Lessons of Life, Lessons of Love
chapter seven
by Tal Greywolf
---
It had been two weeks since we initially gathered at Redwoulfe's place. In that
time, Red had managed to get jobs for everyone who wanted one. He snagged one at
the clothing shops on one of the smaller streets for Emerald and Sapphire, and
used his connections at the Herald-Times to get one for Jasamine, working in the
newsroom as a general aide. As for me, he used his contacts to secure a
position as a cameraman, a position that I was very thankful for.
As for Redwoulfe, he helped everyone by making things comfortable in their new
jobs. He helped get Emerald and Sapphire going by aiming some business in their
direction, and definitely gave me help when I was learning the ins and outs of
my new position. As for Jasamine, he kept a hands-off situation as she swung
easily into her new job. She previously worked in her high school setting up
the local newspaper, and her minimal skills bloomed under his small help.
It felt strange working in the Biloxi area, a far cry from Des Moines and New
York City. But it was a strangeness that became part of the normal in all of
our cases, and Red was always behind us, giving a hand to Emerald when she
needed help learning sales or to me when I was first trying to be a cameraman.
Through the entire time, there was always Red, helping us all get back to being
productive folks.
Our household settled into a rather comfortable group, thankfully. Every
evening Red would drag out the beverage of the day, be it a Coke or a fine
bottle of wine It was our center-point, the nightly gathering when folks let
down their hair and their feelings. Through it all, Red maintained a simple set
of rules, those rules becoming less necessary as we all adapted to our
situations. And yet the one thing that remained was Red's absolute refusal to
drink the water. I had a gallon in his basement, but he steadfastly wouldn't
touch the water. At least, until the President finally spoke on television.
---
"My fellow Americans, we are suffering from a situation that's seriously put
this country in danger. It's worse than the flu, even worse than the
coronavirus. It's a small nanoparticle that threatens our very way of life
now."
Everyone was surrounding the television, interested in the response from our
government. As charted by Red and myself, close to half of the country had
infections spreading, with one branch reaching Europe. I knew of folks living
in Miami, New Orleans, Chicago and other places along the Mississippi, and
Emerald and Sapphire learned that their relatives had been infected. Jasamine
had lost her father from the mess that was New York, but held up her chin and
plugged herself into her work.
Red snapped off the television as soon as the President had finished briefing
the country. "Well, that's it. We're turning pretty much on our own, and have
to adapt to that situation." He held a sour look on his face, an expression I
myself echoed.
Jasamine nodded in agreement. "So, what do we do now?" she asked. The answer
came from Sapphire, surprising me.
"What we do," she said in a straight voice, "is keep living our lives. We can
support ourselves well enough, and there's a herd of deer that we can take on
occasion. I already took down one deer and shared it with Emerald two days ago."
"True," Red said, sipping his drink. "At least that's one good aspect, the
herds around here are needing a little culling from time to time." He sighed
and placed his glass on the table.
"I should at least consider options," he said gently, catching everyone's
attention. "If I drink the water, and I mean IF," he explained," then
technically I'd become a member of this rag tag batch of zanies. So..."
"So you'll take the water?" Jasamine asked, echoing everyone's question.
"Well, yeah... I'll drink the water." Any other response he might have had was
buried under the cheers from everyone in the room. Emerald cried in delight,
and Jasamine gave him a very warm hug and kiss in reply. Even I was giving him
backslaps, glad that he was at least willing to do it.
For his part, Redwoulfe held up his hand. "All right, you've made it clear to
me that you want me to be a part of this. And I'm willing to join you batch of
crazies. But," and he held up his hand, "it'll be when I'm positive that things
are stable and working without too much of a hitch. THEN, I'll drink the water.
Not before."
---
The next few days went past in a blur. Everyone had gotten their first
paychecks, and were surprised at the amounts showing. Even mine was a stunner,
I didn't think that a camera technician would get that much. But we all
considered our options as to what we should do with the money.
For his part, Redwoulfe gave us the answer. What we did was open an account at
one of the credit unions, and deposit each check in that single account. Then
we opened individual accounts, and with Redwoulfe's help, we moved money around
so that no one was left short of funds. It helped that Redwoulfe had his
inheritance still, and used a tiny portion to help out if need be.
Life developed its own pace now, the feeling of being watched and looking over
our shoulder in fear having been replaced with more mundane aspects. The need
for food sent Redwoulfe off to one or two of the major stores, as well as
smaller places. He'd take whoever was off work, be it Emerald, Sapphire or
Jasamine along for the shopping.
Despite my initial fears, our household as becoming (as Redwoulfe would joke) a
real, living entity. And along with that came other aspects, including one that
was long overdue.
---
Jasamine woke up from her sleep, feeling uncertain. Something was up, something
that she wasn't 100% certain of, but had the feel of Red's touch. She slipped
out of bed, walking slowly down the hallway to the living room, and there she
saw a dark figure in the shadows.
Red smiled gently and winked. "Hello, dear, I was starting to wonder when you'd
make an appearance here.
She let out a sigh and gave him a hug, the sort of hug that demanded a response.
"Oh, Josh," she replied just as softly, "I hope you're not doing this just
because of me."
Redwoulfe gave her a deep kiss, the sort of one that you make promises with.
After a while, he broke the kiss and gave Jasamine a wry sort of smile. "What,
you were expecting someone else?" he teased her. "I'm sure that Silver's in his
room at the moment, although whether he's with Sapphire or Emerald, that's the
$64 question."
She swatted him lightly, then planted another deep kiss on his lips. "I hope
that you're not doing this just because I want it. I've wanted you for a long
time now, and am just as glad that I have you next to me."
"Well, as the old Elvis would said, 'It's Now or Never.'" His sense of humor
remained active. "But as much as I'd prefer to remain my usual bum, I know that
deep down I should do this." He held up the glass, watching the water swirl
within it. Then without warning, he drank down the entire glass of water and
put the empty glass on the table.
"Just hold me," he said roughly, giving Jasamine a light kiss. Then before he
could do anything, a pain was felt by him, causing him to double over. There
was a fire burning inside of him as he became a puddle of mush on the floor, all
of his senses being turned off and leaving him drifting in a darkness.
Drifting in the darkness was comforting, but eventually he had a need building
within him. A pair of eyes rose up on stalks, a sense of amusement and delight
that gave Jasamine a chill of pleasure. He slowly took his time, forming a leg,
an arm, whatever he felt like adding. After well over 40 minutes, he rose up
and Jasamine gasped at what she saw.
There, a tall draconic shape stood on two powerful legs. His arms were powerful
as well, the muscles adding to his appearance. A pair of wings were visible on
his back, while his tail swished slowly back and forth as experimenting with
movement itself. Red shook his head, then smiled warmly at Jasamine.
For herself, it was only moments and she changed shape as well, taking on a
similar shape. He moved close to her, kissing her deeply as he rumbled softly
in pleasure. She returned his kiss with a deeply passionate return kiss, then
leaned against Red with a low rumbling.
Taking her hand in his, they proceeded to walk out of the living room, working
their way to his room. He opened the door, then closed it after she headed
towards the large bed. There was a low rumbling that came from both, rumbling
that led towards something more intimate between them.
---
I woke up, somewhat uncertain on what had nudged me to this state. Turning in
the bed, I could see my two loves, Sapphire and Emerald, soundly asleep. But
something got me to wake up, a deep sort of rumbling sound. Just what it was
puzzled me, then a flash of insight caught me unprepared for the answer.
"Whazzisss?" came from Sapphire, and I gently kissed her. "Just going to check
something, be back soon," I said. She turned over and was back asleep in
moments, while I had slipped out of the bed.
As silent as I could manage, I went down the hallway from my room. The rumbling
continued, coming from... Redwoulfe's room? I went to the door, which was open
just a crack, and the sight that met me made my eyebrows rise upwards. There,
on the bed, I could see two dragon morphs busy at it, unconcerned by anything
that might have interrupted their activities. And their activities were
definitely going at a fast pace, the male dragon having buried himself in the
female and both rumbling in clear pleasure.
I fell back against the hallway, shocked by the sight. Slowly I went back to my
room, with Emerald and Sapphire slowly waking up. "What's going on?" Emerald
asked, clearly more awake than Sapphire. I just shook my head in both amusement
and amazement.
"Jasamine and Redwoulfe are dragon morphs, going at it like mad." That shook
both into full waking states, as stunned as I was previously.
"Jasamine AND Redwoulfe?" That came from Sapphire. "Good lords, if they are
dragons..."
"No if's. It's real, and it's happening in Redwoulfe's room." A low roar could
be heard, followed by cries and rumbling from what I had to guess was both of
them. Emerald and Sapphire held on to me as we just listened to the pair's
activities, until a mutual pair of deep rumbles pierce the air. I nuzzled both,
recalling our pleasures and grinned. "Sounds like they've finally came to a
climax," I said jokingly.
"I can't believe it," Emerald said to Sapphire, wonder tinging her words.
"Jasamine and Redwoulfe, going at it like crazed minks.
"Crazed dragons, you mean," I corrected, getting mock-swatted by them both. "I
mean, we shared being a dragon before, but this... this is crazy." I sighed
gently, a sigh that was shared by Sapphire and Emerald both. "And as much as I
would love to tease them, they need the sleep. And so do we, dears."
Both nodded, and within moments we were fast asleep...
---
Morning arrive, but not with the usual state that I was familiar with. The
sound of eggs frying had caught my thoughts, and with that I headed towards the
kitchen, afraid of what I might face.
Instead, there was Redwoulfe standing in front of the grill, clearly working on
pancakes. A cough behind me caused me to spin, and Jasamine grinned as she
carried dishes to the table. Already there was biscuits covered with thick
home-style gravy, toast with cheese, and a small collection of eggs prepared.
Redwoulfe worked over a batch of pancakes, the sort you only could get around
the area.
"Heyas," Redwoulfe called out, moving a few pancakes to the dish holding up the
pile of them. "Breakfast will be in 10 minutes, so you'd better make sure your
gals are ready for the meal." He turned his attention back to the griddles, and
I went to fetch my pair of gals.
With that in mind, we all went at the meal awaiting us. Despite his own
personal taste, Redwoulfe took a large plate of biscuits and gravy, while
Jasamine went after a trio of eggs sunny-side up and pancakes. I went from
scrambled eggs and bacon, while Emerald and Sapphire loaded their plates with
pancakes and sausage. Conversations took place as we ate, then a gentle cough
caught everyone's attention.
"I think you all know," Redwoulfe said to start, "that I drank the water last
night. And that the results were... rather mind blowing," he added.
"That wasn't the only being blown," Sapphire said, eliciting chuckles from
Emerald and Jasamine both. I snorted, and Redwoulfe gave us all this 'why me?'
look.
"All right, so Jasamine and I went at it after the fact," he said simply. "I
happen to love her, and I know she loves me as well. So we expressed that love
the only way a pair of shapeshifters can..."
"By fucking her as a dragon?" That came from Emerald, getting a laugh out of
Sapphire. For her part, Jasamine merely smiled widely, a reassuring sort of
expression.
"Yes, we were dragons," Jasamine pointed out. "And given what Redwoulfe has
done for us all, I was not about to pass up that chance. I do love him, just as
I love you three, and don't want to lose you to anyone or anything."
For his part, Redwoulfe grinned. "Trust me, you're not going to lose a thing
with me. Maybe your virginity, but we took care of that one last night." The
room erupted with laughter as Jasamine and Redwoufe looked at each other. A
laughter that changed quickly to a cheer from us three as the pair kissed each
other with clear passion.
---
One year later
Gods, it's so mind blowing the situation had developed over time. That initial
start that Emerald, Sapphire and myself began with had developed over the
months, becoming an active part of our lives together. Add to that mix the
situation with Jasamine, now called Jade like Emerald and Sapphire, and Red, who
was for all intents the godfather of us all, and you've got a situation that
only ones who were like us could appreciate.
Elsewhere, the nanoparticles spread around until at least 25% of the
international population had caught it. Canada ended up becoming the first 100%
infected country, even faster than the US was getting infected. Europe quickly
developed the strain as well, causing issues with the political situations in
the former Russian Federation.
But the US eventually had the disease in all 50 states, helping slightly in
situations. The majority of the folks infected eventually went back to work,
ignoring the fact that they were changed to an extent. They were, as Red put it
succinctly, the 9-5 folks, ignoring what the nanoparticles had done to their
lives.
Our lives were the same, more or less. And for that, I'm glad that we all met
with Red. We could have made it elsewhere, but his helping hands (and money)
kept us out of trouble and made our lives much better.
---
It was another hot, hazy summer's day in Biloxi, with the temperature hovering
around 95. Despite the heat, Red hardly noticed the heat at all, driving along
with the traffic down US 90. The radio played some random music, music that
helped him deal with the insane drivers on the roads.
The Gulf Coast continued to survive the turmoil, hotels and casinos bringing in
the money. No matter what happened, one thing was certain and that was people
would want a place to escape from the problems of today. Tourism spots were
just as popular as before, although a few changes had to come along.
Turning the car down a driveway, Red headed towards the entrance for the Grand,
where a line of cars and buses already were waiting to empty out passengers. He
inched his way into a different lane, and went past the main entrance towards a
smaller one, one where employees waited. One in particular spied his car, and
waved cheerfully.
Red pulled up alongside, and opened the door. Emerald slid into the passenger
seat, grinning and kissing him lightly. "Hey there," she said brightly,
brushing the hair out of her eyes. "Was wondering if you were going to get here
in time."
"Sorry, had an accident on the Interstate." Red pulled away from the casino and
sighed. "Got caught in it heading back to the station." He glanced at her and
winked slyly, taking in the leathers and bright clothing. "Did the Dungeons and
Dragons bit again?"
Emerald nodded. "Had a group of Japanese tourists visiting, and the management
decided to give them the fantasy show." She leaned back in her seat, letting
the wind blow through her hair, the points of her ears peeking out from time to
time. "I don't mind it, although I wouldn't mind playing the lamia or something
other than the blond elf."
Red chuckled at that. "Hey, you typecast yourself there," he pointed out. "You
had to admit you played D&D, and that sealed it."
"Well, I'd rather be that than stand around looking like some Playboy bunny on
the floor," she admitted. "Just look pretty and show off your tits for the
men." She giggled and turned to Red, her bust growing in size, making the
material of her outfit stretch in response.
Red laughed and winked. "Oh hush, you. You've got tits enough for most any man
around here." He reached over and snugged her warmly, then turned his attention
back to driving. "Now, let me get us home safe before you start getting crazy."
---
Calling the situation that Emerald, Sapphire, Jade, Red and myself were in would
have sent me to a dictionary to finds the words. We weren't a household, more
like one of the old communes that were formed back in the 60's. It was share
and share alike, and all of us shared each other with a warmth and passion that
pre-dated those communes. I still loved Sapphire and Emerald, and Red showed
his love for Jade. A year can make a major difference, and together we showed
and shared our love for one another regularly.
A horn honked, and I got up from where I was sitting. Sapphire joined me as we
watched the two drive up. Red stopped the car, and allowed Emerald to bounce
over to Saph and myself, getting deep kisses in return.
I noticed we were missing one person. "Where's Jade?" I asked Red as he
unpacked a box from the back seat.
"She's at work, completing an assignment she had pending. I'll probably go out
around 6ish to pick her up, then stop past Bert's Boat Dock and pick up some
fresh crabs and fish. Then come back here and have seafood for dinner tonight."
---
Dinner arrived soon enough, with Red and Jade fixing the crabs and other
seafood. We all dove in, and eventually there were crab shells and other
remnants of the meal present. Red took it all into the kitchen, where we heard
a grinder going off for a few seconds. Then he walked back, a pitcher of Pepsi
in his hand and several glasses. We grabbed ourselves a glass of that Pepsi,
and settled back.
"Well, it's been a hell of a year," I said gently. Emerald and Sapphire both
had to agree. "Yes, it has been one wild year for us all." The pair grinned as
they held up their glasses. "But to be honest, I wouldn't change a single thing
that we've been through."
For her part, Jade had to chuckle. "You didn't have to live though the madness
I did while living in New York City. And you," she added, turning her attention
to Red, "were down here just living your life until we invaded this place."
Red grinned widely. "You think I was going to tell you, 'Sorry, but I can't
help out?' Give me a break, hun," adding the bit at the end. "But I have never
said no, and I wouldn't say no to you folks, not now and not ever."
Red's words hit a point I had forgotten about since Emerald, Sapphire and I
drank that water so long ago. "We know," I simply replied, getting nods from
the gals.
Red raised his glass, and we all raised ours as well. "So here's to us, the
zanies of Biloxi. Long may we survive, and make our lives as best as possible."
We all agreed, and drank as if we were drinking something more alcoholic. Red
put down his glass, and gave a wink.
"Now, I don't know what you folks are doing," he added with a hint of amusement,
"but I know full well where we are going." He gave Jade a warm smile, the same
smile she got close to a year before. "So I'd suggest that you folks relax and
unwind, while Jade and I are elsewhere."
---
It was late at night, Red and Jade cuddling quietly in the bed they shared.
Elsewhere, Emerald and Sapphire and myself shared our own bed in their own
room. But Red and Jade were happy in their privacy, their lips kissing and
nibbling each other lightly.
Unlike that initial night, when they transformed into dragons, they were
something a little easier to deal with. They had transformed their shapes into
something more feline, purring and rumbling softly as they nuzzled one another.
They repeatedly told the other how much they loved each other, much like myself
with Emerald and Sapphire. With extreme gentleness, they expressed their
concerns for the other, much like I would do with the pair I lived with.
I did care for Sapphire and Emerald both, expressing our own enjoyments. We lay
quietly in our bed, savoring each other's company and expressed our pleasures.
At the same time, we'd hear some of what was happening with Jade and Red, their
own pleasures reaching a peak that was expressed by their cries of delight. It
was strange and yet was perfectly normal around us all.
Speaking of pleasures, Red and I would occcasionally trade bed partners. He'd
end up taking Sapphire until she was screaming, and I'd do the same to Emerald
and Jade. And on rare occasion, Red and I would take each other with our forms
reflecting those changes. And on those rare occasions, Emerald, Sapphire and
Jade would become something unusual, like the time we took the trio as a strange
centaur form, almost mimicing a titanide.
But life was well worth it, and all five of us simply would be. And it was this
way we spent our lives, and shared whatever we wished as a group.
---
Lessons of Life, Lessons of Love
by Tal Greywolf
Copyright 2020, all rights reserved