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Arro has been getting along with his new coworkers so far, but might soon find out that not everyone respects his love for food and tubby lifestyle.
It's also time Rangavar and Arro had a talk about Arro's friend, but when it comes to relationships, Arro might not be telling him everything he needs to know.
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Hive Mind
Chapter 8
Kraz was fidgeting anxiously as he followed Rangavar outside. “I’m really sorry,” he insisted over and over.
“I know.” Rangavar sighed. Every time Kraz said it, he was being honest. Rangavar got the point. And really, he was okay; the Gemian’s superior healing magic had made him fully healed, if a bit tired.
“Is there anything I can do?”
Rangavar snorted. “Not make me go to the gym ever again?”
Kraz looked away guiltily and was quiet. He obviously felt awful. Rangavar decided it might be best to just change the subject.
“Next time we hang out, want to do something else? Literally anything else,” he added quickly.
The gray Faerian finally made eye contact again and pricked his ears. “Next time?”
“Yeah.”
“You want to hang out again?”
“…Yes..?” It hadn’t occurred to Rangavar that Kraz might be thinking their entire friendship was over or something. No wonder he was feeling so down. “I’m just not a huge fan of the gym. I guess now you can see why.”
Kraz blushed a bit. “I still feel awful.”
“I know. But I really do feel okay.” Although if one more person dropped something on him this week, he was going to lose his mind.
The gray Faerian seemed slightly more reassured. “Well… okay.”
The gym wasn’t all that far from the housing community, so they walked instead of waiting for the transport. They glanced at each other as they reached a fork in the road, the intersection where they parted ways. “I have the morning shift tomorrow,” said Kraz. “Will you be there?”
“No.” Rangavar grimaced. “Guess we won’t see each other.”
“Oh well.” Kraz sighed and looked off his way down the path. “Heh. Sorry again about dropping the weight on you.”
“Really, don’t worry about it.”
The pale gray dragon nodded. “I guess I need to get home anyway. My companion is officially moving in tonight; I need to go help him bring his stuff over. I mean, most of his stuff is already at my house, because he’s mostly just been living there anyway. But it’s going to be official now, you know?”
Rangavar pricked his ears. “Oh, I’m happy for you.” Kraz talked about his companion often enough that it hadn’t occurred to him that they didn’t live together.
For the first time since the gym, Kraz cracked the smallest smile. “You should come over sometime and meet him. I bet you’d get along great.”
“Yeah.” Rangavar figured he’d probably also run into him at work at some point, now that work crews were being rotated. Since companions weren’t allowed to be on the same shift, though, Kraz unfortunately wouldn’t get to introduce them himself. Either way, Rangavar liked the thought of finally meeting him. He wondered if Kraz would get to meet Arro at some point, too. Hopefully.
The other dragon gave him a small wave as they finally split ways. Rangavar turned and began making his own way home.
When he got there, Arro was already playing some videogame on the couch. He paused it as Rangavar entered. He smiled warmly. “Hi.”
“I didn’t know you had the day off.”
Arro frowned. “You’re so bad at greeting people, you know that? You’ve always been bad at that. You do that every time.”
“Sorry. ‘Hi’.”
“Well, it doesn’t mean anything now.”
Rangavar made his way over to the couch and dropped down next to Arro. He tried not to slide into the deep indent the massive dragon made on the cushions. “Why waste the time?” He simply leaned over and gave him a kiss on his chubby cheek.
Arro wrapped an arm around Rangavar in turn. “I suppose this is the superior greeting,” he allowed.
Rangavar turned his head so that his chin was against Arro’s chest, looking up at him. “Have any plans?”
“None.” He glanced out the window. So did Rangavar. It was still light out.
“Do you want to go for a walk with me? But a real one this time,” Rangavar quickly added at Arro’s raised brow. “We didn’t really, well… get to, last time. Because, you know.” Rangavar looked elsewhere in the room. “Pulling you out of a table and all that.”
“What was it about that that makes you think I’d want to go for a walk?”
“Not sitting at a table this time?”
Arro wrinkled his snout and looked away.
Rangavar pinched one of his rolls, making the other dragon jump and return his attention to him. The Darkal grinned. Until Arro wrapped his much larger paw around his wrist and pulled until Rangavar fell over against him on the couch. Arro just looked amused as the Darkal tried to jerk back his paw. “Maybe you shouldn’t have done that.”
“Let go.”
“Nah.”
The Darkal turned over slightly and looked up at him. “Please?”
“No.”
Now he scowled.
“You’re so cute when you do that.”
“What?”
“Glare at me. Oh, look, now you’re doing it even more.”
Rangavar rolled his eyes and tried to twist away, even knowing that he wouldn’t be able to. Instead, he took the opportunity to pinch Arro’s belly again with his other, free paw, and felt satisfied to see another startled jump that sent the mountain of folds rippling.
Arro ended up grabbing his other wrist to hold him still. Rangavar leaned into him, knowing he wasn’t going anywhere. “Normally you want my paws all over you,” he teased.
The larger dragon yanked on his wrists to pull him upright, although he didn’t let go. His voice sank to a playful growl. “Maybe tonight, it’s my turn to put my paws all over you.”
Rangavar leaned his head back, one of his horns poking the dragon’s soft, pudgy chest. He smirked. “Hard to do that while you’re holding my arms.”
“Shit, you’re right.” Arro pushed him over on the couch, still holding his wrists as he wriggled his way over the smaller dragon. It wasn’t easy; the fat of his belly hung heavily off his body. The rolls pressed into Rangavar’s back and trapped him there as Arro settled himself.
When Rangavar couldn’t move, Arro let go of his wrists. “Better.”
Rangavar squirmed a bit, lashing the end of his tail, basically the only part of his lower body still free. The fat dragon on his back barely moved, only his belly jigging in response. Rangavar snorted. “You mean better for you.” He braced his arms against the couch, but his legs remained splayed where they were pinned. Folds of fat hung over him from every angle. He felt thoroughly squished into the couch by the incredibly soft pudge.
The larger dragon leaned down, his breath on the back of Rangavar’s ear. Rangavar slowly felt Arro move his paws down to his hips. “I’ll make it better for you, too.”
Rangavar pricked his ears as he realized he was getting a workout today after all.
Arro lay watching the Darkal curled up next to him, rubbing small circles into his back with a knuckle. Arro could tell he was really asleep by the way all the tension left his face. It wasn’t actually late or anything, but he supposed he’d worn the smaller dragon out.
He moved from rubbing his back to stroking his fingers through the thick fur on his wings, then tracing a claw up the length of his neck to his jaw. His paw hovered over the right side of Rangavar’s face, the site of a massive scar he was incredibly self-conscious about. Rangavar never mentioned or acknowledged it, but Arro noticed him fretting over it in the mirror sometimes. Arro himself barely noticed it anymore; it was just a part of him.
He hesitantly moved his paw past it. He didn’t touch it. He never had. He’d never even asked about it, even though a small part of him was dying with curiosity. But since Rangavar hadn’t offered the information, it seemed disrespectful to pry, somehow.
He got up at some point to go grab a glass of water downstairs. When he returned, Rangavar was watching passively from the bed. Arro climbed back in, his bulk settling heavily as the mattress buckled and heaved, and he blushed. He knew that he constantly woke up the other dragon, but wasn’t sure what he could possibly do about it. Other than not eating, obviously. Although even that would probably take several years to have any effect.
The Darkal snuggled his face into Arro’s soft shoulder. “I guess we’re not going on that walk.”
Arro snorted. “Probably not.” Even though it was maybe the Karraden equivalent of evening, the sun had set hours ago. He was quiet for a moment. “You’ll never guess what happened the other night, though.”
“Hm?”
Arro traced along the points on Rangavar’s ear with a claw. “I got to ride my friend’s hovercycle again.”
The Darkal lifted his head to look at him. “That’s awesome.”
“Have you ever ridden?”
“Yeah, actually.” After a moment, Rangavar frowned. “I mean, last time was hundreds of years ago, so I don’t know if it’s different now.”
“That’s possible.”
They lay silently for a moment.
Now, Arro finally got to the real news. “There’s a way for you to find out.”
Rangavar pricked his ears. “Your friend would let me ride?”
“Better.”
Rangavar seemed genuinely intrigued. “Better?”
Arro grinned. “Since he fixes them up for fun, he was pitching one, so he gave it to me instead.”
Rangavar stared at him for a moment. “What did he ask for in return?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Yeah.”
Rangavar’s brow furrowed. “Arro, what did he really ask for?”
“I just told you, nothing.” Arro nuzzled his forehead, being careful not to touch Rangavar’s eyehorn in the center. “He was getting rid of it so he just let me take it.”
Rangavar was quiet for a long moment. “Is he the friend you got into trouble with at work?”
Arro paused. “Well… yes, actually.” He suddenly realized that he and Rangavar hadn’t actually talked about it. He hadn’t asked Rangavar about what happened at the facility afterward, either. The weird day had sort of slipped by both of them. He frowned suddenly. “How did you know someone else got in trouble with me?”
The smaller dragon looked away. “Someone else who works there told me.”
“Well…” Arro blushed. “Getting in trouble at work was just something stupid. He really is a nice guy.”
Rangavar rolled over slightly so that he was on his back, looking up at the ceiling, not meeting Arro’s eyes. Arro remained on his side, facing him. It wasn’t just because his fat body weighed him down or anything. He could stare at Rangavar forever.
“Arro?”
“Yeah?”
Rangavar bit his lip uncertainly. Arro always thought it was cute, but still recognized it as a nervous habit.
“What stuff were you doing in the storage closet?”
Arro paused, wondering how Rangavar also knew where it happened. Whoever had told him about the incident seemed to know a lot about it somehow. He wondered if Rangavar actually already knew the answer, and just wanted to see what he’d say. “We were just being stupid. It wasn’t actually a big deal, I just got off with a warning,” he assured him. He hadn’t been the one smoking into the vent, after all.
“Someone told me you two were doing ‘inappropriate’ things in there.”
Arro watched his face. That was a way to put it, he supposed.
The Darkal was quiet a long moment. “You know, if you found someone else, you can just tell me.”
A moment of silence dragged out as Arro figured out what he meant. “What? No,” he stammered. “It’s nothing like that.”
Rangavar finally looked back at him.
“He was smoking,” Arro blurted.
The other dragon frowned. “Smoking?”
“A fire stick.”
“I know what smoking is, Arro.”
“I—That’s what we got in trouble for. Well, him, really.” Arro was upset that Rangavar would think anything else. He tried to push himself up onto his elbow to see Rangavar more fully, despite the curve of his belly and the way his fat jiggled across his chest and neck. His elbow sank deep into the mattress beneath the pressure. “I wouldn’t— Vaugh, Rangavar, I love you, I wouldn’t just—” He paused again when he noticed Rangavar prick his ears. Arro hadn’t dropped the big ol’ L-word before.
Rangavar looked away again awkwardly. “I just…” He searched for words. “If that happened, I’d just want to know. Okay? It would be okay.”
Slowly, Arro nodded. “It’s not like that,” he promised. “We were hanging out while he was smoking into the air vent. Like I said, it was just stupid, really.”
Another pause dragged out. Finally, Rangavar continued, “I guess I just don’t want to be like Jade, you know? It took weeks to tell her. About us.” He turned back for a second to search Arro’s face.
Ah, yes. The dragon who had accidentally mated both of them. Simultaneously. “Well, she doesn’t live on Karraden, so… it was harder to let her know. Since we live together,” Arro pointed out, “you’d be the first to know.”
They both settled into another, longer silence after that, Arro’s wide middle awkwardly taking up any extra space between them. Rangavar was still lying on his back. Arro pushed his face into the blankets so that he didn’t end up staring at him.
“I love you too.”
“Huh?”
It was Rangavar’s turn to blush, his cheeks suddenly turning a darker shade of gray. Even in the dark, Arro could tell. The dragon stammered, “I love you too. I mean, to your comment before. I didn’t answer. Unless, uh, you only said it on accident, but it’s okay, I still—”
Arro gently reached over to cup the back of Rangavar’s head and pull him in for a kiss so he could stop suffering.
Rangavar leaned into it, and they stayed like that a long moment before they separated. Arro looked into his violet eyes. “I don’t know why I haven’t said it before.”
The Darkal looked back into his blue ones. “Sort of like that time you waited weeks and weeks and weeks to let me know that you were into me?”
Arro blushed. “Maybe like that.”
They settled into a comfortable silence for a while, facing each other, until Rangavar broke it again. “If you do find someone else, though, I would want to know.”
Arro snorted. “I already have you. And there’s Jade, of course. I’m with you both. Do you really think I could handle three relationships right now?”
He felt Rangavar shrug. Arro reached over and put a claw on his chin to turn his face back towards him, their eyes meeting. “And without Jade here, I just get to handle you.” He rolled over farther to kiss him again, although he couldn’t as fully as he wanted to because he felt his heavy rolls of fat press onto the smaller dragon. He eternally worried about suffocating him.
The smaller dragon reached up and grabbed part of his belly, pulling him closer. Arro shivered at the way his fingers sank deeply into the adipose. It made him feel huge. “Do you think you could ‘handle’ me right now?”
“Hmmm…” Arro pretended to think. “Again so soon?”
“What, are you tired?” Rangavar grinned slightly, his teeth white against the dark.
Arro grinned a bit himself and turned over more fully, his gut heaving against the top of his thighs and spilling onto Rangavar partway. “Never.”
Everything was going smoothly as Arro stood by and observed the mind-numbing process of people coming into the room because they needed things, taking those things, and disappearing again. Guarding the stockroom was arguably the most boring job at work. It wasn’t until someone actually asked for his help getting something that he snapped out of his glazed-over stupor. “Huh?”
A rather short, lithe Faerian with pale gray scales was pointing at something on a high shelf. “I need those fresh vials,” he said, evidently referencing the items inside. Arro didn’t like the sound of that. That sounded breakable. The other dragon continued, “You’re way… taller.” He blushed a little, but neither of them pointed out the obvious. “Could you grab them for me?”
Arro glanced up at the box. Despite being ‘tall’, he’d have to climb on a few crates to reach.
He was not the sort of dragon that climbed.
The gray Faerian noticed his hesitation. “You could probably stand on those boxes to reach,” he helpfully pointed out.
“I’d, uh, probably break them.” He left out the part where he couldn’t lift his legs high enough beneath the bulge of fat that would press over his thighs. He realized that he’d have to get someone else to do it. “Sorry. Let me just—”
“Do you need any help over here?”
Thank fuck.
“Yes,” the other Faerian readily replied, and pointed at the box. “I just need that box up there.”
Relieved, Arro moved out of the way for the unfamiliar dragon approaching. Like the researcher, he also had pale gray scales; it seemed to be a common color on Karraden. He was also incredibly tall and muscular, although slightly shorter than Arro. Not that Arro’s height was doing them any good right now.
The dragon didn’t look at him. “Move,” he said a bit gruffly as he passed and pushed himself up on one of the boxes. Fortunately he had no trouble reaching the one that the much smaller dragon wanted, and was also strong enough to lower it down with ease. Arro stretched out his arms to take it from him so he could climb back down more easily, but the other dragon didn’t even look at him as he held it out to the smaller gray Faerian.
“Okay, thank you!” He happily accepted the box into both arms, although he had to lean back against its weight slightly as he spun around and left. Arro partially wondered if he’d need help getting it all the way to wherever it was going. He supposed it wasn’t his problem.
He turned to thank the other gray Faerian, but the other employee was already walking away. Arro pressed his chubby index fingers together. “Uh, thanks,” he called after him anyway.
The other Faerian finally turned around and gave him an annoyed look. “Well, we both know you weren’t about to get up there.” He started to take a few steps back towards Arro and pointed a finger toward him. “Hey, I don’t know who your old team members used to be, but I won’t put up with any shit.”
Arro was a bit taken aback. “What are you talking about? I just—I was going to find someone who could reach.”
The dragon snorted. “We both know ‘reaching’ wasn’t the problem, and I want to make one thing clear right now.” He curled his lip. “You’d better not make your weight problem anyone else’s problem.”
Arro flattened his ears. “I don’t even know you. Why—”
He interrupted again. “I don’t have to know YOU to recognize your type.” He crossed his arms. “You’re gonna make everyone else do your work. Like right now, watching you stand around and wait for someone else to deal with it.”
He waved a paw at the boxes. “And if you won’t do your own work, then at least stay out of everyone’s way. Heh. If you can even stay out of your own way.” He smirked. “I’d tell you to pull your own weight, too, but we both know it would take a crane to do so.”
Arro balled his fists at his sides “I only needed—”
“Maybe what you NEED is a diet.” The Faerian was still smirking, impressed by his own joke.
Arro scowled at him. Now he was just being mean. Was this what Zark had meant by different crews establishing some sort of arbitrary pecking order? They were supposed to be coworkers.
Before he could form a retort, the asshole finally turned away. “Like I said,” he called back, “do your job. And if you can’t handle that, don’t fuck anyone else’s up.”
Unable to form a response, Arro just shook his head. It was true he hadn’t been about to climb those boxes, but he hadn’t even been in the guy’s way. What the fuck.
Arro leaned back against the shelving that the other dragon had just climbed and stifled a groan. He figured at least his subpar day couldn’t get any worse.
When he leaned back, the heavy pressure of his weight made the shelving buckle, and dumped a stack of small boxes down onto the floor. He stumbled back and growled as a few cardboard corners hit him solidly in the shoulder. Others rolled off painlessly enough, making his fat jiggle.
“Really?” Arro glanced over to see that the other dragon had stopped again and had his arms out, brow furrowed. “Are you actually serious right now?”
Not really knowing what to say, Arro straightened and returned his attention to the boxes that now surrounded him on the floor, his face growing warm as he surveyed the damage his fat body had caused. He couldn’t catch a break today.
When his shift was finally over, Arro gratefully wiggled out of his work clothes, the fat on his body surging to freedom, and made his way outside. After the day he’d had, he was actually looking forward to blowing off some steam at the gym. He’d managed to avoid that rude fuckhead the rest of his shift, but couldn’t stop thinking about the encounter. He could now completely understand why Zark said employees had started punching each other in the face.
He walked into the gym in a better mood. Sometimes, he wished that Rangavar would come with him. Rangavar hadn’t been to the gym in forever. It was actually impressive that he’d gotten any stronger over the months, seeing as how all he needed was a light jog in the morning, apparently. Lucky bastard.
Arro’s good mood immediately ended when he saw the fuckhead from before at the other side of the gym. His heart sank. It hadn’t occurred to him that because of the shift change, others who were scheduled during the same shifts would now end up with other activities accidentally aligned.
Fortunately, the other dragon hadn’t seen him yet. Arro actually considered leaving. It wasn’t too late.
Wait… Why should he have to leave?
He shook his head to himself slightly. They were all fucking adults here. And he was just as entitled to the gym as the other guy. Arro didn’t look at the dragon again as he began stacking weights.
“Ugh. What are you doing here?”
Vaugh dammit.
Arro turned slowly towards the gruff voice. The other dragon had his arms crossed, every defined muscle bulging. He was actually muscular all over; Arro supposed it wasn’t actually too surprising to find out he came to the gym. He idly thought about the fact that he didn’t stuff himself with food every waking moment, he could probably have a body like that.
“I’m here to work out.” He eyed the other Faerian. “Same as you.”
“Isn’t carrying your fat ass around all day enough of a workout for you?”
Arro scowled. “Can’t you leave me alone?”
“Why don’t you leave ME alone,” the other dragon retorted. “You’re the one that followed me here. You’ve obviously never been near a gym in your life.”
“I’m here every day.”
The gray Faerian gestured at Arro’s waistline. “Well, you’re not doing it right, because it obviously isn’t working.”
Arro felt a growl rise in his throat.
The other dragon suddenly eyed the stack of weights Arro had been grabbing. “Feeling ambitious today, huh? Glad to know my words earlier have had such a profound effect on you. I should become a motivational speaker.”
Arro eyed the weights too. He wanted to beat this dragon over the head with one. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Not that he wasn’t used to dirty looks or snide remarks. It had just been a while. And with Rangavar around, those things didn’t seem to matter as much.
This guy was just being a prick, though.
Arro wasn’t going to let him harass him into leaving the gym, which he was starting to think was what the other Faerian wanted. “Well if it were my first day, you’re not being very welcoming.”
“You just obviously don’t care about yourself.” He waved a paw. “You’re only taking up space—a lot of it,” he added. “And weights that I need, by the way.”
Oh. Arro glanced down at the pile. “What, these?”
The other dragon rolled his eyes. “Yes. Those,” he said slowly, like he were speaking to a child.
“Wow, what a coincidence. I need them too.”
The gray Faerian scowled. “You definitely don’t need that many. I actually do.”
“I could actually use a little more,” said Arro, trying to seem unbothered. He wasn’t sure it was working. He casually leaned one paw on the weight rack nearby. “But you’re hogging the rest. How ironic.”
The dragon’s eye twitched.
“Hey… you two… we have more of those.” The concerned voice came from the reception desk. Both of them turned to see a green Gemian glancing from one of them to the other. “We keep more equipment put away. It’s normally not needed all at once, but I can bring it out for you.”
As she went to go collect said equipment, the two male Faerians shared a look. Arro knew that the weights were really just an excuse for the other dragon to pick a fight. This was far from over.
Arro was thoroughly exhausted later that evening as he flopped onto the bed, his body bouncing and jiggling with the motion. He needed a shower, but first he needed to lie down for a second. He and the other dragon had ended up unofficially trying to outpace each other, and when it soon became evident that they both had the type one mutation—each of them increasing their physical workouts well beyond what would otherwise be possible—the informal competition had only accelerated. Arro winced at the aches in all his muscles. Neither dragon had exactly ‘won’, so Arro figured the real winner was whoever was in the least amount of pain.
Forcing his arm up to his face, he checked the time on his wristband. He’d spent long enough at the gym to eat up a chunk of the afternoon, but it would still be several hours before Rangavar returned home.
Arro absently wondered if he should also call Jade. He usually tried to call her when Rangavar wasn’t around, to spare the smaller dragon the pain. Just six months ago, Jade had told Rangavar that she never wanted to see him again—of course, none of them had known at the time that Arro and Rangavar would be seeing quite a bit of each other.
Rangavar had insisted that Arro tell her the moment they got together, of course. So Arro had dutifully called her up. Told her about meeting someone. Told her about having a companion. She’d been happy for him.
Arro had gone back to Rangavar and said that the conversation went well. The conversation really had gone well. The true statement slipped through his lie-detecting telepathy.
He’d left a little bit out, though. The main little bit.
That part about his companion being Rangavar.
It's also time Rangavar and Arro had a talk about Arro's friend, but when it comes to relationships, Arro might not be telling him everything he needs to know.
<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>
Hive Mind
Chapter 8
Kraz was fidgeting anxiously as he followed Rangavar outside. “I’m really sorry,” he insisted over and over.
“I know.” Rangavar sighed. Every time Kraz said it, he was being honest. Rangavar got the point. And really, he was okay; the Gemian’s superior healing magic had made him fully healed, if a bit tired.
“Is there anything I can do?”
Rangavar snorted. “Not make me go to the gym ever again?”
Kraz looked away guiltily and was quiet. He obviously felt awful. Rangavar decided it might be best to just change the subject.
“Next time we hang out, want to do something else? Literally anything else,” he added quickly.
The gray Faerian finally made eye contact again and pricked his ears. “Next time?”
“Yeah.”
“You want to hang out again?”
“…Yes..?” It hadn’t occurred to Rangavar that Kraz might be thinking their entire friendship was over or something. No wonder he was feeling so down. “I’m just not a huge fan of the gym. I guess now you can see why.”
Kraz blushed a bit. “I still feel awful.”
“I know. But I really do feel okay.” Although if one more person dropped something on him this week, he was going to lose his mind.
The gray Faerian seemed slightly more reassured. “Well… okay.”
The gym wasn’t all that far from the housing community, so they walked instead of waiting for the transport. They glanced at each other as they reached a fork in the road, the intersection where they parted ways. “I have the morning shift tomorrow,” said Kraz. “Will you be there?”
“No.” Rangavar grimaced. “Guess we won’t see each other.”
“Oh well.” Kraz sighed and looked off his way down the path. “Heh. Sorry again about dropping the weight on you.”
“Really, don’t worry about it.”
The pale gray dragon nodded. “I guess I need to get home anyway. My companion is officially moving in tonight; I need to go help him bring his stuff over. I mean, most of his stuff is already at my house, because he’s mostly just been living there anyway. But it’s going to be official now, you know?”
Rangavar pricked his ears. “Oh, I’m happy for you.” Kraz talked about his companion often enough that it hadn’t occurred to him that they didn’t live together.
For the first time since the gym, Kraz cracked the smallest smile. “You should come over sometime and meet him. I bet you’d get along great.”
“Yeah.” Rangavar figured he’d probably also run into him at work at some point, now that work crews were being rotated. Since companions weren’t allowed to be on the same shift, though, Kraz unfortunately wouldn’t get to introduce them himself. Either way, Rangavar liked the thought of finally meeting him. He wondered if Kraz would get to meet Arro at some point, too. Hopefully.
The other dragon gave him a small wave as they finally split ways. Rangavar turned and began making his own way home.
When he got there, Arro was already playing some videogame on the couch. He paused it as Rangavar entered. He smiled warmly. “Hi.”
“I didn’t know you had the day off.”
Arro frowned. “You’re so bad at greeting people, you know that? You’ve always been bad at that. You do that every time.”
“Sorry. ‘Hi’.”
“Well, it doesn’t mean anything now.”
Rangavar made his way over to the couch and dropped down next to Arro. He tried not to slide into the deep indent the massive dragon made on the cushions. “Why waste the time?” He simply leaned over and gave him a kiss on his chubby cheek.
Arro wrapped an arm around Rangavar in turn. “I suppose this is the superior greeting,” he allowed.
Rangavar turned his head so that his chin was against Arro’s chest, looking up at him. “Have any plans?”
“None.” He glanced out the window. So did Rangavar. It was still light out.
“Do you want to go for a walk with me? But a real one this time,” Rangavar quickly added at Arro’s raised brow. “We didn’t really, well… get to, last time. Because, you know.” Rangavar looked elsewhere in the room. “Pulling you out of a table and all that.”
“What was it about that that makes you think I’d want to go for a walk?”
“Not sitting at a table this time?”
Arro wrinkled his snout and looked away.
Rangavar pinched one of his rolls, making the other dragon jump and return his attention to him. The Darkal grinned. Until Arro wrapped his much larger paw around his wrist and pulled until Rangavar fell over against him on the couch. Arro just looked amused as the Darkal tried to jerk back his paw. “Maybe you shouldn’t have done that.”
“Let go.”
“Nah.”
The Darkal turned over slightly and looked up at him. “Please?”
“No.”
Now he scowled.
“You’re so cute when you do that.”
“What?”
“Glare at me. Oh, look, now you’re doing it even more.”
Rangavar rolled his eyes and tried to twist away, even knowing that he wouldn’t be able to. Instead, he took the opportunity to pinch Arro’s belly again with his other, free paw, and felt satisfied to see another startled jump that sent the mountain of folds rippling.
Arro ended up grabbing his other wrist to hold him still. Rangavar leaned into him, knowing he wasn’t going anywhere. “Normally you want my paws all over you,” he teased.
The larger dragon yanked on his wrists to pull him upright, although he didn’t let go. His voice sank to a playful growl. “Maybe tonight, it’s my turn to put my paws all over you.”
Rangavar leaned his head back, one of his horns poking the dragon’s soft, pudgy chest. He smirked. “Hard to do that while you’re holding my arms.”
“Shit, you’re right.” Arro pushed him over on the couch, still holding his wrists as he wriggled his way over the smaller dragon. It wasn’t easy; the fat of his belly hung heavily off his body. The rolls pressed into Rangavar’s back and trapped him there as Arro settled himself.
When Rangavar couldn’t move, Arro let go of his wrists. “Better.”
Rangavar squirmed a bit, lashing the end of his tail, basically the only part of his lower body still free. The fat dragon on his back barely moved, only his belly jigging in response. Rangavar snorted. “You mean better for you.” He braced his arms against the couch, but his legs remained splayed where they were pinned. Folds of fat hung over him from every angle. He felt thoroughly squished into the couch by the incredibly soft pudge.
The larger dragon leaned down, his breath on the back of Rangavar’s ear. Rangavar slowly felt Arro move his paws down to his hips. “I’ll make it better for you, too.”
Rangavar pricked his ears as he realized he was getting a workout today after all.
~Arro lay watching the Darkal curled up next to him, rubbing small circles into his back with a knuckle. Arro could tell he was really asleep by the way all the tension left his face. It wasn’t actually late or anything, but he supposed he’d worn the smaller dragon out.
He moved from rubbing his back to stroking his fingers through the thick fur on his wings, then tracing a claw up the length of his neck to his jaw. His paw hovered over the right side of Rangavar’s face, the site of a massive scar he was incredibly self-conscious about. Rangavar never mentioned or acknowledged it, but Arro noticed him fretting over it in the mirror sometimes. Arro himself barely noticed it anymore; it was just a part of him.
He hesitantly moved his paw past it. He didn’t touch it. He never had. He’d never even asked about it, even though a small part of him was dying with curiosity. But since Rangavar hadn’t offered the information, it seemed disrespectful to pry, somehow.
He got up at some point to go grab a glass of water downstairs. When he returned, Rangavar was watching passively from the bed. Arro climbed back in, his bulk settling heavily as the mattress buckled and heaved, and he blushed. He knew that he constantly woke up the other dragon, but wasn’t sure what he could possibly do about it. Other than not eating, obviously. Although even that would probably take several years to have any effect.
The Darkal snuggled his face into Arro’s soft shoulder. “I guess we’re not going on that walk.”
Arro snorted. “Probably not.” Even though it was maybe the Karraden equivalent of evening, the sun had set hours ago. He was quiet for a moment. “You’ll never guess what happened the other night, though.”
“Hm?”
Arro traced along the points on Rangavar’s ear with a claw. “I got to ride my friend’s hovercycle again.”
The Darkal lifted his head to look at him. “That’s awesome.”
“Have you ever ridden?”
“Yeah, actually.” After a moment, Rangavar frowned. “I mean, last time was hundreds of years ago, so I don’t know if it’s different now.”
“That’s possible.”
They lay silently for a moment.
Now, Arro finally got to the real news. “There’s a way for you to find out.”
Rangavar pricked his ears. “Your friend would let me ride?”
“Better.”
Rangavar seemed genuinely intrigued. “Better?”
Arro grinned. “Since he fixes them up for fun, he was pitching one, so he gave it to me instead.”
Rangavar stared at him for a moment. “What did he ask for in return?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Yeah.”
Rangavar’s brow furrowed. “Arro, what did he really ask for?”
“I just told you, nothing.” Arro nuzzled his forehead, being careful not to touch Rangavar’s eyehorn in the center. “He was getting rid of it so he just let me take it.”
Rangavar was quiet for a long moment. “Is he the friend you got into trouble with at work?”
Arro paused. “Well… yes, actually.” He suddenly realized that he and Rangavar hadn’t actually talked about it. He hadn’t asked Rangavar about what happened at the facility afterward, either. The weird day had sort of slipped by both of them. He frowned suddenly. “How did you know someone else got in trouble with me?”
The smaller dragon looked away. “Someone else who works there told me.”
“Well…” Arro blushed. “Getting in trouble at work was just something stupid. He really is a nice guy.”
Rangavar rolled over slightly so that he was on his back, looking up at the ceiling, not meeting Arro’s eyes. Arro remained on his side, facing him. It wasn’t just because his fat body weighed him down or anything. He could stare at Rangavar forever.
“Arro?”
“Yeah?”
Rangavar bit his lip uncertainly. Arro always thought it was cute, but still recognized it as a nervous habit.
“What stuff were you doing in the storage closet?”
Arro paused, wondering how Rangavar also knew where it happened. Whoever had told him about the incident seemed to know a lot about it somehow. He wondered if Rangavar actually already knew the answer, and just wanted to see what he’d say. “We were just being stupid. It wasn’t actually a big deal, I just got off with a warning,” he assured him. He hadn’t been the one smoking into the vent, after all.
“Someone told me you two were doing ‘inappropriate’ things in there.”
Arro watched his face. That was a way to put it, he supposed.
The Darkal was quiet a long moment. “You know, if you found someone else, you can just tell me.”
A moment of silence dragged out as Arro figured out what he meant. “What? No,” he stammered. “It’s nothing like that.”
Rangavar finally looked back at him.
“He was smoking,” Arro blurted.
The other dragon frowned. “Smoking?”
“A fire stick.”
“I know what smoking is, Arro.”
“I—That’s what we got in trouble for. Well, him, really.” Arro was upset that Rangavar would think anything else. He tried to push himself up onto his elbow to see Rangavar more fully, despite the curve of his belly and the way his fat jiggled across his chest and neck. His elbow sank deep into the mattress beneath the pressure. “I wouldn’t— Vaugh, Rangavar, I love you, I wouldn’t just—” He paused again when he noticed Rangavar prick his ears. Arro hadn’t dropped the big ol’ L-word before.
Rangavar looked away again awkwardly. “I just…” He searched for words. “If that happened, I’d just want to know. Okay? It would be okay.”
Slowly, Arro nodded. “It’s not like that,” he promised. “We were hanging out while he was smoking into the air vent. Like I said, it was just stupid, really.”
Another pause dragged out. Finally, Rangavar continued, “I guess I just don’t want to be like Jade, you know? It took weeks to tell her. About us.” He turned back for a second to search Arro’s face.
Ah, yes. The dragon who had accidentally mated both of them. Simultaneously. “Well, she doesn’t live on Karraden, so… it was harder to let her know. Since we live together,” Arro pointed out, “you’d be the first to know.”
They both settled into another, longer silence after that, Arro’s wide middle awkwardly taking up any extra space between them. Rangavar was still lying on his back. Arro pushed his face into the blankets so that he didn’t end up staring at him.
“I love you too.”
“Huh?”
It was Rangavar’s turn to blush, his cheeks suddenly turning a darker shade of gray. Even in the dark, Arro could tell. The dragon stammered, “I love you too. I mean, to your comment before. I didn’t answer. Unless, uh, you only said it on accident, but it’s okay, I still—”
Arro gently reached over to cup the back of Rangavar’s head and pull him in for a kiss so he could stop suffering.
Rangavar leaned into it, and they stayed like that a long moment before they separated. Arro looked into his violet eyes. “I don’t know why I haven’t said it before.”
The Darkal looked back into his blue ones. “Sort of like that time you waited weeks and weeks and weeks to let me know that you were into me?”
Arro blushed. “Maybe like that.”
They settled into a comfortable silence for a while, facing each other, until Rangavar broke it again. “If you do find someone else, though, I would want to know.”
Arro snorted. “I already have you. And there’s Jade, of course. I’m with you both. Do you really think I could handle three relationships right now?”
He felt Rangavar shrug. Arro reached over and put a claw on his chin to turn his face back towards him, their eyes meeting. “And without Jade here, I just get to handle you.” He rolled over farther to kiss him again, although he couldn’t as fully as he wanted to because he felt his heavy rolls of fat press onto the smaller dragon. He eternally worried about suffocating him.
The smaller dragon reached up and grabbed part of his belly, pulling him closer. Arro shivered at the way his fingers sank deeply into the adipose. It made him feel huge. “Do you think you could ‘handle’ me right now?”
“Hmmm…” Arro pretended to think. “Again so soon?”
“What, are you tired?” Rangavar grinned slightly, his teeth white against the dark.
Arro grinned a bit himself and turned over more fully, his gut heaving against the top of his thighs and spilling onto Rangavar partway. “Never.”
~Everything was going smoothly as Arro stood by and observed the mind-numbing process of people coming into the room because they needed things, taking those things, and disappearing again. Guarding the stockroom was arguably the most boring job at work. It wasn’t until someone actually asked for his help getting something that he snapped out of his glazed-over stupor. “Huh?”
A rather short, lithe Faerian with pale gray scales was pointing at something on a high shelf. “I need those fresh vials,” he said, evidently referencing the items inside. Arro didn’t like the sound of that. That sounded breakable. The other dragon continued, “You’re way… taller.” He blushed a little, but neither of them pointed out the obvious. “Could you grab them for me?”
Arro glanced up at the box. Despite being ‘tall’, he’d have to climb on a few crates to reach.
He was not the sort of dragon that climbed.
The gray Faerian noticed his hesitation. “You could probably stand on those boxes to reach,” he helpfully pointed out.
“I’d, uh, probably break them.” He left out the part where he couldn’t lift his legs high enough beneath the bulge of fat that would press over his thighs. He realized that he’d have to get someone else to do it. “Sorry. Let me just—”
“Do you need any help over here?”
Thank fuck.
“Yes,” the other Faerian readily replied, and pointed at the box. “I just need that box up there.”
Relieved, Arro moved out of the way for the unfamiliar dragon approaching. Like the researcher, he also had pale gray scales; it seemed to be a common color on Karraden. He was also incredibly tall and muscular, although slightly shorter than Arro. Not that Arro’s height was doing them any good right now.
The dragon didn’t look at him. “Move,” he said a bit gruffly as he passed and pushed himself up on one of the boxes. Fortunately he had no trouble reaching the one that the much smaller dragon wanted, and was also strong enough to lower it down with ease. Arro stretched out his arms to take it from him so he could climb back down more easily, but the other dragon didn’t even look at him as he held it out to the smaller gray Faerian.
“Okay, thank you!” He happily accepted the box into both arms, although he had to lean back against its weight slightly as he spun around and left. Arro partially wondered if he’d need help getting it all the way to wherever it was going. He supposed it wasn’t his problem.
He turned to thank the other gray Faerian, but the other employee was already walking away. Arro pressed his chubby index fingers together. “Uh, thanks,” he called after him anyway.
The other Faerian finally turned around and gave him an annoyed look. “Well, we both know you weren’t about to get up there.” He started to take a few steps back towards Arro and pointed a finger toward him. “Hey, I don’t know who your old team members used to be, but I won’t put up with any shit.”
Arro was a bit taken aback. “What are you talking about? I just—I was going to find someone who could reach.”
The dragon snorted. “We both know ‘reaching’ wasn’t the problem, and I want to make one thing clear right now.” He curled his lip. “You’d better not make your weight problem anyone else’s problem.”
Arro flattened his ears. “I don’t even know you. Why—”
He interrupted again. “I don’t have to know YOU to recognize your type.” He crossed his arms. “You’re gonna make everyone else do your work. Like right now, watching you stand around and wait for someone else to deal with it.”
He waved a paw at the boxes. “And if you won’t do your own work, then at least stay out of everyone’s way. Heh. If you can even stay out of your own way.” He smirked. “I’d tell you to pull your own weight, too, but we both know it would take a crane to do so.”
Arro balled his fists at his sides “I only needed—”
“Maybe what you NEED is a diet.” The Faerian was still smirking, impressed by his own joke.
Arro scowled at him. Now he was just being mean. Was this what Zark had meant by different crews establishing some sort of arbitrary pecking order? They were supposed to be coworkers.
Before he could form a retort, the asshole finally turned away. “Like I said,” he called back, “do your job. And if you can’t handle that, don’t fuck anyone else’s up.”
Unable to form a response, Arro just shook his head. It was true he hadn’t been about to climb those boxes, but he hadn’t even been in the guy’s way. What the fuck.
Arro leaned back against the shelving that the other dragon had just climbed and stifled a groan. He figured at least his subpar day couldn’t get any worse.
When he leaned back, the heavy pressure of his weight made the shelving buckle, and dumped a stack of small boxes down onto the floor. He stumbled back and growled as a few cardboard corners hit him solidly in the shoulder. Others rolled off painlessly enough, making his fat jiggle.
“Really?” Arro glanced over to see that the other dragon had stopped again and had his arms out, brow furrowed. “Are you actually serious right now?”
Not really knowing what to say, Arro straightened and returned his attention to the boxes that now surrounded him on the floor, his face growing warm as he surveyed the damage his fat body had caused. He couldn’t catch a break today.
~When his shift was finally over, Arro gratefully wiggled out of his work clothes, the fat on his body surging to freedom, and made his way outside. After the day he’d had, he was actually looking forward to blowing off some steam at the gym. He’d managed to avoid that rude fuckhead the rest of his shift, but couldn’t stop thinking about the encounter. He could now completely understand why Zark said employees had started punching each other in the face.
He walked into the gym in a better mood. Sometimes, he wished that Rangavar would come with him. Rangavar hadn’t been to the gym in forever. It was actually impressive that he’d gotten any stronger over the months, seeing as how all he needed was a light jog in the morning, apparently. Lucky bastard.
Arro’s good mood immediately ended when he saw the fuckhead from before at the other side of the gym. His heart sank. It hadn’t occurred to him that because of the shift change, others who were scheduled during the same shifts would now end up with other activities accidentally aligned.
Fortunately, the other dragon hadn’t seen him yet. Arro actually considered leaving. It wasn’t too late.
Wait… Why should he have to leave?
He shook his head to himself slightly. They were all fucking adults here. And he was just as entitled to the gym as the other guy. Arro didn’t look at the dragon again as he began stacking weights.
“Ugh. What are you doing here?”
Vaugh dammit.
Arro turned slowly towards the gruff voice. The other dragon had his arms crossed, every defined muscle bulging. He was actually muscular all over; Arro supposed it wasn’t actually too surprising to find out he came to the gym. He idly thought about the fact that he didn’t stuff himself with food every waking moment, he could probably have a body like that.
“I’m here to work out.” He eyed the other Faerian. “Same as you.”
“Isn’t carrying your fat ass around all day enough of a workout for you?”
Arro scowled. “Can’t you leave me alone?”
“Why don’t you leave ME alone,” the other dragon retorted. “You’re the one that followed me here. You’ve obviously never been near a gym in your life.”
“I’m here every day.”
The gray Faerian gestured at Arro’s waistline. “Well, you’re not doing it right, because it obviously isn’t working.”
Arro felt a growl rise in his throat.
The other dragon suddenly eyed the stack of weights Arro had been grabbing. “Feeling ambitious today, huh? Glad to know my words earlier have had such a profound effect on you. I should become a motivational speaker.”
Arro eyed the weights too. He wanted to beat this dragon over the head with one. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Not that he wasn’t used to dirty looks or snide remarks. It had just been a while. And with Rangavar around, those things didn’t seem to matter as much.
This guy was just being a prick, though.
Arro wasn’t going to let him harass him into leaving the gym, which he was starting to think was what the other Faerian wanted. “Well if it were my first day, you’re not being very welcoming.”
“You just obviously don’t care about yourself.” He waved a paw. “You’re only taking up space—a lot of it,” he added. “And weights that I need, by the way.”
Oh. Arro glanced down at the pile. “What, these?”
The other dragon rolled his eyes. “Yes. Those,” he said slowly, like he were speaking to a child.
“Wow, what a coincidence. I need them too.”
The gray Faerian scowled. “You definitely don’t need that many. I actually do.”
“I could actually use a little more,” said Arro, trying to seem unbothered. He wasn’t sure it was working. He casually leaned one paw on the weight rack nearby. “But you’re hogging the rest. How ironic.”
The dragon’s eye twitched.
“Hey… you two… we have more of those.” The concerned voice came from the reception desk. Both of them turned to see a green Gemian glancing from one of them to the other. “We keep more equipment put away. It’s normally not needed all at once, but I can bring it out for you.”
As she went to go collect said equipment, the two male Faerians shared a look. Arro knew that the weights were really just an excuse for the other dragon to pick a fight. This was far from over.
~Arro was thoroughly exhausted later that evening as he flopped onto the bed, his body bouncing and jiggling with the motion. He needed a shower, but first he needed to lie down for a second. He and the other dragon had ended up unofficially trying to outpace each other, and when it soon became evident that they both had the type one mutation—each of them increasing their physical workouts well beyond what would otherwise be possible—the informal competition had only accelerated. Arro winced at the aches in all his muscles. Neither dragon had exactly ‘won’, so Arro figured the real winner was whoever was in the least amount of pain.
Forcing his arm up to his face, he checked the time on his wristband. He’d spent long enough at the gym to eat up a chunk of the afternoon, but it would still be several hours before Rangavar returned home.
Arro absently wondered if he should also call Jade. He usually tried to call her when Rangavar wasn’t around, to spare the smaller dragon the pain. Just six months ago, Jade had told Rangavar that she never wanted to see him again—of course, none of them had known at the time that Arro and Rangavar would be seeing quite a bit of each other.
Rangavar had insisted that Arro tell her the moment they got together, of course. So Arro had dutifully called her up. Told her about meeting someone. Told her about having a companion. She’d been happy for him.
Arro had gone back to Rangavar and said that the conversation went well. The conversation really had gone well. The true statement slipped through his lie-detecting telepathy.
He’d left a little bit out, though. The main little bit.
That part about his companion being Rangavar.
Category Story / Fat Furs
Species Dragon (Other)
Size 118 x 120px
File Size 55 kB
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