FSE

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A/N - Please note, this chapter contain some heavily implied themes concerning marriage in the end of the first and during the third sections. Read to your own comfort, and feel free to skip over things if you like.

---

The guards led them down the hallways and into the Throne Room where Queen Omelet sat on the throne all regally (She may be Queen of the Omelets, but she was still a Queen afterall). Queen Omelet held a scroll in her talons, her claws dipped in fresh ink, and as they entered, she looked at them considerably. Summit and Em watched her feeling anxious about what she might be about to do to them.

Finally: "I've been informed that you're no longer interested in pursuing a partnership with Vitellus, is this right Embryo?" Before either could answer, Queen Omelet turned her expression toward Summit, "And this is the dragon you want to spend the rest of your life with?"

Embryo hesitated, not sure where this was going, "Uh, well yes, but-"

Queen Omelet wrote something down on the scroll. Pausing, she looked back at Summit, "And your name is?"

"Uh, Summit your..."

"Eggmajesty," Em whispered in his ear.

"Eggmajesty," Summit finished.

"Ah, yes, perfect." Queen Omelet finished what she was writing, took out a seal, and stamped it to the page. Closing the scroll, she got up to leave. "Okay, it's official, you two are married, enjoy."

"Wait, what?" Embryo exclaimed, shocked beyond all words, "I-I meant in the long term. I didn't mean we were ready to get married now." She knew what she had said to Summit just last night, she knew she wanted to spend her life with him, but she didn't mean she was planning to get eloped then and there.

Queen Omelet gestured to the scroll as she got up to pass them, "This is an official document, I can't very well undo it." As she was about to take leave of the room, she turned back to look at them, "I recommend you enjoy your night together, the first night married is always a wonderful thing. And the Eggs that follow... So grandiose as well."

And suddenly she was gone.

Embryo and Summit turned to look at eachother still too stunned to speak.

Well, that's how I imagined my wedding going, Summit thought, completely stupefied.

Summit and Embryo were escorted back to the room in a dazed silence. As Summit walked beside Embryo, he could barely look at her. My wife, he thought, the words seeming too foreign for him to comprehend._ I have... Em is... my wife?_ This is not at all where he'd planned his day going.

As the guard closed the door behind them in there room, he nodded at them politely, a knowing smile on his face. "Have fun." And then once again, they were locked in, left with no other options outside of the other's company.

Complete absolute silence. For the longest time, neither of them said anything. Up to this point Summit and Embryo had come to feel completely comfortable around eachother, they had known what they were to eachother, they'd loved eachother, they'd shared so much of themselves with eachother, but now, this new level to their relationship, they weren't... How could they be married? Summit had tried so long not to see Em in that way, they weren't ready for that. But now here they were. Could it be possible that now they were at a point where it'd actually be okay for them to... like that side of eachother?

But then Summit looked at Em and Em looked back at him, and they both knew, the love they felt for one another was true. Their relationship may have been young, they may have been in no way prepared for this day to turn out like this, but somehow they knew with the other, they'd be alright.

Embryo felt every part of herself filling with awkwardness, was she actually about to do this? Was this question... that existed on both their minds... was she really about to ask this? She opened her mouth hardly knowing where to start, "Since we're married," she started, "we might as well..." Her face went red, she could hardly believe this was her body that existed beneath her, she couldn't be real - girls couldn't be real - because if they were, that'd mean that what she was feeling was real- It couldn't be real, right. Yet every scale of her body told her it was. Em fought down all the the blushiness, making herself continue, "You know how weird my girliness is, you've already... you've seen so much of me," she spluttered, "so much... awkwardness. It feels so... it's so weird to think about. But somehow..." Oh, she was red now, how did that make her feel so wonderful? "Somehow I want to share all of it with you. Out of every other dragon in the world, I want to share my awkwardness with you." Of course this wasn't the first time she'd confessed her girly weirdness to Summit, but somehow this was different. Here, finally, was the moment she'd give all of herself to him entirely, everything weird, everything awkward; no matter how self-conscious it made her feel (and strangely, even because of it), she wanted to share it with him more than anything, the idea of expressing her most embarrassing self with Summit made her heart go light like it never had before. It was all so cheesy, but suddenly she couldn't help herself.

Summit looked at her feeling her awkwardness rubbing off on him, he'd always had a crush on Em, but he always felt bad that about how her girly weirdness put her on the spot when there was so much more to her than that. He took a breath. "I'm kind of awkward too you know," he admitted. He was starting to go red himself at this acknowledgement, in every inch of his being.

Embryo looked at him, her weariness fading as a slight look of peace came over her face, "Would you... would it be okay if you share it with me...?" Em trailed off, her face tarting to blush. Was she really asking this of him? What would he think? Would it make him feel weird like when she'd asked him out in the MudWing Kingdom? (Well of course it'd make him feel weird, she felt weird, but not in a bad way, right?)

Summit felt himself feeling all the self-consciousness all over. How could sweet Em be about to know all that about him? She had needed him to be there for her through some very personal girly moments, oh how awkward it must have been, having to share that weirdness with him while he had never been in a proper situation for him to share his own. But now they were married, it didn't matter anymore. This must've been how Em had felt, it was all too embarrassing to contain, but somehow it felt right, it was time for Em to know his weirdness back, he wanted to share his weirdness with Embryo.

But this was all happening so suddenly, the circumstances surrounding their predicament weren't exactly favorable; he was ready to embrace this feeling with Embryo... but still, he hesitated... "I would share anything with you, but Em, are you sure? An egg... What if you have another egg because of... because we're together?"

Embryo winced, still remembering how it had felt to lay an egg, the all-consuming pain, the inability to do anything but wish she could die... but she'd already been through it before, and like any dragon like her, she knew she'd eventually do it again. And as awful as it was to think about, she knew next time she'd survive just as she had before. She looked up at Summit feeling anxious but sure, "Then at least I'll have had it with you. I'll have had our baby. At least this one time the pain will mean something, and maybe that'll make up for last time too."

Summit hugged her, "I love you Em, so much. I'm sorry it has to be so hard."

Em gave him a nuzzle, "I know, but for tonight with you, it'll be worth it."

The looked into eachother's eyes. This was the moment to which a connection would be formed, where they would truly become a part of one another, not just tonight, but for eternity, everything they had ever felt together had been building up to this moment, this night when they would truly become one. Summit returned Em's nuzzle, and Em slowly let herself role onto her back as she gazed lovingly into Summit's kind and gentle eyes. She blushed; Summit felt his face go red as well, How can she be so pretty?

And so their night began, everything awkward they had experienced together, every moment that had made them blush, it all paled in comparison to this night; never before had they felt so self-conscious and ridiculous in their own bodies than they did around eachother in these moments, but also, never before had that self-consciousness felt so wonderful. As they fell into the weirdness of one-another, Em realized that though she should have felt ashamed of all these embarrassing things about herself, she didn't; her and Summit were so physically different from eachother, yet somehow those differences had connected them deeply to eachother in ways they could hardly understand. So many other dragons could've known what it was to be a girl better than Summit, and so many other dragons could have known what it was to be a boy more than Embryo, nothing could've been more personal and embarrassing than this, but they had each chosen the other to be the one dragon in the world to share it with. Though they couldn't have been more physically unrelatable, in spirit neither of them had ever been closer to anyone else. This was Summit, he'd seen everything weird and embarrassing about her girly weirdness, yet he never saw her as lesser for it; he'd only seen her as precious and valuable, as someone who's very existence - everything she felt, everything she was - was worth valuing. This was Summit, Summit who'd seen the world with her, who'd searched for her at the edge of the Earth just to make sure she knew she was valued. This was the Summit she was with now, one who had given of himself to show her she was his equal. Summit would never lay eggs, he would never experience what it was to live with girly weirdness firsthand, but yet he had connected with her experience deeper than any other dragon ever could, egg layer or otherwise. The pain, the awkwardness, the emotion, it had meant more to him than it had to any other dragon, because it was he who truly loved Em with everything he was, and it was Em who loved him back.

And so Em wanted to share all her weirdness with Summit, embrace the self-consciousness, the awkwardness of it all, embrace the love. For the first time since her laying she allowed herself to open up to her hypersensitive self again, she let herself take in every second of it. And this time, her senses didn't betray her. It was love, love so perfect that it emphasized everything she felt, multiplied it tenfold, it had never felt so ridiculous to be her, it was all too overwhelming, but somehow that overwhelming ridiculousness had never felt so perfect.

And for the first time in a long time, Em began to truly realize, that despite the weirdness and self-consciousness of it all, or maybe even because of it, at least in this moment, she could be glad that she was a girl, and that Summit was a guy.

And there on the desk sat that painting, a younger Embryo to whom none of this had yet happened. That version of Em had not understood the pain she would someday face, but nor had she known the experiences she would someday have with Summit right now. Back then, she had only imagined what it must be like to fall in love, it had always felt so sweet and whole, but she hadn't fully grasped what experiencing the fulfillment of that love would actually feel like. There was sweetness in that love, but there was also pain, a pure Soul shattering pain that had come with laying an egg. But perhaps there was some good in it after all, at least for this night, to feel what it was to be loved by Summit; this feeling of pure romantic overwhelming self-consciousness, this strange intensity that was both too much and too wonderful; so many unbelievable feelings she was feeling now that her past self could only begin to understand. That little smiling face had no idea of all the tears it would someday cry; that past version of herself had such a future of feelings ahead of her, of both love and pain, that she herself could never be prepared for. If Em had had to start over, she didn't know if she could bear reliving what it took to get here, but at least, with these moments with Summit, she could promise at least some of it would be worth it. Because this was the path that that little dragon in the painting was on, a path that would someday lead her to Summit.

---

It had been hours since Ravine had begun her search, it was already beginning to get dark outside, and Ravine still hadn't managed to locate Summit yet. She had no idea if he was okay, and she really couldn't ask without possibly raising undue suspicion. The King Chef thankfully didn't seem to have grown suspicious of her whereabouts yet, he was probably busy with his own stuff right now, or perhaps he figured she was still stuck in the bathroom with major problems today. As she walked the halls, she could feel a weight of another major situation growing inside her. Sigh. She had been so busy trying to save the egg that had been stolen, she had failed to notice the one that was growing inside. She really hoped it would hold off until tomorrow, she really didn't have time for it tonight. (Us females really need to learn to start having our eggs at more convenient of times, wouldn't you think? _Hm, good luck with figuring that one out, maybe if she had known this would happen, she could have planned it out with her husband better, but it was always so unpredictable anyway, what was the point? Those scavenger ladies must really have it made not always having to lay eggs on random like this._)

The protesting outside had quieted somewhat thankfully, and it no longer hammered at the ears, but Ravine suspected that was because all the dragons had worn out their voices more than anything. Ravine sighed, she knew she had a plan to get the eggs out, but she had to admit if she had been on the outside she probably would have been doing the same.

But then, the commotion outside erupted again suddenly. A couple of dragons shouted to be let in as the crowds swarmed them. The gates cracked open; thousands of dragons were pushing and shoving to break through, then finally, two OmeletWings managing tumble inside and the gates shut and barred behind them before anyone else from the angry crowd could squeeze past. The protesting outside began anew for a few moments, but it only lasted a minute or two before it died back down again. The Feast was just a few hours away and morale was quickly running low as the dragons of Pyrrhia were beginning to doubt on whether they'd be able to stop it in time.

Queen Omelet stepped out to greet the newcomers, "Ah, Albumen, Yoke, you've been gone for quite awhile."

The male opened his mouth... There was silence, he didn't seem used to using it muh, then finally, "yes... we had to go home... pick some things up. Then the crowds..."

The female stepped in, giving him a look of gratefulness, but saying she'd take it from there. "I had to lay an egg. It was wonderful I might add, but it all took awhile. How's our Embryo been doing?"

Ravine looked at them. So these must be Em's parents. She was surprised they didn't seem like quite the pieces of work she had imagined.

Queen Omelet waved her talons, "Oh, fine. But they'll probably be resting up about now, and you know..." she gave them a knowing wink, "best not to bother them if you know what I mean. Well, gotta plan for Breakfast tomorrow. Keep it over easy." And with that, Queen Omelet went back the way she had come, leaving the hallway in silence.

Albumen and Yoke exchanged glances, "Think we should at least check on her? You know, quietly?" Albumen asked. Yoke nodded.

So Albumen and Yoke headed for the hallway.

The context of what Queen Omelet had said had clearly went over Em's parent's heads, but Ravine had picked it up it right away. They. That meant there was more than one of them, right? Well, unless Em had decided to start calling... herself(?) by a different pronoun - which come to think of it, probably wouldn't have been all too surprising considering what Summit had told her of their last conversation together... But something told her that, with how the Queen said it, she'd intended it as plural - and besides her parents had still referred to her as a "she" so -and there could be a whole other layer of politics going on here that Ravine really didn't want to get into right now (she already had enough OmeletWing politics to deal with right now, thank you)- but this conversation wasn't giving her that impression. Somebody was being held with Em, even if the Queen hadn't said so directly. It didn't seem like a deliberate skewering of facts to be honest, more of an oversight than anything, but there was still something important concerning their daughter that the Queen had obviously failed to mention (oversights seemed to be quite common among these OmeletWings Ravine observed. Must be bad inbreeding or something of the sort. But of course it was when you ate 99% of your offspring. But hey, who was she to judge?). Ravine had no way to tell if this other dragon with Em would in fact be Summit, but she had nothing else to go on, so she might as well follow this lead.

Ravine followed the couple down the hallways, staying discrete, but not too worried about anything, these two were as obviously as absent-minded as the rest of these folks. The castle went surprisingly deep, and Ravine didn't feel surprised she hadn't found them before, even if she had passed where they were being held, she probably wouldn't have known it. Finally, Em's parents stopped outside a door. There was no guard posted, but Ravine figured it would've been impossible to leave anyway. The guard was probably off for the night.

Yoke stepped up to the door to listen a moment.

"How's she doing," Albumen asked, "Anything wrong?"

Yoke turned away, "asleep I think. She's breathing, but slightly heavy."

"Heavy? Do you think she's Laying another Egg? Already?"

Yoke looked at her, "not that loud."

Albumen thought a moment, "You're right, I've never heard a quiet Laying actually. Do you think she's going to Lay one soon though?"

Yoke shrugged, raising a talon, "maybe we knock?"

Albumen shook her head, "We should let her rest, check on her tomorrow" Albumen paused. "Another Egg..." she mused "That might be good for her, get her used to it and all."

Yoke nodded.

They went over to the next door over, a few talonsteps from where Ravine was standing.

Ravine knew she was supposed to be being discreet, but she couldn't help herself. "Is that all you guys care about?" She rasped as quietly as she could, "Is that all your daughter means to you?"

Albumen looked up, "Oh, hi, we didn't see you there." She glanced at Yoke, "May we help you?"

"That's your daughter, right? Embryo?"

The two exchanged glances again, then looked back at Ravine, "You know her?"

Ravine nodded, "A little." Ravine took a breath, "Forgive me for intruding, but that's your daughter in there, okay? I don't know what that means to you, but I know what it means to her."

Yoke and Albumen exchanged another look, thoroughly confused.

Ravine looked at him, "When I met your daughter, she didn't understand there was more to life than laying, she thought it was her only purpose."

The two were even more confused, "What is there to be ashamed in that?" Albumen asked.

Ravine sighed, "Did it ever occur to you that there is more to your daughter than just that?" More blank glances, Ravine could feel heat rising in her, "Your daughter wanted to discover a life outside of egg laying, she traveled to the edge of the content to find it. And then she laid one anyway, and it destroyed her. She wanted so hard to see something more in herself, but she couldn't because everything led her back to that egg. Perhaps she could have lived knowing that was part of her life, but you taught her that's all there was! That pain, that embarrassment, that's all she saw her life being worth because you never taught her to live with it, only how she couldn't live without it!" Ravine was trying to keep her voice down, but she was fuming. Albumen and Yoke stood shocked, like these thoughts had never occurred to them. She tried to cool herself, taking deep breaths, "Let me ask you, do you love Em as your daughter, or as an Egg Layer?"

Albumen was too stunned to answer. Then Yoke stood straight, "We just wanted her to have purpose. What greater purpose than as an Egg Layer?"

Ravine looked at them, these two were hopeless, "Then perhaps it wasn't your daughter you loved." Without waiting for anymore, she stormed back down the hallway out of sight. She knew she needed to rescue Summit, but she needed a moment to calm down. She knew where the room was now, she'd wait for the parents to leave before she did any more.

As she let herself cool, she began to rethink what she had said. She knew she'd needed to say what she did, but she also wondered if maybe she'd been a little too harsh. Yes, they hadn't exactly instilled the best self-image in Em, but how could anybody think straight living in this atrocity of a society, and despite their shortcomings, they did seem to have a deep care for Em. Ravine sighed, what was said was said, she would just have to let it rest for now.

Albumen and Yoke meanwhile had made their way back into their room and were sitting there looking at each other, still trying to process what Ravine had said. They did love their daughter right? Was it possible that she really believed there was more to their lives than just Omelets? If that was so, they'd still love her right? Of course they would, because their daughter was more valuable to them than any of that.

...

And if there was something in life more valuable than Omelets... then was it possible that Omelets weren't everything?

---

Embryo rested under her blankets feeling content. Her face was as red as it could be from the embarrassment she felt at all that had just transpired, but at the same time she had never felt so at peace with her physical self, as if somehow being with Summit had made her feel flattered about everything embarrassing about herself. For once, it felt that maybe her crush on herself had paid off.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Summit who was sitting on the other side of the bed from her.

Summit's face went red, he covered his mouth, trying not to crack up. "I'm sorry... I can't believe..." he held his breath, trying not to loose it, "I can't believe we are at this point in our relationship."

Embryo felt herself starting to crack as well, she pulled her blanket to her mouth and started gasping into it. Suddenly she started screaming in laughter, rolling around under her blanket, kicking her legs hysterically, holding it tight to smother her howls of amusement. Summit was a boy, but now he knew more truths about her girly weirdness than any other girl ever would. It was SO EMBARASSING, but for the first time she felt no shame by her embarrassment, her and Summit had just involved themselves in some pretty unspeakable things, but somehow, it had still felt pure, because that's how their love felt, though young, it was pure selfless love.

And it felt great to be screaming out of amusement for once rather than pain.

Summit was trying to hold back hysteria as well, not doing well, and falling off the bed in the process, trying to hold back sputters. Marriage was so weird.

Finally, they managed to calm down enough so they could speak. Summit decided perhaps it was time to change stuff up a little.

"You know how I told you that if you hit me in the wrong spot, I collapse in an instant?" Em looked at him in thought and Summit turned around self-consciously so his tail was facing her, he looked back, "since we're sharing all our awkwardness together and all that..." He swallowed, feeling red, "you can try it if you want."

Embryo hesitated. Though it made her want to crack up just thinking about it, it seemed a little aggressive compared to what she was used to. But he was offering to let her try it, so maybe she could...

So Embryo climbed down from the bed and looked at Summit, "Are you sure?"

Summit went red, "I mean if you want..." He couldn't speak anymore, it was too embarrassing to acknowledge more than that.

"Okay..." She hated to admit how much she wanted to try it.

Embryo realized the positioning was kind of awkward given their primarily quadruped nature, but sitting back against the bed, she managed to pull back her back talons in a way that felt somewhat natural (although none of this was probably natural to be honest). Aiming for position, she drove her talons forward as hard as she could.

TWACK!

Summit dropped, instantly crumpling to the floor, crying out in sheer agony.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Embryo cried, instant regret for what she'd just done.

"What was I thinking!" Summit wailed, writhing on the floor.

Embryo was blushing, bad. As she watched him writhe and moan, she realized, though this surely didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as Egg Laying, guys apparently had a few of their own pity-worthy things to worry about. Oh, she felt so bad having done this to him, but he looked so cute folded up like that with that pitiful expression on his face. She couldn't help but feel the cushiness return to her face at the knowledge that it was his embarrassing boyey weirdness that was responsible for this actually pretty adorable scenario. This must have been how he'd felt after she'd had her egg, trying so hard to sympathize with their vulnerability but unable to suppress the crushiness it makes you feel.

"I'm sorry," Em said again.

"Please tell me eggs don't hurt this bad," Summit moaned.

Embryo shook her head sadly, "Worse."

"Oh Em, I'm so-" he laid his head down groaning, "Don't make me think of worse right now, this hurts too much as it is. Ugh. I'm so sorry."

The pain was so intense, he could hardly process his own reality. If egg laying hurt worse than this... Poor Em.

And then there was the embarrassment of having the girl he had a crush on seeing his vulnerability exposed as he moaned at her talons. But she was his wife now... Em his wife...? This all was so weird. Why did that expression on her face as she tried to suppress her amusement at his mortally agonizing predicament have to be so cute...?

And with that, he let himself lay there, crumpled in on himself on the floor, unable to do any more than moan.

At that instant, there was a sound of metal turning, unlocking, and suddenly, the door opened, and Ravine stepped in. She took in the scene, Summit on the floor, Embryo standing over him sympathetically. Em looked up at her in shock. Ravine's eyes went wide.

After a moment, Embryo shifted her legs awkwardly. "We're married," she explained.

Ravine gave the scene another once over. "Oh- Ohhhh..."