Chapter 299.2: Bonus Chapter: The Golden Cuddlemonster’s True Feelings and Fears

The night before the Fievegal learns about the mine collapse, Daniel has excused himself from everyone else after having dinner and finishing a few projects. They won’t know what to do about Baelok until they can confirm Sundenelle’s cooperation, and it’s almost certainly too late to simply use a revival potation on him at this point, assuming they could find and extract his body in any sort of timely rapid assault, anyways.

Not wanting to take a chance of the disaster getting any worse, Daniel opted for the slower approach, since he’s not personally acquainted with Baelok anyways, and it’s not like the Fievegal can revive every person who ever dies. Using Byleathea’s power will carry a great many risks for everyone involved, meaning it’s up to Sundenelle to decide exactly how valuable Baelok actually is.

And, that leaves Daniel with one last immediately relevant promise he made. Jeavana manipulated his words during the mana fire, and then goaded him into basically layering a second promise onto that as long as she confessed her love in front of everyone else. His intent was for that to be ‘just’ the other Empresses, but instead, she did it in an Imperial audience of the Fievegal, embarrassing herself quite a bit, had she not been so shameless about it, and then acting like it never happened, other than to remind Daniel to finally give her what she wants.

And, this evening is that evening. In exchange for no longer antagonizing Wenlianna, and hopefully the others who don’t like being teased, Daniel promised to visit her this night.

He doesn’t know why Jeavana fell in love with him. He could fairly attribute it to helping restore her fertility in the first place, or how calmly he helped her through the hatching when she thought something was terribly wrong, only to learn that it was because her egg was carrying twins. They even shared a moment during the endeavor to remove her contract, which brought forth the Fellmother’s enthralled corpse-puppet of Morthybargaron.

Okay… I get why… But, it was easier with the other ladies. They were always more serious about what they actually wanted, where I’m still never certain Jeavana is serious about anything.

But, Daniel doesn’t hate the idea of being intimate with her. As she and Ryuogriar have both joked, they both share traits considered beautiful by a fair number of men of appropriate alignment. Though Daniel would be sincere in saying Geirahoel possesses the perfect balance and combination of traits he likes, he would never try to argue that Jeavana is not beautiful by any stretch, nor would he ask her to try to emulate Geirahoel or anyone else.

Daniel knocks on the door to Jeavana’s private quarters, and her voice barely reaches him from the other side of the door. “Come in…”

The mechanic opens the door, a little surprised that she wasn’t waiting to jump him the moment his knuckle made contact.

Jeavana’s room is cozy, kept warmer than most of the other rooms of the Citadel for her own comfort. It’s a little on the toasty side for Daniel, but far less so than a Florida summer, where he had been living at the time he was transferred to Zenkon.

“Hey, Mukori,” greets the golden dragon as she sits on her bed, her legs crossed. But, that’s not what catches his eye.

Rather than her usual, rather loose and revealing robe-like outfit that could pass for vestments, if she properly closed it, Jeavana is wearing an almost modern-Earth outfit, no doubt as a prototype for her assistance to Hekate. Hekate hasn’t revealed any of her new outfits to Daniel yet, but he knows they are being made, tried on, tested with the other men and women of the Fievegal to see what is appropriate and whether or not it really matches the sources from Daniel’s phone.

Jeavana is currently wearing what Daniel can only describe as a sleeveless turtleneck with a wide-ribbed knit pattern that has the distinct lines forming the cushiony ribs and is made of a noticeably soft material. It’s dyed a deep red, which closely matches the Stalvaltan jacket Daniel still favors wearing. Additionally, she is wearing a rather modest, smooth grey skirt with a moderately high waist that reaches where her belly button would be. For her shoes, she is wearing surprisingly-stylish black ankle boots adorned with silver metal fasteners and deep red ribbons with what appears to be mistletoe or a similar plant from Zenkon.

Daniel realizes he came to a stop just inside her room as he fell into staring at her. For once, she has her hair somewhat tamed, but only by a hat that shares similarity with the women’s ‘bucket-styled’ combination cap in the US Navy, though Jeavana’s has a distinctly grey brim to match her skirt and a metallic golden band around the headpiece to match her horns, with the headpiece matching her turtleneck.

It is the absolute least-revealing outfit Jeavana has ever worn, and for a moment, Daniel is captivated by how beautiful she is. Her normally-messy blonde hair is tied up in a high ‘rooster tail’ behind her ‘handsome’ looking cap.

Seeing the mechanic captivated, Jeavana smiles cutely at him, tilting her head slightly to the side. “So… you can look at me like that.”

Daniel blushes a little. He’s not embarrassed by women anymore, so much as being caught off-guard like this, which has become a little more challenging for his mistresses thanks to their myriad of shameless shenanigans, especially in the bedroom. He manages a chuckle as he says sincerely, “I… You look… beautiful, Jeavana.”

She grins and holds her head high as she shifts back and forth, namely moving her torso as if to draw attention to her center-of-mass. Or, more accurately ‘center-of-masses’.

Though this is the most covered her massive breasts have probably been in a long time, other than her formal-wear in the Imperial Audiences she takes seriously, the knitted turtleneck hugs every one of her curves to near perfection, and the sides of her breasts are the only thing visible from the right angle at the holes for her arms. Daniel knows almost nothing about women’s sizes and proportions, but he would guess blindly that Jeavana’s cup-size would be H, if she bothered wearing a bra. Because she’s rather fit for her height, and the sweater adds a little extra thickness, it makes her chest especially eye-catching from sheer pillowy roundness.

The golden dragon lifts her arms to reveal her armpits. The dragons don’t grow any hair anywhere but their heads. He’s not sure if that’s on purpose, or if it takes focus to actually have hair in the first place when they transform to specifically make their ‘disguise’ more convincing. But, this means her armpits look extremely clean, and flexing as she is now serves to demonstrate her fitness even further.

“It was worth the effort, then,” replies the dragon, giving Daniel a side-eye as she acts like she’s simply stretching. Lifting her arms shows the sides of her ribcage towards her shoulderblades, while her tail flips on the bed a little in anticipation.

Daniel approaches her, saying, “I’m genuinely impressed. Did you get this look from my phone?”

She grins. “Where else?” She playfully places a finger to her cheek as she relaxes her upward stretch. “You had a lot of pictures of various women wearing these knitted sweaters. And, do you know how hard it was to figure out that it was knitted, since most of those pictures were fictional drawings?” She gives him a playfully accusatory scowl, and Daniel chuckles awkwardly.

“I know, I know. I’m so popular now, it’s impossible to believe that I wasn’t a lady-killer on Earth.” He shrugs dryly. He certainly can’t believe it himself sometimes, but many of his companions have gravitated towards him because he represents unprecedented strength in spite of himself in many ways. He has no idea how things might have differed if he arrived with the confidence and frame of an especially masculine man who had already been ‘successful’ in any capacity with the opposite sex.

But, it is what it is, and even if he sometimes wonders if it’s some kind of curse, this is a curse he doesn’t yet have any reason to regret.

Jeavana replies sincerely with a soft voice, “Who or what you were on Earth doesn’t change who you have been here.” Her expression turns a little bitter, even though she tries to keep smiling. “I… like to think who and what I was… doesn’t change who ‘Duchess Jeavana’ is…”

Daniel pauses as he’s getting close to her, and he adds sincerely, “For… all of the jokes I make with you, I truly wouldn’t change anything about you, Jeavana. If there’s something hanging over you, I hope to help you overcome it and find true happiness. But, if you don’t want to do this…”

She looks slightly to the side, saying softly, “Mukori,... please stop.”

Daniel ends the thought right there, and she sits quietly for a moment. She glances at him with only her eyes, keeping her head turned as much away as she can while still being able to look at him.

He waits for a moment for a signal of what she wants him to do. Jeavana is free of the contract now, and she could break all of his bones in less than five seconds if she wanted to. He trusts her, because she has diligently worked hard for the Fievegal, and he has truly come to see the best sides of her. That said, something is undeniably bothering her, and it’s likely it has always been bothering her.

She gently waves him closer, as she smiles and leans back on her hands, her glowing golden tail gently tapping the bed behind her.

Just as Daniel stalks a little closer in preparation for the mood, he is stalled when Jeavana’s right foot comes up and touches her boot gently to his chest, which confuses him.

When he first approached Jeavana’s private quarters, he expected to be immediately locked in some sort of Amazonian duel for dominance or a playful wrestling match that would end up an exhausting mess between them on the floor before ever reaching the bed. Instead, she’s acting guarded and dodgy, but still interested. His instincts from Earth and the culture around consent that he was raised on has him cautious as well. He knows with almost everyone in his inner circle that he doesn’t need to explicitly ask every five seconds, but with most of the others, once it starts, they tend to be fine with Daniel simply doing whatever he wants.

But, Jeavana smiles cutely as she lifts her chin a little pridefully. “Do you think I want to do it with my boots on, Mukori?”

Jeavana is usually aloof and playful, but for some reason, she’s making an actual power play.

Daniel doesn’t really mind. As long as she doesn’t become overly arrogant or mean about it, he doesn’t feel emasculated just because he might be with a more assertive woman, since he already respects Jeavana. She earned a little pride and dominance if that’s what she wants.

Without objection, Daniel takes hold of her boot gently, carefully unfastening her laces and the ribbon. But, not forgetting the apparent mistletoe, Daniel leans forward and kisses her bare shin, which causes her to shift her hands subtly. She seems to be testing him more than trying to dominate him.

Though, again, Daniel was expecting to be locked in battle from second number one before she would dominate him by pinning him down. He’s honestly surprised she hadn’t for all of the aggressive flirting she’s been doing for the last few weeks.

Daniel teases, “I expected to have to fight you off just so I could get undressed.”

She smiles without saying anything, waiting patiently as Daniel carefully removes her boot, revealing her cute white sock with hearts knitted into the cuff. She clearly put a lot of effort into her outfit.

Daniel knows Geirahoel is a talented seamstress for fancy clothes when she wants to be, but he would be willing to guess that Jeavana has been making an effort on her own to make her own clothing for purposes just like this one. If it was merely a power-play that he wasn’t expecting, she probably wouldn’t have bothered picking things that she correctly assumed Daniel would like.

Daniel gently kisses the top of her ankle as he slides her sock off next, and he notices that her lips purse slightly as she tries to maintain her composure. He’s not entirely sure what she’s thinking, but he decides to have a little fun.

The mechanic starts to tuck the sock into his pocket, and she immediately calls him out. “Heyyy…”

Daniel laughs as he eases her freshly bare right foot down to the floor, but he distinctly slides his fingers up the underside of her sole, and the golden dragon gasps as she recoils slightly. Daniel grins up at her as he keeps chuckling from her complaints about her sock being stolen, and the dragon is blushing down at him. She looks off to the side when she’s caught, and Daniel takes it as a sign that she is comfortable continuing.

With that, Daniel stays in a crouching position as he gently lifts her left foot to remove her boot, and he notices the dragon’s scaly tail flipping up and down a little more quickly, even if it’s a small tapping motion.

The human removes his newest mistress’s left boot and sock in a gentle way, and he similarly shoves the sock into his pocket with the other.

Jeavana sighs as she looks to the side in embarrassment, trying to hide her blush with her fist. “Geez… Are you really intending to steal my socks, Daniel? I don’t even normally wear socks…”

“I know. These are rare treasures!” retorts the mechanic playfully as he kisses her calf and then her knee as he moves his head closer to her.

She grumbles softly, “And you call me an idiot…”

Daniel replies gently, “I hope you know, I never mean that…”

“I know…” replies the dragon as she glances at him.

He adds a little more playfully, “Besides, I know who will pay me out the ass for these socks. I bet the votaries will start bidding at…”

“Geez! Shut up!” whines the dragon as she loops her right calf over Daniel’s shoulder and uses her legs to shake him. “If you sell a single thread to those weirdoes, I’ll burn this whole castle down!” Before long, she has both of her knees resting on his shoulders as she stares down at him, and Daniel kisses her inner knee and thigh.

The dragon nibbles her lip, and she asks softly, “Wh-... Why…?”

She trails off before she can really make the point of the question, and Daniel looks up at her patiently.

Unsure of what she might be worried about, he decides he can keep going, so the mechanic holds her thighs as he slowly stands up, tilting Jeavana like a lever. He moves slowly so that she has time to adjust her balance and move her tail out of the way, and she falls back onto her elbows before lying down flat. He notices her cheek twitch, and he feels it in her leg muscles.

She just flinched.

Daniel doesn’t pin her down or advance on her just yet. They’re both mostly fully clothed, and though he can tell she’s aroused, she’s not nearly as flirty or aggressive as he expected.

She’s not wearing a mask right now.

Daniel holds her legs to his chest with his right arm, positioning the soles of her feet directly in front of his face.

“Y-You wouldn’t…” murmurs the dragon with her arms above her head on the bed. Her breasts are a little more visible at the sides of her sleeveless turtleneck, like they might melt out of her clothes. Daniel grins down at her, and he kisses the sole of her right foot, which causes her to squirm her toes as well as her back. She makes an adorable little hum and gasp, and Daniel blows lightly on the sole of her foot. This causes an absolute shiver to quake through her entire body as she whimpers in resistance against the ticklish sensation.

Daniel teases, “What kind of dragon is ticklish, hmm?”

Jeavana is left panting a little as she whines, “What kind of crazy idiot would try to tickle a dragon!?”

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Daniel puts his left fist on his hip as he keeps her legs hugged to his chest with his right, and he stands as tall and as proud as he can, saying like a conquering champion, “Why, the Harbinger of Calamity would.”

Jeavana snorts, and she can’t help but burst into laughter. She finally sounds like herself again, and without warning, she pulls her legs free of Daniel’s arm, which he doesn’t resist. And, just as suddenly, her tail suddenly shoves him rather forcefully from behind, causing him to flop forward as she wraps her legs around his waist. He barely catches himself in time from bodyslamming inadvertently into Jeavana, straddling her head with his hands and their faces close together.

The dragon cups his cheeks with her hands as she stares into his eyes. She asks again, “Why?”

“‘Why’, what?” asks Daniel gently.

“Why… are you tolerating all of this? Wh-... Why are you…?” Her eyes start to water, and she tries to look away. “Why are you… trying to cater to me?”

“As opposed to… what?” starts Daniel. “I throw you down, fire one off, and leave you in the mess alone?”

Her eyes start to water more, and she clutches Daniel’s face a little more firmly, slightly pressing in with her fingers. She knows her own strength, and thankfully, she’s far from drunk or out of control, but she definitely has a firm hold on him. He can even feel her legs tighten a little around his waist, as if to never let him go.

“That’s what… they did…” whimpers unusually-shaken golden dragon.

Daniel is quiet for a moment as Jeavana tries to resist crying. She apologizes softly, saying, “I’m sorry…”

Daniel leans closer, and she looks at him in surprise. This gives him the opportunity to press his lips to hers, and he affectionately kisses her.

Jeavana’s eyes widen in surprise, and Daniel gently slides his left hand against her neck up under her cheek, sliding his thumb along her jawline. She noticeably relaxes a little, and though her tears keep flowing for the moment, she slides her arms around behind Daniel’s head and back, embracing him affectionately.

When he releases their kiss, Daniel says softly and sincerely, “Jeavna… No,... Mukori…” Her eyes widen again, and they lock firmly with Daniel’s, glistening as she stares deeply into his soul for every single word he’s about to say.

Daniel smiles, feeling a little too much pressure coming from her, but meaning everything he says. “I… know it’s unfair of me, but,... I have fallen in love with you, too. Though my cup is already overfilled, I can’t imagine my life without you. I truly want you to be happy, either at my side or as my friend. Though, if you’ll accept me being a greedy, greedy man,... I would prefer to have you at my side…”

“A-And… you won’t… leave me?”

“Not if I can help it,” replies Daniel.

“And…” her eyes water anew, and she has to choke out, “Y-You won’t… leave me to suffer alone…?”

Daniel cups her cheek with his left hand, relaxing down onto her a little more so that their chests are touching. “Never. If it ever feels like I’m ignoring your problems, you have my permission to smack me to get my undivided attention.”

“P-Promise?”

Daniel nods, replying, “I promise… Though my love is spread out more than you deserve… If you’ll have me, I will always love you and do my best to make you as happy as a humble human can.”

This causes what little facade of the mask she was wearing to break away, and Jeavana hugs him tightly as she starts bawling loudly. It’s about the furthest thing from what Daniel expected when he agreed to meet with Jeavana in order to fulfill his promise. But, he can feel every bit of her emotions pouring out of her as she clings to him, sobbing. Daniel does his best to comfort her, though he’s pretty much helpless so long as she’s clinging to him. He does his best to relax while draped over the bed, staying cuddled against the golden dragon while she lets it all out.

Finally, after what feels like a rather long time, but which Daniel doesn’t mind, Jeavana finally relaxes with some sniffles. She makes eye contact with Daniel, sniffling once more as she holds his cheeks. “Mukori… W-... Will you… kiss me again?”

Daniel smiles and gently presses his lips to hers. The beautiful blonde hums happily, hugging him once more. Her custom combination cap has flopped onto the bed behind her head, but the way her hair is tied up makes it look a bit like she has a shining halo behind her.

They both enjoy the kiss for a long time, and Daniel can feel her tail sliding affectionately up and down his outer thigh.

After their second kiss, Jeavana holds their foreheads together as she savors the closeness, while Daniel goes at her pace. She somewhat ruined the mood, but is becoming rapidly more affectionate than even when she flirts. “Mukori… I… I’m a very greedy dragon, too. And… I accept that I’ll share. It’s natural for us… But, I mean it. I want you to spoil me. I want you to cuddle with me when we make love, and to kiss me for no reason. I won’t antagonize the others too much, but… I want you to show me that you love me. Even a little.”

“That’s going to be difficult,” whispers Daniel. “I feel like I already love you quite a lot, Mukori.”

This sets Jeavana over the edge with a girly giggle of absolute glee, and she uses her draconic strength to easily flip them both over, such that she is now pinning Daniel down on his back. She then eagerly crawls past him towards the center of the bed, and before the unorthodox Emperor can react, he is dragged backwards by the collar of his jacket, coughing from surprise. She pulls him effortlessly onto the bed such that his heels are the only thing hanging over the side. And, still keeping Daniel swept up in her rhythm, the newly-energetic dragon crawls back towards his legs, throwing her left leg over his hips. She plops down on Daniel’s waist, causing him to cough once more. “Oof! Hey! Be gentle, you sexy oaf!”

She has positioned herself with her feet close to his head as she grins over her shoulder, and Daniel does his best to shove her leathery tail out of his face and pinch her left foot with his hands. There’s almost nothing Daniel can do under his own strength to hurt any of the dragons, but she should get the message.

But, the brazen blonde bombshell simply laughs warmly as she wiggles the tip of her tail against the side of Daniel’s right shoulder and head. “Since you like my feet so much, Mukori, you can play with them for a little bit.”

She flexes her feet and toes close to Daniel’s cheeks.

Daniel gives her a playful scowl, and he follows up with a big, dramatic, “Aaahh,” before ‘biting’ down on her right foot big toe. This causes Jeavana to shudder slightly just as she was leaning toward Daniel’s legs. She catches herself on her hands, trembling for a moment. The human does press his teeth into her skin, but he isn’t making a serious effort to bite her. Her toes curl on both feet, and her tail snakes a little further around his head as if to hug him affectionately.

When Daniel releases her toe with his teeth, he starts to say, “Listen, just because I’ll play around…”

Daniel is surprised and opens his left eye wide with surprise as his eyepatch hides his right with bandages keeping it closed, cut off by a genuine feat of dexterity.

Jeavana balances her weight forward over Daniel’s legs, and she deftly uses her left big toe like she would an index finger to press to Daniel’s lips and silence him. Even when she was just flexing her feet, he noticed that she has rather impressive dexterous control over her toes and tendons. She’s not quite to a particular feral man’s level of ape-like posable feet, but she can playfully toy with Daniel’s lips and cheeks with both feet as she looks under her arm through the small gap partially obscured by her hanging breast and turtleneck. Her cheeks are rosy, and she teases, “Mukori… If you keep spoiling me like this, we’ll never get anywhere.”

Daniel smirks at her, letting her keep him shushed by her toes for a moment, but he uses his left hand, since he can see it better, to drag his fingers from toes to heel along the length of her sole.

The dragon arches her back and clenches her hands on the bedding, letting out a whimpering moan as she tries to resist laughter. Her tail and feet press in and around Daniel’s face as if to knead his skin clumsily, distorting his cheeks and causing him to laugh in turn.

The fact that the mechanic seems set on continuing to tease her regardless of her half-hearted plea sets a fire under Jeavana, and she braces herself to try to get Daniel’s boots off.

The human tickle-champion who held his own against a feldrok and three dragons takes hold of Jeavana’s feet with his right arm, using his left hand and puffing air through his lips to tickle both of her feet, and Jeavana starts laughing and crying out, “Mukori! Mukori, please! I can’t focus! These stupid strings! Hahahah!” The golden dragon flops onto her right side, grappling Daniel’s right leg as she frantically fights with his laces to get his boot loose enough to pull off.

She nibbles his shin when he refuses to let up, and she tries tapping him in the head with her tail, mindful not to hit his right cheek or temple. If anything, her tail roughly brushes his hair, which is only just long enough to get a little messy from it. He laughs and keeps up his fearsome attack, testing various motions of his fingers and doing his best to grapple her legs as he keeps tickling. He can tell his pants are getting a little tight in a specific area, but he’s going to exhaust himself just trying to wrangle the bombshell blonde as she wrestles his right boot off.

Jeavana lets out a dramatic mouth-open sound like Daniel did a moment ago, and she starts ‘chewing’ on Daniel’s boot. There’s a series of tell-tale snapping sounds as Daniel’s boot suddenly becomes loose almost all at once, and he closes his eye briefly in exasperation, still laughing, but knowing what she just did. After snapping the laces in a quick succession with her sharp teeth, Jeavana swiftly manages to pull his boot off. Even if they ‘appear’ more human than Hekate’s shark-like teeth, Jeavana’s are still much harder and sharper than human teeth.

The fearsome greater dragon cheers, still laughing, and she more swiftly pulls his sock off as she tosses his boot to the floor. “There! Hah! Take… hahaha! T-Take that, Harbinger!” She uses her left hand as she tries to brace against the tickling long enough to pull the collar of her sleeveless turtleneck out a little, and she shoves Daniel’s sock deep inside her shirt, the bulge of her hand moving downwards suggesting that she just placed it in her cleavage.

Daniel can’t help but laugh, losing his ability to breathe normally for a moment. She looked so serious doing it, as if she just claimed a legendary treasure and stashed it away for safe keeping. It’s enough to disrupt his tickle attack while he continues to guffaw and gasp, and the golden dragon takes the opportunity to pounce on Daniel’s left leg, pulling it back enough to loosen Daniel’s laces and tug his boot off just like the first. This time, she is ‘clever’ enough to simply snip the center of the lace closest to the toe, and then she pulls both ends all the way out with a fast zipping sound. Once loose, she quickly removes and tosses aside Daniel’s boot carelessly before stealing his sock. And, just as before, she starts to shove it down her collar, but then remembers that her turtleneck is sleeveless, so she simply tucks it into her cleavage from the side. The dragon then slumps sideways onto Daniel’s legs as they both catch their breath for a moment, and Jeavana pats her chest contentedly and triumphantly.

“You’re acting like those are hard-won trophies.”

“Of course they are,” retorts the dragon. She gingerly pokes the right side of his chin just under his mouth with her left big toe, playfully wiggling his chin with her first little piggie. “They are proof that in my first honorable duel with the Harbinger of Calamity, I came out victorious.”

Daniel lifts his head to look at her with his left eye narrowed a little skeptically, though he can’t help the smile that is on his lips. She grins at him as she affectionately lays her head against his shin, mindful of her horn. Her eyes are full of love and affection, even as she pants and giggles occasionally.

Daniel turns his head slightly and kisses her toe gently, and this causes the dragon’s smile to soften even more.

“You… really don’t see me as inferior, do you?” asks the dragon.

“You remember why I put the contract on you in the first place, right?”

“I know that we could kill each other, but with your power… it’s no different than if I simply became a human…” Her smile lingers, but her eyes sadden a little. “The dragons…” She turns more serious, and her next words surprise Daniel. “I hated them…”

“The two reds and the other two, or…”

“All of them,” whispers Jeavana. “I hated everyone… for a time. I hated the pain. The heartache… I hated the arrogance and the pride…” She scoffs and laughs bitterly as tears find her eyes again for a moment. “We were slowly going extinct, and they were too proud to ask for help. Too proud… to do whatever it takes to get what we truly wanted. The red monsters, Ryuo, Reina, Magnir… All of them…”

Daniel is quiet for a moment, and the expression sparks the recall of one of the visions Daniel saw during the chaos of the mana fire, when he thought he was definitively dying, and for a moment, he wanted to cross over.

He hasn’t mentioned it to anyone, because he’s not sure if it was some cathartic stretch of his own imagination trying to reassure him; to give him hope at the edge of the abyss once more.

And, the expression Jeavana just had for the briefest of moments gave Daniel almost exactly the same feeling he got when he saw Jeavana flying through the skies, starving herself and dehydrating herself out of despair until she finally fell into the sea.

He asks softly, “If… you hated… all of them, why did you come to the Citadel?”

Jeavana’s lips widen into a pained grin, her eyes full of tears while her teeth are on full display such that even her eyes are ‘smiling’. “Because… I wanted to die.”

This leaves Daniel silent once more, but not because he finds it difficult to believe.

The opposite.

After what he saw, he’s less certain it was his imagination, and more certain that she’s telling the exact truth.

She knew the dragonslayer –that I– was there, and though it should have been safe to assume safety in numbers…

Daniel gingerly strokes her calf as he ponders her words. She doesn’t need him to simply say ‘it’s alright now’. She kept going in spite of her feelings and doubts, and she was rewarded for having hope.

Daniel finally says quietly, “I… have stood at the edge myself. So, I know… the hardest part is to find anything to hold onto.” Daniel turns his gaze to meet hers, and he adds, “I saw a vision… The day I was returned to the Citadel and my heart seemed to have stopped.”

“When Erimaya woke you up?” asks Jeavana.

Daniel nods once, and he continues, “In this vision… I saw Ryuogriar carry an egg into the sea, and the shadow of the Strylak reaching for her, her expression colder than I have ever seen. Reina… breathed her last with an egg in the freezing cold, frost all around her. Geira was… framed and struck down by the red lord…”

Daniel trails off, hesitating about whether or not he should say it.

“Y-... You saw… me?” whispers Jeavana.

He nods. “You were flying… Ragged and exhausted, starved but refusing to eat, dehydrated but refusing to drink. You just kept flying until… you fell into the sea with no land in sight.” Daniel closes his eye, and presses his right cheek to Jeavana’s ankle. It hurts a little, but nowhere near as much as the pain in his heart from realizing that his ‘death dream’ might have been someone talking to him.

Someone trying to help him in the way that he needed most.

There is a moment of silence between them, and then Jeavana suddenly climbs off of Daniel. However, when he looks at her, she turns around and crawls to position herself directly over Daniel, straddling him with her arms and legs as she looks directly down into his eyes from above him. Some of her wavy blonde hair has escaped her ‘rooster-tail’ and now hangs down to Daniel’s cheeks as she stares down at him with a serious expression. She leans down and kisses Daniel for a brief moment, and she says softly, “Had it not been you, Daniel… I can’t say your vision wouldn’t have come to pass…” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

“I’m sorry for everything you went through, Jeavana. But, I swear to you, you are irreplaceable to me; one of my many treasures. I vow to never be cruel to you, and you will always have a home at my side and in my family. Whatever role that happens to be.”

Tears form in her eyes and drip onto his cheeks as she tilts her head towards her chest, trying to hide them from Daniel. But, she is smiling again, and she adds tenderly, “I really will cling to you forever, Mukori. And, you’ve awakened so many happy feelings in me.” She looks at him with a genuine sunshine in her eyes as she smiles, still crying, but she happily kisses Daniel once more, sliding her arms behind his neck to hold him tight. She lays down on top of him to cuddle a bit longer as they take their time and enjoy each other’s company.

The human idly feels the fabric of her turtleneck between his right hand fingers, admiring the softness and smooth knitting job that she did. “This is really soft, Mukori…”

“Thank you… I’m quite happy with how it came out.”

“I’m truly impressed. Maybe I should request something like this for my birthd-...” Daniel halts.

The human from Earth has made many mistakes in who he has shared certain secrets while neglecting –mostly by forgetting or under-prioritizing– to tell others. Though Jeavana has been around with the team for a while, she is the newest ‘official’ member of Daniel’s harem, and he just let something slip that no one has given thought to in the two years he has been present.

He can feel Jeavana’s arms draped around his shoulders and chest in their relaxed position turn into a subtle vice that Tartarus would swiftly attempt to upgrade to. Inescapable cosmic prisons aside, Jeavana can tell she is about to get something deliciously fun to play with.

Daniel clears his throat, “Nevermind. I think I’m partial to jersey-knit after all-...”

“Mukori,” growls Jeavana with predatory lust in her voice and a big grin spreading across her face. “You will tell me, or I will tell Geirahoel that I’m your new favorite.”

The human is quiet for a moment, feeling a tiny bit of existential dread. Geirahoel gets embarrassed by the idea, but she is also ecstatic to be considered Daniel’s favorite. And, though she loves and trusts Daniel, she trusts Jeavana enough to be a dangerous combination.

“Welll…?” teases the blonde bombshell dragon as she presses her face closer and more expectantly towards Daniel’s.

“I’m weighing my options,” jokes Daniel. “If I tell you, you’ll be able to use it as evidence that you are my new favorite, and if I don’t tell you, you have just enough credibility to stir up just as much trouble.”

She pouts a little, saying, “If you’re worried I’ll be mean to Wenlie and any of the others, I promise I won’t. I already promised.” She puffs her lip out pitifully, and Daniel sighs in defeat.

“I know you won’t… probably. But,... Alright, fine. Listen, days, months, and years are different here, but my last birthday before coming here was about five months before the summoning. If you can figure out when my birthday is from that, and want to celebrate it from that day going forward…”

“Deal!” cheers Jeavana as she sits up and kisses him again. “And, I’ll make Geira positively jealous as I give you your new favorite wardrobe. Heeheehee!” She presses her hand to her chest in pride, initially, but when she remembers Daniel’s socks safely stashed in her cleavage, she makes a surprised face, and then grins even wider. She adds with a devilishly devious tone, “And, when I figure it out, I’ll tell everyone, and show them how I’m your most devoted and most favorite Mukori.” She pecks his lips again, and then rises up onto her knees, taking hold of the sides of her skirt with a big grin.

It seems the real endgame that Jeavana has played her masterful game of seduction for is about to begin.

***