Exton

Ob made a mess of things at first. Bits of cake and fruit decorate the plate and other places as well. Pandora bore her own decorations with barely a second glance. A bit of strawberry draws Ob's eye as it slips along the slope of one breast. He bends his great head toward her and closes his eyes. Breath huffs lightly along her flesh as he takes in the delicate smell of strawberry, and the clean scent of her skin.

The barest tip of his agile tongue brushes lightly over her breast, cleaning up the strawberry and its sticky trail.

His eyes darken, deepening from ice blue to indigo. Purple rings his eyes and he pulls back, closing his eyes. He is shuddering, fighting an urge to take her, knowing the pain and damage he would inflict on her. Thoughts whirl, images dancing, escaping. He would not be his father. He would not.

A memory flits through, so quickly it almost makes it out before he snags on to it. He savors the images, a moment in time, when his cousin had come, secretly, to visit. The touch of Pandora's hand stroking his cheek brings him back. He rolls his eye, now sky blue, and watches her.

"Careful Bruha. I don't want you to slice your hand."

He cups her hand gently in his palm and lick the top of it gently.

"Tell me something... It may sound odd, but there is a reason. How do you see me... not this outer shell, but what is inside. If I was stuck like this forever, what is it you see that makes you love me?" He raises his head, breathing deep. "I once asked Silk how she could change with ease. She told me that as long as she knew herself, the inner self that is her core, the outer would be as she wanted. I never thought about it again."

Ob turns his head, looking at Pandora with both eyes. The blue had faded, slipping back to the same ice blue most people saw. "When I am Gargoyle, I know the Romanavich me. I can find him, center myself. I can't find that person now. All I see is the Daemon, the hungers and desires of this form. I never shifted as other Romanavich. I wonder if I would be as lost then."

He breathes in, nostrils flaring, a puff of smoke escapes and Ob stares at it in horror. He scrambles back from Pandora as he begins to twist. A scream tears itself out of his throat, turning into a roar of pain. His eyes grow dark, opalescent, reflecting the sun. Ebony scales lay flat along his bulk, tapering in size along his legs and devil pointed tail. His leathery wings flap, raising his bulk off the balcony as it creaks under his weight.

Tori slithers over the balcony, still in her chimeric Gargoyle stage. She arcs back her Viper head and hisses in disbelief. The next second she closes as his agony breaks through her natural shields.

One thought hits the women full force before he can curb the power.

FUCK!

Tori starts to laugh. The pain has receded and she falls flat on her back with the force of her laughter.

"Okay! I got it! You two are going to the party as a Princess and her Dragon, right?"

Ob looks down on the two and rumbles. It takes a few minutes before it dawns on him that he is laughing as well. His mind touches Tori's and she laughs even harder.

Pandora catches the thought of Ob wearing a saddle and Pandora perched on him in a flowing gown. On the tail end of the thought is how beautiful his love would be, and how the hell was he going to make love to her now.