Bedbug

Thorax paced back and forth in the Changeling Kingdom, unable to keep himself still for even half a second. He was eagerly expecting a visitor to the kingdom to arrive at any moment, and the wait was almost unbearable. Just how far were the Dragonlands from here? Just thinking about the possibilities made his head hurt and his stomach turn.

He sat down on his tree-like throne as soon as his muscles got the best of him, looking downwards with a dejected sigh. Rolling the sleeves of his dark magenta jacket up, he rubbed the sole of one of his orange and green sandals against his left leg, taking a moment to gaze at the clusters of colorful changelings that were casually going about their day.

Thorax’s ears perked up as he heard the steady sound of footsteps nearby. As he turned around, his worried look slowly turned into a wide grin.

There stood a sapphire-scaled dragoness, who was tranquilly leaning on one of the larger rocks that rose from the stone floor of the hive. “You gonna keep looking sad, or are you going to say hi?” she teased him with a smirk.

Thorax merely blinked, his jaw gaping in disbelief. “H-How long have you been standing there?” he managed to ask after a moment or two.

“Oh, I got here maybe five minutes ago. I was kinda expecting you to be the first to greet me here,” Ember answered as she started walking up to him.

“You’re saying that—”

“That you didn’t notice me?” Ember smirked as she raised an index claw pressing it against Thorax’s lips, immediately cutting his sentence off.

Thorax could only blush sheepishly as Ember slowly withdrew her claw from his mouth, stammering as he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for his apparent stupidity.

“Well? Aren’t you going to show me around?”

“Pardon?”

“This place isn’t gonna introduce itself, ya know,” she said, gesturing around the flora-infested area.

“Er… right.” He chuckled before turning around. “Well, just follow me,” he said as he started walking.

Ember took one more glance around the area, before eventually shrugging and catching up to him.

Thorax began leading Ember around the kingdom, giving Ember a tour of what he considered to be noteworthy places in the hive. “Well, first here’s where most of the changelings gather in our freetime.” he said, gesturing around. “Here’s the arts and crafts area, the stage for the theatre, ooh, and the dance floor!”

Ember looked around, seeing all the other changelings drawing, acting, and dancing in a conga line. She politely nodded along, silently praying to not be invited to join in.

Thorax brought Ember into a room with a long, moss-covered stone table. Changelings sat down on each side, putting plates and bowls of food down. “Aaand here is where we eat our meals!”

The other changelings looked at Ember, offering her several plates of slimy and leafy foods.

“Uh...no thanks. I, uh...already ate,” she sheepishly said in response.

The next stop was a decorated cave where several changelings sat in a circle. “And this is the feelings forum, where the other changelings talk things out so we can understand each other better. Do you wanna try?”

Ember cringed and slowly started backing away.

“Yeah, kinda figured…”

After a bit more touring around the hive, Thorax stopped in front of a large open entrance. “So yeah, that’s about it, I guess.”

“Hey, what about this place? What’s in here?” Ember asked, sticking her head inside, curiously peering at the room’s interior.

“That’s, um...That’s my bedroom,” he answered as he walked in and sat down on his bed, before lying down on his back. “Why? Do you not have one?” he teased with a tiny smug grin.

Ember rolled her scarlet eyes. “Very funny,” she mumbled as she sat down with him.

As the two looked around Thorax’s bedroom, the fact that he and Ember were currently in bed together slowly dawned on him, and his cheeks quickly turned red. Of course, at a time like this, he had to get comfortable; he sat up and began kicking his sandals off, watching as they fell onto the floor beneath him.

He smiled with a mix of satisfaction and content as he stared down at his bare feet, wiggling his toes freely, before lifting his legs and resting his heels upon a nearby pillow.

It didn’t take him long to notice Ember’s attention to slowly be drawn towards those vulnerable lime green soles propped up next to her, flexing and curling every few seconds.

Thorax looked at her, raising a perplexed eyebrow. “Er… what are you doing?” he asked, curling his toes up shyly.

Ember quickly snapped her attention to a random corner of the room, turning her head away from his feet. “Nothing! J-Just looking around! That’s all!”

The changeling giggled at her flustered state, wiggling his toes again, lifting his foot up closer to her face, also turning his head away for a moment to see if anyone was watching…

...Then he felt something sharp poke his left foot.

That “something” wasn’t sharp enough to pierce or cut the skin, like a knife or a needle would, but it was enough to make Thorax squeak and giggle out of surprise.

He snapped his eyes shut as his foot suddenly jerked out of reflex, startling the dragoness. “Uh… okay?” she uttered in confusion.

The changeling’s eyes opened back up as he blushed like mad. “S-Sorry!” he stuttered out, pressing his sensitive left sole against the bed’s mattress.

Ember blinked, before dragging a claw along the top of his foot in a similar manner to the first time.

“Eeehehehehe!” Thorax giggled as his toes splayed out, his foot starting to kick lightly against the bedcovers. “Heheheh! Ahahaha!”

Ember’s lips curved into a playful smirk; even she had to admit he looked cute laughing and squirming like this. “Heh. What was that all about?”

“Heh. Sorry. I’m… ticklish,” Thorax said, curling his toes. “Like… really ticklish.”

“Oh really now? I remember Spike and Smolder doing something like this before...” she applied more strokes to his soles, eliciting a fresh wave of uncontrollable giggles and squeaks from the changeling. “Heh. Never really tried this on anyone before, but I think I like it.” Her claws moved up to his toes. “So, if I do this, you’ll keep laughing until I stop doing it?” she asked.

“Aheheheh!” Thorax kept squirming as her clawtips gently grazed his feet. “Y-Yeheheheah!” He curled his toes again.

“Heh, it’s kinda cute,” she whispered quietly as she kept tickling him for a few more seconds, before withdrawing her claws completely and watching him catch his breath between giggles.

“Hm?” Thorax sat up, his happy grin fading into a frown of confusion. “Hey, w-why did you stop?” he asked with a soft hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Er…” Ember rubbed the back of her head. “Did you...want me to keep going?”

Thorax looked at her, thinking for a moment. “I uh… do want you to keep going, but um…”

“...Yes?” she asked encouragingly, waiting for an answer.

Thorax mumbled as he clenched his lips shut, before quickly blurting out, “Canyoutiemedownandticklemeprettyplease?”

Ember merely looked at him in confusion. It was obvious that she failed to catch anything during that sudden verbal outburst. “What did you say?” she asked cluelessly.

He rubbed the back of his head. “I mean… I was wondering if you’d keep tickling me, except I’d be tied down… maybe to the bed or something, and… and…” Thorax sighed heavily, crossing his legs underneath his seating. “N-Nevermind. It’s silly…”

Ember gazed at his shy and flustered expression, thinking for a moment. Sure, she had never actually tickled anyone before, but… she could tell Thorax loved every second of it while it lasted. “I suppose that maybe I could… um… give it a shot.”

Thorax looked up. “You sure…?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I? Unless you want me to change my mind...”

“No!” Thorax blurted out, flustered. “I-I mean… I’d really like it.” He raised his feet back up in the air, ready to be tickled again.

Ember chuckled at his display of eagerness. “You said you wanted to be tied down right?”

“Mmhm! There’s uh… there’s rope underneath my bed.” He admitted sheepishly. “Y-You can use that...”

“Why do you keep rope underneath your bed?”

“I-In case someone wanted to tie me down and tickle me…?”

Ember sighed with a teasing roll of her eyes. “Of course.” She reached under and managed to find said rope, pulling it out and carefully unraveling it.

Thorax watched silently, his amethyst purple eyes shining with pure excitement. Ember lifted the changeling’s ankles, placing them next to each other, side-by-side. Then she wrapped the rope around both of them, tying it tight enough. “Comfortable?” she asked as soon as she finished the process.

Thorax nodded, his cute little toes flexing and curling. He then tried to pull his ankles apart to test the ropes, finding that his bonds were properly secure. “I’m ready!”

Ember gave him a playfully devious smirk, putting his feet in her lap. She started out slow, lightly skittering her claws down his feet.

The changeling broke out in a fit of giggles, his toes curling immediately.

Ember looked up at the giggling Thorax. “Woah, you’re laughing already. Does that mean I’m doing this right?”

Thorax nodded happily. “Eeheeheehee! M-Mohohohore!”

“Well, if you say so…” Ember said, now digging her claws into his soles, surprised at how soft they were to the touch.

Thorax’s laughter rose an octave, throwing his head back in hysterics. “Ahahahahaha! Gyahahahaha! Mohohore! P-Pleheheheheaaase!”

“Still more? …Okay then,” Ember said, her smirk fading into a look of confusion as her claws started to slow down. “Er… how do I…?”

“Heheheh… what?” Thorax asked, still in a fit of uncontrollable giggles until the sensations halted completely. “What’s wrong? Why are you stopping?”

“Um… I’m not sure I’ve got the hang of the whole… tickling thing.”

“What do you mean? You were doing just fine if you ask me,” Thorax said with a wiggle of his toes.

“Yeah, but, I don’t think I know how to do it right,” Ember explained. “You keep asking for more, but I have no idea how to… ‘tickle more’.”

The changeling thought for a moment, before grinning. “Well, maybe I could show you!”

“Really?” The dragoness blinked, the scales on her face going from sapphire blue to a bright red. “I don’t know if I’m… ticklish, though,” she said, puffing out her chest in an attempt to look tougher.

“There’s only one way to find out!”

Before she could react, Thorax grabbed Ember’s ankles and lightly started tickling her feet, his fingers sliding down from her toes to her heels.

“Ack! Hehehehey!” she giggled out of surprise.

“Well, looks like you are ticklish!” Thorax teased, speeding his fingers up, grinning ear to ear as he watched her squirm.

“C-Come on, cut that ouhouhouhout!” Ember pleaded, trying to pull away from his grasp.

For a timid and bubbly changeling, Thorax had a surprisingly strong grip on her ankles. “Nuh-uh! I gotta show you how to do it right!” he chuckled, now raking his fingers down her soles.

“A-Alrihihihight, I gehehehet ihihihit! L-Let gohohoho!”

“There’s aaaaall sorts of places you can tickle on the feet,” Thorax said with a sing-song tone, wiggling his fingers between her toes, then on the tops of the feet. “Liiike here! And here!”

The teasing was enough to get her to start blushing. “D-Dude! Stohohohop!”

“The key is to go all over to try and find the most ticklish spot!” Thorax grinned, his fingers wiggling over her feet, eagerly exploring the potential tickle spots on the dragon.

The volume of Ember’s laughter rose and fell as Thorax tickled her feet, squealing particularly loud whenever he hit the center of her foot or right under her toes.

Thorax chuckled in an almost sinister way. “And once you find those spots, you gotta really focus on them!” As he spoke, his fingers struck underneath her toes, making them twitch and splay out involuntarily.

Ember’s scarlet eyes widened in a panic as she howled with laughter. “EEEHAHAHAA! Thohohohorahahahax! I-It tihihihickles too muhuhuhuch!”

“You can tickle slooow…” Thorax said, decreasing the tickling speed on her soles to demonstrate even further, before allowing the pace to suddenly skyrocket. “...Or fast!”

“NAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ember started pounding her fists on the bed, desperately trying to yank her ankles away from his grasp.

“And there’s a lot more places that can be ticklish!” Thorax let go of her ankles, but just as quickly pounced on top of her, pinning her shoulders to the mattress before digging his energetic fingertips into her scaley sides and skittering them up and down.

“Eeee! Nohohohoho fahahahahair!” Ember grabbed onto Thorax’s wrists, trying to pry them away from her ticklish sides.

Ember’s grip barely slowed Thorax down, he was currently in the zone. “All’s fair when it comes to tickles!” He chuckled, squeezing her sides, before going for her belly.

“AAAAHAHAHAHA!” Ember arched her back, each squeeze making her jump and lift Thorax up. “NOHOHOHOT THEHEHERE!”

“And that’s another thing! Whenever someone says not to tickle somewhere...” He leaned in closer, spidering his fingers across her stomach. “It just means to tickle them there even more!”

“OKAY OKAY! I GEHEHET IT! STAHAHAHAP!” Ember cackled, the irritation starting to show in her voice. “I MEAHEHEHEHEAN IHIHIHIT!”

Thorax started to snicker, his hands trailing up her sides and to her armpits. “Aww, but you look really cute when you laugh! Hehehe...”

Ember instinctively shot her arms to her sides, trapping Thorax’s hands in her armpits. “WHAHAHAHATEVERRR! J-JUST STAHAHAHAHAP!” the dragoness pleaded at the top of her lungs.

“Well I can’t, my hands are stuck in your armpits! Guess I gotta keep tickling you!” he joked, his fingers skittering around in her sensitive hollows.

“GYAHAHAHAHA! YOU LITTLE—”

Ember managed to lift her arms up. She bent her elbows and gave Thorax a hard shove in the chest, finally knocking him off and gasping for breath.

Thorax tensed up, his ears burning with embarrassment. “Oops, d-did I go too far?” he asked in an uneasy tone as he stared at Ember’s back. “Heh… I-I’m sorry, I… I usually don’t do it without others’ consent.”

Ember looked back as she caught her breath. “I’m… I’m fine…” she said before shooting a death glare at him, her wiggling claws slowly creeping towards his feet.

He winced and attempted to pull his feet away, before suddenly remembering that his ankles were still tied together. “Ember, I-I—Aaaahahahahahaha!” he shrieked with laughter as she dug her claws into his once again vulnerable soles.

“Ha! If you wanted me to show no mercy on you, you should’ve just asked!” Ember teased with a playfully sinister grin.

“Eeeheeheeheeheehee!” Thorax’s wings started to buzz, excited that Ember might be getting the hang of it. “Hahahahahaha! E-Ember, I’m sohohohohorry!”

“It’s pretty obvious you did it to get me to be meaner with you, hm?”

“Hehehehahahaha! Okay, okahaahahay! I dihihihid!”

Ember’s smirk grew bigger as her claws scurried up to his toes.

“AIIIEEEE!” Thorax let out an almost girly squeal, his toes suddenly spreading out. “AHAHAHAHA! YEHEHEHEHES!”

Ember decided to explore between his now spread out toes, listening to the shrieks and squeals of her changeling comrade. “So, are you really that sorry if you did it on purpose?”

“I-I DIDN’T MEAN TO MAHAHAHAKE YOU MAHAHAHAHAD! EEEEHAHAHAHA!”

“Really?” Ember raised an eyebrow as she wedged her claws in between his toes, preventing them from wiggling and curling. “You seemed to have a lot of fun tickling me… even though it was clearly driving me out of my mind.”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Thorax tried sitting up instinctively, but a swift tickle between his toes made him fall back down on the bed in hysterics. “OH GOHOHOHOHOSH!”

Eventually, Ember relented, stopping her claws and giving Thorax a much-needed rest…

...before getting up and grabbing some more rope from under the bed.

Thorax silently watched in excitement as she grabbed one of his wrists and put it against one of the bedpoles behind him, before securing them together by tying a rope around them.

She then repeated the process with his other wrist, tying it against the other bedpole.

“There. That should do it,” she said, folding her arms proudly, before climbing back onto the bed and moving back to his feet to continue the tickle session.

Thorax couldn’t even hide how happy he was, his toes happily wiggling as he waited to be mercilessly tickled again.

“So, what was it you said before? ‘Try and find the most ticklish spot’?” Ember asked as she began gliding her clawtips against the tops of his feet.

“Eeek!” Thorax’s feet flinched, the eager grin on his face getting bigger as soon as she began tickling him again. “Y-Yes, that!”

“Well, then…” Ember continued her quest to find Thorax’s tickle spots. Her claws began skittering against his heels.

“Eheheheheheheh!” His feet quivered up and down. “Heheheheheheh!”

“Hm…” Ember closely and carefully observed his reactions. When his heels were tickled, Thorax would squeak and giggle uncontrollably. “Very interesting. How about…” she switched to the arches. “Here?!”

“Eeehehahahahaha!” Thorax shrieked suddenly, his feet attempting to curl up as soon as her swift clawtips struck his arches. “Yehehehes!”

“Arches are a lot more sensitive, eh?” Ember smirked as she trailed a single claw up and down his left arch, watching Thorax’s feet twitch uncontrollably. His feet quivered even more when she did the same to his right arch.

“Hm…” She thought for a moment, curiously tapping a claw against his foot while listening to his giggles. “Where next?” Her thoughtful smirk turned into a devilish grin, and her claw started circling around the ball of his right foot.

Thorax arched his back, lifting himself off of the bed, nearly kicking Ember in the chin.

“Alright, now how about these toes that’ve been wiggling the entire time?” Ember’s fingers walked up to his toes, skittering across no matter how much they curled and twitched.

“EEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHA!” Thorax started wiggling around harder than ever before, letting out an almost girly scream as his cheeks turned red.

Seeing how hard Thorax was laughing made Ember’s evil grin get wider, She went in harder, sliding her fingers between his toes whenever he just happened to have them splayed out.

Thorax was driven up the wall as soon as she started scritching between his toes. “HAHAHAHAHAHA! EHEHEHEHEMBER!”

With her claws resting between his toes, Ember dragged her claws down his ticklish soles, all the way down to the heels.

“AIIIEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Thorax’s body stiffened up as he squealed, arching his back as he laughed both in helplessness and bliss.

Ember couldn’t help but chuckle as the changeling was driven into hysterics. She smirked, slowing down just a bit as she traced curvy lines up and down his sensitive soles.“Heh. Well, looks like I’ve found the real weak spot…”

Before Thorax knew it, her claws were attacking his toes all over again. “EEYAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” he shrieked in the midst of his hysterics.

“Heh. It’s kinda weird for me to say this, it’s kinda cute how your toes wiggle around like that,” Ember admitted, gently pinching one of his toes and trailing a claw against the sensitive stem.

“AAAAHAAA! OHOHO GOHOHOSH!” Thorax squealed, sitting up as much as he could. With Ember now focusing on his toes, his wings started to buzz with excitement.

Ember continued scritching lightly at the stems of his toes, going in between whenever the opportunity presented itself.

A loud squeal came out of Thorax’s lips. His arms started pulling against the ropes that kept his wrists tied to the bedpost. “EEEEEEEK! MY TOHOHOHOHOES! NAHAHAHAHA!”

“I know! Who knew they were so delicate? Heck, who even knew that changelings had sensitive toes? Was this a result of their transformations?” Ember wondered aloud as she tickled the pads of his toes.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! I-I don’t think sohohohohoho!”

“So that means changelings were always ticklish… interesting.” The dragoness smirked while pressing her clawtips into his soles one last time. “Now, what was it you were saying about other places being ticklish?” Ember started crawling past Thorax’s feet, her fingers trailing up his legs and to his midsection.

Thorax went back to giggling as soon as her clawtips slipped under his dark green shirt and trailed against his sides, shivering in anticipation as Ember started exploring the rest of his body. “Heheheheheh!”

Ember started to squeeze his sides, digging her claws into his surprisingly soft midsection. “Does that tickle?”

“Eeeehehehehehe! Yehehehehehes!”

“I see…” Ember continued to test the rest of Thorax’s tickle spots, moving up a bit to poke and prod at his ribs. “What about here?”

“Hahahahahahaha!” Thorax began instinctively kicking his bound-together legs as he shrieked with uncontrollable laughter. “Nahahahahahahaha!”

Ember’s fingers walked up his chest, sliding underneath his jacket and into his exposed armpits. “And what about here?”

“GYHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The higher Ember’s fingers got, the more Thorax pulled against the ropes to try and defend himself. Well, not that he wanted any of the tickling to stop, really. He was loving every second of it.

Ember’s claws easily slid up and down the hollows of his pits. With tickling his upperbody, his armpits especially, all of Thorax’s giddy laughter felt even louder than before. “Ohhh, your armpits are really ticklish, aren’t they?”

Thorax nodded happily, his body thrashing underneath Ember’s. “EEEHAHAHAHA! YEHEHEHEHES! T-TIHIHIHICKLE MEEHEEHEEHEE!”

After sliding her fingers out of his armpits, Ember realizes that there’s one spot that she’s forgotten. She reached back under his shirt, her claws resting against his stomach.

Just feeling Ember touch his belly made Thorax squirm in excitement, even letting out a few enthusiastic, almost needy giggles.

Using only one claw, she traced a path down his body, going from his chest to his waist, feeling Thorax’s sensitive body squirm underneath her fingertip.

Thorax softly chuckled, wiggling his hips from side to side.

Ember’s nimble fingers danced along Thorax’s midsection, skittering and teasing his skin. “Tickle, tickle, tickle, Thorax…”

“Eeeheheheheh! Mohohohore!” Thorax kicked his bound feet up from underneath, squealing and blushing harder with each little teasing word he heard.

Ember grinned, her claws going outward and inward, continuously cycling from tickling his sides to teasing his belly.

“AhahahaHAHAHAAAhahahahahahAHAAHAHAAA!” Thorax’s laughter hit clear peaks whenever Ember went for his stomach. His wings even did a quick little buzz of excitement as an indication.

It didn’t take long for Ember to pick up on the hints. The switching between his sides and stomach became less frequent as she focused more and more on Thorax’s ticklish tummy.

Feeling Ember tickle his belly more and more made Thorax’s grin get wider and his laugh get louder, all the little fantasies he’s had were finally coming true.

As Ember wiggled her fingers all over Thorax’s stomach underneath his shirt, she felt one finger accidentally dip down further than she expected.

“EEEEEEEHEEEHAHAHAHA!” As Thorax let out a loud and girly squeal, his entire body arched, temporarily lifting himself and Ember off of the bed.

Ember paused as she regained her balance. “Woah, what was that about?”

Thorax looked up at the dragoness in a sheepish manner. “Heheh… Oops. Sorry about that…”

Ember responded by rolling up Thorax’s shirt. Now that his midriff was exposed, she saw what made him jump so much. She put her claws on his stomach again, just above his navel.

Thorax’s belly flinched instinctively, giggling before Ember even moved her claws against him.

Ember started dragging her claws down, this time, her fingers intentionally dipped down into his navel.

“AHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHAHAHAHA!” Thorax went into a frenzy, squealing, leaping and thrashing around on the bed, his wrists straining and pulling against the ropes.

“Wow. This is driving you crazy, isn’t it?” the dragoness asked teasingly, her clawtips circling around his navel before dipping down into it once again.

Tears started to form in Thorax’s eyes, each little poke into his belly button raised the pitch of his girly giggling. “HEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAH! EMBERRRR! EHEHEHAHAHAHA!”

Ember couldn’t hold back her smug grin. Her index claws circled around his belly button, taking turns poking and prodding him to make him squeal.

“EEEHEHEHEHEHEEEHAHAHAHA! OH GOHOHOHOSH!”

Thorax’s giddy laughter started to become infectious, as even Ember let out a few chuckles as her fingers skittered up and down his stomach, always remembering to dip a claw in his navel every once in a while.

This wasn’t the first time that the leader of reformed changelings had been mercilessly tickled in this sort of manner. He especially remembered that one time where he took part in the Feelings Forum; one thing happened after another and eventually he was affectionately tickle-mobbed by his own changeling subjects.

Ember looked behind her, at his kicking legs, before getting the idea of brushing the very tip of her tail against his defenseless soles.

Thorax’s laughter rose an octave, his belly jerking and his toes wiggling. “NAHAHAHAHAHAHA EMBER!”

Ember got off of Thorax’s legs, sitting beside him. With a wicked grin on her face, she put one hand on his belly, the other right on his toes. She looked over to see the mix of panic and excitement on Thorax’s face before digging her claws in.

With both tickle spots being hit at once, Thorax practically exploded with laughter. Tears started staining different parts of the pillows and sheets. “AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” he screamed as his body instinctively jerked around.

“Heh. You’re really enjoying yourself, aren’t you?”

“EEEHAHAHAHAHA YEHEHEHES! IT TICKLES SO MUHUHUHUHUCH!”

Ember couldn’t help but smile at him. She would never admit this out loud, but he actually looked pretty cute when he’s in such a helpless position.

Eventually, Thorax’s thrashing got weaker, barely able to keep the ropes taut. His laughter died down as his gasps for breath got more frequent.

Ember slowly let up, gradually dialing down the tickling until she stopped completely. She looked over to the exhausted changeling. “You ok?”

Thorax looked up and nodded with what little energy he had left, a weak grin plastered on his face as he continued to giggle deliriously.

As Thorax recovered from his giggly high, Ember started untying and freeing him from his bonds. “Let me guess… you enjoyed all of that?”

“Eeheeheeheehee...mmhm!” Even as he felt the ropes loosen from his limbs, he barely moved from his spot. After a moment to catch his breath, he gained a bashful expression. “Um…”

Ember sighed and rolled her eyes. “What is it now?”

“Hehe, well I’m kinda all tickled out, I don’t think I have the energy left in me to see you leave...”

“Well, who said I needed to leave right now?”

The changeling’s ears perked as soon as the dragon said that. “You mean…”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t need to say it…” Ember muttered, turning away to try to hide the blush on her cheeks as she sat down next to him.

Thorax chuckled a bit at the dragoness’ flustered state. “Aw, Ember…” He smiled and reached a hand over.

“Don’t mention it. Really, don’t.”

Thorax managed to shift himself to make room on the bed, letting the dragon lay down next to him on the other side. Ember took her place next to Thorax, begrudgingly letting the bug happily wrap his arms around her.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for Thorax to fall asleep, holding his dragon in a tight embrace.

Ember looked over to see the content grin on his face, and she displayed a small smile of her own. As she closed her eyes, she grabbed onto his arm, scooting closer into the hug, gently rubbing the back of her changeling’s head with the palm of her hand.

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