The remains of a large gathering are spread across the garden, from benches and tables to paper plates and drum-style barbecue grills. The grass is covered in discarded cups, bones, spilled food and other litter, including a few passed-out half-naked dark elves on one of the tables. Kaira sits at the head of one long table, upright and still while staring off into the distance. Oddly, the permanent picnic setting under the tree seems untouched when Alptraum appears next to it.

Just when Alptraum thinks he knows what to expect, he's always proven wrong. "Okay, I know I am going to regret asking this, but why are there mostly naked elves asleep on the table? Were you having some sort of, ah, bizarre party?" he asks.

The bat can almost hear the muscles in Kaira's neck creak as the dragon turns her head to face him. "Oh, Alptraum," she says, a bit hollowly. "Did you bring any pie? Nobody brought any pie. I like pie… "

Alptraum blinks. "Kaira, you're creeping me out," he says as he waves one of his hands in front of her face. He then proceeds to poke her nose tip.

The poke elicits a flurry of blinking, followed by a belch that would strip paint. "Ugh… what time is it?" Kaira asks, sounding a bit more like herself… if not in top form. "Oh man; never drink the purple fizzy stuff… "

"I'm not sure what time it is in your little world. What were you doing? And what happened to the elves?" Alptraum asks as he fans the air in front of his face in an attempt to not smell Kaira's rather fragrant release. "I would think after you drank that dragon goo you would know better than drinking other odd things."

"Had to wash the taste out," Kaira mutters, then gestures to the mess. "Uh, this was… hmm… a thingy… with elves and… I think… dibbuks? Something with a 'd' sound anyway. I think those two drank too much purple stuff too. Elves can be lightweights with boozahol."

"You were playing a drinking game with them?" Alptraum asks. His hand sweeps over the splayed mass of elves for emphasis. "And more to the point, you didn't invite me!?"

"So you could be passed out around a bunch of drunk elves and… big hairy things with three horns?" Kaira asks, one eye looking a bit bloodshot.

"Who said I would pass out? I know better than to drink too much. I would want to enjoy the smooth black skin … er," Alptraum starts to explain, then abruptly stops and rubs his neck in that way of his when he's about to discuss something uncomfortable.

"Sho… what's the honor of the present, your?" Kaira garbles.

Alptraum rubs his forehead. "Right," he says and grabs Kaira's arm and tries to hall her to her feet. "It looks like I need to sober you up. I have serious matters to discuss."

"Sober?" Kaira asks as she staggers from her seat and nearly falls on the bat. "Serious?"

Alptraum looks back at the passed out elves with a rather sad, forlorn expression on his face. So much elf and he can't enjoy any of it. So … Alptraum sighs and will probably take it out on Kaira. He shoulders her weight as he carries her towards the brook. "Yes, serious. I visited Melusine," he states flatly.

"The blobby black bi- why going to water?" the dragon asks. "Vampire… just… suck out… "

"Because you need a shock of cold before I do that," Alptraum claims. It may also be his way of getting revenge. Who knows? And so when they reach the brook, Alptraum shoves her head into the cold water! He holds it for under for five seconds, then yanks it out and immediately bites her neck!

"Spllufgharrable!" the dragon sputters! As unreal as this place may be, it does hew well to real world rules of biology: Kaira's blood tastes bizarre to Alptraum, but it does give him a buzz at least. The dunk and splash has also gotten Kaira's clothes soaked through.

Even with the bit of cold water shock, Alptraum is surprisingly gentle as he nurses on her neck. His hands also, ah, explore the very wet clothing and dragon underneath as well. At one point he tries to use his claws to cut the wet clothing away. After all, it isn't like he minds Kaira being naked…

The dragon barely notices being pealed, since wet is wet. She is becoming a bit more lucid though. "Glugh. Murpple. Melusine, eh? I guess she got you worked up. Or at least your hands… "

Alptraum eventually answers when his jaws release her neck … which is a few minutes after she's free of her clothing. "I find I'm becoming more … I don't know how to say this other than attracted to her. It's like the shadow finds her desirable and is in turn trying to make me want her," he explains as he licks off his now bloodied fangs.

"Oh, you mean you think of being with her when you're apart?" Kaira asks, with a hint of upset. "Like how you want to be with me all of the time?"

"No, it's when I'm around her I find my will to resist her suggestions a lot weaker," Alptraum explains, "She offered to mold my flesh or devour me as a reward once her heart is replaced and … I actually considered it. As for being with you, well, you're with me all the time… "

"Yesss, I'm easier to take for granted I suppose," Kaira sniffs. "But you are probably just reacting to her draconic aura. Wasn't your albino friend teaching you how to resist that?"

"Some. I'm sure I need practice, though. Oh the plus side, I considered as a shape, asking her to mold me into a dragon like body you would like," Alptraum notes with a grin.

Kaira blinks and stares at Alptraum. "Why? That's for in here, with just me, isn't it?" she asks. "It's not for seducing Melusine right?"

"Because it might annoy her a bit, plus it would still be usable with you, just well, out there," Alptraum explains and shrugs. "Now, I'm going to try to be serious," the Eeee claims while his hands continue to, ah, explore. "Would it be bad for me to refuse her offer? Would she take offense?"

The dragoness seems to relax a bit, leaning more against the bat. "The key is to not refuse, but not accept immediately," she advises. "A reward can be claimed at your convenience, after all."

"So, eventually I will have to accept her fiddling with my body in some manner, then," Alptraum says, his tone sounding slightly worried about it. "I guess I will have to decide on something safe for her to do, then."

"No need to worry about it just yet," Kaira rumbles. "Besides, she is limited by her 'library' of victims. Although that would still be large collection, given her age and history."

"Between you and me, I feel a lot safer when you're the one fiddling with my body," Alptraum admits.

Scaled eye-ridges raise. "Oh… you mean transforming it, don't you?" Kaira finally asks. "I've only done the pig though so far."

"Yes, and the pig was fun because I never had to worry you would leave me that way. It was safe to explore. I also think I may be asking you to do it now and then to help, uhm, settle the urges to shape flesh. I'd rather control those feelings through a safe outlet," Alptraum explains.

"Urges?" Kaira asks. "What urges about shaping flesh have you developed? And you aren't going around kenning people all the time, are you?"

"No, of course not! It's just after working with Snow, I found I had the urge to do it more," Alptraum explains and shrugs a bit. "The feeling has calmed down a bit since then."

"Hmmmm," Kaira purrs thoughtfully. "Normally, I wouldn't care about these urges or your indulging in them – but they do use a lot of life energy. I don't know what hogs are worth out there, but there has to come a point when it gets very expensive – and by then you may be addicted to the sensations."

"Well, I can consume wild animals too," Alptraum points out, "It doesn't have to be purchased hogs. And I do need to be more familiar with my shadow-bonded flesh, don't I? You wanted me to explore it more I thought."

"Yesss, but perhaps you can do some of that in here, too," Kaira suggests. "You were able to change your shape here first, after all."

"You mean shadow-shape in here to keep the cost down?" Alptraum asks as his ears splay. "How would I do that? Would I need your help?"

"Or … is this a play to get me to spend more time with you?" Alptraum teases after a thought.

The dragon smirks. "Well, you did it the first time to impress me, didn't you?" she asks sweetly. "I'm sure it can at least help your cravings, and… possibly lead to real-world skill. But it's up to you. In here, you can be more in control of the shadow, I think."

"Well, yes, I did it to give you companionship that I thought would be more attractive than, well, me as I am," Alptraum says. "But, if you think it would help, then I'm more than willing to try it in here. I guess I just need to decide on something to try."

"Hmm, out there you are restricted to what you have kenned," Kaira points out. "You obviously didn't ken a dragon to get that form. Of course, in here there is a morphic field that helps out, giving 'flesh' to something that is essentially abstract."

"And, uh, you would probably want to know this: Melusine asked me to be her partner, in addition to Rose being her partner," Alptraum remembers and says. "And uh, that she would be a better dragon partner than you… "

Kaira seems to dry off surprisingly quickly, getting hot enough for the water to turn into steam in spots. "Oh… did she now?" she says, in a very forced voice. "Because she made you feel good, maybe?"

"I'm sure that was one of her reasons, yes," Alptraum says and holds up his hands in case Kaira decides to hit him. "And I suspect she does not believe in limited use. She would encourage me to devour and revel. You tell me to be tempered… "

"And if it makes you feel better, she knows you helped fix the heart. It made her a bit mad … " Alptraum quickly adds.

"Oh? What did she say about it?" Kaira asks, going from angry to smug.

"She looked ill. Hard to explain exactly, that a blob looked ill. She also said she would have to thank you," Alptraum explains. "And ah, can I ask you about your help a bit? What, uhm, exactly did that feel like? It looked really painful."

"It was… something it is best not to remind me of," Kaira says, a bit sourly. "Now I'm thinking about more purple fizzy stuff."

"I appreciated what you did for me," Alptraum offers in hopes of making Kaira feel better. "You do know I care about you, right? That I don't just sit around thinking of ways to torture you?"

"What, you don't even spent a little time thinking of ways to torture me?" Kaira asks, as if that is a critical part of 'caring' among dragons.

"Well, does thinking of ways to exert dominance over you count?" Alptraum asks, "But that only happens when I've been indulging in certain draconic behaviors anyway."

"I'll accept that effort then," Kaira notes magnanimously. "I'll even let you experiment on one of the passed out elves if you like."

"Experiment on? Experiment how?" Alptraum asks as he looks back towards the table of elves.

"Well… what do they lack, in your opinion?" Kaira suggests. "Wings, tails, horns… uh… extra mammal bits? Shadow Dragons generally used flesh-shaping for their own amusement, after all. And… you do know that I'd never use a draconic aura on you, right?"

Alptraum rubs over his eyes, pushing back thoughts on elf experimentation for the moment. "Wait, wait, before I do anything questionable, I do have one more serious thing to talk to you about. I've tried to fight it, but I've come to accept that due to the shadow-bonding, I am changing some over time. What I worry about is going too far. I really hope that you will keep watch over me and help guide me so that whatever changes do come that they're something … beneficial?"

"Changes? You mean the shedding-your-undeadish-bits stuff that happened recently?" Kaira asks. "Or changes in how you think or behave?"

"Well, both. But I'm more worried about how I think and behave," Alptraum explains. "Physical mess isn't as scary as discovering urges and desires."

"Well, urges and desires aren't bad in themselves," the dragon points out. "I'm sure you've dealt with those before – like the urge to drink blood, or the urges you suddenly started feeling one day when watching the Radovah dancers that you hadn't felt before… "

"Well, can I explore any urges I develop using you?" Alptraum jokes.

"If they are ones I will enjoy, yes," Kaira agrees.

"What about ones you might not enjoy?" Alptraum teases.

"We'll deal with those on an as-needed basis," Kaira says, and then narrows her eyes. "I will not, however, play a blob for you."

"Okay, I won't try to get you to lay a clutch of eggs," Alptraum teases Kaira as he finally lets her go. "Now the elves, hmm. Well, I know I have often found myself wanting horns and a tail," Alptraum admits as he eyes the table. "Have any of them been a particular, well, problem for you?"

"I couldn't tell you their names, or why they are passed out," Kaira notes. "It was a big party."

"Want a pet?" Alptraum actually asks Kaira and waggles his brow.

"I thought you wanted to be the dominant one though?" Kaira replies, waggling her own brow in return.

"I meant one of them," Alptraum says as he waves towards the table. He does rub his hands together now and heads towards the table. His eyes and ears flick about, looking for a pretty dark-elf woman to experiment with…

One of them does happen to be face up, on the grass, and is covered by… some strategically placed paper plates. Aside from the food stains, she's the typically cute dark elf type. Except for the actual monsters, Alptraum hasn't seen an ugly immortal yet.

"And I can try anything?" Alptraum asks Kaira, just to be sure, as he kneels down beside the passed-out elf.

"Well, I won't stop her from slapping you," the dragon warns.

"Ha ha," Alptraum remarks in complete deadpan. Since nothing he does is permanent, there's a certain feeling of safety in trying things. He lightly rests his hands on the elf's forehead and concentrates. Horns should be simple and these elves are supposedly pretty wicked, anyway. He thinks on some curving, smooth, draconic-swept-back horns starting from her forehead and curving backwards to follow the shame of her skull. Once he gets a good visualization of the shape and how they may look on the woman, he tries to press his shadow out through his skin to begin the work … and to focus a bit on how it all feels to do.

Nubs begin to sprout and grow… but the material isn't quite like ivory or bone – it looks more like the keratin of a Cervani's antlers. The growths curve back as desired, but then split and sprout into full-on antlers!

Alptraum frowns when the horns do not form as expected. His brow furrows deeper and he tries to shape them into what he was trying for in the first place. "No laughing," he growls slightly at Kaira.

They darken a bit, but refuse to budge in shape. Kaira hmms, and asks, "I take it they are not following your vision?"

"No," Alptraum admits, "And I don't know why."

"Would you like me to tell you why?" Kaira asks, just to be sure.

"Yes, of course I do," Alptraum agrees.

"Many fey have antlers, or have had antlers in the past, or have them at special times," the dragon notes. "So, you were activating an inherent element instead of creating one from scratch, which is why they resist being altered."

"So I need to try something they wouldn't have?" Alptraum asks. "And how do you think I would look with horns?"

Kaira tilts her head, looking over Alptraum's skull with a critical eye. "Devil horns?" she asks. "Or some other kind?"

"Devil, yes, or something that curves and frames my face, possibly?" Alptraum asks as he moves his hands on the elf before him. This time he lightly rests them on her hips.

"So long as they don't poke your ears, they might be interesting," Kaira admits, and watches what Alptraum attempts next on the sleeping, antlered woman.

"Then I'll get you to help me grow some after I try this," Alptraum says. Again his brow furrows and his mind wanders to myth and legend of Sinai, particularly on the strange demons of the Nagai that have been told in story and song. As the shadow flows outward from him once more, he tries to reshape the lower half of the sleeping elf, giving her a 'naga tail' instead of human-like legs. Many a spooky campfire tale crossed his camp during his gypsy days of the strange half-something, half Naga, demons.

This is more successful, as the woman's legs merge together and stretch, the skin folding into scales and scutes. The obvious advantage to working within the dagger is there isn't any issue with growing extra body mass to fill in that huge tail, as the lamia takes shape.

Alptraum is slow and careful with his shaping work. His attention is divided between the shaping and how it feels to him to be performing the task. "It doesn't feel as good in here," he says, sounding distant, "But it still feels nice." By the time he's drawing the shadow back, the woman has a good twenty-foot serpentine lower half, enough mass to move well and provide proper balance. His hands then move to elf's, where he tries to shift them a bit, making them three-finger serpentine at the hands and slowly flow-fading back into the black skin by mid-bicep.

"Oooo, very pretty," Kaira says approvingly. The tugging on the arms, however, seems to be enough to begin waking the elf, who lets out a slight moan.

"Careful," Alptraum tells the waking elf, "You've had a very rough day." He tries to finish the work on her arms before pulling the shadow back and taking a bit of a defensive posture, lest she try to slap him! "Should I bite her to help that hangover?" Alptraum hiss-whispers towards Kaira.

"I think she would consider that foreplay and bite back," the dragon warns.

"Mmmm… party over?" the elf woman says, putting a hand to her forehead and seeming to completely miss that both are different. When she opens her eyes, there's a slight shock in that they look reptilian as well… but then a lot of fey have cat-slit eyes. "Help me sit up," she mutters.

Alptraum helps the snake-elf sit upright as best he can and slides himself in behind her so that she can lean back against him. "I can help you with your headache," he offers.

There are some plopping sounds as the paper plates on her chest fall free, and the elf says, "Head feels really funny, can't wiggle toes. So help, yeah… "

"Well, you don't have any toes now," Alptraum says right before he bites down firmly on her neck so that he can drink. He's never had elf-blood and briefly wonders if it will taste as bizarre as Kaira did.

It doesn't taste like dragon blood at all. It's absolutely delicious! Even better than Rina's blood, or Snow's.

Alptraum's hands somehow find themselves helping support the elf's chest as he drinks slowly from the elf. He quickly finds he doesn't want to stop and literally has to force his jaws to release when he feels he has drunk enough.

"Woooo… spinny… " the elf says, and her tail begins to twitch and squirm as she starts trying it out. "Good booze at that party… "

Kaira looks on with amusement, and notes the paper plate still in place in the elf's lap. "Alptraum, how much did you change? Because if you keep fondling her like that… "

"I hope you don't mind, but someone thought you needed to look more … snake-like," Alptraum says … without explaining who. The question from Kaira causes him to blink and he answers, "Completely Naga-like from the navel down. what are you talking about… ?"

"Well, how do Nagas… hmmm. Maybe it won't matter this time," Kaira says.

"A lot like other species do on my world. The women join with the men… " Alptraum explains. His hands do at least quit their … massaging.

Amelia with much squirming and swaying (and extra support from Alptraum) the elf-lamia manages to 'sit up', so that her torso is upright over a her coiled tail. "I don't remember looking like this before the party," she notes, but doesn't seem very disturbed. "Will it wear off?"

"I think so?" Alptraum says, "But I'm not really sure. It can be reverted later if it doesn't, though."

"Oooo, maybe you should have kenned her first, just in case," Kaira comments, looking a bit pained.

"I can make her elf-like without kenning here, remember? Plus isn't it dangerous to ken an immortal?" Alptraum asks.

"In the real world it would be, but probably isn't wise to do here either," Kaira admits. "What are you going to do with her now?"

"I didn't think that far ahead," Alptraum admits. To the elf, he asks, "So, ah, any requests? I can shape you into just about anything. Any desires?"

The elf is twisting about to get a good look at herself. "This form really needs a longer neck too," she points out. "And maybe a poisonous barb at the end of the tail, so I can hunt people. Paralytic venom would be best… "

"The neck I can do. The barb … maybe later. You might use it on me," Alptraum remarks dryly. He rolls his eyes a bit as his hands release their prize and go to lightly grip her neck. In comes a deep breath, then out goes the shadow to lengthen her neck … and work a little on her face while he's at it. More … serpentine.

"Longer tongue too," the elf requests. "Can I get snakes for hair?"

"Elves," Kaira says, shaking her head. "Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile… "

"A longer tongue might make you lisp a bit," Alptraum warns.

Longer tongue it is, though, as Alptraum works, shaping the elve's head and neck to be far more serpentine than they currently are, including her tongue, which thins out a bit as it flattens. The tip also splits in two, creating an inch-long fork at its tip.

Using her hands to cup at her chest, the elf then asks, "Bigger?"

"Bigger will make it harder to hunt," Alptraum points out.

"Kaira," Alptraum asks in a lull in the shifting of the elf, "You have several dragon forms, though mainly two and four legged. Which do you prefer?"

"Well, I'm most comfortable in my natural form, of course," Kaira notes, while the elf tries to explain that larger breasts will aid her in luring in prey. "This biped form has some advantages though, like not having to constantly wash my hands."

"Would you like me to adjust the dragon form I came up with to be more like your natural one? I do happen to think your natural form is quite attractive," Alptraum tells Kaira. He then ends up sighing at the Elf a bit and doing as she asks. His hands come around to cup the creature's chest and once there he uses the shadow to increase the mass a bit. Through he also makes this skin scute-scaled to help support their weight.

The former elf makes pleased hissing sounds, and even gives Alptraum a snaky lick on the cheek before practicing with her coils at moving around.

"If you want to have some fun later, let me know," Alptraum calls after the strange snake-monster before laughing and wiping at his cheek. Free to move again, he goes back to sit beside Kaira and rests his hands in his lap.

"I prefer you as you are, Alptraum," Kaira notes. "I appreciate that you changed for me, but it doesn't matter to me at this point. After all, we've been intimate in the real world as well. And I was better at that than Melusine, wasn't I?"

"Well, I wanted you to feel important," Alptraum says, "Where your opinions, desires, and comforts mattered too. But you really prefer this?" He waves at himself with his hands and then adds, "It's … well, pretty pathetic in stature when compared to you. I always worried you were humoring me. And yes, you are better than Melusine at that."

"It's normal to be impressed by dragons," Kaira points out. "And… how often are you doing that with Melusine, then, to be able to compare so readily?" she asks. The elf-lamia is slithering off to one of the tables where another elf is passed out.

"Well, before the trip to repair the heart, it was requiring a few times a week to keep her life-level up. She used it to siphon life-force from me that I absorbed," Alptraum explains. Alptraum tugs his ears down and sighs, "Can I be completely honest with you on something? I feel like I'm in a situation that's completely over my head. The flesh of my arm is becoming more shadowy and I'm dealing with creatures far more powerful than I am. I'm just an Eeee and I feel like I'm making everything worse."

"Well, you could just… not deal with Melusine," Kaira suggests, sitting down on the grass. "That is, do what has to be done for now, but once she has her heart you don't really need to worry about her, or her plans for you."

"Well, it's not just her and her connection to Rose means I have to deal with her on some level. It's more than that. It's you; you're more powerful and knowledgeable than I am by far. It's the Barsunala, which has been growling at me as of late. It's the changes going on with my own body; I don't know what is happening. And to top all that off, I have to go back to Babel and confront my father,," Alptraum lists off and looks down at his long toes. "I'm honestly scared, Kaira. Did I make the right choices? I can't undo the bond I have with the remnants of Muravin's flesh, and it was the right thing to do for Rose. And it is … trying to make things pleasurable for me I think to make me more willing and accepting of changes it wants to make."

"So, are you worried that you're being more accepting of the stuff that makes you feel good to offset the worry?" Kaira asks, and pulls the bat down into her lap. "You're just growing up – in a different way than you did already, that is. If, as you say, you can't go back… then there's no point in fretting over past decisions. You have enough to deal with in the present and future, after all."

"I can feel the shadow flesh now," Alptraum explains as he finds himself looking up at Kaira. "Its tendrils go deep into my arm and all throughout it. When it gets excited, well, I can feel it squirm about inside. I don't see how that could be extracted now, not without losing most of my right arm." He sighs a bit and asks, "And I have this feeling it is only going to spread more over time, but what that means I don't know. Will you stay with me and help me through this?"

"And not to mention the shadow may be holding my heart together. I need it now. And … I'm at its mercy in what it wants to do," Alptraum adds, "That's … terrifying."

"It has no mind, Alptraum," Kaira says. "It is your will, ultimately, that will control it… there's just some boundary issues with the Barsunala and such. And I'll always be with you, as best I can."

Off in the near distance, the lamia has dragged off the other comatose elves out of sight.

"No mind means it won't control me. That doesn't mean it won't grow, though," Alptraum points out. "What if I end up a blob? Would you still stay with me?

"You won't end up a blob," Kaira says with finality. "And even if you did, I'd still be your friend."

"Would you still be intimate with me if I were a blob?" Alptraum asks.

"I… don't know how that would work," Kaira admits. "But in here you can be whatever you want, unless you prefer to be a blob… which you won't be! I know this, because you couldn't give that elf horns."

"Yet," Alptraum points out. "Things could change, couldn't it?"

"Shadow Dragons can only alter themselves to a certain degree," Kaira claims. "And alter other beings within limits. Melusine couldn't turn you into a blob, for instance. Whatever she changed you to would still have bones, blood, organs and so on. It would still be an animal of some sort. So, I posit that you can only change so much yourself. You might have some gooey properties, but you'll still be an Eeee."

Alptraum grins weakly, "I'm just worried, I guess. Being gooey has a tendency to be a bit gross… "

"Then you will have ample motivation to learn to control it as well I can through the dagger," Kaira says, grinning toothily.

"So, do you think she's eating the other elves?" Alptraum asks after his ears twitch a bit (and apparently changing the subject).

"Probably squeezing them," Kaira supposes.

"To make them squeak?" Alptraum asks.

"Maybe?" the dragon says with a shrug. "Want to go see? Or I could try to make you forget all about the big bad blob who makes you feel guilty… "

"Oh, I think I would prefer you making me forget. You're a much better reptile. I just have one request," Alptraum says as he grins deviously.

"Reptile?!" Kaira huffs, then calms down and asks, "What is this request that you are grinning deviously about, then?"

"I want you in your natural form," Alptraum replies simply.

"Ambitious, aren't you?" Kaira says with a grin. "You'll have to do a mating dance then."

"You said you preferred me as me, so I want you in your natural form. It may be a bit more awkward and unusual, but I bet it is worth it," Alptraum teases, "And I'll do a dance, sure."

"I can't promise it won't hurt a bit more than usual," the dragoness warns, after scooting aside and rolling onto all fours. She's soon a big bigger (but not monstrously bigger) and less curvy while being more… svelte.

Alptraum rolls to his stomach, then pushes himself upright and to his feet. "Hurt? How would it hurt?" he asks.

The dragon just grins. "I might bite… "

"I'll take that risk," Alptraum counters as he saunters up and cups both hands under Kaira's chin. "Is there an official dance for your kind … or am I just expected to be creative?" he teases.

"I can't expect you to do a dragon dance," Kaira purrs. "So just do what you would to seduce someone… via dance, of course."

And so Alptraum lifts Kaira's chin a bit and tilts his head to the side and kisses her. It's as awkward as the time she kissed him in revenge for making her drink that goo, given the size differences, but it doesn't stop him. When his jaws draw back, his fingers slide along her cheeks until they release as well. Tendrils of shadow flow from his body to accentuate movement by providing an after effect ripple. His movement is slow and graceful, wings slightly spread and shadow flowing and fading like watery mist as he circles and lightly brushes up against Karia's svelte form. All the touches are fleeting and teasing … and often followed up by a tickling roll of shadow-tendrils across the scales, extending his reach and making the side differences less of an impediment. When he circles behind her, well, the touching and teasing continue as it ranches up along her haunches then down a ways along her tail. Soon he's back to face her again where he dips in ad runs his hands down her slender neck while the bridge of his muzzle nuzzles softly under her chin.

The dragoness rumbles appreciatively… and encouragingly. She even ruffles her wing feathers a bit.

And this continues. Again the Eeee kisses Kaira and this time he flows tendrils of shadow along her neck, massaging it gently until his jaws release and he slides alongside her once more. His arms and wings spread as he brushes against her. The tendrils of shadow become a little more aggressive in their help … their touch along her back, between her wings, and at her neck base feeling like little pinch-nibbles. When he glides around her haunches again, this time he spreads arms and wings gently over them and her back as far as they go. When they draw back claws on his fingers and wing-wrist click and play along the scaling. The shadow, well, it spreads lower, encircling her tail and sliding along Kaira's underside to where it teases her stomach a bit before drawing back and the Eeee moves on…

Rumbling becomes growling, and muscles tense when touched. Kaira is certainly responding. So much so that she doesn't even react when the lamia slithers past screaming curses as two other naked elves chase after her, throwing empty bottles and other bits of junk at her retreating bulk.

"Just as well," Alptraum finds himself thinking as he suppresses a laugh, "Because soon we're going to look rather ridiculous ourselves." He shakes his head and grins in a rather disturbing, predatory, way as he whispers, into Kaira's left ear, "You belong to me." And with the rather creative use of the shadow to make up for size and shape differences, well … proves it over the next hour or so … even if it does look ridiculous!