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Wheezie Loses Her Head.

Collaboration story by Killenor & Legion Beast/Daneasaur

---STORY START---

It had been several years since the adventures that were shared between the dragons and the human children. Max and Emmy didn't visit the dragon world as much as their human lives started taking longer tolls, but their Dragon friends also weren't stagnant. Most notably were Zak and Wheezie, the brother and sister who made up two halves of a single two-headed dragon. Although they knew they worked best together, when puberty set in full and they used the separating stones to try and live separate lives and even attempted dating, everything fell apart.

No matter the short term success either of them attempted; Zak was too passive and was walked upon, while Wheezie's wildfire of a personality burned out of control and got her into trouble. Every time, inevitably, they returned back to each other and, while they had some experimenting during their puberty, they hadn't truly known what "love" was until they discovered that love was what they had.

That flash of emotions that most people think are the signs of love are merely of hormones tricking you. Love was beyond that; the ability to fight each other fiercely, but love one another just as fiercely and, despite the disagreements, work to make things better. Still, this was only supported by them remaining bonded. Separation was something they only did for intimate times; entrusting the stones to Quetzal for safekeeping should either of them get the itch to separate in the middle of the night and cause trouble.

However, this was not to say that trouble could not find them while they were together...

---Part 1: Tragedy---

"You know, when I agreed to help you practice," Zak began as he finished strapping on the protective pads, "I really didn't think that we were going to be practicing here."

Wheezie gave a snort of lighthearted annoyance as she too strapped on her pads, choosing to ignore her helmet, unlike her other half.

"First of all, I already sat through that boring Dragon Opera series..."

"A Song of Scales and Light is not..."

"...So you already owe me. And second, of all the times that you could have brought this up you choose now, when we are standing at the edge of Razor Arroyo, having just put on our safety gear, which you insisted on bringing. Now is when you choose to get cold feet."

"I didn't choose..."

"And THIRD," Wheezie jabbed in, cutting off Zak's interruption. He was showing irritation, but quickly saw the rather wicked glint in her eyes, the way she half lidded them and, of course, the tone shift in her wording. "You know how I get after we practice extreme sports... How it gets me worked up... How it's really the reason that you go with me on these sorts of things anyway..." she practically drooled, running her finger down his side of their chest.

"I GET IT," Zak insisted, not shouting but straining the words for emphasis, brushing her hand off and making her chortle, "but I'm still not keen on just how... jagged..."

It was pointless. Zak stared out at the keen, jagged walls of Razor Arroyo; from their vantage point at the lip, the canyon glistened in the early morning light. The low angled rays made the millions of edges gleam. The namesake crystals were beautiful, but oh so very sharp. Even though only the lightest whisper of wind passed Zak's ears, his mind insisted that every edge must be making little "sheen" noises as they sliced the very air with their natural sharpness.

He recalled faintly that there was a busted old sign some ways back mentioning a warning. Judging from what he could see, he guessed what it was about. Tales of dragons and other creatures falling into a veritable blender of beautiful death. Still, some adrenaline junkies had raced a flight pathway through it and even challenged each other with time trials flying from one end to the other. How did Wheezie goad him into agreeing to do this again?

"Readysetgo!" was all the warning Zak got to break him out of his thoughts as his sister took control of his leg for a moment and threw them both off the edge and into the canyon.

He barely had time to suck in a sharp gasp before he began flapping his wing in time with his sister's, avoiding the spiked pit of crystals rushing to meet them as they pulled up zipped forward. Zak was already afraid, but if they maintained a slow pace, they should be fine. Problem was, Wheezie had zero patience and immediately upped the pace as soon as they became stable, taking slight control over his wing as they raced forward. Crystals zipped by them and the air currents made a sort of ringing sound, only further proving to Zak that his worries were well founded.

"Wheezie! Stop! This isn't a game! We'll be sliced to pieces if we so much as bump into one!" he screeched out as he kept his leg and arm tucked up to his body.

Wheezie was laughing too hard, her eyes alight in a wicked, adrenaline soaked grin as they banked hard, turning and flipping through maneuvers. They threaded tight gaps, banked side to side, narrowly zipping over low crystals and diving under others that threatened to slice their heads clean off.

From a viewer's standpoint, it was rather impressive; the bulky double dragon moved with the grace of the most acrobatic of birds, Wheezie's influence showcasing fancy flourishes to their movements with mid-air rolls and twists. One corner lead them to a rather large crystal, the duo front-flipping before they pressed their feet to it and kicked off of it for an added burst of speed towards the end of the canyon.

"OW! Wheezie! You cut my foot!" he yelped as he could already start to feel the warm trickle of blood running from his toes, but another sound was becoming evident.

Glancing back, he found that the large crystal they kicked off of had snapped, falling into the others and starting a chain reaction that sent crystals collapsing like horrible bladed dominoes into the canyon... spraying out in the direction they were flying!

Zak managed a gasp before he pushed his sister into flying harder and faster, a movement that finally made his sister look at him, first with joy that he was finally joining in, but when she saw his face and looked back at the literal storm of blades flying at them, they focused on racing forward together.

The crystals made the sound of shattering glass and small pieces raced past them, occasionally brushing them and making hairline surgical cuts that stung in the wind. Even as they weaved and dodged the crystals in front of them, they were able to hear that the chaos behind them had died down.

Still at speed, Wheezie looked over their shoulder to see that a fair amount of the crystals had collapsed; leaving a glittering cloud of shards that would be beautiful if it wasn't so lethal.

"WOOO!" she screeched. "Oh Zakie, when we get back home, I'm gonna-" she was cut off by her brother suddenly pulling back; his arm and leg and head leaning away as he tried to initiate a stopping motion with his wing, turning them sideways mid-flight.

"WHEEZIE! STOP!" he yelled with dead seriousness in his voice.

Wheezie had time enough to look forward to see a wall of stone with a few sparse crystals before them. Her eyes went wide as she saw it, but knew there wasn't time to change course. She stuck out her arm into a shoulder ram to reflexively absorb the impact of the impending crash. It happened in slow motion as her shoulder hit the bedrock, most likely leaving a bruise, but the momentum threw her head towards the wall as well, where a horizontal blade of crystal was sitting. Pulling on her head with all her might, her neck pressed to the blade enough to cut it and make it bleed, but that was as far as it went.

There was no time to so much as sigh, as Zak was suffering the same fate, but his helmet-covered head weighed more and from their angle, the crash rammed it into his sister's head, throwing her neck harder onto the crystal.

The siblings then tumbled a surprisingly short way onto the canyon's pebbly stone flooring, landing on their chest and skidding a way. Zak lifted his head up, groaning and undoing his helmet and letting it fall to the ground.

"Ugh..." was about all he said as the world spun.

He ached all over but soon felt a horrible stinging on his neck and placed his hand there, feeling a bleeding cut making his hand sticky.

"Oh no... Wheezie, come on, we need to go to the doctor!" he said, flapping his wing, but found that he wasn't rising and Wheezie's half wasn't responding. He tried to take over her wing, but he found that he couldn't anymore.

"Come on! What is taking you-" he started in a slightly angry tone before he looked at his other half and quickly grew cold.

Her leg was bent in an uncomfortable angle, her arm as well, and her neck was limp, but the horrifying part, the part that couldn't register with his mind, was how her face wore a blank expression, her mouth hung open and eyes rolled back... a foot away from the limp neck it was once attached to; sliced cleanly off by the crystal and in a small pool of blood.

He forgot about the cuts he had gotten and just stared with wide, empty eyes. This had to be a dream. This had to be some sort of horrible dream, but the physical stings of his cuts were still there.

"W-Wheezie? Come on now... th-this isn't funny." he stuttered out, but he was met with silence.

He stared at the limp neck, then at the head, the space between them just not being a possibility, even to his academic mind. Alight with fear now, he looked around before looking up at the steep rock wall rising before them; the only way out.

"SOMEBODY HELP! HELP ME!" Zak screeched in a tone he didn't know he could make before he looked down again at his decapitated sister.

His voice echoed off the canyon walls and the crystals, making a haunting ringing. He reached out his hand to gently touch his sister's head, a motion that caused it to unbalance and fall to the side, her tongue lolling out and the stump at the base freeing more liquids. The horror of the fact that this was his sister, his lover, and literal other half.

His adrenaline-soaked mind raced quickly through countless scenarios: would he die here in the bottom of the canyon? To blood loss? Infection? Thirst? Necrosis? A broken heart?

It was grim, but he gently pulled her head closer, picking it up and looking into her blank, rolled back eyes, not caring that her still warm blood ran down his arm, but the longer he looked, the more out of focus she became as hot, scalding tears flowed out of his eyes in merciless rivers. He pulled her head close to his chest before a painful, straining sob escaped his throat. An ugly, horrid flow of loud, painful crying poured from the lone dragon as he bowed his head, holding his sister's head posessively to himself with nothing more than the chiming echo of the canyon to taunt him.

---Part 2: Miracle or Curse?---

He didn't know how much time had passed. Minutes? Hours? All he knew was that the pain of his sister half being dead was unlike anything he could have ever imagined. His crying had burned out slowly, his face wet with tears, as his mind constantly bounced on what he was to do next. What COULD he do?

His cuts had stopped bleeding, but he couldn't lift their body with just his own strength and the separation stones were miles away. This canyon was also far from most dragon dens so calling for help likely would fall on deaf ears; besides, the taunting echoes from the crystals were becoming overwhelming.

The coldness in his chest deepened and a black depression took over as he accepted the grim fact that he was doomed along with his sister. Lifting her severed head up, he placed one more kiss on her lips, sucking down a hard sob before he leaned over and began to use his hand to dig into the soil. He dug a small hole, just big enough to place her head into it, before covering it. If she had been separate, he'd have done anything he could to give her a proper farewell, but trapped as he was, he wanted to at least give her some semblance of peace. After all, the canyon was very beautiful.

He looked at her limp neck for a moment longer before he realized...

...where was the blood?

Looking more carefully as he blinked tears away; there was some blood on the ground, but not where her neck was. Almost at the same time that he noticed it, the long neck suddenly jumped up then flopped back down. No more blood was coming from it and... wait... he could feel an odd tingling coming from his other half. Suddenly, the neck lifted up again and shook before a wet ripping sound was heard. Her neck bifurcated from the top of her neck, running to the base. THEN Zak felt a degree of very weird almost-pain as he felt their shoulders pulling farther apart. He grunted at the sensation but never took his eyes off of what was happening to his sister's neck...

...Or neck'S'... as it became as the two halves moved apart and healed. Moreover, the left neck seemed to be quite quickly growing something at the top. He could see muscle, bone, and flesh all growing like an anatomy diagram before it finally took shape. A very familiar shape.

Before he fully registered it, he saw that his sister's head had grown back. Her eyes were closed and her neck went slack, falling into the ground for a moment before she let out a groan. Her leg moving into a more comfortable position and her arm lifted up to cup her head as she rubbed it.

"Ooh... That was a rough landing..." she said in a somewhat woozy tone. She blinked open her eyes, looking at Zak who could do no more than simply gape at her. "But that was so AWESOME! Let's do it again!"

Her fist pumped into the air before she moved to sit them up properly.

"Come on, Zak, let's go back to the edge of the canyon!" she said.

But Zak was still looking at her in a frozen expression of amazement and horror. There was another wet sound that got both of their attention and Wheezie finally noticed that there was another neck between them. This neck was stiff and straight and the wet sound came from the head generating at the end of it: another Wheezie head.

Other than having the eyes open, it didn't move and seemed frozen with the rest of the neck.

"Uhh... How are there two of me, Zakie?" she asked, only slightly puzzled yet still mirthful, "...and..." She looked at Zak, his neck with a fine cut on it.

Zak finally shook the cobwebs out of his head and rubbed his face with the back of his hand, blinking before his eyes jumped to look at his sister's regenerated head and the new head between them, and the dirt pile her severed head was buried under.

"I... You got... your head cut off and... you died but... not really?" he fumbled.

"So this is real? This is my real... actual head?" she said, only slightly surprised before she smiled exuberantly. "Awesome! I always wondered what it'd be like to look myself in the eye!" she said as she poked the nose of the unresponsive middle head.

Zak clenched his eyes shut at how recklessly nonchalant his sister was being and how amazed he was that she was, indeed, now back making a mockery of his earlier horrors. Despite this, he knew what needed to happen next.

"Yes, it's real and we need to see a doctor! I want to know why there are two of you now and to get my cuts bandaged up!" he said, somewhat angry as he pointed at his neck, showing off his blood covered hand.

That finally made Wheezie wince, though more in the manner of her having messed up than at the injury itself. Standing, they shook themselves down and gave a quick check that nothing else had been damaged. Satisfied that they could, if nothing else, manage a bit of flight they readied for takeoff even as Zak had to have Wheezie stand mostly on her foot so as not to aggravate the cut to his own foot. A little chiming sound echoed around them as they flapped their wings, getting off the ground and taking to the air, flying straight up out of the canyon.

Along the way, Wheezie never seemed to stop talking; talking to the new head that had popped up and chattering Zak's ears off, mostly about nothing or just their next stunt. The new head unnerved Zak as, while it had started stiff and rigid, the eyes were starting to move in time with his sister's. The mouth, too, was twitching in time with her talking. There was no knowing what to expect if that head fully woke up. For once, he was glad they shared a heart since he was certain that if he was on his own, he'd have had a heart attack by now.

---Part 3: Lineage---

The flight to Doctor Booboogone's cave took a great deal longer than Zak would have liked. His neck and foot stung in the wind, as did the half-dozen other tiny cuts all over their body. Worse than that though, Wheezie's talking never so much as slowed down even despite his not talking back to her. The eerie new Wheezie head was moving more and more with each passing minute. By the time they landed before the mouth of the cave, the new head was fully mimicking the mouth movements of his sister, which fascinated her to no end.

He said nothing but urged them forward, taking care not to place the sole of his foot down as they walked into the cave. Fortune was clearly smiling, since there didn't appear to be any other patients in the cave. A little ways deeper into the cave and they could hear the Doctor humming to herself, finally prompting Zak to speak up.

"Doctor Booboogone?" he said, his voice cracking.

"Zak? Wheezie?" the older dragon asked in an almost expectant tone. Wheezie couldn't help but chime in as well.

"Yup! That's us!" she shouted, exuberant as ever.

The doctor hadn't turned around yet but her shoulders rolled in a sigh. She'd patched up the duo dozens of times before and, just from the sound of their voices, Wheezie had gotten them into some fresh batch of trouble and Zak was paying the painful price. Focusing on her instrument table, she busied herself with the necessary tasks of getting things sterile and ready.

"Please sit down, then, and I'll get right to you." she said with a fairly motherly tone, knowing that Zak was the one most prone to showcasing his suffering and feeling that life was never treating him fairly.

The duo/trio did as they were asked and after a couple minutes of the doctor re-arranging a few more items, she turned and approached them before freezing and having to re-adjust her glasses. Zak's expression dropped further and further as tears welled in his eyes.

"Please... Help?" he said, nodding his head to his left, while his sister waved the head on her hand at the doctor, likely forgetting she was wearing it for a moment.

"Hiya Doc!"

After the doctor's initial shock, she wordlessly set to work tending to the cuts; Zak's foot and neck being the worst and requiring full bandages, while the other smaller cuts had almost already healed on their own from how fine they were. She had been cleaning them up slightly as she went over their body before she stood in front of them, looking at the middle head and rubbing her chin.

The doctor then reached into her coat pocket and withdrew a small flashlight, looking at the new-grown head and shining the light in its eyes. The pupils constricted and they would follow her somewhat. Wheezie suddenly felt the need to blink several times and covered her face with her hand. She was suddenly confused that the light still bothered her and looked at her hand like it was not there.

"Hey... what's wrong with my hand?" she said, but the doctor just smirked while Zak gaped once more. This was largely due to the fact that the head that was now talking was the middle one.

"That's because you're not yet used to the fact that you have two sets of eyes, or two sets of everything in your head." the doctor said, almost chuckling.

Zak was even more lost.

"Doctor!" He pleaded in exasperation, "What is going on! Please explain this!" he pleaded. The doctor raised her finger.

"Hold on, I think I know exactly what this is, but I'll need to make sure." she said as she walked a ways into the cave, out of sight as there was a slight sound of a few objects being moved around. Zak looked at his sister heads, who were bobbing and weaving as they looked at themselves, occasionally waving her hand in front of each head before she laughed.

"Wheezie! Would you stop playing around?! This is serious!" he said, disbelieving that she was still in the playful mindset. His complaining to her did little to dissuade her, unfortunately, but soon the Doctor returned with a somewhat old book in her hand and a smile on her face.

"Bicephalitis!" Dr Booboogone exclaimed, "Why I haven't seen a case like this since your uncles Remmy and Zeebo! Let me guess..."

"She... em..." Zak tried to begin, but faltered. "It..."

"We were flying through the Razor Arroyo and had a... rough landing." Wheezie filled in, reaching her hand up to nervously rub the back of her head, only rubbing the wrong one. The middle head was starting to respond to Wheezie's actions more fluidly.

"But how!?" Zak asked in desperation. The Doctor gently touched his shoulder to try and calm him before she spoke.

"You've heard legends of many other dragon-like creatures, yes? Various mythical monsters that were sort of like dragons, some could even breathe fire, but were not actually dragons?" she started and Zak shrugged.

"Like sea serpents and wyverns?" he asked. The doctor nodded.

"Didn't you ever wonder where they all went?" she asked, causing Zak to frown slightly before the doctor continued.

"Their species were dying out due to their bodies not adapting to the magical changes the land went through. The only species that was flourishing were the true dragons, our ancestors, who adapted to it. Namely through... "ahem," breeding between species."

Wheezie snickered, though she covered the wrong mouth while Zak blushed.

"We true dragons can breed with nearly anything and the resulting offspring will be mostly dragon. Many times the bloodline will filter out what some considered to be genetic impurities or mistakes, but... then along comes a case like yours." Zak was befuddled while Wheezie had both of her heads looking at each other and was making faces, seemingly ignoring the conversation.

"So... you're saying we have one of those mythical species in our bloodline? What is it?" he asked, looking at his sister half.

"A Hydra, naturally. You recall the legend of the multi-headed serpent who, when a head was struck off, it grew two more? I believe it even made its way into human legends."

Zak blinked and looked at his sister once more, then again at the doctor.

"But... how does she know anything? If she regrew her head... and her... brain, shouldn't she be, like, a hatchling?" He asked.

The doctor opened the thick tome in her hands, flipping through several pages before she turned the book around, showing him two pages, one of a snakelike creature with five heads and the other showing an internal layout of the body. She specifically showed Zak the spine, but having never really studied dragon or dragon-like anatomy, the gesture was largely lost on him. Still, Dr Booboogone pressed on, pointing to an area in the middle of the visible neck bone.

"See this? It might be a little difficult due to how small it is, but anyway, a hydra doesn't store its brain just in its head. "Anyway, a hydra doesn't store its brain just in its head. The head is just where the manual motor functions and sensory organs are. It allows them to do things like making jokes or problem solving or voluntary body movement. The rest of the brain; the autonomous actions of beating the heart, breathing, digesting, and even memories, are kept functioning through the entire spinal channel." she said, smiling. "She lost her head, but she only lost a few minutes of knowledge and remembers everything up until just before her head was severed, she just couldn't move until at least one cranium regrew."

"You mean that... if we... got cut in half, we might re-grow?" Zak asked, shivering with morbid curiosity.

The doctor shook her head.

"It's complicated; a hydra was more of a snake, but the thing about snakes is that they are mostly neck. You also need to remember that the dragon blood filters the hydra genetics and makes it weaker, which is why her head didn't pop right back instantly and it didn't lock off the blood flow right away. Still, ironically, the one thing you were safe in losing was a head." she said, closing the book and turning away to set it down.

Zak grew somewhat downcast, rather flabbergasted at this turn of events.

"S-so why didn't we know we had hydra in us?" Zak asked. The doctor turned back to face him with a wash rag which she used to clean Wheezie's hand.

"These secondary lineages are hard to come across until something like this happens. With hydra, we usually can't tell until a dragon loses their head... Which, as you can understand, isn't something most dragons are willing to try and find out." she said, having finished cleaning Wheezie's hand and setting the rag aside before she took off her gloves and looked back at Zak with a serious expression.

"And your sister has the hydra genetics. That doesn't necessarily mean you have them since dragons, even two headed ones, especially ones like you and your sister, can have radically different genetic base coding. You're conjoined, but not identical." she forewarned.

Zak swallowed and placed his hand on the bandage on his neck, which made the doctor's expression soften before she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder again.

"You two should go home and get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning."

"But..." Zak began, looking her in the eyes, "Don't you mean "you three"? I mean..." he gestured to his sister half and both of her heads smiled at the doctor.

"It may not look like it, but there are still only two dragons here. Despite her having another head, and even that head and neck having a brain, it's just more of the same brain she's always had."

Zak and his sister half just looked a little blankly at the doctor for a moment before she continued.

"You know how you only have one hand right now, but when you separate, you have two hands? No one else is controlling them, just you. The same thing goes with the extra heads; it's just that she also has another set of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and so on, so she has more than just another place that has the ability to touch," Zak lowered his gaze again at this,

"Now, please, head on home. I have to start letting certain other dragons know that Wheezie is different." she said before she stopped and looked directly at Wheezie. "And next time you think of doing something so dangerous. Don't." she said.

"Sure thing. Cross our heart and hope to fly!" Wheezie said, flawlessly saying every other word with a different head.

The doctor just frowned while Zak looked on in an expression of near horror.

"Oh..." Wheezie spoke up, looking at Zak with one of her heads."Where is the head that got cut off?" Zak's eyes widened before he snarled.

"I'll never tell you." he said as they left the cave.

---Part 4: Torture---

With their cuts bandaged up and their problems explained, the siblings had the doctor's blessing to depart. Zak still walked gingerly on his foot despite the numbing agent under the bandages, slowing their pace dramatically. Wheezie, buoyant as ever, disapproved of their progress and attempted to give them a bit of lift with her wing. Zak's expression darkened, though he silently conceded to flight, joining her in flapping.

Their knuckerhole was not too far from Doctor Booboogone's cave, but it was still far enough that it gave Zak time to think.

Or would have done, except Wheezie was continually practicing talking to her other head. Part of him understood what it felt like to get a new limb, having a second arm when they separated, and how you had to mess with it to fully understand it. It was obvious that what Wheezie was doing was not unlike what someone would do in a mirror as both heads made faces, spoke in turn, or laughed. It bothered him, however, when both heads began speaking at the same time. In seemingly no time from this discovery, Wheezie was singing duets all by herself in counterpoint harmonies.

Normally, Zak could just remain silent on a flight and Wheezie would eventually stop talking to him. She had grown to understand that he liked to think in silence. Here and now he couldn't think and there was never a time when he needed that solitude more than right now. He couldn't even use the Alone Cone for fear that it would disrupt their flight. Letting a flare of anger run through him, he suddenly forcefully adjusted their flight path. Too preoccupied to deny use of her wing; Wheezie finally had her attention pulled back to him.

"Hey, this isn't the way home, Zakie." the middle head said to him.

"We're going to Quetzal to get the stones." he said flatly, not adding any more.

He could tell by Wheezie's shudder that she was getting excited. Understandable, as normally the only times they got the stones was when they were planning on becoming intimate or had a secret errand to keep from the other. Normally the stones were kept safe with Quetzal not only to reduce shenanigans but because there were, in fact, many other two-headed dragons in Dragonland.

"Ooh! This will be so much fun!" she exclaimed with a stereo snorting laugh.

Her wing pulled harder, trying to encourage Zak to fly them faster. Unnoticed by his sister, however, Zak wore an exasperated scowl. It was several more minutes flight before the schoolhouse was in view. The siblings landed gently on the grassy field before hobbling into the building.

"Quetzal? You in?" Zak called out, "It's Zak and Wheezie..."

A moment later their teacher and elder walked into view, closing the book he had presumably been reading. A calm, warm smile crinkled his aged face as he came to the doorway to behold his former students. Well versed in their relationships, having seen them among so many others grow up before his eyes, he had a fair idea of the reason for their visit.

"Ah, hola ninos. Did you come to..." Quetzal blinked as he fully comprehended the siblings and their new addition, "Aye! Dios mio! What has happened?!"

"Well y'see," one Wheezie head spouted immediately.

Suddenly, both heads were racing through the events that transpired. One head would fill in details while the other described maneuvers in a chaotic cascade of information that left even Zak, who had seen the more ugly side of things, dizzy.

"...and apparently I'm part hydra, and so is our great uncle, and I'm kinda upset that Zakie won't tell me where my chopped off head is... but the Doctor told us to go on home but Zakie wants to get the stones 'cause we gotta get our double-headed groove thang on!"

The middle head fluttered her eyes at Zak even as the left head spoke the last few words. For his part, Zak didn't even bother to look at her. His face was a mask of gloom and frustration.

"And as you can see... I now have a massive headache." Zak deadpanned, as far from amused as one could get.

Quetzal rubbed his head in concern. Although part of him found the situation rather amusing from the outside, he could clearly see that Zak was miserable. Even at the best of times, Zak was still put off by Wheezie's explosive personality. Walking to the back of the schoolhouse and pulling open a panel showing a wall safe, Quetzal quietly and quickly set about the solution. Placing his hand upon the safe and very softly muttering a few words, the safe clanked open. Reaching inside he retrieved the two separation stones and turned to present them to the siblings. Eagerly, each sibling took a stone, though each had an entirely different reason for wanting it.

Quetzal leaned in to whisper to Zak, who bent his neck out to the side for some distance from his sister's heads. For her part Wheezie was distracted, amusing herself by looking at both sides of the crystal at once. With as low a voice as he could, and in ancient draconic, Quetzal tried to comfort Zak.

"Escúchame. Sé que las cosas serán diferentes entre ustedes. Sin embargo, si necesita alguien con quien hablar, siempre puede acudir a su antiguo maestro. Estoy aqui para ti. [Listen to me. I know things are going to be different between you. However, if you need someone to talk to, you can always go to your old teacher. I'm here for you.]" the elderly dragon said.

Zak perked up a bit at this, even managing to crack a small smile. Wheezie was oblivious to this as she lost interest and hastily stuffed the gems into their pouch.

"Thanks, Quetzal..." Zak replied slowly, "...I may need to."

Wheezie abruptly gripped his wrist and twisted them around to start heading for the doorway.

"ThanksforthestonesokaybyeletsgoZakie!" the Wheezies rattled off in her excitement and anticipation.

Zak gave an angry grunt of disapproval but didn't try to stop her as they walked out the door and took flight once again..

Quetzal stood, rubbing his head in consternation. Of all the youths he'd helped over the years; few had it as hard as this brother and sister duo. They had such a hard time together, and yet their bond was also stronger than any other... The trouble was that, should that bond ever reach a true breaking point, he knew nothing he could do could ever mend it. Down in his old heart, he truly hoped this new development wasn't the catalyst for such a disastrous break. The old teacher's ache returned to his heart as he knew the only thing he could do was watch and wait and be there to help pick up the pieces.

The sibling's flight back to their knuckerhole was brief, both due to Wheezie's excitement and Zak's growing anger as she refused to stop talking, either about what she was going to do when they got back or just in mock conversation with herself. When the knuckerhole was in view, they turned their flight into a dive. The peculiar orifice "swallowing" them up as they tumbled and slid into their underground home, standing and briefly brushing themselves off before walking farther in.

Most of the room was split in two: the right side being tidy and well-organized, while the left side was seemingly in utter chaos and disarray. They approached their bed, though Zak took the time to take something out of their pouch and place it on the dresser before they reached the bed. One Wheezie head gave him only the slightest glimpse before ignoring the action and reaching into the pouch to produce a stone. Zak did the same and, with a practiced motion, they tapped the stones together before speaking in unison.

"Alakazoo! Split in two!" the siblings were enveloped in a glow that made their body tingle as a stretching, pulling sound was heard. With a flash, Zak found himself looking down at his body. His own, separate body. Flexing his hand and wings and hugging himself, he turned to look at his sister. Wheezie seemed just like her old self, but now with two heads. After only a moment of flexing her new right arm, she snatched the crystal from Zak's hand.

"Lets see if I can make two of me!" she shouted.

"Wheezie, no! Stop!" he shouted, attempting to reach her, but being halted by a sudden shoving foot that held him away just long enough as both heads spoke.

"Alakazoo! Split in two!" Wheezie's heads said, as she clicked the stones together.

There was a pregnant pause as both siblings waited for something to happen. After a few moments, Wheezie looked down at herself. A pout crossed her lips, but in an instant it was replaced with her normal, casual expression.

"Huh," she said " I guess Doctor Booboogone meant it when she said I'm still just one dragon."

She mused on this before both heads looked at Zak, fluttering her eyes at him. But instead of the usual bashful or even occasionally "hungry" look from him, Zak was downright seething. He stormed up to her and snatched the stones from her, shoving them both in his pouch before shoving his face at hers.

"You never stop! Did you even think about what could have just happened?! If you ever, once, in your life just stopped when I told you to, none of this would have happened!" he snarled at her.

Wheezie was taken aback by his outburst. She took a step back and giggled nervously. Zak had been mad before, but this...

"But... everything is okay now." she said, trying to defuse his anger, "We're home, we're safe. Everything is okay..."

Zak's anger built further with each word he heard; his inner fury stoked at her continued nonchalance.

"Okay?! Okay?!" He shouted, literally spitting flames with his words, "No, we're not okay!" He pointed to his neck at the bandage dark with his blood and then lifted his foot to display a similarly darkened bandage, "You got me sliced up! It could have been even worse!"

One Wheezie head shook dismissively while the other spoke.

"But you're patched up and all better now..."

Zak's injured foot stomped the floor with a thump that shook the room. Wheezie fell silent, interrupted at the noise and shock of her brother's anger. He hadn't even seemed to notice which foot he'd stomped.

"You think because my cuts are bandaged that makes me all better? I'm not better! You were DEAD! You forced us to do a stupid stunt and you got your. Head. Cut. Off!" he said, sparks and smoke jetting from his mouth as his eyes began watering in outrage.

Wheezie cowered, both necks bent down and foreheads together as if to shield themselves from the verbal onslaught. Unfazed, Zak continued.

"I had to lay there with your... your... corpse, thinking you were dead. Your side didn't work. I was helpless without you. I thought I'd die next, but not for the next several days... infection or blood loss or... or anything else... having to be constantly reminded of how I couldn't stop you..." his voice cracked as the flames died down, sorrow overtaking his tone. He turned away and grabbed the pair of objects off of the dresser that he had pulled from his pouch earlier. A sob wracked him before he continued.

"I never could stop you!" he rasped, throwing the objects at Wheezie, hitting her in the chest with them before storming off to their bathroom and slamming the door.

Wheezie hadn't felt so rattled in ages. Her heart ached as the weight of what this had done to her most beloved brother settled around her. The objects he had thrown at her had stung a little when they hit her, but what hurt more was discovering what they were.

Their dragon badges.

Their symbols of cooperation and unity. Zak had insisted they put them in their pouch before they went through the canyon instead of risking them being lost in... ...an accident. She picked up the little music note shaped charms and felt a great deal of emotional weight and dread as she recognized that Zak hadn't even kept his with him. He never went anywhere without his dragon badge.

"What do I do now?" she asked her other head but, just like talking to a hand puppet, there was no response other than the ones she put into it.

She still saw herself well up with tears as she held a badge in each hand, wondering if she had finally broken the ties that truly bound them. Mirrored sobs, uncontrolled as both heads shared the same heart, sounded in unison as Wheezie's world fell apart.

---Part 5: Release---

The reflection in the bathroom mirror showed a slightly-dirty green dragon with a bloody bandage on his neck and an expression of anger, sadness, and general hopelessness. Zak looked into his own dark purple eyes trying to find an answer to... something... but finding nothing other than coldness. On autopilot, he broke his own gaze, went over to the tub, and turned on the shower.

While he waited for the water to get to his preferred steamy temperature, he considered how his bandages would wrinkle and fall off after they got wet. Turning back to the mirror he gingerly removed the bandage on his neck. The blood spot on the wraps was worse than what was between his scales as the salve on the bandages were working wonders. The cut had been extremely fine, hence the gushing blood, but also being able to heal more easily. Coupled with whatever medicine the Doctor had used, the wound had recovered almost perfectly, though it left a rather ugly, white-hot scar on his neck where scales had fallen off. He then sat on the side of the tub as he undid the bandages on his foot next, finding a similar situation in that the cuts were very fine and had closed fully, though it too left a white scar.

Discarding the wraps in a waste bin, he reached a hand into the water. Finding it to his liking, he stepped fully into the tub, pulling closed the curtain. His back to the stream of water, the warmth flowing over him and the white noise, which normally helped him relax, now only let his mind wander about his relationship with his sister.

Was this it? Was this the end for them? The extra head wasn't even much of a factor to him. It was just more of an annoyance that would become less troublesome when the novelty wore off.

No. It was how she always refused to listen to him and refused to stop even when he knew something was too dangerous or even life threatening.

The result? He had seen her dead. Yes, technically she was just unconscious but, to the best of his knowledge, for those few minutes he had seen his sister... his lover... half of himself... dead. He had expressed this but she didn't even pause to think about it. It was all just a game to her. It was always just a game.

He turned towards the shower and carefully rubbed water around the neck scar, the wound feeling tender but not quite hurting. As he washed, he rubbed his chest and had a moment of panic as he didn't feel his dragon badge. Quickly he recalled that he had thrown his badge, along with his sister's, at her before he had stormed out. The act of that felt somewhat cruel in retrospect; to use an object representing such a special bond as a weapon, especially as an emotional weapon. In the moment he had been furious. All he had wanted was for her to feel the pain he'd been feeling, but now, he wasn't sure how she'd taken it.

Those thoughts lead him to think on how, normally, when he took a shower he wouldn't be alone. Even when separated like this, she would join him for "fun." But the shower ran on him alone and he had finished his modest cleanup. After shutting off the water and pulling open the curtain, he was still the only one in the bathroom. The feelings of emptiness chilled him, even as he was surrounded by steam.

Now Zak felt pain and guilt. Yes, he wanted her to know his pain but he hated to inflict it on her. Grabbing a towel, he briskly wiped himself down before hanging it on the hook on the back of the door next to her unused one. With a sigh of sorrow, head hung low on a drooping neck, he pulled open the door and stepped back out.

In comparison with the steamy shower, the room beyond was cold, but colder even than this feeling was the sight before him. Wheezie still sat on the edge of the bed, her hands pressed to her heart and the straps of both of their badges hanging from her hands. Her body shook with the sobs coming from both of her heads. Wheezie had her moments before, but Zak couldn't remember her looking so hurt and so vulnerable. Despite his earlier rage, despite his grievances, despite every right he had to be upset at her, he now felt only pity and sorrow.

Her sobbing continued even as she opened the eyes on her left head and saw him, and if anything, grew worse as the head grit her teeth, attempting to say something, but only letting out pitiful, ugly sobbing as her tears fell freely from both heads. So terrible was her sadness, she didn't notice when he sat next to her on the bed, however she did react when his arm gently reached behind her and pulled on her shoulder. She buried both heads into his collars, sobbing a little softer, but the tears continued to flow, even as her brother slowly stroked her back.

"I'm sorry, Wheezie..." he muttered. A wet sniff came from one head as the right one looked up at him with bleary eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"F-for what?" she asked, somewhat painfully.

"For hurting you..." he said, his expression low even as he used his other hand to stroke the head looking at him. His hand was halted by her own free hand, however, gripping his wrist as she sat up, her faces still tear-stricken and upset, but now with some anger behind them.

"You shouldn't be." she said, rather firmly before the other head spoke. "This always happened to you and it never stops... You let others walk all over you. You let yourself become the victim, and then you blame yourself when someone else was at fault."

She outstretched her hand, placing it on his shoulder.

"You needed the fire you just showed me earlier... before the stupid stunt..." her left head closed her eyes and looked away while the right head looked him in the eyes, "I... I know I have self control problems."

"I messed up every relationship I was ever in!" she shouted in anger at herself, "No one ever takes the control out of my hands! No one puts their foot down and outright stops me from doing something stupid! You tried but I was too stupid to listen..."

Her left head opened its eyes as she had both her heads look at one another.

"Nice going, you goop brained idiot, you almost got yourself and your brother killed!" the left head shouted while the right head cowered.

The display of one Wheezie head berating the other was unnerving, but Zak knew she was making a point in her own twisted way; that he was never assertive enough and that she was overly pushy, never holding back and Zak usually paid the price.

"Wheezie." Zak started before lifting his hands up to cup a cheek on each head and make her totally focus on him, "You're right... I should be putting my foot down more... and yeah, I'm incredibly mad that you did what you did and that you never considered how horrible it was for me to experience that," some of his earlier anger was seeping back into his voice.

One head smiled at him while the other grew teary eyed.

"I have now..." she said as she pulled her other hand from her chest, holding out their badges. "I thought... I finally did that one last thing to break us apart... If not my stupid stunt, then how I didn't take it seriously when it did go bad," one head broke eye contact with him, "I didn't make a big deal out of it since I thought it'd stress you out more..."

"And singing duets and suggesting we fly in the canyon again was gonna calm me down?" he asked in deadpan. Both of her heads winced, but then Zak did something she didn't expect.

He started laughing.

Both heads looked at his face as he broke out into a firm belly laugh, having to bow his head and rub at his eyes with his hands before he sucked in a breath and looked at her with his own bleary eyes.

"I've never been more alone than when I lost you... If even for a few minutes." He gently brushed the back of his hand across one of her cheeks. "Part of me was happy to hear your voice again... but I hadn't had time to digest what had happened to you before you... well... went right back to being you."

"I'm sorry..." both of her heads said in unison before the left one continued speaking. "I really have no excuse..." Zak lifted the chin of her left head, looking into her eyes as he gently placed his hand over her own which held their badges.

"Promise me... You'll never leave me again." he said, his voice cracking. Wheezie started trembling at the way he said those words, knowing he was baring his heart to her. One head swallowed hard as the hand holding the badges gripped his own in return.

"Zakie..." her right head started, weeping. "I promise, on our badges... on my life... I won't leave you again... if you'll choose to... stay with me?"

She was abruptly kissed on her left head's lips, her right head gaping at the action before she returned the kiss, squeezing his hand as she was able to both partake in the kiss, but also watch as she and Zak wept with clenched tight eyes. Her additional perspective also let her see a gorgeous glow from their hands as their badges glowed rather brilliantly, indicating their true coming to terms with everything between them.

---Part 6: Open arms---

The kiss parted slowly, a lingering touch as they pulled back before opening their eyes as Wheezie's right head pointed out the obvious.

"Our badges, Zakie..." he took a moment to look down at the glow between their hands before he gently picked them both up.

"Then, they should go where they belong..." he said softly, smiling. Wheezie snatched his away from him, causing him to blink a few times before she held it up and gently placed it over his head and down his neck, resting it back on his chest. He smiled at her before he held up her own badge, but gave a confused expression as he looked at one head, then the other. Both heads smiled.

"This one, Zakie." she said, sticking out her left head towards him. "I always was your left side, so let's keep it that way."

Zak had a heartfelt smile as he gently draped the pendant over her left head and neck, settling it on her chest before he was suddenly kissed on both sides of his head by a two-headed team attack.

"I'll be honest, Zakie, that shower you took was the longest, scariest moment I've had..." she said, both heads flushing and slightly cowering.

Zak started to feel ashamed again, but he spied her badge and reminded himself what he needed to do.

"I'll be honest too... I really missed your company in there." he cupped the cheek of her left head. "You could have helped wash my scars-" he only just got the word out before he felt a warm, wet, yet soft sensation slowly brush along the scar on his neck and looked to see the right head he hadn't been paying attention to gently grooming his neck. He looked back to her left head which was watching him with fluttering eyes.

"Like this?" she purred, her tone having shifted from the overly excited "kid" voice and into her sensual "lady" voice which only Zak knew she could do. She put effort into revealing that side of herself, lending an honesty and seriousness to her actions. The "lady" aspect of Wheezie, while still energetic, showed her caring, loving side. This was something that most didn't think Wheezie was even capable of.

"Wheezie..." Zak sighed softly, finally allowing a blush to creep on his face.

Her left head smiled at him, fluttering her eyelashes as she placed a gentle, feathery soft kiss on his lips even as her right head did the same to his scar. She knew she had him at her mercy, but instead of continuing, her joyful expression faltered and her heads drew back.

"Sorry..." she said, leaving Zak confused for a moment before she continued, "I know your weak spots and I just... act like a predator to you... I know you like it when I play with you but I just... take charge," she rubbed the back of her left head nervously, "I need you to take charge... to stop me... please, show me you can?"

Her tone warbled as this act of intimacy hit her with a lot more than just making up after the accident. She was handing him the keys to her freedoms and trusting him to halt her reckless abandon. It had always been their problem that she would wantonly throw herself into things and he would passively endure her, whether he enjoyed the outcomes or not. His side was so much the submissive domestic type while she had ever been the tomboy wild-child.

"What... are you asking me Wheezie?" Zak asked hesitantly, choosing the left head's eyes to stare into.

"Say no..." Wheezie replied patiently, "Tell me no. Make it stay no. And then... then tell me what you want."

"But," Zak blurted, catching himself before he could get on the defensive, "...I just wanted you to be happy. I know I complain..."

"You let me do whatever... and yeah, sometimes I'm happy because of it. But you know I'd be more happy doing things we both like. You complain because even while you don't like what I'm doing, you're going to just go ahead and let me do it," Wheezie's voice choked, "If that's the case... then... then..."

"...then..." Zak nervously continued, "...why are we together?"

The twins looked down at their now separated bodies. How many times had they used the stones to split, sometimes for fun but other times so that they could spend time apart. However, every time, they found themselves coming back together, choosing to share their lives when they found that the other clearly helped to balance themselves. From the very start, all those years ago assembling a playground with their childhood friends, they had known that alone their personalities went to extremes. As they grew older and more intimate, so too did their personalities intensify.

"You're right Wheez," Zak said at last, "I do what you want and dream of the day when I get to do what I want."

Wheezie's eyes welled up with tears as Zak fell into silence. A million responses tumbled in her mind, all fighting to escape, but she forced her mouths closed and bit her tongues. All the fear that she never had in even the wildest stunts found its way into her heart now at the worry of what she was an inch away from losing.

"I... I need to go for a walk," Zak said softly, "I'll be back. I just can't... do this... right now."

Wheezie watched her brother turn away from her, a firm stride in his step that often worried her, before he turned and jumped out of the opening of the knuckerhole. She suddenly found herself alone again. Her mind buzzed, though the thing that kept coming back was his earlier outburst.

There was so much raw emotion in the outburst, it wasn't something that just happened but a thing that had been building up. She needed to focus on it, to rethink how the day went and consider how Zak felt. Both of her heads swallowed as she slid a hand up her chest and gently gripped the now dim badge.

---Part 7: Pieces---

The silence of the knuckerhole as she sat alone was unnerving. Most troubling was how it allowed her mind to wander. She needed to go over the events of the day and see how it had all unfolded.

As she took in a deep breath she noticed that her left head's nose was stuffy from her earlier crying. She blinked at that, now realizing that she probably would have a lot more issues with such similar things due to having another head; a third toothbrush being another item to consider, for example. Still, as she idly rubbed her nose, she noted that her cheeks were sticky and she was still dirty from earlier.

Was she really flirting with her lover looking like this?

She thought back to how frequently her play into sexual contact often didn't involve a shower or any form of cleanup in between the adrenaline action and the in-bed action and realized that she probably was somewhat rank whenever they did the deed.

Neat-freak Zak never mentioned her uncleanliness during their intimacy. He really did put up with a lot from her...

She walked into the bathroom, deciding to run herself a shower while she thought through things. The closing of the door was followed by her starting the water but unlike Zak she didn't wait for it to heat up and stepped directly into the tub, facing the water spray.

Normally this resulted in a blast of ice cold water on her chest before it got warm, but Zak's earlier shower had prevented that this time. The lukewarm water grew steadily warmer as it ran down her body and, along with the white noise, allowed her to drift into her thoughts.

The canyon flight.

It had been thrilling, dangerous, and, for her, exhilarating. Even now she felt a bit of a rush at the memory of hurtling down the narrow divides, the wind against her as she pushed through. But what about Zak? Clearly he had hated it... he never liked things like that. Only, he had done nothing but yell to slow down, yell to stop, or yell in pain when they were hurt. Correction; when he was hurt. Hurt by her actions. He never did anything to actually stop her... and she wasn't sure if there was anything he really could have done.

Then the crash.

She recalled that it was abrupt. Zak had tried to stop them, but she had been too busy riding her adrenaline high to react before it was too late. She remembered hitting the wall with her shoulder. Pulling back but bouncing against Zak's head... her neck pressing to the crystal... and then...

Blackness.

Thinking of the nothing... that total blank where her senses and even her active mind had been gone... helped ground her in the now. The hot water felt great against her scales and her hands had wrapped themselves around her chest. As she rubbed the warmth along her body she noted that her left shoulder ached something fierce. A quick peek showed that it even had a darkening color to it. Something slimy was coming off as she rubbed at it: likely a salve or oil applied by the doctor.

Had she really not been paying even this much attention the entire time?

Yes, she wasn't paying attention. She had woken up, rubbed her head, and, instead of checking whether Zak was okay, insisted they do the canyon flight again. She hadn't even been aware of the other head for a long while. It had been so far outside her experience that she'd had no idea something was actually wrong.

The recollection, suddenly crystal clear, showed her the expression on Zak's face when she had first woken up. He had been happy, so incredibly happy, and yet tear-streaked and horrified beyond her imagination. Not to mention the blood from his injuries... and probably hers as well... painted across his features.

She should have asked him what was wrong. She should have comforted him. She should have done any of so many things that she could have done.

But no... she was too focused on playing. On just jumping to the next thing she wanted to do because Zak wouldn't put his foot down hard enough to stop her. Zak had to have known her earlier statement of "not wanting to stress him" was outright false, but still, he had never corrected her. Once again... just going with it. Rolling with the hits the way he always did, deflecting from anything negative.

She ran both of her heads under the water spray as she rubbed the space between the necks: something that Zak usually did when they were together... when they'd had only one space between. A sigh slipped from both of her mouths as her thoughts turned to later on with Doctor Booboogone.

Wheezie could hardly recall what was going on when they had visited her. She'd been so preoccupied with the slowly-learning new head that she missed most of what had been discussed. Something about being part hydra? A memory clicked into place and she corrected herself; she was part hydra while Zak probably wasn't. She knew he was injured in the crash and the same crystal that claimed her head had taken a slice out of him as well.

He'd bled a lot; much more than her own decapitation had, and continued even after it had been bandaged. Wheezie now had the thought of what would have happened if Zak had lost his head with hers, or even had just severed a major artery. She'd have woken up, probably still played with the severed head for a moment, before finally realizing her brother and lover was dead.

She pulled her heads out of the water and shook them as if to shake the thought out before it manifested. It was too late. She clearly envisioned him being lifeless as he simply lay there connected to her. It would be like being totally paralyzed down one side. It made her stomach turn, her heart ache, and fresh tears fill the corners of her eyes.

Turning her back to the water she felt a deep coldness despite the steamy spray. She now had a better idea of what he had felt at that moment. But to her shame, instead of connecting with him, just letting him get his bearings and even process the incident herself, she had just continued to play.

She slammed the wall with a fist, an action that made a firm echo and a small pain run up her arm as her frustrations got worse.

The trip back to the school for the stones came next in her thoughts.

She had been so uncaring and oblivious to his anger and frustration at this point, and it had to be leagues worse than what she felt at this moment. Zak was enraged, yet trying to still play peacekeeper. He hadn't brought up his anger at her, he had just gone for the stones so that they could be apart. But what had she done? Thought of nothing but her post-adrenaline-rush lusting.

Now she felt incredibly stupid. That was how it often went, right? She would coax him into some insane stunt, she'd get her adrenaline high while Zak got hurt, and then she'd make it up to him by smashing him into the mattress while also selfishly venting her own sexual desires.

The rest of her body washing passed on autopilot before she turned the water off, but afterward she just stood there with her heads drooping and the only sound being the dripping of the water off of her scales and into the tub. The dripping wasn't even musical, as it would be in nearly any other mood. Eventually she stepped out, nearly numb hands grabbing her towel and starting to rub herself down.

She was selfish. She was not thoughtful. She had... abused him...

He should just leave her.

She wasn't worthy of him.

A flare of anger tried to spike as Wheezie found herself in front of the mirror. The two heads looking at their reflection. The sensation might have been odd at first, but it was practically natural now... still weird though, seeing that many angles.

She tried to see herself as someone heartless, someone cruel, someone unthinking. Instead, she only saw a purple dragon with deep, pained eyes. It was the pain of someone who was sorry that she had hurt someone that she loved. Someone who is cruel and heartless wouldn't feel regret for their actions. She couldn't imagine herself otherwise... couldn't lie anymore.

A hand slid up and grasped her badge, the symbol of kinship with her brother, and a pair of gentle smiles crawled up her lips.

No.

Cruel and heartless wasn't who she was. Unthinking? Prone to rash decisions? Yes. Occasionally selfish and headstrong? Definitely. But she could be reasoned with and, in the end, she cared. Especially now, with the severity of the events that had happened today, she was rather certain she wouldn't be quite as prone to mindlessly acting out whatever she wanted.

No. She would listen from now on. If to no one else, then at least to Zak. Her smiles widened as she looked into her reflection. Yes, she was sure she had the answer now.

Now she just had to be... a shudder shook her despite her resolve...

Patient.

---Part 8: Scattered---

Walking.

It wasn't what most dragons did, but Zak did it now. He'd had enough of flying. Flying, sliding, running, swimming... with Wheezie even something tedious like doing dishes could turn into some sort of extreme disaster. It was like she was allergic to calm. Worse, now that she'd effectively nearly... no, not nearly.. she'd gotten herself killed. On any other dragon, that would have been the end. And her end would have been swiftly followed by his own.

He wanted to shout, to rage, to scream out and blast fire upon everything around. But that wasn't who he was. Sure, he complained... aaaall the time if he was being honest... but he never did anything other than that. Everyone knew that. He was the quiet, patient one, long suffering the walking thunderstorm he'd always been attached to. After all, the more you suffer, the more it shows you really care...

...right?

Forcing down a scream, Zak found the most bitter of mental pills to swallow so far.

She was making it HIS fault. She was telling him that it was HIS responsibility to control her. What had ever happened to personal control? Self discipline? Was she incapable of making an effort for anything more than her base physical desires? If she wasn't jumping off a cliff, she was using him like some plaything.

And now she wanted HIM to be the one to tell HER 'No' like his feelings weren't obvious. Like his complaints and pleas and his ever-repeated refrain of "Slow Down, Wheezie!" meant nothing at all.

Just like that it broke. Something finally gave way, all alone with who knew how many hard-stomped miles of distance into the open vistas of Dragonland, Zak finally unleashed his frustration and anger. A primal, pent-up scream tore into the sky, startling wildlife and making anything with an ounce of sense and self preservation flee. Fire gouted in a white-hot fountain of jets and sparks, bright as a magnesium fire which brought out shadows despite the daylight. Tears squeezed out from clenched eyelids evaporated instantly in the blistering heat.

The outburst passed in a ringing moment. Zak's mouth closed shut with bone-snapping force, trying to hold back any more as his neck arched down to hang his head. Heaving, Zak felt the fresh tears forcing their way out and down his face. The first few sizzled at his still boiling-hot scales, but the next few found their way down his muzzle. He didn't want to cry over this but nothing could stop that now.

Time lost meaning. Thoughts rattled painfully through his mind as his body wracked with tightly bound sobs.

He didn't want it like this.

"Zak?"

In a rush of panic Zak's head snapped up, scanning for a place to run and hide. Whatever happened, he had no desire for anyone to see him like this.

A gentle touch settled on his shoulder. Against expectations, he didn't immediately jump away. Instead, he felt somewhat defeated and deflated, his heart still pounding with his outburst, but otherwise he was still, if droopy-necked.

"What do you want?" he asked, not looking at who had been touching him. He didn't know who it was; the voice wasn't Wheezie's, but it did sound familiar and feminine.

"What are you doing out here... alone?" she asked. A second, smaller voice spoke up.

"Did you and Wheezie have a fight of some sort?" Zak finally turned, still rather defeated and frustrated, but his innate kindness couldn't let him continue being rude to those who were obviously concerned with his well being. Standing before him were Cassie, the shorter, pink dragoness, and Priscilla, the taller, soft green dragoness boasting rather massive... wings. Both wore rather concerned expressions, which alone made him feel somewhat guilty.

"It's not..."

"No," Cassie interrupted, seeing immediately where this was going, "it's not a fight. You two don't really fight. Argue and complain, yes, but in my whole life I've never seen you lose it like that." Her sweet voice belied a deeper wisdom that clearly knew things more in depth about him than one would expect.

"Yes... No... I..." Zak sputtered in a slow, unsure manner. Priscilla only knew Zak from a distance and didn't speak up just yet, though she wasn't aware of him ever being apart from his other half. Cassie soon interjected as Zak stalled.

"Then what is happening? It had to be rather bad if you're yelling and crying like this..." she said, trying to be tactful but there was no denying the hard facts he had on display. He looked up, finally meeting her eyes, finding a bit of comfort there in such a familiar friend.

"Can we talk about this somewhere that... isn't in the open? I think I've made a big enough fool out of myself recently." he suggested.

---

Later, in Cassie's cave not far away, Zak tried to make himself comfortable on Cassie's surprisingly large bed. His shame had dulled with the walk, which his companions had silently assented to. Now he was nervously fidgeting, looking around at the huge home Cassie had made for her apparently solitary life. He wasn't ready to tell what happened, but the silent tension was becoming unbearable.

"So, um, why do you live all alone in such a big cave?" Zak asked awkwardly.

Cassie and Priscilla looked at each other seriously before melting into giggles.

"What?" Zak demanded at their amusement, even as he felt it creep into the corners of his frustration and depression.

"Seriously Zak? I thought you knew her since school!" Priscilla giggled, "I mean... 72 siblings..."

"Oh it's more than that now," Cassie said in a surprisingly knowing way, "My parents aren't the type to understand little things like limits."

"And I guess that explains the bed..." Zak said, feeling more casual already.

"Yup," Cassie added brightly, "It's mine. I don't care if it could fit six more of me, I'm never sharing my bed again."

"Never?" Priscilla slyly inquired.

Zak couldn't help but notice a blush of classic Cassie shyness spread across the scales of his lifelong friend. Still... he knew exactly how annoying it could be to share a bed with even just one sibling.

"Well," Cassie finally squeaked out, regaining her control, "There might be room for some temporary exceptions."

"For... an hour or so?" Priscilla added in her own nervous-yet-knowing way.

"And then they can sleep somewhere else!" Cassie blurted, getting a laugh from Zak and Priscilla.

"They ey? Ambitious." Priscilla giggled out.

"Maybe I'll see how many I can fit in this bed. Any 'they' I find will have to keep up," Cassie's scales were practically scarlet with her blush.

"Wheezie could be a 'they' all by herself now that she's got two heads!" Zak exclaimed in his laughter.

Zak's laugh tapered off into silence. Ok it hadn't exactly been the most tasteful joke... but...

Why were Cassie and Priscilla staring at him like that? Why did they look confused? Afraid? Why had they gone so quiet?

"What?" Zak sought hesitantly, "I mean... cause she's got... two..."

"I mean, I know she's a handful," Cassie said cautiously, fearing an outburst like before, "But I wasn't..."

"Two heads?" Priscilla said as the coin dropped, "Wait, you're already..."

Finally cottoning on, Zak realized what he'd said in the heat of the moment. Eyes wide now, he could see that the source of their confusion was... well... exactly what he had been trying to find a way to tell them. He'd just blurted it out like that! What was he, stupid?

"Wait... How does SHE have two HEADS now?!" Cassie caught up.

Priscilla, rummaging in her pouch, brought out a bottle and a trio of tiny glasses. Handing them out, she quickly poured out a measure for her friends.

"Here, we're gonna need this..."

***

"S-so yeah," Zak slurred, "that's about it. Turns out that Wheezie can grow new heads."

"I'm more shocked you made it out alive." Priscilla smoothly quipped.

"Y'know, I always had a thing for you two," Cassie purred.

"Wha? Seriously? Me and Wheezie?"

Priscilla decided that now would be a good time to play mediator. More used to the effects of her drink on dragons, she was fairly clear headed. The edge of tension had definitely gone from the room as she had poured measure after measure out for her friends and as Zak had told the tale, but with Cassie letting a bit of her freak out, it paid to be cautious. Though the two of them had never hooked up before, Priscilla knew a repressed super-freak when she met one. ...It was the reason she and Cassie had been walking together when they had come across Zak in the first place.

Worse yet, Zak was clearly the bashful, vanilla, submissive, and overly prudent type who would almost certainly never get the hint on his own. To Priscilla, who had spent years learning how to read the meaning in words and expressions could see even with her limited exposure to the mismatched twins that Wheezie would have walked all over her brother without realizing that he couldn't even IMAGINE the correct steps to take.

"Zak," she started gently, "Cassie doesn't really 'have a team', she just loves to 'play the game' when it comes to other dragons..."

Zak's eyes glazed, but Cassie fidgited and squirmed in drunken embarrassment.

"So when Cassie thought about, well, let's just say 'the best of both worlds'... you fit the bill."

Zak, slack jawed, took a while to process this, even as Cassie settled down and took another tiny sip of the Dracovitz from her glass.

"So..."

"And I know you know what I'm talking about since you've been staring at my wings most of the time we've been talking." Priscilla added, trying to deflect a mind that might be on the verge of freaking out.

"I mean... yeah... well..."

"It's ok to look. I've actually grown to like it."

"Oh wheeew!" Cassie blurted, "I've always been sooo jealous of those! Seriously, since I came of age and found out how sensitive my wings were, I couldn't stop myself thinking about how those must feel."

"They're... yeah they're pretty sensitive." Priscilla admitted, finding her control slipping a little, "I... em... I try to keep them in close 'cause they're always brushing on things."

"Wheezie really likes me to play with her wing... but I don't always like it when she grabs mine without asking..."

"It's been way too long since I got a good wing rub," Cassie sighed wistfully.

"I... I've always liked your wings too Cassie. I think they're... dainty. Like, small, yeah, but really pretty."

"and yet you've been staring at Priscilla's big ol' wings the whole time..."

"well... come on... they're huge." Zak admitted, uncharacteristically bold thanks to the drink, "you can't help but look. You'd be crazy or a buffoon... like... ...remember that Enrique human?"

The girls nodded, not having fond memories of the human "friend" Max and Emmy had tag along who somehow made Ord look like a scholar by comparison.

"I mean yeah... It'd be great to just run my fingers through those big ol feathers... I'm sure she'd like it too, but that's... like... not like what it would be with Wheezie. She'd be the one controlling things. Basically, she'd be all 'Faster Zakie! Faster! While I'm trying to keep from popping off one before I'm ready... like... is it wrong if a guy wants to make it last? I thought that's what girls wanted..."

Another frozen moment.

"So... like... you... did your sister?" Priscilla blurted in shock.

"We share the same body... it's not like..." Zak countered a bit more forcefully than he would normally have done, "It's not like I creeped into my separate sister's seperate room. Wheezie always knew about me and I always knew about her. I mean, unless we're separated it's like 'boy' and 'girl' only really mattered from the neck up."

"Wait... then how did you?"

"Well I mean, we have hands... and long necks... and..."

"Yooou didn't just use those stones to spend 'alone time' either, huh." Cassie interjected.

"At first it was just playing around... you know... experimenting. I'd get hard for like... no reason... and she'd just never leave it alone. It was like a new toy for her. Then she'd get excited and make me touch her too. I'm not gonna lie, it felt great, and when we decided that we weren't going to share our first time with anyone else we got the stones from Quetzal. Next thing you know... every opportunity. We tried to space it out so as not to get suspicious, but... I mean..."

"Dude..."

"It started getting weird as Wheezie's tastes changed. Like, there was this one time where she told me a fantasy where she and I would convince Quetzal to..."

"Seriously?!"

"With me..."

"Da fuuuuu" Priscilla exclaimed with a human expression.

"And then one time, while I was sleeping, she made a replica of my..."

"No way!" Cassie broke in.

"'Cause she didn't want to always have to wait for the stones. So sometimes when we're messing around, she'll just..."

"And you just let her?" Cassie demanded.

"What do you mean let her? It's Wheezie, she does what she wants."

"So... you willingly go along with whatever she wants? I thought you objected all the time."

"I do... but... I usually just do what she wants. It's easier than having hours of her sulking and giving me the cold shoulder... which is colder when it's attached by the way."

"So, basically, back when we were kids and you'd be screaming 'slow down Wheezie!' you... were just letting her get away with it?"

"I mean, it was either that or we'd end up in a tailspin. Seriously, if I ever tried to make her slow down... we'd spin out. Then she'd make it like it was my fault."

"Dude... You're such a little bitch." Priscilla chuckled.

Both Zak and Cassie stared, stunned at her audacity.

"What? He is. He lets his sister control his life. She's been pushing his boundaries and he's just been crumbling. How's she ever going to know the limits if he never gives her any? She's probably been hoping for him to like... put her in her place... probably all their lives. Now she's gone and nearly gotten herself killed and somehow it's still your fault."

"Hey now," Zak said, his temper flaring, "I mean... I am not a..."

"Naw, don't deny it," Cassie interrupted, her normal shyness nowhere to be found, "You can talk a big fight but I remember a young dragon who would show up with so much padding that he couldn't move and... more than once! You moan and groan, you snap at people, and you even do what you can to get Wheezie in trouble, but you never actually STOP her. You're too afraid of getting hurt. You wrapped yourself in padding so she can hit you as hard as she likes! Why don't you actually 'man up' like Max used to say and actually DO what you WANT?"

"Because I don't want to hurt anyone else!" Zak replied forcefully, staring a suddenly angry Cassie right in the face. His eyes, aflame with indignation, matched her gaze which was alight with the cathartic release of years of pent up aggressive thoughts.

"Maybe they need hurt! Maybe you need to make them hurt! Make Wheezie hurt instead of letting her hurt you. Maybe no one has any respect for you because you always end up backing down. Who wants a dragon that can't be fierce?!"

"Fine that coming from you. You were always scared to act! You would just shrink away to nothing if anyone even so much as challenged you. Now you're gonna tell me how I should be?"

"Because I've BEEN THERE Zak! I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

"Uh... Guys?"

"WHAT?!" Two pairs of incandescent eyes swung around to fix on Priscilla.

"Cassie's brushing the ceiling."

The scene suddenly came into focus. Cassie, in her temper, had grown past her normally diminutive stature and now filled her bed. Well known for shrinking away in her nervousness, her drunken boldness had made her much larger than either of her friends. Zak, seeing how she was now looming over him felt his insides turn to jelly.

...like the "bitch" I am? He wondered to himself.

Even as Cassie deflated from embarrassment Zak struggled to keep from crumbling. A deep breath returned a measure of shaky control. The drink certainly wasn't helping him there.

"Look," He said in a more even tone, still carrying an undercurrent of anger, "I really just don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to lose control."

Cassie's shrinking halted as her feelings rekindled. Now Zak's height she glared.

"¿Y Que? ¿Que carajo esta "lose control"? ¿Que se parece a ti? Realmente me gustaria ver!" Shouting in old draconic to emphasize her point.

Suddenly Cassie's lips were pressed against Zak's while his arms pulled her body close to his. She could feel his fingers go straight for her wings and pass through her feathers sending shocks of exhilarating pleasure straight through her spine. Her eyes, already wide, strained with surprise. Her tail stood rigid behind her as her toes curled.

Priscilla stood in shock and awe at the suddenness of it. She watched Cassie's expression melt from anger to surprise to wonder to desire in the span of seconds and she could not look away. But suddenly the kiss broke, Zak released Cassie who slumped back on her bed, and Zak was taking a step toward her. Waves of titillating suspense washed through her as she realized that she was certainly the next recipient of his attention.

Then he was upon her, pressing his body against hers, rubbing his long, smooth neck across hers, reaching behind to grope her massive, downy soft, suuuper sensitive wings. No kiss for her, a part of her mind considered, but that was of no matter. Zak squeezed and fondled her wings as though he was trying to cover every inch. Her back arched towards him, pushing all her weight into him as she went up on her toes.

Delight. Pure, unashamed, primal delight.

She wrapped her arms around him as she pushed, grinding her front against him and reaching out to tickle just the tips of his little wings. What she wouldn't give for him to just...

...and then it was over.

Zak had crumbled. He shrunk back away from the two towards the corner of the room.

"I-i-i... I'm sorry... I just..."

Shivers ran up and down Priscilla as she struggled to come to grips with what had just happened. A glance saw Cassie recovering from her... well... 'dragon puddle' and realizing what had happened as well. It was quite the situation. Zak was like a pressure-cooker about to explode, Wheezie was doing nothing but adding steam, and clearly what he needed now was a release.

Damn, Priscilla thought, he's been Wheezie's plaything all these years. I'll bet he's just as freaky, but doesn't know what to do with it.

"That's what you're afraid of huh." Priscilla deadpanned. She had meant for it to sound gentle, but it really just ended up sounding flat.

"I won't force myself on other dragons... I'm not going to be some kind of freak. I can't... let myself go..."

"Right... because you're such a big male that you'd just own every other dragon that took your fancy, guy or gal? You're gonna just go on some rampage of conquest that sows your seeds all over Dragon Land? Thousands of illegitimate eggs from ocean to ocean, thousands of sycophants on their knees, worshipping your feet, bringing your tributes and satisfying your every whim? Zak, conqueror of Dragon Land, God Emperor of Dragonkind and actual father of half of it? Is that it?"

Silence. A moment stretched by amazement.

"You... have got to stop with those weird stories Priscilla," Cassie cut in, still laying flat, but having rolled her head up to stare.

"I... I forced myself on you," Zak interjected, "How can you..."

"I could take you down easy Zak." Priscilla said flatly.

"You... wait... what?"

"I'm saying, Zak, that if I didn't want you on me, I'd just beat you down. You would not be able to stop me," Priscilla stated firmly, putting a touch of aggressiveness behind her voice as a plan formed in her head, "and Cassie could probably take me in a fight. She'd have no problem with you."

Zak's mouth, slack, mouthed a few incomprehensible words.

"You, Zak, have no chance of this macho fantasy of yours."

"Umm..." Cassie butted in, sitting up fully, "Technically that was..."

"The problem is," Priscilla interrupted, speaking over Cassie, "you've been kept down by Wheezie all these years who, if I'm honest, is a bigger and better freak than you'll ever be."

"What the... I'm..." Zak stuttered away, totally agog.

"But I got a feeling. I'll bet that you could get everything you want... and you won't have to feel guilty about it."

She let that sink in, using a gentle, if unsteady hand to close Zak's mouth. She leaned in close, her cheek right next to his.

"You just need to blow off a little steam," she whispered, "don'tcha? Get your head straight?"

"Stop..." Zak said, "I... I'm not dumb. I know what you're trying to do."

"Do you?" Cassie wondered, "'cause I am completely lost."

"She's trying to get me riled up so I stand up to Wheezie. She's using this... like... weird sexual vibe and trying t-t-t' paint me into some sorta, like, thing. Like, what she thinks male fantasies are like. Guys don't wanna be like that, they just... want to be taken seriously..."

"Seriously?"

"Like... guys try to attract a girl, they laugh at us. Guys try to be respectful... laugh at us. Unless the guy's like... a total B-hole... makes you feel bad... we're just jokes to you."

Both girls giggled.

"What?" Zak demanded.

"You said... "B-hole"... what are you, like... five?" Priscilla chortled.

"Exactly what I mean... I try to be respectful..."

"I call you a 'bitch', demean you, to your face, an' you're trying to be respectful?! Then you want to be taken seriously? Zak... that's exactly why you're in the trouble you're in! You value yourself so little, then you expect that others do to, then you get all butthurt and attack back with sarcasm... and are pissed off when people see you for the non-threatening beta-male you are. I'll bet Wheezie is back at your lair right now, so shocked out of her mind that you actually left that she can't decide what to do.

"But I tell you what she's going to do if you come back with any of this whining mess you told us. She's going to expect you to crumble. She's going to give you what looks like a choice and she's going to expect you to back down. You're gonna cave, make some concessions so she won't feel bad, and then it's back to being just another head on her shoulders. Back to being her sex toy. And you know what? Unless you can show me you want to change... I'm gonna let you just go right back to it."

"Cassie?" Zak begged, desperate for an out from the tangle of emotion rising inside him.

"She's... right Zak," Cassie admitted, "When you... um... you know... just then. That was the most impulsive I've ever seen you. You always plan and over-prepare, but you never... like... just go for it."

"I just want us to be... equal. Partners. Like in the old days..." Zak moaned.

"You can be," Priscilla said, much more gently, "but the old days are gone. Now I'm not saying you're totally blameless, but she did cross the line... a lot... with you. Chances are, what she wanted all along... was..."

"What?"

"Well, you know, for you to actually take control." Priscilla softened further, laying her hands on Zak's shoulders, "Seriously. Females want two things in life, more than... well... everything else. Choice and challenge. We want to be able to make our own decisions, get what we want, have some control over the things we decide, and the ability to win."

"Guys want that too..." Zak murmured.

"But guys get it more. Look, you guys think we laugh at you, and we do. You guys do a whole lot of dumb stuff... and usually when you're trying to impress us. But we gotta lay the eggs. We gotta make sure our choices lead to good outcomes... and I really doubt you know how hard we work to make our choices the good ones."

"But it's always the jerks..."

"Those females are usually..."

"Like you," Cassie interjected, "self doubting."

"Yep. They don't think they're worth it, even if they're... suuuper hot. They honestly think they have found the only guy who will talk to them, and probably because every guy thinks they don't have a chance. So only jerks talk to them."

"Yup, and then they stay in the bad relationship instead of admitting they made a bad choice." Cassie agreed.

"But Wheezie has got a built in guy... one who doesn't fight back and won't harm a scale on her head. Her challenge is... well... to make you the guy she's always wanted. One who compliments her actions, and who can help her make good choices. You don't."

"Like... that kiss was like... wow." Cassie said dreamily.

"Oh yeah. That was, hands down, the hottest thing that happened this week." Priscilla admitted, "I totally thought you were actually going to..."

"...hoped he was going to..."

"B-but but Why?!" Zak exploded, "I didn't get your permission! I forced it."

"You acted like yourself. The real you. And as I said before... I could have kicked your tail off if I hadn't wanted it."

"Sometimes, acting on impulse is like... super turn on."

"But how do I know?! How do I know what's right?!"

"Uh..." Priscilla stopped him with a shushing finger, "First off, it was a kiss... and... a grope. You didn't force yourself on us. Just cause you kiss doesn't mean you're getting some action. I mean, seriously, as long as she has the ability to say 'no' and doesn't and you didn't, like, trick her into it or something... then... go with it. Go until she says 'no' and then stop. If she doesn't say no... you're good."

"Well what if I say no?"

"That's your choice, but I got a feeling you've been saying it a lot to yourself. You can't say no to Wheezie, not and really mean it, so you say no to yourself and make up excuses."

"You mean..." Zak said, dawning wonder on his voice, "a minute ago... we could have..."

"Maybe," Priscilla purred as Cassie turned into a beet-red giggle-ball, "depends how far you went and how we felt about it."

"Oh..." Zak said, crestfallen.

"Don't give up now damnit," Priscilla said, harsh but with notes of humor, "We've gotta get you sorted out first. Now here. Drink this and let's plan this thing."

Zak took another gulp of the purple-pink liquor that Priscilla had grabbed, feeling the rush as it numbed a little more of his brain. A wave of tension flowed off his back as the drink took its hold. Priscilla's attention had turned to the embarrassed ball of Cassie and was whispering to her and getting her to take another nip of her own.

Wheezie was still in the corner of his mind, a weight on his emotions. Whatever had burst out had left behind a little crack for melancholy to fill. Had she just been hoping all this time that he would put on the brakes and take control? Was that how it worked? He didn't have to submit and everything else had just been in his head? His deeper thought processes were muddled as the liquor regained a foothold while his attention was grasped by how Cassie and Priscilla gave him a rather wicked pair of mischievous grins. It seemed he'd likely find out before he'd be going home.

---Part 9: Gathered---

Zak was standing, possibly swaying (he wasn't completely sure) as he watched Cassie and Priscilla discuss something at a low tone. He wasn't quite sure if they were especially quiet or his hearing had been numbed as well, but he couldn't make sense of it and didn't feel up to prying even despite them being all of a few feet away. The two ladies soon parted; Cassie making the blankets on her bed a little more neat while Priscilla stepped up to Zak and gripped his wrist. As she pulled him closer, she locked on to his unsteady gaze.

"All right..." She said with only a bit of hesitancy, "Time for a crash course on being properly assertive. You're gonna learn it and w-when Wheezie tries to push back, you're gonna do what we show you. Trust me... when it comes to handling Wheezie... ..."

"Are... you alright?" Zak muttered.

Priscilla swayed, considered, and closed her eyes in concentration. A gurgling worked its way up her long neck, followed by a small blast of bluish flame. When her eyes opened again they shone brightly and a firm smile overtook her features. Mischievous intent shone there, stealing Zak's apprehensions and glowing through years of shyness and repression.

"Just had a little too much. I'm good now, though, and our minds are made up."

"Made... up?" Zak wondered.

"I'm going to coach you. You're going to practice. Cassie is gonna play your sister in this little demonstration."

"And no worrying." Cassie said in an excited voice, "We're gonna make it fun."

With that, Cassie jumped high into the air and pulled a triple somersault before sharply diving straight into her just-made bed. The sheets flew up and rumpled, destroying the pristine order in an instant.

"C'mon Zakie! Get on the bed with me!" Cassie shouted in a frighteningly good impersonation.

"uhhh," Zak hesitated, off-put by the sudden change in demeanor. Cassie's voice was spot on, but Wheezie was much more likely to be demanding with him rather than sounding so inviting, "what are we doing?"

"You're gonna get in bed with Cassie," Priscilla said slowly, as if to a child, "Then you're gonna practice being the dominant one. Cassie is going to try and resist like Wheezie would, but I'm gonna help you stay strong. Then, when you're done, we'll see what happens."

"Pffff, in that case you're gonna have to get waaay more demanding and less inviting..."

"No!" Priscilla interrupted, "no, you're overthinking it. We want you to get angry and let it out and take control!"

"I..."

Zak had turned away from the bed to face Priscilla, thus he was blind to the pink hands that took him by the shoulders from behind. Spine stiffening, Zak was surprised at how gentle the touch was. The hand-holds turned into a hug with a small muzzle nuzzling into the base of his neck. Not daring to look, Zak felt something drain away at the gentle action. He noticed Priscilla staring, but her face showed understanding more than anything. The hug loosened in a way that encouraged Zak to turn.

"Zak," Cassie began in her normal voice, "You know you don't have to do anything you don't want to, right? We're just trying to help..."

Priscilla made a noise.

"Well," Cassie continued, "and we thought we could have some fun, yes, but mostly help. If you don't want to do this we can stop right now, but..."

Zak kissed her.

Cassie's eyes shot open in delight as her lips met Zak's, the sudden jolt of surprise and pleasure sending her tail and wings totally rigid. Not forceful, but gentle and firm, she could only imagine that those lips had spent hours practicing with Wheezie but probably had never gotten to behave how their owner wished. Parting her lips, she let Zak's tongue inside and swirled it with her own. Leaning in, she felt Zak's hands pull her in by her hips, bringing her against him in a tight embrace.

It was a few seconds before Cassie's knees finally relaxed, rolling them both onto the bed. Hands reaching out to explore, Cassie could feel a certain something growing between them even as her fingers wove through the feathers of Zak's wings. Her own wings had been pinned when she had laid back, but her tail had tucked so she could twine it with his, bringing them tightly together. Cassie almost lost track of what she was doing as Zak's fingers passed through her feathers, stroking the underlying wing muscles in what felt like a knowing, yet unpracticed manner. She gently rubbed the tips of his wings with her fingertips and was rewarded with the sensation of him groaning into her mouth. It took her a little while to notice that he'd somewhat deliberately shifted her smaller frame downward. The warm, firm growth he possessed pressed snugly between their bellies.

Finally, he pulled back from the kiss to catch his breath and, in that moment, Cassie nearly full forgot what she was supposed to be doing. His expression was so full of honest lust that she couldn't help but admire and desire. When he used a hand to stroke her face, it was gentle, caring. She smiled back, longing to just give in, however there was a punctuation as Priscilla cleared her throat. Cassie looked over at her and found Priscilla nodding her head to the side, reminding Cassie what she needed to do.

"Okay, Zakie! It's time to ride the dragon!" she said, reciting the line in her eerily Wheezie like tone before she grabbed his arms and pushed against him, pulling his hands away from her body and from his task of gently caressing her. It pained her to do so, but the show had to go on.

Cassie got very little resistance as she started to lift Zak off of her, until he suddenly tensed up and she found she couldn't move him anymore. Looking into his face, she saw him looking back, his normally dark eyes just a bit darker, clearly out of focus. His expression even worried her as he seemed to be growing angrier and angrier, resisting her attempt to push him over. A sudden snarl made her jump as he pushed her forcefully back onto the bed, his hands gripping her wrists and pressing her arms over her head.

"Not this time, Wheez!" he growled back before he lunged his head in to... kiss at Cassie's neck.

She sucked in a sharp breath, expecting... damn near any number of genuinely violent things from him, but definitely not what he was actually doing! His lips danced and played along her scales, little licks followed by suckling kisses that made her legs tremble. As his lips traveled from one side of her neck to the other, she'd completely missed that Zak was no longer holding her arms, instead, having slid one hand down her front, drawing a finger over her belly scales, even just touching the edge of her pouch before he touched her downright flowing lips. His fingers traced the outer edges, sliding and gathering her moisture as he slowly worked in a spiraling manner towards her more sensitive inner lips and then on to put gentle pressure against her opening.

Then a gasp and moan tore from Cassie as he bit firmly on her neck. Not hard enough to hurt, but a very clear and certain sense that here, now, he was in control. Primal joy flooded Cassie as deep in her brain, those ancient responses handed down through generations demanded that she either fight or submit. But he was so... feral. She wanted whatever he could give her, and she wanted it now!

Shuddering under him from the sensations, unable to notice that he had moved his finger until it was already brushing the hard nub of her cleft, smoothly circling and brushing along it with unpracticed but clearly talented and thought out motion. Her thighs clamped on his hand as she stiffened up, shivering as a sudden hot, tingling climax rushed through her body. Her clamped thighs did little to so much as slow down his gently wiggling finger.

"Z-zak! I-" Cassie began as she came down from her high, but was interrupted by a soft kiss to her lips, his tongue feathered along them.

Down below, his finger slid further and teased at her opening before slowly slipping inside. Cassie's legs sagged back open, her insides wanting the attention so badly. She started to kiss him in return, but a soft groan rolled from her lips as he slipped his digit deeper into her and then drew it back. Zak didn't stick with the kisses for long. He pulled back from her lips and kissed at her jawline, then her neck where he paused to give her another firm love-bite. Now he trailed soft kisses down her chest, along her belly, over the edge of her pouch... Cassie gently nibbled her bottom lip as she watched him, her legs stretching up, her toes flexing as his warm mouth danced further down.

Cassie's eyes rolled back as she let herself relax. If his kisses were any indication, he was about to give her the ride of her life. She was expecting a firm tongue lashing, a hungry suckling, but what she got was a warm breath caressing her moist loins as a single hand joined his face. His kisses resumed on the inside of her left thigh, slowly pecking his way towards her downright drooling vent before he suddenly stopped. She cracked her eyes open in time to see him resume the kisses on her right thigh, doing the same as before as he crept to her downright sore vent, which she now realized he was holding open with two fingers. She was slightly ashamed she could feel her juices flowing out along her rump, her tail, and onto the sheets, but another part of her loved how... "raw" it was.

She gasped before her breathing caught in her throat for a moment as he lay a single, firm kiss right between her lips, right on her clenching, drooling opening. She doubled over, her stomach rippling hard and her toes clenching as her legs buckled for a tense moment before she was suddenly awash in a flowing, warm, tingling pleasure that drowned out most of what she was seeing and hearing. Her hands slammed on the bed and grabbed handfuls of bedding as her insides clenched and spasmed before, suddenly, a wonderful sensation of relaxation overcame her and she sagged back. She eventually could feel his tongue daintily dancing along her inner lips, slowly stroking her pulsing opening and it only served to drag out the warm pleasure she was awash in.

Priscilla was trying her hardest to keep quiet, but her voyeuristic enjoyment of the situation was getting the better of her. Just sitting there was not an option and hadn't been one when she watched Cassie convulse furiously just from Zak placing feathery kisses along her body. One of her own hands had caved to her lust and without even noticing it, she had crammed most of her hand into herself in an attempt to alleviate her own burning desire, which only got worse as Zak sat up, his throbbing shaft in the air as he gripped Cassie's legs by the ankles, lifting the little dragon's hips up and letting him drag the dripping head along her lips.

His movements were teasing at first, brushing the underside of his shaft along the hard nub of the gently wriggling, euphoric pink dragon under him before he nudged the head lower, slowly prodding her moist opening before pulling back, then prodding her again. Priscilla watched as every time he pulled back, coated with more of Cassie's copious fluids, he'd press back in a little deeper, but his pace was agonizing. Priscilla was expecting, even hoping he would cram himself into her, but here he was daintily prodding her downright red loins and it made her frustrated beyond all belief.

Cassie, despite enjoying the ride thus far, was able to somewhat get her head on straight as his gentle touch gave her time to come back down and start working up once more. Again, she could see he was being too careful. Clearing her throat a moment, she resumed her charade.

"C'mon, Zakie! I can't feel a thing. Are you trying to bone me or are you finger painting?" she said in her mock tone. To punctuate it, she reached up to grip his shoulders, again moving to push him, but he dropped her legs, grabbing her arms by the wrists again and slamming them to the bed above her head. Cassie was momentarily stunned from the movement, not from him grabbing her arms, but the act of him leaning over her so fiercely like that made him instantly bottom out in her.

Priscilla was happy that Zak finally seemed to get back into the aggressive mindset, but when she watched all that meat cram into Cassie's swollen body, it was like watching someone shove their fist in a glass of water filled to the brim as her fluids quite literally flooded out of her as his shaft displaced them, soaking the bed under her.

Cassie blinked her eyes, somewhat stunned silent as she kept her legs raised on either side of his hips, feeling his meat deep in her core. She shivered under him as she felt very nervous for a moment; her childhood friend had just pinned her to the bed and bottomed his deliciously shaped shaft in her after all. His expression also still seemed stern and unchanging, making the proximity he was looking at her all the more imposing, though her worries were quelled as he pulled his hips back, slowly drawing his textured shaft free of her snug grasp. Another sharp gasp left her throat, which quickly turned into a moan as that burning itch in her finally felt some relief as he drew smoothly back, leaving only the head in her before he pressed forward again. He was slow to the point you could hardly hear the mattress springs creek. Cassie could feel how hot and hard every inch of him was and the sight of him huffing over her was much too thrilling, making her loins clench down and ooze copiously.

Priscilla was making a flood of her own as she watched the slickened meat of Zak pull out, then press back in with an agonizingly slow pace. Priscilla pondered saying something for a moment before she noticed Zak was moving faster on his own. Was he getting confident? Remembering how to assert himself? She glanced at his face and saw his eyes shut and his teeth grit, and finally put together that he was near his limit.

"I-I'm gonna..." was about all he stammered. To the surprise of Priscilla and Zak, Cassie instantly latched her legs around his hips and goaded him into keeping himself deep inside of her. He couldn't think to argue and simply obliged her request by pressing down on her and shuddering, a low, quaking groan slipping from his lips as he suddenly paused; his stiffened tail twitching in rhythmic pulses. Priscilla had to look at their point of contact and could see just the base of Zak's shaft sticking from Cassie's lips, the vein on the underside swelling in time with the firm pulses of his climax.

There was a moment of silence as his pulsing tapered off and Cassie released her grip on him, the roleplay of the moment over.

Zak rolled off Cassie and onto his back beside her. Mouth dry, muscles quivering, but feeling great, he reveled in the uncomplicated glow of sweet release. Everything was right with the world.

Cassie's little gasps next to him were easily the sweetest sound he could think of. How she had endured such a pounding he didn't know, but now there would be no doubt who was the wimp. Recollections of the last few minutes filled his swirling daydreams. Daydreams come true, now he considered. She had felt everything like he had ever hoped, tight and strong and so wonderfully warm inside. He looked over to see her smiling, her mind clearly elsewhere as well. She wore a contented smile and dipped a finger down to play with the cream filling he had left behind. A shuddering sigh passed through her as Zak witnessed an aftershock of her enjoyment.

It was like having ice water run down his back. In an instant all the wonderful feelings fled him. What. Had. He. Done?!

"I... uh," he tried, the words tangling in his throat.

Cassie looked over at him, still smiling that smile that dragoncats wore when they had gotten away with something. How could he have been so careless? No protection? And he had just...

"Cassie? I think he's starting to hyperventilate."

Zak looked over in shock. Priscilla had seen the whole thing! She'd watched as he'd plowed and seeded his childhood friend! What must she think?! And now he was going to be a father on top of it!

Sitting up, clearly panicking, Zak looked around for... anything! He had no idea what to do!

"Zak!" shouted Cassie and Priscilla together, grabbing his attention.

Wild-eyed, Zak starred first at Priscilla, then at Cassie.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to go off in you! I'll... I'll... I mean... if we... I'll do the right thing!"

"Zak! Calm down! Ay, como friegas!" Priscilla snapped, "Cassie, please tell him before his eyes pop or something?"

"I laid my duds for the month about two days ago. I should be safe for at least the next couple of weeks." Cassie said reassuringly.

"You... I... you mean..."

"I dropped mine yesterday, just so we're all on the same page." Priscilla added with only a hint of sourness, "when do you lay yours Zak?" she asked, her tone dripping with snark and sarcasm.

Things clicked into place in Zak's head. Of course he'd known about dud eggs ever since right before he and Wheezie had hit puberty. Half a dozen rounds of "the talk" he'd sat through from Quetzal, Dr Booboogone, his parents... all the while knowing that he was doing the learning for both of them, as if both of them didn't pay attention, then they both wouldn't know what was going on when those times would hit.

"Wheezie and I layed our duds about a week ago... Miércoles, I think. I swear, we get the worst cramps the day before and we both end up just snapping at each other over every little thing." He said, completely blunt with a deadpan expression.

A stunned silence followed, with the two females staring slack jawed.

"What?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two females.

"Dios mío, I... think this is the first time either of us... I mean, it was supposed to be a... ..."

"You've actually laid duds before?" Cassie piped up.

"Well yeah." Zak said as if saying 'no duh', "Wheezie and I share a body."

"I know, but I never really thought... i mean... a guy laying eggs."

"We're both at once. I just am the male half. We've got a couple cousins, Charlotte and Anci, same... "parts situation"... but they both are female."

"Two heads," Priscilla mused, "both female, and... lemme be sure... they have both kinds of..."

"Yep," Zak confirmed, "both like other girl dragons too, on top of everything."

"What happens if they separate?" Cassie wondered aloud.

"You know... I have no idea," Zak admitted.

Priscilla snorted a laugh, "well which one's the more butch half?"

"Charlotte," Zak replied automatically.

"Charlotte probably ends up with it then," Priscilla confirmed.

"Not every two-headed dragon has both sexes though." Zak cut in, "most are only one or the other really."

"You're probably the only male in dragonland that knows what it's like then," Cassie said, amazed.

"Probably not, but you know that's why I am always worried. Wheezie never paid attention to it. I didn't want us to end up as parents... I mean can you imagine having to live with a gravid Wheezie?"

"Can you imagine living with a gravid Zak..." Priscilla said out of the corner of her mouth, drawing a glare from Zak.

"I have ten dozen siblings," Cassie said matter of factly, "I don't have to imagine."

"Still, all this explains so much now."

"It does?" Zak asked.

"Yup, explains why you're such a wuss. You're literally half female, even when you don't have a vagina."

"Hey!"

"Well prove me wrong then!" Priscilla snapped back, a huge grin splitting her features, "Show me who is the big, bad male. Prove you can stop worrying for two seconds."

"Didn't you just watch..."

Zak was interrupted as Priscilla shoved him, not hard or very violently, back onto the bed.

"Be a male!"

Zak pulled himself up, only to be pushed again. A growl pushed its way up his throat.

"A male dragon, not a cat!"

Two strong green hands caught Priscilla's wrists.

"Is that how it is?" Zak grunted as he heaved himself over.

One thing about growing up with a sibling the exact size and weight as you, you got good at moving them off of your side of the bed. Zak leveraged his tail and slackened one side, all the while shifting Priscilla's arm up and out to break her balance. Her eyes shot wide and a wordless exhalation was all that she managed before Zak effortlessly repositioned her.

Cassie saw as Zak found himself on top of Priscilla, giant glistening dick stiff between them. She saw the feral look and the intense toothy grin as he pulled himself back, repositioned his legs so they hooked behind Priscilla's and in a fluid thrust, sunk himself all the way to the hilt in her dripping wet snatch.

There were no words, there were no pauses. Priscilla's rump came up from the floor as Zak drove himself forward even as he hit bottom. Only as he had nowhere left to push did he allow himself to pull back, not even enough to slide out before slamming in again. Over and over he slammed himself in, as fast and vigorous as he could.

Cassie felt herself glowing inside as he watched her friends. A delicious thrill of voyeuristic delight piqued her lust. That same meat had just been so delightfully within her was now buried deep in one of her best friends... who she had been planning an afternoon of delight with anyways. It was so good that she couldn't help herself. Her fingers dipped down into her own snatch, pushing against her clenched hole. Two fingers came away covered in the mixture of her own juices and Zak's creamy load. With a happy giggle, she pushed them back into herself.

Zak's breath came in grunts as he slammed himself into her recklessly. No waiting to see if his partner came. No worries about how long he took. No caring about anyone else. Just fucking.

Luckily for him, he'd just blasted Cassie not long before and emptied out his first shot. As his mind caught up to what he had done impulsively, it spared a moment in the pleasurable banging to consider that he was lasting longer THANKS to what had gone on before. Now Priscilla was his however he wanted. And he wanted her to scream for him.

Priscilla, herself, was nearly breathless and awash in pleasure. The shock of being taken so suddenly had been intense, but definitely not unwelcome. She could barely draw breath between Zak's thrusts, but oh how he filled her. She'd taken some big dragon cocks in her time, but something about Zak's length and intensity let him hit bottom with every thrust, sending shocks of sensation up and down her spine. To top it off, the weight of him pressing down upon her meant every thrust did double the work.

In her last ounce of sense, she pushed everything she had into clamping down on Zak.

Zak's muscles were on fire, the little part of him that was sensible even in a raging torrent of emotion was worried that he wouldn't make it to the end, that he would have to stop before his climax. The rest of him didn't care. He didn't care a bit whether he passed out or injured himself. He wanted to blast himself inside this infuriating female and hear her scream for him.

Slapping of wet scales upon wet scales, heavy, deep, fast breaths, and the sound of toeclaws digging gouges in the floor filled the room, mixed in only faintly with the tender squeaks and gasps of Cassie, who watched the show while writing on the bed. Her eyes were focused on Zak's thighs, watching how they tightened as he plowed on.

But soon enough another sound joined. It started low and built steadily, staccato in time to the thrusts.

"RrrrRrrrRrrrAaaaAaaaAaaaAAA-AAA-AAA!"

Priscilla was speechless, but speech wasn't required here. Breaking only to gasp air, she wailed out as she rode out her climax. Cassie watched the place where her friends joined, seeing fluids gush from between scales. A flick of her gaze had her notice that Priscilla's wings were fanned out over the floor like some sort of magnificent halo. She was cumming, and it just kept going.

"FFFFFFFYEEEESSSSS!!!" Zak shouted as he too hit his peak, pouring out all he had left into Priscilla's vice-tight pussy.

Cassie, on the other hand, found her own climax. Nothing too special, but one that left her glowing and satisfied.

Zak laid down, unconcerned about his weight upon Priscilla. Their necks were both long enough that he had no problem resting his head on the floor just below hers. His weight and pose kept him inside, even as he felt things loosening up. He could still feel her squeezing against him.

Heavy breathing.

"So... feel any better now?" Cassie asked in her Wheezie voice.

"Heh," Zak laughed weakly between breaths. He sounded then as if he was going to say more, but nothing came. Just another laugh.

And Priscilla's laugh.

Between the high of the moment and the ridiculousness of everything that had just lead up to all this, the tension was gone. Zak rolled off Priscilla and continued just laughing.

A minute or two went by as the amusement tumbled out leaving all three just laying, sighing contentedly.

"Well... what now?" Zak asked, a smile on his face and nothing specific in mind.

"Now? Well... looks like you've got to decide some things." Priscilla said, propping herself up on an elbow, "Clearly you can't just bang your way out of this. She's taking advantage of you and you've just got to put your foot down and stop her."

"Put something down," Cassie added.

"She's waiting for you to take charge, and you've got to do it and not worry about hurting her. If she tells you to stop, then you stop. Everything up to that... fair game. If she's going to hurt you, or if you don't want it... tell her to stop. If she can't respect that..."

"Yeah," Zak said, gloom creeping back into his voice.

"No!" Cassie snapped suddenly, drawing both of their attention, "None of that gloomy tone. No more resigned punching bag, butt-monkey Zak. You deal with a lot and you deserve better. Every time something goes wrong it goes wrong to you and you just seem to expect to have to take it. Well sometimes life does go wrong. It's up to you to figure out how you're going to react to that."

"Damn, Cassie," Priscilla said, shocked.

"I... em..." Cassie stammered, remembering herself, "May have one or two issues myself."

"You don't have a sister like Wheezie," Zak pointed out neutrally before remembering who he was talking to.

"I have... Fifty... sisters..." Cassie deadpanned, "It really doesn't matter what one sister can be like."

"Yeah. Sorry. Got it." Zak retracted.

"Probably the sorriest dragon in Dragonland," Priscilla jabbed sotto voce with a huge grin on her face.

"But I'm not kidding." Cassie finished, trying to stay serious through her own grin at the comment, "You've got to march your butt back to your knuckerhole and tell her what's what. It'll be the best thing you can do for both of you... and seriously, probably for everyone who knows you too."

"Ok." Zak said, boldness building within him, "That's what I'm gonna do. I'm not gonna take it anymore."

"Alright!" Cassie cheered.

"I think we need to clean up before you go back though..." Priscilla added jovially, "We're a bit sticky."

"We could all use a shower, I think." Cassie concurred.

For such a small dragon, Cassie's cave had been built with space to spare and luxury in mind. The bathroom was a palace in itself.

Glistening crystal tiles and golden fixtures, crushed gemstones under glass, and the fluffiest towels festooning the walls in all colors were just the start of her bathroom. The shower was separate from the rest of the fixtures and looked as if it could hold half a dozen dragons with space to spare. The tub could have held a further three dragons the size of her mother, one of the larger dragons in Dragonland. The floors were draped with absorbent rugs showing soothing patterns in pinks, yellows, and lavender.

Zak was in awe at the array of colored and scented soaps and lotions. It was like Cassie had gone to a specialty store, taken one of everything in stock and lined them up on golden wire shelves. Here too were brushes, sponges, loofahs, and even a few things Zak simply could not identify. Nothing was plain or ordinary and everything was shiny clean as if it had just been installed before they had walked in. This was a bathroom that one dragon alone could get lost in.

"I just now realized what having a hundred siblings actually means to you," Zak deadpanned.

"And yet not one of my sisters has ever tried to kill me." Cassie jabbed back.

"It's just... a lot to take in."

"...she said," Priscilla quipped.

"Yep," Cassie added, "And it's all mine. I don't have to share it unless I want to."

Zak and Priscilla watched as Cassie danced, literally danced, into the room and drew closed a pair of shower curtains, disappearing behind gossamer translucence. The sound of running water like a rushing river started and immediately a cloud of steam billowed up, carrying with it a bouquet of scents. Cassie's pink head peaked out coyly from between the curtains. She batted her eyes and pouted her lips.

"Won't you share it with me?"

---Part 10: Talking Sense---

Dr. Booboogone sat back in her comfy armchair, kicking her feet up. Dragons were resilient, powerful, and could endure a lot of physical force before actually succumbing to their injuries, but sometimes that just made treating them all the more complicated. Luckily, much of her practice was spent treating the non-dragons with their decidedly more serious ailments. The last of her patients had required all of her skill to patch up and send on his way. How he had ended up in such a pickle, however, she could only ascribe to basic stupidity.

Taking off her glasses, she rubbed her eyes and tried to process the day. Most of it had been routine, with only one or two emergencies, but... oh the doozy.

Squinting through the haze of her own aged eyesight, she made out the shape of the jar full of preservative tucked away in the back of the room. One of those oddities that every doctor kept.

It had been so long since she had even seen a hydra that it alone was worth mentioning. The entire lineage that Zak and Wheezie belonged to had always been prone to dual heads and wild personalities, but she hadn't imagined that it was because they had actual hydra ancestry. Dragon heritage being what it was, she shouldn't be surprised, but it was still fascinating to think that no one had cause to find out in so long. She ought to write a paper...

"Oooh, leave it to Wheezie," she muttered to herself, reminded now of the litany of injuries and stories that had come from a lifetime of medicine. Wheezie alone could be her own book with a second volume adding in everything Zak had gotten into on his own.

She had nearly managed to finish her musings when she became aware of someone entering. There were no bells or alarms in her cave, but an old dragon just got a sense about these things. Someone was there and duty called... so much for her nap.

Before stepping out into her main chamber, Dr. Booboogone straightened herself up and put on a bright face. Nothing would ruin the patient's confidence in their doctor like seeing a tired old woman instead of a spry professional. She slipped on her glasses before she walked out, rounding a corner to see her patient.

It was Wheezie. Alone.

"Why hello Wheezie," Dr. Booboogone said pleasantly, "Is everything alright?"

Dr. Booboogone winced inwardly. NOTHING was alright about this. Both of Wheezie's faces wore the exact same expression of worry, not mirrored but exact copies. Wheezie was worried about... probably the exact reason she was here alone. Suddenly, the doctor felt her patience drain away. Whatever this was, she could already tell that the "medicine" she was going to have to dole out was of an especially bitter brew.

"Doctor... I..."

"He left."

It wasn't a question, it was a plain fact. An easy observation even if she didn't have decades of reading the emotions on the faces of her patients. Wheezie was speechless, so Dr Booboogone continued.

"He couldn't take what you did. He was tired of the abuse. You probably tried to gloss it over and make him feel good, which made him feel worse about things, so he escaped the situation. You couldn't see that you nearly killed him and that he might care about that."

Wheezie's eyes were clearly trying to hold back tears. Her shoulders were slumped, tail limp... she just stood there.

"You killed yourself." the doctor jabbed, "for all intents and purposes, decapitation is 100% fatal for dragons."

Nothing. Nothing came out of either of Wheezie's mouths as her legs slowly gave out, though she somehow managed to sit on the guest stool.

"And it makes it all the worse that I've had to wonder over all these years which of you, if not both, were going to end up..." Dr. Booboogone pulled off her spectacles to wipe her suddenly sodden eyes.

"I watched you two grow up. I was there with your parents through your laying. And to think that something reckless might put you in here being prepared for a funeral... But that's just me. He has to live with you. Your parents and friends all worry about you. Everyone around you who knows and loves you. Those are the ones you hurt when you are reckless. Zak tries to tell you when to hold back, but you just steamroll him. While I can wish that he would take charge... well... it might take something drastic."

Still nothing. Wheezie's attempts at not crying had failed, but she didn't even blink.

"I never thought I'd be able to talk to you alone." Dr Booboogone admitted, "I have seen it. We chastise you, and Zak takes it as a failing on his part. But now he doesn't know. Only you can hear what I'm saying. Only your thoughts matter. So what, now that he's not here, do you have to say for yourself?"

"I was wrong." Wheezie... the left head... said. The right head closed its eyes and drooped down solemnly.

"Is that all?" Dr. Booboogone narrowed her eyes. Despite her own sadness, it was more of a driving force behind a greatly pent up anger. "Just "I was wrong, I should have listened to everyone."? Is that honestly all you can say?"

Wheezie's left head mouthed something but no words or sounds came out.

"Zak had every reason to leave. You died that day." A snort of hot smoke left the old dragon's nose before she continued. "He didn't have the luxury of having a memory hole of that part, no, he got to watch every moment and lament how he couldn't stop you."

A pained squeak escaped the left head's maw as rivers of tears spilled down both faces, but the good doctor was not about to let up just yet.

"Is this getting through either one of your skulls? You died and deep down, Zak feels he is the one who killed you." She crossed her arms and some sort of shift happened in both of the Wheezie's heads. Evidently part of that made sense to her. "Now imagine him having to deal with that moment; those painful minutes of your death, only for it to be flipped around and you turning it into a game or a footnote, like it was some sprained wrist that will be healed up in a few days. Well news flash for you; Zak received emotional and mental damage easily on par with the physical damage you sustained, only unlike you, he isn't going to "grow back" in a few minutes."

That seemed to finally make the dam inside of Wheezie's mind shatter. She'd been downcast now and then, and she would pout about a lot, but Wheezie rarely ever really cried. This was one of those rare times as her right head remained limp and hung down as she buried her left face into her hands; a horrible combination of screaming and crying coming out half muffled as she equal parts clawed at her scalp in frustration while poorly covering her horrible sounds.

Dr. Booboogone never liked doing something like this, but if there was anyone here who needed a reality check, it was the youthful dragoness before her. In a sad way, it was actually a relief to see Wheezie reduced to tears. There was even a little deep down schadenfreude at seeing how Wheezie had to deal with her new right head, since it would have all the effects of crying even as her hands tended her left.

The only thing to do was to fetch a pair of tissue boxes.

The Doctor pulled up a chair and a wastebasket for Wheezie to dispose of the used tissues as, even without the second head, she was going to use a great many of them. Still, the mature dragon knew she couldn't let up just yet; crying and admitting her fault was just the first part, she had to know that crying wasn't the end of the situation. Still, she respected the main breakdown and waited for her sobbing to die down as she alternated between heads, wiping her eyes and blowing her noses before she could finally say something, the left head again taking charge.

"I never like making Zak mad or sad." she started though her voice warbled. "I-I just try to have fun and do fun things. I mean, I guess sometimes they aren't too smart but-" the Doctor raised her hand and Wheezie instantly stopped talking.

"That has been your problem ever since the day you hatched." she said, sternly. "You only ever think about what you want to do right this very minute. Even now, you're upset because, for once in your life, you don't have any thoughts to the future or any consideration of the past. You live in a very tiny bubble of the present and treat everything else outside of this bubble without the care it needs."

"I... i think about the past..." Wheezie said defensively, but only half-heartedly so.

"But you don't let yourself learn from it. You don't want to hurt Zak or anyone else, but your priorities don't let that stop you. You have to start thinking outside of right now."

The older dragon crossed her arms. Wheezie fumbled to speak, so the Doctor pounced again.

"There is actually a method to check and see if hydra is in the bloodline, but it's only mentioned to adults. The test is simple if somewhat barbaric; a fairly large incision is done on the neck, one that would leave a nasty scar. For most dragons, this leaves a painful gash that bleeds rather profusely. Even when patched up right away, it leaves a scar that never goes away. However, if the subject is indeed hydra-blooded, the cut will hardly bleed at all and it will heal fairly quickly with no scar."

She took off her glasses and leaned in close to Wheezie's left face.

"That is why I clarified that YOU have the hydra genetics, but Zak does not. He'll have that scar for the rest of his life." she said, slipping her glasses back on before she sat back again. Wheezie's eyes had grown wider.

"You mean if..." she stuttered and fell silent before the Doctor resumed.

"Had Zak not tried to stop you as hard as he did, his own head would have been sheared off along with yours. Now, you say you're paying attention to the past, think on this; you wake up with a brief blackout memory after the crash. Not only do you find your own head on the ground, but Zak's is there as well, and being the careless child you are, you play with them, only to realize Zak's side isn't moving. No, instead his limp neck is continuing to bleed out as your heart continues to work. No special trait to close the blood vessels and veins, no magical head regeneration for your brother. He's gone and even though your head came back, you'll likely be joining him by nightfall."

She wiped her eyes again before putting her glasses back on, finding Wheezie's left head nodding over and over again as she grit her teeth.

"You were given a miracle. A second chance. You can make this right and learn from it. Don't waste it."

Another silence, but Dr Booboogone let it go this time. Wheezie's next words would dictate what would happen next.

"I... i had hoped you would say something so i would feel better... but i don't deserve that. I need to feel bad about this."

Suddenly, Wheezie found herself in a warm, firm hug. Maternal, gentle, and strong, Dr Booboogone held Wheezie as the real dam broke. There was no distinction between heads, they both wept hard and honestly, one leaning over each of the Doctor's shoulders as she cried in stereo, the exact sound coming from both heads. The older dragon just held her as she continued to cry as she held her in return, not speaking a word until she had calmed down.

"If you want to know what you should be doing, you need to listen to Zak." she slowly pulled back from the hug to sit back down, her expression softer now but still of authority. Wheezie grabbed more tissues as she listened to the Doctor.

"He's likely gone off soul searching in some way. Probably seeking advice as well. I suggest you head back home and wait for him. When he returns, be ready to actually listen to what he has to say; don't just sit there waiting for his mouth to stop moving, actually listen to what he's telling you." she said, crossing her arms once more.

Sniffling filled the room as the conversation went silent once more. Nothing more needed be said, but the meeting could not end until Dr Booboogone had seen that Wheezie was at least stable enough to make it home. Both heads were fully engaged in crying, Wheezie's chest heaving as each tried to draw breath alternatingly.

Finally, Wheezie stabilized enough speak.

"Crying with two heads is surprisingly hard," Wheezie's left head said with an unsteady giggle, "But... but, yeah. I'm not gonna let this end like this. I know I need to control myself. I can't wait for him to make me do what I need to do..."

"And?" Dr. Booboogone interrupted.

"Umm. Well." Wheezie stammered as her train of thought derailed, "No. I came here because I was worried. I just... I couldn't believe it. I almost got him killed."

"I know. Some dragons just do that. They shut out the bad thoughts and try to make things normal again."

"I don't know... I... can things ever be normal again?"

"No. Not like they used to be. Not like when you were children playing with your human friends, not like when you were just teenagers fooling around, and not like when you became adults in a strange self-contained relationship. It's going to become normal, but only if you let it. Funny enough, it will all happen the same way that things became normal in those other cases. When you respect each other, work together, and think about what the other needs."

Wheezie's hand unconsciously reached for her dragon badge.

"I couldn't bear to be without him. Worse, it would have been all my fault. I won't let it happen again. I just hope he'll give me the chance."

"Just remember, let him take the lead, he'll go at his own pace. Don't expect it to resolve right away. It might take days or weeks or even longer. It's not like life's problems are fixed in just fifteen minutes. You just can't rush it."

Dr. Booboogone leaned in and hugged Wheezie as she went through her final sniffles. When it was clear that no further waves of tears were forthcoming, the doctor helped Wheezie to her feet and began walking towards the mouth of the cave.

"If I may," Dr. Booboogone added as they stepped out into the sunlight, "I suggest that you don't fly home. Why not walk instead and give your mind time to sort things out. Put yourself in Zak's footsteps and go at his pace. If you get home and he's not there, wait for him. If he is there... still wait for him. Whatever happens, happens."

Wheezie nodded, both heads silent. She turned and walked toward home.

---Part 11: Return---

Walking. It was something she had always avoided if at all possible. The real thrill was hurtling through the air, sliding through the knuckerholes, or speeding along the paths of dragonland on anything with wheels. Walking was slow. Running would have at least not been slow. It grated at her every nerve that now she was intentionally taking it slowly.

But it was for good reason. She wanted to walk. It was an essential part of getting what she really wanted.

But walking was slow. Even if she hurried, dragon legs just didn't really do the sort of ground eating strides that, say, a human was capable of.

Walking was slow.

And it gave her too much time to think.

It wasn't that Wheezie had any problem thinking. The real trouble was how her mind always bounced around with fancies and ideas and worries and wonders and feelings, all somehow constantly accompanied by a song. The song was always there even at her very worst of times, she reflected as she tried to bring the distance closer. Even back at Dr. Booboogone's, crying out more eyes than she had ever cried, somehow the music had never left her. Sometimes it even seemed a little inappropriate.

Little puffs of dust lifted from her footfalls as she moved across a soft patch of ground. Now that she had slowed down she noticed little things like that. She was also painfully aware that the music in her head... heads now? Body? Heart? ...seemed wrong. Something was missing. The...

"The harmony is missing," Wheezie muttered sadly.

Dull, lifeless, simple, rote... that's how it felt. Fast paced, yes, but with no real complexity. Just notes played rapidly by someone pretending to practice. It sounded like a jazz pianist who... somehow... couldn't actually play the piano.

"He gives me harmony. I can't have it without him."

Something was wrong with that. She had been apart enough times and still noticed it. Instinctively, her hand went to her dragon badge. For the first time in forever she pulled it up so that she could get a real look at it. It was golden, speckled with nearly invisible diamond chips, and lightly glowing even despite the daylight. It also bore unmistakable signs of wear and damage from a lifetime of crashes and generally existing in Wheezie's possession. It was magical, to be sure, and even crashing into a mountainside wouldn't be enough to destroy it. But it was magic tied to the heart. It helped dragons grow into better individuals.

Zak and Wheezie's dragon badges were bonded to them, paired, and attuned to their own biggest flaw. They had learned a hundred times and more the intricate lessons of getting along and being together. It was about living a life together, but respecting the other's individuality. But that had slipped. Now she had played him to get what she had wanted and nearly gotten him killed. She hadn't compromised, not really, since she hadn't really given anything up on the same order as her own stunt. It hadn't been fair.

Her mind jumped to the first time they had separated; young and in front of the humans, free to move and be themselves. However it took only a short time for their drastic differences to become a massive problem; Zak wouldn't dare make anything even slightly intimidating, leading to sagging drum skins that would collapse on themselves, while she showed how unstable she was instantly, smashing into a tree before forcing the pieces of a slide together that didn't fit, leading to it collapsing into a heap of garbage.

Even back then, they had to turn to each other to get the proper mind shift and control to build the playground equipment, but it wasn't hard in the least bit. Perhaps it was due to their youth, but she didn't feel she was ever hiding herself from her brother. Just being open about anything and everything; it was simple and freeing, and she very much loved the liberation such a mindset gave her.

She felt energised, happy at this thought. While the years has coaxed her to try and hide her heart from him, wasn't the whole lesson that they learned when they separated that they shouldn't be doing that? If only she'd remembered such a lesson early on, today wouldn't have happened like it did.

Her foot bumped something and she snapped out of her thoughts; realizing she'd bumped into their knuckerhole. Her deeper thoughts had voided what she thought would be an agonizingly long walk and turned it into a more simple journey through her mind. That suited her just fine, and perhaps that would lead to her doing this more often, since it seemed such an interesting trip. A glint of green caught her attention and her right head looked up, seeing Zak landing only a few feet from her.

Both waited in silence over the knuckerhole.

"So" Both finally said, at once.

But surprisingly Wheezie backed down immediately by waving her hand in a "you first" gesture. Emboldened, Zak decided that pressing on was just the thing to do. His sister never... never... backed down in a situation like this. It was almost frightening, but for his new surge of confidence, it was more of a challenge.

"I'm going to talk," Zak said firmly, "and I need you to listen.

Wheezie nodded silently, both faces downcast and attentive.

"Things are going to change. If I'm honest, though, I don't want them to. Change is hard. No one wants to do it. The same old thing becomes comfortable and then the things that hurt you can be kinda ignored... and then if they go away or change, you find yourself uncomfortable again because of the way it used to feel... like when you wear something so long that you only feel it when it's not there."

Wheezie nodded, holding herself in check with clear effort.

"I don't always let my feelings out. I'm slow in action, I like to plan, and I consider everything as much as I can before I let myself act. Being with you... you're the one who jumps ahead. It's like I'm metaphorically riding an emotional giant dracophant. I can pull on the reigns and say 'Woah! Stop! Slow Down!' all i want.. but in the end..."

Zak went silent. Wheezie waited.

"But I also know that this is a two way thing. If I'm riding a dracophantand all i can think to say is 'stop' then I'm not really trying. If the rider really stops to think about it, there are a lot of things that he can do. But you're not a dracophant and I'm not riding you."

To her credit, only the barest hint of a snort and from only one head could be heard. Zak blushed as he thought through what he said. He felt himself tense in frustration but, just like in his analogy, he had prepared beforehand how he would respond.

"I don't know where you went, but I'm sure you had time to think just like I did. I'm sure we'll talk about it and I'll listen to you about it. But for now, I'm just going to say that I'm not going to just go along with things. But at the same time, I'm going to not be so uptight about everything. I'm going to do more of what I want and I'm not going to be the buttmonkey in our relationship anymore. It's either going to go better or I'm... going to stop riding the dracophant."

The euphemism was overlooked by her this time as fresh tears were trickling in tandem from Wheezie's cheeks. Both heads nodded agreement.

"Now," Zak said slowly, realizing his sister's pain but determined to set things in motion, "let's go inside, have lunch, and talk about it across a level table"

Zak squeezed himself into the knuckerhole first, sliding through the passages that would take him home. The knuckerhole had only one speed, fast, but unlike his sister it had a specific set of destinations. He could handle this sort of ride, he reflected, because it was logical and certain. He and his sister had been exploring the maze of conduits that crisscrossed Dragonland since they were hatchlings and his knowledge was practically encyclopedic.

Finally, only moments later, he touched down on his front landing. Quickly he jerked aside, reflex telling him to expect his sister to barrel into his back if he didn't move. Instead, he heard her land gracefully on her feet. As he peeked over his shoulder he saw to his amazement that she stood demure and calm. She followed as he went further into their cave.

---

Lunch was simple and diverse, with nothing cooked to save on preparation time. Just a variety of finger foods and juices. The meal passed in relative silence at the small rounded table, the only real noise coming from Wheezie trying to decide which mouth to eat with. In a private way, Zak even allowed himself a bit of amusement at her consternation. She would usually default to her left head, or her "original" head, as her being their left side lead to her, for the most part, being left handed, so it was reflex that she'd try to default to that. It was fairly amusing when she'd guzzle a drink with one head and promptly belch with the other, at least, more amusing when he wasn't the one being blamed for the expulsion due to his sister's eating habits. Yet, despite all of the exchanged smiles and small chuckles and giggles, there was still a fairly thick blanket of intimidation over the room.

Dishes were cleaned up by Zak and Wheezie took a moment to wash her hands and faces in the bathroom, giving herself one more look in the mirror before she came back out to find Zak sitting at the now empty table, his eyes commanding attention in a way that she'd never seen before. What HAD he done to change his mindset so firmly? What had happened while he was away?

It was intimidating, it was somewhat scary but, most of all, Wheezie found some part of herself liked it. A lot. She joined him in sitting across from him. There was silence for a bit longer before Zak waved his hand, coaxing her to go forward and speak. She nodded and sighed, steeling herself for what she had to say.

"Zak... I think many of my... issues... have been due to us separating and not remaining together." she started, speaking with her left head. "You being there, tempering me, let me feel like I had some sort of bungee keeping me grounded, that no matter what I felt like doing, it was never too outlandish or dangerous because you were there. But... when we grew older and we would separate for longer and longer periods of time... I guess I was so used to your sense and care keeping me grounded that I didn't realize I'd been flying way too high and way too far..." She took a shaky breath before continuing.

"Because of that, and my natural brushing off of your warnings, I never took the more serious warnings to heart, because... I guess I felt you'd really stop us if it was too much." she then grabbed both of her heads and pressed them together as she whimpered and tried to keep herself speaking steadily but it was failing. "Wh-when we crashed, I didn't even think of how I nearly killed you... YOU! The most important dragon in the world to me! I-I just continued playing..." Despite her now running tears, Zak's expression remained staunch and firm. It made Wheezie feel even smaller. A glance through her blurry vision at the ugly scar on his neck coaxed her to continue.

"Wh-when I would be alone, I closed up my heart more and more. I felt like I could stay invincible if I didn't show anything deeper. I... I had no idea that I was pulling myself away from you, that I was ignoring what you were saying, that you were expressing to me how much you cared every time you said no, that when you said no, I wasn't listening to mom or dad, but my other half!" She tried hard not to break down further but it was beyond a losing battle as tears were streaming down her faces as she held back her sniffling. "That every time you said "No", you were really saying "I love you.""

A moment of silence passed as Zak remained stone faced for a moment. Then what he did made her blood run cold as he stood up quickly, kicking his chair away before he grabbed the table, rather violently throwing it aside. She winced and cringed. This was it; this was the beating he was going to give her, a beating she deserved, because he hated her now and she'd almost killed him. Any pain she'd get was deserved.

He harshly grabbed both of her arms and yanked her to her feet. Her heads cowered as he stomped up to her, bumping her chest with his, their badges clinking together briefly before his pressure made her back up only for him to step up to her again, making her back off once more. She eventually felt her legs bumping their bed; no more room to run. One more bump sent her teetering backward before she saw his hands suddenly lash out.

She let out a small shriek as he grabbed her wrists and threw her backwards, arms up as she landed flat on her back with him atop her. Her left head's eyes cracked open, daring to look at him, only to see him lean in and plant a firmer-than-usual, but still gentle, kiss upon her lips. This motion stunned her enough to make her other head open its eyes and look at the scene before her, seeing him having pinned her down and kissing her.

It was shocking and surreal. She was watching herself and at the same time feeling everything. In the moment and watching it from above.

It was so sudden and rough yet at the same time it was hard for her not to shed tears of happiness as she returned his suckling lips, feeling him be the first to press his tongue into her maw. She wanted to hug him tightly, she wanted to pull him close, but he kept her arms firmly pinned even as he hummed into her mouth in a pleasing manner. He pulled away, a string of saliva attached for a moment as he gave her another stern look, but there was a glimmer of happiness in his eyes.

"You're damn right I love you. I've always loved you. The prettiest, most attractive, honest dragon I've ever seen... and you're all mine." he said as he lunged forward and bit her left neck. She gasped out a bit of a squeak as that actually hurt, and as her right head could see, he actually broke the skin. A drop or two of blood escaped, of which he gently licked away, and just as Booboogone said, the holes he punctured into her neck closed up and after a moment, couldn't tell they existed. This only made her feel worse as she looked at the nasty scar on his own neck, though her sorrow was short lived as he kissed her again, the taste of iron on his tongue this time before he pulled away again.

"And right now, I'm going to make sure I keep you grounded for a very long time." he said as he nibbled on her jaw before he started placing licks up her left neck. He never groomed her like this; it was always gentle kisses and licking just didn't happen like this. Perhaps it was because she didn't wash as often as he would like, but this change in attitude didn't seem hindered by that anymore. She twitched as he felt a hand reaching down her front as he slid his body off of her and to her left side, laying on the bed with her, stroking his hand down her chest, down over her belly, trailing the lip of her pouch, then lower between her legs. At this point she acknowledged the fire inside of her and how her loins were simply flowing. She wanted to grab his arm and make him just cram half his hand into her, and with another twitch, she realized he'd let go of her arms. She could do it, she could grab him, but she resisted that urge, trembling from the effort, but resisting as his fingers danced around her moist lips, trailing along her thighs, pressing on her inflamed lips, even spreading her, but not touching anything inside. It was driving her mad and soon, her legs had lifted up, her tail twitching as her toes flexed and she gasped out.

"P-please, Zakie. I.. I NEED it!" she whined out. She was greeted by a moment of Zak stopping his licking and pulling away completely. Both sets of her eyes blinked rapidly and she pulled herself farther onto the bed, sitting up as she looked at him, her brother wearing a frown as he sat by her. The seering burn ebbed off as she felt she'd done something wrong, before he suddenly leaned in and hugged her. She paused a moment, motioning to hug him in return before she realized that hugging was not his goal. His fingers were gently dancing along the edges of her wings, gently parting the feathers, stroking the insides and straightening them with the tips of his claws as he preened her softly. A warm tingle raced up and down her back as her wings flexed, the urge to flap and fly strong, but again, resisted as the somewhat ticklish sensation soon passed and lead to... a soft, warm sensation. Zak's head rested between her necks as he hummed softly and smiled, ever so carefully grooming her and making her feel... good... very good. She'd never let him do this long, she often just sprang up from the ticklish sensation and they did something else, now she regretted not waiting to feel this back then.

"O-ohh.... Zakie..." both heads said at the same time as her body slowly softened. It was comforting but... it stoked a much deeper fire in her. She couldn't recall if she ever felt this sort of gut churning desire welling up inside of her, at least, not this intense. He continued to humm softly, seemingly absorbed in his task, but the sound was exceedingly pleasing to her. Her wings flexed and spread, letting him reach more easily between her feathers. As he continued the gentle preening, she sagged harder against him and her arms wrapped around him. For some reason, as relaxed and secure as she felt, she wanted to cry. Tears formed in her eyes and ran silently down her faces, yet her insides were so warm, so comforted, how could she be feeling sad? Zak gave her a small, idle kiss between her necks, her heart throbbing hard in response, and she discovered what she was feeling. This wasn't sadness, this was happiness. Not the happiness of a new toy or a special event coming to pass, no, this wasn't even the happiness of excitement of bedding a lover. This was the sensation of being with someone who you loved deeper than any family ties. She stretched her fingers and wanted to grab and claw at him possessively, but she paused and instead, reached for his wings, giving the bases a squeeze.

He twitched a moment with a soft humming sound, but merely spread his wings out. She'd not done much to his wings before, so she was unsure how to start returning the favor, however, as if sensing her hesitation, Zak's hands moved to the base of her wings, giving her a squeeze before drawing up through her feathers. She decided to try and mimic his movements. He grunted a time or two as she accidentally pricked his skin with a claw or squeezed too hard, but he otherwise was slowly relaxing as well as she preened him for the first time. His hands eventually stopped his work, a sigh leaving his mouth as she continued to caress him a while longer before she too stopped and he pulled back, looking into her faces.

"Not bad for your first time." Zak said, smiling for once. Wheezie's heart melted again as it didn't look like the same smile he would usually boast, instead, something much more... satisfied? She couldn't tell.

"Well, you're a pretty good teacher." she said with a modest little chuckle. She shifted in her seat as Zak nudged her necks affectionately, and it was at this point she realized she'd soaked the bed where she was sitting. Normally she'd just use this as a gateway for funtimes and leave Zak to take care of the mess, but it felt... "wrong" to do that. She fidgeted a bit more, trying to figure out what to say, but evidently, Zak caught on.

"Don't tell me, let me guess... you sprung a leak?" he said, a somewhat wicked toothy grin on his face. Wheezie normal would have laughed but she instead felt rather embarrassed as both her faces flushed, but she nodded. She suddenly was pushed to her back again, Zak positioned above her. "Well, guess I'll have to attend to that... provided you're willing to do the same." He didn't wait for a reply as he suddenly swung a leg over her heads and pressed his body upon her own, his crotch in her face as the fleshy length of his shaft eagerly slid out of his body.

"Now," Zak commanded, "Get to it!"

A shudder rippled up Zak's spine as two sets of lips wasted no time pressing lovingly against him. The sensation of both of Wheezie's hot breaths and the pressure of her mouths dotting little kisses and rubbing her lips along his sensitive flesh was unlike anything he'd felt before. What made it all the more exciting was when Wheezie started humming against him, her dual throats coming up with an impromptu harmony that set his nerves alight. Both heads continued in unison for a time, but then Wheezie, in her exuberant manner, switched it up having one side work up towards his cockhead while the other meandered back towards the base.

After a time, Zak realized that his revelry in the sensation had left him neglecting his own duties. He looked down at her lifted and splayed legs, viewing her inflamed and sopping lips. He grasped her and used both hands to splay open her lips, watching her drool right out onto her tail. He was just about to lap at her as usual, but instead, he listened to the hums coming from his sister for a second, reading the rhythm, before he smirked and pressed his snout into her lips, testing out his own hum for a three part harmony. As he felt his sister squirm as he dove in and felt her tense up and flow mor warm liquids onto his face, he knew he had gotten it just right. Better still, all his actions were punctuated with jolts of electric sensation that seemed to arc from his dick, up through his spine as she worked downright magic on him.

Two mouths at once, one humming and sliding her lips along the side of his shaft while the other suckled around the head, and with both heads having Wheezie's enthusiasm, it soon became too much for Zak. For a moment, he felt himself try to hold back, but then remembered... HE was on top! It didn't matter if he got off quick, this was about HIM for once. There would be plenty of time for soft, patient love later, for now, it was pounding time!

Wheezie's humming took a more frantic tone as Zak suddenly bucked his hips, driving his shaft deep into Wheezie's maw. Her suckling head let out an abrupt "GULK!" as it took every inch as Zak smacked her lips with his groin, shoving his meat all the way into her throat. The other head watched as he went wild, forcefully facefucking her other head. She initially enjoyed the sight, but seeing things stable with one head while everything bounced vigorously with the other made her shut all her eyes to keep from getting profoundly dizzy. That was okay as touch and sound were much more important at the moment, her hands gripping his hips and encouraging him onwards. Excitement... more excitement than normal... filled Wheezie's mind as she heard him grunting and huffing over his humming as his hips flexed hard. This was it! He was taking charge! He was fucking her face like he meant it! She then felt him tensing up, his shaft swelling in her maw and throat and dribbling fluid copiously. He was about to...

Zak lifted his face from Wheezie's soaked pussy as he yelled out his delight, feeling an especially powerful orgasm race through him as his shaft blasted his seed down Wheezie's gullet in powerful throbs. Each shot felt hot and raw, like all of his frustration was coming out with it. Wheezie's free head moaned and gasped out encouragement while the other head tried desperately to suck it all down.

"Th-that's it, Zakie... give it to me..." she said in a much more meek voice than normal as she watched his shaft continue to throb and pulse in her other mouth, swallowing around it to try and catch every drop.

As the last knee-trembling shot left Zak, he slowly cracked his eyes open and spotted a new scorch mark on the far wall. A modest flush hit his face for a moment before he turned his face down to stare between his body and his sister's. There he saw one face, smiling around his cock, beaming with joy, and the other looking up from the pillow with a mirrored jubilant expression. Satisfied, for now, he let himself roll off of her. Wheezie's sucking head arched its neck to stay attached.

"So," Wheezie said at last, even as her other head continued suckling Zak's softening dong, making him twitch as she overstimulated him. "Is it just me, or did Cassie and Priscilla meet up with you before you came home?"

Zak had a sensation of being doused with ice water and visibly shuddered.

"Wha... how?"

"Uh, well, I can definitely smell both of them on you," Wheezie said in a 'no duh' voice.

"B-but I showered and everything."

"And I've got two noses now. Double strength. Plus, girl dragon coochie scent doesn't go away that easily." Wheezie laughed and snorted.

Zak considered answering, but then another thought struck him.

"Wait, how exactly do you know what they smell like?"

Wheezie laughed again, amused at her brother, "Oh get real Zakie. Me and Cassie experimented plenty of times. And this one time we totally talked Priscilla into joining one of our 'girl parties'... that was right about the time she came out of that shell of hers... She's... I mean... kinda a freak. But in such a good way. You don't go forgetting something like that."

"So... you were with Cassie AND Priscilla too?"

"Well, Cassie directly, yeah. Just hand stuff really. She needed a confidence boost one day when we were split and you were at that 'guys weekend' Max insisted on." Wheezie said wistfully, "We never actually did anything with Priscilla, but I definitely got a sniff in at one point."

"That's... so pervy," Zak said, sounding shocked.

"And suuuper hot. She's like her own bouquet of flowers, but in a lady-parts sort of way..." Wheezie's free head looked over at her brother and smirked. "So... what was she like? Are her wings really as soft as they look? I gotta admit, I'm a bit jealous you boinked 'em both before I could."

Zak sat up, letting Wheezie recover as well. Both took opposite edges of the bed, their tails twining behind them. For a while they sat in silence as Zak collected his thoughts and remembered what had happened just within the last few hours. It seemed like so much in such a small amount of time. Just that very DAY it seemed like he had done enough to fill a hundred pages of a storybook if he look the time to write it down. Like he could spend a couple of years just putting the whole story together. And yet, now that he came to it, all he had to do was just... tell the story.

As he finished up his recount of the frisky shower scene, he found that his sister's tail had crept around into his lap. Her back had also managed to be pressed up against his as one of her heads was leaning back, laying over his shoulder, upside down and staring at him. The other head was fixated at her own lap where her fingers were playing with her almost painfully neglected loins. The feathers of their wings brushed against one another, adding just another thrill to the storytelling.

"So yeah," Zak concluded in a dreamy voice, "We toweled off, cuddled a bit, then Cassie made us a snack..."

"Wow, that was freaky," Wheezie sighed, "We gotta try it sometime."

"Yeah. They're definitely fun." Zak agreed, trailing a finger across Wheezie's chin.

"Speaking of showers though," Wheezie said, "I probably ought to clean up."

Wheezie pushed herself off the bed, disentangling herself fairly abruptly. She walked around the bed and made for the bathroom. To her surprise, Zak had beaten her to it. He stood in the door, blocking it. His arms were folded across his chest, his face was set and determined... and his shaft was as hard and ready as Wheezie had ever seen! Despite herself, for just a second, Wheezie's knees felt weak. She had figured that she would finish herself off in the shower... but...

"Now now," Zak chuckled, "You don't want to be cleaning up before you're done getting dirty."

"Wha..." was all Wheezie had time to get out before Zak advanced upon her. His hands clasped around her arms as he walked her backwards.

Suddenly, the backs of Wheezie's knees hit the bed again. She fell back with a whoosh, giggling the whole time. Zak's hands had let go as Wheezie fell, taking the opportunity as she rolled back to grab her ankles instead. In the same fluid motion, he easily aligned his turgid meat with her moist flesh and rammed it into her. So ready was she, that he sank in with almost no resistance. Just enough friction to make it good, but slick enough that his hips slapped into Wheezie's thick butt with an audible, musical slap.

"Aaah yeah," Zak moaned, reveling in the feeling, "gonna be here a while."

He pushed forward still, folding his sister in half and pushing her ankles up towards her shoulders. Her back curled but her tail arched and pushed her up further. Zak kept his meat buried as deep as could be, but all this had inched him in deeper than ever before. He then hugged her, chest to chest, pinning her legs in place against her as his arms firmly kept her folded in place and pressed into her with the weight of his body. Wheezie, who would normally be giggling or yelling out by this point, found herself speechless as her brother dug in and mounted her properly for the first time. Both her heads swam with the nearly breathless sensation as the head of his perfectly-shaped-for-her shaft sunk most of the way into her.

And then Zak got to pounding.

Where had this energy come from, Wheezie thought to herself within the haze of pleasure, he's never put this much into it before!

Zak slapped himself against her with deep, powerful thrusts, sucking in lungfuls of air through his nose in measured breaths as he maintained a smooth, slow, steady pace. He pumped everything he could into it, pushing with his whole weight, and bouncing out on his toes. This was going to be a fucking that Wheezie would never forget!

The gasps and half-breath cries of his sister lit a fire under him. They were beautiful. No shout of desire could have sounded better than knowing that she was wordlessly getting it every bit as good as he did. He pressed forward even more, getting his knees up onto the bed and throwing everything he could into it.

Wheezie's eyes shot open as Zak pushed in further than he'd ever been. An electric ZING shot through her as he properly bottomed out, the tip of his cock brushing the stiff dimple of her cervix. She'd hit it before on her own, and actually quite enjoyed it normally, but just like trying to tickle yourself this was sooooo much better when Zak did it. So much more intense. She tried to cry out, but could only wheeze out as her eyes rolled back and her mouths hung slack.

Zak managed to see all of this, not having torn his eyes away from Wheezie's faces, the whole time. There was nothing like seeing a dragoness getting off, and nothing better than knowing that you were the one doing it, but Wheezie was getting off in a manner he'd never seen before; normally she was squealing and cheering him on, but now... Her pussy was clenching down over him on every kiss to her cervix, gripping him with enthusiasm that could only be described as "Wheezie". She pulled enough of herself out of her pleasure induced haze to crane her heads up and meet his eyes. Written on her pleasure-stricken face, Wheezie was telling him how much she loved him. She looked like she would cry from joy and was already spilling tears as her faces tried to smile in between expressions of orgasmic bliss.

"No... one... else..." He started, punctuating each word with a deep thrust, "ever... meant... as... much..."

Zak slowed only long enough to adjust his angle, giving Wheezie enough time for one big deep breath, before resuming his merciless scale-slamming. For a moment, it felt as though he would explode inside her, but he bit his lip and focused on going the distance.

Wheezie's heads writhed back and forth on her long necks as she felt herself tense again. Her toes curled and splayed as she came hard, sending a squelching jet splashing out across Zak's front and under his tail, soaking him from chest to crotch. She pushed her legs back against him, taking short gasping breaths as she lost herself in the moment. He slammed on relentlessly, keeping her mind aloft on a cloud as time stopped mattering.

How long had he been going? Zak didn't really care, but a point of inward pride knew that it had gone on far longer than normal. He was giving her the pounding of her life, and he was loving it. Wheezie had been fucked into a quivering mound of soft orgasmic rambling, the sensation of his cock giving hot kisses to her cervix over and over again having nearly made her go numb from the hips down. Now it was time for the big finish.

"FfffFfffFFfff g-gonna..." Zak stammered as he thrust on.

Wheezie's heads snapped up, aglow with delight and desire.

"Do it..." she wheezed in chorus, "Ffff mm ZZzzakie!"

Finally he stopped, pressing his shaft in as far as it could go, his legs locking onto hers, as he unloaded right down deep as it could go. Wheezie's vaginal muscles clamped down for all they were worth as she sent sprays of her own across Zak's belly and crotch again, her teeth clenched and her eyes squinted half shut as her stomach clenched hard. Zak pulled back as his first giant shot tapered off, pulling some of it with him to drip out around Wheezie's lips, before shoving it back in and dumping another shot right over her cervix. Again and again, he pressed deep, splattering a massive hot rope onto her delicate cervix, before pulling back, then thrusting in again to splatter out more, pumping out more than he ever imagined he could, despite the days earlier activities.

Wheezie hadn't stopped cumming the whole time. Every time he would pull back she would squirt more and clench in desperate need to be filled. Every time he thrust back in she felt like she would die from the sensation as he stretched her back open and gave her delicate inner dimple a hot kiss. Her tail was running with the sticky mess and she never wanted it to end. Her legs, pushing against him this whole time, felt like they turned to jelly and her knees buckled as she tried to clamp them together futilely..

But finally it slowed and Zak thrust in for one last shot and held there, giving her the deepest kiss.. He let his hug go, freeing her arms and letting her legs fall around his hips so that she could lay flat on the bed with his body on top of hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and managed to get the strength to clumsily wrap her legs around his back as she pulled him in. He kissed her, first the left and then the right, and stared into her eyes.

"I love you Wheezie," Zak said breathlessly.

"I love you too Zakie," She sighed happily.

A cuddle, soft and gentle in the glowing moment, followed another round of kisses. Light tears of happiness trickled from her eyes as the lost track of how long they snuggled together, breathing hard and kissing whenever they could, not needing to share any words. It remained this way until there was a sloppy "POP" sound of his softening shaft slipping free of her, followed by a squelch of their combined fluids making one more outward splatter along her tail. At last, Zak pulled himself off of Wheezie and lay beside her as they held hands.

"I know it's not fixed just because..." Wheezie's right head said.

"No," Zak sighed, "But at least we know what can be done to fix it."

"I want it to be... ok between us." Wheezie said, worry creeping into her voice.

"We'll work on it together. It'll be ok." Zak reassured her.

For a moment they both lay there in silence.

"I think I need that shower now," Wheezie deadpanned, "and after that I think we need to clean the walls."

Zak looked around, seeing how the same wall he left a scorch mark on was also completely drenched with her squirting that hadn't soaked his own front. That didn't include the floor and the incredible mess oozing off of the base of Wheezie's tail. Ironically, the only thing that seemed to avoid being made a mess of was the bed (barring Wheezie's wet spot). Zak then looked down at himself, seeing how he was soaked and smelled very much like the crotch of his better half. He smirked and sat up properly.

"I think I'll join you." he said as Wheezie slowly sat up and stood, her legs nearly giving out, making Zak jump up and catch her so she didn't fall.

"Wow... I've never been to the point I can hardly walk..." she said, turning a head to smile at him. "Sorry."

"Yeah, this could be trouble. Of course, I'm a bit disappointed." he said as he helped her walk towards the bathroom.

"Disappointed? About what?" she asked, both faces fairly unbelieving. Zak chuckled.

"I figured I would have given it to you hard enough to make it so you couldn't stand at all. Guess I better fix my mistake in the shower." he said, smirking at her. She just looked at him dumbly for a moment before she laughed and snorted.

"Oh I'm going to LOOOOOOVE being at the whim of my more assertive lover."

"You have no idea." he said as they leaned in for a brief three way smooch, both quite lighthearted and with a firm goal in their hearts as they left their lightly steaming room and made their way to the shower.

-End