sLAY THE DRAGON! (DarkPinkie)

[nicktaken]

"Yep. Seems reasonable," Kilian responded in kind to her joke, not sure what else he could possibly do at this point. Nothing came to mind, nothing productive anyway. He trusted Chia to keep him safe where he was, as for everything else, well, it wasn't too hard to get used to. Take away the being melted by acids part and it wasn't all that bad, in fact, especially since the dragon had been going hungry for a while now. While he had last eaten together with her, his current body had only existed for a couple of hours, so he was pretty sure anything before that didn't count. Giving it a little more thought, he realized that was completely wrong. He had a silver dragon for lunch, followed up by whatever mess he had turned into after the business with that worm. And perhaps that worm also counted? He didn't really eat it - nor Zerechia, at least not by normal means - but he certainly consumed it in some manner.

"Don't worry, I was kidding," he quickly reassured her when she started to defend herself against his semi-accusation. "Though I wouldn't be mad even if you did. I mean, you're keeping me safe." Just as soon as he said that, the young man realized that he could 'steal' her spell and, if he so desired, make it stop working to protect him. Let nature take its course and come out her behind once her body had its way with him. A curious possibility that he had no intention of exploring outside of his own mind, for now anyway. There were far too many unknowns and his head wasn't working exactly right if he was considering such a thing after everything they had just gone through. "Oh. Well, maybe you could eat something?" he suggested, realizing that it would make his little trip through her a lot more unpleasant. Another issue was her being most likely stuck as a dragon until she pooped him out, which meant anything short of one of their camels wouldn't amount to much. And they kind of needed that camel, seeing how their original plan of Zerechia flying everyone back wasn't going to work.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," he tried to defend himself when she said she was embarrassed. "Besides, how embarrassing is coming out of your butt going to be?" he added and instantly regretted bringing it up, as he would rather not think about it. What followed was him being stuck there, having to listen to Chia first explain the situation and then tell everyone the story of what happened, leaving out a few 'very minor' details of course. It wasn't all that interesting to him, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter after getting himself into her gut. Once she was done answering the inevitable questions about the how and why and when, which she mostly dodged, he decided it was his turn to speak again. "You know, it's going to be horribly boring if you don't talk to me, as I literally cannot hear anything outside you," he said, having more or less accepted the fact that he was going to be known as 'dragon poop' for the rest of his life. "Is there any way... anything I can do to... speed things up, I guess? Not that I have anything against your stomach, but... you know."

[DarkPinkie]

Chia chuckled as he defended himself by calling it a joke. "Well good to know that despite everything that happened today you have you humor still." Even if it was as cynical as ever. "Of course I would keep you safe. After what you told me you did earlier I rather not take any risks." She said stoutly. She was okay with having him in her crop but now that he was inside her gurgling stomach she was unsure just how to deal with it. One tiny part of her wanted to keep him in there. Another just wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. It was a conflict of interests in her head, even if she knew she would have to get him out soon somehow. Then there was a mention about eating something causing her to groan in slight frustration. She had forgotten that part. That meant she would be without food for another two'ish days, not that she couldn't do it, she was a dragon after all, but it was something she was particularly keen on. Because Zerechia was liked her food.

She found it a bit jarring to have to speak to two different parties that was mutually exclusive to each other at the same time. "Kilian, I wasn't speaking to you. I was expressing my embarrasment to our friends." She made sure to note down to Kilian so he understood her situation. Or at least she hoped so. One story later she had cleared the situation up and allowed herself to relax, taking on a less guarded stance. There was of course an endless stream of questions from the hunters, not all of them relating to Chia's and Kilian's situation. After dodging or vaguely answering enough of them Kilian spoke up mentioning how boring it would be without her speaking to him. At which she quickly excused herself and told the others that she would be up for a better Q and A after getting Kilian out of her system. A couple of the hunter bodyguards gave her suspicious looks but she'll take it.

Slowly at a very leasurable pacd she followed along the hunter caravan. She did not have the heart to tell Vassia to let go when she noticed the big poofy red eyes. So instead she carefully moved the girl up to sit between the horns on her head. From that perch she would be able to see just as far as Chia would. "Now Kilian, we may speak. Just note Vassia will be able to hear me as she is riding on top of my head right now. So nothing too overt okay?" She told him, altough she was certain Vassia would not mind too much. "So what did you want to speak about?" The dragoness asked as she trecked through the desert sands. Planning to use the rest of the day as they traveled for idle chatter with the man in her stomach. Maybe a bit with Vassia too.

[nicktaken]

Kilian could vaguely guess what sort of conversation the hunters were having with the dragon based on her answers, since he could - luckily enough - hear her talking even when it wasn't to him. The majority of them were, of course, about the dragon "city" and especially what it was that helped Zerechia get back to normal, even if all of them, Kilian included, were more used to her human form. Also quite naturally, she was quite unwilling to answer most of them, since only dragons were supposed to know. Kilian's attempts to interject and basically get them to lay off ended uselessly, largely drowned out by the growling of her own stomach. Which was kind of amusing in its own right, considering.

He was beginning to get lost in his own thoughts by the time she addressed him directly, letting him know it was okay to speak. "There wasn't anything specific, really. Maybe apart from the fact your stomach is even nicer than I could have imagined," he added with a slight chuckle and ran an idle hand across the wrinkly walls and floor within reach. It almost felt familiar, like a deja vu, even though he was fairly certain she had never eaten him before. And no other creature did, thankfully.

"I don't know, I just feel kinda confused. You know, about what I am now, and how. Also feeling quite dumb for inconveniencing you again just because I was too lazy to learn to fly. Regardless of how long that might have taken. It's... I don't know how to feel about all this. And I don't know what we're going to do from now on. I guess I'm so used to losing something, I can't quite believe things turned out well. And I love you. Just something I hadn't been saying enough, I feel. But anyway... Speaking of more immediate matters, how are we going to get me out? Provided you intend to, I guess." He added with a chuckle.

[DarkPinkie]

Zerechia just closed her eyes and chuckled at that. "I suppose I could see why you think that. I bet it would be a lot less nice if it was painfully melting you, or if you where to choke from lack of breathable air." Her stomach let out a groan over the fact that it was indeed not melting him. Despite it being her own magic keeping Kilian from being able to be digested her stomach still refused to not try to digest him. For some reason she was thinking back at when she met Kilian, and how that encounter could have easily turned into him being a snack. Chia was however pretty happy about the overall outcome, even if some hiccups along the way could have been handled smoother.

"Dont worry about it Kilian, if anyone could understand about being uncomfortable flying it should be me. You know, the dragon afraid of heights!" She chuckled. Their human companions would give her a questioning look from their position when she pronounced her embarassing secret so openly, but didn't utter anything. "In the end we are both fine and we reached our friends relatively unharmed. Yeah, you can't have bad luck every moment of your life right. At least at some point if you get enough attempts you have to strike gold. But ai guess in your case silver was even better." She teased. "I love you too Kilian." She said as affectionate as she could. Her deep voice making it a little harder of course.

Being asked how to get him out left Chia quiet, well as quiet as she could be as her stomach protested loudly. "I was thinking maybe you could just pass regularly. You know, going through all the way." If dragons could blush Chia's face would be a solid red by now. "If that don't work. Then I guess I'll have to prepare my life sharing ritual before digesting you." She chuckled. Rolling her eyes up she could see Vassia looking down at her with a disapproving look. "Hey, he's going to be fine." She still didn't seem entirely convinced by that as she just humphed and looked back at the horizon. Chia of course could only sigh at that.

[nicktaken]

"Well, yeah, I guess that's true," Kilian couldn't really disagree with the two very valid points she brought up. He couldn't really tell if suffocating would have been a problem. Granted, the air inside her stomach was clearly rather acidic, but was it not breatheable, if perhaps uncomfortable? Well, probably only long enough to get turned into nutrient goop by her digestive fluids. While suffocation might not be an issue for him after the 'change' - though apart from being able to turn into a dragon and a whole lot of theories he really had no idea what else it entailed - being treated as normal food was, and it was her magic keeping that from happening. Of course, he might not really die even if she stopped protecting him, but again, there was no telling either way. He was very curious about things he could and could not do, but this wasn't the best time to test them out.

"I always did like silver more than gold, I just didn't understand why before meeting you," he returned her tease, making it almost sickly sweet along the way. It was embarrassing how bad that line was, but he wanted to say things like that. Who cared how it sounded? His inability to express his feelings properly, especially positive ones, caused them both a lot of grief. Perhaps they would have gotten in one mess or another either way, but it certainly hadn't helped. Now that everything was fine, or at least enough was fine that he could temporarily forget the rest, he felt like expressing his adoration in every way he could. Words were one of those ways. "Try as you might, you won't be able to convince me your stomach isn't lovely. Worst it can do is make me part of the most beautiful, courageous, smart and kind dragon in existence, and I fail to see how that's bad at all," he continued. Perhaps he was exaggerating, just the slightest bit.

He almost wanted to ask how he would pass naturally, but that was a stupid question. She could probably answer it no better than himself, including the part where him staying undigested could be a problem. "Well, I'm already in your stomach, so I don't get much choice in the matter," Kilian chuckled. There was something he could do, however, if only to tease her more. He focused for a few seconds and his form changed, shifting to that of a small dragon, a miniature variant of the one Zerechia had seen earlier. He was still a few times larger than a mere human, however, and the gurgling chamber was less of a cavern and more of a spacious burrow to his current size. He proceeded to move around a bit, softly but firmly rubbing up against the walls of his fleshy prison. He could still grow larger, snuggly filling up her belly, giving her the most filling and delightfully squirming meal she had probably had in centuries, but that wasn't what they were after right then. Another time, perhaps.

"Would the, process, be too uncomfortable for you at this size?" He decided to ask just in case. If she was going to let him out through her butt, then he wanted her to be quite aware of where he was inside her up until that point. It was part of the reason he willingly changed out of the human form he asked her to grant him before, but of course, just going through her system in one piece might already be a little troublesome, without being a larger morsel.

[DarkPinkie]

"That's so sweet." She said as she responded to his lovey dovey comment. Of course that had been in response to her own cringe worthy comment. But even if it was a bit over the top it didn't change the fact that they had each other and that was worth more than gold. Not too much though, a dragon gotta sleep after all. She focused on moving forward for a little bit, her passenger watching forward keeping her eyes peeled at the horison. The sinking sun visible in the distance. In fact it was rather unpleasant for the pair to be walking straight towards the sun. Thankfully in not too long the sun will sink down below the mountains, hiding it from view. It wasn't until Kilian's next compliment that Chia focused on eomething besides annoyance at the sun. "Okay, now you're just laying it on a little bit too thick. I hope for your sake that you do not plan on being this affectionate around other as I would die of embarassment." She might have had little to no shame when she met him, but while she was in many ways the same person, spending half year as a human in human society have tought her a lot about tact, and subsequently about embarassment. Of course her reply had been of the playful teasing kind.

Chia sighed. He was quite right about that part. "Heh, you're right. I suppose as long as you're in there you're my private morsel." She said teasingly. She was just happily thinking about it and not thinking too much about the slowly growing unpleasant feeling of indigestion. At least until Kilian suddenly shifted his form. The dragoness let out a small moan of surprise that had all of their companions look at her questioningly. Actually they looked more shocked than curious. Chia could only guess that's because they never heard a dragon moan before. "You could have warned me." Chia chided. Not that she minded, as her stomach was rather pleased with this develoment. The feeling of being full having replaced that of indigestion quite nicely. The way he kept rubbing against all the surfaces inside was really good too making her even loll her tongue out of her mouth as she simply enjoyed the full feeling.

"If it isn't then a few spells could fix that. However that is only if I was able to pass you like that. I wasn't sure if that was even possible at your regular size. I doubt it is now." She couldn't really shrug so instead she decided to just keep going. Her tongue still hanging out of her mouth slightly as she panted from the feeling. It was too much for her to not want to have to go through the trouble of reviving him. "You know what Kilian, it might just be easier to let my stomach take you and then fix you back up once you are done." She added. "But whatever you do, don't stop squirming like that." What could she say? She was a bit of a glutton and now he was being the biggest and most pleasing meal she have had in a very long time. That's what she told herself as she cut the supply of magic to her acid recistance spell that she had casted on Kilian, an action her stomach agreed with as it let out a loud gurgle to show it's contentment.

[nicktaken]

The young man hummed at her comment about going too far with his corny lines. "I guess," he agreed easily, knowing he'd likely be too embarrassed to even say those things had it not been for the fact that the others couldn't hear him, perhaps save for Vassia, and that he was hidden away inside the dragon's belly, not having to deal with the looks anyone, Zerechia included, might give him for spouting such things. "I just wish I could make up for all the times I wasn't being nearly as nice as you deserve," he added. Somehow they had stuck together through everything, despite all the stupid things he did, and while time lost could not be regained, it warmed his heart to know that they had a very long time ahead of them still. Dragons were effectively ageless, after all, and they'd figure something out if his own lifespan turned out to be significantly shorter.

Kilian snorted - that was he got for trying to chuckle in an unfamiliar body - when he heard his lover let out what could only be described as a slight moan. He didn't even know she could let out such a noise in this form, and it was absolutely adorable. A massive dragon that easily could and actually did eat him, if by accident, letting out such a cute and defenseless noise. "I suppose I could have," he responded coily, pressing his snout into one of the walls. The growling around him had grown just a bit louder, probably due to her stomach being teased with an even more filling morsel than before, but he could hear her breathing past it still. It had certainly changed a bit, become deeper and heavier, but it didn't feel like the cause was discomfort or anything of the sort. He considered pointing out that he could easily change back into a human if this form was problematic, but chose not to, instead carrying on with his unusual caress of her insides.

After the moan from Zerechia, Jules glanced in her direction periodically, and seeing her walking with her tongue hanging out almost like a dog, decided the desert conditions were rough on her. She didn't look to be a in a good condition, which wasn't surprising after she had been swallowed by a beast the size of which he couldn't believe even after seeing it, if very briefly. He knew silver dragons had an affinity for water and cold, the hot and dry air in this place was probably worse on her than anyone else. So he called to set up camp shortly after the sun set; they weren't going to make it back even if they chose to keep going, and they could all use a rest. Knowing dragons to be proud creatures, however, he didn't actually say anything to his wizard protege - which was something he never thought a dragon would be - simply giving her what he thought to be a knowing look as the humans unpacked their tents.

"Easier? I very much doubt it," Kilian chuckled softly, slightly concerned by her implications, however. Another concerning factor was the acids slowly building up. He was eager to please and she certainly seemed to be enjoying his squirming, but perhaps all this teasing wasn't entirely healthy for her stomach. He was in the middle of debating with himself whether he should stop or at least bring it to her attention when he felt something change ever so slightly, something he hadn't gotten used to enough to tell it easily, and it took him a minute or two to figure out, when the digestive juices he was positively coated in by now started stinging a bit. He wasn't sure how to react to this new information at first, realizing intuitively that it wasn't just her losing focus. Oh no, she meant to do this.

"Chia," he started a bit breathlessly, resuming his movement inside her belly while finding the right words. "Can we talk alone for a minute? Completely alone, I mean," he added. He couldn't hear the exchange between Zerechia and Vassia earlier, but from the dragon's words, he figured their foxy friend wasn't thrilled by the idea of him getting digested. Perhaps they could save everyone a bit of grief if they kept what his lover intended to do between just the two of them. Tell everyone else some white lie, though he wasn't going to help her come up with one. He'd comply with being her meal, but the consequences would be on her. And if that wasn't good enough for her, he could... not do much at all, he suddenly realized. He actually was at her mercy, or perhaps the lack thereof.

After giving her a little time to find as much privacy as they were going to get in the open dunes - at least enough that they wouldn't be overheard, he supposed - he cut straight to the point. "It's starting to burn a little. Could you take care of it, please?" He decided to ask nicely, hoping that he wouldn't have to repeat this request. She owed him that much, even if it was kind of his fault for ending up in her stomach. "Also, let me know if this gets uncomfortable," he told her as his form started changing again, this time simply growing larger at a slow pace, up until she stopped him or her stomach turned all nice and snug, squeezing him ever so slightly with every contraction. Since she chose to digest him, he was going to make a point of being the most filling and enjoyable meal he could possibly be. She certainly deserved it.

With the issue of his size settled, he resumed crawling and rolling around inside her, a bit more carefully than before, giving her insides a loving full-body massage without being too upsetting. This had the side-effect of stimulating her digestion, but he didn't mind at all. "I have one more question, actually. How long, do you think, until I'm 'done'?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

[DarkPinkie]

Zerechia simply settled down slightly as Jules called to make camp. She herself wouldn't have minded to keep going, especially now that night have started and it would get very very cold instead of the heat she could barely stand. In fact she liked the desert nights in a way she didn't like the nights elsewhere. Something about how the sands sparkle under the light of the stars and the moons. Yet it was distinctly different from how snow and ice sparkled. It really captivating her in a way. As she settled down she unfolded her wings and inspected them. The tears was already nearly healed. By sunrise she would probably be ready to fly again. Hearing a slight shiver she rolled her eyes up to look at Vassia, or at least try to look at Vassia, hunched between her horns. Unlike Chia the chill desert night would get to her. Lowering her head down to the sand she spoke. "Go help Jules set up camp." She made it her best effort to sound as caring as possible, but in the end it sounded more like a whisper. Regardless the little girl jumped of her head and ran over to Jules.

"Yes dear?" She responded when she heard Kilian say her name. When he asked for privacy she looked over at the camp before standing up. "Sure thing Kilian." She said as she walked a little bit away from the camp, close enough where her scales still reflected the campfire, far enough where her conversation with Kilian would not get overheard. Once far enough she settled down again so she could speak to Kilian. "That's far enough, what did you want to talk about Kilian?" She asked. Curious but also lovingly. Her smile turned worried when she heard him complain about the stinging. It was then she realized she had forgotten her pain reduction spell. "Oh. Um... Sorry. I forgot." She said a bit awkwardly as she cast her spell. Hopefully it would work on Kilian despite his condition. Well if it didn't work she's find some other way to bring him out. There was always the claw to belly method. Even though she would feel no pain from it she would rather not gut herself to get him out. Especially not since she was already weakened from earlier. Well the thought of cutting him out evaporated as soon as she could feel him growing again. She gasped as he did but she never told him to stop. Her stomach was getting so full. Laying down on her side she rubbed one of her front claws over her now slightly bulging gut. As he squirmed she was actually holding her moaning back. "Geez Kilian. You treat me too well." She said as she rubbed, the stomach itself gurgling very loudly as to agree. "I've only ever felt this full in human form."

Feeling him roll around and squirm was sublime. Chia knew that live meals was the best as the squirming they did felt so good, but Kilian had just taken that to the extreme. A relatively quiet moan escaped her lips as she kept rubbing the now visibly squirming bulge. "Oh, I don't know actually. Eating other dragons are taboo among dragons. Sure they give a huge power boost but usually if it is found out other dragons would group up to kill the kin eater. " She moaned again. "But it shouldn't take a lot more than a day or two. Maybe a bit more given your current size. Oh that feels good." Her stomach groaned and gurgled as Kilian's squirming made her body produce more acids to break him down. If he came back without her having to reform him then she would need to ask him if she could have him at full size sometime. However as much as she would love to do that right now, their companions would probably question if they saw her nearly double in size.

[nicktaken]

He was unable to tell the passage of time well from where he was, given how the only things he could see were the walls of his lover's softly pulsating stomach and the only thing he could hear, apart from her occasional words, was the gurgling of the same stomach. And even the seeing part only came into play once he had the idea of turning into a dragon - human eyes couldn't make out anything at all in the darkness. He was just slightly surprised how quickly time seemed to pass; he would have guessed he spent a couple of hours inside the dragon so far, not most of the day. But that was even better, if he thought about it. The Hunters didn't seem to bother Zerechia too much, but with nightfall, they would perhaps be able to rest and enjoy each other's company more. Not that he was going anywhere if he wanted to, oh no, he was all hers for the time being. And in a sense that was going to be even more true once her stomach was done with him, even if it wouldn't be exactly the same.

"I guess you can be a bit forgetful when you're hungry," Kilian teased her, relieved to feel the unpleasant sensations going away, instead replaced by a much more pleasant feeling of hot fluids covering him. His scales were still fine, not that they felt much of anything, but with all his squirming and sloshing about, some acids managed to get past them. He could easily put up with it for a while longer, and he could stay more still to make his scales take the brunt of her digestion for now, but getting this sorted early on was the best way to make sure she enjoyed this. And now that he knew better than to put it off, he absorbed the spell as another enchantment onto himself, so she wouldn't even have to worry about maintaining it. He snorted to himself, suddenly realizing that it wasn't long ago both of them were joking about this being an accident and how neither of them wanted him to get digested. Apparently it couldn't be further from the truth, as despite never verbally agreeing on this, they were both eager to go through with it. Perhaps that was the key; perhaps if they hadn't talked about it, something like this would have happened much earlier.

He could feel Zerechia getting a bit more comfortable around him, and a strong shiver passed through his spine, from the long neck to the tip of his tail, when he felt her rubbing her belly. Granted, the scales - her this time - did get in the way somewhat, but there was little mistaking it. "I wouldn't be a very good treat if I didn't," he replied with a pun, happy to hear she was enjoying it. Her comment about human form made him think for a moment. What did she eat to get this full? And didn't she mention being able to taste things much better as a human? Perhaps they'd have to rectify it at some point, he smirked to himself. Hearing her moan made his shiver with excitement again. Truth be told, he had no idea dragons could do that, either, until she heard her earlier that is. And it sounded just as good as her human voice, if different for obvious reasons.

"Good thing I'm not a dragon then," Kilian quipped as he pushed his head against the spot she was touching with her paw for a moment. He had suddenly ran into the problem where between being deep within her, held tightly in a hot and soft chamber, and hearing her moan, he was shifting from pure adoration to sexual arousal. That sort of answered her earlier question whether he was properly equipped, but felt a little awkward regardless. "Guess you've never had such an agreeable meal before," he teased her again as he continued to squirm about. "So is that a day or two until I can no longer make a riveting conversational partner, or...?" he trailed off, assuming the alternative was rather obvious. He was guessing it would be the latter, seeing just how active her stomach was, partly thanks to his own efforts. Either case, he'd probably keep her awake tonight.

"What do you think we should do next?" he decided to keep talking. They had things to discuss and he could use a distraction. "Jules will likely want to pester you about everything, and you kind of promised him some answers. Then I'm sure the other Hunters will be very eager to keep you around, and myself if they find out I'm sort of a dragon, too, now. Or maybe not, but they won't just leave us in peace, I'm sure. Then, we kind of had Vassia simply tag along for a while now, even knowing she is not simply an animal, but there must be something she wants to do, as well. And we sort of promised your niece to return, and that was over half a year ago now. Not that anyone could have predicted what happened, but that was pretty bad," he listed several things without stopping the internal belly massage he was giving her. There was a lot to consider, including one very unpleasant subject that he avoided mentioning. "Once we've dealt with that, then I think both of us deserve a long break."

[DarkPinkie]

Chia chuckled at that. "I suppose I am. Not my fault food is so good." She teased right back. "And right now you're being the best food." She added with a pleased huff. Really what else was there to say? He was filling her stomach out to the brim and just happily squirming about waiting to digest. Living prey brought such a glld feeling, but it was rather cruel and she would only do it to those that manage to anger her. Such as would be greedy dragon-slayers. Altough in the end one said would be dragon-slayer ended up as her lover so im the end those two weeks of dining on random humanoids was worth it. Yes, even the orcs.

Chia rolled her eyes at Kilian's pun. "Well that's all good then." She replied, her voice full of affection. Her muzzle carrying an odd type of smile, one rather uncharacteristic of dragons. She snorted in amusement at his statement. "Yeah, if anything they would probably try to kill you for being an imitator. It would hurt a lot of dragons's over inflated pride to hear of a mortal that took the form of a dragon. Only one such mortal have existed, I think I may have told you the story about the elf that wanted to become a dragon out of love?" She couldn't quite remember. Except for the little hiccup of her memory the last half year her memory was otherwise really good. "Anyway, there was this elven mage that befrended and eventually fell madly in love with a dragon living in the mountain next to her forest. So she spent many hundred years researching magic and developing a formula. Eventually she managed to perfect a transformation into one of my kind. But when she came up to the dragon to ask to bond he reccognized her as the elf he knew. He was so offended he killed her on the spot. But not before telling the elf that he would have accepted her love had she just asked." Chia was rather happy with her abridged version of the story.

Rubbing the squirming gut she shuddered before a teensy little moan escaped her muzzle. "No, never. There was that one time a dwarf offered herself to be my meal as a "sacrifice" but I refused. Instead I gave her as good life tips as I could. As far as I know she became an established bronze plate artist. A lot of her art decorates my temple back at the dwarven city." Zerechia simply relaxed as she let Kilian continue to squirm and rub. A small part of herself wanted to just fall into a food coma but another wanted to enjoy every last moment of the squirming. "That would be a couple of days until I get rid of what my body didn't need. If I where to go by guesses I think you would not be much for conversation by noon tomorrow. Possibly earlier. But then again, I don't know with you right now." She did her best facimile of a shrug.

"What do you?... Oh! You mean in the future!" She said a little embarassed she did not understand that to begin with. "Yeah I know. I promised I would speak to him about dragon culture and all that didn't I?" She sighed. "Hey I'll speak to them over some tea and such, but if they get too invasive I will make sure the message get's across. I can be very... Persuasive when I try." Zerechia smiled a toothy smile as she looked over at the figures sitting around the campfire. Looking back away she focused back on Kilian's words. Words that made her pull in a breath between her teeth. "Oh right. My niece. Crap. We kind of ruined our chances there, didn't we?" A sigh later she decided it would be more prudent to focus on that when they got over there. "As for Vassia, I dunno. She was banished from her home remember? Think she would be fine living with us until she figures out what she wants to do in life?" She smirked as her mind waa starting to fill with interesting ideas. "Then once she does move out we could always fill that room with other pitter patter of tiny feet." She added playfully.

[nicktaken]

"Only the best for you, moonbeam," her replied affectionately, unable to help but let out a slight chuckle regardless. "Hopefully you won't decide that I make much better food than everything else and just keep me around to snack on," he emphasized his words by squirming a bit more intently for a second, having noticed that his earlier worries about giving her a bellyache seemed unfounded. Perhaps he should have guessed as much. He had seen her stuff herself so much while in human form that her stomach rounded out, until the food was processed that is, and she was entirely back to her slim self afterward. It wasn't a human thing, so perhaps it was a dragon thing, rather than just something unique to her shapeshifting? She had told him about hybernation, and no matter how dormant they went during that time or regardless of having a crop, they'd need quite a lot of food to not starve while asleep.

Kilian didn't make any comment on other dragons being more than likely to murder him for taking the shape of one. He wasn't sure how Chia would react to his very sincere thought that those dragons could go screw themselves and that he'd respond to violence with violence. Perhaps she didn't care about her kin as much as he had been assuming for a while. She did mention dragons were mostly loners, even when living in a community, and if his own example was anything to go by, simply being the same species didn't mean getting along. He'd side with humans against a dragon under all equal circumstances, but it wouldn't take a lot to tip his favor, so to speak. And he wasn't even sure if he'd side with humans against a similar race. And what was his reasoning prior to the change; at this point he wasn't sure what race he was closer to, if any. Probably a dragon, if only for a reason he would rather forget altogether.

The story she told him didn't quite fit the pleasant mood, a bit heavy and depressing if one thought about it. "That seems pretty stupid," he said simply. Then again, his reasoning was still that of a human, short-lived and almost infamous for following their emotions among other peoples. "I'd side with the person I love even if that meant fighting the whole world," his voice carried across absolute confidence in what he was saying. "I mean, I was more or less doing that on my own already, but... you know what I mean," he huffed slightly, starting to feel a little embarrassed talking about it. There he was, going out of his way just so his lover could have an enjoyable dinner, and that dragon couldn't get over a minor jab to his pride? Zerechia mentioned something about dragons mating for life before, but if that story was true, he wasn't sure the majority of them understood love at all. Thinking about it, her mother's 'flying lessons' should have been a big clue.

"Your temple? You have a temple? Dedicated to you?" Kilian let loose a series of somewhat silly and redundant questions, her casual remark on something like that throwing him for a loop. "You did tell me about dragon worship, but I assumed it was more of a general thing, like a shrine to all dragons, not individual ones," he explained himself and got himself thinking. He used to be very curious and inquisitive, once. Being a wanted man kind of changed things, but now that that was over, and they had mostly resolved other problems, perhaps he could be more like his old self. Less grumpy, more fun to be around, among other things, something Chia would likely appreciate, even if she did say she might die of embarrassment over his corny lines. But there was so much he used to dream of seeing and studying, more than a human lifetime would allow him, even before taking into account his unfortunate circumstances. Neither of those were a problem now, though.

"Yeah, I do mean in the future," he snickered at her confusion, "I think we have more or less already established what each of us is going to be doing for the next couple of days." He squirmed with significantly more intent after those words, eliciting a few happy gurgles from her stomach before returning to a calmer pace as he listened to her thoughts on each subject. "Well, Jules is likely going to go back across the sea, so we can make time to talk on the road," he reminded her, silently agreeing with her intentions for the other Hunters. There wasn't much to add regarding her extended family, either, they'd just have to do what they could. "I'm not against her staying with us. I'm just a bit worried, I guess," he wasn't sure how to elaborate, and her hint about getting children of their own made him slightly uncomfortable. He definitely wasn't ready to see himself as a father. One day, most definitely, but not yet.

"Um, how sleepy are you?" he decided to change the subject somewhat. "I was just thinking, we could both take a nap and carry on tomorrow. Or I could keep you awake for a while longer," Kilian once increased the intensity of his movement inside her, just to demonstrate what he meant, "and stop being a distraction by morning. What do you think?" He was mostly wondering what she'd prefer. Truth be told, with how worked up her stomach was, she might mostly digest him in her sleep anyway.

[DarkPinkie]

What Kilian said was a tempting thing. She have after all never had a more satisfying meal than right now. Her stomach even gurgled as if to agree with her. However she was already willing to do her revival spell on Kilian once, but there was no way she would do it repeatedly, unless she absolutely had too. Halving her own lifespan is not something to be done casually. Not even for the ultimate meal. "Heh, I wish. But if I have to revive you myself then this will be the only time. Unless I find some way to take you out of there before you digest. Maybe a modified teleportation spell?" She chuckled. "But you are right now the best meal I ever had so I would love to have you again if we could. Worry not though, I love you too much to only keep you as a snack. After all, while you feel great in my stomach, food does not the best lover make." Another chuckle was followed by a sigh, which was then followed by another soft moan as Kilian squirmed just right. "If you want you can grow a bit bigger, I think I can handle it." His presence was still not visible on her barrel yet, but if her disguised form was any indication it would manage until it started bulging slightly. If not she knew a spell which would allow Kilian to grow to full size and she would still manage him comfortably, although she definitely would become immobile should that happen. Though if possible she would love to try that in the future.

Zerechia nodded even if Kilian could not see. "Yes very stupid. I will be honest with you though Kilian, before I lost Brina I would have probably done the same if you somehow turned into a dragon like you did. Even just the facsimile that you now have." She had learned a lot about how dragons where egotistical asshole, yet even then it was her short life as a perfectly, well almost perfectly normal human that tempered her and made her realize how inferior dragons really is. It takes a sort of inner strength to be able to interact and bond with other, many at the same time even. Something dragons did not do. "I know Kilian, I know. I'm just happy you did not decide to fight the dragon, or else your fate as dragon snack would have been permanent." She sighed thinking back to when she met Kilian in the cave. One wrong move from him and she wouldn't have hesitated to eat him. Unlike now though once her body was done with him there would be no coming back.

Kilian's surprise caught her a bit off guard. Instead of a proper response her stomach just let out a series of gurgle and glorps. Letting out a coughing sound she recovered. "Yes and no, they have a temple dedicated to the worship of all dragons, but once me and my sister had visited their city they immediately started building temples dedicated to each of us. I guess I turned into their goddess of Magic, art, and... alcohol." She sounded a bit embarrassed at the final point of her domains. "My sister was the goddess of beauty, socializing, and fertility." She sighed forlorn when she thought about her sister. Remember how many dwarven couples had asked for her sister's blessing to more easily conceive a child. "So yeah, I have a temple and it is decorated in all manners of crafts and art from the dwarves. It even have a fountain of mushroom wine." Though to be fair she herself avoided drinking from it despite the enchantments that keep the wine fresh indefinitely.

Looking over at the encampment she smiled slightly. "Yeah he will. I wonder if he'll be willing to ride me across the sea..." She felt a few squirms from her stomach and let out a small happy moan. "Not in that way silly you." She chuckled again, as she was pretty sure Kilian had misunderstood him. That or he simply picks the worst times to squirm a bit extra. "Perhaps you're right. But I am not taking the boat again. Fuck that." She said with a huff. Once the conversation shifted to the subject of Vassia she took a deep breath. "You're worried... I get that. I am a bit too. She is clearly old enough to be an adult, even by her race's standards, yet she acts so much like a child. I think maybe just maybe there might be something wrong with her. That or you're just worried she will get in the way for us having sex all the time aren't you?" She teased.

The rather abrupt change of topic caught her slightly off guard. She understood that perhaps Kilian was not quite ready for such a conversation. Zerechia herself might not take the whole idea of children the same way a human does, for a dragon getting children is as simple as mate, lay some eggs, wait for them to hatch, then feed them until they are old enough to leave and find their own caves. Human children require more... Involvement. "I'm not particularly sleepy no. Dragon endurance remember." His squirming caused her to moan again. She just felt so full. One of her front paws rubbing at her stomach as she let out another ckntent sigh. "But I think a nap wouldn't be a bad idea. I'll have to deal with the heat tomorrow and I rather do so well rested." She laid herself down and looked up at the moons. With a content sigh she closed her eyes. "I guess this is good night, and farewell until I bring you back. Unless of course that weird power of yours does that for you." She chuckled before taking a deep breath and release it as a sigh. "Sleep well my little morsel."

[nicktaken]

"Knowing how lazy you can be sometimes, I'm glad you're willing to bring me back at all." Kilian teased the dragon as she mentioned this could be something they would only do once. She had never said how her revival spell would really work. Would it be at all related to her very old offer to turn him into dragon, or what he understood as such? If that were the case, then there was no way it could be an easy feat. In fact, just brining someone back from death was a miracle of itself. Even the most complex rituals, which involved certain safeguards beforehand, couldn't resurrect people, not truly. But then again, that was the level of mortal magic. Zerechia had proven time and again that hers was on an entirely different scale. She could probably do it. Then again, he was pretty sure she wouldn't have to.

"Giving your stomach a pleasant treat just to take it away right before the best part sounds simply mean," he chuckled and rubbed against her stomach walls affectionately. "We can definitely do this again, at least once," he added. Even without thinking about it too hard, he was starting to figure some things out. Instinctively, he could say, as his body was more or less giving him all the information he needed while his lover's acids were hard at work trying to break him down into nutrients. Of course, going through this experience unscathed was too much to ask for, but his body was no longer equivalent with his being. It was more of a vessel that he could rebuild and reshape. The latter would require practice and possibly outside help, but the former came to him almost as soon as Chia started actually digesting him. Not entirely freely, but he knew he could do it, he'd just need to work out some details later, after she was done with him.

"If I want to?" he laughed softly, following what he assumed to be an indirect request anyway and carefully filling up her stomach further. That made squirming for her a bit harder, but she was probably okay with that. All things considered, most of her meals would likely have stopped being able to move around after this much time, provided they could in the first place. And if he were honest, he had no idea which part she enjoyed more - the squirming or the digesting. He would probably have to ask her afterward. Just out of curiosity, of course, certainly not for future reference. He felt it was best not to say anything regarding his 'offensive' form, but the other sentence made him chuckle again. "Believe me, I'm also quite happy that I got too scared to go through with an absolutely suicidal undertaking." That was the long and short of it, really. Describing what happened in that cave any other way was just making excuses for himself, something he fortunately no longer felt the need to do, incidentally thanks to the very same dragon that chose to spare him on a whim.

When she didn't answer him for a few seconds, instead letting him listen to the sounds of her body, Kilian was once again reminded of the nature of this intimate experience they were sharing. Odd, to say the least. In the end it happened by accident, but it wasn't like it hadn't come to his mind before. It was made out to be mere jokes, but didn't their repetition betray a sincere interest, if he thought about it? Even if he didn't fully realize it himself at the time. When did he first start pondering on this possibility? Probably ever since he dared dream of their relationship becoming more than either of them suspected it could. After all, if one had a magnificent dragon for a lover, surely it would be a waste not to find creative ways of being together and sticking with just human stuff. Even if humans were plenty inventive with those kinds of things.

"That's an interesting combination," he snickered, finding alcohol to be an odd one out. She did mention some story that involved dwarves and drinking; was that the basis? "Sounds like she got the better deal there," Kilian teased. He might normally refrain from such comments, but it wasn't like she could do anything to him that she wasn't already. He was already all hers, to be digested and properly absorbed like a good morsel, a thought that would have made him blush deeply had he been in human form. "Huh? Oh, no. This lovely dragon's stomach is occupied. If he wants to get eaten, he's gonna have to find a different one," he said just about the silliest thing he could come up with one the spot, a fitting response to her joke. "You know, I'm surprised you're this willing to carry people around. Human stories suggest it is an insult to even ask a dragon for something of the kind. Though I guess they might not be the most reliable source of information..." He just left it at that.

"Yeah, I can't say I was a fan of the boat ride either. Besides, hiring a boat big enough to carry a dragon is going to cost a fortune," he added with a slight chuckle. Of course, it was merely a jest. "Well, there's nothing wrong with being childish in some ways," his voice took on a more serious tone as the conversation progressed. "Oh, I'm not worried. I was just about to ask if you'd mind her joining us," Kilian said in the most obviously sarcastic way he could manage and rolled his eyes. "I don't know if it's trauma or something she chose consciously, and I'm not sure if we could help her either way. It's just... she might be better off finding a family with someone other than a dragon and... an imitation dragon. You know, someone she could share a life with. Have a family of her own with someone, grow old together... not just two people who might as well be immortal by comparison." He sighed heavily as he took a pause. "It's not like I want her gone. But even if we are able to be her friends or adopted parents, whichever... is that good enough? It's just... well, it's not something we can decide quickly or without her input, so let's leave it be for now." He concluded, suddenly realizing that he was really killing the mood from earlier. Hopefully it wasn't to late to recover.

As they both went silent for a bit, Kilian just focused on squirming again, rubbing up against the soft fleshy walls of her stomach, which was practically full of her digestive juices by now. Of course, with him taking up most of the room, it didn't take a whole lot. Whatever the case, he was glad to hear her move on from the previous topic. "Oh yeah. You've been keeping me comfortable and away from the harsh desert, as well. Thank you, moonbeam," he said in a soft voice. "It's rather hot in here, but definitely in a pleasant way," he added. "Good night, Chia. I love you," he said adoringly as he slowed his movement. He wanted her to keep enjoying him, but he didn't want to keep her awake. Eventually her breathing leveled out, signifying that she fell asleep, and after a couple more minutes he curled up inside her belly himself. Spared the undoubtedly terrifying pain of being digested alive or suffocating, he actually found her stomach quite comfortable. Very soft and warm, and the hot viscous acids didn't really feel wet. The sounds of her stomach gurgling as it worked to break him down were oddly relaxing, alongside the sound of her heartbeat that he could just barely hear behind them. Before long, Kilian found himself dozing off, as well.

***

Jules had the group break camp at dawn, before the scorching sun had a chance to chase away the nightly chill of the desert. Despite the eventful previous day and an early rise, there were no complaints. The Hunters would follow his direction either way, but with memory of the massive beast that had almost devoured them all still so fresh in their mind, none wanted to remain among the sands longer than they had to. In fact, none of them looked like they slept particularly well, though perhaps having an adult dragon sleeping less than a minute's walk away from the camp played a larger role in it than the events from yesterday. Sure, they knew she was one from the start, and that she was supposedly an ally, but that made little difference when one actually came face to face with overwhelmingly powerful creatures they were used to considering a threat.

The old wizard was no exception, but he couldn't very well demand his younger colleagues perform the task of waking the dragon up, or leave it to Vassia, whom he believed to be a child. Even if the foxgirl did seem to get along with said dragon better than anyone. In some ways, perhaps, even better than Kilian. Bizarre as it was to consider, he couldn't deny all the evidence that pointed to the two being lovers. Somewhat awkward ones, for sure, but being largely different species and what with Zerechia losing her memory, he doubted many could do better. But what did he know, the one woman he had been seriously romantically interested in turned out to be a traitor to the ideals he devoted his life to. "Zerechia, it's time to go," he told the dragon as he got closer to her head. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared. He wasn't expecting her to behave maliciously, but knowing what her kind was capable of - and her in particular, since he taught her to use magic more efficiently than, quite possibly, any other dragon ever - he simply couldn't help it.

"There's still a ways to go until we're out of the desert, and I'd rather leave this place behind as soon as possible," he continued, knowing she had never awoken straight away. Unfortunately, a cold water bucket trick wouldn't be nearly as effective in this situation, not to mention it could have dire consequences. That is, of course, if he had any water to spare in the first place. "Um, how's Kilian doing?" He decided to ask out of consideration. There was no bulge on Zerechia's body or any other evidence that could give him a clue as to how things really played out between the lovers. As for the 'morsel', his body didn't have much in the way of shape left by now.

"In any case, I doubt there's going to be much excitement until we return to town - rather, I'm hoping there will not - so perhaps we can pass the time through conversation. There are many things I want to ask you," he said and paused for a moment. "So many, in fact, that I'm not sure where to start. Perhaps by setting the limits of what you can or cannot tell me about your kind?"

[DarkPinkie]

Having Kilian accept her thinly veiled request her tongue lolled out of her mouth slightly as she panted from feeling her stomach get filled up to the brim. "Oh drake, so full." Even in her disguise she had never been this full. Even though it would appear she had filled her stomach to beyond it's normal capacity whenever she binged in her disguise. However the feeling was nowhere as good as having one's stomach filled out to the brim without the disguise. Laying on her side her neck craned back to stare at the now bulge on her barrel. Rubbing at it with her front claws she smiled and sighed. This was definitely the best.

"Well what can I say? My sis had no pride in being a dragon at all, I think some of it may have rubbed off on me. If humans was not afraid of us I think she would give all the kids in the town joyrides. Between riding her boyfriend of course. Heck, I always found it weird that she had found herself a half elven mate. I didn't see the point of it. Of course you changed my mind of the whole thing. That and sex is amazing." Thinking about it she kind of wished that Kilian was on the outside so the pair could have that kind of fun. But for now he was bringing her other pleasurable feelings.

Then came the line, sarcastic in nature which Zerechia found outright hilarious. Her chuckle was deep and easily sounded across the camp. "Oh silly you. I never took you for the type that wanted more than one girl in your arms. I could ask her for you if you want." She teased, her voice dripping equally much of sarcastic mirth. "Maybe I could even invite her to join you in there so you two can have some fun." She added on. Though after a few moments Chia felt that perhaps she had taken it a bit too far. Making a coughing sound she simply let out a sigh. "Though seriously I don't know. I feel it would be unwise to just abandon her, but even i can tell it might cause some issues. But we have time to figure that out later." She looked over at the camp. Sensing the shivering that Vassia was dealing with in the icy cold desert night Chia focused, a small heating spell hit the foxgirl's blanket warming it up for her.

- - - - -

The following morning Chia slowly and sluggishly returned to consciousness. She could hear Jules's voice but we was not quite able to make it out. Opening one tired eye she looked at him and sighed. "Just five more months." She moaned out. Her eye closing again. As Jules continued she knew the battle was lost. She would have to get up eventually. Opening her eyes slowly she looked at the blue horizon beyond the dunes for a bit before she turned to look at her own barrel. The slight bulge Kilian had made before she slept was now gone. Which meant he was well on his way to becoming her nutrients.

Rising to her feet she inspected herself. Her wings no longer sporting any damage looked like they had been fully healed. The same was with any occasional wounds left by the jagged teeth of the worm was also gone, only replaced with small patches with slightly brighter new scales covering up the wounds. With how much energy Kilian was currently producing those scales would reach normal density quite soon. Looking at Jules that had told her to get up she smiled before she yawned. Her teeth all clearly visible. "Alright. I guess time to get out of the desert. If we hurry we can be past the sands and reach the base of the mountain by tomorrow noon.

Getting asked about Kilian she looked down at her barrel and let out a bit of a odd smile, something that showed how unsure she was. "I think he's just content with being food at the moment. Mostly digested, and oh so filling. Altough I have a plan for him at a later date." She smiled. Standing up as she looked back at the horizon. "That sounds reasonable. You wanted your chat anyhow, whether that is over a cup of tea, or during a walk through the desert work just as well." She nodded as she turned her attention to the large mountains in the distance. "To begin, I can only tell you what I know about dragons. Which despite being one my knowledge is a little lacking when it comes to the details about how our bodies work. As for dragon culture, well. I don't mind telling you pretty much anything. It won't change anything really, other than perhaps expand human knowledge on the subject." Her stomach let out some gurgling and groaning noises as she finished. "Though to be fair most dragons would probably try to kill me if they knew how much I plan to share on dragon culture." Chia chuckled. "Anything in particular you want to speak about first?"

[nicktaken]

Thanks to Zerechia's pain removal spell Kilian spent the night peacefully, dreaming the odd dream as if this was any other night. But when it was time to wake up, he suddenly found that he could not. The dreams ended and he had regained perception of reality, but it was still a bit hazy. Something felt very off, yet at the same time rather familiar; it didn't take him long to realize it was the perception of his own body. It kind of reminded him of the time he lost himself, when his body lost specific shape entirely; the thought scared him for a moment, but it wasn't exactly like that time. The most important part - his reasoning - was still there.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. Between the dragon being quite hungry and him getting her stomach worked up, not to mention thoroughly soaking himself in her acids with all his squirming, it seemed as though she had mostly digested him overnight. This deduction was quickly confirmed by the sound of Chia's voice, the dragon answering a question he couldn't hear. He couldn't make any comment either. It was interesting how he was vaguely aware of events around himself when his body was no longer capable of picking up on anything. But far more fascinating was how he still perceived his body. It wasn't feeling in the normal sense, but there was some feedback from the mushed up goop filling her stomach, some slightly more solid bits here and there, and even whatever was already dissolved and dilluted by her acids. While being a disembodied conscience was more or less what he assumed was going to happen, having perception of the body he used to have was rather unexpected and peculiar.

***

Jules gave Zerechia a blank look for a few seconds before turning away. "That was not funny," he said a bit heavily, deciding to take her response regarding Kilian as a joke. She didn't sound like she was joking, but what else could it be? She had always been a bit odd for a human and she was back to her normal non-human form now, but surely her base character couldn't be that different. She wouldn't so calmly speak of digesting her lover, especially if she ate him by accident, surely. Perhaps another dragon would find her words amusing, or perhaps that answer was meant more for her 'food' than the wizard. Those were the things he told himself as he chased off the unpleasant possibilities that popped up in his head. Instead he produced a notebook and a pencil from within his clothes and held them at the ready.

"Well, let's start with the reason why you answering my questions would be met with such hostility from your kin. What's wrong with other people learning about dragons?" As good as any that was. A cultural exchange was generally best started with learning how not to gravely insult the other party by mistake. While he used this reason to convince the other Hunters, he never really expected Zerechia would aid their organization directly, certainly not against her own kind. But if he could understand them better... His next question was, inevitably, about the dragon enclave they saw at the center of the desert. Dragons were believed to be quite solitary. The fact that they lived in such a large group, and the possibility that it wasn't the only one of its kind, seemed laughable until now. What if their perception of dragons had been completely wrong from the very start?

His other questions included some common things, such as concepts of family, society and hierarchy among dragons, and eventually strayed to how dragons interacted with mortals. That was the reason for everything, after all. Why did dragons attack people seemingly at random sometimes? How was that viewed by other dragons? Was there something people could do to avoid bloodshed, if not achieve cooperation? The questions came one after another, though not in quick succession as one might expect. Jules did his best to write down Zerechia's every answer down to the letter, and often added his own footnotes and musings on her words as he went along.

***

Kilian didn't keep track of time. He probably could have made the necessary observations if he wanted to, but another matter distracted him. Perceiving his body in this manner was quite interesting, especially as his lover's stomach continued to break him down. He sort of felt himself spread out, enveloped in the welcoming heat of the very nutrient slop he was part of. Despite lacking tactile perception, he could almost feel her stomach and what it was doing to him better than ever, as if his body with its scales, skin and muscle was merely in the way. It was an oddly enjoyable feeling, but as it turned out, that was just the beginning. The best part came after her body started filtering him into her intestines. Spared the possibly unpleasant sensations he might encounter had he been in a physical form, he could feel himself flowing through her body, directed by the hot slick walls. But the peak of it all was that he actually felt being consumed by her, absorbed into her, made part of her. Whatever traces of his body were left at that point practically stopped responding once she had taken the nutrients from him, but the sensation was overwhelming and intoxicating. When his normal thought process reestablished itself, he could no longer say Zerechia got the more enjoyable part of this shared experience.

By the time that happened, she was basically done with him. Whatever waste was left from his body was gradually gathering at her rear end. There was little point in checking how much time had passed then, as he would be out soon either way. On the other hand, it was a good time to think about how exactly he was going to form his body again. While there was not necessarily a time limit, Chia might get worried if he took too long.

[DarkPinkie]

Chia noticed how uncomfortable her mentioning digesting Kilian was making Jules. True she didn't feel like explaining the whole thingy about having the ability to revive him as she would no doubt be bombarded with questions about that. Thankfully the subject was never elaborated on. "Well, because most dragons are arrogant and selfish to the extreme. That and you hunters have given them plenty of reason to keep their knowledge to themselves. They just can't seem to see mortals as equals. In fact to some of them you are like bugs. But they also know that much like enough fire ants can kill a human, so can enough humans deal with a dragon. For that they also fear you, enough to make it an unspoken law to not share any information on us with mortals." She chuckled at that. "But then again, in dragon society might makes right, and thanks to you I might just be the most powerful dragon in the world. I have lived as a human enough to know how to think like one. You humans can accomplish some pretty amazing things when you put your mind to it. Imagine what could be done with nearly limitless magic potential?" Zerechia sounded almost giddy at that. Oh she was going to try so many thing, so many spells way outside the scope of what is possible for a human was just begging her to be developed. Of course she still needed more practice if she wanted to master the final echelons of magic.

Chia did her best to answer Jules's many questions. Told him about how it was for her to grow up, she even divulged a bit about how she and her sister was a rare case, though she did not dive too deep into that subject as it caused her to get broody. Eventually she told how the few dragon communities in the world sprang up around sites of high ambient magic and in the end they become graveyards, the many dragons that roost around it, while a community in it's own right, acts more like tomb guardians than how a community of mortals gather for mutual benefits. After speaking to him about dragon culture she dodged a few questions about dragon biology for the time being, promising she would answer the questions in a more... Comfortable location. In truth she was not quite ready to talk about that stuff yet, her mind had become just a little more like a human so she found it embarrassing. Which was interesting in and off itself as before this whole fiasco she would have found no issues with the subject. Instead she brought up the subject of a few dragon worshipping mortal communities. The dwarves that lived in the mountains south of here and the goldweaving island tribe that lived out on the island in the center of the ocean that treated males as property rather individuals.

- - - - -

By the time that she had finished explaining them sunset had already fallen upon them. The large dunes of loose sand having shifted for empty dry rocky plains. Effectively still a desert, but no longer would all that sand get between here scales and chafe. It was a small blessing. "And that Is how I got Alcohol added to my domains in their pantheon." She chuckled as she kept walking. However she was starting to feel something else getting itself uncomfortably reminded as if it had taken the place of the annoying sand. "Well Jules nighttime is coming and I think this is a good enough time to camp... I err... Need to take care of something." Chia felt like she was going to die of embarrassment, a feeling that had been almost alien to her a year ago. Now it felt as natural as every other feeling.

Once everyone had started setting up camp Chia took to the wing and flew a short distance. Short enough where they could still see her, long enough where a small hill would give her the privacy she wanted. "Alright Kilian, I really really hope you knew what you were doing. I never felt your essence leave the way it should so I am a bit worried." Finding a suitable spot behind the small craggy hill she raised her tail and relaxed. As she did Kilian's remains started spilling out of her tailhole. The brown mush interspersed by shiny scales spilled out, besides the scales it held a near uniform brown colour. The mess kept coming until it had coiled up and built a pile almost as big as a small house. It wasn't until then that she felt satisfied and relieved. Turning around and looking at the waste pile she became a little worried. "Come on Kilian, you said you would be okay!" She spoke. After all if she had not managed to keep his essence trapped within herself then she had no way to revive him. So in the end she was starting to think that maybe she had actually killed Kilian. Her eyes looking at the pile in an almost pleading manner. "Please?"

[nicktaken]

Jules couldn't say he was completely satisfied with every answer that Zerechia had given him. Some of them didn't seem immediately relevant to what he wished to know, some strayed off topic somewhere in the middle, but he didn't complain. He had plenty of follow-up questions to ask either way, and simply being able to speak with a dragon on mostly equal terms and without having to worry about whether he'd be able to walk away from their conversation was already a great boon. Of course, it wasn't going to solve every problem ever, but he never expected things to be easy. Truthfully, he wasn't even sure if he was doing this more for the next generation of Hunters and common folk alike or to sate his own curiosity. The encounter with Eleanora - or Cassandra, it made little difference which fake name she preferred - was an unpleasant reminder of his own age and how little he had actually achieved over his years with the Hunters. It wasn't that he hadn't done anything significant, but nothing really changed. The organization still operated within the same parameters as before. Meeting Zerechia was his chance to make a difference. He might not get to see the world change, but perhaps his efforts could be a stepping stone for others.

***

Hearing the mere suggestion that he might know what he was doing made Kilian laugh. Internally, as he presently lacked a body with which to do so outwardly. Well, perhaps that was an exaggeration: after all, he had a pretty solid idea of what he could do, and he hadn't been wrong so far. Problem was, he didn't know how to actually do it. In his defense, he didn't have a lot of time to think about it, having just recently been pulled apart and absorbed by his lover. Which felt a lot better than it sounded, but just as distracting. With his consciousness sort of hitched to his remains, he unwittingly shifted beyond the scope of the dragon's body and ended up witnessing the rather embarassing act of her relieving herself. That and the homogenous mass that she turned him into. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about either of those things; he knew that was what was going to happen from the start, but seeing it was different. It was Chia's distressed words that instilled within him a sense of urgency. Conveniently enough, it seemed as though some of his scales had survived the trip through her gut. He wasn't expecting that, but why not make the best of it?

The dragon would see her lover's scales start melting into a black ichorous liquid. It pooled beneath her waste before slithering to the side, where the puddle began bubbling and expanding outward, forming a dome that grew until it was noticeably larger than the pile she left in size. Then it seemed to sag down over a shape that would be familiar to Zerechia before finally bursting, leaving a black stain on the ground and Kilian in his shrunken dragon form, the size he was inside her stomach, standing there. "Give me a minute, will you? This is a little more complex than taking a toilet break," he scoffed as he looked at her, silently taking note of the specifics of the process and how it took several minutes. He wasn't planning on getting used to doing this, but he did promise to let her eat him at least one more time. He wouldn't mind that, himself, but getting carried away with it wasn't the best thing they could do. Despite appearances, this was far from harmless to him.

"How did you like your little morsel, moonbeam?" He asked with a smirk as he took a step toward Zerechia and lightly bumped his snout into the side of her barrel, being basically the perfect height to do that. Even though he meant to tease her, he suddenly felt rather embarrassed himself. He was the one who tempted her into digesting him, he adored how pleased she was doing it, and the out of body experience had also been surprisingly enjoyable. Letting out a soft growl, Kilian walked between the silver dragon's legs, rubbing up against her belly as he did. He wanted to feel closer to her, to... well, his desire at that moment wasn't all that complicated, but it was the reason for feeling awkward. "So... this is going to be a stupid question, but... how do dragons, well, mate?" he couldn't really look directly at her as he asked that.

[DarkPinkie]

Zerechia had started to properly worry before she could see the movement. The black Ichor-like mass moving off from the waste was definitely a step up, but it didn't calm her worries just yet. As it pooled she looked on with cautious curiosity. Kilian had said, as crazy as it sounded at the time that he as a mindless black mass what she assumed was similar to this had devoured her. She was prepared for a fight all until he took the dragon shape. Seeing that she relaxed. "Like how you stayed calm after you supposedly absorbed me? If I recall you were absolutely livid after that." She scoffed slightly. "I couldn't feel your essence so it kind of made me think I may have killed you. Heck even now I just can't get a feel for your essence at all. It's all muddled and unclear." She sighed. "Well at least you solved the whole coming back to life thingy. I was going to give you half my lifespan you know, but after seeing this I get the feeling you won't need it." She turned her head and looked back over the small hill back at the encampment.

"Again with that nickname. Kilian, if you keep it up I will have to find some adorable little cutesy nickname for you too you know." She shook her head. "And yes. I very much did enjoy my meal. You felt great in there, as well as melted surprisingly quick." She was curious about how close and affectionate he was being with his motions. The way he nuzzled and rubbed over her belly was cute. Did the acids fry Kilian's mind and/or personality? Well her answer to that was given shortly as he asked that very simple question. Immedietly getting embarrassed herself she kind of stumbled over her words for a bit. "Now? Right here?" Not that she didn't want to mate him. Getting to mate as a dragon would be an interesting contrast to when she did it as a human and would prove a valuable data point for the experience. But their current location was not the best for such an act. Unless Kilian was okay with it being a bit... Public. "I mean... The others over there can sort of see me slightly above the hill. Not to mention the uh... Remains." She looked at the camp, wondering if any of them looked back. "Well... Mating is rather simple. Supposedly it works the same way as for mortals." She answered plainly. "Though it is usually easier if both parties are close in size, or if they are in the air or water." While he was walking between her legs she simply raised her tail out of the way and looked at him. "You know, I have never done this before, so... If you really want to right now we have to experiment I think."

[nicktaken]

Her retort hit Kilian like an avalance, refreshing events he would rather erase from his mind altogether. Even if whatever he did had been erased from history, or he prevented it from happening - alternative realities were confusing like that - it was quite real to him. Frankly, there shouldn't have been any room to doubt his recollection, considering the very shape he took afterward. "That's completely different," he grumbled. Perhaps it wasn't from her point of view, but... he shuddered a bit as he prepared an argument in his own mind. No, he would much rather agree with her on this than think of the matter any further. Fortunately, she offered a slight change of topic on her own. "Well, as far as I can tell, my essence or whatever exists separately from my physical form. Or it can, anyway. If you want to get technical, I don't think I died in the way another creatures would. I might not even be able to, honestly. I can probably keep coming back as long as I have life force, or whatever other energy, left over to rebuild a body," he shared his conjecture with her. Even if he didn't understand the why, he thought he had a pretty good grasp of the how. Of course, if Chia digested him without a trace, with no remnants of his form to act as an anchor of sorts, then he might have trouble actually pinning down a location to reform... but that was a concern for another time.

"What, you don't like it?" he asked with a smirk. Granted, it wasn't a particularly imaginative nickname, but he felt like it suited her quite well. He was also quite curious about what kind of nickname she might come up with for him, if she did. As she awkwardly attempted to explain how physical intimacy worked with dragons, and brought up a couple of good points along the way, he felt a bit silly for even asking. "In the air or water? That doesn't sound like it would make things easier," he leaned his head onto one side as he thought out loud. "But you're right, this is probably not the best circumstance for that." If he were honest, her reminder of him having devoured her sort of shook him out of the amorous mood. Besides, having to experiment sounded like it was going to take time, and they were sort of on a schedule until they left the desert or this whole continent behind them. And then there was the bit where he was in no mood to reveal his draconic form to the others, as they'd demand explanations he couldn't give.

"Another time, then," he concluded and shifted back to a human form, dressed the same way he used to, minus the gloves he no longer needed. Oddly enough, he felt more normal now than he had in a while, possibly since the time he had the bright idea of messing with the one thing Chia warned him against even touching. Though oddly enough it all worked out in the end, and he wasn't sure if it would have had he 'known better'. Or perhaps it couldn't have gone any other way. While those could well have been coincidences, more recent events challenged his concept of what was or wasn't real. "Let's go back to the others," he suggested, not that he really wanted to see anyone besides Vassia, and he wasn't sure how exactly to face the foxgirl. For all of his deliberation on what happened to her and why, he had no idea how to even start helping her.

"Thanks for carrying me through most of the desert, by the way," he added with a smirk as he noticed the terrain was quite different from what he had last seen. The ridge that separated the desert from the inhabited coastal areas was well within view by now, and they might even cross it before tomorrow night. This was fairly good timing, as he was pretty sure Zerechia wouldn't fit into the passage they took before in her dragon form. "Do you think you could teach me to fly before we cross the sea again?" he asked. It wouldn't hurt to learn, and it would help if they were going to offer Jules a ride back.