret of someone who had made her  \nlittle sibling cry too many times and always regretted it. He knew that feeling way too well.  \n“I guess… I've teased her enough for now,” she sighed.  \nSo, she had self restraint… Even if it required something from the outside to remind  \nher of that. He could work with that… Probably… Potentially?  \n  \n“Give me back to her. It will make her feel that you care about her,” he said before he  \nspiraled into paralysing uncertainty.  \nShe hesitated for a moment, not happy about the prospect of letting him go, but his  \nexpectant look somehow broke the remnants of her resistance. She slowly raised him to her  \neye level.  \n„Pfff, fine. But I hope you know that I don't usually give things up this easily. And  \nafter this I better be your favourite,” she said, only half-jokingly.  \nHe nervously smiled. “Uhhh… Yeah, sure… You are the…” he quickly cycled through  \nthe appropriate vocabulary. “The most… badass dragon I’ve seen.”  \nShe smirked as if getting called that was some sort of high for her. “You know, I feel  \nlike an idiot,” she suddenly admitted.  \n“What?” he asked, genuinely confused.  \n“I got wooed by a tiny midget in like what? An hour?”  \nSuddenly he felt way less smart and full of himself. Nevertheless, the show had to go  \non. “Uhhh… I don’t think I was exactly trying to woo you… It was mostly just… s-small  \ntalk?”  \n“Uhuh, sure,” she mocked. “Damn ‘small talk’. I never had a chance, huh?”  \n“Well, you had... You could have eaten me the second Ichi handed me to you.”  \nShe laughed again. But this time, it was weirdly heartwarming. “Yeah, I guess I got  \npunished for not trusting my instincts there, huh? Damnit, you’re a smartass. I kinda like it…  \nBut I’m also starting to hate it. Weird.”  \n  \n“I feel you; I can get annoying in larger doses.” He nodded, remembering all his  \nruined friendships.  \n“I can imagine.”  \nNi looked at him again and turned away to her sister. She extended her arm and  \npresented him to Kendall.  \nKendall stopped walking and looked at her sister in disbelief. She gently plucked him  \nfrom Ni and cradled him in her palms again, shocked to see him still alive and well, let alone  \nin her hands. It really looked like she did not know what to think, never mind how to react.  \n“Hello. I am back, miss Kendall.” He waved at her.  \nHer eyes widened at the sound of his voice, as if it was what finally convinced her that  \nhe was not just a hallucination. She reeled, before finding her voice again.  \n“H-hi, there. I... uhhh... I s-see you survived y-your... little adventure w-with Ni. Heh,”  \nshe commented sheepishly.  \nHe nodded. “We had a little talk… And I think we will all like each other.”  \nKendall got even more flustered and awkward, hearing that. He wondered why she  \nwas still red as a tomato and the only explanation he could come up with was that she was  \nsimply so surprised that even her body forgot about the blush.  \n“O-oh... y-yeah, I s-see... a ‘little t-talk’. R-really? Ni had a ‘littl-tle talk’… Her…  \nwith y-you? H-how... how was it?”  \n“Ask her.” He gestured towards her sister.  \nKendall turned towards her sister, reluctant to actually ask her. “So uhhh... Ni... h-how  \nwas your little... t-talk?”  \n  \nNi raised an eyebrow, enjoying her sister’s awkward state. “Oh, it was... pretty damn  \ngood, actually. You have no idea.”  \nKendall’s expression changed from absolute shock and confusion to one suggesting  \nthat her brain had completely broken down and was about to explode. “It... it was? Rereally...?”  \nNi just couldn’t help herself and smirked even more. “Yeah, dumbass. It was actually...  \npretty damn good. I might just put up with the midget after all.”  \nKendall was trying and failing to process her sister saying something even remotely  \npositive to her. And when she finally managed that… she radiated the purest joy he had ever  \nseen. ‘Wh-what? Really? You... uhhh... you t-tolerate her… him? I-I’m… I’m s-so happy to hhear it…”  \nNi was taken aback by her sister’s reaction, clearly expecting even more awkwardness  \nand not… genuine happiness. She couldn’t help herself but soften a bit. “Yeah, right. Don’t  \nget too damn happy yet. I only said that I could tolerate him, I wasn’t singing any praises,”  \nshe responded in her typical manner but completely failed to uphold the tone.  \nKendall ran up to Ni and hugged her with all her strength, some of which was  \nunfortunately transferred into his tiny form still stuck in her hand. He lost his breath, trying to  \nwriggle a bit to not get completely flattened against Ni’s back.  \nOn her part, Ni was as surprised as Kendall was a moment before. She took a few  \nseconds to recover and then slowly reciprocated the hug, humming softly.  \nAs he struggled for air, he caught a glimpse of Ichi between Kendall’s titanic fingers.  \nShe stared at her sisters dumbfounded.  \n  \nTwo titans finally ended the hug when Ni slightly pushed Kendall away, letting him  \nbreathe again. “Heh, what are you being so cheerful about? You’re acting like I just declared  \nthat we’re best friends now,” Ni scoffed patronisingly.  \nKendall was still smiling like crazy. “I… I am just so happy… sis…”  \n  \n\\*\\*\\*"}