Ryoto escapes Yvan easily, which earns a frustrated huff as he sets his hands on his hips. "I'll—" and he lowers down to press his hands into its flank, shoving it to get it to roll over— "roll you to the river!" It's easy for him to give up and flop over its side once he gets even a 90 degree rotation in.

His voice lowers to a mumble as he paws at its tail with a paw. "C'mon," he laments with his cheek pressed into its shoulder, "y' just gonna stay balled up the whole time?" Surely Yvan could pry it open, but even he'll admit that it's a little not fair with the sheer muscle match-up. At least he can play the pity game with it, potentially? " 'm not gonna actually do those things..." He's not even sure if it's convincing enough. It does sound borderline miserable, at least.

@Ryoto

Ryoto's toppling over to its side is just as unceremonious as it is a little comically loud; it metes out no further resistance— not even as Yvan throws in the towel and flops back down on top of it like it's some sort of living bean bag chair.

… however, as he chooses a more psychological form of battle, the tides shift in his favor. The dragon shrugs off part of its tail, craning its neck to stare at Yvan past all of its own hair. It manages to be able to see him out of one eye.

"Only 'cause it makes it… mm, harder for y-you," and here, it frowns slightly, worried, "... didn't think y-you'd really do that either. Too nice to me."

@Yvan

Now's his chance..! When Ryoto shifts its tail out of the way, Yvan lunges for its neck, locking teeth into that fluffy mane of its as he simply puts up with the texture of hair in his mouth. Playful growls rise up as he shakes his head this way and that, jostling his friend as he braces his hands on the forest floor below. "Haa! Goff you!"

He's mightily pleased with himself, the end of his tail wagging happily and spraying up leaf litter. There's no way he'll let go! It's not like he'll hurt it either, not with how thick its mane is, so he's free to bite down as hard as he can while tugging Ryoto backwards like an overgrown chew toy.

(If he'd actually thought about what Ryoto said, maybe the whole 'being too nice' thing would be a bit ironic here.)

@Ryoto

BETRAYAL… ! It's surely divine punishment for being so easy to fool.

Yvan's treachery is admonished by Ryoto's own growling and snarling— which grows breathily playful once it acknowledges the complete lack of life at stake, and that the turncoat is still just messing around. The reflexive thwack! of tail homing in on the other dragon's hide redirects itself into the ground, where it thumps and wags as the rest of its body is dragged along.

Ryoto twists and squirms away in a futile effort. Padded palms shove into Yvan's more humanoid shoulders— ahh, wait—... ! "St-stinky! Unfair! … can d' it too!" Hands latch on tight, and it writhes to get its bottom half more underneath itself and kick against Yvan's second chest. "Cheater… !"

@Yvan

No amount of pleading will make Yvan let up. He still shakes it like he's a rabid dog, growling and chuffing and all too pleased with himself. Kicking at his chest just makes him readjust and stand more on top of it until he flattens himself on top.

"See? Ha, got you," he purrs once he's lifting his head and planting palms on either cheek. White teeth bare in a wide, wide grin, and he squishes its face as he laughs down towards it. " 's not cheating when there aren't rules..! Y'just gotta know that I'm gonna win eventually."

And winning right now is keeping himself on top, even if it's right where he started.

@Ryoto

If only it had that extra torso to throw around as extra weight; and Yvan complains about it being heavy? The audacity!

Squished as its cheeks are, Ryoto's pitchy "S'op bein' so, so heavy… !" comes out muffled and nearly indecipherable. Twisting its head to the side, it giggles and starfishes out its limbs in defeat. "Fine!! … fine! Too s'eepy t'deal with you againnn anyways!"

Claws gnarl into the grass, gathering up thick clumps that it hides beneath its palms— but, not too quick! Not to draw attention away from its face. "Still a stinky cheater… using dirty tricks."

@Yvan

Ryoto's letting up too easily. Frowning, Yvan lets go of its cheeks as it wiggles, nose crinkling as he perches over it. "What, you're not gonna fight back?" He sticks out his tongue and squeezes at its chin with one hand this time. "C'mon. Roughhouse? Please?"

Cue big, pleading eyes, even if the expression's offset but how much he's pinching together its cheeks and laughing at how silly it looks. It's a clear tone, happy, content in the little war they've set up for themselves. " 'm not gettin' up 'til you fight back..!"

@Ryoto

Ryoto is getting what it wants; and already succumbing to the experience of once more having a weighted blanket lying on top of it. It'll tolerate having the baby-chub of its cheeks squashed and stretched like putty if it means lying right here and letting the world pass it by.

… and being able to bother Yvan further by closing its eyes, shaking its head, and falling completely limp.

…

… is it… ?

^{"... snnnooork... mimimi… "}

@Yvan

He's utterly baffled! Why doesn't Ryoto want to fight back? Letting go of its face, Yvan pats his hand against its cheek. "Hey!" It takes some shuffling back to put his hands on his hips. "Are you seriously going to fall asleep? I'm definitely throwing you into the river for that one."

Up he goes, and back his hands go to its arms, grabbing biceps as he hefts it up just a little. "Fhh— stop being so heavy..!" He grunts and gets nowhere, only to flop back down on top of it and bury his face in its fluff.

Wings go limp and drape on the forest floor. "Uggghhh." Talons curl into its fur as he lets his entire weight flatten Ryoto. "Y'just wanna lay here forever..?" Disbelief, betrayal— ... it's not that big of a deal, actually. It is boring, though.

@Ryoto

Here's the thing: Ryoto is quickly realizing how entertaining it is to be as annoying and stubborn as possible. Yvan's failure to actually lug it into the river gives it something resembling a power trip that it'd like to coast on; "That's why I'm so strong. Fat!" Its chest seizes with a laugh as his face falls back into it.

It pats at the back of his head a few times, reassuring and also just a bit too rough. "No, jus' messin' with you 'cus you were me. A little funny to see you... mad. But, not really mad." Teasing claws flick at the back of a drooping ear— and make to shove slightly at the other's chest."... awake-ish now. Just— um, don't... actually bite my neck again... ? Can go do sum'n else too..."

Meekly-spoken as the request is, Ryoto doesn't seem entirely affected as it makes it. Setting rules, right? Had that been panic that it felt, at first... ? It... feels a little bad for genuinely growling and initially being upset at the surprise attack.

@Yvan