[b][u][center]A Modern Dragon Harem Chapter 3: New Powers Sponsored by Glyn_Wolf by Draconicon[/center][/u][/b] Once Janet left, Draconicon sat down on the couch and looked down at his balls. He knew that he hadn't been imagining things when he felt the power coursing through them a few minutes ago, but the idea that all of the magic his new shape had was located in them... Well, that just didn't feel right. It felt narratively wrong, as a matter of fact, and while he was no sorcerer, he was a good enough author to know that if the plot and the line-up of abilities didn't feel right, then there was something that either he didn't know yet...or he was working with a very bad content creator. [i]Let's assume that the content creator is good, then, and see what we can come up with.[/i] The dragon leaned back on his couch, resting his hands between his legs and rubbing his thighs, slowly teasing himself as he ran his claws over his scales. The sensation of that sort of touch was very different to the feeling of flesh on flesh, and he realized that, if he wanted, he could be quite a bit rougher with himself than he had been in the past. Not that he felt that he should be, but the option was there. Instead, he was gentler, raking his scales slowly up his thighs the way that he might have done with a feather, feeling a shiver running up his spine before coming back down. He opened his mouth, letting out a shaky little moan as his cock started rising again, the tip still damp from the bit of fun that he'd had with Janet. The sensation of wetness there came with a bit of a chill, too, the cool air from the open window blowing through the small apartment. The wind brought with it the taste of his own pleasure, the taste of the dark woman's juices on the cushions of the couch, the flavor of his own that had dripped out of her while she'd been sitting there. It was a strange collection of tastes, things that he hadn't expected to find in flavor form just by breathing in. It was strange to have the taste of a woman come from breathing the air in, and he realized that his tongue must have been more like a snake's than he had originally thought, sensitive to scent through this other means. He blushed a bit, realizing how this was going to make pheromones a pain in the ass in the future. But back to the moment at hand. Back to the exploration. He brought his hands up his thighs slowly, teasing himself with little touches that gradually brought him back to erection. As his cock bobbed and throbbed, he cupped his balls, rubbing them, running his thumbs along the smooth scales and feeling for answers to the mysteries that were all about him at the moment. The more he focused on them, the more he felt that strange sensation of power once more. It was a different sort of feeling, something that was...heavy, in a way, rather than rushing in the way that it had been when he'd been balls-deep in Janet's pussy. It was more like it was at rest, pulsing like a heart in a chest rather than sliding free and jetting out. [i]No way that I can only use the magic when I'm cumming; Drac's not like that, and he wouldn't put that limitation on me.[/i] But it did mean that there were limitations to it. Was it passion, or something like that? He hadn't written Drac like that, either, but... [i]Take it back a step,[/i] he thought, still rolling his hands over his balls, letting them churn away under his fingers. [i]What happened? I didn't use lust to cast the spell; the magic just came from down there, surging out. That doesn't even mean that it was sourced down there, it was just the delivery mechanism.[/i] That was a bit more reassuring. That meant that there were ways for him to use the magic without being perpetually turned on, which was a [i]very[/i] good thing, considering that it meant that he didn't have to invest a fortune in viagra or other certain aids. He kept rubbing his balls, one of his hands moving up to his cock, drawing a line on it from the underside to the tip and then along the head. There was something that he was missing, something that would make it clear what he needed to do. What was it, though? What was the... Oh. He smiled to himself as he started to stroke his finger down the top of his cock, drawing a line with his claw all the way to the base before slowly circling it around the very bottom of his shaft. It jumped from time to time, his excitement growing. [i]It's not just the passion, but the intent. The strength and commitment to the result,[/i] he thought, pulling at his cock slowly, dragging his hand up and down. [i]I was so horny that I wanted to keep her, so all that cum came out with a spell on it. It came out with a surge and throb, and then the mark was in her...[/i] The dragon turned the idea around in his head, considering it from every angle. It was a bit better, and not entirely inconsistent with what he had written Drac with before. There were times when magic had to be cast quickly, when it was used more as an emergency self-defense measure than the ritualistic stuff that came in movies and other books. In those cases, it would come through rapidly, powered by intent rather than anything else. More, it would cost more energy, but be faster, something that would be important in the early days of a mage's career. He was just about to pat himself on the back for coming up with all that when he realized what it actually meant. It was an evolutionary thing that allowed baby dragons to defend themselves when they were still getting stronger, while they were still learning how much worked in the first place. "...Well, that's a boner killer." He let go of his cock, shaking his head but still smiling. The fact that he had managed to come up with something meant that there were ways for him to start figuring out the magic. He could start pulling it together, filtering through the different bits of bullshit before figuring out how it actually worked. Sure, it would take a while. Sure, he'd be hitting various roadblocks before he started theorizing and adapting stuff the way that the character had done, but at least he had something to work with. It was just need, just blind, rampant need magic, stuff that was powered by passion, intent, and desperation, but that was a hell of a lot better than nothing. Hell, that was more or less how people powered their way through their lives in this day and age. If he was doing it with magic, then he'd fit right in. The dragon smiled, tapping his hands together as he got to his feet. The apartment needed a rather thorough cleaning, anyway, and maybe he could figure out how to use his magic to do it before Janet got back from the store. He looked across the room, taking in the messy clothes piles, and the different dishes that still needed to be done, as well as the dust on the floor and the marks of juices on the cushions. He hoped that he'd be able to figure it out. It would save him a hell of a lot of work in the long run, that was for sure. # The dragon was just getting it figured out when the door to the apartment opened again. His arms were in the air, and he was just letting the spell loose when Janet stuck her head through the doorway, and there was nothing that he could do besides shout - "Hit the deck!" To her credit, she did, her dark hair spilling out over her face. The magic left his hands, and the air cracked like thunder had just gone off. When the dragon and human were able to lift their heads, the apartment was spotless. Draconicon nodded to himself as he looked around the room, giving himself a mental pat on the back for getting as much done as he had. It wasn't a complete cleaning, wasn't the same as having a maid come through with cleaning materials, but it was a hell of a lot better than he would have been able to do on his own. The floors were dusted, the cushions were cleaned, and the air smelled vaguely of lemon as the dishes sorted themselves out, floating back to the cupboards and putting themselves away. He was pretty sure that there was going to be a bit of fallout from that particular part of the spell, but he would deal with it when it came time. Janet had slowly gotten back to her feet, shaking her head as she shut the door behind her. "I'm never going to get used to things like that." "Well, you don't have to. I'm not planning on doing that in front of you that often," he said, shaking his head. "Did you get the clothes and goods?" "Yeah, I...I got a few things." She shook her head again, handing over a few strips of leather. "Nothing to put them together with, but I'm not sure how you're going to be doing any of this." "Well, as long as I can make the magic keep doing what I want it to do, then I think we'll be good." "It's real magic then? I mean, like the real, real thing?" "Real as it gets without studying it," he said, putting the leather down on the floor, passing it across several different open spaces. He stretched out one hand over it, guestimating to the level of materials that he needed, and found it about right. "So, what are you going to do? I mean, I said I wanted answers; what are you going to do with all this power and...everything else, I guess?" "You know, I'm still figuring that out myself, but there's one thing I have to admit. I've always wanted the power to start doing something with my life. There's always been a lot of things that people could do with magic, but didn't. Things that could have made the world better for them, for the people around them. And our world's pretty badly in need of change right now, wouldn't you say?" "...I'm not sure that I want to say anything to someone that's talking a bit like an evil overlord." "I wouldn't want that sort of title, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to be evil." "You know, we just elected someone that started talking about how much better dictators are. Not really sure that I want to see the world go down that sort of route." "Trust me, I'm not in agreement with that." He took the other stuff that she'd bought for him. Long coats, things that he could disguise himself with. A couple of masks, including bandanas and other things that might hide his snout. Most importantly, there were little rings, metal things that he had asked her to pick up for his own purposes. They all went into the pile, getting thrown this way and that, arranged in different places around the room. He didn't know how he was going to do this yet, but he knew better than to leave it all in one pile. He needed this organized if it was going to work. "You still haven't said what you want to do," Janet said. "Or what you wanted all this for." "You know what one of the biggest, most flexible things about magic is?" he asked. "That you can basically make physics cry?" "Well, that." He picked up one of the rings, turning it about in his fingers before resting it against the palm of his hand. "But there's also just how many ways you can use it. For example. This ring. You wouldn't think that it's anything special, and you're right, it's not. Just a sterling silver band, right?" "That's what I bought." "Yes, and you picked a pretty cheap one, just like I asked. But...If you use a little magic..." He looked down at the ring, and he really, really looked at it. He bent his will towards it, focusing on that need that he had felt for the room being clean. If that was the baseline intensity towards the power that he needed, then he really, really needed to build it up. As his focus grew, as his intent sharpened, the air felt like it was growing hard around him, more solid, more tangible, more [i]real.[/i] [i]Something hidden, something unseen. Not invisible, not gone, but unnoticeable. You can't see. You can't find. No different. No hurt. Just hidden. Just unnoticed. Just normal.[/i] POOF! The ring emitted a puff of smoke from his palm, and he grinned as the metal started to glow, turning almost white before fading back to silver. "And there you go. An enchanted ring." "Bullshit." "You want me to prove it?" "Uh, yeah, long as it's not going to fuck me over." She held out her hand. "Give." "Alright, but make sure that you don't start running out on me. I'm going to want that back." "We'll see. Give." He rolled his eyes, but gave her the ring, the silver standing out against the cocoa color of her palm. She turned it around, looking at him one more time before sliding it down onto her ring finger. If he hadn't been staring at her, he would have never known she was there. It wasn't a moment of a sudden transformation, but rather that one moment she was there, and one moment she wasn't. He had to force himself to keep staring at her, to keep reminding himself that she was actually there, because every time that his attention started to slip, so did his realization that Janet existed. "You want to...move..." he grunted. "What's the matter?" "I'm trying to make sure that I remember you're there." "What - wait, wait a second. What is this, some kind of ring of invisibility?" "No, that'd be easier to deal with," he said, making sure to keep staring her right in the eye. "No, this is more like...like a ring of dullness. You become so average and so empty of being worthy of attention that nobody remembers that you're even there." "That's insane." "Well, it works. You want to go and test it, or do you want to just take my word for it?" "..." "Tick tock." "Fine. I'll take a look. I'll be right back." She moved before he could follow her, and just like that, she'd already slipped out from under his sight. He groaned under his breath, watching the door open and close and reminding himself that it was her, not some ghost or some spirit that he might have summoned by accident. [i]Now, I just have to hope that she comes back.[/i] The dragon took a deep breath as he sat back down on the couch, pushing himself to relax as much as he possibly could. If Janet did run off with the magic ring, then she would be invisible to his vision until he found a way to work around the spell. That wasn't that bad, considering that she was not really in a place where she could fight back against him, but... He looked up, staring out the window, then slapped his hand across his face. "You're doing it. Don't start doing it." Fighting back against him. That was something that someone on the evil side of the line would say. He was not supposed to be a bad guy. He was supposed to be a good guy, someone that was using his powers and control to change the world for the better, not someone that needed to be worrying about someone trying to tear him down before he could even get started. Even that sort of thought was a stupid one. Here he was thinking that he was better than a dictator, and paranoia was already telling him to start acting like one. The dragon rolled over on the couch, holding his hand towards the ceiling. "For the love of god, I'm a person. I'm a writer. Just stop with the stupid thoughts of being the big leader until you are one. Just...grow up." "That's a weird thing to hear someone say." "Janet?" "Yep." "Can you take off the ring? I'd really like to be able to see you." She did. Apparently, she'd been standing right at the edge of the couch...and she was topless. His eyes dropped down to her breasts, and then back up again, his cock twitching idly as he did. The sight was just as hot as it had been when she had been showing them off while under the influence of his musk a few minutes ago, and it was...well, just as effective on his anatomy. He had to force himself to look back up, to meet her eyes and keep staring at them. "So, did it work?" "Well...I did, um, just strip off my top and bounce my tits in the face of about a hundred different people entering the lobby, and none of them batted an eye." "It works, then. Nobody could just walk by those breasts." "Thanks, I think." She tossed him the ring, and he caught it with ease. "Now, it's my turn." "What do you mean, your turn? I thought you were going to -" "I need to see how this stuff works in public. And besides, you're not the only one that I'm going to need help from." "You have to be kidding. If you leave this room, it's going to be like letting some pervert loose in a nursery." "I am [i]not[/i] interested in kids, thank you very much." "Yeah, but the chance of someone else actually having a choice is about the same. You've got all the power. Everyone else has none. How the hell is that supposed to be fair for anyone out there when all they have to do is get a sniff of you before they're doing everything you say?" The dragon looked her in the eye, and slowly sat up. He got off the couch, stepped around it, and then leaned right over her, staring into her eyes. Each step pushed her back another foot until she had her back against the wall and he was looming over her completely. "Are you calling me a rapist?" "...No." "Did I rape you?" "...Arguably, but no." "No." He shook his head. "I was scared out of my mind. I was tempted to just take you, and I could have. I could have ordered you right from the start to do what I said, to strip down and shove your ass in the air, and made you slide that down my dick and left you prolapsed for the rest of your life. I could have done anything that I wanted to you, but I didn't. You know why?" "...Why?" "Because I have written this damn story. I have written that fantasy for a hundred people. Because I have put myself behind the eyes of a thousand different rapists of various sorts. Some of them were well-meaning, some of them were just kinky. Some of them were kind, some of them were cruel, some of them were good, some of them were bad. But I have written this too many times to actually [i]live[/i] through forcing someone through something like that. "I know how this works. I know what it means to be made to do something that you don't want to do. More than anyone that hasn't lived through it, I [i]know[/i] what it means to lose control and to be made to give others the pleasure that they crave at the cost of your comfort, your pain, your freedom." He shook his head. The words were pouring from his mouth now, and he didn't know how to stop them. But he was angry. Beyond angry that someone had called him something like that when he had done everything right, when he had given her every opportunity to be honest and tell him that he was doing something that she didn't want. "I asked you again and again. Did you want this? Were you willing to do this? Was this something you wanted, or was this something that you were doing out of fear? I asked. I [i]asked.[/i] And then, when I was sure, I encouraged. But only fucking then." "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." "You're scared," he said, shaking his head, forcing himself to take a few deep breaths. "And god, who wouldn't be? I'm a fucking dragon, and I fucked you until you called me master. I took you and claimed you. [i]That,[/i] I will take responsibility for. [i]That,[/i] I did not mean to do." Draconicon looked down at the ring, and then held it up to the light. It was shimmering still, the magic still strong on it. It wasn't the best enchantment, he was aware. It was something that had been applied hurriedly and with brute force, but it would work for another week or two, perhaps as many as three. Enough to get him what he needed, and enough to give him what he wanted. "You do what you want. I'll be back at the apartment in a couple of hours." "Wait. Just...just let me..." But he was already gone. # She was right about how good the ring was. The black dragon had left the house with nothing but the ring and his robe, and the latter was open and showing off everything. Considering the number of people even out on the West Coast that still had issues with nudity and showing off dick, he would have been noticed pretty darn fast if the ring wasn't working. [i]I'd call this a pretty good test,[/i] he thought as he walked through the different crowds on the sidewalk. [i]Will need to test it in Seattle or something before I call it a complete success, but down here, so far...I'd call it a success.[/i] As his bare feet slapped against the pavement, he couldn't help but be tempted to try out more of his powers. He knew that anything that he did had the chance of getting him caught out by someone that noticed it happening. Hell, he knew that it had the chance of sparking the next part of his 'story,' if he wasn't careful, but that didn't matter to him right then. What mattered was figuring out how his powers worked so that he could use them properly, rather than forcing things to do what he wanted. He looked down at his hands, at the ring that glinted on one finger. [i]First, a park to test out a few ideas, then a target to test out a few wants.[/i] # After a half hour of testing his magic, he found out a few key things. First, he could not cast the magic with the ring on his finger. It was great for keeping him hidden, but apparently the price for that was a certain amount of magic nullifying that went on. He couldn't actually cast anything despite building up the need and focus for it. Only when the ring came off, and the ability to stay hidden went with it, could he force the magic down his hands and into reality once more. That was not a good thing, he knew, but it wasn't yet a bad thing. It was just something that he would have to work around to make sure that he didn't fuck up. Secondly, he found out that his magic had a certain...echo effect to it, for lack of a better word. He could feel that there was a ripple around the point where the spell was cast, almost like there was a sound that had come off of the spell, or a ripple in the energy of the universe. Whatever that meant. It did mean that the magic that he used could be tracked, however, and that meant that he needed to pay attention to how much he was using it, and where. If he started using it too much in one location, that might start fucking with the fabric of reality, or at the very least, give people that learned how to track it a chance to home in on him. And that would happen, he was sure. Even if the government had no knowledge of magic before Drac shoved his head into this reality, he was pretty sure that there was now some agency that had every reason to start looking into it. That was just how this sort of story tended to work, how reality liked to twist to bring drama around. However, it was the third thing that he found out that really, really got him interested, and that was the fact that his magic was ever so slightly weaker after having made the ring. [i]Did I put some of my power in the ring, or am I just tired?[/i] he wondered as he sat beneath a tree, looking down at the silver ring with his head cocked to the side. [i]If the latter, then we'll find out tomorrow, but if the former...[/i] He'd thought that creating enchantments would be a nice, cheap way of getting around the difficulty of casting magic all the time, of just handing someone a ring or an item with the spell on it, and then watching the chaos that came from that. Unfortunately, if it actively drew on his magic while he was passing them out... Well, that was a different sort of thing, and he'd need to find more ways of casting his magic than just by need and enchantment. [i]Still, all of that was good to find out. I'll just have to figure out how to move forward from - oh god...[/i] Seeing someone half-drunk and stumbling towards his tree, the dragon knew what was coming. He rolled to the side, getting out of the way as the pale, middle-aged guy hopped behind the tree and started pulling his dick out. Shaking his head, he left the drunk to do his business and started walking through the city again. He was about halfway towards the diner at the far end of the park and the hill down to the waterfront when he felt a buzzing in his pocket. Blinking in surprise, he reached down, fumbling about to find his phone. [i]How...Guess I packed it before I left.[/i] He flicked the screen open, unsurprised to find a dozen messages from Idesin - all asking for pics - and some of his other friends. There was one from Hanna, a German friend that was asking for a bit of sexy play, as well as some other clients that were asking about their stories. However, there was one new one, one that looked like it was going to be a bit more problematic. An icon that had a silhouette that was as dramatic as it was cheesy stood in for the guy's avatar, and the message was just a few words. [i]What do you want?[/i] He shook his head, not bothering to answer it. He wasn't going to give the app any notification that he had seen the message, not when it would report it to the people on the other end, and not before he knew who they were. Criminals? Government agency? Some sort of multiversal problem? The dragon didn't know, and he wasn't about to start answering that question just yet. He was just putting his phone back down when it started ringing. This time, it had a name on it. Veronica. "...Ah, shit..." Whether she knew about the situation or not, she was going to find out quick enough. If she had weaseled it out of Anya, and there every reason that she would, considering that he hadn't been in contact for half a day, then she would have been pulling favors, and... Sighing, he put the phone to his ear. "It's me." "...That's not the Drac I know." "No, but it's the Drac that you expected." "Yeeee-eeeah, that's more the voice that I was expecting a few years ago..." "Still me, though." "That, I need proof of." "Kind of public at the moment, hiding behind a spell. Give me a second?" "You have sixty seconds to prove that he's still alive and healthy and nothing has happened to him." "...Will you settle for alive and healthy, considering what has happened to me?" "Fifty-five seconds." [i]Not a good time for this,[/i] he thought, looking around. There were no alleys nearby, and the trees were further back than he'd like. Grimacing, he pulled the phone from his head, flicked off the ring, and snapped a picture as fast as he could. A car screamed by, shooting into a fire hydrant by the time that he had the ring back on and was on the move, the picture already in transfer. "There, you should have proof soon." "..." There was silence on the other line for a few more seconds, followed by a soft catch in the throat. "I'm pretty sure I'm down to thirty seconds, now, so if I need to send more proof, I'd really, really like to know." "What the fuck happened?" "I'm still trying to figure that out." "Is this what she wasn't telling me?" "I told Anya to keep it quiet." "From me?" "There was a concern that you'd blow whatever money you had to get out here if you found out." "Yeah, well...concern noted." The voice on the other end let out a long, slow sigh. "I'm already in Dallas, though, so..." "...Okay, when are you getting into Seatac?" "Eight tonight." "I'll be there." "You better be. God...fucking damn..." "Love you too." "Yeah...love you." The call ended, and he was still on the move, making his way down the hill as fast as his feet could carry him. Considering how large they were, that was pretty darn fast. # Eventually, he managed to get back to his apartment. Surprisingly, Janet was still there, her shoes kicked off and her feet up on the far end of the couch. Draconicon took a moment to stare at those before looking up at her properly, then pulled the ring off. "Moving in?" he asked. She was halfway towards pulling out her taser before she saw him. Shaking her head, she tucked it back into her belt before getting to her feet. "No, but I wanted to make sure that you actually [i]did[/i] come back. After all, it's not like I can track you when you're wearing that thing." "Not like you can track me at all. Do you have a car?" "...Yes? Most people do." "Good. You're driving me to the airport." "Besides the fact that I really don't think I am, why? And how? I don't think that it's made for seven-foot-tall horned monsters." "Mostly so that we don't end up with chaos beyond imagination down here. A friend figured out what happened and they're coming to visit." Janet looked at him with an eyebrow raised, and he clapped his hands. "Come on, let's get moving! Eight's not that far off." "It's three hours. We'll get there in one." "I'm going to need all that time to figure out how to pull this one off." After all, he knew how Veronica operated. If she said that the plane was getting in at eight, that meant that it was probably getting in at least a half hour earlier than that, and if she had been concerned about him when packing... Well, he didn't want to be the customs agent that happened to stumble over something that shouldn't have gotten on the plane in the first place. If something happened behind the scenes, he wanted to be there to stop it from getting out of hand before it could. [b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]