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Miryn ascended the old wooden stairs anchored in the earth of the forested hillside. Carrying a heavy basket, she kept her eyes on the stairs, careful with her footing. Each step was worn smooth by years of footfalls and slickened by nightlong rains. Thick emerald moss clung to the wood's crevices. A simple railing of pine boughs ran alongside the stairs, patched in a few places with twisted willow. The trees that sacrificed their lower boughs for the railing now stood guard over it, shading the railing with pine canopies and drooping willow curtains.

The morning air in the forest was thick, and chilled by the cold rain that fell through the night. The scents of rain and damp earth mingled with the fresh smell of pine, and the sweet aromas of lavender and lilac. Though the rain had ceased and the clouds were crumbling, water still dripped from boughs and leaves. Miryn kept the hood of her old dark green rain cloak up, and her basket closed.

Atop the hill's summit lay the outpost Miryn called home. Its hilltop location allowed its sturdy watchtower a clear view over the forest that surrounded the hilltop outpost, and the village below. It was an old building, likely built in times of war though the tales differed depending on who she asked. It fell into disrepair until the village decided they needed someone on permanent watch to keep an eye out for bandits and beasts. Ironic, given who Miryn was supposedly named after, to say nothing of her current partner.

As the village grew, so did their needs for protection. Over the years their outpost had played host to more than a few denizens from the local blacksmith, to the mercenaries calling themselves the Forest Ward, to the city guards, and now to Miryn and her current partner. Not that her partner was pulling his share lately. Granted, given he was recovering from broken bones, she'd cut him a little slack. For now.

At the top of the hill, the slope gave way to a flatter summit, and the forest gave way to an area of cleared land capped by a wooden building. Though the building was quite sturdy, years of patchwork repairs gave it mottled appearance. Lighter pine replaced darker oak. A section of thatch stood out amongst darker clay tiles on a slanted section of roof. Vines and brambles obscured some of the walls and buttresses. Miryn herself had built simple arched trellises in front of the entryway and wooden planters beneath windows. She'd grown lavender around the trellises, and lilac in the planters.

Miryn passed through the trellis, savoring the lilac's sweet scent. The front doors of the outpost were massive and strong, reinforced with iron banding. Thanks to Miryn, they were also painted a cheery green color. Miryn walked around to a smaller side door instead, painted the same green color. She braced her basket against the wall and opened the door. After she slipped inside, Miryn pushed the door closed behind herself with her boot.

"I'm back!" Miryn's voice echoed around the spacious ground floor, bouncing off the ceiling supported by arched rafters.

Miryn walked to the small kitchen near the entry way. She set her basket down atop an oblong table built of knotted pine. She pulled her rain cloak's hood back, mahogany hair spilled over her shoulders. Miryn glanced around the kitchen as she untied her cloak. Coals smoldered in the small wood burning stove. Drying lavender, pine boughs, and bundles of herbs hung from wall hooks between cabinets and kept the kitchen smelling pleasant.

Miryn removed her cloak and shook droplets of water from it. Gold-dyed patches covered the holes she'd torn it since she started patrolling the forest with her partner. She'd have to break down and buy a new one soon, but she loved that old cloak. Miryn hung it up on a coat hook, and went to find her convalescing partner.

Miryn did not have to look far. At the other end of the ground floor, a motley assortment of colorful cushions and pillows was strewn across the ground. Morning sunlight streaming in from a collection of windows painted the cushions gold. Sprawled amidst the cushions and sunlight was a lazy pile of gray and black feathers. Miryn padded across the large room, grinning.

"Still moping about, I see."

"I'm not moping." The feather pile had a deep, yet melodious voice. "I'm lazing. There's a difference."

Miryn folded her arms, her smile growing. "Lazing is all you've done since your injury."

Outstretched wings withdrew as the pile of feathers shifted, sat up, and coalesced into something resembling Miryn's gryphon partner. The gryphon's light blue eyes gleamed in the sunlight, and he clacked his beak. "What do you expect when someone won't let me fly?"

Miryn waved her hand at him. "You've a broken leg, and fractured ribs. Flying is the last thing you need to do, and landing is right behind it." She walked around the gryphon, kicking some of his multitude of pillows aside. "But being unable to fly doesn't mean you can't say, go for a walk. Visit the village, maybe. And look at you." Feathers stuck out in all directions from his neck and wings. The fur that covered the rest of him was flattened in some areas, sticking up in others. "You're a mess!"

"That's because I can't preen!" The gryphon hissed, clicking his beak. "I hobbled to the spring for a bath this morning, and while I appreciate being clean again, I can scarcely do a thing with my feathers." The gryphon turned his head, glaring at the white sling holding his foreleg in place, tied around his neck and body. "Even if it were not for the pain, this foul thing you've put upon me means I cannot twist myself to groom, I cannot stretch my wings forward to preen them. Even if I wanted to go visit the village, which I don't, there is no way I'd been seen in such a disheveled state." The gryphon flared the indigo crown feathers around his gray head, then flattened them back down, glancing aside. "Look away. I'm hideous."

Miryn laughed, shaking her head. Mahogany hair swished around her face. "Having preening difficulties hardly makes you hideous, Gryphon. Even for a creature as smug as you."

"I'm not smug." The gryphon tilted his head, splaying his furred ears. "I'm simply concerned with my own appearance." He waggled his sling-bound foreleg, ears pinned and beak parted in a grimace. "How long must I wear this?"

"Till you're healed."

The gryphon grumbled, thumping his tufted tail against the wooden floorboards and cushions. "I hope you've brought breakfast, at least."

"All the bird seed you can eat."

The gryphon lowered his head, raising his hackles. "That isn't funny."

Miryn grinned as she walked back to the small kitchen area. All the time she'd worked with the gryphon, and his antics still amused her. How long had it been now, anyway? The passing seasons had a way of blending together, the months blurred as they slipped through her fingers. It must have been years now she'd been friends with the odd creature, and yet it seemed like only moments ago he'd first proclaimed himself to be the answer to all their village's problems.

Damn bird had the heart of a con artist.

Not that he hadn't kept up his end of the bargain best he could. The village certainly had prospered under his watch, even if his promises of alliance with a great gryphon clan turned out to be...well, what was the gryphon equivalent of more bark than bite? More squawk than talon? More pigeon than eagle? Miryn laughed as she fetched the basket, and returned to the gryphon.

"What are you laughing at?" The gryphon narrowed his pale blue eyes at her.

"You, you big pigeon." Miryn grinned at him. "You and your empire."

"I never said empire." The gryphon ruffled his displaced feathers. "I said clan. It's not my fault if your people mistook that to mean something on a grander scale." He lifted a pale, gray-furred forepaw and shook it at Miryn. "Besides, I'm starting to think this alliance between my people and yours was a very bad idea."

Miryn knelt down and set the basket on the floor, grinning. "Liar. And I hardly think a couple gryphons counts as 'your people'."

The gryphon squawked, flaring up the indigo crown feathers that circled the back of his head. "There are more than a couple of us helping your villages."

Miryn tilted her head, smirking. "There's three of you."

"Right." The gryphon smirked, his ears splayed, beak half open. "Three is more than a couple. A couple is two."

Miryn sighed, shaking her head. "No wonder that female gryphon calls you obnoxious."

"No, that's because she's an addle-brained hen." Rirrik clacked his beak, grinning. "She wouldn't think I was so obnoxious if she'd just let me give her a good mounting.

Miryn laughed, poking the gryphon's foreleg. "And you wonder why she kicked you in the nuts."

Rirrik grimaced, shifting his haunches and curling his tail. "Because she's heartless."

"Oh?" Miryn quirked her brow, smirking. "I thought it was because of the way you were bragging when you got her pinned on her back during your sparring match." She tapped a finger against her chin. "Not to mention the joke you made about mounting her before you'd even bothered to secure your position."

"It's not my fault she's a beautiful female."

"And it's not her fault you left your hind legs so far apart while you stood above her." Miryn folded her arms, her smirk widening. "If I was her and you were making jokes like that, I'd have kicked you in the nuts, too." Miryn giggled. "I had no idea a gryphon could squawk so high."

Rirrik warbled a sheepish laugh. "Yes, I suppose I did have that one coming." He unsheathed a single black claw and waggled it at Miryn. "But only that one."

"What about that time she said she was going to squeeze some respect for females into?"

Rirrik grimaced, rubbing his hind legs together. "I've no idea what you're talking about." He reached for the basket, then grimaced when the motion jarred his injured limb. "What did you bring me for breakfast?"

Miryn let him change the subject before he lost his appetite. But she didn't let him take the basket. "Keep your clumsy paws out. I don't want you breaking the basket or aggravating your injuries."

"I will not aggravate my injuries by reaching for something." The gryphon glared at her, then glanced away, pinning his ears back. He sighed, and ruffled his unkempt feathers.

Miryn's heart slid down her spine, into her stomach. Rirrik put on a brave face, and his spirits were good, but she knew the gryphon was having trouble coping. Gryphons were energetic, excitable creatures. When Rirrik wasn't on duty with her, he was usually dancing in the sky, romping in the forest, strutting about the village, or playfully fighting with the others. Now it was all the poor bird could do just to hobble down to the hot spring to bathe. Though he'd never admitted it, she knew even that left him exhausted and in pain.

"You'll heal." Miryn smiled at him, and reached out to stroke the soft ash-gray fur of the gryphon's foreleg. "You just have to be patient. You took very serious injuries in that fall, and you're lucky they weren't even worse."

Rirrik grumbled, and gave an irritable chirp. "Your damn village had better be grateful. I expect to find a statue of myself adorning your plaza when I am well enough to venture there again."

Miryn giggled, stroking his foreleg again. "Expect to be disappointed, then." She patted his broad forepaw. "Let me get your food."

"I nearly die chasing away an entire hoard of bandits, _and_a wicked dragon?" Rirrik unsheathed all the claws on his forepaw, drumming them against the wooden floorboards. "And I don't even get a statue?"

"First, there weren't that many bandits." Miryn opened the basket and pulled out coiled links of cured sausages. "Second, that dragon wasn't any bigger than you are." She set the sausages on the floor, and retrieved several large smoked fish, tinted bronze by the smoke. "Third, I was fighting them off with you, and you don't hear me asking for a statue. It's our job, we just do it."

"I don't see you with any crippling injuries, either." Rirrik glared at her, and sunk his claws into one of the coils of sausage. "But if you ask nicely, I'll have them add you to my statue. Of course, you'll be behind me, and mostly obscured by my glorious wings."

"Of course." Miryn took a few golden brown pastries from the basket. They were dusted with sugar and filled with fruit. She set them down with the rest of the gryphon's food. "And if you ask nicely, I might show you what else I've brought."

The gryphon warbled a reply muffled by a beak-full of sausage.

"I'll assume you just asked nicely." Miryn grinned at her friend, fishing around in the basket. "I know how difficult this is for you, despite the fact it hasn't so much as cracked the walls of your impenetrable fortress of smugness. And I also know your grooming difficulties are driving you mad. So." Miryn removed a set of brushes and scissors from the basket, then patted the gryphon's paw. "As long as you don't act like too much of a pompous ass about it, I'm going to spend the morning doing your grooming and preening for you."

Rirrik swallowed his mouthful of sausage, then cocked his head, peering at the brushes and things. "You are?"

Miryn couldn't be sure, but she thought she detected a note of hopefulness in the gryphon's voice. "As long as you don't mind the assistance. I wasn't sure your pride would allow you to let someone else groom you."

Rirrik shook his head, his tufted ears perked and beak wide open. "Right now, I shall be happy to receive any assistance I can get." Then he glanced around, hissing. "Just don't tell anyone. Especially the females."

"Of course not." Miryn squeezed his forepaw, then settled down alongside the basket. "You eat your breakfast, and then we'll see about taming this mess." She gestured at his disordered feathers.

While the gryphon savored his breakfast of sausages and smoked fish, Miryn looked him over, plotting her course of action. Even in his disheveled state, the gryphon was a magnificent creature. Before she'd actually met the gryphon, she'd imagined them as some fusion of bird and great cat. While the resemblance was certain there, the real thing was a far more graceful, cohesive whole than rumors suggested.

A mixture of feathers and fur covered him in shades of gray mottled with black. The gryphon's face was covered in tiny gray pinfeathers so downy-fine Miryn could scarcely tell where the feathers ended and the fur began. The feathers grew in size down the back of his neck towards his wings, while they melted away into silken fur along his chest. A ring of very large indigo feathers circled the back of his head, anointing him with a deep blue crown whenever he flared them out. Unlike a bird, the gryphon also had a pair of pointed, tufted ears that were constantly swiveling. The gryphon's beak was sharp and curved like that of an eagle, though the back half of it seemed far softer where it met his face. It seemed almost rubbery, and oddly-mobile, though it certainly helped the creature speak.

The gryphon's wings were vast and covered with layers of enormous gray feathers. The black mottling that ran along his back and dappled his haunches also spread across his wings. At the back of the gryphon's wings was another layer of indigo feathers that only showed themselves when he flew, or flared his wings to their full extent.

Though gryphons were often compared to big cats, Miryn always thought the structure of Rirrik's body had a bit of canine in it, as well. He was close to the size of a large horse, his body compact, powerful yet elegant. Muscles rippled beneath his gray fur whenever he moved and shifted. His hind end and limbs seemed roughly halfway between canine and feline in shape and structure, with a long, tufted tail. Black and blue feathers sprouted across his rump from either side of his tail. The gryphon's front feet were more like the paws of an enormous cat than the bird's talons she'd once imagined. Both his paws and his forelimbs were completely covered in the same silken, ash-gray fur that coated his underbelly. And just like a cat, his claws were completely retractable. Unlike true felines however, his front paws also worked as fully functional hands complete with an opposable thumb digit.

Miryn's gaze drifted to the gryphon's eyes. She'd always found them striking. Larger and far more expressive than either a bird or a cat, they shone pale blue like sapphires under ice. When Rirrik caught her looking and tilted his head, Miryn gave him a smile.

"You know, you're really quite a beautiful creature."

Rirrik blinked and made a chirring noise. For a moment, there was no smugness in his voice, only a moment of happiness and gratitude. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Miryn meant it, even if at the moment some of his majestic beauty was tarnished by the wooden splint and white sling that cradled his broken foreleg against his body. They'd done all they could for the gryphon, but his injuries were serious and he needed a lot of time to heal. Rirrik was lucky that the healers thought the fractures seemed like clean breaks. They should heal up well, if they were given a chance. He'd also damaged his shoulder, and fractured ribs, and there was less they could do for that.

Miryn scowled. She wished they could do more than just bind up his limb and tell him not to move very much for a while. For all his arrogance and smugness, Rirrik had proven himself a great ally and an even better friend. At least she could keep him company while he healed, help keep his spirits up. She'd also had the bakers lace the pastries with a light dose of herbs that would help dull his pain for a while. Still, she felt helpless while he waited for his body to mend itself. The only time she'd felt worse was when she saw him falling through the trees...

Miryn's throat tightened, her face and she glanced away.

"Are you alright?" Rirrik clicked his beak, finishing off the last of his smoked fish.

"Eat your pastries." Miryn rubbed her eyes, her voice little more than a rough mumble.

"I plan to." The gryphon stretched his foreleg and grasped a pastry. "But no need to get all weepy on me. You're supposed to be convincing me I'm going to be fine, remember? Not sobbing into your hands."

Miryn wiped her eyes again, then picked up one of the brushes and waved it at him. "Watch it, Gryphon, unless you want a smack in the beak."

"Better than other places you could smack me." The gryphon stuffed the whole pastry into his mouth, chirring in delight.

"I can't reach those from here." Miryn swallowed, then smiled in appreciation of his playful attempts to distract her. He was going to be alright, but that didn't stop the memories from playing out across her mind. Still, Rirrik didn't need to see her upset. "But don't think I won't give them a good smack if the need arises."

Rirrik rubbed his hind legs against each other, reaching for another pastry. "You sound like the hens."

"They give good advice." Miryn grinned and ran her thumb against the brush's bristles. "And they don't like being called hens any more than you like being called a bird."

"Yes, I know." Rirrik gulped down the pasty, then licked his paw. "Which is what makes it fun to call them that." He picked up the last pastry and studied the sugar dusted crust. "What's in these, anyway? They're delicious."

"Apples, mostly." Miryn picked up the basket and set it aside, then arranged herself a few cushions to sit on next to the gryphon. "I had them made fresh for you, and had some herbs for your pain mixed in."

The gryphon savored the last pastry, eating it in small nibbles and bites. "You're a darling."

"Yes, I am." Miryn moved to sit on a cushion alongside the gryphon's head. "It's nice to hear you appreciate that for once."

Rirrik licked sugar from the black pads of his gray paws, then gave Miryn a sidelong glance. "I always appreciate you, Miryn." Rirrik turned his head, gazing out the windows to the forest beyond. Sunlight glittered on droplets of water clinging to the boughs and window panes. "I just...don't always know how to express that. But you've been a better friend to me than I've deserved, I know that much."

Miryn's face reddened. She picked up a small, fine-bristled brush, and rubbed her thumb against the smooth wooden handle. She pursed her lips. "I wouldn't say that." While the gryphons head was turned, she eased the small brush through the fine feathers of his face. "Everyone needs a friend now and then." She stroked the gryphon's furry shoulder with her other hand, grinning at him. "Even smug birds on the run."

Rirrik leaned into her brushing, a soft rumble thrumming in his throat. "Does that include you, then?"

"Of course." Miryn laughed, and leaned her forehead against the soft warmth of the gryphon's neck. "I think I get along better with you than half the village."

"I suppose the average male villager doesn't like it when a woman can put him through a window, hmm?"

Miryn laughed again, shaking her head. She leaned back and brushed the feathers of the gryphon's face and neck. "That was one time, with one aggressive drunkard. And I didn't put anyone through a window. I just used his weight and momentum against him, and he stumbled through a window that happened to be there."

"A fine defense." Rirrik clicked his beak, grinning.

"I'm hardly the only woman in the village that knows how to fight." Miryn pulled a few loose feathers from the brush, and ran it down his neck again.

"No, but perhaps the only one trained by a mercenary." Rirrik turned his head to gaze at her, blue eyes shining.

Miryn swatted his neck with the brush. "Leave Father out of this."

"Alright, how about, the only woman who volunteered to take the Overwatch position as partner to a smelly old beast?" Rirrik stretched his foreleg, then dragged unsheathed claws against the wooden floor.

"I didn't think you were that old." Miryn smirked, then swatted his paw. "Stop scratching the floor."

"So you're saying I'm smelly?"

"You said that, not me." Miryn giggled and went back to brushing the gryphon's neck. "Besides, I think I was the only one who saw through your bullshit. Someone had to keep an eye on you."

"Ah, so you only volunteered to babysit me."

"Thought you might be planning to rob our village blind, actually."

"I considered it, but you dirt farmers didn't have anything to steal."

Miryn laughed and shook her head. Brown hair swished in front of her face. "See, this is why I like you, Rirrik. Even when you're acting like an ass you still make me laugh." Miryn stroked the silken fur of the gryphon's foreleg. "I don't know what you think, but you've been an excellent friend to me for a long time."

Rirrik's beak hung open. Miryn caught a red flush tinting the inside of his ears before he splayed them to the sides of his head. "Oh, nonsense."

"It's true." Miryn crawled around the gryphon's foreleg to get to his throat and throat. "I'll stop embarrassing you, though. Tilt your head back, will you?"

Rirrik exposed his throat for her, and Miryn worked the brush through the fine feathers and fur just beneath his beak. She brushed him as gently as she could, but the bristles caught a few times on some small but tough mats. She exchanged the brush for a small pair of shears, and felt the gryphon swallow.

"There, there. I won't even touch the skin, I promise." Miryn stroked his throat.

"It isn't that I don't trust you, Miryn." Rirrik glanced down at her, then tilted his head back again. "But you'll forgive me if I feel a bit nervous when someone presses something sharp to my throat."

"Oh hush. Men let barbers press razors to their throats when they shave their beards."

"You'd better not my shaving anything of mine!"

Miryn giggled, pulling the scissors away from the gryphon. "Don't make me laugh while I do this. Though, it's not a bad idea. If that dragon came back, he'd be so busy laughing at a shaved gryphon that the rest of us could ambush him."

Rirrik growled, tapping unsheathed claws against the floor.

"Alright, alright. Now hold still." Miryn carefully clipped out the matted fur and feathers, then stroked his throat. "There. That wasn't so bad."

Rirrik angled his head down till his beak nearly touched his chest, trying to see her work. "You'd better not have left with unsightly holes in my plumage."

"It'll grow back." Miryn selected a larger brush, and worked it down through the fur on the upper part of the gryphon's chest. She found a few more mats, and clipped those out as well, then brushed him again. "I think I'll get your good foreleg and shoulder next. Then I'll work down your back and your wings towards your tail. I'll get your chest and belly at the end, if you can safely roll over a bit."

"I should be able to manage."

Miryn used the small brush for the gryphon's foreleg, working it from his shoulder all the way down to his paw. With every brush stroke the gray fur that covered his limb looked smoother and glossier, the black speckles mottling the back of his paw stood out even more. Miryn had him turn his paw over, though that was just so she could tickle the sensitive black skin of his pads. He hissed and yanked his paw back.

Miryn swapped her brush out for a larger one. She worked it along the back of the gryphon's neck and down between his shoulders. Miryn had to skip the areas where the sling was wrapped around him to anchor his healing leg in place, but there was nothing she could do about that. She leaned over him to brush him along his back, grooming all the unkempt feathers covering him between his wings. Towards his haunches, the feathers gave way to thick, soft gray fur dappled with black. Then longer feathers fanned out on either side of his tufted tail.

By the time Miryn had Rirrik stretch out one of his wings to be groomed, the gryphon was purring loud enough for the sound to echo around the spacious room. Miryn loved it when Rirrik purred. It sounded like a cross between a true feline purr and a playful snarl, deep, steady and rumbling. Though she didn't think the gryphon was embarrassed by his purr, it wasn't a sound he made all that often unless good food and drink were involved. The sound made Miryn smile till her face hurt as she groomed the gryphon's wing.

Rirrik kept his beak shut, but his purr spoke volumes. A few times Miryn caught him gazing back at her with a smile twisting the back of his beak, or his ears perked at full attention, stretching and splaying out his forepaw. If she knew he'd enjoy being groomed this much she'd have offered to help him out earlier. This was a far better site than seeing the poor creature moping about all day.

Miryn used her brushes and scissors to try and emulate the way the gryphon preened himself. She knew he removed feathers that were loose out or out place, but she also knew he was a better judge of which feathers were ready to go than she was. Miryn did her best to bring some tidy order back to the unkempt chaos of the gryphon's wings, and when feathers wouldn't fall in line she removed them. Rirrik never offered more than a quiet squawk of complaint when her brush caught and pulled a few free, or when she found a matted area and had to clip it off with her scissors. She was extra careful with the wing on the injured side of his body, brushing it with very slow, gentle strokes.

By the time Miryn finished with both Rirrik's wings, she'd amassed quite the pile of discarded feathers and gray fluff. She pulled a bit more fuzz from her brush and added it to the pile. "I feel like I'm sheering a sheep."

"There had better not be any shearing involved." Rirrik clicked his beak. "You're grooming me, you're not making a gryphon feather cloak."

Miryn picked up a single indigo wing feather, and set it atop the pile. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. All your fluff would make a lovely lining for a cloak. Or stuffing for a pillow!"

"I don't have fluff." Rirrik muttered, flattening his deep blue crown feathers back. He twisted his head around, looking himself over. "But I am looking considerably more handsome again. If you keep this up, I'll have returned to my usual majesty in no time."

"A shame you can't be majestic without also being so smug." Miryn took a few brushes to the gryphon's hind quarters. She used the finer-toothed brush to groom Rirrik's pelt across his haunches, then the larger brush to smooth out all his tail feathers.

Rirrik flicked his ash-colored tail, splaying out the fan of feathers around the base of his tail. "What's a gryphon without smugness?"

Miryn eased the brush down through the lush fur of Rirrik's tail. "Far less obnoxious."

"You like me being obnoxious." Rirrik flicked his tail tuft at Miryn's face.

Miryn batted his tail away, laughing. "You're not without your crudely amusing charms."

Rirrik warbled, cocked his head, and flared his royal blue crown feathers. "Why thank you. You're doing a lovely job, by the way."

"I know I am." Miryn cocked her head and tried to emulate his warbling. When Rirrik only gave her a blanket look, she gave up. "I'm just about done, actually. All that's left now is your underside. Do you think you can roll onto your side safely? We can skip it if it's going to hurt you."

"I think I can manage." Rirrik shifted himself, very gingerly easing over onto the uninjured side of his body. "I won't feel groomed if my belly fur ends up all matted."

"That's what I thought." Miryn picked up her brushes and things and moved around the other side of the gryphon. "But if you start to ache anywhere, we'll stop."

"I'll be fine."

Miryn chuckled and knelt down before the gryphon's exposed chest. Rirrik's foreleg lay bound against him in a splinted sling, but she still had across to the vast majority of his chest. The feathers of his throat melted away into fine, downy fur across his sternum. That same fur ran the rest of the way across his underbelly. Miryn glanced along his belly towards his hind legs, plotting her course of action.

"I should get the inside of your hind legs as well." She glanced at Rirrik, pausing. "Unless that's too personal for you."

Rirrik shook his head. "Not for me. But I can't...well...hold a hind leg up without..." Rirrik trailed off.

Miryn tapped her brush against her chin. "That's true, you might get a cramp or something. I can get you a chair to rest your hind paw on, that'll keep your leg propped up."

Rirrik tilted his head and warbled something that sounded like birdsong melded with confusion. "That's...not what I meant. If I hoist my hind leg up, you're going to be...well...you'll be staring at my...I mean, I don't want to offend you."

When Miryn caught on, she giggled and shook her head. She waved the brush towards his hind end. "Rirrik, you don't wear pants. I can't walk behind you without seeing your furry balls jostling about. It won't bother me."

Rirrik chirred and ruffled his feathers. "I suppose that's true. Just didn't want to catch you off guard. I know how you humans can be about those parts."

Miryn clucked her tongue as she brushed the fur of Rirrik's chest. "I'm not a prude, you silly bird. Besides, it's nothing you haven't inadvertently shown me already." Then she paused, smirking. "Unless you're excited. At which point, do please warn me first."

Rirrik shook himself, hissing. "I'm not excited!"

"Just asking." Miryn giggled again, tugging at an area of matted fur. She picked her scissors, clipped the mat, and tossed it into the pile.

"Though..." Rirrik shifted, murmuring.

Miryn glanced up at him. The gryphon's ears were splayed and he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Yes?"

"When you brush the inside of my hind legs..." He shook a single wing, feathers rustling. "There's a chance...well...It's been a while, so..."

Miryn grinned to herself. "I'll try not to exacerbate the situation, then. But if it happens, it happens, Rirrik."

Rirrik muttered something incomprehensible, and Miryn went back to brushing his chest. She worked the brush as delicately as she could around his splinted foreleg and over his injured ribs. Miryn found more mats along his belly than she had elsewhere, it seemed his underside had suffered worse for the lack of attention than the rest of him. But she was patient, and worked each mat she found with the brush. If she couldn't brush it out, she clipped it free with the scissors.

Miryn tried to avoid hurting the gryphon. It was bad enough when she brushed wind knots out of her own hair. Yanking at heavily-matted fur wasn't going to be a pleasant experience for Rirrik. Miryn was quick to resort to her shears for all of the thicker mats. Most of them she had to clip close to his body, exposing small patches of pale skin. Rirrik wouldn't like the motley holes in his silken gray coat, but at least it wouldn't hurt him. Besides, his pelt would grow back in.

Once she'd removed all the mats from a section of his underfur, she brushed him again. After his bath that morning, the downy fur along his belly looked almost fluffy when she was done brushing it. It was soft and glossy gray. She ran her fingers through it, grinning at him. He was a handsome creature, she had to give him that. If he didn't have such an obnoxious attitude, those female gryphons might actually take more of an interest in him. Not that it was a subject it would do any good to broach to him.

"Almost done." Miryn patted the gryphon's belly, watching his side rise and fall a few times. "How're your ribs feeling?"

"They're alright." Rirrik looked himself over, chirring his approval. "As long as I don't lay on them or move around too much, they don't hurt that bad lately."

"Good." Miryn ruffled his fur up with her fingers, then smoothed it back down with her brush. She glanced at Rirrik's hind legs. They definitely looked a bit matted as well. While she looked them over, the gryphon shifted a hind leg to further obscure his genitals. Miryn smirked. "You feeling shy all of a sudden, Rirrik? Never known you to be modest about those parts."

"And I've never known you to get so close to them." Rirrik clicked his beak, flexing a hind paw. "I suddenly feel...awkward."

Miryn rose to her feet, laughing. "Now, now. No need to feel awkward, Rirrik. It's just part of your body."

"I may have..." Rirrik drummed his claws against the wooden floor. "Slight reason to feel...slightly awkward."

Miryn arched a brow, smirking. "You mean the sort of reason that wasn't there a moment ago?"

Rirrik chittered and looked away. Miryn grinned and patted his head, then ruffled the feathers between his ears. She crossed the room to fetch a pine wood chair, then returned to the gryphon. She set the chair near his hind limbs, and push a blue cushion atop to make it more comfortable for his hind leg. Then she knelt nearby, and patted the cushion.

"Go on then, Rirrik. Nothing to be embarrassed about." She collected a few brushes and scissors from nearby, smiling. "Especially for a creature who doesn't wear pants anyway."

Rirrik huffed a sigh, and hoisted up his hind leg. He stretched it out, and lay his black-speckled paw atop the blue cushion. It left his limb open to be groomed, and it also left the gryphon's genitals completely exposed. Miryn had not intended to do more than sneak a quick peek, but she found herself staring. She'd seen them before, of course, glimpses when he walked or sat upon his haunches. But she'd never really had a chance to actually look at them.

The gryphon's privates lay slung between his hind legs like a canine, rather than sticking out behind him like a feline. Though the fur of his hind legs was thick, it grew shorter nearer his mating organs. With his hind legs parted, it left him more exposed than usual. The gryphon's penis lay inside a fleshy sheath covered in in silken gray fur, with a few little black speckles upon it. The gryphon's testicles were set just behind his sheath. Rirrik's balls sat against the inside of his hind leg, like plump eggs in a gray-furred pouch. A few black speckles adorned the gryphon's scrotum as well. Miryn's gaze wandered back up the gryphon's sheath, lingering on a little hint of pointed red flesh protruding from it. That was new.

"Like what you see?" Rirrik warbled at her, some of his usual smugness returning to his voice.

Miryn's ears nearly combusted. Of all the times to get caught looking. She glanced away, fumbling for her brushes. "Just...uh...looking for mats in your fur."

"If I'd known you wanted to ogle me, I'd have been quicker to splay my hind legs for you." Rirrik laughed, perking his ears and rustling his wings.

Miryn grit her teeth a moment. "Careful, Bird. It isn't wise to tease someone while they can grab your nuts."

Rirrik clicked his beak and tossed his head. "You wouldn't dare grab a gryphon's nuts."

Miryn narrowed her eyes at him. Rirrik simply smirked at her, his head canted and indigo crown feathers rising in smug confidence. Normally Rirrik was right. It wasn't like she'd just go up to a random gryphon and snatch up his testicles. She wouldn't even do it to Rirrik in most situations. But if he was going to challenge her that way, when she was just trying to do a good deed for him? She couldn't let that stand or he'd never let her live it down.

Before she could think better of it, Miryn reached out and seized the gryphon's testicles in her hand. They were very warm, the fur very soft, and the orbs within felt fat and slippery. They were both far larger than any man's, that was for sure. They bulged out against the gray, black-speckled sac as she held them.

Miryn was almost as surprised by her daring act as Rirrik himself was. Her stomach twisted, her heart thumped against her sternum, and if her face grew any hotter she feared it would ignite her hair. Rirrik, meanwhile, squawked in shock. His pale blue eyes bulged out, his indigo crown-feathers stood at alarmed attention all around his head, and his beak hung open.

"H-Hey!" Rirrik wriggled, thumping his tail against the ground.

"You were saying?" Miryn tightened her grip a little, a sense of smug satisfaction overcoming her initial surprise at her own daring.

"L-let go!" Rirrik half laughed, half squawked, and tried to squirm away.

Miryn tugged gently on the gryphon's testicles. She didn't want to hurt him, just keep him from escaping her grasp. "Seems to me I've got a gryphons nuts in my hand right now. What was that about what I would and wouldn't dare to do?"

"Yes, yes." Rirrik hissed, shivering. A bit more red flesh peeked from his sheath. "You're very daring. Now let me go."

"Do you really think you should be bossing me around while I've got hold of these?" Miryn gave the furry jewels a brief squeeze.

Rirrik tensed, pinned his ears back and gave a strained chirp. "Ow! Miryn, cut it out! I can't fight back right now, it's not fair!"

"I know." Miryn laughed, relaxing her grip again. Miryn glanced down at the organs in her hand. Each gryphon testicle was easily twice the size of a man's, but held a similar shape. "Are you going to behave yourself while I groom your legs? Or am I going to have to squeeze these?" She tightened her grip again for emphasis.

"I'll behave!" The gryphon's voice rose to a higher pitch. "I'll behave!"

"Good." Miryn laughed as she let the gryphon's balls go. "I'm doing this for your benefit, after all." She grinned at him, patting his hind leg. "I wasn't really going to hurt you, Rirrik. I just didn't like you challenging me like that."

"You wouldn't hurt them anyway." Rirrik snapped his beak. "I'd have shoved you away with my hind paw if I had too."

Miryn quirked her brow. "Not while I had a tight grip on them, you wouldn't. Now are you going to behave, or am I going to have to grab them again?"

"No, no." Rirrik waved his forepaw, and lay his head down against one of the cushions. "You've proven your point."

"That's what I thought." Miryn laughed and picked up one of her brushes. She worked it through the fur of his inner thigh till she found a stubborn mat. "Besides, you can't say you didn't enjoy that a little."

"I did not." Rirrik muttered into his pillow.

"Then what's this?" Miryn tapped the inch of red flesh peeking from the gryphon's sheath with a single finger.

Rirrik shivered. "S-stop!"

"Sorry." Miryn laughed and went back to brushing him. She worked around the mat, then fetched her shears. "Part of you seemed to enjoy it, though."

"I just..." Rirrik made a sound that was equal parts embarrassed warble and frustrated growl. "I just haven't been tended in a while, that's all."

"Tended?" Miryn giggled at his choice of words. "Maybe you shouldn't act so smug around those females all the time, then." Miryn carefully clipped the mat from his hind leg, then tossed it to the pile of fluff.

"Not just them." The gryphon turned his head, chewing his pillow with his beak like a frustrated dog in a tiny kennel. "With my injuries, it has been difficult for me to...It is hard to reach..."

Miryn paused her brushing when she realized what he meant. It took all she had just to fight back her laugh. "You mean, you haven't indulged yourself lately? I didn't even think gryphons...well...did that."

"Yes, gryphons masturbate!" Rirrik thumped his paw against the wooden floor. He lashed his tufted tail against a small pillow and sent it skittering away. "No, I haven't been able to lately. I cannot even preen lately, let alone stroke myself."

Miryn finally succumbed to her laugher. It burbled from her, spilled over her lips and echoed around the room. She laughed so hard she half-toppled forward, and ended up with her face pressed to Rirrik's furry side. His warm body rose and fell beneath her.

"Yes, yes, laugh it up." Rirrik said, and buried his face against the pillow again, words half muffled. "Now you see why I was hesitant to let you groom my hind legs. If I end up excited there's nothing I can do about it. I'm sure that's hilarious to you, but it's gods-be-damned frustrating to me!"

Miryn laughed a little while longer. The gryphon was right, it was hilarious to her. But she also sympathized with him. It wasn't as though Rirrik was getting a lot of female attention normally. There were only two female gryphons in the whole area, usually watching over other sections of the forest. Best Miryn could tell, they saw Rirrik as a friend, but far too obnoxious and smug to be of interest as anything more. And given how long it had been since he was first injured, the gryphon must be awfully pent up by now.

"You poor bird." Miryn eased away from him, stroking his fur. "That actually does sound exceedingly frustrating."

"It is." Rirrik sighed, closing his eyes. "Just...finish grooming me, please."

"Would you embarrassed to be aroused in front of me?" Miryn returned to brushing his hind leg.

"A little."

"Well, if it happens..." Miryn glanced at the gryphon's sheath again. A little more red flesh had spilled from it. It did make her a little curious. Just what did a gryphon's member look like? How big it would get? "You need not be embarrassed. It's a natural reaction, after all. I promise not to tell anyone."

"I appreciate that, but it will be no less frustrating to lay here and wait for it to go away."

"Have you considered asking for a little...shall we say, assistance?" Miryn worked her brush across the gryphon's inner thigh. Every few brush strokes she glanced up at his body again.

"Somehow, I don't think that the females would appreciate being asked for a quick stroke the next time they stop by to check on my injuries." Rirrik chuckled to himself, his balls tightening and sheath stirring further. Must have been nice images in his head.

"Probably not." Miryn chuckled. She swapped her brush out for a smaller one, and ran it through the fur across the lower half of his hind limb. "And I don't suppose you'd want to be assisted by a female of any other species."

"Rrrrhh?" Rirrik lifted his head and glanced back at her. "Don't tease me, Miryn. You know I'd never ask you to do something like that. Besides, you'd never let me live it down."

"And if I offered?" Miryn smirked at him and held up a hand. "Theoretically speaking, of course. And merely in the interests of your health, and sanity." She returned to her grooming, clipping a few small mats from near his hind paw. "Would you be open to such an offer?"

Rirrik tilted his head. He gazed down at Miryn, swallowing hard. She smiled at him. His blue eyes whirled in confusion. "Theoretically speaking, Miryn? If you were serious about such an offer, at this point I'd practically be willing to beg you for it."

"Beg me, hmm?" Miryn lifted her brows, turning her attention to the gryphon's other hind leg, the one propped up on the chair. She switched to her largest brush, and worked it through the thick gray fur of his inner thigh. "Never imagined I might get to hear a gryphon beg. Always thought you gryphons would have too much pride for that."

Rirrik gazed down at her, rustling his wings. "We do. Usually." He clicked his beak. "You're just...teasing me though, aren't you?"

Miryn tugged at a mat in his fur, then clipped it off, leaving a little patch of pale skin behind. She circled her finger across the exposed skin. "That depends."

Rirrik shivered at her touch, his feathers fluffing out, sheath plumping as more of him slid free. "On what?"

Miryn worked her brushes down the rest of Rirrik's hind leg. "Oh whether you want me to touch it or not."

Rirrik warbled and pinned his ears back, glancing away from her. Miryn smiled to herself. Poor bird was actually embarrassed. Embarrassment seemed a real rarity among gryphons. Usually Rirrik's other emotions were smothered in smugness and arrogance. In a way, it was see something deeper inside him, though she wished it hadn't taken a near crippling injury to bring the gryphon's heart closer to his surface.

Miryn set her brushes aside, and pressed her hands against the gryphon's thigh. She ran them up the inside of his hind leg, ruffling up his fur all the way to where his limb met his body. Her knuckles grazed his gray furred sheath. Miryn she brushed her finger tips across the silken fur of the gryphon's scrotum before dragging her hands back down his leg. She kneaded the muscles there, savoring the way it made Rirrik shudder and moan.

Red flesh spilled from the gryphon's sheath as she worked his thigh. Miryn's fingers glided up through the warm softness of Rirrik's fur again. This time she let her hand roam across the gryphon's sheath. The heat of him exuded through the soft, furry tube. Rirrik sucked in a breath, and Miryn glanced up at him to make sure he was alright with this.

"If you want my help, Rirrik, I'm happy to offer it." Miryn swallowed, hoping she hadn't gone too far already. "Otherwise, just say no, and we'll never speak of it again." Miryn paused. Rirrik hadn't tried to stop her, but he hadn't exactly asked for her assistance, either. She wanted him to make the decision one way or another before she went any further, to make sure things didn't get too awkward or uncomfortable. "It's your choice to make, my friend."

Rirrik chirruped what sounded like embarrassed laughter. He gave her a sidelong grin, swallowing audibly. "Please don't stop now, Miryn."

Miryn laughed with him, patting his sheath. "Alright, lovely bird. I'll help you find your release." She smirked. "As long as you can keep a secret."

Miryn repositioned herself a little, leaning against his underbelly. She stroked the gryphon's sheath with her palm, watching the creature's erection slide free as his sheath retracted beneath her hand. Miryn had to admit to a bit of curiousness about the gryphon's penis. She'd seen the tip of Rirrik's member peeking out now and then but never the whole thing. It did not take long for Rirrik to become fully aroused, and Miryn was not disappointed. Seeing an adult gryphon's penis exposed and erect was quite a marvel.

Rirrik's penis was quite different than a man's. It was a dark crimson color, and tapered almost to a point, with no discernable head to it. The whole thing looked very smooth, gradually thickening towards its base. It held a little bit of an arch to it. When fully erect, the gryphon's cock was about the size of her forearm. His fat, gray-furred balls were snug against the base of it, tightened in excitement.

"Look at you, Bird." Grinning at him, Miryn dragged a single finger pad along the base of the gryphon's shaft. It felt even smoother than it looked, the heat more than she'd expected. "Something to be smug about after all."

"You like it?" Rirrik perked his ears, ruffling up his indigo crown feathers. "I thought you'd think it was ugly."

Miryn scrunched her face, tracing that same finger back down the gryphon's length. "Why on earth would I think that?"

"Because it's..." Rirrik waved his paw. "So different from a human. So much more...bestial."

"Different does not mean ugly, Rirrik." She wrapped her fingers around the midpoint of the gryphon's erection. Heat radiated from him, her touch made him shudder. "It is more bestial than a man's, yes, but if anything, I think it looks quite exotic. It's actually a little exciting to get to see a gryphon's...well, cock."

Rirrik blinked at her choice of words, and Miryn just smirked at him. She knew he wouldn't expect that word from her lips. He clicked his beak, splaying his ears in an attempt to recapture some of his usual smugness. "Perhaps I shall make a point to show it to you more often, then."

"Don't press your luck, Bird." Miryn gave Rirrik a slow stroke to his tip, then she twisted her fingers around his tapered point. Rirrik warbled in delight. "How do you know what a man's looks like, anyway?"

Rirrik stuttered, his crown feathers pinned back down. "I...may have...seen one. By mistake."

Miryn laughed but did not press the gryphon further. She could embarrass him about that later, when his hardness wasn't at risk. Instead, she focused on Rirrik's pleasure. Miryn gave the gryphon a low, slow stroke from his tip down to his balls and back again. The groan she coaxed from him was pure delight and desperate need. He rocked his hips, thrusting into her hand. She could not fit her fingers all the way around most of him, but Rirrik did not seem to mind.

"How long would this take if I just gave you a quick, steady stroking?" Miryn pumped her palm against his tip a few times. Wet gryphon pre dribbled against her skin.

The gryphon's breath trembled. "N-not long, honestly."

"Is that what you want?" Miryn glanced up at him. "If I'm just a healer, tending your need, I'd make it quick and simple, relieving you of your tension. Of course, as your friend..." She released his member, then trailed a finger all the way from his tip, down between his furry balls. "I could play with you a bit, first. What do you think, Rirrik? Do you want to be tended, or played with?"

Rirrik swallowed. He tilted his head, crown-feathers half lifted. "...Played with."

"Dirty bird." Miryn laughed and scooped his balls up in her hand. "That's what I was hoping for, though."

Miryn scooped the gryphon's balls up in her free hand. The gryphon's gray-furred nuts made for quite a handful, they looked plump and fat sitting against her palm. She gave them a little tug, and they bulged against the gray furry sack containing them. Miryn rolled them around in her hand, relishing the way they felt, and the way it made Rirrik moan and tremble. With her other hand, she ruffled up the fur of his sac. The black spots nearly vanished till she smoothed the fur back down. Miryn rolled his eggs about again.

"I like your balls, Rirrik." She grinned up at the gryphon, rubbing her thumb across one of his jewels. "You've a lovely set, Bird."

Rirrik warbled, shifting himself to further part his hind legs. "Thank you. I...I like having them played with."

"I'll bet you do." Miryn danced the fingers of her free hand along the gryphon's length. "Your little red monster was creeping from its cave the moment I grabbed them."

Rirrik splayed his ears, beak half open in a sheepish grin. "I...may have...enjoyed that more than I was willing to admit."

Miryn gave a mock gasp, pressing her hand to her chest. "No! I'd never have guessed!"

"Alright, alright." Rirrik swatted at her with his tail.

"Watch the tail!" Miryn closed her fingers around the gryphon's testicles, threatening to tighten her grip. "Or the nuts get it."

Rirrik whined and made a show of pawing at the air as if in bestial plea for mercy. "I'll be good."

Miryn giggled at his act, easing her grip. "You've never been good in your life." She rolled his jewels around, smirking at him. "Rirrik, do you like being held by the balls?" Miryn glanced down at the bulging jewels in her grasp. "In a...shall we say, dominant way, I mean."

"I...well..."

"You needn't be embarrassed." Miryn didn't want to make the gryphon feel bad, she was only curious. There was a lot she still didn't know about her friend. She kneaded his balls in one hand, and wrapped the fingers of her other hand around his erection. Miryn pumped her hand against him, using pleasure to coax his reply. "Especially now, Rirrik. I'm only curious. You don't have to say if you don't wish, but you needn't feel embarrassed."

"I...I think I do." Rirrik glanced away. Miryn caught the inside of his ears flushing crimson just before he pinned them back. "It's...not exactly something I've had the chance to explore."

"I see." She gave him another slow stroke, grinning at the half-chirp, half moan she drew. "Perhaps we'll explore it, in the future. If you're interested, of course."

"...Really?" Rirrik glanced back at her, excitement and mischief whirling in his pale blue eyes.

"Yes. I rather like the feeling I get from holding a gryphon by the balls."

"How...does it feel?"

Miryn thought about it, sliding her other hand back to the gryphon's balls. "Empowering. Gives me a bit of a thrill to hold such a regal, powerful creature by his most private, vulnerable parts." She gently separated the gryphon's testicles, holding one in each hand. "Quite literally having a gryphon's most valuable treasure in the palms of my hand."

Rirrik shivered, groaned, and arched his back, his tapered cock thrust into the air.

"Oh, my, Rirrik. Did that excite you?"

The gryphon clicked his beak, and gave a slow nod.

"You are a kinky bird." Miryn gave each gryphon testicle a gentle massage. Rirrik must have relished the feeling, because he was kneading at the air with his good foreleg. "Next thing you know, you'll be asking me to tie you up and paddle your furry ass."

"What?!" Rirrik jerked his head up, staring at her with wide, blue eyes.

Miryn burst out laughing. "Alright, that was too far, wasn't it."

"Yes." Rirrik snapped his beak. "It was. Just because I may come to enjoy feeling as though a human female is in control of me, doesn't mean I want to be abused!"

Miryn smirked at him. "I wouldn't paddle you that hard."

"Very funny."

"I don't see your erection going down."

"Only because you're fondling me." Rirrik smirked right back at her.

"Yes, I suppose I am." Miryn rolled the gryphon's balls back and forth between her hand, the fat jewels shifting inside their gray furred sack. Miryn changed her grip, holding the gryphon's nuts in one hand so she could ruffle the fur that covered them. "You've little black speckles strewn across your balls. It's cute."

"I'm glad you like them." Rirrik flexed his hind legs a little, his furry scrotum tightening.

"Maybe I'll have to start grabbing them whenever you act up." Miryn grinned at him, tracing a single finger between the gryphon's balls.

"Then I'll act up more often."

"Now, now..." Miryn ran her finger back the other way. She ruffled up the fur between his jewels, then teased the base of his erection. "You might not like it so much if the whole village sees me grab you by the balls. Why, the female gryphons might start following my example. And I'd wager they'd grasp you far more tightly than I would."

Rirrik shivered, clacking his beak. "Yes, they would."

"So perhaps you'd best behave yourself." Miryn twined her fingers around the tapered point of the gryphon's cock. She squeezed his firm heat, coaxing out a bit of pre, and eased her hand down him.

"At...at least in public." The smugness in Rirrik's voice was smothered by pleasure.

Miryn laughed as she pumped her hand against the end of the gryphon's erection. He was smooth, hard, and very hot. His tapered point fit perfectly inside her fingers, made it easy to stroke the last half of him. "Don't take advantage, Rirrik, or I'll start inviting those females over to make sure you're on your best behavior. I've seen you sparring with them, I'd bet they can teach me a thing or two about earning some respect from a male."

By now, Rirrik seemed too lost in his pleasure to rise to her bait. His pale blue eyes were half rolled back, and his beak hung open. She stroked his pointed tip a little faster, cupping his furry, gray and black speckled balls in her free hand. The gryphon panted, his indigo crown feathers rising around his head. He mantled his trembling wings, displaying the royal blue feathers lining their back edge. When she stroked him harder, the gryphon gave a few gasps, hips twitching against her hands. A spurt of pre wet his just-groomed belly fur, his tail lashing.

"Aah! Aaah! Arrrrhhhh!" Rirrik unsheathed the claws on his good foreleg and scratched little ruts in the wooden floor.

"Getting close, Bird?" Miryn eased her stroking.

"Very." Rirrik chirruped, his eyes glazing over.

Miryn released his erection, and patted the gryphon's nuts. "I'll let you ease back a moment then. I have an idea."

"But...but..." Rirrik blinked, lifting his head. The mobile half of his beak twisted up, and he pinned his tufted ears back. "Miryn! P-please!"

Miryn laughed as she pushed herself to her feet. "Don't worry, Rirrik. You'll get to finish. But after all the effort I just put into grooming you, I don't want you spurting all over your belly fur."

"I can take another bath..." Rirrik whined, his ears drooping.

Miryn just smiled at him. "I'll only be a moment, Rirrik."

Miryn strode away from him. Though she didn't know if the gryphon found her form at all attractive, or if he was just happy to have a helping hand, she made a show of swaying her hips anyway. From the great room where the gryphon's sleeping cushions were, she made her way into her own bathroom. Though the gryphon bathed in the nearby hot spring, Miryn had a simple tub of hammered copper, with a stove to heat water. She also kept some soaps and bath oils and things she picked up when she occasionally flew with Rirrik into one of the larger cities for news and supplies. She fetched a little baked clay pot of oil, and a trio of simple gray towels, then returned to the gryphon.

"You see? I told you I wouldn't be gone long."

"My leg is getting stiff." Rirrik snapped his beak, though his attempted show of displeasure might have been more effective if the gryphon wasn't still hard as a rock.

"Don't worry my friend." Miryn knelt down alongside his belly once more and draped a towel across him. "Before long, your leg will be the only thing that's stiff."

Rirrik grinned, ruffling his feathers. "What's in the pot, there?"

"Just a little oil." Miryn laid another towel across the gryphon's belly. "I use it on my skin sometimes when I bathe. It'll make my hands nice and slick for you."

"Oh?" Rirrik cocked his head, appraising the gray clay pot. "I like the sound of that."

"Thought you might." Miryn rubbed the gryphon's balls, then danced her fingers back down his hind leg. She pulled the stopper from the pot and dipped her fingers inside. They came back glistening, and she trailed them over the gryphon's erection, leaving wet streaks along his red flesh. She drummed her finger tips up and down his length, then closed a few fingers around his pointed tip, twisting and stroking just the end of him. "I'd bet you like my hands, too."

"They're...very soft." Rirrik chirred, a bead of gryphon pre dribbling from the little slit in his tapered member. "Very warm, and agile."

Miryn smirked at him, then enclosed the end of the gryphon's cock in both oiled palms. She stroked him down to his balls, working her hands together to fully encircle him. "So you think a human woman's hands will be enough to make a gryphon cum?"

Rirrik's eyes drooped closed as he shivered in delight. He curled his forepaw. "Oh, definitely."

"Good."

Miryn let her hands do the talking after that. Her oiled skin glided against his in smooth, even strokes. She kept her movements slow at first, not wanting to set the creature off too fast. The gryphon felt like freshly forged iron in her hands, hard as could be and hotter than any man. She squeezed him, kneaded his sensitive flesh as she stroked it. Each motion coaxed a new sound of pleasure from Rirrik. He chirped, he warbled, he moaned and hissed and shook his feathers.

At the end of some strokes she cradled the gryphon's furry balls, kneading them for long moments. Rirrik shuddered and groaned whenever she toyed with his stones. Sometimes Miryn gave his member a few half-strokes with her other hand while she played with the gryphon's testicles. Other times she rubbed his black-speckled eggs between both hands and left his member wanting for a little while.

Miryn always returned to the gryphon's mating tool before long. It was an impressive thing, and she was enjoying getting a chance to play with it. When she'd first brought it up, she'd meant it to be nothing more than a quick, simple stroking to help the poor bird relieve his tension. He was a good friend, and she wanted to help him out. Now that it had gone a little further, she was glad she'd offered. The oiled red flesh glistened in her hands, pulsing with the beat of the gryphon's powerful heart.

As the gryphon's sounds of pleasure grew, so did Miryn's efforts. The louder he moaned, the higher his warbles grew, the harder she stroked him. She squeezed him between her hands, twisting them back and forth along his smooth, bestial organ as she pumped faster. Rirrik rocked his hips, thrusting himself through her grasp. This time as the gryphon's breathing stuttered into gasping pants, Miryn did not stop.

Miryn slipped a hand down his length and cupped the gryphon's balls. She held them, gently rubbing them while she gave him swift strokes with her other hand. She focused her hand's attentions on the pointed tip of the gryphon's member. It was easier to wrap her fingers all the way around the second half of his maleness, and she guessed it to be the most sensitive part of him. Rirrik rolled his hips, thrusting through her fingers, eager for more.

Eager to release his seed, she was sure.

Miryn wouldn't make him wait any longer. She her hand against the end of him as fast as she could, stroking the gryphon off at a frantic pace. His balls bounced and swayed against her cupping palm, their furry forms tickling her skin. Rirrik gasped a few more times, and then cried out, ramming himself through her fingers with a keening cry. His indigo crown feathers all flared out around his head, his back arched, his cock flexed and his furry sac tightened.

Miryn cradled the gryphon's balls as he came, massaging them at a leisured pace even as she stroked him feverishly with her other hand. The gryphon's first spurt splattered directly against the gray towels she'd laid against his belly. Miryn pulled his cock away from his underbelly, hoping to guide his release anywhere but his fur. That proved difficult as the gryphon's pulses were strong enough to make her whole hand bounce when his cock jumped. But the second, larger spurt splattered the floor with sticky white globs, as did the one that immediately followed it. Rirrik gave a few more sharp, hawk-like cries through his orgasm, slapping his fore paw against the floor. His wings beat the air, a few loose feathers fluttered down. His tufted tail lashed, his hind legs shook and trembled, rattling the chair.

Miryn stroked Rirrik throughout his release, doing what she could to keep his seed away from his freshly-groomed body. When his eruptions were dwindling to dribbles, she released his balls to hang free once more, and tugged the corner of a towel to his erection. She wrapped it around his shaft and her hand. Inside the towel, her own fevered strokes eased to a lazy pumping. She liked the feel of him in her hand. The power she felt through his release was so primal. It was almost a shame she'd have to let go soon.

Rirrik finally slumped against the ground, panting for breath, his wings draped at odd angles. "Oh...oooh, Miryn."

"Feel better, Bird?" Miryn kept hold of him inside the towel, simulating the feeling of being buried a little longer in his mate.

"Oh, Gods, yes." Rirrik tilted his head on the ground. "Thank you, Miryn. Thank you."

"You're welcome, my friend." Miryn patted his balls, and with a sigh, withdrew her hand from the towel. "Better get everything cleaned up. Looks like I kept you clean, for the most part."

Rirrik lifted his head, crown feathers still splayed out. "Those towels were a good idea. And that oil was a delight." He stared at his own lingering erection when Miryn pulled the towel back. "You don't think it will cause problems for my sheath, do you?"

"I doubt it, but I wouldn't know." Miryn folded the messy towel over onto itself, then grinned at her friend. "Let's clean it up, just in case." Before the gryphon could protest, she wiped down his over-sensitive cock with the soft towel, laughing at the way it made him shudder and squirm. "There. Now you're clean."

"Yes...well..." Rirrik clacked his beak, but didn't seem to have the strength left to manage even a glare. He shifted his leg from the chair, made himself comfortable, and let his head sprawl against the floor. "Thank you, Miryn."

"You said that already. But you're still welcome." Miryn gathered up the towels, her ears tingling, her face hot. "Let me just go put these..."

Miryn trailed off when movement nearby caught her attention. She glanced towards the large bay windows at the back of the room. Just outside stood a golden-brown feathered female gryphon. Crimson edged her wings. One of Rirrik's companions. Or was that rivals? Her gold-flecked eyes were wide, her beak hung open. They'd been caught before they even had a chance to make this their little secret. When the gryphon saw Miryn looking, her beak split wider, her ears splayed, and her feathers fluffed around her head in a gryphon smirk. She warbled laughter, the window panes muffled most of the sound.

Rirrik heard it anyway. His head jerked up and twisted to the window. He gasped and hissed. The female turned away, shook her haunches at him, and sprang into the sky, leaving behind a basket filled with treats and things for her injured kin.

Rirrik chirruped, his voice shaking a little. "Oh, damn! Do you think...I mean, how much did she...?"

"Probably all of it." Miryn couldn't help it. She laughed. "But look at it this way, Feathers. She must have liked what she saw if she kept watching."

Rirrik blinked, settling his feathers back down a little. "I...I suppose that's true, yes. I'm sure she was very impressed."

"Either that, or she just wanted something new tease you about." Miryn kept laughing as she gathered up the towels, and went to wash them. "Guess we'll find out later."

"Shut up!" Rirrik fluffed himself right back up. "It's not funny!"

Yes, it was. "Don't make me grab your nuts again, Bird."

Miryn grinned to herself. Gryphons were fun.

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If you've enjoyed, please FAVE! Leave me your comments and thoughts! And yes, I know there are mistakes, lol. Like I said, it's a rough draft! Lemme know what you thought!