The first chapter of a short fic about my Dungeons and Dragons character Atticus and his boyfriend Tai Long. Atticus is emotionally struggling with the changes his body is undergoing as his heat approaches. As his teammates' worries grow, they have no choice but to call Tai to help our dragon regain his confidence. NSFW is in chapter 3
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁
“No, you’re not, Atticus.” Vincent, Atticus’s best friend, sighed and looked at the giant, dragon-shaped lump that hid under a mountain of blankets. “Come on, it's just seasonal, get out from the blankets!” He could hear the exasperation in Vincent's voice as he felt the blankets around him being tugged.
Atticus shook his head and wrapped the blankets around him tightly. “NO! I can’t go out like this,” He whined. “What if Tai sees me like this? I can’t! I’ll just hide until spring passes”. He could just stay holed up in his room and the comfort of his bed until his body went back to normal. Atticus felt Vincent stop tugging the blankets and could practically hear him roll his eyes.
“You know what? FINE! But you’re gonna come out sooner or later, and everything will be fine.” Vincent said before leaving the grandiose room and shutting the door.
Atticus waited until he heard the footsteps recede before crawling out of his nestbed of plush blankets and soft pillows. As a dragonborn, he didn’t enjoy the standard beds and much preferred piles of blankets and pillows he could make a nest out of.
He trudged over to his full-body mirror and looked at himself sadly.
See, Atticus was a specific type of Dragonborne hybrid, which meant he went through both Heats and Ruts depending on the seasons. Currently, it was spring, meaning that his heat was rapidly approaching. Meaning that all the food he ate went straight to his hips, tummy, thighs, and butt. He poked his once rock-solid and sturdy abs only to find the muscle there soft and covered in a thin layer of fat.
He groaned and started pacing his room. He can’t go out like this! How can he face his boyfriend like this? All plumpy, and fat, and JUST NOT HIMSELF!
Titans above, how he longs to see him too. His beautiful, handsome, strong boyfriend. Titans, what he would do to just have that gorgeous man hold him down and ruin him for anyone else. He would give anything to have Tai take him to bed and bree- “Nope! No. That’s the heat talking.”
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he realized that Vincent was right. He won’t be able to hide up in his room for the whole season. The rest of the team will come looking for him, and so will Tai.
Titans have mercy, just the thought of Tai made the already present heat in Atticus’ lower belly curl and coil in need. He missed his boyfriend and wanted to spend his heat with him so badly. He hadn’t had his heat in ages, and this would be his first time sharing it with a mate. His instincts yearned for the warmth and comfort of his mate.
But looking like this? Atticus dropped his head sadly and pouted at the floor. He’s usually so confident, but Atticus can’t help but feel a bit insecure. He pulls his gaze away from his reflection, feeling no better than before.
Atticus sighs and walks over to his wardrobe to see if there is anything not revealing that he could wear. Sounds easy enough, right? Unfortunately, due to his wings and tail, he usually has backless shirts and robes to give his extra limbs room to breathe. That being said, most of his clothes are revealing to also show off his best assets. He has never been ashamed of his body before, until now.
In his defense, his body was personally sculpted by the Life Titan himself; he was, truthfully speaking, gorgeous. Standing at a solid 7 feet and built with tight muscles. With long, silky hair that reached his lower back and deep caramel skin adorned with dark green scales that glittered when they caught the light. Insecurity was usually not a word in his dictionary. He just wasn’t used to this sudden change in his physique since it had been decades since he last even went into heat.
Atticus had assumed that, due to the injuries and stress from the battle that took his leg and nearly his entire left torso, he had been rendered infertile.
Of course, Life Titan wouldn’t let his favorite suffer such a devastating loss.
Atticus ends up grabbing one of his older, lesser-worn robes. The robe was more of a blanket, really. It was still light enough that he wasn’t going to overheat, but it covered most of his body nonetheless.
He got changed and made his way downstairs, trying to act normal. Surely nobody would notice, right?
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁
The second Atticus stepped into the kitchen, he could feel his teammates' eyes on him. His gaze snapped to the kitchen island, where he could hear Vincent snickering to himself.
Atticus glared at his best friend before turning to his second in command, Orion. The elf was staring at him oddly, and he felt like all his insecurities and sins were being laid out and judged.
“Is there something on my fa-“ “Why are you wearing so many clothes?” Damn. He was hoping that Orion would just notice and mind his own business. But here he was, staring at Atticus with an arched eyebrow and waiting eyes.
As Atticus sputtered around an answer, Orion stared at his leader quizzically. He was used to seeing the dragonborn walking around in little to no clothing, even during the winter. Atticus was not shy at all. But suddenly covering up? Now that's too weird. He snaps out of his thoughts as he hears his leader mumble something about it being ‘too cold outside’ for his usual outfits…
Too cold? In the under-city, where all the machinery and steam made it unbearably hot during the warmer seasons? Yeah no, Orion knew Atticus was bullshitting, and Atticus knew that Orion knew. He sighs and gives in, telling Orion what’s going on. Orion's face is carefully blank as he takes in his leader's words and processes them for a second,
Then two, a twitch in the eyebrow
Then, three, a quirk of his lips
Then he’s doubling over in laughter, clutching his stomach and nearly rolling on the floor. He can hear Vincent cackling from his seat and feels his face burn with anger and humiliation. He goes to turn away when Orion grabs his arm after catching his breath, still slightly laughing.
He’s more serious when he says, “Is that really what you’re worrying about, Atticus? It can’t be that bad, man, plus Tai most likely wouldn’t mind. You should see how he looks at you.” He said reassuringly while looking at his pouting leader. His leader was a beast on the battlefield and always looking out for them, but he was also so dramatic.
“Yeah, He looks at you like you personally hung the stars in the sky and shoot rainbows out of your ass,” Vincent mumbled around a bite of toast. He lathers another piece of toast with an embarrassing amount of jam before shoving it in his mouth. Honestly, how could such a tiny ass creature just inhale food? “Plus, remember that time you shifted back into your human form and didn’t have a spare change of clothes? I swear Tai would barely function for a solid 20 seconds before realizing he was in public and needed to keep his nonchalant persona intact”, Vincent says with a casual wave of his jam-covered hands.
Atticus’s nose scrunched up in disgust at the messy display and turned back to Orion, a more nervous and doubtful look on his face now. “Even if what Vince says is true, that was back when my body was normal. THAT’S what Tai fell for, what if he doesn’t like the way I am now?” His voice was near a whisper at the end, and he could feel his eyes starting to sting. Because what if Tai didn’t like the way he looked now? What if he didn’t want to be with him anymore? Just the thought of his mate rejecting him made his throat burn, and the welling tears in his eyes started to fall.
Orion’s eyes widen in shock, and he throws Vincent a panicked look, only to be met with an equally panicked expression. Their leader rarely cries, no matter what happens on the battlefield or off of it; they have never seen Atticus cry.
Orion frantically tries to get Atticus to stop crying, reassuring him as his hands flutter around the weeping dragon's form, trying to figure out how to comfort this giant being. Vincent rushes over and jumps into Atticus’ arms to pat his head gently. “Stop crying, you oversized baby,” Vincent said softly, while wiping the tears from Atticus’s cheeks. “I bet that no matter what you look like under this blanket, Tai would still be head over heels for you. Some small physical changes won’t change the fact that he fell for you! Plus, it might not even be that noticeable, so don’t cry, Atty.”
Atticus sniffled and nodded his head at Vincent's kind words. He was right! If Tai loved him, it wouldn’t matter what changes his body went through. If only his heat didn’t make him feel so sensitive. At least now he feels a lot better after hearing his friends’ words of reassurance.
After fully calming down, Atticus takes a seat at the kitchen island and starts digging into his breakfast. He doesn’t notice the blanket slightly sliding off his shoulder, revealing the softer curve of his chest and tummy. Vincent and Orion notice the change in Atticus’ body, though they don’t think it makes him look unattractive. If anything, they just make the usually hard cut dragon softer and cozier. They look at each other and shrug before focusing on their plates.
Breakfast goes on in comfortable silence as they all eat their respective plates. The silence is broken by Von stumbling down the stairs, still half asleep with a serious case of bed head and pillow lines on his right cheek. He mumbles out a good morning before sitting down next to Atticus and digging into the plate of food that was saved for him. The more he ate, the more awake and aware he looked. He stopped mid-chew and looked at Atticus in confusion. Something was different about the dragon. Was it his hair? Did his scales look greener? Something was off; his physique seemed a bit fuller, almost like he-
“Hey, did you gain weight?” Von asked, tilting his head as he continued to look at his leader’s body in confusion. Atticus’s whole body froze, and the room went dead silent. Orion and Vincent sat frozen in their seats as they glanced between each other and Atticus. Vincent opened his mouth to try to play off Vons' statement as a joke, but before he could even make a sound, Atticus abruptly stood up. His eyes are watering again, and he pushes the chair back roughly and stomps up to his room. The elves look at their leaders retreating in shock and worry, before shooting twin glares at Von.
“What? Did I say something wrong?” The Goliath said in confusion. Vincent sighed in exasperation and laid his forehead on the table.
“Now we really won’t be able to get him to leave his room until the season ends. Good job, Von! You’ve made our leader feel like shit, you truly have an amaaaazing way with words.” Vincent’s words were dripping in sarcasm as he glared at Von from his seat at the table.
“Hey! I didn’t know he would react that way! Why does he look so different anyway?” He shot back.
“That’s not something anyone would want to be asked, dumbass! No wonder you can’t get a girlfri-”
“GUYS!” Orion's deep voice cut through their bickering, “I think we have bigger things to worry about here. How the hell are we getting Atticus to come out of his room?”
“I don’t think any of us will be able to reach him since someone decided to be stupid. We saw how bad he was when he first came down, and that’s not to mention how long it took me to get him OUT of his room to begin with. At this point…I don’t think he’ll come down,” Vincent said sadly, “I really don’t think he’ll come out until the mating season is over.”
Orion looked up the stairs to where his leader had retreated and sighed before turning to Vincent, “Grab a pen and paper, I need you to write a letter.” Vincent hesitated a bit before going to grab the materials. He knew exactly who he needed to address the letter to, for this situation had gone worse than was anticipated.
He sighed and started drafting his letter to Tai Long.