Galand makes a strong first impression on Phlagaea – by giving her a foot massage. Maybe he was able to overhear her complaining in the hall about the long climb down endless flights of stairs, and how she swears she can feel her bones changing position already. It's a very complicated affair as well, requiring a sensual washing of the feet to begin with. Snow, being an empath, is also affected – her breathing is already synchronized with Phlagaea's.

Nicora's ears twitch and her toe claws tap against the stonework of the floor. "He is very good with massage," she says as she tries to force a neutralish tone in her voice. It's exceedingly difficult because she is itching and burning in a very delicate place and therefore can't enjoy even something as simple as this right now. It's just … oooo!

"Would you like one as well?" Galand asks, but Phlagaea shakes her head intently at Nicora.

"I … no. Please, focus on her," Nicora says through a very strained smile. She tries to calm herself down by looking up at the ceiling for a few seconds, then going to get herself a glass of water. "This curse went from moderately annoying to maddeningly frustrating," she decides, "It limits what I can do … and I have to watch others enjoy themselves."

"We could go take care of that other thing, and give them some privacy," a flushed Snow suggests to Nicora, and even puts a hand on her arm.

"Which just isn't fair," Nicora thinks as she drinks from her fetched glass. "She's all pudgy; I'm the pretty one and … " Nicora stops when Snow touches her arm and gives her a rather quizzical, if brief look. "Right, the thing?" she both agrees and questions at the same time.

"You know, the thing about that person and the package," Snow says, her face wearing a 'get me out of here' expression.

"Right, the package. You need your package too," Nicora says when she realizes that Snow wants to escape … but for different reasons. "You two enjoy yourselves. I'll check back later to see if you're ready to meet the other," she says as she shuffles herself, and Snow, towards the door.

"We will not be going anywhere," Galand says, while Phlagaea waves happily! Once outside, Snow breaths a sigh of relief. "It is not easy to be around Phlagaea at times," the shrine maiden notes. "She is a very… greedy… lover."

"I noticed," Nicora finally grumbles, "I'm not even an empath and it was … getting to me. I suspect it's just related to growing up in Babel."

"Well, I think you have a crush on Galand too," Snow whispers right into Nicora's ear… and then pulls her close and kisses her!

"I do … mprgh!" Nicora starts to say and then is immediately silenced when Snow kisses her! Not that she minds as it turns out, since humans are fun and weird to kiss.

Snow doesn't pursue it for very long though. "Sorry!" she says. "It's just… bunny thoughts. I'm getting it from Galand and it's making me remember what it was like as a Lapi buck and… maybe we could go a little further away. Is there anything you actually need to do?"

"I could satisfy those urges of yours," Nicora tells Snow with a bit of a fangy grin. "I can't really seek anything in my condition, bit I can still torture you." She then reaches over and waggles Snow's nose, and adds, "I should also go say goodbye to Melusine soon, since I will leave within a day or so. She might get upset if I don't see her before I leave."

Nicora also hooks her arm around Snow's and just starts walking away from the suites to get Snow some distance from the Lapi.

"Oh, a visit to her would cool me off," Snow admits. "She scares me."

"And it could always be worse," the human notes. "Imagine how the curse must feel if you were a man again?"

"She scares me too. She likes to flesh shape and she made decide to experiment with both of us," Nicora tells the human as they walk through the castle towards the stairs that lead deep into the depths of the castle. "And I have to let her do whatever she wants with me … because I need her to turn me back to normal later. So I have to keep her happy." Snow's suggestion then makes her ears twitch, "Good point. At least it's all internal right now."

"And not oozy," Nicora adds, "That's a good thing."

"Now that I know what it feels like to have one of those things, I can imagine the pain," Snow notes with a wince. "I even urinated with it you know. It was very strange." At least she seems to be calming down, returning to ivory-white instead of slightly pink in skin tone. "So what does she normally do to you when she messes with your body?"

"Now you know why I felt so strange after being changed," Nicora points out and then elbows Snow. "As for Melusine, it depends," Nicora admits, "Last time she made me into a strange vermite-like creature, then had me juggle. I think she just likes to experiment with things that catches her fancy. None have been painful, just … very strange Do you want her to experiment on you? You probably have a choice, I have less of one."

"Okay, that sounds horrible," Snow says. "It's one thing when you change me, because… that's into something familiar at least, sort of. Not into a creature of some kind. I don't think I'd want her to do that to me, because… then she might want to keep doing it while you're away."

"You don't have to go down with me. It is rather terrifying, but she always changes me back. I just … cope," Nicora admits, though there is a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "If you can think of something you would like she could probably give it to you … but she may also have a price."

"What sort of things?" Snow asks, and reaches behind Nicora to grab her tail. "You mean like the happy tail?"

"Ack, hey!" Nicora complains, but doesn't pull her tail away. "Like that, yes. Or for someone like you … maybe built-in pockets so you can carry things as if you had clothing."

"Pockets?" Snow asks, sounding thoughtful. "I suppose if you need to hide something… but we've already got built-in pockets – they just aren't terribly comfortable or convenient to use… "

"Only my tail likes that one, and it's awkward to use and if I'm not prepared, it hurts and … " Nicora says then shakes her head and laughs, "So, yes, a real built in pocket or pouch might be handy to have. I think some animals have them."

The bowels of the castle are warm, and the weight of the edifice (and the mountain it's carved into) seems to add its own pressure. But the corridor leading to Melusine's Lair is nearly at an end, the doors to her cave looming ahead. "So… she won't do anything really horrible to you if I'm there, will she?" Snow asks.

"I think she would do something horrible with or without you," Nicora admits, "So, last chance for you to leave. I won't be upset if you do; I would completely understand."

"You could wait in shouting range if it gets really bad and I need help," Nicora suggests.

"And… what could I do to help you?" Snow asks seriously, as they stand before the door.

"I … I'm not really sure," Nicora admits. "I can go alone; I'm … used to her. Do you want me to come to you right afterward to show you I'm okay?"

"Alright, I'll wait out here then," Snow says bravely. "Just… because I worry she'll remove my skin or something."

"With her, that is a reasonable worry," Nicora admits. She pats the human's shoulder, then kisses her cheek. "I'll be okay," she says. The Eeee then turns to the doors. It takes a small grunt of effort to open one, but she manages, then slips through and closes it behind her.

The blobby form of Melusine heaves and undulates into the light, and the dragon's voice says, "You have returned earlier than usual, Alptraum. Does this mean you will be leaving soon?"

"Within the next day or so," Nicora/Alptraum admits as she walks slowly towards the light, shedding her clothing carefully as she goes. "I realized that you may miss having me around, so I wished to spend some time with you before I leave. I will remain here today for as long as you desire my presence and … entertainment," she says slowly and as forced-calmly as she can manage. "If you do not wish to see me today, I can also leave. It is your choice," she adds and even curtsies to the shadow-dragon as best she can sans clothing.

A pseudopod scoops up the Eeee and deposits her onto Melusine's soft body, before turning into the more familiar, faceless 'head' appendage. "I sense some discomfort," Mel notes. "Your body has been tainted somehow. It tastes… sour."

Being picked up without even being asked causes the bat to squeak. It takes her a moment to get herself settled into a kneeling posture on shadow dragon's mass before she can explain. "One of the Babelite Goddesses decided to 'test' me and punished me for not following Her rules," Nicora admits, "It is quite uncomfortable, but I will endure it so that she will be willing to remove it later."

"Why do you associate with them, when you have me?" Melusine asks, becoming momentarily liquid so that Nicora sinks into the dragon up to her rib cage. "Am I not better than a goddess? It is worrying enough that you associate with Kaira. She will bring you to ruin if you are not wary."

Nicora has to suppress a squeak when her lower half disappears into the oily mass. "Because I am traveling to Babel where they hold sway. I must deal with them," Nicora explains as she can't help herself and feels around where her body disappears into Melusine's. "I much prefer to deal with you," she adds, "You do not inflict painful trials upon me… "

The outer skin of Melusine begins to change; dimpling and forming scales. The gooey sensation Nicora feels from the waist down also begins to alter, becoming more solid and firm, while also more… indistinct. "And what about Kaira?" Melusine coos, her 'head' becoming more dragon-like as well.

"I will be careful with Kaira," Nicora promises in a quiet, yet terrified, voice. She wants to lean away from the forming dragon, yet since she's buried to her ribcage, she can't pull away at all. She does, however, try to press her hands on the shadow flesh around her and see if she can pull any part of herself free from the shadow-dragon.

Pushing down just gets her hands stuck now, as Melusine continues to solidify. What's more, Nicora can't feel her legs at all… or to be more specific, she cannot feel her legs, but is quite aware of the ones Melusine if forming. Soon the bat finds herself sticking up between the shoulders of a steel dragon. "I can smell your friend outside," Melusine says, redundantly since Nicora can smell her now too through the dragon's nostrils. "You should invite her in."

"Will you harm her?" Nicora asks as she tries to pull her hands free (and fails).

"Why would you think such a thing?" Melusine says, turning her head to look back at Nicora with a blank, solid black eye. "Have I ever harmed you or anyone else that you know of?"

"No," Nicora admits. "If I may ask … what have you done with my legs and hands? Why can I … smell through your nose?

"We are merged," Melusine answers with almost a cooing voice. She then moves around, wiggling her toes and limbs. "Being solid is interesting. I cannot do it and move without you being merged, of course. I am borrowing that aspect of you. And I merely wish to ken your friend. I had not the chance when last she was here, as I was paralyzed… "

"I will ask her if she wishes to be kenned," Nicora says, cringing at the thought of being merged with Melusine. "Snow?" she now calls out, "Melusine wishes to ken you? Will you permit it?" And oddly, Nicora tests to see if she can move any of Melusine's solid appendages.

She can feel them, certainly – but that's all so far. It's hard to sort through which sensations are her's and which are Melusine's, and it's even more confusion trying to sort out which wings are even hers.

"This is really strange. I can't move at all. Or even figure out which wings are mine," Nicora admits to Melusine. "I'm not sure why you left me with anything when you merged with me. It's all confusing."

The outer doors opens a crack, and a pale face looks in. "I suppose that is… " the girl says, before getting a good look at the combined creature. But she is a Shrine Maiden, conditioned to not balk at monsters… although there's no real training for facing a dragon. Nicora can smell Snow's fear reaction to Melusine's aura – and it smells nice.

"She won't hurt you!" Nicora blurts out, "She's just … borrowing my ability to be solid so that she can be too." Of course Nicora does have to wonder if that is entirely true … because what is left of her digestive system rumbles within her. So does the dragon's. That is beyond disturbing.

"Such interesting sensations," Melusine says, and gets her tail behind Snow to nudge her into the room. The girl just staggers forward, wide eyed. She doesn't even resist when the great paws pick her up and strip away her cloak. She does squirm when the great black tongue starts licking her like a candy though. And she really does taste sweet!

"Do not hurt her," Nicora reminds Melusine, even though she is also really enjoying how Snow tastes too! Her left eye twitches so much it nearly closes. Her ears are vibrating!

"Mmmmm, but kenning feels good," Melusine reminds Nicora with a purr. Although the kenning hasn't started yet, as the shadow dragon is still exploring the sensual side of having a tongue (although, really, her entire body is a tongue when she's in her normal blobby state).

And even though she knows she shouldn't … Nicora leans forward as much as she can and laps at Melusine's shadow-scales as if it were Snow. She is quite gentle about it, as it turns out, the strokes soft and sensual from the human's toes to her face. She even focuses on areas that are super sensitive on Snow. She should know them, she's licked them before…

The human's skin grows hot under the ministrations, flushing brightly. And then, almost gently, Melusine pulls the girl into her mouth and bites down. Shadow-teeth melt into Snow, until the mouth closes around her and into her as she's kenned.

The expression on Nicora's face is … interesting. It's relaxed, her ears dropping slightly and jaw slightly hanging open. She almost forgets her partially free body and instead only recognizes the dragon one! It feels so good to suckle on the human, tasting her so intimately. Even through this part of the Eeee tries to keep Melusine from swallowing her. She can suckle and taste, but not consume.

It's hard to resist, because the shrine maiden is so temptingly delicious, but finally the kenning finishes and Snow is deposited onto the floor of the cave. A few more long licks, and Melusine begins to soften as well.

Nicora is practically jello herself and takes a near minute before she pulls her hands free of Melusine's softening flesh. "Snow?" she weakly calls out, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," comes a soft whisper from the ground. Nicora can feel her legs again, and tail… and itch, inevitably.

"I … think you can leave now," Nicora tells the human to spare her from more of Melusine's desires. The return of the itch makes her wince once more, particularly since the pleasure of what just happened has caused it to flare slightly from the excitement. She doesn't try to extract the rest of herself from Melusine right now, though.

Snow doesn't seem inclined to move just yet, but at least she isn't slimed. After Melusine softens back out, she asks Nicora, "Did you enjoy that? You get to feed from the girl often, do you not?"

"I enjoyed it immensely," Nicora admits as she pets along Melusine's now soft flesh, "And I believe you did too, if you felt what I did."

"Yes, her flavor is… very good," the shadow dragon admits. "Now that I have her kenned, I may change a hog into her before devouring it."

Nicora's ears splay. "That is disturbing," she admits, "But far better than you devouring her. Or me, wearing her body."

"Hmm," Melusine rumbles, her pseudopod 'looking' at Nicora now as if in consideration. "I wonder if I could swap your heads… "

"I would prefer if you didn't," Nicora says quickly, though a bit timidly. "My body is yours to experiment on, but I wish her to remain unharmed … please? I'll juggle for you again if you like? That strange creature you made me into last time. Or anything else you might desire. Give me horns, or make my lower half serpentine. Please leave her be?"

"I see," the dragon says. "She is your toy to shape. I could taste that. Very well." The shadow-flesh begins to crawl up Nicora, until only her head is free of it. "What should I do… that you can take with you on your trip?"

Nicora blinks at that. "You wish to leave me with a new mark, in addition to my tail?" she practically squeaks.

"She mentioned pockets," Snow comments from where she's still a bit of a puddle on the floor.

Nicora thinks. Well, mostly. It's hard to think when you're near panic. So, she thinks of the very thing she suggested to Snow earlier. "Some animals I have heard have built in pockets, or, well … pouches," she confirms Snow's statement. "Something you can carry things in, even without clothing. That could be useful… "

"Hmm," the dragon ponders, and Nicora is raised up, embedded in a pillar of shadow-flesh as Melusine's 'head' circles around her. "A pouch. But not easily seen? Convenient to access?" she asks.

"Yes?" Nicora squeaks, ears down in terror. "My lower stomach, just below my navel?" she offers? "Lower back? I'm … not sure? We can try a few places?" she suggests.

"I have seen how Rosalind stores things for convenience," Melusine notes. "The location is therefore obvious." And with that, Nicora feels two brief, sharp pains in her chest. "There," the dragon declares, and the pillar recedes to leave Nicora free on the rubbery surface again.

Nicora's teeth grit and her lips pull back when the pain surges into her chest. She hadn't expected pain and when she is free to move, she curls up for a moment, hugging her now throbbing chest. And there she lays for a good two minutes, too afraid to check at first. At last, though, the Eeee slowly pushes herself upright and then looks down at her chest. She bites her lower lip worriedly.

Nothing is visibly different, although her breasts might seem a little bigger. Having black fur on black skin helps to hide the lips that she can feel, if she concentrates, just on the inside of them near the sternum.

"It was wasted space," Melusine claims. "And Rosalind often tucks things into her bodice. It is therefore a conveniently accessed area and unlikely to draw undue attention."

Nicora's brow furrows a bit worriedly and feels between her breasts. Again with some trepidation, she presses her thumb against what seems to be lips between them.

Yes, there's a pocket in each one. A little (careful) probing reveals them to be about two knuckles deep, and the fatty tissue shifts to maintain proper shape, at least. The insides are dry and lined with skin, which is also sensitive. Feeling ones breast from the other side is not something particularly arousing at least.

Nicora's brow makes an interesting dance as she explores the space. At first the bat seems very unsure about the change, then after a minute, a genuine grin curls back on her lips. "I think I like this," she admits, "This will be very useful. Thank you."

"Snow, you might like these too," Nicora calls out to the human.

"That looks weird when you wiggle your fingers inside," Snow comments, finally back on her feet.

And at the suggestion of adding pockets, the human grabs her own chest protectively. "I don't need pockets!" she insists.

"I could probably put things in them to make my chest look bigger," Nicora also concludes as she continues to explore and wiggle her fingers, testing how much room and 'stretch' space there is.

They can't be stretched too far without hurting, but could certainly hold coins (it collapses back fairly tight, so things shouldn't shift and clink) or perhaps kerchiefs or sanitary pads if they were folded and squished enough.

"I think mine are big enough already," Snow says. "But… well, you should think about what you'd need if you were kidnapped and stripped of anything useful. Lock-picks?"

Nicora withdraws her fingers and combs the fur to obscure the thin fold 'openings' in them. "Are you sure?" she asks Snow, "They seem like they'll be very useful." She then taps her chin and asks Snow, "Oh, Snow, is there anything you would like to see me as? If it interests Melusine, she may do it to me." The Eeee then pats the shadow beneath her.

"Can she turn you into a Lapi buck?" Snow asks with a wry grin.

"Bring me one to ken and I will," the dragon responds.

Nicora actually laughs at that. "Is there anything more you want to do today, Melusine? Do you wish for me to entertain you in some manner for a bit?" she asks the shadow dragon and continues her light stroking of the shadow-flesh.

"Entertain… " the dragon echoes, and soon Nicora finds herself sliding into a bowl-shaped depression in Melusine's body, and then Snow is dropped in as well. "I would like some music."

Nicora squeaks again as she slides into the depression and then bumps up against Snow. "I do not have my recorder with me," she admits, "So I am not sure how to provide you with music."

Pseudopods extend from the walls of the bowl to hold the two women in place, while others erupt and become a variety of shapes, including boneless fingers, tongues and what might be… feathers. "Your throats will make fine instruments," the dragon says. "I just need to tune you up a little first."

Nicora's brow goes up so far it threatens to hit her ears! "Okay, I didn't think she would do something like this," she whispers to Snow it absolute terror. She eyes all the appendages the Shadow-Dragon has formed, then at the fact she can't move … and when she considers Melusine will likely be unconcerned of her current discomfort; and may use it to create new sounds … the rest of the day feels like it will be very long indeed. "At least I won't have to deal with this for a bit," she thinks to herself to try and console herself and find the strength to deal with the various sensations, pain included, she is about to face…