She still finished the fish quickly, bones and all. She licked her claws, cleaning them out with her teeth and licking along the underside, using special care to get into the hooked parts of them. Seemingly not paying too close attention to the hybrid observing her nearby. Her tail subtly shifted to curl around her and once she was done cleaning her eyes immediately went to the hybrid in the cave.
She stared rather intently, a bit rude on her part but she wanted to take in details. her tongue flicked out towards them, taking in the scent. Her eyes took in the scales on the bridge of their nose, going down their back, and along the tops of their tail. She looked at the cloven hooves, the curled and branched off horn, the true mane of curly hair they had, the tufted ears and tail. They were slim looking, but the muscles underneath the fur said otherwise. Pointed cloven hooves with the slightest curve inwards to 'hook' onto rocks and unsteady dirt easier, those make for effective puncturing weapons if applied right. Her slitted eyes met the hybrids own. They had a rather long stare down, and while she didn't backdown she didn't get aggressive either, the two of them simply existing at that moment.
Then it was over, the hybrid had blinked. Lilith looked away and laid her head on the floor before they could even register that she was looking away.
Ashfur had blinked, and when he did the mysterious creature had laid down before he could even try to meet their eyes. He was hesitant to move or get up given just how; menacing, the creature looked. With great reluctance though he slowly shifted onto his hooves, silently cursing the not-so-clear stone floor and the sound of small stones grating against the ground underhoof. His ears flicked back a moment but at seeing the creature not move a muscle he slowly made his way to the cart full of fish. He was gonna sell these on the market, but there were a few that always went bad before they could sell. Usually ones with not-as-pretty scales or inured jaws that were from the hook, the largest ones also never did well because even being partly carnivorous, that much meat was rarely needed. He heard the stomach of the creature turn and he started picking out a few of the larger fish of the not-so-pretty kind that he knew he'd likely never sell, and started putting them to the side once they were picked out of their iceboxes.
He glanced over to see those blue eyes watching him intently, he could see the nose flare before watching it's long slimy forked tongue flick out. He gulped a little, and gently slide the whole fish over along the cave floor, watching her snap it up eagerly. He made off with one fish he hadn't given her yet, sat by the fire, and descaled it in a matter of seconds. He didn't realize she stopped eating until he felt the eyes on him and he looked over to see her gaurding her fish but watching him. He supposed that it was curious if the tilted head was any indication.
"It's a talent I've picked up, fishing, deboning, descaling, gutting, and such. My hooves make it easy, the slight curve and the fact I have mine pointed mean I can dig in gently enough to not tear the flesh... you probably don't even understand me." He looked at her for any indication and found none. He sighed but shrugged a bit with a smile, he was gonna keep talking.
"Ponies get cutie marks. Thestrals also get marks. Saddle Arabian ponies get them to. Zebra do as well. But Kirin, Donkeys, Deer, Antelope, Hippogriffs, and a lot of others don't get one. We have to work harder to grow into talents we like doing, which to ponies is always a little odd when someone can whittle wood like pro but also be talented as hay when it comes to cooking, cleaning, and maybe even something fun like dancing. Just some food for thought."
He said all of this while cutting the fish open with magic, deboning it, and putting the now separate large filets on the ground near the fire. Skin-side down. He got up as they heated and kept a bit of an eye on the creature who had listened to him. He went to his cart, got onto a brace near the wheel to haul himself up to the seating bench, and lifted it up, taking out a few spices from underneath. Hopping down and going back to the fire, eyes glancing to the creature, seeing her having gone back to eating the fish.
He sat by the fire with his spices in tow and sprinkled some on both fish filets. Tail wiggling a little on the ground as the scent started permeating the cave. He licked his fangs a little and glanced over at his guest. They had finished all the fish to his surprise and had a tail sticking out from between their teeth. They seemed oblivious to it. He glanced at the cooking fish, then back to the creature's mouth. Hopefully the filet he planned on giving them would knock it down their gullet.
Fish finishes cooking fairly quickly thankfully, and the less time the juicier it was, he waited for the edges to brown, then used a hoof to hold one. He didn't know how to give it over without getting closer, so he carefully shuffled closer, outreaching his hoof to the creature. He watched them take it very carefully then bring it closer. He realized then he could've been using magic this entire time. He moved away and gave the flattest look to the fire, then picked up the other filet in his magic, blowing on it a few times before he started eating it, a pleased him leaving him. A large purr startled him out of his reverie and he quickly looked towards the source, finding it to be the strange creature, looking at him with seemingly sleepily lidded eyes.
He blinked, and their eyes were closed. His head tilted a bit, ears gently flopping to the side, one down, the other canted upwards. He let a bit of flame go over his hoof and he put it into the fire, burning it a little brighter for a moment and reigniting some bits that hadn't quite fully burned out. Getting up again to put his spices away with magic and get a few spare logs from his cart for the fire. He put them on and decided to do something stupid in hopes to see to it that this creature didn't decide to have him for lunch the next day, or raid his cart in the night.
He slowly stepped towards the creature, then laid beside it. He always was a light sleeper, he figured any move this one made in the night would wake him, but he wanted to be sure he would hear or feel it incase they were sneaky. It was oddly warm next to the creature, which he wasn't complaining about. He laid his head down and closed his eyes, tail curling around himself. He heard a whisper in perfect ancient draconic.
"Werid Dovah-Key, ahkrin praan dremorin."
(Praise dragon-horse, and rest peacefully.)
His ears were perked up and strained to hear anything other than the even breathing of the creature beside him. Ashfur looked at them a moment before lifting his head to look outside the cave, seeing nothing out there as the time wore on. He laid his head back down after a few minutes and glanced at his sleeping companion one last time before closing his eyes to try and rest.
He signed and nickered a little, hooves shifting as he shifted about to get comfortable. He spent a perilous twenty minutes trying to get comfortable before he was grabbed. He froze up in complete fear, ears flat, eyes wide, and tail tucked between his legs.
The constant shuffling and clicking of this hybrids hooves aggravated her rest, so with no reluctance on her part, Lilith had gently snagged him with the absolute softest of admonishing growls and pulled him against her underbelly, curling around him comfortably and letting her head rest with a soft plop. She purred at a comfortable level, tail curling a bit around the hybrid. Her tongue flicked out towards the creature. They smelled of ash, fish, sand, salt, and fire. She stretched her neck a bit to sniff at them closer, wood ash, birches, fire, dried sands, salt, a hint of fish. She found the scent pleasing. She huffed it a couple time before she moved her neck back into a comfortable position. She closed her eyes, felt the hybrid cuddle closer, and relished in their natural heat as she napped off the fish-induced food coma.
Ashfur was frozen for quite a bit longer until he felt the creature around him relax and the breathing level out. This creature was a she if the slit and pouch-like pelvis was any indication, it was certainly an indicator on female dragons that's for sure, and he just got a glimpse of it when the creature decided to press him to her belly. He gently shook the thought out of his head, snorting softly before figuring that this might as well happen... it was actually pretty comfortable, being nestled against her like this. Warm, and vibrating, which felt pretty relaxing despite the circumstances. He supposed it was nap time, or sleep, if she didn't let him up.
((Small vote time, while I wrote this story expecting some smut and some awkward situations, I wanna get your guy's opinion on if smut should be a thing next chapter or stay as the bonus non-canon chapter I've got planned?) In other words, Canon or Non-Canon? ))