#zideon

Just an imitation

Kardynkyr turned their attention back to their leader. Azeros looked rather pleased with themselves, having finalised the mating pairs and stood. “So, if there is no comment, everyone is dism—”

The next dragon to their left raised their hand up. It was none other than Sydryn the Pink, Kardynkyr’s own parental relative. “May I add something while we are all gathered?”

Azeros hesitated but then ceded the floor, smirking to their mate. “Of course. Go ahead.”

Sydryn cleared their throat and glanced down to their notes before looking out to the others. “As we all understand, the purpose of this event is to grow our numbers as dragons to ensure the survival of our species. Most of us have participated in such an event once before—”

“Twice for I,” Azeros reminded.

“Yes… Many of us have the experience,” Sydryn said, clearly peeved by the interruption. “But for the youngest three, this would be your first. For you, and anyone else who would like to join, I would like to volunteer my time to deliver a brief lecture on draconic reproduction. With such knowledge, your experiences should prove easier and safer than going in blind, like we’ve done in the past. Would that be of benefit to you?”

Kardynkyr didn’t say anything at first and just leaned back to rest their feet on the table. They already knew what fucking looked like. Their own hoard of demons did it all the time, everywhere, and in all the wildest ways. Sure, dragons’ bodies were a little different, but they doubted there was hardly much more they would need to know.

“I would attend such a lecture,” Akiaziri said.

Kardynkyr turned to look at them and saw the other dragon sitting up straight with their hand raised. They believed they caught a quick glance from the violet dragon, but it was too furtive to be remarkable.

Sydryn nodded. “Lovely. Zideon. Kardynkyr. What say you?”

Zideon, who had been aggressively picking at their skin, ears, and nose nearly the entire time shrugged. “Yeah, sure. I love a good info dump!”

Eyes turned to Kard, and they sighed. “Fine… We’re stuck here anyway. Might as well listen to my Auntie yap for a bit.”

“Thank you,” Sydryn said, not showing any annoyance from that comment. “I suppose, we can gather at my residence, unless someone would like to propose a better location.”

Kardynkyr sneered. “Do we have to wear pink?”

Sydryn looked to the other. “I would prefer you adhere to my hoard standards, but I know you’d rather choose not to…”

Akiaziri had their hand up. “Um, if it would work, you can host it in my quarters. I have comfortable seating, and there’s no dress code.”

“There ya go, we’ll do it at Akiaziri’s,” Kardynkyr said, motioning to their mate. “That’s settled. Is it now or can I get dinner before the fuckfest begins?”

A few of the older dragons glared at Kardynkyr for their language, but Azeros just chuckled. “Of course. Everyone is dismissed. Sydryn, please prepare your lecture for this evening, that way our young ones are prepared to start their mating attempts post haste.”

Sydryn nodded. “Akiaziri, will your residence be ready at 21:00?”

Akiaziri nodded quickly. “Yes, we can meet then.”

“Grand. See you then.”

Sydryn was first to sweep away quickly. Everyone followed suit, but Kardynkyr was in no hurry and took their time. Akiaziri was also one of the last few to leave, and as they passed Kard, they smiled to them and bowed briefly.

“I don’t believe that we’ve properly met yet,” Akiaziri said as they came back up. “I am Akiaziri the Soft. I am looking forward to collaborating with you.”

Kardynkyr couldn’t help but chuckle. “Collaborating is a funny way to put it. Of course, I’m Kardynkyr but you can call me Kard. Hopefully we can get this over with and get to never seeing each other again for another few centuries, eh?”

Akiaziri nodded. “Yes. May we mate swiftly.”

“Mmhm. Yeah. So, you’ve definitely never had sex before, then,” Kardynkyr deduced.

Akiaziri seemed a little taken aback. “No. Of course not. Have you?”

Kardynkyr shrugged. “Well, no… But I’ve seen a lot of it. Like, all the time. So, I’m not, like, sensitive to it really.”

Akiaziri lips pursed. “Oh. Okay, well… Maybe that’s good then. Your experience is probably of benefit to us.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. You’re in good hands,” Kardynkyr said. “Anyway, I’m gonna go see what the fairies have cooking. I’ll see you tonight.”

Akiaziri nodded. “See you then.” They quickly walked off, seemingly overwhelmed.

It took a while, but eventually the door opened a crack.

Akiaziri peered out through the crack and paled when they saw who was there. “Oh! It’s you. Good afternoon.”

“Yeah, afternoon.” Kardynkyr sighed and rubbed the back of their neck. “I figured we should probably get to it, you know? Sooner we get it over with, sooner we can fuck off, yeah?”

Akiaziri nodded. “Yes. I agree.”

But the other didn’t move. They both just stood there awkwardly, shifting between looking at each other and the floor.

“So…” Kardynkyr said, cutting the air. “Are you going to invite me in?”

Akiaziri blinked and then straightened up, opening the door a little more. “Oh. Yes, I suppose that’s how we should proceed.”

“Unless you want to come to my room,” Kardynkyr said. “It’s a lot darker, but maybe that’s a better mood—”

“No, we can do it here,” Akiaziri said, opening the door wide enough for their guest. “I think I’d be more comfortable here. If that’s okay.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Whatever works for you,” Kardynkyr said.

Akiaziri nodded again and motioned for them to come in. When they were there the night before, Kardynkyr was quite aesthetically shocked about how incredibly…pastel everything was. Every surface was both plush and covered in plushies of all shapes and sizes, and where there wasn’t plush were cute vinyl figures and delicate porcelain dolls. The floors were shag carpet, and the walls were hung with tufted rugs and pixel printed tapestries. It would be doing the place an injustice to call it Claire’s on crack, but it was the only thing Kardynkyr could think of.

Akiaziri shuffled through the living room towards their hall. “The bedroom is this way.”

“Cool. Lead the way.”

Akiaziri took them down the hall and came to a pastel pink door. They pushed it open and revealed the bedroom. The most surprising thing was how small the room was. The bed—two queen sized mattresses stacked tall and layered with an absolutely ridiculous number of fluffy blankets—took up half the room, and the rest was clustered with plushies. It looked more like a nest than a bedroom in Kard’s opinion, but they kept it to themselves.

“I can move some of the blankets,” Akiaziri said, going over and peeling back a few layers. As they did, a white fluffy bundle meowed and shot out from under the top blanket before running off out the door.

Kardynkyr lit up for a moment. “You have a cat?”

Akiaziri paused. “Oh, several. Do you like cats?”

“I love cats,” Kardynkyr said, starting to notice some of the other plushies were in fact real animals taking naps. Many were cats but some were also bunnies and even chinchillas. Kardynkyr found the closest cat, a cute Russian blue, and picked it up for a nuzzle. “Hello, beautiful!”

“I didn’t know you liked cats,” Akiaziri said. “I wouldn’t think they fit your hoard.”

“Are you kidding?” Kardynkyr started stroking the cats back, not wanting to put it down. “Cats are full of mystery and dark energy. They’re amazing. You should meet my girl, Sprinkles.”

“Sprinkles?” Akiaziri smiled briefly. “That’s a really cute name. Is she a small breed?”

“Nah. She’s a panther,” Kardynkyr said.

Akiaziri paled again. “Oh.”

“Don’t worry, she’s a sweetheart!” Kard mused. “You’d love her.”

“Is she here?” Akiaziri asked. “At the Dragon City?”

Kardynkyr nodded quickly. “Yeah, she’s in my quarters.”

“That’s…wow, okay.” Akiaziri started smoothing out the side of the bed they were standing at. “Um… Maybe I should get us a towel to put down. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay. I’ll be here.”

Kardynkyr waited on the edge of the bed as Akiaziri went to get the required towels. They came back with a stack, including a really cute Hello Kitty one with pink bows.

“Don’t use any you wouldn’t want to get stained,” Kardynkyr said. “It can get messy.”

“Can it really?” Akiaziri asked, sliding the Hello Kitty one away to the side.

“Yeah. Seen it plenty,” Kardynkyr said. “The demons can go crazy. But, I guess we’re not gonna do anything really adventurous. Just a bit of in and out, I supposed.”

“Er, yeah…” Akiaziri picked a simple orchid purple towel and laid it out. “I guess that’s good.”

“Yeah, so…” Kardynkyr leaned back on their elbows. “Should we just…get naked?”

Akiaziri had paled so many shades lighter, Kardynkyr was worried they had no blood circulation at all. “Yes. Naked. We should…do that.”

“Cool.” Kardynkyr started to remove their shirt. “You don’t gotta take your shirt off if you don’t want to. I’m just comfortable without one.”

Akiaziri nodded. “Yeah, I might keep it on.”

Kardynkyr continued to strip down, but once they were down to their briefs, they realised Akiaziri hadn’t moved an inch. “…Are you joining me?”

Akiaziri looked frozen, clutching their oversized sweater to their torso. They were just staring at Kardynkyr’s seminude figure, and it was starting to make them feel uncomfortable.

“Um, do you want me to step out and you can get undressed?” Kardynkyr asked.

Akiaziri seemed to snap to it, and then quickly nodded. “Yes. Please go outside.”

“Okay…”

Kardynkyr obliged and stepped out. They felt really awkward standing out in the hall in their underwear while Akiaziri’s many pets curiously sniffed them and rubbed against their leg. They waited for a time, but Akiaziri never called to them or opened the door, so they knocked lightly.

“Are you ready?” Kardynkyr called in.

There was no answer but suddenly Kardynkyr heard sobbing coming from the other side. Their heart dropped a little and they knocked again. “Aki, are you okay?”

“Yes…” a trembling voice replied. “Yes, I’m not okay…”

Kardynkyr didn't believe a word and started to panic. “Are you hurt? Can I come in?”

“No… No, you can’t come in,” Akiaziri called back out. “Could you… Could you just leave?”

Kardynkyr paused, a sick feeling starting in their stomach. “Did I do something wrong?”

“You didn’t… I just can’t do this right now. I’m sorry.”

Kardynkyr sighed and leaned against the door. “Okay… Well, you have my number, right? Message me when you’re ready, okay?”

There was a long pause.

“Okay…”

Kardynkyr scratched their chin, a little crestfallen and confused. “All right. See you later then.”

There was no answer.

Kardynkyr felt a bit stupid. The rest of their clothes were still inside the bedroom, but they really didn’t want to go back in there now. They figured it was no big deal and they could get them later, so they just made sure their boxer briefs were secure and left.

In the elevator, Zideon happened to be riding down. They waved to Kardynkyr and then a devilish look took over when they noticed the other’s mostly nude apparel. “Oh! Really got to it! I’m impressed!”

Kardynkyr rolled their eyes. “We didn’t do it. Akiaziri…chickened out or something. I don’t know.”

“Ah…” Zideon shook their head. “That’s a shame. Daement and I’ve done it about three times now.”

“Three times?” Kardynkyr pulled a face. “It’s hardly been twenty-four hours!”

“Yeah. But Daement wants to get back to their company as soon as possible, so they have us on a tight schedule,” Zideon said. “They want us to do it about three times a day, I think. Yeah.”

Kardynkyr shivered. “Ew, that sounds awful.”

Zideon shook their head. “You’d think so! But, really… I think I actually kind of like it! I’ve watched all sorts of creatures reproduce, and I always wondered what it’d be like… It’s quite the thrill!”

Kardynkyr wrinkled their nose. “Well, at least you’re having fun… Akiaziri won’t even look me in the eye.”

Zideon tilted their head. “Most dragons don’t look each other in the eyes. You’re not even looking me in the eyes right now.”

“Yeah, but… You know what I mean,” Kardynkyr said. “I feel like they’re disgusted by me.”

Zideon shrugged. “Maybe they are.”

“Not helpful.”

Zideon stuck their tongue out. “Well, you gotta mate either way. Figure it out.”

“Gee, thanks.” Kardynkyr sighed. “What are you up to now, then? Another bang session?”

“Nah, I'm gonna go for a swim in the pool,” Zideon said. “Wanna join me?”

“I'd rather use the sauna,” Kard dismissed. “I need to let out some tension.”

“Well, I might pop in there after my swim!” Zideon said. “Did you know there’s a type of fungus infecting frogs that can be combatted by building them their own little saunas out of bricks?”

“No, but I'm sure I'll hear all about it in the sauna,” Kardynkyr said.