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“Heh… heh… heh… Whoa!” Toby caught himself before fully falling over, saving the trouble of a skinned knee.
He’d had a long day; a good day. He’d helped lug firewood in from the mouth of the cave- even though he couldn’t carry nearly as much as the rest of his family. He’d helped tend the ash piles around some of those fires too. And toward the end of the day, he’d raced around the caves with some of his youngest relatives, zipping and bounding this way and that. It had been a good day, and now-
Toby re-steadied himself, smiling even while he huffed.
Now, Toby was tired. The logs had drained the strength from his arms, the running had used his legs to their limit, and the heat from the fire had wearied the rest. Now, the boy trudged slowly through the caves, on his way to the sleeping chamber where he’d take a well-deserved rest- once he eventually arrived. The tunnels were carved out at dragon scale, after all, which made it a fair walk for the little human. But he was used to it, it would only take him a few minutes to-
“Whoa!” He stumbled again and came down on his hands. His palms were already somewhat rough from cave life, so they held up fine, but the little boy grunted as he pushed himself back to his feet- a move that he could usually pull off without even noticing. He stood for a moment, catching his breath, and began to hear the familiar pounding of familial feet.
“You look like you could use some help,” came a soft, draconic voice. He looked over to see Averi approaching from another branch of the tunnel. She had a mildly worried expression with a kindly little grin, like she knew she could help make everything alright.
Toby turned to his big sister and looked up at her with his wide, innocent eyes- now with little dark bags below them- and nodded in agreement. He could use some help.
Her little smile grew just a touch, understanding, even if a bit reluctant. She’d hardly ever seen her little brother this worn out, and she knew he would appreciate a much softer ride than hardened dragon scale could offer.
Toby saw her head snake behind him, out of view, and then a moment later he felt a familiar, warm, slick sensation as the tip of her tongue appeared between his legs.
The weight of the ground receding from his feet gave him the first wave of relief. Within a heartbeat or two, his legs went completely limp, along with his hips. He might have fallen right over, if not for his sister curving her tongue to support him, flicking its end up into a steep curl around his bottom, and flexing its center bulk out and forward to cradle his torso as she gently leaned him backwards. He didn’t even fall back onto the spongy tastebud bed; it neatly swelled out toward him to accept his modest weight.
The tip rose next as the long, serpentine form of cushiony pink gradually leveled out, freeing Toby’s spine from the load of his body, giving him his second wave of relief as he sank fully-limp into the damp sea of saliva and taste buds.
Past drooping eyelids, Toby watched the red roof of Averi’s mouth, and the white stalactites of her teeth, pass overhead to eclipse the roof of the cave, hardly even rocking him as she drew his tired body into hers. She always was the gentlest with him, which didn’t always make her the most fun, but at times like this, it did make her the most appreciated.
The exterior firelight faded out as the great jaws closed, replaced only by the boy’s own light, dull and faded like the boy himself. Little crackles and squelches came from below as the huge, supple organ- several times larger than the sibling it cradled- settled into place.
Toby felt his world turn upside down, even as the red, fleshy ridges above him kept their place, a sensation that had once upon a time been quite discomforting, but which now he passingly recognized as the feeling of a family member raising their head and tilting it back to swallow him. He glided softly over the swell of saliva-slicked tastebuds, along an incline just steep enough to send him on his way. Reaching the drop tucked all the way at the back of the dragoness’s throat, he felt the smooth muscle meet the hair on his head, and then felt it part, just as his weight began to slip over the precipice.
*gulp*
The throat muscles folded around him, squeezing into his own comparatively tiny muscles with just the right amount of pressure to bring some relief to his aching arms and legs as he was faithfully shepherded down his big sister’s long, flowing neck. His spine gently curved and uncurved to follow the shifting contours as he traced his way down her esophagus and into her chest, where his most cherished resting place lay patiently waiting to receive him.
*splop*
His arms slipped away from his sides as they were released from the firm hold of the dragon’s throat. The rolling, peristaltic massage gave way to a looser, softer surface that shaped itself around him as he was guided onto it, like passing from strong, caring arms into a warm bed. He sloshed through the little lake of well-digested slop settled in her tummy’s base, and it pooled around his weary limbs and joints like a hot bath.
And then he came to a halt, right in the center of her stomach, right where he wanted to be. The entire chamber seemed to cradle him, just tense enough to hold him steady, yet yielding enough to cushion every contour of the boy’s body. He relinquished all control over his being, and let her hold him. He didn’t need to push his tired little form around anymore, his big sister would take care of him.
A light wave ran slowly down the length of his accommodations; a friendly welcome to the only familiar face to ever visit. Toby smiled and closed his eyes. Just a moment ago he had been fighting his way down the firelit tunnels, and now, now there was nothing but peace. Within only seconds, the little boy was asleep.
…
*gurgle*
It wasn’t so much that the sound woke him up, as it was that it happened to be the first thing he heard as his mind returned from the quiet bliss of dreams. His eyes blinked open, and he was met with nothing but a quiet shade of pearl blue, shimmering in his own light. He looked around, hardly moving even his head. He was resting atop one of Averi’s legs, nestled in the crevasse between the limb and her broad, scaly belly, half-under a wing with the rest of her body circled protectively around him.
*glorp*
His eyes settled on the wall of scales next to him, the familiar sounds calling out from beyond. She must have let him out before going to sleep herself. She was too big for him to safely sleep inside her, after all. But she’d done it so smoothly that he hadn’t even stirred from the well-welcomed slumber her belly had lulled him into. And then she’d kept him close to it, cradled just outside, where he could still hear all the sloshes and squelches and gurgles he so enjoyed, just a few layers of scale and muscle and pudge away from the folding walls and shifting sludge that made them.
Toby rolled over and pressed his chest against the great gut, feeling the heat that radiated from within. He closed his eyes again. He would wait until his sister woke up before he got up too. She’d watched over him all night, and he wanted to thank her.