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The Next Morning.

As the rays of sunlight find the bronze-coloured dragon alone in her bathroom, she blearily finds herself glancing into her mirror. Spending the night alone after such an lovely evening has become a recurring thing, but neither party have quite pushed for sleeping together... not that they would know how to go about it, logistically speaking. But it is starting to bother the dragon more, and she tossed and turned fairly restlessly last night because of it. Sighing, she gets back to making herself presentable. Looking the same as ever of course, sharp teeth and pretty scales on her face that just need a small polish, and...-

She does a double-take. Bringing a paw up to her neck, she touches and swallows. Gently tugging at the offending part...

"...since when do I have hair?"

Janelle similarly struggled to sleep for some time after the two retired... she never even bothered to put on clothing again after the bath, walking back up to her room naked and collapsing into bed. She couldn't fully rest, yet still found herself sleeping through the night.

Something was bothering her, some lump in the bed that she couldn't get comfortable around. Finally waking up, she swings her legs out of bed and trips.

"The... heck?" She looks down at her feet... the left, still human, but with the first hints of scales along her leg. The right foot is stunted, the toes thicker, more orange scales down her side and along her entire right leg. The stub of a tail is growing out from her back side, but otherwise, her entire right side has changed, scales even reaching up her face to her cheek.

"...hypothesis confirmed..." She murmurs to herself, stumbling forward as she tries to walk, something off in her gait as she contemplates dressing.

Liseth'erend'oreana takes a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. You just grew a small tuft..." Her paw goes up to her neck again. "...a bit of a lock... t-the beginnings of a mane... okay that is a lot."

Swallowing, she turns back to the mirror but turns her head and neck this time to look at it from the side. And true enough, from between her shoulders to between her horns, a line of cream-colored hair is growing, like she always was meant to have one.

Problem is, dragons do not grow hair...!

Janelle finds walking hard enough without pants or a skirt in the way, finally deciding for now, she can manage without clothes. She limps to her mirror, glancing at her face, reaching up to touch the scales on her cheek with her paw. With a sigh, she does the same thing she did last time, cataloging the changes, examining herself in the mirror.

Once she's finished, she limps her way to the door, her gait and balance all completely feeling off, as she heads out with one thought in mind, a need to find Liseth'erend'oreana, heading straight for her room.

Liseth sighs once more at her mirror, before turning away and towards the hallway. Something tells her she needs to find Janelle, now.

"Janelle, love, are you awake?" she just short of bellows into the building.

Janelle instinctively straightens hearing Liseth call for her, calling back "At your door, love! Just... taking me a bit of time to get used to walking..." She reaches the door, knocking to announce her presence. She's not actually been in Liseth's private chambers before, only the 'common room' where she's delivered her reports, where the two have snuggled a bit. This room Liseth told her was off limits when she first arrived...

Liseth opens the doors, just narrowly avoiding hitting herself in her haste. She looks down at Janelle and swallows, her own minor changes forgotten in an instant.

"... Oh boy. It's getting faster, isn't it."

Janelle staggers forward to hug Liseth's forepaw. "S-seems so. The path, or the choice... something accelerated it. Walking is... hard. Like the two sides work differently, and can't quite agree."

She swallows, clearly shaken by these new changes, she looks up at the dragon, but not yet noticing the new hair growth, "You called... is everything alright?"

Liseth nods, forcing a smile. "Oh, uh... Yes. Just worried about you, you know, after last night." She lifts Janelle up to her arm and turns towards her bed.

Janelle settles down to perch on Liseth's arm, the feeling almost strangely normal. Still, her eyes narrow, "Ma'am, you would do well to avoid poker with your tells. You've learned something else... What's wrong?"

Liseth hesitates as she puts Janelle down on her bed. She then sighs and turns her head and neck sideways, showing the so far short but very obvious cream-colored mane she is growing all of a sudden.

"I don't know."

Janelle settles onto the bed carefully, then looks up at Liseth's newly grown hair with a slight gasp, "Y-you're changing too? O-oh no... I... I had accepted this for myself... but I didn't know it would impact you like this as well."

"Me neither." She leans closer, sighing. "It's... F-fine, I think. Just... Unexpected. I mean, you deal with hair all the time, right?"

Janelle blushes, "I do. I could always aid you in dealing with yours too, of course."

Liseth nods: "I would appreciate that. But... Enough about me. How are you holding up?" She motions at Janelle's naked and currently rather lopsided body.

Janelle looks down at herself, blushing again, "I... ah... well... I am managing. There's no pain, simply... half of me feels like it doesn't belong? I'm not sure which half... I've known how to walk since I was a child, and now the way I do so feels wrong?"

Liseth sits down next to the bed, sighing. "That sounds... Kind of awful. You're pretty darn strong for going through this, you know?"

Janelle gives a shakey sigh, "I... I don't know about that. I simply have someone worth being strong for." She winces slightly as she tries to flex her feet, "I just may need some extra help... I can manage well enough, but..." she trails off, asking for help is always something she's struggled with.

Liseth takes a few moments to catch on. "... I can carry you around the building, if that's what you mean." She smiles, happy for the distraction.

Janelle hesitates, then nods slightly in agreement, "It... may be necessary. I can't walk right, love. It doesn't hurt, it just feels... wrong. And until these changes complete, I think... I think I need that."

Liseth nods before making her on to the bed, moving her body around Janelle. "Well, the least I can do is help you around." She looks at Janelle's legs and body from a couple of angels.

"Looks like it won't take more than a few days, anyway."

Janelle puts a hand against Liseth as she settles in around her, "At the rate of change... I hope it finishes soon. I had trouble sleeping, perhaps because of the changes, or..." She looks up at the dragon once more. "...perhaps because I was alone?"

Liseth blinks. "Alone? Uh..." The dragon pauses. "... Me too."

Janelle nods, "I don't mean to be presumptuous, ma'am... and I don't even know how this would work... but I don't think I want to sleep in that room by myself anymore."

Liseth blinks again. "You would? I mean, you want to sleep with me?" She considers for maybe half a second. "... Yeah, we can... Probably do that."

Janelle grins, laughing, "We already have, once. I don't mean to intrude here... this is your home, your bedroom, afterall."

Liseth considers for a second, then shakes her head slightly. "Not just my home and bedroom." She leans close to gently nuzzle at Janelle's forehead. "Yours as well."

Janelle reaches up to touch Liseth's snout, closing her eyes. "You keep giving so much to me. I promise not to take advantage. All I want is to be close to you."

Liseth blushes - since when has she been capable of blushing? - and smiles. "W-well... conveniently that's also what I want, but I didn't want to... push for it..."

Janelle nods, patting Liseth, "I think I'm comfortable with getting closer, love. If you are..." She glances down, then back up and nods, "Speaking of, your changes. Are you sure you're okay? I can investigate that if you wish."

Liseth nods, and lowers her head down next to Janelle. "If you... if you want to, you can check... I am uncertain why I have started growing... a mane, I guess..." She trails off, glancing at Janelle.

Janelle peers up, and reaches up against Liseth's neck, finding herself suddenly climbing the dragon, much to her own surprise. "Bwa... Um, apologies, ma'am. It just felt natural, if a bit difficult... But, well, here I am."

She reaches out to feel the fur, surprised at how soft it feels, "I bet it would feel nice to be brushed... So this is unanticipated, hm? You told me about kobolds changing, never the dragon?"

Liseth comments from under Janelle's touches. "Mmm... yes. The dragon never changed to look or be like..." She trails off, then turns her head to look at Janelle: "...as you are changing because of your connection to me... am I changing because of my connection to you? Humans obviously have hair on their heads and nowhere else..."

Janelle blushes, "Well... We have... Well, I had hair all over. I shave most of it off. Guess it's not grown back for the most part because of the scales... But the hair on my head has been fine so far... I really hope it doesn't fall out."

Liseth pauses, thinking. "The Kobolds, back home, er... they never had hair to begin with, I'm pretty sure. But..." She looks at Janelle. "You do. And er, now do I."

She sighs. "We need a guidebook or something. With a list of contents pointing to the answers we need."

Janelle nods in thought, "No guidebooks for this, I'm afraid. We are likely the first and only dragon human pairing in the world and I guess it truly is uncharted for both of us now. It is very beautiful hair, however."

Liseth blinks. "...yeah, the hair doesn't look bad, it flows very well..." She sighs. "I'll probably lose my nuts later about this, you gotta promise to be there for me when I do."

Janelle smiles, patting Liseth's head, "I will always be here for you. Just as you've been there for me when I've been on the edge of losing my mind over these changes."

Liseth gives a wry smile: "Something to bond over, I guess. Is losing one's mind fashionable these days? I remember it somewhat being a few years ago."

Janelle chuckles, "I cannot speak for dragons, ma'am. For humans, I think it has always been fashionable."

Liseth shrugs, grinning at her partner on her: "Well. Good enough for me. We can go crazy together while we try to document this."

She blinks and pauses, lifting a paw to her chin. "...tha- hey that's a thought. Should we document this? Like... is it even possible we are that unique among our kinds?"

Janelle leans back to consider. "I have been documenting my changes as clinically as possible. I think we are unique... But perhaps... If we can find Love like this, it may be that others will too."

Liseth nods slowly: "...on the off chance that someone else goes through this... wherever this leads..." She hums. "Maybe. Not that we really know where this even does go, but... something in my mind wants to at least put some notes up, if just for myself to look at later."

Janelle chuckles, "I think you and I are of a like mind, then. I can help you document this, of course. You can review my own notes and add any observations you had about my changes. A guidebook... Something to show the way to others, or at least to prove to ourselves that it all really happened." She reaches up to touch the scales along her face. "I admit... It will be unnerving when the day comes I look in the mirror and cannot recognize my own face."

Liseth nods slowly. "It is... unfortunate, but at this point, I imagine it is better for the changes to go through, like your hand has, than... be left halfway. You know, even if we could change the course of any of this."

Janelle sighs, but nods. "I have accepted that. This state is unacceptable, this half-one thing and half-another. In addition to the difficulty moving, my suits no longer fit properly."

Liseth considers. "Well. When we are certain that the changes are done, we're going to get you a new suit tailored, tell you that much."

Janelle blinks, then laughs in a strange feeling of relief. She can have that to look forward to, some degree of normality in a new and different body, "I would appreciate that. Even if I'll never get to wear it out."

Liseth looks at the half-human, half-kobold on her back: "Even if not, I've gotten myself to a position with decent amounts of wealth, and making sure you have everything you want or need, it holds the first, second and third places on the list of 'things important to me', right now."

Janelle blushes, never having felt like she mattered first, second, or third to anyone before, "I remain completely in awe of you, love. I have no wish for you to waste your wealth on me..."

She swallows, "But I cannot lie that it feels good to be spoiled a little. J-just a little mind you! I'm still responsible for your finances! It would look awful on my resume if you were to go bankrupt due to me."

"Not that I ever intend to seek other employment..."

Liseth smiles: "I have enough saved to just get you a fancy tailored suit from a part of the interest I've gotten this month, Janelle. We're fine even if I decide to spoil you." She hums. "Which, by the way, I have decided to do. So there."

Janelle nods, still smiling wide, "I... am quite aware of that. Both your actual finances, and... Your decision to use it on me. Thank you, love." She leans down, resting her head upon the patch of Liseth's new mane. "I do hope, whatever changes come for you, you will find them agreeable. No matter what form you take, I shall love you the same."

Liseth smiles and subconsciously lets out a bit of purring noise from deep in her chest and throat.

"I should hope so too. You are... mine now, so to say, in a lot of ways... but I hope it is because you want to be. Which I have understood is the case."

Janelle feels that purr in the dragon beneath her, "You are correct on all counts. Just as you are mine."

Liseth smirks: "I would think far as counting goes, you're the one who's correct, but I'll let this one slide."

Janelle chuckles, "It is my job, after all. I take great pride in being right."

Liseth turns her head to nuzzle at Janelle's side: "Make sure it stays that way, or I might have to..." She hums. "...I don't know, order pizza with toppings you do not like, or something."

Janelle giggles at the feeling of the nuzzle against her scales, "I can imagine nothing worse, ma'am. But rest assured, I will not let you down."

Liseth giggles into the nuzzle, just happy that despite all the weirdness around them, it has also brought them together in a way... probably neither of them would have dared voice before.

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