Horny Fledgling
#38 of The Life and Times of Jarzyl Mintaka (Slice of Life Stories)
Jarzyl messes around with Atlas, again.
960 words. Rating: Clean...?
"Did you...? Did you just lick my...? Why, though?" Atlas asked slowly. "That's not supposed to go in your mouth."
"I was curious!" Jarzyl retorted, and her neck frill perked up around her head. The orange-scaled dragon fledgling hesitated, then she stuck her snout forward and licked again. "Hmm."
Despite himself, Atlas was curious too. "What does it taste like?"
"Haven't you ever tried it yourself?"
Atlas let out a soft chuckle. "Heh. How would I do that? There's no way my tongue could reach."
"That's true." Jarzyl curled her tongue around Atlas's horn, then holding the base with her paw, she put the tip fully inside her mouth. "Hmm..." She hummed again, and Atlas could feel those faint vibrations travelling down his horn.
After a moment, Jarzyl added, "I wonder if the other one tastes the same?" Tilting Atlas's head, Jarzyl tried licking her friend's other horn. Both of Atlas's horns were whitish in colour, contrasting against his sooty black scales, and they jutted out straight and backwards from his head. "Yeah, tastes the same. Sort of like... I'm not sure how to describe it. A bit like your scales, but different?" Jarzyl briefly nibbled at Atlas's neck, then she transferred her bite back to his horns.
Atlas was lying on all fours, on his front, and the dragon fledgling had a school worksheet resting between his paws which he had been reading. Jarzyl should have also been reading her own worksheet, but quickly she had gotten curious and leaned over towards him.
Atlas kept his head still so that he wouldn't jab his friend in the teeth. "Jarz, why are you suddenly so curious about my horns?"
"Because it's weird! You didn't have them before, but now you do! It's new. It's different. You're different. I don't know how to feel about this." Jarzyl curiously licked and suckled at Atlas's horn, then she even tried nibbling gently on the tip. After a moment she withdrew her mouth and instead grabbed onto each of Atlas's horns with one paw each, and she gently wiggled his head about. "Hehehe. This is fun. Uhh, I'm kind of feeling hungry now. Let me go grab a proper snack." She released Atlas's horns and gave him a pat on the head, then she stood up and trotted out of her bedroom.
Two other dragon fledglings had been watching this latest interaction between Atlas and Jarzyl. "Atlas, you really just let Jarz do whatever she wants to you, don't you?" Caden asked with an amused smirk.
"Mmh. He does! It's cute." Pyxis nodded her head agreeably, making her neck frill bob up and down.
Atlas tapped a forepaw against the worksheet and tried to change the topic. "Am I the only one actually reading this assignment? Do I have to do this whole project by myself?"
"Yes," Caden instantly replied.
"Oh no. We'll all chip in and do it together," Pyxis earnestly insisted, and she looked down at her own worksheet.
Caden chuckled drily. "Heeh. Sure." Sliding to her feet, she trotted over towards Atlas as he lay on his front. Sitting back on her haunches, she peered at his head.
"You too?" Atlas muttered. He didn't look up from the worksheet. "I knew Jarzyl was shamelessly curious, but you too?"
"I'm just admiring. You do have nice horns. They've got a good curve. And... they seem to be coming in symmetric," Caden observed, with a calmly objective tone as if she were talking about the ripeness of fruit or the condition of the weather. "I remember a few months ago your horns were shorter and uneven, which was awkwardly cute, but now you're more good looking. There is a faint mark here though, on the right one. I think Jarzyl might have nibbled a bit too hard."
"Ooh?! Did she really?!" Pyxis hopped to her feet and went over to sit beside Caden, and they both peered at Atlas's head. "Woah, there is a little indentation! Oh no! She left a bite mark on you." Pyxis giggled. "Hehehe. It's not noticeable unless you're really close."
Atlas resisted the urge to reach up a forepaw and touch his horns, checking for nibble marks. "Hmm..."
Pyxis grinned at him. "Maybe you shouldn't let Jarzyl play with your horns so much. One day she'll wiggle your head too hard and snap a horn right off!"
Caden was grinning too, but she shook her head. "No, I disagree. The whole point of horns is to look good and draw attention. And Atlas here is very much drawing Jarzyl's attention, isn't he?" The fledgling used her paw to point at Atlas's horns, highlighting their sleek, tapering conical shape. "You know what they say about a drake with impressive horns... matches the size and shape of a certain other thing. Maybe you can ask Jarzyl to put that in her mouth?"
Pyxis covered her mouth with her paw and snickered so hard her blue scales tinted to purple from blushing. She thwacked her tail tip against the floor. "Caden! You're not supposed to say things like that!" she hissed. "Hehehaha..."
"I can say whatever I want." Caden nodded at Atlas. "Atlas, do you even know what I'm talking about?"
"I do, but I shall pretend I don't," Atlas replied.
"Hmm? Talking about what?" Jarzyl asked innocently, as she came trotting back around the corner and returned to her bedroom. She was using her tail to pull behind her a small trolley cart with various snack foods. "What did I miss?"
"Oh, nothing," Caden said. Pyxis still had her paw over her mouth, and was trying to hold back more laughter.
Atlas shook his head. "At this rate, there's no way we're finishing this group project by today..."
END