The Lost of the Marshes – Chapter 2: Trust
by Bad Manners

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... After conquering or laying waste to almost all of the other cities and villages throughout the plains between the Two Rivers, the Kaati Empire brought to them not only its language, science, and customs, but mainly its religion as well, which considers the ruler of Kaati a god among men. And even though its status as official religion meant that worshiping anything other than the Kaatian pantheon was a crime, the heretical legends were said to still live on, mostly through oral storytelling. ...

... Dragons have long been popular in the collective consciousness of all societies between the Two Rivers. Some people, however, claim that they live not among gods in the heavens, but on lands away from civilization, killing any intruders on their territory. No evidence has previously proven their existence, but we have found some common threads that warranted further investigation. ...

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Nikili had a stern face. "I spoke with Nurta, and she has no jobs for us. So unfortunately there's no other way. If we wanna make sure that we have enough gold this month, we need to go into the ruins again and find stuff to sell, or we do farm work for her", he said to Quince. The small genderless cat was sitting across the room and looking away from the brown mongoose, but he knew that they had heard him well and clear. "Now I know neither of us wanna water crops or whatever it is you do for farm work," he continued, "but I don't wanna risk you dying for a stupid reason!"

It had been less than a day since the pair ventured into the ruins inside of the Hamora Marshes, and Quince somehow had ended up inside of a giant blue dragon. They were released unharmed, but Nikili didn't know it at that moment, and he sprinted away from the beast with the yellow cat on his arm at the first opportunity. It was only after they managed to return safely to their house in the village of Logas, a small and peaceful settlement in southern Kaati, that the cat had recovered from the dizziness after what had transpired, not feeling any worse for wear.

The tall, axe-bearing mongoose, initially feeling safe now that they got home, got horrified by the realization that they could have been chased by the beast all the way here. Thankfully it wasn't the case, but still, in his panicked state of mind, he felt that he had to resort to any kind of action. Perhaps he could warn the village chief and their supplier, Nurta – who often bartered food and tools for Nikili's and Quince's gold or, in the lack of coin, loathed farmland work. She always had a plan for any sort of problem. Or... maybe he could recruit the other scavengers in the village, and using his limited military knowledge, assemble a task force to launch a preemptive attack.

He had been wondering out loud, and the cat grabbed his attention to snap him out of it. Quince was certain that the dragon would do no harm to either of them, and that they should keep quiet about who they found. However, asserting that position to a loud and combat-inclined man, when you yourself cannot speak, is a daunting task to say the least. Still, they'd known each other for over 5 years, and had plenty of trial and error on their communication, so at least Quince managed to calm Nikili down and prevent him from doing anything hasty for the night. Once they'd talked very briefly to make sure that the feline was indeed unharmed, they spent the rest of the night in silence, had their dinner, and slept it over. Both of them hoped that a good night's rest would bring some sense into each other.

Instead, they had come to even more distant conclusions. Nikili was of the mind that they would be in danger inside of the marshes, and had to find another way to make a living from now on. And Quince felt mostly guilty about leaving their newly-met friend without repaying their affection, or leaving without any sort of goodbye, even. They especially wanted to know if the dragon was faring well today, because they didn't know what exactly had transpired between him and Nikili while they were 'unavailable', so to speak. But convincing the brown mongoose to go back to that building in the ruins would have been impossible.

Alas, after Nikili got dressed and went out, and asked their supplier for any new work that wouldn't involve crops or cattle, he received a negative response; then, going over their personal finances once more, he'd come to an unsatisfactory conclusion – they had to venture back into the ruins for artifacts. So he got home, wiped the sand from his sandals before walking in, and delivered the news to Quince. He was expecting any sort of reaction from the cat; maybe enthusiasm, or maybe anticipation. Yet, they only pouted away, unflinchingly.

"Alright, maybe 'dying for a stupid reason' is a bad choice of words. I don't mean it literally, but y'know what I mean." Nikili shrugged, and kept monologuing. "I'm not even sure what happened in there or what you were doing, but what if I hadn't found you? I was worried that you had been killed and eaten for real."

Quince let out an angry high-pitched growl, and pointed at Nikili. "You're angry at me?", he asked. Quince shook their head, and quickly pointed to Nikili, then themself. "Oh, you're asking if I'm angry at you?" The cat looked away from their partner and nodded. Nikili approached them and squatted so that they were closer, since he was about twice their height. "No no, of course not. I was just worried that you got hurt. We have been scavenging partners for so many years now, but you're still my friend first of all, Quince. I want you to be safe and happy."

Nikili approached his hand to Quince's back and slowly scratched it. The cat let out an angry meow, but the soft purrs that followed after betrayed them. "And I'm sorry for how I was acting yesterday. I know that sometimes I can be a loudmouth, and I say or do stuff that you don't like, but in my defense, you don't really say much to complain", he stated, earning a disgruntled 'hmpf!'-like trill from Quince. "But jokes aside, all I want is for us to trust each other, as friends and as a team. Gods, I know that there's no-one like you who I can tell my secrets to, and you know a lot more about this whole scavenging business than me. So y'know, if you wanna tell me anything as well, then I wanna be a part of it if you'll let me."

The cat smirked to themself. Sure, Nikili had a habit to blabber on about his 'secrets'. Although they were barely secrets, since all of his acquaintances knew that he could not stop talking about his dates with other men. Especially when he got dumped and drank his homemade beer, always before loudly crying out his new ex's name mixed in with swears, hurting Quince's poor ears. The feline never thought of themself as a person who had a romantic or sexual interest in other people, so it was quite the awkward situation when the mongoose would start talking about lovey stuff – or when he was especially drunk, the naughty and sexy details that may have left unwarranted mental images that scar the feline's mind. The interests that Quince did have were unusual, involving swallowing or being swallowed alive, and they had managed to share them to Nikili on one occasion despite their language barrier, although he might have just forgotten about it. Still, the cat mused, how would it be like if they had the opportunity to chatter on and on, sharing about their fulfilled desires and getting Nikili flustered instead for once?

"Anyway, the thing that happened between you and that dragon... it had to do with your 'fetish', right?", Nikili said. Oh, he did not forget at all, Quince feared, and they covered their now-blushing face with their paws. Realizing he may have overstepped, Nikili raised his hands. "Ah, sorry, pretend I didn't say anything!" He stood up, and walked towards his bag near the entrance of the house, slipping it over his head and arm. "Well, like I said, we have no choice but to find new artifacts to sell. And I could really use your help, 'cause you're the real brain at this scavenging business." Nikili moved back to Quince, and extended his hand in their direction. "Alright? What do you say?"

Quince uncovered their face, and stared back at him. They smiled coyly, and grabbed his hand to rise up.

***

This part of the Zugul Ruins in the marshes was still familiar to both of them. They recognized the set of trees which they had used as a split up spot yesterday. But Quince would have sped ahead of Nikili any other day; now, they followed him dejectedly. The other difference from yesterday, Quince noticed, was that the herons that they'd seen in the open area ahead had left, leaving the plain completely empty. Although that in itself isn't really unusual.

Nikili, wearing the bag across his chest, a light green skirt, and a pair of leather sandals, put the head of his axe on some solid ground for support, and stopped to think. He recalls how he kept going west alone for thirty minutes or so, and didn't find anything but a handful of water holes to sink his leg into. However, they both knew that the ruins continued east. They knew it very well, since that was where Quince had met you-know-who in what looked like a dilapidated temple... but it was still their best (and perhaps only) shot. Nikili turned to face his partner and told them which way they were going, expecting a reaction from the cat... but Quince simply stares back and doesn't say anything.

"Is everything alright, Quince? You're looking more miserable than ever", he said. The distraught feline only lowered their head to look at the ground. After a pause, Nikili kept talking. "You're thinking about that dragon, aren't you? And hoping to look for them. And you know that I'm gonna say 'that's not a good idea'." Quince crosses their arms and pouts; they already didn't have high expectations for Nikili to change his mind, but even so, the words stung. "And I– wait a moment." The brown mongoose interrupts himself. "Did you forget your stuff at home?" Normally the cat would carry a brown utility belt, but he just now realized that they are completely naked. Quince focused to remember, and pointed to the east – the direction they went to, yesterday.

"... Really? In those ruins?", Nikili scoffed. "Are you completely sure about it?" The cat gave two consecutive trills – the signal they had agreed on for 'yes' –, and their recollection of yesterday was crystal clear. He groaned and shook his head. "Alright. Unfortunately, I'm also pretty sure I saw a bunch of stuff in there that we can sell. So we can go back there, but only to check things out if there's nothing inside. If we find a dragon or worse, we'll have to turn back and run for safety. I just hope it doesn't actually live there." Quince sighed, and trilled twice again; at least there was a reaction this time, the mongoose considered. "Then off we go!" He lifted his axe, and then both of them walked eastward through the reed-covered floodplain, towards the next step of their trail; unaware that, far high in the sky, a flying creature was tracking them...

***

They kept going through the path of sparse trees until they found a ruin with white walls of stone bricks. They were pretty sure that this was the same place from yesterday. "H-Here we are... Be c-careful, now", Nikili warns. He stretched his legs in preparation for running away, and motioning with his axe, remembered something. "Make sure you have your knife on you if anything happens". Quince, annoyed, just motions their arms over their fully naked body. "Ah, right. Forgot you kept it in your belt", he says, giving Quince a pat on the head before they took another step. "Anyway, you should stay and watch for anything out here while I take a look inside."

Quince simply sighed deeply, then leaned onto the wall as Nikili made his move. If the dragon was in there, they knew that he would just run away and that would be the end of it. So a part of them just hoped that somehow, the hall would be empty. Deciding not to dwell on it, they scanned around the area, taking their mind off that worry for a moment. Everything seemed pretty ordinary for a marsh, other than the lack of birds here, too... But that's when something caught their eye in the distance. Quince noticed one familiar black and dark-blue raven, flying near the treetops towards their direction. It was too fast for the eyes to keep up, until it eventually got close enough to fly in a circle around the building until it was near the entrance, out of Quince's sight. And if that bird was here, and their theory wasn't wrong, then there was a spark of hope.

Nikili peeked around the corner of the collapsed brick wall, and then moved inside to look around the temple. He saw the artifacts lying about in pristine condition, but most importantly, even though the back was dark, there was no sign of any dragons in here, looking just like any other abandoned temple he'd seen. He sighed in relief, turned around and yelled "You can come Quince, it's alright!". Quince had already been approaching on their own, and once they looked through the entrance too, they grinned, before running across the hall, mewling happily. Nikili found the reaction unexpected, and followed them with his gaze, and when he saw what the cat was speeding towards, he fell on his butt from shock.

Sure enough, that very same dragon from yesterday was lying near the back wall! And he had already lowered his face to receive the cat's glomp on his lower chin. He returned the hugging and purring visitor with a happy deep growl of his own, and gave Quince a quick lick from his huge tongue that pushed the yellow-furred feline onto the ground, as they were instantly and completely covered in saliva once more. Nikili, meanwhile, rubbed his forearm against his eyelids, as he was pretty sure that the dragon wasn't here a moment ago. Was he suffering from vision loss somehow?

Quince was now lying on the ground as they were assailed with licks from the dragon's huge flat tongue, happily making sounds and rolling in a puddle of saliva without inhibitions, and Nikili approached the blue-scaled giant with caution. The creature kept each movement deliberately slow to please the cat – not simply snatching Quince into his jaws like the mongoose'd feared. Nikili still clenched the axe on his right hand as a precaution when the winged drake suddenly stopped his licking and raised his tail, before it darted behind his back. A moment later, he brought it to the cat, but now it dexterously returned with a small brown leathery ring caught in one of its spikes. Quince instantly recognized their own belt, and when the appendage carrying their stuff was brought close to them, they jumped and hugged the tail. This prompted a satisfied murr from the dragon, who now playfully lifted Quince a few feet off the ground with the utmost care, eliciting a few further cheerful meows from them.

The slender mongoose froze in place when the dragon's huge, intense blue eyes turned their gaze towards his direction. In truth, Nikili was still very scared, but he couldn't help but feel awe seeing the surreal animal, one that looked and behaved like this one did, and being this close to him, at that. In some way, the dragon was like a living legend, and he was acting the part. He had some memories of dragons; he remembered the bedtime stories that his parents told him from folklore. Although, if his vision truly no longer was deceiving him, he certainly was plumper than the pictures that he had in his imagination, especially on the legs and belly.

He also remembered how, in those fairy tales, dragons would speak to the gods and demigods, either to guide them or confront them. So he wondered if somehow, they could speak to him. "C-can you understand m-me?", he said, choking up a few words. The dragon simply let out a soft growl in response, which wasn't very conclusive. Nikili raised up his voice, and spoke word by word. "If you can understand what I'm saying, say something, or... open your mouth, I guess." The dragon replied again with a throaty rumble. Okay, so it didn't seem to understand his language. But it could understand him and Quince in some capacity, at least in terms of body language and intonation, he guessed.

He turned to look at Quince, still pretty much wet with saliva, who was having fun slowly being swung around on the dragon's tail. And even though not much had happened at all in that short time, that itself was reason enough for Nikili's worries to start melting away. He saw the dragon do nothing but maintain his caring Mannerism, and in return, Quince felt welcome. And his companion's happiness was enough to make him start to reconsider his stance on the giant beast.

But when he was about to lower his guard and put down his axe, the mood in the room suddenly shifted. In an instant, the dragon suddenly snapped in place, opened his eyes widely, and a shiver ran down his spine, which Quince felt as it reached the tail. He lowered it so the feline could stand back on the ground, holding their belt in their paws beside Nikili. Once that was done, he shifted around as he turned his overtly cautious gaze to the entrance of the building, knowing that a looming presence would manifest itself.

Both of the scavengers followed suit and turned to face it as well, and there was a dry silence. It was interrupted by a screeching roar coming from outside, moments before a giant beast landed from above, partially entering the crumbled wall. It was definitely a dragon, but it was very different from the one already inside of the ruins. It was slim, covered in gray scales and black lines along the length of the body.

Noticeably, the biggest difference to the blue-scaled creature was its behavior, as it ferociously bared its fangs and claws. It was stalking the two intruders to the marshes, and in its mind, it had cornered them into a ruin, ready to strike down. It didn't follow them inside, because it could now see that there was a third unexpected occupier, who was bigger than even itself. However, it let out another threatening roar, hoping it would prompt their blue kindred to stand aside and let it get rid of them. Nikili and Quince froze together at that shriek, shaking in fear, and the mongoose readied his axe in preparation for any movement.

Of course, the blue dragon's will wouldn't let any harm come to the way of these two curious visitors. He knew, however, that many of his feral draconic companions in the marshes would go to great lengths to kill any perceived intruders, without remorse or hesitation. This fact alone was enough to push him away from the other dragons into a solitary life, because he couldn't bear the burden of being a murderer or accomplice. For this reason, he knew that right now, he had to stand his ground at any cost, and not let the two small scavengers get hurt.

Doing away with any subtlety, he got up from his side and turned away from the back wall. While still keeping eye contact with the other beast, he quickly maneuvered himself to face the enemy, putting all four of his paws on the ground whilst taking care to avoid crushing Quince and Nikili with them. He was afraid of scaring the two, but he would have to put that worry aside right now. He tried to make himself as big as possible inside of the building, lurching his neck up while pressing his front claws on the ground to display their full length. He could barely spread his black wings in here, the membranes scratching the brick walls on opposite sides of the hall, and his tail could hardly be seen behind by the rest of his body. He also swelled his lungs with air that made his torso look bigger, and his back almost reached the roof, towering over the other dragon.

Finally, he threw his head forward, letting out a ground-shaking roar. The other beast flinched from the deep bellow, but didn't move for a while. It was then that the blue defender felt a sharp poke on his paw – maybe one of the smaller visitors had clung to it –, but he couldn't pay it attention, as he continued to face off against the other winged drake, simply huffing and showing his fangs. After a few heart-stopping seconds, however, the gray creature gave up on the standoff, not finding it worth it to pick a fight against the bigger dragon just to eliminate the two tiny intruders. It walked backwards until the debris no longer stood over its head, and then flew away to another part of the marshes.

The blue dragon continued to make his stand there, to make sure that the other one had left for good, which seemed to be the case once a minute or two had passed. He folded back his wings, closed his mouth and relaxed his claws, hoping that his visitors hadn't been too upset by the confrontation or his display. Upon hearing a bunch of weird noises coming from both of them, he twisted his neck to look under his chest where the two had been standing. And what he found was a very odd scene still unfolding.

The taller of the two, the mongoose, had his hands free, and was covering his mouth with both of them, only his scared bulging eyes visible on his light-brown face. Between his fingers, he let out short-breathed whispers, repeating the words "I'm sorry" over and over, which the dragon could not understand. The smaller cat had tears running down their face, as they threw weak punches against Nikili's side hip, along with harsh cries. And they both stared at the back of the dragon's left front paw, where an axe head – detached from its handle – stuck out between the large scales.

In the confrontation, it seemed that Nikili had panicked when the blue dragon let out his roar and, thinking he was attacking him, swung his weapon in self-defense, breaking it on impact with the back of his paw. This must have been the sharp poke that the dragon felt moments ago. Quince was shocked that their friend could have hurt the gentle creature, but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. For a small animal, the splitting blow surely would have been deadly, but the dragon was completely unharmed. In fact, as he plucked the metal blade from between the thick shielded scales of his gray scute with his other hand to investigate, it appeared that the mongoose's weapon had taken the brunt of the damage, bending in such a way that it was rendered useless.

From this angle, they couldn't see what the dragon was doing as he slowly readjusted himself to lie back down against the wall much like he was moments ago. Nikili had feared that he would retaliate against him; instead, the creature lowered the bronze oversized weight from his face and set it aside softly on the ground near the wall, and made a soft growl directed at the two as if to say that everything was fine and there was no reason to be scared anymore. And since the two still seemed worried about his paw, he showed the unbruised back of his limb. Even though Nikili had swung his axe and felt guilty, in the dragon's mind, it was his display of ferocity that was at fault for this whole situation.

Quince, still holding their belt with one hand and with a few droplets streaming from their tear ducts, got closer to him and motioned with their free arm as they looked towards the dragon's paw. Confused, the dragon brought it closer to the feline, placing it firmly back on the ground. Quince then climbed on top of it, since reaching the struck scales otherwise would have been impossible with their size difference. Getting close to their target, they removed a small lidded pot from one of the pockets, and opened it to pour the contents on the beast's scute.

The pot contained a green peppermint lotion, that Quince had especially prepared to take on their expeditions in order to treat wounds. Once the contents were dumped on the shielded scales, they started massaging it around the area with both hands, hoping it would cool down any pain or disinfect any wounds. In actuality, the dragon felt nothing from either the axe's blade or the lotion, since his scute was too thick for either to so much as brush his skin. But he watched the cat with curiosity, feeling the pressure they made putting their whole body weight on their front paws. Bringing his head closer, he could smell the sharp, cool, distinct aroma of the peppermint, that he recognized on the cat's taste the previous day. Seeing those huge nostrils approaching them, Quince smiled and brought up their two paws now soaked in the green lotion towards that giant maw, earning an approving, saliva-drenching lick once more as the dragon confirmed the taste. The cat mewled and purred happily, and grabbed onto that flat pink wall of muscle sticking out of his jaw.

The dragon lifted its head slightly, and decided to keep the cat outside of his maw for now, letting them playfully hang on to his taste buds as they continued to receive a very thorough and continuous spit bath. Instead, he decided to check on the other visitor. The mongoose, he saw, had been standing back, empty-handed, simply crossing one of his arms and scrubbing the side of the other arm to keep his hands busy. He didn't seem scared anymore, at least. But he wasn't staring back at the dragon's face – maybe he was still embarrassed about what he'd done, or sad that his weapon got destroyed, or even felt embarrassed about what Quince was currently doing. Instead, Nikili's gaze unconsciously focused on the creature's anatomy. He had already glanced over the entirety of his body, from the ocean blue belly with wider armor plates, to the ultramarine scales everywhere else, the gray scutes on the back of his sturdy paws, and the black spikes going from face to tail. But there was something else that he was curious about, and he tried to sneak a peek between the dragon's crossed legs.

The giant creature brought his tongue into his jaw, gently trapping the entire cat except for part of their tail in the humid chamber, where they started to playfully wiggle around now that they didn't need to hold onto the tongue to fight against gravity. Deciding to sate the mongoose's curiosity, he spread his legs, lifting one of them into the air to give a better view to the small observer. This caused Nikili to look away from awkwardness, and he blushed after realizing that the dragon was watching him, and reacting to his gawking most of all. But then again, Nikili wouldn't waste the opportunity that the dragon was providing, and turned right back. And he saw nothing other than a flat area. It seemed that the dragon's anatomy lacked any sort of genitals or whatever reptiles normally have. He hadn't really slept with any reptile men before, but he had seen some of them walking without clothes – as was the choice that a few people without external genitals made –, and they usually had a longer slit where their genital would supposedly retract to, and the anus would sometimes either be a separate hole, or not. The blue dragon, however, only had a hole under his tail that delimited the end of his digestive system, Nikili noticed. In that way, he was much more similar to the genderless Quince than any reptiles he'd seen.

His weird curiosity satisfied, he turned around to look and think. There was so much going on today that his mind was at a loss. He had all but forgotten about their task of retrieving the artifacts they'd seen in this ruin, what with the fateful encounter with not one, but two dragons. Or how he forgot all about completely missing the dragon in this hall when he first came into these ruins – or had he? He looked around the room to find some artifacts, and aside from a few statuettes and vases knocked over as a result from the earlier confrontation, they had somehow withstood the entirety of the massive dragon supposedly entering and leaving this place.

The slender scavenger then turned to said dragon, who seemed to playfully lick the cat inside of his maw, only an unmistakable bright yellow tail sticking out as it wagged happily. Nikili started thinking of how the beast could not understand his language at all, but still managed to get along fine with Quince and their rather unsanitary desires, and was intelligent enough to react to Nikili's inadequate ogling. There were so many mysteries about this beast that he couldn't answer...

And then he looked at his helpless weapon, or what remained of it: a broken wooden handle, and a deformed bronze head, both pitifully pushed to the side of the room. Never mind the trouble he'll face getting it fixed with his supplier, but it was proof that the dragon could withstand an axe blow without so much a scratch! He could have hurt them at any point today, in one way or another, inadvertently or not... Instead, here he was, actively choosing to be extremely friendly and gentle, lifting his head to swallow down the cat, and he– wait, swallow?!

Nikili sprinted towards the dragon, shouting "Quince!" without even thinking. The dragon noticed his sudden burst and, holding his breath to stop his esophagus, held the cat in place at the back of his throat before they slipped any further in. The mongoose was now close to the base of his neck, and the dragon decided not to spit out the cat against their wishes. Instead, he took one of its index finger claws, and pointed it at the intersection of scaly skin where his head and neck met. Then, as slowly as possible, the dragon relaxed and clenched his throat muscles, tracing his claw all along the way from the outside. At first, Nikili didn't understand what he was doing, but then he realized that he was showing Quince's trajectory further in. Or at least he assumed so, because there was no sign of Quince at all from outside as they traveled down that throat. There was no bulge, and any sounds that the cat may have been making were drowned out by swallowing instead. Still, the dragon continued to exercise complete control over the swallowed visitor, indicating the location of that moving feeling of drenched fur tickling his gullet.

Bringing the finger over his torso now, he lifted it just short of the first third of his chest, moments before a clear bulge formed right there on that bright blue belly. Quince had just arrived in his crop, and Nikili approached the oversized swelling on that round dome that was a few feet above of his head. "Quince...?", he asked, unsure if he was heard. "A-Are you really in there?". There was a short silence, but he managed to catch two muffled trills, meaning 'yes'. He sighed of relief. "This is all so weird... I was worried you were hurt." He paused, and tried to rectify himself. "But you are sick of me saying all day that I was worried, right? After all that happened yesterday and today, there's no reason for me to not believe in you completely." He raised his arm to try and reach the bulge they were residing in, but it was still too far up out of his reach. That was, until the dragon conveniently brought of one his paws, palm up, close to him so he could climb on it – Nikili decided not to question it, and simply obliged. Once he was propped up and reached the same level as the crop, he hugged the protuberant skin, tearing up from guilt. "I-I'm so sorry, Quince... I haven't been a good friend, and you have every right to be mad at me. I just hope you can accept my apology."

Quince didn't respond to his request. Nikili brought his ear to the stretchy skin and asked, "Umm... did you hear me?", getting a clearly disgruntled meow from the other side of flesh. "Oh... so you don't accept my apology, then?", he questioned further, once again getting two trills as a reply. He continues, "I guess that's fair... I wanna make it up to you, then. If there's anything I can do, then I'd be glad to–", but what interrupts him now is a soft growl from the dragon. The mongoose turned to face him, and he slowly opened his wide maw from a distance. It didn't take long before Nikili realized what the dragon was trying to say. "Y-You– the d-dragon– how...?!" Incredulous, he blurts out, "There's no way you want me to go IN there, right?!", and regrets hearing two trills in succession.

He groaned in dismay, turning to rest his back against Quince's bulge, reclining on it until he sits down on the dragon's palm. He has his head between his hands, wondering how he got in this situation, groaning a couple more times in defeat. Very slowly, he came to terms with it, letting his spirit get swayed. "Fine." He accepted. "I did say earlier that 'whatever it was you'd do, I wanted to be a part of it'... or something". Nikili sneered, mentally kicking himself for always saying stuff that he came to regret later. But if it'll make them happy... so be it.

He stood up, turned to the dragon who was silently watching him, and shrugged in defeat. "I can't believe this", he whispered to himself, and motioning the dragon with his arm to come closer, said, "Whatever you gotta do... make it quick".

The dragon immediately accepted the invitation, opening his maw and closing it around Nikili in a second. "Aw fu– wait–!" The mongoose yelled as it was jostled into that maw, getting pressed by that tongue. He immediately regretted that he completely forgot to take off his clothing and shoulder bag before doing this, and the fabrics were now completely wet, stuck on his body and weighing him down. "Just hold on a second–!", Nikili screamed, realizing that some of his tail and his legs from the knees down were still outside of those reptile lips. He brought his feet together, brushing them so he could at least slip out the leather sandals that he was wearing. Wiggling both inside and outside of that maw, with a few more kicks, he managed to let them fall to the ground. Unfortunately, his light green skirt and his bag would have to make the rest of the trip with him.

The dragon happily slurps, and the rest of his legs, feet, and tail make it into the mouth with the rest of the body. Of course, a request to 'make it quick' wouldn't stop him from getting a decent taste from the larger and much squirmier visitor. Nikili had a mostly sour flavor, but no bitterness at all, with a hint of fruity sweetness – definitely different from Quince's earthy and slightly salty taste. The mongoose was tossed around by that tongue, fluids assaulting every inch of his body. "Agh! Hey, watch it–!", he kept complaining, until his open mouth got swarmed by a handful of reptile saliva. Nikili coughed out most of it, but there was only so much he could do as he was completely at his mercy. It had a slight taste and smell of fish – probably the dragon's last meal –, and all things considered, this might have only been Nikili's third worse tongue kiss, if it even counted as such.

It had been quite some time already, and the dragon certainly seemed intent to be as slow and through as possible with his tasting, but now the tongue was slowing down and not pressing as harshly on him anymore. Nikili gave in and had stopped squirming, prompting the dragon to move along. His tongue movement stopped, the beast then lifting his head to swallow down his second passenger.

Nikili started sliding over that tongue, approaching the source of warm breath. He was still scared of the situation he was in – how does Quince not worry at all during this, he wondered –, but that fear was superseded by his irritation for agreeing to do this in the first place. With his journey through the oral cavity ending, his slender body started to be deposited into the gullet head-first. The larger furry mass felt even more pleasurable to the dragon than Quince had felt, as it pushed back against the esophagus' muscles in a detour away from the stomach.

All Nikili could hear now was the dragon's heartbeat and the squelching of the active throat. His body now limply getting dragged along by the ripples of flesh, it wasn't long before his face hit what seemed like a dead end, which opened to let his head and shoulders press through. In this chamber, instead of fluids being pushed by peristaltic muscles, he could hear a familiar purr, although he can't see anything in the darkness. The rest of his body slid through the sphincter with ease, and it closed behind him as he fell to the bottom. This place felt pretty tight, but unlike the throat, there was room to maneuver around the muscles. Getting his bearing inside of the crop, Nikili twisted around until he managed to sit down with his legs crossed. He no longer heard the cat's purring, but instead muffled hisses, and he calls out "Quince?".

The cat ended up being pushed under Nikili, covered under the mongoose's wet skirt. They struggle to break free from the mongoose's weight, managing to pull themself out and up so they were now leaning in front of him as best as one could in such a tight space, letting out a disgruntled feline growl. "I'm sorry, buddy, it's so tight in here that I can only push you around... and it's so dark too. Are you okay?", Nikili explains. The cat climbs on Nikili's legs and sits on his lap, and he places one of his hands on their body, while the other pushes against the ceiling to measure the space. "I don't think I can even stand up here. But at least it's not too tight."

The two drenched scavengers sat there, and Nikili pet his purring companion, who was now lying down, curled into a ball on his skirt. "This is really really weird", he said, hearing the feline's tiny yawn. "This... is this what you wanted, Quince?", the mongoose asked, and the yellow cat once again affirmed it with trills. He sighed with relief and accomplishment, and noticed that there was some pressure on the wall away from him, near his knees and ankles. The dragon was pressing a digit against the distended bulge, and the creature who now had two friends to fully envelop let out content murrs that filled their ears. He faced the cat on his lap and asked, "Well, do you accept my apology now?"

There was no response, but only tiny snores, and he realized that Quince had fallen asleep. "Oh, you're out already... Heh, I don't get you at all", Nikili chuckled. He sneered at the absurdity of the whole situation. It was kind of fascinating how he not only got acquainted with such an amazing creature, but now sat safely inside of his body. He spoke into the humid air of the crop, "Hope you're enjoying yourself, big guy. I don't really get what you and Quince like so much about this, but at least it doesn't smell as bad as I expected."

It was his turn to yawn now, as the lulling of the dragon's massage – both from the crop's walls and from the fondling outside –, and sounds of deep soft growls blended with the rhythmic heartbeat, also brought him closer to sleep. If Quince, lying on his lap, felt that it was safe in here, then sure, why not. Closing his eyes, he drowsily whispers to himself, "I could really use a beer after this."
