Alzu gets drunk. And chatty. No warnings for anything other than drunkenness and Alzu being slightly lewd. 

“Yer tasty.”

Almul was reasonably certain that they were, in fact, not
tasty. Alzu’s approval was probably at least mostly due to the fact that he was
drunk. Very drunk, evidently, and gnawing lightly on Almul’s helm. Which was
confusing, and kind of hot and damp, but not really objectionable. Almost cute,
actually, and-

Almul squeaked lightly as Alzu licked at their face, then
sighed and leaned away slightly, staring up at their lap full of Lyca. Okay,
definitely cute. But- maybe not good for public? Almul hadn’t seen Alzu drunk
before, they weren’t certain if he was going to get loud or otherwise
troublesome, so it was probably a good plan to leave. Good thing Alzu was
already all gathered up- all that Almul had to do was wrap their arms more
securely around him, supporting his butt (which was made difficult by that
rapidly wagging tail) and holding his lithe frame close so he couldn’t fall
off. Alzu was obliging enough, content to lean his head over Almul’s shoulder
and nibble on various parts of his back, so all Almul had to do was start
walking. The benefits of having paid for one’s alcohol in advance.

Once outside the bar, Almul shifted Alzu up a bit higher,
slinging him over one shoulder for easier carrying, and warbled in complaint
when Alzu started to gnaw on their cape. Not that it hurt, they just didn’t
like the tugging sensation very much, and they could do without drool inside
the material. Or drool anywhere, but at least on the outside of them it was
easy to clean off.

Alzu gnawed lightly at various parts of Almul for most of
the walk, chewing on their shoulder for the most part, and occasionally paused
the chewing to aim a saucy grin at anyone who caught his attention. Also things
like “hey, gorgeous, you’n’me’n that hot stuff next t’ ya” now and then, most
of which was ignored. Someone did take
the opportunity to smack Alzu’s rear as they walked by, but Almul recognized
them as someone Alzu had played with before, so they just chirped in response.
That wasn’t a threat- not with someone who knew that Alzu enjoyed that sort of
thing. Which he clearly did, as his response to the smack was an even wider
grin and a short bark.

Almul didn’t stop for interactions, though, they wanted to
get to someplace quiet. Just in case Alzu got feisty in one way or another.
Because- what was Alzu going to do? Flirt with everyone more thoroughly and
then seduce someone into bed? Alzu didn’t like when drunk people were being hit
on, and Almul had some understanding of why, so… probably shouldn’t let Alzu
hit on people further than comments. And, hm- drunk people lost their
inhibitions, right? What if Alzu decided to start grinding on Almul? Because
Almul wouldn’t really mind that, in fact it would probably be enjoyable, but it
didn’t seem appropriate for anywhere in public.

Once they were in private, that changed. A quiet patch of woodland,
out of easy earshot of everyone- this would work. Chirruping softly, Almul set
Alzu down and sat down next to him, waiting to see what would happen- and was
immediately pounced on again.

Yep, they’d expected this. All right, fine by them, might be
interest-

No grinding? Also interesting, though a different kind. What
was Alzu up to, then, if not-

Puzzled, Almul wriggled until they got comfortable on their
back, chirping occasionally in gentle protest if Alzu stepped too hard on any
particular spot. So… what was he up to?

Alzu shifted around for a minute or two, trying to get
comfortable, then flopped gently against Almul’s side and propped himself up
enough to grin down at the other. “Yer cute. Real cute, know that? Lookit-
cutie. Cutie li’l. Yeeeah- cute. Lemme nuzz’l.” he muttered, then attempted to
nuzzle at Almul’s face. Since Almul had more empty space than face at the
moment, it didn’t do much- he just ended up with part of his face inside Almul’s
helm, which earned a pouty whine and a sulky expression. Which was rather hard
for Almul to see until they pushed Alzu’s face away.

Cute?

Almul murred softly, intrigued, but dismissed the comment.
Alzu was drunk, after all, and drunk people said silly things. And they really
had no complaints about their appearance, but they weren’t cute. You couldn’t be cute without a face. Also, they were made of metal and fire, so… not cute, no.

Then again, Alzu had called a dragon cute, so… his standards
were different. All the same, Almul shook their helm slightly and chuckled, a
visible signal of their dismissal. Nope.

“Yeeeah. Cute cute. An’ yer a smart- learnin’ stuff all
good. An’ a strong, yeah- an’ real brave. If I were you, I’d’a wann’ move t’
where there ain’t any humans ever. You? Yer walkin’ ‘roun’ wi’ all th’ humans.
Real good, yeah- brave. A good’n.” Alzu purred, tail waving, and kneaded his
hands firmly on Almul’s frame as he snuggled into the other’s shoulder. “Yeah…
warm. Good’n. Good, good.”

Doing his level best to hug Almul despite them being on the
floor, Alzu squirmed happily and pushed his face into Almul’s frame, gradually
settling against them until he could get comfortable lying still. “How of’n’m I
gonn’ have t’ say tha’? I wan’ y’ t’ hear.”

Oh, well- they weren’t so sure about all that. The first
couple of points, maybe, but- brave? No, that was silly. They kept having nightmares, for goodness’ sake, had
still barely gotten over that happening often. Yeah, definitely drunk talk. It…
felt nice, though, even if… a lot of it might not really be true. Heh.

Okay, they could… they could enjoy this, as much as they
would get of it, right? No harm. Just… talk, that was all. Just… talk.

Alzu must have noticed their disbelief, though, because he
grumbled softly before bapping Almul lightly in the helm with one hand. “Hey.
Yer a good’n. Brave’n good. Shoosh’n, you. Shoosh. You a good. An’ I got no- no
words, bu’ you a good. Y’ hear’n?
Yeah.”

Clumsily attempting to gather Almul’s entire frame into his
arms, Alzu snuggled up close and purred, nuzzling into their throat as much as
he could with such a long snout. “Good’n. You’s a good, Almul. Yah. Good’n.
Lookit- I luv ya, hear? Yeah- luv ya. Sweet li’l. All cudd’l.”

…what? Yeah, okay, Alzu was- was very drunk, and-

And still talking, not giving Almul any time to think, to
dismiss anything-

“Good’n warm, a li’l sweet’n. I gotcha. Good’n, luv ya. An’
I- lookit, ah’m drunk. So you- you ‘mind me, an’ then ‘ll tell y’ again, yeah?”
Alzu murred, then opened his mouth and fit it lightly around Almul’s throat before
slowly moving up to grip their helm. Shaking his head slowly back and forth, he
rocked Almul’s helm in a gentle, affectionate, very drooly gesture, then
finally let go and settled again. “Good ‘un.”

Oh.

Almul’s hands skittered uncertainly across Alzu’s back, then
they wrapped their arms around him and hugged, tight, staring up at-

Okay, so he was drunk, but he sounded sincere. Looked it, too. Ears up, eyes wide, tail waving, not
giving any sign that he was lying or- or anything.

Goodness.

Alzu meant that. All of it.

What… what were they supposed to do with that?

Almul had… absolutely no idea. Less than no idea. So they
just… didn’t do anything, not really, other than staring at Alzu. For… probably
two minutes, at least, during which time he got comfy and started to doze off.

Eventually, Almul raised one hand and stroked down Alzu’s
head, then curled fully into him and snuggled into his throat. Chirping quiet
sounds, they stroked his back and sides, as much as they could reach, trying to
figure out the odd fluttering in their chest that was not coming from any part of them, then…

They couldn’t speak. Never had been able to, as far as they
knew. But… they could try some other things.

They didn’t know exactly where Alzu’s heart was, but they
put their hand firmly over what was probably about the right spot, squeezing
gently at the thick fur there, and crooned the most affectionate sound they
could manage with a throat made of metal shards.

I think I love you
too.