"You're lookin' good, just like a snake in the grass,
One of these days, you're gonna break your glass,"

— Don't Bring Me Down
Electric Light Orchestra

The girls were asleep in his arms by the time he finished, and he savored it. He knew that before he could blink they would be too big to cuddle with their father. The teenage years terrified him. He could only keep them safe in his arms for so long. They were settled into their crib with kisses before he returned to his wife in the tub, steam curling out of the water to show she refilled it.

"They're asleep. Gimme yer foot."

He sat at the edge of the tub, massaging her foot and calf like he always did after work, and thought about Charles. This wasn't going to be easy but he couldn't just not bring him. She already felt abandoned. It was a shit situation all around.

The low hum of her husband singing to their babes could be heard distantly from the nursery. Lydia had to keep very still to refrain from upsetting the water and drowning out the heart-warming sound. Too soon, it was over and Betelgeuse was back, pulling up his chair and demanding she offer her foot up for rubs. Never one to deny him, Lydia obliged.

"Oh God… how did you get so good at that?"

With her babies napping, her husband doling out some tender love and care, and the blissfully heated bathwater easing whatever tension was leftover from the workday, Lydia was quickly brought to a state of languid relaxation.

"Have I told you that I love you today?" She honestly couldn't remember. Her mind was awash with fabrics, price tags, and custom orders she needed to fill. "I love you. Sarah was a cunt, and you're an excellent father. The best."

Lydia hadn't mentioned the dreaded Sarah since the night of the twins' conception. Now that they were here and she had successfully accomplished more than the other woman ever had, it felt safe to bring her up again. She was no threat.

"You want a backrub after I get out, baby? How are the O'Malley's doing? You're not being too hard on them, are you?"

He chuckled lowly at the question, shrugging. "Even if you didn't, ya know I love hearing it."

Sarah was a cunt. You're an excellent father.

The words made him go still and consider his wife with a puzzled, then emotional gaze. He had always wanted a baby girl, and Lydia delivered double. He just hoped he could be what they needed as they grew.

"Oh, well... backrub sounds great, kitten. Thanks. O'Malley's are fine. They're tryin at least. Just gotta push past feelin' bad about scarin' em." He switched feet, pulling one up to press a gentle kiss to the top.

"I was thinkin' we should try another date night soon. Have the girls stay with the Maitlands for a night. If ya wanna..."

There was a slight furrow to her brow at the suggestion, though it wasn't clear if it was in response to his offer of a date night, or just a face she was making while she enjoyed her massage.

"If you think that's a good idea, Daddy…"

The twins had never spent the night out of the house before. They had Bubby and Tilly here, as well as Luna who kept her distance from the toddling babes because they liked to pull her poor tail, but would never let anything happen to them. On top of all that, there were also numerous wards and protections surrounding the property to keep anyone from breaching the perimeter without either of their express permissions.

The Maitlands had a fat security guard who never left his station at the bottom floor of their apartment building. His name was Bob and he was very nice.

"You sure you wouldn't rather just let them stay the night here? They could sleep in any of the guest rooms. We could get a hotel, like on New Years."

They'd had many successful date nights since then, but they never stayed the entire night away from their girls, both somewhat scarred by the incident. Maybe it was time to give it another shot.

He finished her massage with a thoughtful hum. "Well, I'm sure they could stay here just fine. I didn't think of that." He didn't like having people in his house that weren't his family under any circumstances… but at this point he supposed Adam and Barb were kinda maybe a little bit in that category.

"You know yer beautiful? I love you and the girls more'n anything. You're about the only things I do love."

Leaning back in his seat to look at her with a smile, he scratched at his round gut idly.

"But you knew that. Didn't ya, babes?" Smirking, he tickled the bottom of her foot where it still sat in his lap. "Come on. My turn."

After a lifetime of believing herself singularly undesirable beyond a shadow of a doubt, it only took a little over a year and a half of nonstop, unconditional, unwavering love to put a dent in Lydia Geuse's tragically low self-esteem.

"I know!" She laughed, trying in vain to pull her tickled foot from his grasp— and she wasn't just saying it to get him to release her, either. Once she was finally free, she took his hand to rise from the water, steam curling from pale flesh as it hit the cool air, and stepped into his arms to let him towel her off much the same as he'd done for their daughters.

"You know I love you more than anything, right?" She parroted his question back with big eyes and lips that looked like they needed kissing, craning her neck to look up at him as he stood close. Motherhood may have filled out her curves more prominently, but she was still just as short as ever.

"Even when you're more monster than man…"

"That's what makes ya different, kitten. Better. Ya see the real me n' ya love me anyway. Ya got no idea what that means to me, Lyds."

He didn't know when this night became sweet nothings and reassurances but with the daunting task of finding Charles ahead of him he was grateful for it. He was terrified of losing her to something. Anything. He dried her off and produced a nightgown for her before stripping out of his damp boxers and going to lay flat on his stomach, ready for his rub down. It never helped for long, but the fleeting relief was the highlight of his week.

He put his face flat into the pillow, grateful for the chance to worry without his wife seeing.

Lydia was happy to don a nightgown of his choosing; a cream-colored, short, flimsy thing that he could rip through in an instant to get to her if he wanted. He liked it that way, and so did she. Usually, he only obliterated the nighties that were spun by Ginger's talented legs. Creations of his wife's were worth more to him. This little number was one of Ginger's.

"You know…" She began in a low voice once she was in position, straddling his rump and priming his back with cocoa butter to make it smooth for kneading. "New Year's Eve was scary and all… but I don't think I've ever slept better than when I was wrapped up in your scales with our girls…"

By now, her hands had memorized where the worst of his knots were, what felt best to him. Using what meager strength she possessed, she bore her entire weight down on his lower back, grinding her knuckles into the tensely bound muscle.

"The first time I saw you like that? I was sure I was dead."

He grunted as her talented hands set to work on him, a sigh leaving him. Clearly, Lydia was in the mood to talk. He turned his face to speak, peering up at her.

"Yeah? Well I can pull out the scales whenever ya like, baby."

The memory of that night in Connecticut so long ago sent a strange rush through him. He wished he had killed Chuck then. The fall from the banister wasn't nearly enough.

"I wouldn'ta hurt ya, baby girl. I wanted ya. Thought about takin ya then and there, but. Babs got in the way." He sighed wistfully. "Imagine where we'd be if things were different. I don't think I'd change a thing... even the Sandworm. Well. Maybe the sandworm."

I can pull out the scales whenever ya like, baby.

"Really?"

For a moment, she paused the massage, titillated by the possibilities. This thrilled her in a way she wasn't prepared for. For some reason, she had the idea in her head that he could only do that when in a certain state of mind. Silly. He could do anything. Laughing softly at herself, she got right back to work once she realized she'd stopped.

"I don't even know what I'd do with you like that other than cuddle."

Still, it was an attractive prospect.

I don't think I'd change a thing…

"I would," Lydia interjected without a moment's hesitation, leaning down to nip gently at the tip of his ear as she pressed her fingers into his neck. "I would've called you immediately up in the attic after we got done playing charades, confessed my undying love, and demanded you take me as your wife."

This was ridiculous and they both knew it, but it was fun playing pretend all the same.

He snorted. "Oh, sure. Woulda jumped my bones right there on the model, would ya?"

He chuckled softly at the thought. It wouldn't have ever happened like that. He saw the look on her face when he mentioned that he could change his form at will. Something in her was intrigued and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He let his tongue elongate and slide up her thigh, seeking out her pussy with gentle flickers. His voice changed too, testing the waters of this new discovery.

"Ever been eaten out by a sssnake, babes?"

He knew the answer of course. But he was still waiting to see how she would react.

"I could make ya sssee ssstarsss, Lydsss."

Sneaky and subtle as her snake in the grass husband was, Lydia didn't notice his elongated tongue reaching for her nethers until it was there, cold and slimy, shocking her enough to roll off his back and halt the massage.

"Beej!" She cried out, grinning, somewhat scandalized. Could they do that? Of course they could. He could do anything. Flushing beet-red, the color complimenting her cream negligee quite beautifully, she sputtered out an answer for him, playing with a strand of damp raven hair to avoid eye contact.

"You know I haven't. Why?" Even through her embarrassment, she managed a joke, flashing honey eyes up long enough to deliver the punchline. "Do you think Nox is interested?"

He scoffed and rolled onto her, nipping at her lips firmly. His ordinary voice returned for a moment, offended. "No, I don't think—! Well… I dunno, but ya know that ain't who I'm talkin about!"

He slipped out of bed and in moments he was a pile of coiled, scaled flesh. Grinning, his needle-like teeth were on full display as he moved fast as a bullet to pull her up into his coils.

"Besssidesss babesss. You're all mine."

He nuzzled into her, the very end of his tail sliding into her nightgown and pulling it away with one quick pull.

"Look at you…. ssso sssexy."

He nipped at her, careful not to break the skin. He wanted her to enjoy this. It was out of their usual comfort zone, but he loved pushing at those boundaries every chance he got.

Oh, he was wonderful. He knew she was too bashful to make the request outright. So, as usual, he took the decision out of her hands. At first, Lydia gaped as he made the transformation; blunted teeth elongating sickeningly into a mouthful of daggers, mottled flesh stretching and breaking apart until it revealed the scales beneath.

He was larger than life, having to stoop down to fit comfortably in their larger than average bedroom. Lydia was enraptured. Almost scared, but not really. The only feeling that came close was the fluttering in the pit of the stomach when one was about to descend from the peak of a rollercoaster.

Then, before she had a chance to either back out or voice her admiration, he took her— taking advantage of her momentary stupor to dart his tail forward, snag her around the waist, and bundle her up in all that cold, powerful muscle‒ but not before turning her nightgown into scraps of useless fabric on the ground.

Trembling, she ran her palms over his enlarged head as he nuzzled her, hesitating before going as far as to actually touch the dangerous fangs poking out of his mouth. Some of them were longer than the length of her hand.

"You're beautiful," she countered tremulously to his continued praise, in awe of him.

"Beautiful? Nah. Not me."

His voice settled in a kind of in between. The hissing consonants remained, but softer than before. There was no rage behind it, only adoration. As she explored his mouth, he dutifully held it open, his jaw extending wider than her head easily. If he tried he could probably get it around her chest, though he would worry about hurting her.

His tail slid back up her thigh, questing between her legs to rub over her gently. He made sure that his sharp scales wouldn't hurt her beyond the occasional pinch as they shifted, humming low in his chest. It made a sound not unlike a rattlesnake's rattle.

"Anythin' elssse ya wanna look at, kitten?"

"You are," she insisted, quiet and breathy for reasons beyond arousal. More than beautiful, he was ethereal; like something wrenched straight from the twisted recesses of the darkest mind— and he was hers. He proved it too, letting her explore curiously and touch whatever she wanted with unending patience.

"Close your mouth… please," she requested gently once she was done taking stock of the easy way he dislocated his jaw wide enough to swallow her whole, giving this deity the respect he deserved. Once he did, she took time to trace the differences on his still-humanoid face; bulbous, yellow slitted eyes, a prominent bulging brow without a single hair.

He was long enough to wrap himself entirely around her three times over and have room left spare. For now, he kept her suspended in the air with a single loop around her middle, his tail end still sliding dedicatedly between her legs. It was an alien sensation, Lydia almost too overwhelmed by the enormity of his reptilian presence for his ministrations to take the desired effect.

Almost.

Milky white thighs trembled around the invasive rope of muscle, tightening involuntarily as if to force him still as he continued coating his scales with her slick juices. It was an ineffective effort. The coil around her waist squeezed just once, forcing her breathless, and she was reminded again of how very easily he could destroy her.

It was hot.

Taken with sudden, overbearing lust, she fisted his hair, tugging the gigantic head toward her own with a feminine grunt in silent demand for a kiss.

"Fuck babesss... you're ssso wet for me…"

Her insistent pulling at him made a rumbling chuckle leave him. He carefully arranged his lips to press against hers, his coils bringing her higher and closer to him. She was so warm... the serpent inside of him thrilled at the constant source of heat. It promised contentment. Life.

He pressed kisses onto her face where he could reach, his head too large to tuck into her neck the way he liked to. Instead he nuzzled into her chest, his long tongue sliding over her soft skin to wrap around and squeeze at her breasts.

He was glad to see she seemed to be into the whole thing. He'd been cautious to begin with, but now he didn't see the need. He growled softly, his coils releasing her to let her fall from her height. Just before she plummeted back to the bed, he caught her, chuckling and nuzzling back into her as he lowered her to the mattress.

"Lay back and relax-sss, babesss. Daddy'sss gonna take good care of ya…"

Every time he hissed at her in that darkly familiar voice, a fresh wave of moisture coated her mons and thighs. This was who he really was. Fangs and scales suited him more than that shabbily constructed human suit ever could, not that she didn't love that version of him as well.

When he dropped her suddenly, Lydia shrieked in surprise, not even realizing how high up from the ground he'd been holding her for her molestation. She calmed quickly as he caught her, then lowered her to their bed. He was playing with her, like she was a little mouse he wasn't keen on devouring quite yet.

The thickest portion of his serpentine form remained behind her, propping her head and upper back up in lieu of pillows. He couldn't possibly fit his entire self on the mattress. The frame, sturdy and solid as it was, would surely splinter to pieces under the great weight of his sheer mass.

He hissed at her some more then, sliding lethal teeth along delicate, breakable flesh as he promised her pleasure.

Relax-sss…

Easier hissed than done. It was like their wedding night all over again. Lydia didn't know what to do with him like this. There was nothing to grab but scale, nothing to do but lay back and let him have his way. Maybe the snake would devour his mouse after all.

He could feel the away her heart was pounding in her chest. The intoxicating thumping of life running through her veins. It was addictive in a way that it hadn't been in some time. But his enhanced hearing made her fear so much better.

He chuckled as his lips trailed down her body, a hissing sigh leaving him as he reached his prize. A long, serpentine tongue was slid through her nether lips, curling and flickering up against her clit.

"Mmm... yer even tassstier when yer ssscared, Lydsss…"

His coils tightened around her, holding her securely as he settled into his task, his tongue sliding into her and curling before pulling back, a deep growl rumbling from his chest as she squirmed against him.

Before she knew it, she was bound, awash in a labyrinth of scale-coated muscle. Parts of him were wrapped around her arms from wrist to elbow, keeping her still and arched dramatically over him. His tail end was coiled around one of her thighs, forcing her legs spread for further torture. The only limb allowed freedom was one of her legs, and Lydia deduced that this was because he liked the way she squirmed as he set to work, her foot plastered flat against the mattress to give her a mockery of freedom.

The sight of all those razor-sharp teeth so very close to her most delicate area was absolutely intimidating, but Lydia was insulted by his assessment that she was scared.

"I'm not scared," she panted in rebellion, already beginning to work up a sweat from the way he had her stretched out. She didn't really want to get away, but she struggled nonetheless, just to see if she could— and because she knew her monstrous husband loved it.

His tongue was different like this; longer, thicker, forked at the end. When it lashed against her, then inside of her, curling and rubbing against a sensitive knot of her nerves like a malleable, magic cock, she whimpered. Struggles ceased for a moment, the girl taken with tremors as her only free limb went limp.

"You just… have a lot of teeth… that's all…"

He chuckled, mouthing over her mons as she spoke. He clearly wasn't doing his job well enough if she was cognizant enough to speak. He redoubled his efforts, his tongue fucking into her in the way his cock might. She tasted as good as ever, though his true shape heightened his senses into overdrive. He could feel, hear, taste every part of her. It was intoxicating. She was so pliant under him, completely lax in his coils.

He curled his tongue firmly against the bundle of nerves that knew would drive her crazy, his tongue twisting and pressing her closer and closer to orgasm. He was thoroughly aroused, though he wasn't sure how to take care of that while he was this way. Lydia's pleasures came first. Always.

As he really started to give it to her, her breathy whimpers and moans elevated, turning to the kind of shrieks that usually earned her a ball gag if he was in an ornery enough mood. That he didn't bother told her he was especially pleased with her for some reason or another. There must have been a soundproof barrier up to keep her from waking the twins in the nursery next door.

As expected, he wasn't satisfied with just one orgasm. The first one— a screaming, explosive affair— only seemed to spur him on, the serpent stuffing his giant tongue into her as if he wanted to taste her guts. Lydia knew better by now than to beg for mercy. He liked it too much. No, she wasn't going anywhere until he said so.

No matter. She trusted him with everything she had. She belonged to him; mind, body, and soul. If he thought she could take it, then take it she would.

As he worked her through her first orgasm, he twisted, his sensitive underbelly sliding over her soft skin hungrily. He could feel some strong sense of arousal clinging to him, his head swimming with the intoxicating scent and taste of his little wife.

Soon, he was working her into another orgasm, this one stronger than the first, before pulling back with a low growl.

"You tassste ssso good, kitten. Isssit my turn yet?"

From just before his tail started, not one but two erections had emerged from his body. He was surprised to see them, not knowing this body was even capable of sexual acts, but he was nothing if not an opportunist. If he had a cock, it was going in Lydia. Somehow, someway.

Isssit my turn yet?

Panting, still seeing stars from his tongue's rough ravaging of her, Lydia attempted to make sense of his request. What did he expect her to do? Suck on his tail? As good as that rattle felt vibrating between her legs, it was much too large to even consider fitting anywhere.

Coming down from an unearthly high, she noticed that his coils had loosened enough for her to sit upright. He was encircling her completely, a round tube of scales nesting her from every angle, as though she were an egg.

Now, she noticed something else that wasn't present before. It was poking out of a hidden compartment of scales nearing his rattle, like a reptilian kangaroo pouch, and looked like something she could find in their adult playroom. It was thick and fleshy with weird bulges in an angry shade of red as if he actually had blood flowing through him. It was in the shape of a slingshot with a short handle and two abnormally long pudgy arms, both of which were just a touch thicker than his usual girth.

"What is that?"

Her eyes bugged, and without any hesitation she reached for it, unable to tamper her curiosity.

He hissed as her warm hand made contact, panting into her neck as she experimented with running her hands over the branches of the organ, his eyes narrowing as the action sent shocks of pleasure through him.

"Basssed on contex-ssst, I'm pretty sssure that'sss my cock."

His coils were slowly tightening, the human parts of his brain falling away to the animal instincts to take, mate, breed. He shook himself. Couldn't be having that last thought stick around.

He pressed lipless kisses along her back, savoring the warmth of her even more now that she was hot from orgasm.

"Think you can take it, kitten?"

Scales shuddered around her when her hand made contact, and she knew without him needing to tell her exactly what she was touching. It was slimy, already slick with some kind of lubricant his serpentine form produced. Lydia was fascinated. Undaunted by the challenge this presented, she moved forward until she was bent over a thick rope of muscle on her knees, belly plastered to scales and his dual-cock close to her face.

Curiously, she took it into her grasp with a hand on each branch— like handling a joystick, or a steering wheel. She was reminded of the last time he split himself in two just a couple months back, his meaner half forcing her to her knees to jack them both off simultaneously until they coated her in cum. Slicking both hands up and down the strange genitalia, she dared to lick it and taste the foreign limb.

It was surprisingly sweet. Tangy, with a bite of spice she wasn't expecting.

"I can take it," she confirmed bravely, then licked the other one to see if it tasted the same. It did. "I can take anything you want to give me, Daddy."

He growled and pushed at the coil under her knees, bouncing her up into the air until he could coil around her, tight enough to be threatening, but not enough to panic her. Well, not too much. He kissed over her face as best he could, settling her over the thick appendage. They seemed to move as one, twitching hungrily against her entrances as they met their slick surface.

"Here we go, baby. Take a deep breath."

He rocked her forward, forcing them both into her barely an inch. It was like having two of him in her at once. The pleasure for him was doubled, but the stretch was doubled too. He could see the strain on her face.

"Easssy…"

He was everywhere; constricting her head neck to toe, every inch of skin sans her head kissed by smooth, beautiful scales. Feeling very much like that doomed mouse, she feared for just a moment, instinctively panicked to find herself in such a position. It happened so fast, her predatory husband manipulating her smaller body to his whims in split seconds.

Ironically, it was the push of his strange genitalia between her thighs that knocked her out of the sudden primal terror. He wasn't going to eat her. He was going fuck the living daylights out of her.

Slow and easy, he squeezed forward into both of her holes at the same time. It was sheer luck that just a few days prior he'd taken her ass good and rough, leading her to be somewhat prepared for this challenge. Still, it was a lot, and she huffed breathlessly, the tight way he was hugging her pushing oxygen from her lungs. That was another aspect of their sexual play they'd experimented with; choking and smothering right up to the point of blackout.

This was nothing. He had trained her for this. She could do this. Lydia loved her husband in all of his forms and she would prove it. There was nothing he could throw at her that she couldn't handle.

These were the thoughts that rushed through her head as lethal teeth brushed over her damp cheek, that forked tongue lashing out to taste her sweat as he sunk deeper into her.

"Beej," she gasped breathlessly as he finally seemed to make it all the way in, the strangely shaped, fat cocks nice and deep as far as they could go. "Love you… so much…"

He could see her face glazing over as he pressed into her, for the first time filling her from all angles at once. His breath was heavy against her face, his inhuman cocks pulsing inside of her as he bottomed out. As she muttered about how she loved him, he ran his tongue over her cheek and down to curl around her throat and squeeze, a dark chuckle leaving him as he felt her heart leap in her chest.

He slowly rocked into her, a sound between a growl and a purr rumbling in his chest the whole while. As he often did, he started to praise her when he felt she was getting uncomfortable, gently urging her into obeying him.

"That'sss it, Lydsss. You're ssso perfect for me... ssso sssexy…"

Oxygen was overrated. Who needed it? He only allowed her just enough to keep her all there for him, very precise and calculated in his mistreatment of her crushable little frame. Meanwhile, her bottom half was alight with the most exquisite kind of torture.

Unable to withdraw more than several inches at a time with how tightly he kept her bound, his tail could only pulse with exact, wave-like motions that sent him brutally up into her, the rest of him squeezing her stationary while he stayed put to savor the excruciatingly tight fit. Then, he would withdraw— achingly slowly— to start the process all over again.

What little life-breath she was permitted was precious. A gift. He allowed her to live for this, for him, for their babies, for the great pleasure they took from one another, and it was his right. Her life was forfeit long before they avowed their eternities to each other. It was gone the night he sighted her like this, having taken out her step-mother, father, and that obnoxious Otho one-by-one with swift cruelty before cornering her.

Was this the fate that would have awaited her had sweet Barbara never interrupted? She knew the answer. The deal was sealed a long time ago.

Her wonderful, generous husband let up just a little then, allowing her enough breath to speak and praise him. Good and obedient, Lydia obliged.

"So big… fuck… God, Daddy… so much… ahhhh— ungh!"

The tail differed rhythm just slightly with a twitch, wrenching a beautiful cry from her throat and throwing her off balance. He was being gentle, in truth. He had to in this form. Just a little too much, a little too rough, and that would be it for his breakable, ever-mortal wife. Lydia could tell just how careful he was being and loved him all the more for it. Overcome with gratitude, she worshipped him further, sacrificing a rare, sweet breath he allowed her to show her deep appreciation.

"Thank you…"

Her outpouring of praise when she was allowed the breath for it made him smile. She knew exactly what he wanted, always, and did a very good job giving it to him. He breathed heavily into her ear as he fucked her, murmuring to her as he approached his end.

"Never done thisss before. The only one who'sss taken thisss cock, baby girl. How'sss that make ya feel? Makesss me feel phenomenal."

His pace became harder, more punishing as he felt the coil of orgasm in his stomach. He hissed, the slotted pupils of his eyes narrowing as he constricted again, squeezing her as he chased his orgasm. His humanoid speech fell away entirely, leaving thrashing hisses and open-mouthed sighs in its place. Before he knew it he was exploding, his twin cocks buried into her as far as they would go.

As he bred her, filling her impossibly while choking her entire body from every angle, Lydia transcended to a euphoric state unlike any she had experienced before. Falling out of consciousness and into another world altogether, her vision whited out and all she was aware of was bliss.

The master suite was eerily silent.

Where usually there would be rapturous screams and muffled grunts harmonizing with persistent wet slaps of flesh on flesh to bring a dramatic close to their fucking, there was only the increasingly intense rattle of the serpent's tail and Betelgeuse's almost inaudible growling and hissing. The predator swallowed every twitch or convulsion his prey's unconscious form gave, riding out his own peak to the very last possible moment.

It was time to let her go or lose her.

When Lydia came back, she had freedom of motion and could breathi, collapsed bonelessly on a coil of languid, gently slithering muscle. His enlarged head was hovering over, an indiscernible emotion clouding enormous yellow eyes.

"Hi, baby…" she greeted him with an angelic smile and hazy gaze, as if gently drifting back to sentience on a cloud of joy. "That was nice… Stay like this and cuddle with me…?"

Well shit.

He hadn't thought she'd actually pass out. He gently pulled free of her body, shifting her to lay comfortably against his coils as he waited for her recover. It took too long for his liking and for a moment he thought he'd actually lost her before she finally opened her eyes and smiled.

That smile wiped away any shred of doubt. Her gentle request was met by his coils tightening once more, only enough to lay over her lokea heavy, scaled blanket.

"I alwaysss wanna cuddle you, princessss."

He nuzzled into her, pressing kisses to her tired cheeks and head. He had never had someone who still wanted him when he looked like this. And here was his perfect, sweet Lydia, asking him to stay as himself and hold her. He couldn't deny her that.