I regained consciousness some time later, the cabin was dim but for the the glow of my bedside lamp. Looking around I saw that Aiya was laying on the bed beside me, her scales softly gleaming in the glow from the lamp. I spent several moments appreciating her sleeping form while I laid basking in the feeling of the fast fading drowsiness that I felt whenever I had a great night's sleep. After but a moment had passed she began to stir and her eyes opened to meet mine.

“How long...?” I asked, my voice was hardly more than a hoarse croak and I coughed to try and clear my throat. Aiya handed me a glass of water and I reached out for it, stopping short when I saw my hands, my clawed hands. Midnight-blue scales covered, nearly dark enough to be black, the talons that tipped my fingers were this same blue at the base and
the lightened to the color of sun-bleached bone, turning my hand over revealed the palm to be a light, icy blue and covered in a soft yet tough skin rather than scales.

“Drink first.” Aiya placed the water glass in my hand and I drained it in a single go, my thirst was overwhelming. “This will be the third dawn since you blacked out, changing takes time and a lot of energy, you'll likely be weak for a while still.”

“Is it all done then?”

“Mostly. All of the major physical changes are done, though you still have a bit of a growth spurt ahead of you before it levels off and you start the normal life-cycle of a Dra'kahn. You'll have some mental changes as well, although your personality won't be affected, you'll become much more than you were.” I wondered at what she meant when she
said that but listened as she went on. “Finally, our bond will continue to develop now that you've changed. What I feel, you should feel to a somewhat lesser extent, just as I can feel what you feel.” Seemingly as she mentioned I became aware of just that, like a little knot of emotions and other sensations at the back of my mind. Nothing I felt from it was very clear, but it was still a little disconcerting feeling the emotions of someone else, I lost track of what she was saying as she continued to explain, concentrating for a moment on the new part of my mind. Right now I felt a vague sense of relief from it, she'd been worried about me. I realized I was still holding the water glass from earlier and set it aside before reaching up to pat her head reassuringly, grinning as I looked up at her.

At my touch she jumped slightly and then looked down to see my grin, her voice hitching slightly, her eyes glistening as the knowledgeable facade she'd been putting up vanished. I hadn't been certain but as she threw herself down and I wrapped my arms around her I knew my suspicions were right. She had been worried, she must have known what the transformation would entail but had never seen it for herself, I had no idea exactly what she had witnessed as I changed and with how she was reacting now I wasn't sure I wanted to know. She probably hadn't wanted to worry me any about what had taken place while I'd been unconscious and so had fallen to reciting what she knew went along with it. Until I had been able to feel the bond I'd had no idea she had been relieved to see me up, and obviously what I'd felt hadn't even been close to the amount of relief she actually felt. So I held her as she cried away her worries and let the relief flood over her.

“I was so worried you wouldn't wake up...” she whispered as her sobs quieted. I probably should have felt worried myself at hearing that, perhaps I should have thought about what could have went wrong, and maybe I should have felt some anger at the possibility that something could have gone terribly wrong and she hadn't told me. I didn't though, it just didn't matter to me, all I thought about how worried she must have been while she waited all alone in an unfamiliar world.

“I know, but I'm here now and I'm not going to leave you again.” Hearing my murmured words of comfort she looked up at me, the scales around her eyes glistening faintly with moisture from her tears. A smile slowly blossomed across her face and she reached up, her arms wrapping around behind my neck and pulling me down to her until her lips pressed softly against mine. We stayed that way for a lingering moment before she sat back up and wiped away her tears.

“Thank you...” Her voice so faint that I hardly heard her, and then with a smile she spoke up. “Now that you're up you should have something to eat, luckily I had plenty of time to prepare something while you were out...” She lifted herself off the bed and walked a short distance away to the kitchen area. Relieved that she seemed to be feeling better, I watched as she opened the fridge and bent over to get what she was looking for, my eyes wandering to watch the serpentine motions of her tail flicking sinuously back and forth as she moved. She looked back over her shoulder at me, the corners of
her mouth pulled up in a mischievous smirk. “Something catch your attention Aran?”

My eyes flicked up to meet hers, a throaty chuckle rumbling from me as I grinned back at her. “Maybe something has.” She giggled and turned back to pick up whatever it was that she had prepared. She straightened up and turned back to me, my jaw nearly dropping to hand loosely against my chest when I saw what she was holding.

“I hope this will be enough...” She started as she moved back toward me, her words referring to the contents of the bowl she was holding. By bowl I mean the largest food container I owned, a large plastic bowl suited for storing a gallon of soup or some such other large quantity of food and by contents I mean scraps of raw meat that filled this bowl to the brim! She must have cut up every roast or steak I'd had in my freezer to fill it, and she worried that it wouldn't be enough... As she got closer the smell of the meat reached me, the scent sending my saliva production into overdrive as my stomach nearly roared with hunger. Aiya laughed at the sound and hurried over to sit beside me on the bed as I absently wiped a small
trickle of drool from the corner of my mouth. “It should be enough to get you up and moving at least, if not enough to completely satiate you.” She offered the bowl to me and it was all I could do to keep myself from beginning to gorge.

I looked up from the bowl to her. “As hungry as I feel, I almost think you're not exaggerating.”

“I'm not,” she seemed amused by my reactions, “that transformation took a lot of energy and Dra'kahn need a lot more food than humans, although they don't need to eat quite as often.” She set the bowl on my lap and stood. “I'll get some water too.” Going back to the kitchen to fill a pitcher before returning to my side. “Eat Aran, you need it.” Seeing that I still hadn't started on the bowl.

“Actually I'm kind of working up the courage to start.” I chuckled slightly embarrassed, I'd always loved my steak rare but eating it raw was something else entirely. Aiya laughed and picked up a scrap, tossing it into her mouth and chewing a few times before swallowing.

“It's perfectly fine Aran, try it.” I picked up a piece for myself, tentatively placing it into my mouth and chewing before quickly
swallowing and reaching for more, my hesitation gone. I ate several more pieces before realizing that Aiya hadn't had any more.

“You're not eating?” I could tell that she was as hungry as I, perhaps even more so, the hollow sensation almost overwriting everything else I was feeling from the bond as she watched me.

“You need it more than I do after the change, I can wait--” She stopped as I pushed the bowl back at her.

“If I'm eating then you are too, I'm not going to have a meal in front of someone that's probably even hungrier than I am.” She started trying to refuse before her stomach let out a rumble that rivaled the sound of mine earlier. “And there's no way you're refusing me after that.” I laughed, knowing that if it were possible for a black scaled dragon to blush she'd be doing it.

“Fine... maybe, just a bit...” She mumbled before she started to eat as well her initial reluctance vanishing as she easily matched my pace. We made quick work of the bowl, demolishing the contents in about ten minutes before then taking turns at emptying the pitcher of water, washing down the quick meal. Finished, Aiya set the bowl and pitcher aside and I leaned back against the bed's headboard with a sigh, I was far from sated but even that little bit seemed to have revived me greatly. She drew aside the covers to lay at my side, one arm resting on my chest as she nestled up against me.

I was still getting used to all of the new feelings that went with the change to my body. How having scales felt rather than skin, the very solid weight my very own personal armor and changes to muscle mass had given me. The ways that I perceived everything had changed and this was very noticeable as I lay there with Aiya; between the bond and her physical closeness I was aware of her in a way that was impossible to describe. I can say that while it was an utterly new feeling it also felt completely right and comfortable to lay there with her. I placed my arm around her, basking in her warmth and the
feeling of having her there right next to me, content to just stay as we were. I'm unsure how long we stayed that way but at some point, either from being more drained than I had imagined or from the pure comfort I felt from being with her, I had drifted off.