The smell of coffee woke me up the next morning, the tickle in my nose drew me out from the pleasant dream I’d been having about dancing with—

“Being half-asleep is a very good look on you.”

I blinked my eyes, and I saw Drolter in the same PJ pants and t-shirt from the night previously, holding two mugs.

“Thanks, I’ve been asked to model because of it,” I yawned, and reached out for a mug. He laughed and sat next to me. “Thank gods I don’t have work today.”

“Well then I’m glad you’re here, I would have been sad to go to the library and you not be there,” he blushed and looked embarrassed.

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. His face went from a shade of Emerald to Basil green.

Cute.

“That shade of green really suits you Drolter.”

He mumbled something, before turning and hugging me to hid his embarassment. The force of it knocked me over and suddenly he was on top of me. He looked down, and we looked each other with wide eyes and blush painted cheeks. I realized his eyes glowed faintly in the shadows his arms cast. I reached a handout and gently touched his cheek, he seemed to instinctually nuzzle into it. I giggled at him, rubbing a little wider as he leaned into it. I heard a faint hum, and it took me a moment to realize what was happening.

“Drolter…are you purring?”

“I, I’m not purring! That’s a cat or Tabaxi thing,” his eyes took a moment to focus on me. “I’m Klauthing, it’s a Dragonborn thing.”

“Drolter I speak Draconic, that just literally means purring.”

“I—you speak Dranconic?” He seemed surprised.

“Yes, and Halfling, Gnommish, Elvish, Sylvan and some Dwarvish.”

“Whoa, that’s a lot. You know, intelligence is really attractive.”

“It is, indeed, your constant pursuit of knowledge is what drew me to you,” I said as we sat back up. He continued to nuzzle into me. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so affectionate, it’s wonderful but unexpected.”

“Well, Dragonborns are one of the most affectionate races,” he said as he kissed my temple. “I know it’s a little fast for some people, but I don’t see delaying my desire unless it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Not at all,” I said cuddling into him. “I really do like affection. We can still take things slow and still be cuddly.”

We spent a while longer being affectionate before he spoke again.

“I’m going to have to go away for a mission in a few days, and I’ll be gone for a couple weeks. I figured you should know.”

“Ah okay,” I said a little disappointed. “Can I meet you at the docks when you come back?”

“You want to do that?” He said glancing down at me surprised.

“Yeah, I want to welcome you home,” I said snuggling into him. “Also, if you randomly hear my voice one day, don’t worry you’re not crazy.”

“Wizard, right.”

“Speaking of,” I said straightening up. “Would you like to meet my familiar?”

“You have a familiar? And absolutely I do.”
“Yeah, Snapdragon I’d like you to meet someone!” I called out. A small swirling vortex appeared on the coffee table in front of us, a dazzle of pinks and blues swirled around before condensing on one space. Soon the familiar shape of Snapdragon appeared, and her usual form of a Grey and White cat was in front of us. She was fluffy, with a white marking curling up onto her forehead and large green eyes that peered at me before staring curiously at Drolter. He was staring at her, his eyes darting around to see different aspects of her.

“Snappy this is Drolter, Drolter I’d like you to meet Snappy.”

“Wow, so she’s an actual fae?”

“Yep! Her and I have an agreement, she helps me by being my eyes and ears sometimes, and I give her as much affection and treats as she wants,” Snappy purred at that, and jumped on to the couch between us. Drolter startled at that and had his arm raised. Snappy nuzzled into me, and still glanced at Drolter curiously.

“Fascinating,” he said. “Snappy, can I pet you?”

In response she eyed him for a minute, before moving herself to rub on him. He placed a hand on top of her head and gently scratched. She started leaning into it and purring. She crawled into his lap and settled herself in before curling up and going to sleep.

“Damn, I was going to make us some breakfast, now I’d feel bad waking her.”

“That’s fine, I can cook,” I stood up and stretched. I took a glance around and saw a faint blush on Drolter’s cheeks. “Eggs and Toast okay?”

“Yeah that sounds good,” he was petting Snappy and she was even purring in her sleep.

I nodded before heading into the kitchen. It took me a minute to find a frying pan, but soon after I had a fire lit on the stove and was frying the eggs, in another pan I had the bread toasting. Soon enough we had some nice fluffy eggs and golden toast. I grabbed some plates with mage hand before dishing it out and carrying it out to the living room. I placed them on the coffee table before plopping myself back on the couch. Snappy had moved herself on to a spare armchair.

“That smells really good,” Drolter smiled before reaching for a plate.

“Thanks, my parents run an Inn and Tavern and I usually got roped into cooking breakfast.”

“Really?” Drolter said through a mouth full of eggs.

“Yeah, I’ll take you there sometime,” I said, my cheeks warming a bit at the thought of bringing Drolter to my hometown.

“I’d like that,” he had finished the eggs and moved on to the toast. “My mom is a teacher, and my dad operates as a merchant.”

“You know that makes a lot of sense,” I said finishing off my eggs and toast.

“What do you mean?” He looked curious.

“You love learning and you love to travel, each a trait that each parent would need to have.”

“I see your point,” he stacked our plates in front of us. “Now, what would you like to do today?”

“Hmm,” I pondered for a moment looking at him, stopping the crude part of my brain from saying ‘you’. That would be later down the line. “Could we just cuddle?...And kiss? If we want to do something else later we can but I’m still kind of sleepy and now I’m full so that just sounds nice.”

“Yeah it does, do you want to cuddle on my bed?” There was delay before he blushed, “because I mean it’s bigger and more comfortable and—”

“Drolter relax, I understood what you meant,” I giggled.

I slid off the couch and he took my hand leading to the bedroom, his bed was fairly large and comfy looking, with dark grey sheets and a forest green blanket on top. I crawled in and laid against the back pillows facing him with my arms outstretched. He crawled in and wrapped his arms around me and placed his head on my lap. I stroked his scales; they were wonderfully textured but surprisingly soft on his face. They grew progressively harder as they reached the top of his skull before fanning out at the back. He began making that purring noise again, and I saw his tail moving and flicking.

“Does your tail usually move when you’re happy?” I asked as he shifted a bit.

“Hmm, yeah sometimes,” he said as he opened an eye to look up at me. His pupil was blown wide by the dim light.

“Glad this is making you happy then,” I said and leaned back.

He shifted and pulled forward, so his chin was resting on collarbone.

“Can I kiss you Drolter?”

“Yes you may,” a light blush painting his cheeks.

I gently placed my hands on his cheeks, sliding myself down a bit so our mouths were even, before placing my lips on his. He tasted faintly of coffee and eggs; I didn’t mind all that much. He seemed a bit more sure than last night, one of his hands slid to my shoulder blade and the other slipped in my hair. I could feel him adjust himself, so he was on top of me, our bodies pressed together slightly. He was so gentle; I felt his claws barely skim my skin and he seemed so determined to go no further than that. We pulled away for a breath, and our soft gasps broke the silence.

“You’re just so, soft,” he whispered. “So squishy.”

“Thank you?” I laughed.

“I just mean, the only other person I was ever intimate with was another Dragonborn. You’re so much softer than they were.”

He ran his hand from my shoulder blade down to my hip as he said this. I felt his hand lightly press.

“What about you?” He moved so he was laying on his side, his arms open for me to slide in. I gently moved to his chest, so I was hugging his sternum.

“I’ve been with a few people, all different races. I like how you feel though, not to soft but not to hard either, firm but comfortable,” I nuzzled into his chest.

“Thank you—Ephie your hairs tickling my nose cause of the nuzzling,” he chuckled.

I proceeded to nuzzle faster, and he was laughing harder.

“Please I’m going to—Aachoo!” He sneezed and a jet of acid shot across the room. “Shit.”

“Oh my gods I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I’d make you sneeze,” I turned my head to see where the acid hit, it landed on a pile of laundry.

“It’s fine, my clothes are treated so they’re going to be fine,” he reassured me. “But I best get them soaking.”

“Fair enough,” I said letting him go.

I watched him walk over to the pile of clothes and bend over.

Man, he has a nice butt.

---

Eventually we decided to put some proper clothes on and try to do something besides cuddle, to my utter dismay. We decided to head to a book shop instead of the library just to spice things up. We split off after getting inside, and I headed for the magic section. I picked up a couple of interesting books and after looking at their prices I put it in my basket. I sought out Drolter and found him in the travel section. He seemed to be examining a map book when I approached. He noticed me approach and smiled.

“You find what you want?” He gestured at my books.

“Yep, what about you?”

“I think I’m going to grab this one, seems to have some more updated maps than I currently have. Could be useful.”

We headed up front to pay before heading back out on to the street. I suggested we head to a local hotspot to grab a treat and read together. We ended up a local Gelato shop, and after ordering we settled into a spot with our books propped open and a bowl of gelato each.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to open a bookshop,” I said taking a bite of my gelato.

“Really?” He took a moment to answer as the gelato melted in his mouth.

“Yeah, it just seems like it’s one of the more fun businesses to own.”

“You want an excuse to read all day.”

“Absolutely,” he chuckled at that.

“Well, I know you can do it, and if you want my help I’d love to provide it.”

“Really?” I looked at him surprised.

“Yes,” he smiled.

Gods he’s incredible.

I took another mouth full of gelato and smiled.

“Thank you Drolter,” I leaned over kissing him on the cheek.

His blush was instant, and he buried himself back into his book.