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The Next Day - Evening.

Day's chores done, this time thankfully without any dealings about the town, social or otherwise, the gothy maid and the dragon once again reconvene in the space they've taken to relaxing in when they can. This time around, Courtney has her sketchbook up as she sits down on the floor, looking up at Rebecca.

"Just pick a pose you'd want me to draw, but like... one can you stay in for a bit. This is k-kinda new for me."

Rebecca hums, shifting about to find something comfortable, before at last getting into workable position, "Err... like this? Is this good enough? It's all new to me too, so whatever you need me to do, I'm just happy to be doing this together! It's weirdly thrilling."

Courtney nods with a smile: "It is for me too. I've not really... drawn from a live model before. A-and definitely not a dragon posing for me..." She looks Rebecca over, getting a feel for the perspective: "I guess... if you can move your head to the side... just a bit..."

Rebecca complies, shifting her head, "Like this? This side?" She laughs awkwardly, "And I've never been a live model. I hardly think of myself as 'model material'."

Courtney giggles a bit: "Well, time's the first for both of us. If you can just shift your front legs so you're more relaxed... yeah, like that. And try to not look at me all the time, it makes me nervous. Sorry."

Rebecca's eye shifts away from Courtney, then back for just a second, then away again, "Aw, but I like looking at you. But yes. Okay. I'll do my best."

Courtney blushes with a small smile: "...nervous, or just self-conscious. That works too." She finally puts her pencil on the paper and takes a deep breath. "Okay. Let's see what I can do."

Rebecca smiles, then tries to keep her expression neutral, but still ends up settling into a smile, intensely aware of her own face right now. "Well, I will enjoy it no matter what. I could probably tell my family that I have 'commissioned artwork of myself'. That seems a proper dragon thing to do in this position."

Courtney blushes: "I uh... well if the picture is successful." She starts doodling, just getting a feel for the basic pose: "I want to be sure it's worth putting anywhere first."

Rebecca laughs quietly, "I'm mostly kidding... This is just for practice. And a bit of fun."

Courtney nods as she starts more focusing on the drawing. "Mmm." Though she's still smiling... and still blushing.

Rebecca glances towards Courtney again, unable to help herself, then looks away. "Hmm." She's more than happy to sit quietly while Courtney works, just enjoying being together.

Courtney sketches and looks at Rebecca, smiling as she does: "You look regal."

Rebecca blinks, only just stopping herself shifting position, "I... w-well thank you. I'm not even made up right now. This is just... plain me."

Courtney hums as she sketches: "Well... I maybe kind of like the 'plain you'."

Rebecca squirms a little in place, her tail twitching a bit, "I... o-oh..." She swallows, "Well, I have been doing a little better cleaning my scales lately..."

Courtney hums: "I noticed." She continues drawing, only glancing at Rebecca for reference for a second here and there. Though her blush doesn't seem to vanish at all...

Rebecca grows quiet for a moment, holding her pose. After a moment, she speaks up again, "I uh... noticed too. Your scent. Not that it was bad before... but... um... it's nice."

Courtney blinks and looks up. "My... my scent? But I didn't do anything... specific, for it."

Rebecca tilts her head away slightly, then back into position for the sketch, "O-oh? You uh, didn't? Maybe I'm just overthinking it..." I'm just overthinking how you smell. Rebecca cringes inwardly at how embarrassing that sounds in her head.

Courtney hesitates. "I mean, uh..." Her throat suddenly feels dry and she swallows. "...m-maybe my deodorant smells good to you? I mean, it does for me, that's not my point and um..." She realizes she hasn't yet showered, and thus not used any such product on herself, since last night.

Rebecca: "Well um, that's gotta be it! Just uh, don't worry about it! I mean, smells, right? Ha! Ha ha..." Rebecca laughs awkwardly for a moment longer before she trails off, then glances back at Courtney again.

Courtney pauses for a moment, her pencil trembling slightly in her hand. She swallows, then gives up on drawing for a second as she looks back up. "Rebecca, er... n-not that I really know how good you can smell, but I'm just... dirt and sweat from today, I'm pretty sure." Why is she blushing so brightly at the idea of the dragon finding her scent good, anyway?

Rebecca glances away again, "It's just... nice, that's all. I don't know if I can explain it. Maybe it's stronger because of the sweat... more just 'you' scented? Or I'm just... paying more attention to you... it... your scent... oh heavens..." Her voice fades, the dragon clearly embarrassed.

Courtney swallows: "O-oh. Um... I well..." She glances aside: "Well I don't... mind, it's just... new, to me. Y-yeah."

Rebecca's voice is lower than usual, her eye staring straight ahead now and away from Courtney. "Dragons have very good senses of smell... that's all."

Courtney nods semi-absently: "M-makes sense. I uh..." She looks back at her sketch and rather slowly, deliberately continues drawing. Definitely not distracted by the subject of it, now.

Rebecca goes quiet again, holding her pose. She doesn't let the silence linger too long before she tries to change the subject, "Do you uh... do other kinds of art besides drawing? I've always thought painting seemed neat."

Courtney continues drawing as she speaks. "Well, I've... sorta dabbled, but always return to this. Painting is fun, but also very hard and time-intensive."

Rebecca hums, "I've always wanted to try painting. It does seem like a lot of fun."

Courtney dares to look up again: "Why don't you?"

Rebecca sighs quietly, "My family never approved of my interest in art. And especially didn't want me attempting any of it myself."

Courtney oh's quietly. "Well, um... t-they're not here, right?"

Rebecca blinks, "Well... no. But..."

Courtney pauses for a second, then offers a small smile: "If they come for a visit, you can always claim your paintings are mine. I-if I have understood anything, I don't think they are interested in digging through my quarters."

Rebecca glances at Courtney and smiles back, "Well, maybe. Maybe?"

Courtney nods, then hesitates: "...I didn't just offer to deceive your family for your sake, did I. Oh dear."

Rebecca manages to laugh, "If they found out, I'd be in much more trouble for deceiving them then you would be for enabling it. Still... it does make a very tempting thought. I guess I haven't really considered what being here on my own really means."

Courtney nods slowly: "...me neither I guess. Huh." She gives Rebecca small smile: "...I can help you find supplies, I think."

Rebecca hums, "I'd like that. I'm not even sure where to start with some of it. And... I guess we're both sorta 'on our own' together, aren't we?"

Courtney nods again: "Yeah, huh. We are." She considers: "...kinda together, when you think about it."

Rebecca chuckles nervously again, "Well... yeah. Together one way... or... another..." She continues to ponder just how 'together' she may or may not want to be with Courtney.

Courtney is trying to compile the same issue as she continues drawing. "Y-yeah... I um." She hesitates before continuing. "I maybe want to... f-figure out how I can stay with you while I study, a-as much as I can. Um."

Rebecca looks over at Courtney, perking up as she swings her head over out of the pose, "You mean beyond just your contract as a maid? Maybe? I would be happy to have you stay, of course! If... you wanted..."

Courtney glances at the dragon: "M-maybe. I don't know, does it sound a bit silly?"

Rebecca shakes her head, "It doesn't sound silly to me. It's just something to think about I guess. It's a big manor..."

Courtney nods, swallowing: "I wouldn't want to... Impose." She would, though. A lot.

Rebecca grins, answering a little too quickly, "You wouldn't impose!" She blinks, then manages to force her head back into her pose. "It's up to you but... I guess, I would just always consider you to be welcome here."

Courtney manages to continue drawing as she talks. "Well, then I... I definitely will keep that in mind." She looks at the dragon, and has to admit to herself again that her friend is really darn beautiful.

Rebecca lets out a breath, "Well, I guess there's still a lot of time before that's a concern..."

Courtney nods: "T-true. We shouldn't worry about that yet." She continues detailing the drawing, feeling just a bit weird about finding her own drawing attractive...

Rebecca relaxes, not even realizing she'd tensed up as she holds the pose. She lets the quiet linger between them once she notices Courtney getting focused on her drawing again, while the Dragon can't quite get the smile off her face.

Courtney continues in quiet for a bit. She glances up eventually: "But... You know... I would kind of like the idea of staying here after I, er, am done..."

Rebecca grins wider. "I... I might be being a little selfish. It would be nice to have you around without having to worry about the whole... Mistress and Servant act. I'm... not very good at it."

Courtney hums: "Me neither. It's so.. awkward." She considers. While it certainly is a fair amount of work, it's actually less running around taking care of everything than she thought. Perhaps because Rebecca is not often wanting for much, but anyway.

Rebecca: "It is... I guess 'Mistress of the Manor' is basically my job. That's how I treat it, anyways. It's not who I am all day, like how my Mother acts." Rebecca snorts. "I'm a Dragon! And I'm not a kid anymore. I should be able to do what I want. ...but it's family money, so..."

Courtney sighs in sympathy: "I know that feeling. I'm here because people around me insisted. And for that I have to keep some kind of appearance. Which... probably means we can't let people show us being close." She sighs again. "We're in a mess of sorts, aren't we."

Rebecca nods slowly. "I guess we are. You'd think 'freedom' from home would make me feel a little more free. But at least there's you. You're the best thing that's come with this position, and not because of the maid work."

Courtney chuckles softly: "I could say the same thing. I like being with you."

Rebecca laughs quietly along with Courtney, more just because she likes to hear Courtney's laugh. "I'm sorry we have to do so much faking it. If I could, I would..." She trails off, thinking. What exactly would she do if she wasn't worried about the family and their expectations?

Courtney tilts her head a bit. "What would, er..." She blinks and blushes. "I don't think you're talking about holding hands in public." She doesn't look taken aback, more actually curious because of her own thoughts.

Rebecca gets a bit flustered as well, "I- I don't know! Maybe...? Maybe more than that? We get close when we're together like this... Maybe a little closer would be nice too..."

Courtney finds herself stammering: "I uh um... M-maybe? B-but but..." She trails off, unable to deny that some part of her would want to explore a bit.

Rebecca forces a laugh. "Oh, no no! It's alright... I know... I'm a Dragon. It's hard to get close to someone like me. It's just... I guess that's me being silly."

Courtney smiles softly. "W-well. Maybe it's a silly thing. But one we maybe sorta kinda share." She swallows. "I kinda want to know you closer."

Rebecca stares at Courtney a moment. "Do... we both want to be silly together? Because... I... I do."

Courtney blushes: "I er, well..." She is quiet for a few moments, considering. Finally, she looks up with a tiny smile: "Yes" she whispers.

Rebecca forgets all about the posing to step closer to Courtney, lowering her head down to nuzzle against her gently. "This is so crazy."

Courtney does nothing to stop Rebecca (why would she?), other than her arm going up to touch Rebecca's cheek. "Well... maybe we can be crazy together too." Her heart is racing, but despite her sanity saying otherwise, this feels so right she doesn't care.

Rebecca lets out a soft purr, "S-so what does this make us? How far do we want this to go?"

Courtney opens her mouth, then swallows. She considers. "Mmm... I d-don't know. Would... would the word 'girlfriend' be too strange?"

Rebecca leans her head against Courtney a moment, then pulls back to look at her with both eyes, her snout right in front of her. "It.. wouldn't feel strange to me. Other than how strange the idea that I even have a girlfriend is."

Courtney looks at Rebecca with a warm smile: "I mean... the idea sounds strange for me too, in some ways. But... not bad strange. Good kind of strange. Strange I want to figure out."

Rebecca nods, "You know... it won't be easy, right? I don't know... our differences might make it impossible... it still feels like it's worth trying. To me, anyways."

Courtney swallows, then her hand brushes some more on Rebecca's cheek: "I... I know. It's probably insane and so much can go wrong... b-but I want to see."

Rebecca nuzzles her snout against Courtney, taking a gentle sniff, "You do smell lovely... it.. it's less weird now that we're... girlfriends. Right?"

Courtney giggles: "If it also is that I think your scales are beautiful, polish or no polish."

Rebecca giggles along, "Makes me feel pretty good, honestly. Courtney... you're wonderful. I really like you a lot."

Courtney leans her head against Rebecca's snout: "I think I like you a lot too... maybe sorta kinda a bit."

Rebecca giggles again, her head low as she shyly asks, "T-this might be a lot but... can I kiss you?"

Courtney blinks and finds herself blushing fiercely. "Um... well I won't say no... which I guess is a 'yes'."

Rebecca lifts her head, leaning in closer to kiss the side of Courtney's face, ultimately becoming quite a big kiss just due to the dragon's size for such a demure peck to the cheek.

Courtney can't help it, she starts giggling at the sheer size and wetness of it. "Ack!" She's grinning though as she looks back at Rebecca: "Now can I kiss you?"

Rebecca pulls back, afraid she's hurt Courtney, until she sees the other's smile. She relaxes, smiling back, "Yes~ I would like that."

Courtney swallows, then leans closer, lifting her hands to Rebecca's face. Then she closes her eyes and gives Rebecca a soft kiss on the middle of the dragon's upper lip, best as she is able.

Rebecca shivers at the feeling, small but oh so impactful, "Oh! I... I do like that~"

Courtney smiles, her hands still on Rebecca's cheeks: "Y-yeah. Me too." She gives a soft sigh and steps closer, her hands wandering down Rebecca's neck and towards her chest, feeling completely safe under the dragon she feared not that long ago.

Rebecca lifts her head over Courtney, settling it against her back. "This closeness too, yes."

Courtney nods: "Y-yeah." She feels her heart swell; was this what she was missing this whole time and never realized? She never really thought relationships and all that nonsense was for her...

She leans close to Rebecca, closing her eyes.

Rebecca purrs, the feeling and sound of it vibrating softly against Courtney as she closes her own eyes, but has nothing else to say at the moment.

Courtney mm's softly at feeling Rebecca purr, the big sound feeling warm and perhaps a bit personal now. She finally whispers after several moments of quiet embrace: "...we can make this work."

Rebecca grins. "Yeah. Feels like we can do anything, if we need to "

Courtney gives a soft giggle: "Well, aside from few things we already mentioned. But yeah."

Rebecca laughs, "I mean... To make this work. You're right. We can do it."

Courtney touches Rebecca's chest for some more before letting go with a smile. "Yeah... kinda crazy, but maybe we are. Maybe I don't care anymore."

Rebecca nuzzles her chin against the small of Courtney's back, "We've already decided we're crazy too, so... Might as well go along with it? I don't think I care anymore either."

Courtney giggles at the touch, turning around: "Y-yeah. We're somewhere in that... that sort of territory. I guess."

Rebecca laughs, "I uh, messed up the pose though."

Courtney blinks, then laughs a bit: "I can continue that later." She considers something, hesitates something fierce, then finally looks up: "This, er... probably sounds weird and is like three different kinds of undignified for a dragon, but... can I climb on your back? Like, just sit there?"

Rebecca lifts her head and backs up to the mess of pillows she'd been posing upon, stretching out a bit. "Courtney... You're welcome to. I... I really like your touch. So when we're together like this, feel free to make yourself comfortable."

Courtney blushes some more cause all of this seems to perpetually ride between embarrassing and things she really wants to experience, but nods and walks up to Rebecca from the side. "So, er... how should I do this? I guess you said you don't fell that much on the scales up here-" She reaches a hand to touch Rebecca's side under her wing: "-But I don't wanna hurt you if I climb."

Rebecca giggles, "Careful of the wings, and some of the gaps under my arms and legs, If you want to use my wings as handholds, maybe take off your shoes? But otherwise... you don't need to worry. You won't hurt me, I promise."

Courtney nods, and looks down at her shoes. Practical indoor shoes, but... she takes them off anyway. Then, with some trepidation she puts her hands on the scales on Rebecca's side, getting surprisingly decent, if narrow, handhold from them. "I haven't done any climbing since I was a kid..."

She then grunts, and pulls herself upwards, climbs as she is best able... and before she even can fully realize it, she's on her belly on Rebecca's back, between her wings. "O-oh boy. I did it."

Rebecca laughs, clearly delighted, "You did! Is it... alright? I mean, it's not really meant for riding up there, and uh, it is harder to polish the scales on my back... it's probably filthy... oh shoot, I hope it's not too gross up there."

Courtney giggles as she gets up to sitting between Rebecca's wings: "Don't worry, it's fine. You're fine. A-and I wouldn't dare to ask you to fly when I'm up here..." Except now that she's said it out loud, the thought definitely intrigues her.

Rebecca hums, "Oh... definitely not. Not like this, anyways. We'd have to get something made to make sure you're safe, but someday... that would definitely be fun."

Courtney nods: "I feel like... maybe a bit like a broken record, but... I'm not going to say 'no' to that."

Rebecca considers, "Just... so long as you know it's okay to say 'no' to me whenever you do want to. I want to be your friend... your girlfriend. And I don't want you to feel pressured by your job, or because I'm a dragon."

Courtney leans her hands against where she figures Rebecca's shoulders more or less are and brushes as she is best able. "I know... well, okay, might be hard at times, but you haven't really asked me much that I wouldn't either expect to do, or want to."

Rebecca lifts her head, trying to look all imperious and threatening as she clears her throat, "And if I asked you to um..." She pauses, thinking,"Do... something. Really embarrasing! Ha! I... I don't actually know what I would want you to do. That's just not me I guess. The worst I can imagine is asking you to give me a bit of space so I can read. Some days... I just want to be alone. Or at least, be somewhere quiet. Quiet alongside you does sound a lot better than quiet alone though..."

Courtney considers, then shrugs: "I can agree with that. Like, sometimes you just wanna be alone." Her hands continue touching Rebecca's shoulders and the base of her wings. "If this is a dream, don't wake me up just yet. I like touching you up here."

Rebecca hums, "You're on my back, so I can't quite reach to pinch you. And good luck pinching me." She does snuggle into her pillows a little more deeply, careful not to disturb Courtney too much as she shifts to get cozier.

Courtney giggles as Rebecca shifts, feeling the motion of it. She leans her chest against the dragon's back, sighing softly. "This is like some weird dream come true, in some way. My, er, dragon girlfriend."

Rebecca laughs, "It's... I don't even know. I just want you to be in my life."

Courtney nods, mm'ing as she embraces the dragon as she is best able from her current position. "I think... I want to be in your life, now. Whatever else happens."

Rebecca smiles, "Whatever else happens. We'll make this work."

Courtney smiles as she closes her eyes. "For now, I just want to stay here. At least until I cramp something." Lying on the dragon's back isn't the most comfortable thing, but emotionally it feels so good that that side is winning.

Rebecca hums, glancing back in slight concern, "Will you have trouble getting down? I could always lay on my side, and you could lay against me in a more comfy fashion? If there is anything I could do to make you more comfortable, simply name it."

Courtney hums. "Mm, we may have to try a few positions." She blushes and blinks: "... That sounded a bit wrong."

Rebecca blinks, then lowers her head down and covers her snout with her foreclaws, "Oh, heavens, Courtney!" She tries to stop herself from giggling through her embarrasment.

Courtney giggles nervously herself: "S-sorry! I just said it and then kinda realized it. Oops?"

Rebecca laughs, "H-how would that even work? We're both female... and also I'm a dragon... so..." She isn't quite admitting she's curious to find out.

Courtney is definitely not admitting to being curious. "Um...! F-file that away for later... Like much, much later...?"

Rebecca: "Oh, yes! Yes, of course! We wouldn't... I mean, we might... but not... not for a long time! Of course." Rebecca might be protesting just a bit too much.

Courtney happily takes that amount of protesting. "Yes we... Well we definitely... Just... You know, much later. At a time that isn't very soon. At all."

Rebecca nods, slowly releasing her snout with a sigh, "Ha... y-yeah... this is all so new and wonderful and... we should take it... well, not necessarily slowly.... just... err... take it as it comes."

Courtney nods: "Y-yeah, we have no desi- I mean, no need to rush into... Well anything. O-obviously." She looks about her position on the dragon's back, then opts to finally make her way down.

Rebecca does her best to remain still as Courtney moves back down from her back. "No, this is... a lot. It feels like this came so quickly. I don't want to mess things up."

Courtney has her feet hit the ground again, and she steadies herself against Rebecca. "Y-yeah. We wanna take this slow, right." She opts to not point out the absurdity of that statement versus her own desires.

Rebecca nuzzles at Courtney's side, "I... We do." She chuckles nervously, "I just don't want to scare you away!"

Courtney smiles: "I think... well, unless I have really read you badly to this point, you probably won't."

Rebecca laughs again, "Well, maybe you're braver than I. I'm a little scared. Not of you, though."

Courtney giggles: "Are you kidding me? If I let myself I'll probably overthink everything that can go wrong with something like this." She swallows: "I-it's not going to stop me, but you know."

Rebecca: "No, I'm serious! I just... no. No, you're right. It's not going to stop me either." Rebecca smiles, "I don't want you to ever stop, Courtney."

Courtney giggles: "Well, I do like your vote of confidence. I hope I don't misplace it later." She then shifts, leaning over to give Courney's forehead above one eye a kiss.

Rebecca tilts her head towards Courtney, leaning into the kiss. "Mmm... well much the same, you probably won't."

Courtney smiles softly: "Well, let's keep that as a goal then. Me not losing your vote of confidence on me. Or something." She giggles.

Rebecca smiles, "Or something." She hesitates, "It's not about confidence, though I do have that. It's more about... love. Or whatever this feeling is in my belly that swells up when I look at you."

Courtney feels her throat catch a bit. "O-or that. Yeah. I think I know what you are t-talking about.... that feeling."

Rebecca nods. "It's this mix of wonderful panicky everything that I can barely keep in, but that I want more than anything. And I only feel it when you're in the room. And good heavens it feels so good to finally be able to say something about it like this instead of bottling it in every time we're together!"

Courtney forces a swallow, her heart swelling: "I uh... oh wow. You put to words what... I could have said that." She looks at Rebecca with whole lot of warm emotions in her expression.

Rebecca shifts to kiss Courtney in turn, trying to be do so softly once again, though the size does make that rather difficult. "Well, if that's what this is... I Love you, Courtney."

Courtney swallows as she feels a shiver go through her, like she's never felt one like that before. Like a super-buzz of energy from her head to toes. Like being hit by a lightning, but one made of soft fluffy emotions. Her throat feels suddenly very dry. "I... I luh... I love you, Rebecca. Maybe it's crazy. Maybe I don't care anymore." She leans into the kiss, size difference be damned.

Rebecca lets her kiss linger, a bit messy to be sure, but full of passion. She pulls back, looking at Courtney with an embarrassed look, "Oh, oh sorry! Sorry! I just... got into it. We're both crazy... but I'm perfectly fine with that."

Courtney giggles softly and wipes her face a bit, but it's obvious she doesn't care if things are a bit slobbery right now. "I... I... yes." Her heart hammers in her chest: "I... we..." Words seem to be failing her, and instead she just leans her head against Rebecca's.

Rebecca lowers her head to let Courtney lean against it, "Yes... We." She lays content with the simple contact, letting that word roll around on her tongue.

Courtney leans against Rebecca as the two lie back down, next to each other as they are best able. "We. Us. All that."

Rebecca giggles, "See, despite all the crazy... that makes sense."

Courtney leans against Rebecca, smiling. "Sense is overrated." She pauses for a second, before adding: "Love." Just feeling how the word feels to say.

Rebecca spreads out on her pillows, trying to help Courtney cuddle in closer against her, echoing her girlfriend's words, "Love."

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