I just couldn't sleep, no matter how much I tried. Every time I tried to have a dream going, it would always flash to something that would have me jolt my head to the side to try and shake out of it. Even when I opened my eyes to try and clear my head, the same situation would just keep happening each time I closed my eyes again to try and dream. I was about to get up to try and get something to drink to help calm myself, though I felt some form of weight gently press down onto my chest and my body past it. A groan came out from me before I started to open my eyes again, trying to find out what the odd weight was that was on me.

I saw some pair of figures resting just below my head, while past them was a pile of what I could figure was white. I tried to move an arm up, though had a bit of difficulty doing so, managing to bring a hand to my eyes and rub at them a bit to try and clear them of any blurriness they had in them. Once that was done, I was able to make out the figures that were just beneath my chin, noticing that they looked like paws of sorts, both having a checkered pattern on top of them. Said pattern had the 'black' segments segmented into further checkers, while the white squares were whole, a square of black surrounding the four squares.

My heart was starting to race as I thought that some kind of creature had somehow gotten into my home, looking back to the white mass and saw that it stretched upward, slowly following along its path. The craning of my head soon stopped as I did a hard swallow after seeing a pair of glowing gray eyes gazing down upon me, both able to illuminate a form of head around them. Said head had the same pattern as the paws, though the white squares were around the eyes, the checkered black on the forehead and what I could figure was a snout.

Upon seeing such, my heart raced even faster as well as my breathing, panic starting to well up. The urge to scream out at the sight of the beast that was resting itself over my body was starting to build up as well, my mouth soon bolting open to let it out. Just before I could, I felt something slap itself over my mouth, easily silencing it and having me look down to what it was. It was one of the paws of the beast, having moved to keep my silent, my gaze shifting between it and the head of the beast that loomed over my own. Fear easily overcame me and my eyes easily shown it, starting to sweat as well due to the possible scenario of the beast going to kill me. Seeing the head of the beast lowering down was easily starting to confirm my fears, struggling to try and escape, even using my unbound arm to try and push it off though the weight of the beast was far too much for me to worm out from. The head now directly over mine, I just squeezed my eyes shut, teeth gritting as my body tensed up, bracing myself for the upcoming death of me.

“You do no need to be so afraid, dear Aleron.” a voice sounded in my head, the tone of it calm, soft and soothing.

Hearing the voice made me flinch despite its tone, confusion making itself known in me as the muscles around my eyes started to weaken slightly. I was soon able to crack the eyelid of one of them open to try and figure out what was going on, seeing one of the glowing eyes gazing directly back into mine. This prompted me to open my other eye if not at the same rate as I did with the first, now having both of the glowing eyes meeting my own, seeing that the tip of the creatures snout was almost touching my nose. My breathing was still hasty, face still showing fear but not as radiant as before, simply staring back into the orbs that were above me.

“Who…who urr oou…?” I tried to ask in a near-silent tone, though the paw that was clapped over my mouth muffled my speech to the point to where it was only audible to me. I could have swore I was seeing things since I thought I saw parts of the creatures head curve a bit, almost like it was smiling a bit at my question.

“You know who I am, or rather what.” was the answer I got, cryptic as it may be. “A little bit of time is what you need for you to remember.” the creature followed up with the statement, seeing the paw slowly lift up from my mouth.

I was thankful that my mouth was no longer obstructed, the urge to yell out now gone since I was now aware that the creature meant no harm to me thus far, simply continuing to stare up into it – her, based on the voice – eyes. So many questions danced about in my head, trying to find answers for them as I turned my head to try and look around. Not much to see to my right, though when I looked to my left, my eyes were able to see that there was a deal more to the creature than what rested over me, seeing what I could figure was her tail and back end of her body. It was curled up somewhat in the open space there was between the bed and a dresser, hinting that the creature was of a moderately large side, though her true size would be unknown to me due to my pinned state, looking back up to her face.

“Am I…dreaming?” I questioned, hearing the creature giggle a small bit in response, the head lowering down and eyes closing, the side of the head brushing up against the side of my own head in a nuzzle. Another flinch was my reaction to the gesture at first, though easily calmed back down, even smiling at the feel of her skin which was questionably soft.

“I can assure you that this is not a dream.” she answered as she continued to nuzzle me, soon lifting her head back up and eyes opening, now able to see a smile on her face. The smile though went away after a moment, her lips curving downward into a small frown. “Though, are you sure you don't recognize me…?” she asked, able to hear a bit of concern in her tone now.

Confusion welled up a bit more inside of me after hearing the question, slowly shaking my head for my non-verbal answer as nothing was coming up about the creature. Her eyes closed as I felt her chest, since I was able to identify that portion of her, puff out a small bit, retracting just as much as a sigh came out from her, seeing the eyes open again right after.

“I guess you really have forgotten about me after all this time.” she said in a defeated tone and glanced away. I was confused on what she was talking about, reaching my unbound arm up to her head and rested my hand on a cheek, seeing her eyes glance at it then back down to me.

“L-look…though I'm still scared of you y-yet calmed down since you're friendly and all, I don't even know what you're talking about…” I say up to her, even lightly stroking her head, as well as getting a feel of it to try and identify what she was. “I mean, I really do want to know, but how you've been saying it is kinda leaving me grasping at straws here.”

Seeing her smile a bit at my stroking did make me smile in return, the feeling around her head giving me a bit of a mental image of what she could look like in a more lighted area. The shape of the head I could figure was like that of a dragon, even feeling a pair of ears close to the top of her head, chuckling inwardly when I felt them flick slightly in response to my hand brushing over them. During this, I felt a bit of a rumble coming from her chest, even hearing a light purr from her as I figured she was enjoying this and continued on.

There was the occasional dip along her head and down her neck, even feeling my finger getting caught on a gap in her skin, seeing her wince slightly in response. Each time that I did get my hand caught, I would instinctively pull my hand back since I thought I had harmed the dragoness. Her face didn't show any pain from such though each time I looked though did show a bit of sadness on it. A small stroke of her head seemed to easily cheer her back up before I went back to trailing my hand back down her neck to feel along it.

It soon reached her body, feeling even more dips and gaps along it, a frown coming to my face as I figured she must be quite battered to have so many of each on her body. I was only able to reach so far down before I had to stop, looking up at her face once more. She must have known what I was just about to ask, feeling the weight on my body slowly let up, her paws having moved off of my chest and press down onto my bed to lift herself up. I was able to move out from under her and off of her bed once the dragoness lifted herself up enough, moving to stand up off of the bed. I stopped just short from such though when I felt myself pressing down on her tail, eeping a bit before quickly pulling my feet back up, looking to her to issue an apology to her.

“Don't worry about it.” she said first with a small shake of her head. “I did feel it but it didn't hurt me at all.”

Letting out a silent sigh of relief, I looked back down and went to stand up again, this time having my feet planted on the carpet floor instead of the dragoness' tail. Fully standing up, I looked back over to her head, seeing it gazing at me with a soft smile, turning my head to fully look at her body. It had the same pattern much like her paws did, a central black strip running down along the middle of her back and even down the whole length of her tail. The pattern was definitely tugging at some strings but yet I was having an oddly difficult time trying to pin it, starting to try and walk around the bulk of the dragoness' body and to the light switch of the room.

Shielding my eyes and gesturing for the dragon to do the same, I flicked the light on and the room was flushed with it in an instant. My eyes squeezed themselves a bit more tightly shut since they were more accustomed to the darkness, needing a minute to fully adjust before I started to open them. When I was able to get a good look a the dragon though, I swear I felt my heart skip a beat as I was able to recognize the pattern clearly now, seeing one nightstand being devoid of one key item, lifting a shaky hand and pointed at her.

“Y-y-you're…m-my blanket…!” I stammered out in a barely audible tone “B-but…but how…?!”

I saw her smile softly at me, her form shifting towards me, now seeing that she took up quite a bit of room, moving her head to me and gave me a nuzzle, one that I felt was to assure me.

“That I am, and it's because of someone that had created me that I live.” was her response, moving herself a bit more towards me. “I was created to be like a protective guardian over you. I still remember when I was first given to you by my creator, of the little creature that held onto my dormant form and even cherished it greatly.”

I was left speechless at such, feeling her forelegs wrap behind me and gently tug me to her, taking a step forward and into her plush form, embraced by the larger creature. I just stood in my spot baffled, registering the hug but was still otherwise unsure on what to say or even do.

“Every night I embraced you. Every time you cried, your tears would stain the fabric that made me. All the times you were angry, you bundled yourself up within me and played those colorful little games to calm yourself down. I was with you almost every day that you came home.”

Hearing such left me even more dumbfounded, slowly lifting my arms up to return the hug she had me in, hearing and feeling her purr softly in response. I even felt something brush up against my right cheek, looking and saw that it was another plush portion of her, the dragoness' maw open slightly, figuring out that she had just licked me.

“I am not mad that you no longer had me with you when you were going to sleep in recent times. I understand why; Of all the years you've had me, I wasn't all that maintained despite your care to not have me ripped or torn. I understand that you didn't want to sleep with my form covering you since you were afraid that your fidgeting in your sleep would end up tearing me apart. Even though your mother promised to fix me up, she was far too busy to even getting around to doing so.”

What she had said was the last bit for me, feeling my eyes tearing up as my hug on her tightened, my face burying itself into her chest, feeling her forepaws slowly stroking my back as I was letting out my emotions in the form of crying.

“My creator may no longer be of this world, I can assure you that she's happy to see me directly interacting with you now.” the dragoness said to me in a soft tone, continuing to stroke my back as I continued to cry into her. “I'm sorry that I have mentioned her to you, since I still remember how you have mourned for her every few months, but rest assured that she is happy to know that you're doing so well here.”

I knew exactly who the dragoness was referring to, sniffling a bit as I slowly looked up to her, seeing a soft smile on her face. I had no words to say to her, instead slowly reaching a hand up to her and gently hugged her head to mine, more purrs, nuzzles and licks in response to it. My sorrow lightened up a bit to happiness to the treatment, holding my hug and enjoyed the affection I was receiving. After a minute, I let up on the hug, moving around the blanket dragon and sat down on the bed, looking to her.

“I guess…you were like this before? I mean, looking like a dragon earlier in my life, based on what you have said earlier…?” I finally managed to ask her, seeing the head slowly nod to answer.

“Yes. It was shortly after you came home, frustrated to tears and stormed into your room. You were trying to sleep it all off but you couldn't do so no matter how hard you tried. It was then that I made myself a bit known, to help calm you down and even shield you from the nightmares that were trying to plague you. After I made sure you were calm and happy in your sleep, I reverted back to looking like your normal blanket, able to let you sleep after that.” she explained, having shifted the front portion of her body back onto my bed, head laying down next to me.

“But why didn't you show your true self to me…? I feel that I could have been happier if you did.” I asked her, wondering about such.

“It's because you were of a young mind, easily full of fear.” she stated to me, continuing before I could say anything. “Had I done so, you would have resented me, even became fearful of your own blanket and thus had nothing to consider as protection. You might say otherwise, but things were far different compared to now.”

I had nothing else to say after, my shoulders sagging a small bit and let out a sigh. She was right; much as I have made my past self look in my memories, the dragoness probably had much more clarity of it and would have probably scared my young self out of his wits. It was rather stupid of me to say that she should have done so just so I could have had an easier time handling things, but that would have done more harm than good if she did. A yawn came out from me, informing me on just how tired I was now since I never really got any sleep.

“Ah geez…” I muttered to myself, seeing the dragoness' head perk up slightly.

“Guess you're pretty tired.” she stated, her head lifting up a bit.

“Yeah…though knowing myself, probably not gonna be sleeping till the sun's coming up.” I responded, reaching my hands behind me to try and scratch at a spot on my back.

“I think I can help with that part.”

“How so?” it was my turn to ask, glancing over at the dragoness.

“Well…” she trailed off, her head turning away from me.

“What is it? You can tell me.”

“I've kind of…well, been keeping tabs on parts of your mind.” she answered to me, my heart dropping a small bit as my face flushed, eyes widening as I felt that she may have been seeing everything, both physically and mentally. “H-hey, not every part, mind you!” she hastily added.

“Y-y-yeah, but still, thoughts are private!” I blurted out to her, earning a light bat at the face from the tip of her tail.

“You. Still, I do keep out of those that are utterly off limits.” she replied, resting her head on my lap. “I've…kind of seen that you had one particular like when it comes to creatures such as me, no matter if they were of flesh and blood or of wool and cotton.”

My face stayed flushed with crimson, though I swear I felt that it was starting to radiate heat.

“Y-you mean…?!”

“Yes. I can opt to let you sleep inside of me for the night.” she finished for me, her head lifting up and gave me a soft nuzzle. “Let you sleep inside of the very thing you have cherished for all of your life.”

My heart started to race at the offer, almost wanting to give the dragoness a bear hug for it. I was able to resist the temptation for such a strong hug, instead pulling her head to me in a more thankful hug, purrs sounding in response to it. To anyone else who had the same like as I did but to a greater extent, they would have jumped to it within a heartbeat. Me though, I was willing to go through with it but something was bothering me, slowly letting up on the hug after a bit and looked down at her.

“But…what about your body…?” I asked her, greatly concerned for her. “You aren't made to stretch at all, and with how big I am compared to you, as well as all the damage to your body as of now…” I was about to go on for a little longer, though was silenced when she gently pressed a paw to my chest, a soft and assuring smile on her face.

“Don't worry, I can manage it.” she said in a simple tone, the smile persisting as she shifted away for a moment, my gaze following her. She had shifted a bit in my room, soon back to the position she was in when we had first met, smiling over at me.

“So…I guess this is where I decide if I go in either head first or feet first?” I questioned, a part of me feeling a bit awkward having said such.

A nod was the dragoness' answer, her head moving over and licked my cheek, nuzzling after my face had a blush again.

“Well…” I trailed off for a moment, trying to think about it. “I guess it's best that I go in feet first.” I answered, slowly nodding as well.

The dragoness nodded as well as I turned myself to face her, giving her head a small hug first. Once I let go, her head moved down to my feet, which I put both of them as close together as I could. She thanked me for such before seeing her mouth open again, scooping my feet into her maw and having them rest on her plush tongue. She must have found the taste of me to be quite enjoyable as evidenced by her purrs, seeing her tongue lapping at my ankles. I couldn't help but smile at such, a bit happy to see that she was enjoying this before she could even start.

She continued to lick for a minute or two before continuing along with the ingestion, smiling up at me as I returned the gesture, seeing her head move forward a bit to move my feet further within her maw. It wasn't long until I heard a swallow sound out, feeling my feet being gripped by her throat, beginning the slow trip of being swallowed whole by the blanket dragoness. She was a bit fast at first, but as she got further and further up my legs, she was going slower, almost to the point to where she was like a snake when she got up to my thighs. I tried to help her by pushing against the head of my bed, to force myself down into her throat. When I tried though, there were muffled protests coming from her, causing me to easily stop my actions.

“Please don't do that…!” I heard her say. “It's difficult enough as is, but if you try that, there's a risk that I could end up tearing.”

That's all that was needed to be said for me to remain still for however long this would take, continuing to watch the dragoness' almost snake-like head creep up towards my waist. We both did converse from time to time, with me learning a bit more of what she is and of her kind. She did say that her kind are able to regenerate from wound similar to what she had, but only those that were from artificial sources like scissors or tearing. Ones from time though needed a different kind of healing, though how she wouldn't really tell me just yet.

My waist had slipped past her jaws during our conversations, seeing the swallowing pick up a bit of speed after, since the thick of my body was now in the plush throat of the dragoness. I was a little proud for her, reaching over to her head and stroked it a small bit, earning a thanks from her in response to it. Further and further up my body she went, with me having to suck my gut in for her to get past my belly with ease, soon starting to near my chest.

“Oh…only until now that I just realized something.” I said to her, gazing down at her glowing eyes.

“What is it?” she asked in response, glancing up at me.

A smirk came to my face as I gently stroked the dragoness' cheek. “I'm not really sure if I gave you a name or not during my life, or if you had one to begin with.”

“Ah, well I don't recall ever being given one, even by my creator…” she answered, her eyes glancing away though looked back up to me when I scratched at her head behind an ear.

“Can't have you being nameless, now can we?” I asked with a small chuckle, the dragoness giggling a small bit as well. “Can you be able to think up a name?” was my question to her after.

“Hmm…I'll try, though I haven't really thought of names since I've been with you.”

“Alright, take your time then.” I stated as I continued to lay still for her, further sliding into her jaws with each second, all the while thinking of what name she could have. It wasn't until she was close to the underside of my arms, her nose just underneath my chin that I managed to think of one, smiling as I slowly hugged what part of the dragoness' head I could reach.

“Thank you…thank you for everything you've done in my life. I'm really thankful for all of that…” I trailed off for a moment, enjoying the hug for whatever bit of time I had left for the outside world. “I love you for all the comfort you have provided me…Sabi…”

My eyes closed just before saying the dragoness' name, smiling softly as I figured that she would enjoy the name as well. Her tongue quivered against my back, another swallow sounding out as I let up on my hug, holding my arms up straight to help in making things easier for her. Swallow after swallow sounded out, the plush muscles of her throat pulling me further and further in, my sight soon being obscured by the roof of her maw. It wasn't long until my head joined my body that was sliding down the plush throat, my arms and hands within minutes after. I felt two spots press against me and rub around, no doubt that Sabi was in bliss, enjoying the feeling of me steadily sliding down her throat.

During the whole time she was swallowing me down, I heard no tears coming from her body, even as I was starting to slide into the torso portion of her body. Warmth was easily around me as well as comfort from the softness of the cotton walls that pulsated and pushed me further down into Sabi's body. Her purring was easily audible around me, amplifying slightly when I started to rub around her throat, not wanting to fold my arms down just yet. The area jolted a small bit, showing that Sabi must have fully laid down on her front as I continued to slide further in, soon starting to feel myself slow.

I was a little confused since I was still laid out flat and a bit straight, showing that I wasn't inside of her stomach. Or rather, if didn't actually have one, then the whole inside of her torso could be her stomach. A sigh came out from Sabi once I came to a full stop, feeling her rubbing either side of her body with not only her forepaws but also her hind ones, no doubt utterly full and enjoying this greatly.

“My oh my…Aleron, you were sooo delicious to me…” I heard her say with a tone that easily shown her happiness of the deed, no doubt she was licking her snout for the rest of my flavor. I smiled a bit as I started to rub around the stomach-like area, aiming to make sure she wouldn't forget this for a good while.

“Pleasure's all mine, Sabi. I'm happy that you enjoyed this.” I replied as I continued rubbing, soon stopping after I yawned again.

She must have heard or felt it, feeling the walls at the sides of my head press in slightly and rub about, earning a smile from me. “I hope you sleep well inside of me, dearest Aleron.” I heard her say to me. “I'll be your little guardian for the night, making sure that you sleep deeply and sleep without trouble.”

With a slow nod on my part, I felt myself becoming even more tired than before, another yawn coming out from me and soon closed my eyes, feeling safe for the first time in a very long time within the blanket dragoness.

-0-

A groan came out as the light from the morning sun was starting to flood into the room, rubbing at my eyes as I was starting to wake up. I sat up from my spot and opened my eyes, looking over to the window, grunting a bit as I realized that I had left the curtains apart, allowing almost all the sunlight to flow into the room. Managing to get up from the bed, I sluggishly walked over and closed the curtains, wanting to try and get a bit more sleep before turning back to the bed. When I did, I stopped in my movements; The second blanket I usually slept with for the past year or so wasn't on the bed rather folded up on a nightstand. Instead, the blanket I had since I was a child was in its place, though everything that I remember being faulty about it – holes, tears, oddly-placed stitching – were all fixed and the patterns were not looking as dull as they previously were.

I managed to move myself over to the bed, carefully picking up the blanket to inspect it; It looked entirely brand new. No knots from the cotton clumping up, no holes from wear-and-tear were in it, nothing.

“It's…it's like it's brand new…” I muttered out, amazed at the condition, even checking one corner of the white underside of the blanket. Sure enough, there were a trio of tags stitched into the corner, one addressed to a younger me, one stating who it belonged to, and the third saying who had made it. I couldn't help but smile at it, pulling the blanket to me in a hug that easily told how happy I was to see it fixed. The blanket even felt a bit thicker than what it used to be, just like it got a fresh stuffing to it as well. As childish as it may have seemed to most, the blanket was something that I did view as a treasure, something that isn't replaced all that easily if ever.

“Wait…” I said as I remembered something from last night, letting up on the hug and held the blanket out from me. “If…if what I saw and experienced wasn't a dream…” trailing off again as I slowly lifted the blanket up to me, eyes glancing at a wall.

“Sabi…? Please…tell me that what I've went through last night wasn't a dream…” I said in a low tone, saying the phrase partially to the blanket but also to something off in the distance. “Please…”

Nothing happened.

“Please, Sabi…”

Nothing happened still.

I remained silent, what bit of hope I had starting to be dashed.

Nothing happened.

With a sigh, I put the blanket back down on the bed, part of me feeling saddened that what all I experienced was nothing but a very vivid dream, sitting down on the corner of the bed. I wanted to meet Sabi again, but I wasn't sure if she was even real, soon getting up from my spot to walk out.

“…”

“Huh…?”

“…n.”

“Is someone there?” I called out, looking around my spot to try and find the source of the voice.

“Ale…n.” the voice sounded for the third time.

“Wait…” I said as I slowly looked to the blanket, eyes widening. “…Sabi…?”

“Yes…it's me.” her voice sounded out again, this time with full clarity.

A smile came to my face as I grabbed hold of the blanket that was Sabi, lifting it – her – up and hugged her to me. I was about to cry again, this time from happiness, though I held them in for the moment.

“Again, thank you for everything…” I said to her, slowly undoing my hug as I moved the blanket behind me, wrapping it around my back, sighing in content before sitting down onto the carpet.

“You're welcome, my sweet Aleron.” she said in response, feeling the blanket shifting, even feeling that she was growing. “I'm happy to have been given to someone such as yourself, to have you feel safe each time I was wrapped around you.”

Her forelegs were slowly forming, folding tenderly over my shoulders to hold me in a caring embrace.

“To help you cheer up each time you were upset…”

The neck was steadily lengthening against the back of my own, my eyes having closed to enjoy the hug I was in.

“To make sure that you always got the sleep you deserved…”

My body was slowly lifted up and laying onto her own, smiling in response to it and even more when I felt her head rest on my shoulder, gently pressing against my head.

“And to make sure that you lived a happy life, no matter how many troubles occurred during it.”

I slowly lifted a hand up to where her head was, lightly hugging it and even gave her cheek a light kiss to even show my love for her.

“And also…” she started, giving me a long, affectionate lick to my own cheek in return.

“Happy Birthday, my dearest Aleron.”

-0-0-0-0-

Feel free to comment. I don't care if it's criticism, praise, or a mix of both.

-0-

Yes, I said I was going through an internet blackout due to us hitting the monthly gigabyte limit, but I'm kinda doing a little ninja work in submitting this here.

I've written this through most of last night, Sabi having been on my mind quite a bit after having created the blanket dragon species. I do aim to get a reference sheet of her at some point after I fully come back, so how she looks is pretty much up to your guys' imaginations.

So long, hope you guys enjoyed the read, Happy Birthday to me, and see you guys on April Fools day.