The pervasive beat of Wild Greg's had become nothing more than a backdrop for Yelz, her tail twitching in time to the angry rhythm pounding through the floor beneath her office chair. Several 'Statistics for Dummies' lay beneath her bare pink paws, a pair of sandals discarded by her desk, so that she could sit normally without the pull of gravity dragging on her legs for hours on end while she mindlessly tacked away at the ancient keyboard in her broom close- office. It was another day, another mass log of numbers, corrections to make, and reports to file to Tracey. Only… Tracey wasn't here today, off with the sniffles or some such.

  It wasn't that Yelz hated the mind-numbing minutiae, only that she expected the trickle of responsibility to have started by now. As it was, Tracey was the one who did the real work, all the meaningful tasks relegated to her, while Yelz caught the busy work seen as a distraction. Not that the kobold didn't expect her stay at Wild Greg's to start in just such a way… but she'd have appreciated moving up the ladder a tad bit faster. Greg wasn't the kind of boss to move his employees up for 'doing what they were supposed to', however. No, Yelz would need to figure out a way to prove her worth, catch something of substantial profit or… or something. That is… if Tracey didn't take credit for it…

  The pink reptile shook her head, her big ears flopping, as she dashed the thought away. Of all the staff within the infamous nightclub, Tracey was by far the kindest. Pack instincts told her to lean on the older woman, yet everyone's warnings about Wild Gregs stayed Yelz's trust in the human. This place… it was the kind of fetid pit where you watched each other's backs until it was time to watch your own. Coworkers were different from friends. When the chips were down, and the convenience of being nice faded, they'd look out for themselves.

  Hers'Skie's words as they drifted aimlessly in the pool had wriggled about in the kobold's head all day, her claws picking away at her keyboard as Wild Greg's shone in a new light. The lens the dragon had mentioned, that oily shattered glass, pulled into perspective just how… predatory the nightclub was. Below her, kobolds and women and even a gryphon and dragon displayed themselves like trophies, normally so far outside the league of the fetid trash that called themselves regulars. Here, they could gawk and dance and… buy… beauty that would normally scorch them if they even so much as tried.

  Which left her above it all, doing her best to ignore the less-than-wholesome festivities below while her mind melted away at the ease of her tasks. Not that Yelz was complaining about easy money… Yawning, the pink kobold stretched until her little maw split in a screech that would have definitely had Tracey rushing over to see if she'd stabbed herself with the stapler. Alas, she was alone today, so she could holler to her heart's content.

  "It's break time." Her declaration went unheard as she hopped down to the floor, clad in nothing but a t-shirt and jean shorts. The sandals remained in the corner of the room as she padded out of her 'office' to the balcony above the roiling crowd below, several guards nodding at her from afar as the lizard took her daily position.

  Unlike usual, the DJ had chosen an upbeat and bouncy track today as opposed to the usual grinding noise that forced his fans together in heated, gyrating attempts at dancing. Now this was something Yelz was more attuned to, bubbly and hyper little tunes that got tails wagging and paws stamping! At first, it was only her ears, one snapping to and fro to the beat before being joined by its brethren. It was inevitable to be faced with such funky beats and fall victim to their siren song. Yelz found her tail betraying her next, followed by her torso bobbing back and forth to the fun music. Soon, the kobold was grooving without a care, letting her curves carry her as she twirled her hips and let the weight of her paws spin her around.

  Of course, it wouldn't be kobold dancing without a little posturing. Every other sway would accentuate her tail or back, or perhaps her legs. Sensuality was just how kobolds were before they found a life mate. Disputes were solved with it, friendships bolstered with it, deals made with it… It was simply their culture. There was an underlying kindness to kobold promiscuity, a safety and warmth to the connections made. Nothing like the angry, self-serving use that happened down below. There was nothing happy about using someone else to masturbate. It made Yelz's scales crawl with disdain… still, right now? Every spin and twirl and shuffle helped banish away that little niggling voice that whispered danger was all about her.

  It wasn't until she heard the interested hum behind her that she finally noticed Greg himself had snuck up to the balcony…

  "Good moves, sexy an' showy. Good tail length too. There's some sickos that would go kookoo for those paws too… eehhh… decent muzzle structure… but those ears make up for it."

  "A-Ah… thank you… sir?" Yelz's jubilant dance fell to a nervous trot, her tail continuing to undulate to the beat as Greg rubbed his chin… staring…

  "Ya know, yous could be a lot more profitable down on the floor. Double pay, keep ya tips when some freak purchases ya ass for a booth. Free testing and condoms." Dread filled the kobold like a spear of ice, images of her own scales clad in panties while she danced dead eyed and mindless for men and women who wanted nothing more than to feel her for what she was… getting dragged into one of the private booths to be used like a toy… the money… the girls on the first floor said it was pretty good but…

  Bile rose in her throat… the objectification… the heartless sex… displaying her tail like some toy… The dead eyes on the kobolds and gryphons and dragoness below... such majestic and powerful and gorgeous creatures reduced to... things...

  "I… n-no thank you, sir," Yelz shook her head, pupils drawn to pinpricks. "I'm… happy where I am." Greg simply scoffed, rolling his eyes before turning on his heel.

  "No ya ai'n't. Ya just don't wanna get fucked for money. No mind for business in these bitches, for fucks sake…" Yelz didn't have the courage to correct him, to defend her self-respect… she'd much rather take the insults and let the man walk away, gone all the quicker. It was the exact nightmare she'd been dreading. Greg didn't want to move her up in her position, he wanted her down on the floor where she could make him more money flexing what everyone else saw as just another slutty kobold… Tears pricked at her eyes, hot and angry, as she retreated back to her claustrophobic office, locking the door before hiding beneath her desk with the books and dust.

  Just another sex pest kobold, that was why she had been hired. Sure, in the interim, her claws could crunch numbers, but Greg's goal was to put her on the floor like the rest of the girls. Sinking dread at the realization that she wasn't getting that raise brought her paws to her head. If she asked, he'd just offer a spot on the first floor again, but… but she needed that money. Savings were getting tighter, paychecks drying up quickly every time they came in. There was no chance to bolster her accounts… she was stuck… stuck where she was unless she… she brought in more.

  "I-I'm not dancing… not down there." Yelz wiped her moist nose with a scaly wrist. It was… gross, she knew why she was hired- she knew. Short stature, vibrant scales, thick tail base, large ears… Now that Greg also knew she could dance, he'd push her every chance he could down onto the first floor and just replace her up here. Wet eyes cast about the small office in a new light… no wonder it was nowhere near as furnished as Tracey's. It wasn't meant for long-term use… just to pull the heat off the real accountant for a while before convincing whatever poor girl that money could be made elsewhere.

  It made sense, in a predatory way. Girls weren't exactly lining up at the door to wiggle their ass at strangers, especially not in a place with such a terrible reputation. Greg needed little pitfalls and spider webs to trick and trap new hires, traps such as crap pay with the promise of a raise later… only he didn't tell anyone how he was going to offer that raise.

  "Not gonna dance…" Yelz pulled herself back into the squeaky chair with a sniffle, her tail no longer bobbing to the beat while she angrily went over last week's alcohol expenses. Claws were beginning to scratch away at the old paint covering the keys. Yelz's eyes squinted as she tried to will them dry. She felt… used.

  Tricked…

  Why was this happening to her? She was doing everything right. She budgeted every paycheck, she avoided frivolous spending, meal preps cut down food costs, she leaned on the singular included apartment subscription for shows… or snuck across the parking lot to watch oldies with Hers'Skie… Not to mention her book of coupons and reliance on Johnna's chicken-on-a-stick for dinner more nights than one… So many ways to pad her purse, and still she struggled… and now this? Why? What did she do wrong? What more could she do? Did she… pick up a second job? Where? With what time?

  "Ugghhh… matriarch… I need you..." Yelz pulled at her eyes with trembling pink paws, her chest heaving before she remembered the breathing exercises she'd found in a book under her bed. Innnnn…. hold it…. one… two… three… four… and oooouuuttt…. repeat… It didn't really help, but at least she was doing something instead of falling down the mental spiral at mach speed. Sometimes, a soft landing was the best outcome. "What do I do?"

  Keep working, obviously. The clock was still ticking on office hours… so for now- right now, it would be best to focus on the numbers in front of her. Maybe the best plan was the same plan? To make herself more valuable as an accountant and assistant to Tracey than as a whore. The word made her flinch… that wasn't fair to the girls downstairs. Especially not that gorgeous gryphon or regal dragoness. She hadn't been brave enough to try and talk to either of them; they were all a tough sort down there, and the kobold dancers gravitated around the dragon like bees to honey. She didn't blame them; it was probably the best way to stay safe. No, she'd been singularly focused every night on getting to her car and burning rubber far and fast back home, before the hungry eyes in the parking lot noticed the security guard Greg sent with her didn't stay to see if her car started anymore.

  Ugh… the car. Yet another expense that loomed over her scaly neck like a guillotine. Things were going fine for now. The moment that old clunker needed repairs, though… it would put her in the red unless… unless Andrew…

  Charity.

  The word filled her shame, though the looming need of it made Yelz grind her little fangs. After her date- fun outing with Johnna, she'd ask Andrew if he could show her how to fix it herself. A… a fuel pump? Is that what he'd said was going out? Cars were so big and complicated, just like everything else… why did the world have to be more than three feet tall? Anti-kobold, it was!

  Hours ticked by slowly, more numbers scrolling by her tired eyes until the alarm dinged to remind her it was time to jet. The ever-present thump of bass had ebbed away, replaced first by country, then silence after the nightly fights between ravers and line dancers had been broken up. Cautiously, Yelz peeked from her office to join whichever guard had gotten 'kobold duty' and followed the burly human out to the parking lot. She didn't know this one, a tall but slender man with pale skin.

  "Thank you," Her mumble went unanswered aside from a grunt as her sandals skittered on the asphalt behind him, eyes already on her tail as she leapt into her banged-up sedan. Gloriously, the vehicle rumbled to life at only the first turn of the key. Yelz didn't even look back as she sped away, leaving the lecherous looks behind her with a relieved sigh. Heavy paws pushed her tortured car harder than usual, the kobold desperate to put as much distance between her and the looming presence of Greg, who nipped at her neck with phantom fangs, yellow and greedy and fetid.

  Yelz tried to banish the cold creep of anxiety, to ignore the niggling worry over money and food and that… that look Greg had pierced her with… that hungry, needy gaze… Similar to the patrons on the dance floor but… more. An ashy, vile look one gave a toy they planned to break. The memory sent shivers down Yelz's spine, her paw pressing further and further on the pedal, her eyes squeezed shut as the speedometer climbed. RPMs roared, first into the yellow, then the red, only the wail of an alarm pulling the terrified reptile from her terror.

  "Huh? Oh, crap! No no no no!" Too late, Yelz eased off the gas pedal just as the check engine light blazed to life, a tentative press upon the accelerator yielding nothing. "No…" Tears she'd fought so hard to suppress finally spilled down Yelz's scaly cheeks… her paws pulling the broken Acura off the road onto the shoulder.

  She didn't engage the emergency lights…

  Didn't pull out her phone…

  "Frick, Yelz… so scared you go and break one of the last things the Warren bought you, huh? Pathetic…"

  Despair pulled the kobold's head into her arms as she squeezed her legs tight, knees pressed to her chest… She wasn't crying… this was just… a setback on the adventure… heroines never had everything go right… right? Yeah… conflict had to happen for the story to be fun… and entertaining… and…

  A choked sob filled the cabin as Yelz wondered how much it would cost to fix the car… and where she'd get the money… of course, Greg's looming grin told her she knew exactly where she could get the money. The heat indicator was so high... the gauge wasn't moving down... not quickly enough to notice at any rate.

  "No nooo no no… I said I wouldn't be his whore and I won't… I won't…" Another sob was interrupted by a hollow pang in her gut, hunger gnawing and chewing on nothing in her empty stomach. "And I'm hungry… please… please stop making things happen." Her plea was answered by no one. "I can only take so much… frick… stop... stop... please, I just need a break. Just a few days where stuff goes right- or at least nothing goes wrong... p-please..."

  Yelz… hated this. Hated how things always seemed to go wrong all at once… hated how she didn't even know where to start… hated how the thought of trying to turn the car back on just seemed so… exhausting. She couldn't admit it… couldn't give in- give up… but… she could go to sleep right here, in the growing gloom of the driver's seat.

  "I want my matriarch…"

  The admission… hurt. If Yelz had a mother, it would be her. Her egg had come from another warren, one whose population was too large and whose mother was willing to give her up. The matriarch had taken her in, placed herself in that role. Her wisdom… her words… her advice… they had been mainstays in the tumultuous hurricane of life. No matter how bad things got, the matriarch would adjust her perspective, focus her mind… make things… better.

  Safer…

  Quieter…

  Now there was no wisdom or comfort or even the sensation of the matriarch's arms around shoulders… there was only Yelz…

  And Yelz didn't want to admit that… she might not be good enough…

  CLANG

  "AAAAAAH! HAHAHAAAA-AAAAAAH!" An empty soda can flew to the floorboards, discarded, as Yelz wriggled from the seatbelt and into the backseat, covering her head with the loyal emergency blanket. Fear cascaded through her shivering scales, eyes peering into the dark. No no, the parking lot goons had caught up to her! Yes, that was it, they'd sabotaged her car! Now she was dead meat, captured to be used and passed around by filthy, ugly strange-

  "Yelz? Yes. Scared. Yes. Funny, if not so sad." Yelz's ears perked, relief and euphoria flooding her terror-addled heart as the beaked face of Tolly peered down from above, the gryphon looking through the windshield from the sedan's roof. "Tolly feel bad now. Yes. Car not moving. Broke? Yes."

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "Tolly! You scared the scales off me!" Ego bruised, Yelz balled up a scrap of paper, pitching the device of her revenge at the gryphon's smug features. Only… for the paper ball to bounce harmlessly off the inside of the windshield. Cheeks puffed, paws balled, tail flagged, Yelz growled as best she could as her muzzle heated in humiliation. "Toolllyyyy!"

  "Yelz having bad day. Yes." The chortling chirp, a strange gryhponic laugh, twinkled from the bird as she… smiled. It was a small thing, only the edges of her lips where her beak met her face turning up in mirth. "Yelz need lift? Yes."

  "Ugh…" The wind that had so ardently blown the kobold's emotional sails died, tears returning to her eyes as she reached for her newest friend. "T-Tolly…"

  "Oh." The avian bark was quiet, simple… laced with realization. With a grace Yelz couldn't dream of matching, Tolly climbed into the Acura through the open driver's side window, quickly pressing her feathery chest to the kobold's face. Strong talons wrapped around her, Yelz melting into the embrace like butter on steak.

  "Tolly… ugh, my day was so horrible."

  "Tell Tolly? Yes. We alone, no other cars. Yes."

  "Yes… hng…" It took several moments before Yelz could muster her voice, simply enjoying the warmth of the gryphon's forelegs, before recalling her less-than-stellar experiences at Wild Greg's. The lack of Tracey, her usual buffer against the club's horrors, being caught by Greg himself, the loaded offer to be nothing more than a living sex toy for drunkards and strangers in exchange for money… just eye candy for people who didn't care about her… how scared she'd been. Babbling, Yelz let the day's worries tumble forth; how she stressed over money and the prospect of promotion looked slim, how hungry she was… how she didn't… didn't… "I don't… I don't know if I can…" She sobbed, burying her muzzle in the bird's warm plummage.

  "Cha tk'tk'tk…" Yelz paused as Tolly… chirped… or perhaps smacked her beak together. "Yelz had bad day. Not end of the line. Can do this. Yelz very smart. Yes."

  "But I don't… I'm trying everything, I'm doing so many things right and it's still going to crap."

  "Yes. Strong wings still struggle to carry far with no wind. Yes." Yelz looked up into the bird's… surprisingly expressive eyes… There was a wisdom there, sharp and quick. Hers'Skie's warning that Tolly was far smarter than most gave her credit for roared in Yelz's memory. "Yelz hungry. Yes. Need food, shouldn't think on empty stomach. Yes." A whimper fell from the kobold as the warm embrace broke, Tolly climbing back out to the road with a lowered rear leg. "Come. Yes."

  "A-ah? Come… you mean… climb on your back? T-Tolly, I can-"

  "Climb. Tolly Airlines, boarding now. Yes. We go home? Yes."

  Another sniffle, more tears… this time grateful, happy even.

  Home… yes… Patricia's Palace was home.

  "Yes. Let's go home." Yelz made sure to engage the car's electronics just long enough to roll up the windows and lock the vehicle before tentatively placing a paw on Tolly's back ankle, the leg acting as a sort of ramp to the gryphon's back. Nervous, Yelz wriggled her rear between her friend's shoulder blades, trying to ignore how warm the bird was beneath her. It took every ounce of willpower not to lean down and bury her muzzle in the gorgeous gryphon's feathers and inhale… "Oh my gosh… you're so pretty- I mean! In a not creepy sort of way- please don't leave me out here. Oh crap… f-forget I said anything…"

  "Tk'tk'tk… Tolly understands." The gryphon looked over her shoulder, the edges of her mouth perked in a smile. "Tolly knows she is hotter than chili."

  "Hnk! Agh! Um!" Thankfully, the wind stole Yelz's non-answer, cool night air rushing by her face as Tolly took off like an arrow. Paws gripped the gryphon's feathers as Yelz stared wide-eyed at the looming horizon, stars twinkling their cosmic dance far above her ears flapping in the breeze. Breath came with difficulty, the kobold enraptured by the approaching clouds and landscape below… what used to be familiar roads and forests now appeared like the surface of a map, all lines and open rural planes. "Hoooh! Oh my Gods… by the first scale… It's so… amazing! Oh!"

  Slowly, like cold molasses, the frustration eating at Yelz's heart ebbed away into a dull background throb. The shame that she should feel as she nestled down into the warm feathers of Tolly's back never came, her eyes wide as the gryphon continued to ascend towards the distant clouds. Moonlight washed over the pair, glinting off the preened feathers and luscious fur, turning Tolly into a nighttime angel, taking her place among the stars. Yelz felt so… secluded up here… private and safe… the lights of Wild Greg's visible so far behind them.

  "Tell Tolly. Yes. Tell Tolly why Yelz sad. More to it than work." The bird's tone brokered no argument, her wings flapping with firm strokes that carried them ever higher. Yelz was glad she could hide her blush in the warm feathers beneath her… Tolly smelled like… lavender and campfires…

  "I um… it's just… its been hard, is all…" So… she did… she told Tolly everything, every little detail. Once the flood gates opened, once she found she had a listening ear… Yelz just couldn't stop. The kobold poured her woes out, there so high above the ground, surrounded by stars and blissful open air. Slowly, she found herself sitting up high, enjoying the cool night air. She even risked letting go with one paw to pretend she was flying. "Us kobolds... the warren is everything so... so being sent away... it hurts so much but... I guess the matriarch thinks I'm one of the only ones who could handle it? I miss them so much."

  It was so… free up here.

  "Chk'tk'tk…" Tolly clacked her beak, her talons squeezing at nothing. "Rough break. Yes. Evil man, that Greg, not good at all. No." Silence embraced the pair, one Yelz was unable to break. It felt… wrong… like she'd be interrupting something important. Eventually, her nervous mind won over. "Warren family. Leaving nest hard. Kobolds cogs in scaly machine. Yelz spinning now, haven't found new warren, new family." Yelz blushed harder as she was read like an open book, her mind reeling at what to say. Instead... she changed the subject as she continued to bury her nose in the gryphon's feathers.

  "Um… Tolly… so, what is it you do?"

  "Kraw. Tolly meteorologist. Yes. Feel the air- the winds. Computer in apartment does the rest. Early spot on news, five o'clock. Yes. Tolly out feeling air when see Yelz. Damsel in distress. Yes."

  "'m not a damsel…" Once again, Yelz felt herself burying her burning face in Tolly's back feathers. "Um… we're really high…" A shiver passed through the bird, as if she were waiting for just this moment.

  "Apologies. Yes. Hold on tight. Yes." Yelz could hear the shit eating grin on the gryphon's face just as she wrapped her arms as far around her neck as they would go.

  "No no no, Tolly no- aaaaaaAAAAHHHHHHHH" Terror rose in Yelz's throat as her ride dipped, diving headlong through the sky and clouds like a midnight rocket, her tail lashing behind her as cold wind zipped by her flapping ears. "TOLLLLYYYYYY!" Her only response was the chirping chortle as the gryphon began to spin, Yelz's world a blur of speed and adrenaline and shouting that was lost to the skies. Down, down, down they went, the ground rushing up to meet them as Tolly finally leveled out, grinning as she felt the lizard shiver on her back.

  "Yelz not pee on Tolly, yes? Yes. Good."

  "You're an evil sky chicken!" Yelz lightly beat her little pink paw on the gryphon's shoulder, wincing at the steel-hard muscle hidden beneath the feathers. "You're mean… scaring me twice today."

  "Yelz cute when scared. Yes." Tolly nodded at this cosmic truth, the wisdom of her ancestors guiding her in this late-night flight.

  "I'm not cute, either…" Ears flopping limply back, scales heating on her muzzle, legs squeezing the bird beneath her…

  "Tolly make up. Tolly offer side-job, yes? Yes. Yelz accept."

  "Hey, wait! A… a side job? Yes! I mean… what is it?" Yelz felt her tail wag behind her. A side job is exactly what she needed!

  "To help Yelz stay afloat. Very easy, Yelz not worry about it."

  "I am immediately worried." Carefully leaning, the kobold tried to glare at the grinning gryphon's face. "That worries me right away."

  "It eeeaaassyyy… Tolly take you there now. Have to go to work soon, anyway. It very easy and in apartment. Yes. Yelz agree. She will. She does. Yes."

  "Yelz doesn't even know what Tolly talking about!" The kobold squeaked, gripping her friend's neck as they descended once more, this time at a reasonable speed, towards Patricia's Palace. "Tolly, come ooonnnn!" Yelz hated whining… it just happened sometimes… Infuriating as the descent was, her ride's silence was even worse. Soft paws landed upon asphalt just outside Tolly's apartment, Yelz quickly dismounting for the surety of hard ground once more.

  "Tolly tell Andrew to get Yelz's car. Yes. Come see job." Yelz tried to follow on shaking legs, her tail dragging.

  "T-That would be really helpful, I've no money for a tow. Tolly please! Just tell me what job you need!" Tolly's apartment was dark and smelled… warm… just like the gryphon did, but much more saturated. Trepidation nearly stayed the kobold's paws, but… trust in her new friend won out, her tail wrapped around a leg as she entered the gloom. "T-Tolly…. wha-…. oh my goodness- aaaaawwwww!" Fear gave way to heart-melting euphoria as four knee-high gryphon chicks, each one the same luscious color as Tolly, peeked their heads from a doorway down the hall.

  The layout was much the same as Yelz's home, with a small corridor that led to an additional room beyond the master bed, one that was currently enduring a stampede of gryphon babies. Each one launched themselves at Tolly's feathery chest, the older bird cooing in a way only a mother could, warm and welcoming. Yelz couldn't help herself- paws to her muzzle, eyes wide and shining, knees buckling under the weight of it… so cute.

  "These Tolly's. Yes."

  "Mum. Yes."

  "Mudder!"

  "Mom home. Yes."

  "Mmmumbler…"

  Tolly bent her neck to nuzzle each of the young gryphons, each one smaller than the last, before shooing them… right at Yelz… with her beak. The kobold had only a moment to realize the danger she was in before four young and excitable birds tackled her to the carpet.

  "Kobl'!"

  "Limzer. Yes."

  "Mom bring friend. Yes."

  "Warm."

  "T-Tolly! Heeeelp!" Yelz… didn't quite fight the clutch, a grin crawling across her face as she play-struggled for her freedom. A freedom the chicks denied, each sniffing and pawing at the newcomer into their den- this new creature. Surrender wasn't something Yelz was unfamiliar with, but these bundles of joy? Paw pads met feathered heads as she pet each one, the biggest a fluffy male that stayed glued to the youngest, a timid female. The other two were identical in every fashion aside from their crests, one had a plume just like her mother while the other didn't, a boy then.

  "Biggest is Kolkakik, smallest is Wenakik, twins are Holkakik and Elkakik. Yes. My babies."

  "They're beautiful, awww no don't eat the kobold, hahahaha!" Yelz squeezed her eyes shut as four beaks pressed to her face, small puffs of air blasting her scales as she was sniffed. Finding this new addition worthy, the quartet settled in place on Yelz's chest in the living room, her limbs askew from the ballistic tackle. Not that she was fighting to get away anymore…

  "This job Tolly wants Yelz for. Yes. Chick-sitting Tolly's babies. Yes." Tolly nodded, as if the arrangement was already decided. "Off, back to room." She chirped, preening as the chicks obeyed with trills and calls Yelz couldn't understand. Slowly, the kobold rose on shaking legs, her face still flushed from the massive dopamine rush that was getting charged by gryphon babies. "Tolly show how. Yes."

  "H-Hey, wait! I didn't…" Tolly turned, head tilted… "R… right… uh, let's get started!" It wasn't that she didn't know how to care for children; she'd done it once when the warren had its last hatchling… only, she didn't know how to care for gryphons. Tolly was still a mystery, her strange way of speech still throwing the kobold for a loop more often than not. Four of them at once? Yelz could feel the headache as she followed the older bird into the kitchen, the sound of play and laughter wafting down the hall from the kids' room.

  "Youngest three still drink milk. Tolly keeps in here, microwave for ten seconds or warm on stove. Yes." Clinking glass sparkled in Yelz's ears as she stared into the fully stocked refrigerator with open envy, her empty stomach clenching on a meal of hopes and dreams.

  "Milk?" Her paw wrapped around one cool glass, the white liquid inside looked fresh! "Ooh, did you buy it from Johnna's? Wait… why transfer it from a jug into glass…" A blush burst across her muzzle as she quickly replaced the bottle, her pinprick pupils looking up at Tolly's bemused beak.

  "Yelz not like milk?"

  "Yelz not like Tolly's milk!"

  "Has Yelz tried Tolly's milk?"

  "T-Tollyyyyy!" The exclamation was less a shout and more a squeak, earning the kobold another of those strange gryphonic chuckles. The damn blush was back… Yelz felt so… deliciously vulnerable under Tolly's predatory eyes, her warm smile… those smooth feathers… No! Her kids were in the room over! Control… yes… and… Yelz clutched at her stomach as it growled, loud and demanding.

  "Yelz hungry at the thought of Tolly's milk? Too bad it's for chicks. Yes. Tolly cook… Tolly cook chicken."

  "Oh, I shouldn't impo-"

  "Yelz stay. Eat. Yes. Had bad day, end it with friend. Yes."

  Yelz blinked, the wind ripped from her sails, and denial weak on her tongue. It felt like… home… she had endured a pretty crap day- she should end it with friends. The kobold found it difficult to push back the happy tears collecting at the corner of her eyes, she was a grown lizard after all… but when Tolly prepped the kitchen at a speed only a mother of four could hope to possess, she finally rose from her stupor.

  "Lemme help! I can uh… microwave stuff."

  "Kraw. Tolly good at this. Like cooking. Yes." Several plaps of meat on the cutting board brought her children out of hiding, their wide and hungry eyes gazing from their room's doorway… especially the oldest… wait, weren't most too young for solid food-

  Yelz found her world grinding to a halt as Tolly ate half the raw chicken in three, wet slurps, her claw quickly trimming the fat from the remaining strips.

  "Ah… T-Tolly?" Yelz raised a concerned finger, the claw tip dulled from hours at a keyboard.

  "Dinner cooking. Yes." Tolly ignored her, nodding to her children who chirped with glee.

  "D-Din-Dinner's cooking, w-what does that mean." Yelz's wide-eyed look and floppy, splayed ears earned her another avian chuckle. "What does that mean Tolly."

  "Here. Eggs. Stir. Yes." Bowl in paw, Yelz endeavored to simply… experience gryphon supper, her mind shattered by the implications. It was all she could do to simply be dragged along. The whisk was in her paw as Tolly continued to trill and chuckle, piercing the reptile with a look she couldn't place but made her feel like prey in the best way. Oh… oh no, were these… her eggs? Did gryphons lay unfertilized eggs? Kobolds didn't- no no, these were too small. Chicken eggs… yes. A pawing at her legs nearly sent her into a screeching terror, her paw still stirring as she found the quartet of younglings winding their way around both hers and Tolly's legs.

  "Ah! Um! W-We're working on it kiddies, ack! Wenakik, no nibbling kobold legs. Ngh, Kolkakik, get your sister!" No salvation came for the poor accountant as the smallest of Tolly's spawn began to climb her legs, little talons digging into her scales painfully before finding purchase in her jean shorts.

  "Wenny climbs. Yes."

  "Ascend, sister."

  "Too high…"

  Yelz wiggled her shoulders as a new passenger came to rest at the back of her neck, Yolkakik settling in for the long haul like a feathery… furry… scarf. The baby gryphon radiated heat like a miniature furnace, warming the kobold's scales and easing the tension that had grown in her neck. Purring rumbled in her ear that twitched, subjected to the cruel batting of the chick's taloned paw as Yelz smiled. Did Tolly purr too? How could she find out? Thoughts for another time, one when she wasn't surrounded by children or covered in eggs.

  With practiced ease, Tolly flipped bread-covered chicken strips into a pan, working the hot slab of metal as skillful as any chef. The scent was familiar, true to the mother's words, whatever she'd had these strips marinating in filled the kitchen with the same such aroma as the one that suffused Johnna's gas station. The scent had become a landmark for Yelz, her lungs filling as she breathed in the safety and welcome that Tolly had gifted her.

  Soon, several strips were cooked to a golden-brown perfection and set before the voracious maws of the adults, plus Kolkakik. The chicks, however, were much more interested in… in Tolly's sudden… retching. It was like watching a train wreck. Yelz couldn't look away. Not as the younger three crowded at their mother's talons, beaks open… Tolly leaning down to…

  "Oh… by the first scale…" Yelz busied herself with prepping a plate for Kolkakik, the eldest taking a moment to dip his chicken tender in a provided pool of honey mustard before Tolly sighed in relief. The three chicks at her paws seemed full yet still begged, pressing against their mother's legs until she lay upon her side, a rear leg raised. Once again, Tolly found herself focusing on her own meal, whipping back around to look at the happily munching Kolkakik. "So… Tolly… does that… hurt? With the beaks… and all?"

  "Kraw… a little. Chicks use gape flange, though, not beak. Tolly be very irate if they did. Yes." Her avian eyes narrowed on her eldest son, who nibbled on his chicken, looking everywhere but at his mother.

  "Gape… flange?" Yelz risked a look over her shoulder. Thankfully, most of Tolly's indecency was covered up by the pack of chicks at her abdomen. A talon rose to tap on the edge of Tolly's beak, at the fleshy lip that began where her beak terminated. "Ah." Blushing, Yelz finally sank her tiny fangs into her own chicken strip, devoid of sauce.

  And moaned.

  It tasted exactly like Johnna's, warm and juicy and bursting with flavor. The breading was crunchy while the tender meat within practically oozed that same marinated delight that Yelz enjoyed at the gas station. Days of stress and worry melted away with each bite, the gnawing void in her stomach filling with what could only be described as food that fed not only the body but the soul. Not even Kolkakik's bemused churl could ruin her euphoria, juices running down her maw and pink neck to stain her shirt.

  Delicious.

  "Oh my Gods, Tolly." Yelz hummed around another bite as Tolly smiled in victory, accepting a chicken strip from her eldest while her chicks drank their fill. "This is so good. It tastes just like Johnna's."

  "Johnna teach Tolly. Yes." The smile upon her beak lessened, ever so slightly. "Johnna work too much. Schedule is opposite Tolly's."

  "What uh… are you two… ya know."

  "Not yet." Tolly grinned, her wings stretching as another bite of chicken found its way into her beak. "Not for lack of Tolly trying. No. Johnna work too much, head in clouds. Tolly have chicks, need mate. Father… to teach, to be there… Johnna would be good. Tolly want Johnna…" Eyes downcast, beak clacking… "Tolly… want mate… really."

  "What uh… happened to…" Yelz waggled her final strip at the attending chicks, Kolkakik hopping from the table to nuzzle his melancholic mother. The youth seemed wise beyond his years.

  "Flew nest. Once Tolly was with eggs. Got scared. Coward. Now Tolly raise family."

  "Oh my gosh, Tolly!" Yelz joined Kolkakik in wrapping her pink arms around the cooing gryphon, a beak landing on her shoulder. Warm feathers pressed into scales as Yelz coiled her tail around the poor gryphon's front legs, sighing as her empathy got the best of her.

  "Tolly fine. Has babies… little miracles. Just… lonely sometimes."

  "Aren't we all, sister." Trepidation nearly stayed her mouth, but Tolly had trusted her, brought her into her home, and introduced her to her children… "Me too, ugh, I'm a hot mess myself. Andrew, Hershey, yeah Johnna too… and uh… well…"

  "Tolly?"

  "Y-Yeah… you too… Is that bad? I feel so freaking-"

  "Is lonely. Yes. Tolly understand."

  "Mum…" Kolkakik wriggled himself into his mother's chest feather. "No sad. Kolky say so." Thus, the conversation turned away from the lady's dating woes and to the wisdom of babes, Kolky rubbing his beak against his mother's neck as if it would banish every bad thing in the world. To his credit… he wasn't far wrong.

  "That's right, Kolky, no more sad." Tolkakik succumbed to the greater wisdom of her eldest son, the gryphon craning her neck down to nuzzle the worried chick until his shivers ceased. Yelz couldn't help but smile… it reminded her of the warren, this tiny little family… they looked so close… Tolly looked so happy… Eventually, the ravenous hunger of children was abated, Tolly's back quickly becoming occupied by a small gaggle of children, before she carefully rose to her paws. "Yelz follow? Yes."

  "Yes." Yelz followed, her bare pink paws soft on the carpet as Tolly padded into her own room. The master bedroom was identical to her own, aside from the wall-to-wall posters of meteorological and topographical maps, bookshelves stuffed to the brim with weather and mathematical and flight guides, and more than one college degree framed proudly in humble wooden displays. A major difference was the bed; instead of a blanket, Tolly had bunches of quilts and sheets into a circular nest, one her chicks sleepily tumbled into under the endearingly watchful eye of her eldest.

  Though she didn't have long to admire the strange setup before Tolly's beak was worrying at her shoulder. A blush rushed to her muzzle at the intimate gesture, words catching in her throat before strong talons hooked under her arms and tossed her tired body into the nest, too.

  "Ngaha!" Such were her final words before Yelz Tinker was drowned under the warm plumage and fur of four sleepy gryphon chicks, each searching for the perfect nook in her scales to curl up in. Wenkakik chirped in delight, a ball of exhaustion in the nook of the kobold's neck and shoulder, while Kolkakik found his place at the foot between her legs, his head upon her thigh and his beak facing the door like a guardian. The quiet twins, Holkakik and Elkakik, took up station in her armpits, sapping her warmth and using her shoulders as pillows. "T… Tolly…"

  It was of no use… Yelz's heart had melted… the leftover goop conquered by the embodiment of adorable that was Tolly's children. As for the mother herself, she loomed above the kobold with a warm, approving smile.

  "Yelz good with chicks. Yes. Very important. Not as good as Johnna but good. Yes." She nodded, turning to leave as warmth and weight began to pull upon Yelz's eyelids, the blanket of slumber falling upon her. "Thank Yelz. Yes. Watch babies while Tolly goes to work. Yes? Yes."

  "Mnmmm… yes… watch babies…"

  Thus, Yelz fell into the deepest, most peaceful sleep she'd had since arriving at Patricia's Palace- since starting her adventure, here trapped beneath the snoozing forms of milk and chicken-filled gryphon babies. For once… for once, she thought maybe, just maybe… she could do this. Not even the creeping specter of Greg's offer could wrap its claws around her heart now.

  It had four sets of teeny, tiny claws guarding it, after all. Stalwart in their innocent protection, blissful in their untainted love for the world. An oasis in her adventure.