Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Two years felt like it had gone by in a remarkably short amount of time.

Neuvillette had never really considered ‘time’ as something worth focusing on. He was ageless, so barring a few significant dates, he never really thought about it too much.

Not until his daughters anyway. Now every day felt special, time to be spent with his girls (who were growing like weeds), with the people he’d come to call friends, and with Wriothesley, his mate and soon to be husband, which, alas, also meant time spent planning his wedding.

Furina had become an utter nightmare in that regard, dumping clippings from newspapers and photograph books on him while pointing out what she deemed to be the best of the bunch. It felt like she was planning her wedding and not helping him plan his. This extended to fashion, decorations, food, everything one could possibly think of...and not especially anything Neuvillette found very...appealing. 

Thankfully there was one island on the frothing ocean of madness that was Furina’s attention- Navia.

She and Clorinde had gotten married the year prior, a small charming ceremony held in Poisson on the boat in the middle of the cavern. Navia had looked stunning in white and gold with a bouquet of rainbow roses, while Clorinde was in her typical blues and purples, but no less elegant.

She’d requested Carole, Lucille and Sandrine be the flower girls for her wedding (something which Wriothesley had to explain, since he was still missing bits and pieces of human traditions) and they’d eagerly accepted. Seeing his girls participate in the ceremony and how lovely they'd looked just made him all the more excited for his own. 

Thus it made Navia the desirable consultant for what to do, ideal times, dates, whatnot. She was more than happy to do so, and Neuvillette was convinced he and Wriothesley couldn’t have gotten nearly as much done without her aid.

They had a date, December 6th, a time, invitations to send out and even the location. Neuvillette had decided to humor Furina and hold the second ceremony at the Opera Epiclese, which while indeed somewhat...excessive, wasn’t the worst of the places she’d suggested. If he kept her happy, it meant he’d keep her out of his hair, which was the desirable outcome right now. His first would be much calmer, much quieter, in the caves under Elynas at Merusea Village with only a handful attending...and the Melusines, of course. 

“There, I think that takes care of the guests from Sumeru,” he said, placing the envelope to the side with the rest of the tidy stack.

“This seems like a lot of people…” Sedene noted, shuffling through the ones he intended on sending to Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma. Everyone he cared for in Fontaine had gotten their invitations already, which just left...Furina’s exhausting guest list of everyone else.

The Archons he understood, and the performers, but he would admit he was little worried when he saw ‘Yoimiya, present owner of Naganohara Fireworks’ on it.

He thankfully hadn’t had to pen any invitations to Snezhnaya. Arlecchino had taken care of that. She’d said it only felt right for her to inform the Tsaritsta personally...so long as she herself was to receive an invite, which was fine with him and Wriothesley.

“Anything to keep Lady Furina subdued, I’m not even sure half of them will attend” he sighed as he handed the last of the envelopes to her.

“It seems very silly to me that she’s being so demanding,” Sedene commented with a frown, “She had the indecency to demand she be present when the Duke proposed to you, isn’t that enough?”

“For Furina? Never,” he chuckled and shook his head, “I have however, told her to keep this news to herself. I’m making plans to announce our wedding through the Steambird.”

Sedene’s eyes widened, “After all the torment they put you and your family through?”

“I’m...inclined to think this announcement will put everything to rest,” he explained, “I’m going to request a meeting with that one reporter, Charlotte. She seems quite professional, and her stories are sound.”

“Whatever you want to do, Monsieur,” Sedene agreed with a big smile on her face, and after a giggle she hugged the envelopes to her chest, “I’ll get these in the post right away.”

“Thank you Sedene, and um…” he drew in a breath and tugged at his collar, “Is it...warm in here?”

“Hm? No, I don’t think so,” she answered, “Perhaps open a window? You’ve been working hard all morning.”

“You’re right, and it has been a bit warmer than usual recently, and I’ve never been a big fan of the heat.”

“Oh I know, you’re such a big baby during the summer,” she teased, giggling when he narrowed his eyes at her, “I’ll get you some water after I drop these off.”

He smiled, “Sounds good, thank you again, Sedene.”

Ultimately, he still didn’t like his body temperature going up for seemingly no reason. Usually that only happened-.

He shook his head, unlikely. It was the wrong time for the small, random heats he’d been subjected too over the last few years. It would be uncomfortable but would clear up in a few days. Perhaps he had indeed just been working too much, and when was the last time he went to bed at a reasonable hour?

He got up and opened the window as suggested, enjoying the gentle, fresh Fontaine breeze that came in. With a deep breath, he felt considerably more comfortable. Perhaps a walk later? That sounded pleasant, sure he disliked the summer but no point in wasting away a good day. The girls would want to go to the park later, he looked forward to it.

With a chuckle, Neuvillette sat back down at his desk to finish his remaining paperwork for his actual job. It was probably nothing. If he didn’t feel good later, he’d ask Wriothesley to send Sigewinne up. His mate would no doubt tell him he was overthinking things and he laughed at the thought.

There was no point in getting worked up or focusing on something that was arguably a minor issue. It was a lovely day, and he had things to look forward too-.

“Neuvillette~!”

Furina, however, was not one of those things.

Neuvillette did not, in fact, feel better later.

If anything, he felt worse, and the itch under his scales in combination with the inevitable cramping and skyrocketing body temperature confirmed his suspicions – he was in aestus.

He hadn’t experienced it in full force for several years, the eggs had basically rearranged his hormones, so at most he suffered small ‘heats’ where he’d get easily aroused by his mate’s presence. They’d ferry the girls off to be with Navia and Clorinde or the Melusines while Wriothesley took care of him for a few days.

Oh, his body ached. It ached horribly, even when he tried to negate the effects with a cold shower. And what was worse? Wriothesley had been overseeing an expansion project at Meropide and hadn’t been home in a few days. He’d kept all the windows open in a vain attempt to ensure the house didn’t smell like a heat nest whenever someone came over.

Honestly, he was grateful the girls spent a good portion of the day at school.

He was on his third cold shower for the day and was sitting on the edge of the bed in his bathrobe, rocking back and forth slightly and biting his lip, trying to ignore the cramping.

He wasn’t carrying a clutch of eggs this time. He’d checked, repeatedly, and he’d definitely know by now.

Part of him, brain addled with hormones, almost wished he was. To be bred thoroughly and carry his mate’s clutch again, but he’d beaten down the idea by reminding himself his wedding was in a few months and didn’t have time to have his attention split between gravid and such a significant celebration.

Time. Again.

He groaned in discomfort, hands gripping the comforter tightly. It was embarrassing how quickly he’d started nesting and had stolen practically all of Wriothesley’s shirts from the closet just to have his smell, to bury his face in them to try and sate his burning need. Or to smother himself, one of the two.

The bed was flooded with every linen from the second floor outside of the girl’s rooms, he’d stripped every sheet, every blanket, every decorative cushion and stuffed it onto the mattress. This was offset by Wriothesley’s mostly dark colored clothing- shirts, coats, pants, anything Neuvillette could get his hands on strewn everywhere, mostly up near the pillows so he could snuggle into them and let the most pathetic sounds possible to express his want for his mate.

With a trembling hand, he managed to grope around until he found one of the shirts, bunching it up so he could bury his face in it and inhale Wriothesley’s familiar scent, his musk. He mewled and curled up on the bed, clutching the shirt even tighter in one hand while his other hand slid down, pushing aside the folds of his robe to wrap around his stirring erection.

He anxiously shifted his legs, rubbing his thighs together when he felt slick trickling out. He wanted Wriothesley, he wanted him so badly. It was so bad he was almost in tears and he was gasping in desperation, and was sure he’d cried out for his mate several times while writhing around, completely lost in his own pleasure until-.

Someone let out a low whistle, “Wow, don’t think I’ve seen the bedroom this much of a mess in a while.”

Neuvillette froze. He hadn’t heard the door open, he hadn’t heard anyone come up the stairs. He hadn’t noticed Wriothesley until he was leaning against the bedroom doorway with a smirk on his face.

“I-I didn’t hear you come in,” Neuvillette swallowed hard, grabbing some of the bedding to shove over his lower half.

“Didn’t realize you were home,” he said with a shrug, which was a fair enough point.

Neuvillette let out a sharp breath and...oh this was bad. Wriothesley’s presence alone was causing his hormones to go haywire and he had to force himself to turn away with a low whine.

“I-I should have sent a message to Sigewinne warning you.” he rasped, shivering, “I’m sorry…”

“What for?” the bed dipped and Neuvillette jolted, realizing Wriothesley was right at his side, the smell of his musk slammed into him and he actually began drooling.

“Not feeling good? If you’d sent a message, I would’ve come up here sooner,” Wriothesley continued, resting his hand on Neuvillette’s shoulder. It was a gentle touch, one of reassurance, but all it caused Neuvillette to do was shudder and flinch away.

“Neuv?” Wriothesley asked worriedly.

“F-forgive me...I-I’m...ah…”

Wriothesley suddenly was much closer, dangerously close to being pressed right up against his back, lightly brushing his nose against the nape of his neck.

“Oh, I recognize this smell, mon cœur…” he purred, breath tickling his skin, “And I’ll admit, I’m a bit...disappointed you didn’t reach out sooner.”

Neuvillette whimpered as Wriothesley ran his hand down his side to rest on his hip.

“What do you want, mon cœur? I’m yours for the afternoon.”

Neuvillette was flushed and breathing raggedly, his pulse skyrocketing when Wriothesley brushed his lips further up his neck to lightly nibble on the end of one of his pointed ears.

“Wriothesley ...”

“A few quick, hard rounds, that always does it, right?” he slid his hand down his chest, brushing over a nipple before continuing down underneath his robe further.

“Do you want me to suck you off? I wouldn’t mind if-.”

“Wirothesley, stop!” Neuvillette managed to regain his self-control enough to shove his mate’s hands away so he could scramble to the other side of the bed, very nearly falling off as he tried to fix his robes. He sat there trembling, trying to even his breathing out.

“W-what? I...I’m...Neuv, I’m sorry…” Wriothesley pulled back, voice filled with guilt. 

Neuvillette felt bad for yelling. He hugged himself, digging his fingers into his arms.

“I...just wanted to help…”

“I know, but this...isn’t like my last heats the last few years,” Neuvillette explained gently, trying to at least indicate through tone he wasn’t angry, “This has been going on for the better part of a week.”

“A week? Neuv, why didn’t you-?”

“Because I wasn’t sure. If it was one of my regular heats, that I could manage, I could have dealt with it alone, but…” he groaned, looking back at his mate over his shoulder, “This is a full blown aestus, I’m sure of it now.”

He shivered, “I was going to reach out to Sigewinne, like I said but-.”

Neuvillette bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut before turning back around, “I wasn’t avoiding you, you were busy with work. I didn't want to interrupt-."

“So? Like I’m going to neglect my mate’s needs, that’s what I’m here for, right?” Wriothesley smiled as he sat up, “Besides, I didn’t even need to be there, it just looks good on paper.”

“Wriothesley, you’re my mate, my partner, not a pleasure toy.”

“That isn’t what I meant. I’m here to comfort you, I’m here when you need me,” Wriothesley explained gently as he got to his feet so he could go over to Neuvillette’s side of the bed, reaching down and gently cupping his face in his hands, “And I’m here now, so let me take care of you.”

Neuvillette’s breath caught. He remembered that line, he remembered him saying it back when he first told Wriothesley about his aestus, back when they first mated. It made his insides feel like they were going to melt as his mate leaned closer, nuzzling the edge of his jaw.

“I-I…”

“I won’t, if you don’t want me too,” Wriothesley took a small step back to emphasize his point, “I just want you to know-.”

Neuvillette had enough. He grabbed Wriothesley’s tie and yanked him down in order to crush their mouths together with enough force there was a clack when their teeth connected. In response, Wriothesley caught himself with both hands on the bed so he was kneeling in front of him, climbing after him until he could grab a hold of his thighs.

“A-ah...W-Wriothesley…” he moaned desperately, fumbling to reach down and undo the belt on his robe. It felt too heavy, too itchy, and he wanted direct contact now. He wanted his mate’s scales pressed against his own, under his hands. Wriothesley splayed his hand over his stomach and slid it down, down, further as his mouth latched onto his throat. His other hand remained on his thigh to anchor himself, squeezing, when he finally wrapped his rough hand around Neuvillette’s aching cock and-.

The front door slammed open.

“Papa! We’re home!”

Wriothesley sank his teeth into Neuvillette’s neck and accidentally pulled on his erection too hard, enough to snap Neuvillette out of his desperate, lust filled haze to shove Wriothesley off. He bolted into the bathroom, slamming the door shut with enough force he heard the glass bottles on the shelves by the counter rattle.

Chest heaving and heart beating way too fast, he was certain he was about to pass out as he gasped around the hand covering his mouth.

His thighs shook, he hadn’t been this turned on all week, he hadn’t been touched all week. His erection hurt and...gods his slick…

It was trickling down his thighs and all he could do was buck his hips desperately and whine.

A knock at the door made him jump.

“Neuvi, are you okay?”

“I-I’m...no, not really...b-but that’s not your fault.”

“It kinda is though…”

“Wriothesley...don’t,” he felt bad, he wanted to crawl back out and into his mate’s arms to have him soothe his aestus...which at this point, was starting to get somewhat distressing.

He didn’t like the silence that followed until he heard Wriothesley sigh.

“You get cleaned up. I’m going to go say hi to the girls. I’ll tell them you’re just waking up from a nap, okay?”

Neuvillette took a deep breath and nodded, “A-alright, thank you.”

“I’ll come back to check on your later,” he paused, “I love you.”

His breath caught again, cheeks flushing pink, “I...I love you too.”

He listened until Wriothesley’s footsteps faded down the hall as he went downstairs, followed by the delighted chorus of greetings from his daughters.

After he was certain they were preoccupied, he shoved himself off the door and over to the tub, switching on the coldest shower he could manage before discarded the robe and climbing in.

His teeth chattered as he hugged himself, forcing aside any and all thoughts of what had just happened to keep his desire in check. He absolutely refused to do anything with the girls in the house, it had been hard enough already trying to keep evidence of his out of control hormones hidden.

Cold showers and open windows could only do so much…

And the cold shower was doing absolutely nothing right now. He was still painfully hard and Wriothesley’s smell was still all over him. No amount of soap or perfume would wash it away.

With a defeated groan, he wrapped his hand around his erection, shuddering and rocking his hips forward as he moaned into the hand he was using to cover his mouth. Even his own touch felt like too much, and not enough. Not remotely enough as he thought about Wriothesley and how badly he craved his mate all over him. Teeth in his shoulder, hands holding his legs apart as he bred him over and over and over until he couldn’t walk and he felt fat with his seed. Again, no eggs would come of it, but he could revel in the fantasy regardless.

It was that specifically that tipped him over the edge with a gasp. He spilled all over his hand, letting the spray of water wash it away. He pulled away immediately and splayed his palms over the tile, trying desperately to ground himself.

Oh, it was going to be a long day…

Neuvillette had eventually resigned himself to sitting in the tub filled with cold water, knees hugged against his chest and the curtain still drawn. Somewhere private where he could center himself now that he’d managed to get his hormones to more or less calm down.

He’d spent some time under the water as well, the world muffled, peaceful, but that did little to fend off the loneliness he felt. He wanted to go down and have dinner with his family...and not spend the entire time wanting to throw himself on Wriothesley.

A light knock on the bathroom door jolted him out of his thoughts.

“Neuv? Is it okay if I come in?” Wriothesley asked gently, in a way that indicated Neuvillette was more than welcome to say no were he inclined.

However…

“Yes but...I’m leaving the curtain closed, I hope that...won’t be a problem.”

“You’re fine,” the door opened slowly then was quickly and quietly shut, and done so with such care Neuvillette almost believed Wriothesley hadn’t actually come into the room.

“So, uh…”

“I’m really sorry I didn’t send you a message sooner,” Neuvillette bit his lip, “And...I wasn’t...expecting the girls home that early.”

“I could tell,” Wriothesley said with an amused snort, “Apparently they were having some kind of issue with the power, so they sent the kids home.”

“Ah.”

Not that Neuvillette really would have wanted to attempt anything regardless. He knew as soon as he smelled Wriothesley that there was no way he’d be able to stop once they started, not until he’d completely smothered the burning arousal and his appetites had been sated.

Neuvillette just groaned and hugged his knees tighter.

“So, how do you want to handle this?” Wriothesley asked, “Besides...the usual means.”

“I-I’m…” he chewed his lip, “I...I can’t allow the girls to be in the house.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t send them away as soon as your aestus set in.”

“I didn’t have a chance,” Neuvillette replied, “I didn’t realize what it was until it fully set in, which was...a day and a half ago? The night before last.”

“I assume you thought it was just one of your regular heats?”

“Yes…”

“Shit…” Wriothesley breathed out.

“I-I would say ask Navia and Clorinde but they’re...still in Liyue right now, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, but they’ve earned that trip, given how cramped their schedules usually are...and we...really should stop being dependent on them for this sort of thing.”

Wriothesley had a point. As much as Navia adored the girls, it wasn’t really fair to keep dumping them on her whenever they needed a babysitter. They were the closest people, minus Furina, who Neuvillette didn’t entirely trust to be responsible on her own.

“I could ask Sigewinne to see if the Melusines can watch them?”

“Wriothesley, I will be entirely honest, I’m unsure of how worthwhile that is given how old the girls are now...and the fact they aren’t pups anymore.”

“I think it’s worth trying,” Wriothesley replied, “They’re not teenagers yet, Neuv. They’re still...kinda small.”

“Kind of?”

“Okay, yes, I blink and they’ve grown another three inches but that’s not what I’m getting at,” he continued, “If we’re going to send them anywhere, the safest place they’ll be is Elynas with their big sisters. I doubt even the Steambird would be ballsy enough to follow them out there. And on top of that, they can go swimming and hiking and just have a lot of fun, like they have every other time they’ve visited.”

Again, Wriothesley had a point. Yes, it felt a little strange now but he doubted the girls would care, since it gave them some room to be more free and adventurous than usual.

“I can see if they’ll take them for the weekend, since it’s Friday tomorrow. Does that work?”

Neuvillette drew in a deep breath, “That...sounds good to me.”

“Don’t make it sound like I’m ripping your teeth out.”

“Wriothesley, you know I’m...I know they’re older but…”

“I know, it’s your instincts, and I’ve got them too now...especially after the incident with Sandrine,” Wriothesley sighed, “But I still trust Sigewinne and the Melusines and, like I said, Elynas is probably the safest place they can be.”

Neuvillette hadn’t told Wriothesley this directly, but he knew Elynas’ consciousness lingered there, he’d heard him a few times and well...he wasn’t sure how Wriothesley would feel if he told him the consciousness of a giant, ancient sea beast was effectively the girls’ uncle.

He hadn’t spoken to Elynas in quite a while, primarily because he’d become content to watch his daughters and be at ease since they were safe with Neuvillette. He remembered every time he brought the girls to A Warm Place, either as pups or humans, he swore he could feel a gentle pulse of excitement. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind Elynas would love and care for the girls as Neuvillette had loved and cared for the Melusines. In fact, he probably already did.

“Neuv?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking. That’s a good idea, you said you’d pass the message to Sigewinne?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it first thing in the morning.”

Neuvillette’s stomach dropped, “M-morning?”

“Yeah, I can’t exactly leave if you’re ‘sick’. That wouldn’t make me a very responsible parent, now would it?”

Wriothesley being in the same vicinity was a very, very bad idea. He was struggling with his self-control as was, but for his mate to be right there…

“Don’t worry. I already explained this to everyone; you weren’t feeling good and I was going to sleep on the couch downstairs.”

“Do they really still buy the ‘sick’ excuse?”

“I don’t think so, but it worked for now and that’s all that matters,” Wriothesley said with a chuckle, “Besides, it’s been a while since...that incident.”

“That’s true...and…” Neuvillette paused, biting his lip, “Would it...be too much to ask if you lock the bedroom door?”

“Neuv-.”

“I’m serious, Wriothesley. You saw me earlier,” Neuvillette shivered, “This one...it’s bad. I’m...going to need your full, undivided attention as my mate once we...start…”

“Ah, okay. I get it,” wording aside, Wriothesley didn’t sound annoyed thankfully, “I think I know where the key for the room is, so I can do that. I’m going to unlock it before I leave, in case you get hungry.”

Neuvillette stared at the water dumbly. Eating. He’d...forgotten about that…

“When was the last time you ate?” Wriothesley asked in response to the awkward silence.

“U-um...I-I don’t...remember…”

“You’re hopeless,” Wriothesley huffed, Neuvillette was very glad he couldn’t see how red his face turned.

“I’ll throw together something for you, and don’t worry, it won’t be lasagna this time.”

Neuvillette managed to yank the curtain back to glare at his mate just in time for Wriothesley to toss a wink over his shoulder, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Love you, Sweetness.”

Wriothesley didn’t like leaving Neuvillette alone in the house. Putting aside the general guilt and feeling he was abandoning him, Wriothesley also felt like he was neglecting his mate. That was including the deep seated yearning that had lodged itself in his chest the night before and had yet to go away.

After seeing the girls off to school and unlocking the bedroom door as promised, he made his way to the Fortress, where he delivered the message to Sigewinne to relay as planned.

The rest of the morning was...weird.

Not Fortress activities in general, that was normal, but Wriothesley didn’t feel normal.

For starters, he felt abnormally warm, and he’d noticed that after the usual heat from his tea would have long since faded. A quick cold shower helped for half an hour at most and he couldn’t tolerate being in the warmer parts of the Fortress for extended periods of time without worrying he was about to pass out from heat sickness.

The other was how much his scales itched. They hadn’t itched that badly since they’d first grown in and he’d had to sand his claws down completely to keep from straight up ripping them off.

All of this had culminated to his current predicament, where it had taken every ounce of self control he had to not yelp and get back to his feet when he sat down in his chair. It was painful to sit, and even more painful to cross his legs so he didn’t bother. It felt like someone had shoved something hard under the cushion and he thought for a moment a spring had come loose or something, but found nothing wrong with the seat when examined.

After a frustratingly lengthy meeting, he stumbled into his bathroom to all but claw his trousers open, practically gasping from desperation. Gods, why did he feel hotter now?

Undoing the zipper was enough to relieve some of the discomfort but not remotely enough until he shoved down both his pants and underwear which was when he finally saw what the actual problem was.

His dick, thankfully, looked the same...still a bit weird and the glands were leaking but it was his balls that were the problem.

They were swollen and he liked to think he had a good enough grasp of his own body to know what was normal now and what wasn’t and this...most certainly was not.

Gingerly, he reached down and brushed his fingers over one, only for the sheer sensitivity of it to nearly cause him to double over. The muscles in his abdomen constricted, not in a pleasurable way either, and it left him gasping and slightly light-headed. On top of that, his dick twitched, arousal stirring it slightly with pre-cum already oozing from the tip and the glands leaking so heavily now you’d think he’d been stroking it earlier.

Okay, fine.

A shudder rippled through his body as soon as he took a hold of his dick, and...wow, that had to be a new record for how fast he got hard.

He remembered how Neuvillette had taught him to handle his cock with the ridges and lubricant. He couldn’t hold it too roughly or he’d bend the ridges (which he had done and it had hurt) and he needed to wait for the glands to work, not that he needed to worry about that right this very moment. He wasn’t fully used to it, even years later, but he would admit, the natural lubrication made it so much easier to stroke his hand up and down...but a gentle touch wasn’t what he wanted right now...or needed.

He constricted his hand as best he could while he impatiently fucked his fist, jaw going slack as he moaned. Not enough...not enough…

What he wanted was Neuvillette. He wanted his mate, begging for him, and the thought and desire to breed was so intense it made him dizzy.

Oh, this was so not normal.

His balls twitched and his stomach spasmed painfully as he came, and he came a lot , more than he knew he was really supposed too.

He stood there panting, watching his cum drip onto the floor until it finally stopped. He didn’t dare try to keep going, mostly because he still didn’t know why his body was doing this and he didn't want to accidentally strain something. He cleaned up best he could, hissing every time something brushed against his genitals and then practically whining when he pulled his pants back up.

Yeah, no way he was going to be able to function like this…

Maybe another cold shower would help? Ice? That always helped with swelling, right? Maybe if he punched himself in the dick with some Cryo that would-.

“Oh, Your Grace!”

Wriothesley screamed in surprise, jumping back like a startled cat and slamming his shoulder into the bathroom door frame.

Sigewinne blinked several times, “Um...good...morning?”

He groaned, covering his face with his hands to hide the embarrassed blush creeping across his cheeks. Right. He’d completely forgotten he was having a legitimate work related meeting with Sigewinne today…and at the worst possible time too, apparently. She peered around him to look into the bathroom and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I...interrupt something?” she asked with an impish grin.

He recovered from his shock to glare at her, “Very funny. Last I checked I was allowed to use my own bathroom without super-.”

Wriothesley turned to step away from the doorway but hadn’t moved far away enough. As a result, he walked right into it again, but where he managed to prevent his face from colliding with it, his lower half wasn’t so lucky. All he really knew for sure what happened after that was his vision went completely white from pain and he’d hissed out every single curse he could think of.

“Your Grace!” Sigewinne cried, dropping her folder to rush over to where he was doubled over, gasping with his forearm braced across his gut.

Sweat was forming on his temples, his stomach was cramping and...holy shit his balls hurt. This was easily ten times worse than when someone in the Pankration Ring would cheat and hit him between the legs.

He drew in a ragged breath and raked his nails up his thighs while his other hand fumbled to grasp the door frame to hold himself up.

“Are you alright?” she asked worriedly, gaze flicking up and down as she tried to spot the problem.

“Uh...define alright?” he asked, grimacing before letting out a groan of discomfort as everything in his groin region throbbed.

“You look like you’re in pain,” she said seriously, “What? What happened? Did you pull something in the Pankration Ring? Or back at home? Or was this from the expansion project?”

Wriothesley groaned again and looked down between his legs, “It’s...it’s um…”

“Yes?” Sigewinne demanded impatiently.

“It’s kind of...personal? You know…”

“Wriothesley,” Sigewinne gave him the flattest look known to man, “I. Am. A. Nurse. I’ve treated patients who’ve accidentally spilled hot liquids on their genitals, or were stupid enough to get it stuck in something. I’ve also helped deliver children, yours included, so tell me- what’s wrong?”

Well...he didn’t really have an argument against that now did he?

After hesitating a moment, he gestured for her to follow and she diligently trailed behind him into the bathroom.

“U-um...just real quick…” he coughed, trying to ignore the blush creeping up his neck and across his face, “I’m...relatively certain this isn’t from an injury, or if it was, it wasn’t something I was aware of.”

“Alright?” Sigewinne continued to watch him, which...Wriothesley really wished she wasn’t. He just felt more awkward as he gingerly undid his belt and tugged his bottoms down again.

“Pardon the um...mess...I was jerking myself off a minute ago because I thought it would...help…” he admitted, shivering in relief from no longer being tormented by chafing fabric for the time being.

Sigewinne’s eyes widened, “Oh dear, I see why you’re so uncomfortable…”

Wriothesley laughed weakly, then slumped against the counter to partially bend over from a sharp jabbing pain in his stomach, “It...it actually hurts, Sigewinne. I’m almost positive my nuts aren’t supposed to be this swollen.”

“No, no you’re right. Even getting turned into a pseudo-dragon didn’t effect your physiology to this extent,” she said, “When I checked you over initially, nothing was wrong. When did this start?”

“This morning, a few hours after I left home,” Wriothesley replied.

“Any other symptoms?”

“Uhh...a fever? I think...and my scales itch like crazy...stomach cramps…” he groaned, “And...this. I was perfectly fine yesterday, too…”

“You went home last night, correct? And Monsieur Neuvillette was there?”

“Oh...yeah, he was. He’s been laid up because of his aestus,” he grimaced, “We...uh, tried to have sex but the girls came home early and we didn’t get very far.”

“Aestus?”

“Yeah, it’s...been a while and this time it’s...bad ,” he exhaled, “He asked me to lock him in the bedroom last night, I slept on the couch downstairs.”

Sigewinne was staring at him, to the point he just felt more uncomfortable than he had previously. 

“What?” something clicked, “Wait, don’t tell me I’m in aestus now too?”

“Er...not quite.”

“Not quite?” Wriothesley pulled his pants back up but left the zipper open for some relief, even if he still felt awkward.

“Aestus is like a heat, albeit far more extreme for dragons. What you’re experiencing is closer to a rut, aeusto.”

“A rut, wait...are you telling me-?”

“I, ah, think Monsieur Neuvillette’s present condition might have triggered it, that in combination with the fact you’re a dragon now…” Sigewinne’s eyes widened, “Is that why you needed me to send a message to Merusea Village about the girls spending the weekend there?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have swollen balls yesterday,” he let out a distressed noise...probably one a bit more dragon-y than usual, “Oh, this is so bad…”

“Okay, okay, let’s calm down a moment,” Sigewinne said gently, “I’ll give you both credit for being clear headed enough to get the girls out of the house.”

She gave him a sympathetic look, “And this is your first time experiencing aeusto, it’s no wonder you’re in such discomfort.”

“I’m beginning to think Neuvi had the right idea with just sitting in a cold bath all day.”

“Not a bad one, but now we need to get you two back together. I’ll try to see about getting the girls over there a bit sooner...and maybe staying a bit longer.”

“How long will that take?”

“Few hours?”

Wriothesley actually let out an utterly pathetic whine at that, running his hand over his face.

“I’ll try to work as quickly as I can, but I make no promises. Just...try to tough it out, okay?" 

“Sure...I’ll hold out so long as my balls don’t explode.”

“Oh hush, you’ll be fine.”

“That remains to be seen, Sigewinne…”

Neuvillette awoke in his own sweat, body aching so dreadfully all he could do was curl in on himself, shivering. He vaguely recalled hearing Wriothesley and the girls leave, but nothing much beyond that. All he knew for certain now was that he was woefully alone in an empty house.

It’s for the best, he reminded himself. He was also, alas, hungry so that meant he couldn’t mope around in bed all day. Wriothesley would chide him for it later.

With a groan, he sat up and felt an unusual weight slide down off his legs, something long, heavy and anchored directly to his spine based on how it felt once it moved. He was still groggy, so he didn’t pay much mind to it as he stretched, until he felt something twitch and he finally opened his eyes. There was a tail draped over the edge of the bed. Long, elegant and adorned with smooth fins that split at the end like a whale’s tail. The scales were swirls of deep blue and aquamarine, the lighter color glowing faintly in the dim light of the bedroom and merging into the pattern that ran down his back, and seemed to have expanded to cover even more, to the point he could feel it when he reached over his shoulder.

The scales on his hands had spread all the way down to his elbows, the same elegant patterns, and there was thin webbing between his fingers and his claws has grown significantly within the hours he’d been asleep.

He scrambled out of bed, very nearly tripping over his tail in the process but was forced to stop when pain throbbed through his pelvic region. Hot, constricting, wet and he let out a weak groan as he squeezed his legs together and dragged himself to the bathroom.

There were scales adorning the sides of his face, and his eyes and rhinophores were glowing similarly to his markings, and all he could do was stare at himself in dumb shock.

This had never happened before, even when his aestus had been especially bad. Usually it was no more than a few patches in places he was familiar with, places he could hide...and he’d never had a tail before! How had he managed to sleep through that?!

His hips rocked involuntarily when he felt another throb and he bit back a groan before looking down. More scales running up his legs from where there had been patterns on his ankles, eventually merging with the ones on his hips where they followed the dip of his pelvis in towards the-.

At first, he was sure he was dreaming, or this was some weird heat induced hallucination, but instead of a penis, there was a soft, delicate looking slit that throbbed painfully when he reached down and lightly pressed his fingers against the edges on either side.

His fingers were coated with slick, so he confirmed that was, tragically, not a hallucination, but he still had no explanation for where it had come from...or where his penis had gone. For whatever reason, he poked his head out of the bathroom to make sure he hadn’t left it on the bed only to step back in and let out a weak laugh a moment later at how absurd the thought was.

...no more absurd than what was already happening, he figured.

He bit his lip and reached down between his legs, gently pressing down again and letting out a breathy whine as heat curled low in his gut. It...hurt, but it felt good, especially as he continued to massage and press it apart. His tail twisted abruptly behind him, knocking something over.

Oops…he’d...have to be careful of that…

Tentatively, he slipped two fingers in and let out a whimper at the sting of the stretch. It was raw and fresh and had never been used before...mostly because it had never been there before. Didn’t dragons sometimes have...oh what were those organs called...a cloaca? It still didn’t make any sense why he suddenly had one now …

His entire body jerked as his fingers brushed against something that was nestled inside his body. It was not an egg, he checked when he pressed down on his abdomen immediately afterwards.

He kept stroking with his fingers, rocking his hips and ignoring the mess of slick that was dripping onto the floor. It was tile, it would clean up easy enough later. Eventually, he felt the familiar head of his cock nudge against his palm and he continued to coax the length out the rest of the way, shuddering and gasping when it finally slipped free, tail thrashing again.

He rolled his eyes when he heard something else get knocked over.

With some difficulty, he managed to pull his hand away from his erection, grabbing onto the edge of the counter and squeezing his legs closed, cringing at the wet noise that followed. Oh, how was he going to explain this to Wriothesley? Not that he figured his mate would be repulsed by it or anything, probably just confused, like he had been when he himself had changed. Just thinking about Wriothesley made his lower half throb and he sucked in a sharp breath at the thought of his mate stuffing his slit full. His muscles constricted, already eager to feel him, desperate...but there was a slight problem.

Neuvillette had enough self-awareness to know that there was no way Wriothesley would be able to penetrate him without causing pain, his body was too fresh, too unaccustomed to it...and...unfortunately he really didn’t want to wait. Once Wriothesley was here…

His fingers wouldn’t remotely work, especially with the claws and the webbing, and he wasn’t desperate enough (as of right now) to use something like a brush handle so what was he supposed to do exactly?

With a fresh towel in hand, he shambled back out into the bedroom, groaning weakly and shivering. Maybe he could let Wriothesley prepare him, it would take a while and would most likely hurt but the thought of waiting once his mate came home sounded worse than ripping his claws out. After tossing the towel down onto the bed, he let out a groan as his stomach cramped and he shuddered from the fever from his aestus that seemed to have spiked since his physical changes.

The least he could do now was deal with his erection, but he still wasn’t sure about everything else...although his slit continued to remind him it was there by throbbing at odd intervals. It just made him anxious, and he kneaded absentmindedly at his stomach to ensure no eggs had magically appeared in the interim. None, empty. Well that was one thing he could be grateful for.

Neuvillette bit his knuckles. What was he going to do? Arguably, everything he was experiencing was natural as a dragon, if somewhat extreme since he’d never experienced to this extent until now. It made him feel like a freak, ugly and undesirable. Why did his anatomy have to change?

He couldn’t get pregnant, he knew that much. Putting aside his brief heats (they weren’t lengthy or extreme enough to warrant calling them aestus) where nothing happened, he’d had Sigewinne run tests to at least prove to Wriothesley it was physically impossible. Anatomical differences aside, his body just didn’t work like that. It was completely different from humans, both in hormone levels and how it produced ‘eggs’. He hadn’t been kidding when he said it only happened every one hundred years. So...at some point they could have another clutch, but not right now.

He could at least take comfort in that, he had faith that nothing about that had changed...and again, no eggs. He still found himself checking to ensure there wasn’t one tucked somewhere in his body his wasn’t aware of. The paranoia was kind of silly, now that he thought about it, but he didn’t want to take risks.

With a sigh, he slumped back against the pillows and glanced over at the closet he’d left ajar after making off with all of Wriothesley’s clothes. It was strange seeing it so empty, which was probably why he suddenly noticed a box tucked into the upper corner on the shelf over the bar for clothing.

It was a simple wooden box with a latch, completely unremarkable and potentially could have anything in it, but the location piqued his curiosity and, at least, gave him something to distract his anxious mind as he got up. Being mindful of his tail, he made his way over and carefully removed the item in question from where it had been stashed.

He didn’t recall putting anything in the closet there, maybe Wriothesley had? So what-?

He flipped the lid open and his face turned so red and got so hot he was sure his scales were about to melt off. Inside were a number of sex toys he very suddenly remembered Wriothesley bringing out back when they first started becoming intimate. They hadn’t used them much, Neuvillette wasn’t particularly interested, he always had a preference for direct contact over such things. Wriothesley respected that, so he hadn’t seen them in quite a while. He also wasn’t aware Wriothesley had actually kept them.

At least his mate had the mind to keep them in the deepest, darkest corner of their room away from their overly curious children.

Embarrassment aside, he reached in and brushed his fingers over one of the phallus shaped toys...dildos he believed they were called? Wriothesley would make fun of him so much for forgetting that…

There were several of different sizes and lengths and textures, and some of them were quite soft when he turned it over in his hand. He suddenly had an idea.

Inexperienced as he was using them, he could think of no better way to prep himself for when his mate came home, to get his body more or less adjusted and relaxed. He placed the box on the bed and took out three of the five, two of them fairly soft (one had a light bumpy texture) and one more solid and smooth and already he could feel his slit throbbing in want.

His face started burning again. Surely it wasn’t that hard to use one, right? Same logistics applied to normal penetration, he was just guiding it by his hand. The other two looked a bit much, one was dark polished wood, probably from Sumeru, with light ridges and the other was considerably bigger and had a switch on the end that he wasn’t about to press to see what it did.

What in Teyvat did Wriothesley do before they started courting?

Either way, he wasn’t about to ask later, so he made his way back to the bathroom, pausing only to drop them into the sink so he could douse them in hot water and soap. They probably were already clean and hadn’t been used in a while but you could never be too careful.

Tail swishing anxiously, he clambered into the bath tub, wincing as he knelt on the bottom before turning on the water. With a shiver, he placed the two other toys on the ledge by the wall before turning the smaller one over in his hands. It wasn’t that big, it was soft...he took a shaky breath, using his free hand to hold onto the opposite edge of the tub before carefully sliding the dildo into his slit.

A little at a time, slowly, letting his body relax around it. Thankfully, his slick made it fairly easy, but the tenderness of the opening didn’t and if he pushed in too deep or too hard abruptly, tears would bite at the corners of his eyes from the pain.

However, when the pain subsided, the pleasure was unimaginable. He rocked his hips back against the toy, thrusting it in and out slowly to avoid hurting himself. His tail thrashed again, splashing water out of the tub, but he couldn’t be bothered to care as his body slowly adjusted to the changes. It was easier to imagine Wriothesley claiming him like this now, if there was pain, it would be welcome instead of something that would force them to stop. He expected the strain, that’s what such vigorous mating resulted in regardless.

He ended up more or less sitting upright, back propped up awkwardly against the wall as he grasped his erection while erratically pushing the toy in and out of his body.

Neuvillette was...kind of glad no one was around to see the utterly embarrassing position he was in. If Wriothesley would come home, he wouldn’t have had to do something like this…

Ah…

The thought of Wriothesley coming back now and finding him like this...he’d tease him, Neuvillette could already hear it:

“Well, well, Sweetness. Did you miss me that much?”

He could imagine him, telling him not to move, not to take the toy out, not to cum before he returned with a kamera and taking a photograph despite Neuvillette’s protests. He’d wave it around, saying he’d save it for...personal use later. He’d make Neuvillette finish himself, keep the toy in while he fully brought himself to orgasm, sobbing from pleasure.

His hips stuttered as he came, spilling milky cum into the still running water splashing around at the bottom of the tub. With a heavy sigh, he slumped against the wall, sliding the toy out and dropping it into the water with a splash. He winced when his slit throbbed but less from pain and more from the fact it was presently empty.

Before doing anything else, he quickly rinsed his hands off in the stream and then splashed it on his face, drawing in a few deep breaths. At this rate, he was going to self-immolate. Where was Wriothesley? Was it really taking him that long for Sigewinne to pass a message along and get an answer? His tail flicked in annoyance.

With a shaky hand, he grabbed the next dildo, one that was slightly larger than the last. Might as well keep himself busy until then…

He could only hope Wriothesley was doing better than he was…

Wriothesley was not doing any better than Neuvillette presently was.

After canceling all of his meetings for the day, he’d resigned himself to being slumped over his desk, legs spread and an icepack shoved between them in some vain attempt to make the ache in his nuts stop.

He’d jacked off two more times but that did absolutely nothing to reduce the swelling. It did cause a tiny bump to form near the base, but it went away fairly quickly so he just ignored it.

He was so uncomfortable that even laying down on the couch didn’t help. Everything put pressure on exactly the spot he didn't want pressure to be no matter what he did, and laying on his stomach just made it feel like he had rocks pressing down there. This was torture. Was this how Neuvillette felt every time he had aestus prior to them mating?

Aestuo, a rut...oh this was so not fair, but also not really a surprise. He was a dragon after all, it only made sense that he’d be influenced by Neuvillette’s aestus, the most extreme form of heat he could be in. Everything prior to that over the last two years had been minor compared to that. Or maybe he had been influenced and just hadn’t noticed until now.

Either way, it was insanely frustrating. He wished he could at least get some work done instead of literally thinking with his dick but he couldn’t keep a professional, coherent thought going in his head for longer than a full sentence...and one only composed of two syllable words.

“Oh Your Grace~,” a familiar voice called.

He managed to lift his head in time for Sigewinne to appear at the top of the steps, beaming, “I have good news for you!”

“You’re going to neuter me?”

“What? No!” Sigewinne scowled, “One of the Melusines got in touch with me! They’re going to pick up the girls immediately after school and take them home to get their things, they’ve been promised a fun, adventure filled vacation for the week!”

Wriothesley sat up so fast he made himself dizzy, “That means-!”

“The house will be yours...after the girls pick up their belongings,” she smiled, “And don’t worry, Sedene’s stopping by on her break to let Monsieur Neuvillette know so there aren’t any embarrassing incidents.”

He slumped back in his chair, running his hand over his face as he groaned in relief, “Sigewinne, you are a goddess.”

“Oh, you flatter me, Your Grace,” she said in mock bashfulness before grinning, “Now, get going, Monsieur Neuvillette has waited for his fiance’ for long enough.”

Wriothesley got to his feet, “I owe you big time for this.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

He went to go around his desk, stumbled awkwardly and came to a stop, groaning as he leaned over and banged his fist against the surface, “I’ll get going...as fast I...can.”

“Don’t strain yourself, Your Grace. You might pull something before you have a chance to even get into bed.”

With a half-hearted glare and a sigh, he straightened back up and limped over to the stairs, “Pray for my stamina, Sigewinne. Hopefully I’ll have enough to get home and deal with Neuvillette’s aestus today.”

“Your stamina is fine, I did your physical, remember?”

“Vividly.”

“Yes, so shoo. I’ll take care of everything until you and your mate settle down.”

He flushed and cringed, “Please don’t make it sound like we’re a pair of wild dogs…”

“Shoo.”