ORIGIN

BARATHEON

---

The dragon hadn't really thought about it but yes... If he did lose control around Flafe what would happen? What if she injured herself? There was no way he could keep from ripping her to shred if that happened! Flafe was no Kerberos, she didn't have fangs and three heads to defend herself. The poor thing would be defenseless. He'd rather die than let his older sister be killed by his own claws. How could he live with himself?

It was then that he stopped and thought to himself. Would he ever be able to control himself? What if this thing couldn't be controlled?

He shook the thought away. No. This lion would teach him everything he needed to know and everything would turn out just fine! The little dragon was optimistic about these things.

"Yeah... I could hurt her." Still, the mere thought of that nearly brought tears to his eyes. The sadness could be heard in his voice. "I don't want to... I don't want to hurt anyone!" Well, not unless they deserved it but most of the time people didn't. The dragon nodded his assent when Usui went on to say that blood was the trigger. That's why he'd called it "bloodlust" because he lusted for blood. It was an irrational thing that as far as he knew nobody had.

"What do you like, what makes you feel comforted?” His ears twitched and he looked confused for a moment. Gee, that was certainly a large change in topic. He couldn't say that it was unwelcome though. He liked to think about what made him feel comforted! "Um, well... Hmm..." What did he like? The young dragon tapped his tail lightly on the ground as he thought. "Oh!" Then it came to him. "When my sister found me and she let me snuggle in her fur." He sighed, sounding a bit wistful. "That made me really happy because I knew that she loved me. And still loves me! I love feeling loved... I guess." He wondered when he would get to snuggle into anyone's fur again. It would be a while since he had to learn how to control himself first.
.

---

Usui nodded solemnly as Baratheon displayed his grief. The lion cub had no loved ones, so to speak, but if any of his friends came into harm, or any innocent was hurt, he sure would feel terribly remorseful if he was unable to do anything, much more should he be the one to cause the harm. Baratheon looked at him confused as he switched the topic – it was indeed a large change, to switch from thoughts of killing and death and lust to nice happy things. But Baratheon got into it, and gave his reply. Usui quipped up eagerly as he finished in boyish tones. "What if...when you feel bloodlust, you get something comfortable to snuggle against?” The cub felt like he was grasping wildly at possibilities but he honestly had no idea what exactly was Baratheon made of. "Must it be y'er sister?"

Then, the cub thought of an experiment. "Wanna cuddle?" he offered, with a smile.

BARATHEON

---

Baratheon had expected something more insightful than what he got. He hadn't expected to hear the lion say that they should cuddle. His expression turned from hopeful to confused in an instant. Cuddle? He wasn't sure if during the bloodlust he would want to cuddle very much. From his hazy memory he could remember distinctly the feeling of wanting nothing but to eat... not to cuddle anything.

He tilted his head to the side, saying nothing as the lion tried to explain further. Well... He supposed it didn't have to be his sister but his sister was the one that he loved. She was the one who gave comfort. However, if this was a way to test the bloodlust then perhaps he should give it a go. "I dunno... I've never tried to cuddle with anyone but Flafe." After a moment of deliberation he decided to try it.

What did he have to lose?

So the dragon shuffled closer to Usui and after a few seconds of hesitation he wrapped his forepaws around him, one around the lion's chest and the other over his back. Baratheon tucked his cheek into the cub's soft fur with his tiny wings wrapping around as much of the lion as they could. He lay there for a moment snuggling into his fur but then he noticed something.

He felt nothing... and he felt a tad bit awkward.

His eyes, which he had closed as he'd snuggled the pale fur, opened as he looked at the cub. "Usui... I don't think it's working..." He distinctly felt a lack of being comforted and more of feeling weird for tucking into someone's fur that he didn't know. "Am I not cuddling hard enough?" He questioned curiously.
.

---

Baratheon came over and embraced him which was odd to Usui since this beast had tried to devour him not too long ago. However, when in-tune with his studious side, there was hardly anything the cub couldn’t do, and so he allowed Baratheon to cuddle and snuggle into his fur, and did not feel like there was anything wrong or odd with the action at all. The dragon didn’t seem to feel it within him though and asked him a question. Usui chuffed in agreement. It had not felt quite right to him either…and in empathy, Usui lifted a paw to pat Baratheon’s head. He then broke free of their cuddle.

“You did great, Baratheon,” he nodded to the pink furry dragon encouragingly. He then fell quiet and thought about the possibilities for a moment. If it only worked with Flafe, then perhaps…"What if you got to carry around a small Flafe to cuddle? Would that help?” Yes, he could create a tiny Flafe, but first…he had to hunt down that lamb and snip off some of its fur.

BARATHEON

---

The dragon released Usui and sat up, looking into the slightly pink haze that was his vision. The pat on his head caused him to wag his tail slightly as he stared at the lion cub. What would they do now? Was there no cure after all if he couldn't find comfort in other cuddles? It was then that Usui suggested the hatchling carry around a "small Flafe". This confused the young dragon. His head tilted to the side with his ears flopping over loosely in the same direction. "Small Flafe?" He questioned.

What on earth was that? Was he going to shrink Flafe? That didn't seem like a good idea at all! She would be easy to carry around but then it would put her in danger of being stepped on. He shook his head, flopping those large ears comically before settled on raising them into the air. "I don't think it's a good idea to shrink Flafe..." He wrinkled his snout up as he thought. "You can shrink stuff?" That was so cool! A smile plastered onto his face as he began to wag his tail vigorously, a new thought forming in his head. "Can you shrink me? I wanna be shrunk!" As long as it could be undone then it would be fun to be tiny or rather, tinier.
.

---

The cub looked at Baratheon with great astonishment as he mentioned shrinking Flafe. Alas, that wasn’t what he’d meant! He was going to elaborate but the hyper fluffy dragon continued on and Usui chuckled, a sound he hadn’t heard in a long time. It surprised him. "Oh aren’t you a funny one Baratheon,” he smiled at the other and purred. "I can’t shrink gembounds!” But he could shrink other things like the earth, and metal…though he had to call upon his second magic, that of fire. The boy didn’t see an occasion to bring this up to Baratheon though, and so left it as it was. Perhaps he could try out what he wanted to do and surprise Baratheon! "Say, where can I find Flafe?” he asked the other eagerly. It was a new quest for him! Perhaps…this idea might work? The cub was extremely excited and in anticipation for Baratheon’s answer. Yes, if the dragon told him about it, he’d get to it right away and gift this lovely friend a cute fluffy little flafe, which might perhaps, help him to calm down.

BARATHEON

---

The lion cub looked astonished but at first Baratheon simply thought it was because the shrinking was a great secret. That wasn't the case though as the cub elaborated further. "Funny?" His head tilted to the side. He was funny? How, he hadn't told a joke. He was being serious! "Oh..." So, there would be no shrinking of he or Flafe. What was the plan then? How would there be a "small Flafe"?

The cub still seemed intent on knowing where Flafe was though so who was Baratheon to deny him this information? "Flafe is in Orion! That's where me and her live." Or that's where they were supposed to live. He hadn't been back there in a while, not since he'd found out about his bloodlust. "If you aren't going to shrink her then how will you get a small Flafe?" He asked openly curious and confused.
.

---

Usui was tempted to embrace the genuinely confused dragon but kept his paws to himself. The lion cub pricked up his ears as Baratheon mentioned that Flafe was in Orion! They lived together? Hmm…Usui wanted to go there on his own though, so that if his ‘quest’ failed, Baratheon wouldn’t feel disappointed, and if he succeeded, Baratheon would get a great surprise! "Well, we should visit each other some day!” he spoke and smiled at Baratheon, genuinely wanting to meet this Flafe, but more so, using this statement to blanket over his true intentions. He’d have to get started right away then! "Well I got to go now, buddy. I’ll cya around!” He purred at the dragon in farewell, and turned around to pad off to start this mission for his newfound friend.

BARATHEON

---

His head tilted to the side as the lion didn't answer his question. Whether that was on purpose or not he didn't know but either way he was oozing with curiosity. "But how are you--" He asked again but stopped when the lion was getting up to go. He really wanted to know but perhaps the lion didn't even have an idea... or he was keeping it a secret. A brief glint of suspicion alighted in his eyes before he shook it away. Ah well... if he wasn't to be told then it was fine. He'd figure out the bloodlust on his own although it hurt a little that the lion was going to leave without helping him further.

"See you, Usui." He said with a wave as he watched cub go. Well, he was on his own now. He'd stay in Cetus for a little while then move on to see more of the cave.
.

---