Ash and Song Chapter Eight
Story by Mithrilix on SoFurry
In the quiet village of Grovehollow, a dragonborn warrior named Toryn is trying to learn what it means to stay.
Scarred from a life of battle and burdened by the belief that he is meant only for steel and solitude, Toryn never expects kindness—least of all from a soft-spoken human healer with golden hair and hands gentle enough to steady the fiercest flame. Cassius Ordo is shy, earnest, and quietly brave, tending wounds both seen and unseen. When he fusses over Toryn’s injuries with tender insistence, something long locked in the dragonborn’s chest begins to loosen.
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My first story on here!
I'm mostly aiming for something sweet and fluffy. Perhaps expect spicier stuff in later chapters.
Toryn forgot every word he had ever learned.
The river kept moving softly.
A bird called somewhere distant in the trees.
Cass, meanwhile, looked increasingly embarrassed by the silence.
“You do not have to,” he said quickly. “I only thought since you were already here and you looked overheated from the forge and—”
“Yes.”
The answer came out far too fast.
Cass blinked.
Toryn closed his eyes briefly in self-inflicted suffering.
“I mean,” he said, trying for dignity and failing utterly, “yes. I would.”
Cass’s expression softened immediately into something shy and pleased.
Toryn pointed one clawed finger toward him before he could lose control of the conversation entirely.
“But next time,” he growled, “you tell someone where you’re going.”
Cass pressed his lips together, very clearly fighting another smile.
“Yes, Toryn.”
“And do not leave your door open.”
“Yes, Toryn.”
“And not this close to dark.”
Cass’s eyes sparkled now outright.
“Yes, Toryn.”
Toryn narrowed his eyes.
Cass looked entirely unrepentant.
Gods help him.
With a low muttered curse under his breath, Toryn set the moonbells carefully on a nearby stone before beginning to remove his weapons.
Then his gloves.
Then the heavy forge-worn layers beneath.
Cass very bravely attempted not to stare.
He failed almost immediately.
Toryn noticed because of course he did.
The healer’s gaze flicked once across the broad expanse of scarred muscle and dark red-and-black scales revealed beneath the loosened clothing before snapping guiltily away again.
Pink spread all the way to Cass’s ears.
Toryn nearly smiled.
Nearly.
He stepped into the river carefully.
Cold water curled instantly around his legs, soothing sore muscles and forge-burned skin alike. Toryn exhaled slowly as he moved deeper, until the river reached his waist beside Cass.
The current flowed cool and steady around them.
Quiet settled again.
Different this time.
Closer.
Cass watched him carefully from nearby. “See?”
Toryn glanced sideways at him.
Cass smiled faintly.
“Not so bad.”
Toryn snorted softly despite himself.
“The river isn’t the part causing problems.”
Cass blinked once.
Then realization dawned all at once across his face.
“Oh.”
Toryn immediately looked away toward the dark treeline before the healer could see the heat burning beneath his scales.
Cass made the tiniest choking sound beside him.
Which only made things worse.
The river suddenly felt much too small.
Toryn scrubbed one hand down his face. “Gods.”
Cass laughed again—quiet and flustered and utterly incapable of hiding his embarrassment now.
“I did not think you would actually say yes.”
“You invited me.”
“I know, but I did not think—”
“You should stop being surprised that I want to be near you.”
The words slipped out before Toryn could stop them.
Silence followed.
Cass went completely still in the water beside him.
Toryn cursed himself instantly.
Too much.
Too honest.
But when he finally risked looking back—
Cass was staring at him with that same soft expression he always wore during lute songs and fireflies and quiet evenings on the cottage steps.
Something warm.
Something growing.
The healer lowered his gaze shyly to the water between them.
“I’m glad you came looking for me,” he admitted softly.
Toryn’s chest tightened painfully.
“You scared me.”
Cass looked up again at that.
Real understanding crossed his face this time.
Not teasing.
Not embarrassment.
Just quiet realization of how frightened Toryn must have been finding the cottage empty.
“I’m sorry,” Cass said gently.
Toryn shook his head once.
Then, after a moment:
“Just… tell me next time.”
The words came low and rough.
Not a command.
Something far more vulnerable than that.
Cass studied him for a long second before nodding softly.
“…Alright.”
For a while after, neither of them moved much.
The river flowed quietly around them beneath the rising moon while night insects hummed softly from the trees. Cool water eased the ache from Toryn’s muscles, though not the unbearable tension sitting beneath his ribs.
Because Cass was still beside him.
Close.
Far too close for Toryn’s peace of mind.
The healer floated lazily near a smooth river stone, golden hair damp against pale shoulders, moonlight silvering his skin every time he shifted through the water.
Toryn was trying very hard not to stare.
Trying and failing.
Cass noticed eventually.
A tiny smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“You’re still so tense,” he observed softly.
“I am not.”
“Toryn.”
“I’m perfectly calm.”
Cass snorted.
Then, before Toryn could question the suspicious look entering his eyes—
Cass splashed water directly at him.
Cold river water smacked against Toryn’s chest and jaw.
The Dragonborn froze in complete disbelief.
Cass immediately looked delighted with himself.
“There,” the healer said smugly. “Better.”
Toryn stared at him.
Cass tried—and failed—not to laugh.
Something dangerous sparked warmly beneath Toryn’s scales.
“Oh,” he rumbled low in his chest. “That was a mistake.”
Cass’s eyes widened slightly. “Toryn—”
Too late.
Toryn splashed him back hard enough to make Cass yelp.
Water sprayed everywhere as the healer sputtered in outrage.
“You brute!”
“You started it.”
Cass launched another splash toward him immediately.
Toryn blocked most of it with one broad arm before retaliating again.
Very quickly, the quiet river dissolved into chaos.
Cass laughed breathlessly every time Toryn splashed him, trying desperately to dodge through the water while Toryn pursued with growing amusement. The healer was quicker than expected, darting away with surprising agility whenever Toryn lunged toward him.
“Toryn, stop—”
“You seem to misunderstand,” Toryn said, stalking forward through the river. “I’m winning.”
“You are cheating!”
“How does one cheat at splashing?”
“You’re enormous!”
“That sounds like a you problem.”
Cass made an indignant sound and splashed him directly in the face.
Toryn blinked water from his eyes slowly.
Then smiled.
A real smile this time.
Sharp-toothed and dangerous and suddenly very unfair.
Cass’s breath visibly caught.
“Oh no,” the healer whispered.
Toryn lunged.
Cass shrieked laughing and tried to dart away, but the Dragonborn caught him easily in the deeper water.
One hand closed carefully around Cass’s wrist.
The other settled instinctively at his waist to steady him before he slipped.
The motion carried them both off balance for a moment until Cass collided lightly against Toryn’s chest with a startled gasp.
Water rippled around them.
Then stilled.
Toryn straightened slowly, still holding him.
“Caught you,” he murmured.
Cass was breathless from laughing.
So was Toryn.
The healer tipped his head back slightly to look up at him, wet hair clinging to his cheeks while moonlight turned his blue eyes impossibly bright.
“Oh,” Cass whispered.
Gods.
Toryn suddenly became acutely aware of everything all at once.
The warmth of Cass beneath his hand.
The slender curve of his waist.
Their bare skin pressed close beneath the river water.
How little space remained between them now.
Cass seemed to realize it too.
His laughter faded slowly into something softer.
Something quieter.
Toryn’s heart hammered painfully against his ribs.
Every instinct in him screamed two different things at once.
Move away.
Closer.
He should let go.
He should absolutely let go.
Instead his thumb shifted unconsciously against Cass’s side.
Cass inhaled softly.
Toryn’s gaze dropped briefly to Cass’s mouth before he could stop himself.
Gods.
The healer did not pull away.
That nearly undid him.
Toryn lifted one trembling hand slowly from Cass’s wrist.
Carefully.
Giving him every chance to retreat.
But Cass stayed perfectly still as Toryn’s rough thumb brushed gently along his cheekbone, sweeping away a lingering droplet of water.
Cass’s eyes fluttered slightly at the touch.
Toryn thought he might die from the tenderness of it.
“You are…” His voice roughened badly. “Gods, Cass.”
The healer looked at him with quiet uncertainty now, vulnerable in a way that made Toryn ache.
Toryn stroked his thumb softly along Cass’s cheek once more.
“You’re beautiful,” he said quietly.
The words settled between them like something sacred.
Cass went completely still.
No teasing now.
No embarrassment.
Just stunned, breathless softness.
Color bloomed slowly across his face beneath the moonlight.
“Toryn…”
The Dragonborn had never meant anything more in his life.
Not battle oaths.
Not contracts.
Not promises sworn in blood.
Beautiful did not even begin to cover it.
Cass looked like moonlight and music and every gentle thing Toryn had once believed the world incapable of holding.
Toryn should have let go.
Every remaining scrap of discipline told him to step back now while he still could.
Instead, his hand at Cass’s waist tightened ever so slightly.
Cass made the softest sound in response.
That was all it took.
Toryn drew him closer.
Carefully at first, as though still half-afraid the moment might shatter if he moved too quickly. Water shifted around them as Cass drifted nearer until their bodies pressed fully together beneath the river’s cool current.
The Dragonborn’s tail curled instinctively around Cass’s leg and waist, protective and possessive all at once before Toryn even realized he was doing it.
Cass’s breath caught sharply.
Toryn froze for one panicked heartbeat. “Sorry—”
“No,” Cass whispered immediately.
His hands had somehow found Toryn’s chest, fingers spread lightly against dark scales as if grounding himself there.
“I don’t mind.”
Gods.
The human looked up at him with flushed cheeks and wide blue eyes and complete trust shining openly across his face.
Toryn was lost.
Completely.
His thumb brushed once more along Cass’s cheek.
Then, before fear could stop him, he bent his head and kissed him.
The first touch was awkward.
Uncertain.
Dragonborn muzzles were not shaped for elegant human kisses, and Toryn immediately worried he had misjudged everything. His snout bumped clumsily against Cass’s mouth, and he started to pull back at once with a quiet, mortified curse.
But Cass made a tiny protesting sound and leaned upward after him.
Not perfect.
Not graceful.
Wanting him anyway.
That nearly stopped Toryn’s heart.
So he tried again.
Slower this time.
Gentler.
He tilted his head carefully and guided Cass softly into the kiss, one hand cradling the side of his face while the other steadied his waist beneath the water.
Cass trembled.
Not with fear.
With nerves.
Toryn realized suddenly—with a rush of aching tenderness—that Cass truly had no idea what he was doing.
The healer kissed like he approached everything else in life: careful, hesitant, but earnest to the point of heartbreak.
Toryn softened immediately.
He slowed further, giving Cass time to adjust to the unfamiliar shape of his mouth, the press of scales against soft skin. Little by little the awkwardness eased as Cass relaxed against him.
“There,” Toryn murmured softly against his lips. “That’s it.”
Cass shivered visibly at the praise.
His fingers tightened faintly against Toryn’s chest as he kissed him back more confidently this time.
Still shy.
Still learning.
But gods, Toryn had never experienced anything that felt half so precious.
The river drifted quietly around them while moonlight silvered the water and trees whispered softly overhead.
Toryn kissed him again.
And again.
Each one gentle.
Unhurried.
Like he was trying to memorize the feeling of Cass beneath his hands.
Cass eventually made a small breathless sound against his mouth that almost destroyed what remained of Toryn’s self-control.
The Dragonborn pulled back slightly with visible effort, forehead resting carefully against Cass’s.
Both of them breathing harder now.
Cass’s lips were pink from now, his golden hair damp and tangled around his flushed face. He looked dazed.
Happy.
Toryn stared at him like a man witnessing something holy.
Cass blinked up at him slowly.
“I…” He laughed once softly, embarrassed and overwhelmed all at once. “I don’t think I was very good at that.”
Toryn actually smiled.
A real one.
Warm this time instead of sharp.
“You were perfect.”
Cass turned red enough to rival sunset.
Toryn felt his own chest tighten painfully at the sight.
Gods.
He was done for.