A few days after Ixen had convinced the department to let Yori out of prison due to the benefit his knowledge might potentially bring to the study of magic, he brought him back to the cavern, as per the rules. Yori was to be put under house arrest with Ixen, an enchantment put on him to make sure he was forced to stay in the cave until proven that he could function in normal society.
The effort Ixen put in to free Yori however, served to anger his at the time, girlfriend Nivem. Seeing as he felt the need to ignore her demands to let the department kill Yori for the laundry list of crimes he had committed, it wasn't long for her to drive an axe through their current relationship. To her, Ixen was aiding a criminal who lied, robbed and murdered others, all for the sake of studying magic he wasn't even allowed to use in the first place.
Ixen himself knew it as well. Even though it was him and Elsu that were sent to deal with the mana surge caused by Yori's mishap, the fact remains that anyone in his spot would have been given a death penalty on the spot. Breaking and entering, first degree murder towards an elderly couple, using illegal magic to highjack military provisions...the list was long, and all of it cause for concern. Still, thanks to Ixen, or more so Elsu's stellar fame as a mercenary at the time, the garnet was given room to stake his reputation on keeping Yori around.
"If I'm there, he won't be able to do anything. I'm more than enough to handle Yori on my own."
Such a comment, added to Ixen's insistence that one such as Yori, who was skilled enough in magic to know how do do all of this without ever being found for years was not just impressive, but almost revolutionary. To remove someone as intelligent as that seemed a waste. But the main reason, and one Nivem knew very well, was Ixen's desire to be useful. Helping others who are unable to defend themselves, through a selfish desire to always be relevant and the "provider." This part of his personality already put much of a strain on his and Nivem's relationship even before the issues with Yori arose, with Nivem's own intelligence, history and ability far eclipsing Ixen's own, to the point where she hardly needed him for anything, even doing better than him in many respects.
Still, what was done was done, and Yori was left with Ixen. The pair having met many years ago in school, back when Ixen actually was a bully and mistreated Yori while they were both there. Calling him slurs due to his race, and his lack of funds or parental figures that cared for him made Yori a prime target for it all, and Ixen back then was the biggest contributor to it all.
However, as he made his way back, all these thoughts circled back to him as he thought about Yori back at the cave. When they first arrived, Ixen had no knowledge of what would unfold with Nivem, but more importantly was the conversation with Yori.
"You live here? What are you, an animal?"
"Funny to see you complaining after you spent a week in a prison cell underwater. It saves money on housing costs, and it has a waterfall running through. I make it all work ok? See, here is the den area..."
The pair walked around, with Ixen showing off the cavern dwelling, the area he slept along with a cold storage room. Still. it was fairly basic, with nothing of note, and quite empty. After the short tour, Yori only let out a sigh as he began pacing on the spot, stamping the ground with his foot all the while.
"Ok. Let's start with this first. You don't have familiars to help with the mundane up keep? This place was trashy. If you keep things lying about, you'll attract more animals."
"I know how to make familiars. But you can't keep them around forever right? They take mana to maintain."
Yori looked at him for a brief moment before shaking his head in disappointment. Complaining under his breath, he wasted no time in waving his paws in the air to gather mana in them. A large amount of it, all being condensed into a small orb. Eventually, he clasped his paws together, before unfurling them, causing dozens of tiny winged orbs to begin fluttering about the area, cleaning things up, tidying areas of the cave that needed it, sweeping up pathways, and cleaning the lake.
The sight of it left Ixen speechless, only managing to marvel at the sight of what looked to be lights moving around frantically to clean every nook and cranny of the entire cave. As they did so, Yori quickly waved his paw again towards a tree, causing a few more familiars to begin carving out a desk and chair.
"I thought you needed constant mana to maintain the spell? How can someone like you with such poor mana make so many?!"
"As long as we are confined to an area with sufficient airborn mana, the familiars can be made to feed off the area instead. So they can effectively maintain themselves. Albeit needing to rest here and there. But they're already going to set up there own rotations and the like. Let's see..."
Just then, Ixen's ring began to go off, causing him to stop Yori mid sentence. Tapping it, Ixen began to talk to Elsu, knowing it was time to already do another job assignment. Without much time, he headed out, leaving Yori to continue on his own.
Later...As Ixen tried to teleport back into the cave, his path was immediately blocked off, causing his body to run head first into an invisible barrier. The hit caused him to fall down the mountain side, thankful for the shield bracelet taking all the damage from the fall. Once he hit the ground, he looked towards an opening, now with an archway and symbol adorning the front.
"...A...teleportation barrier...? Yori!"
Ixen, now worried Yori had hijacked his home after he left him alone, immediately tried to blast the door down, only for the spell to get canceled out upon touching any portion of the cave. With no knowledge on how to get in, Ixen began to run to the top, using platforms to climb up towards the only opening inside, a small hole in the top to allow for sunlight to get in.
He crawled his way through, and upon making it in, saw the den area with carpeting, the stream with a new rock overpass. The walk to the lake as well having a walkway now, and even a new focusing crystal inside the lake itself. The cavern was almost completely transformed into a full on living space in the span of a day, with Yori himself now plopped at the desk and chair the familiars began carving out when he left.
Behind him, a shelf with woven baskets from soft branches, and shelves for tablets that Yori might keep was also made, along with other various items adorning it. Familiars from before were now resting around the cavern, some sleeping, other milling about and doing minor touch-ups to the area.
"Holy...Cultus...what...?"
"Oh you're back. Finally. I need to teach you the code for the door. Also I sent the familiars out and made a crystal to warp to. Use this instead to warp straight back. But first...need to get you attuned to it."
The new crystal was why the new barrier was up, no doubt to make sure no mages could simply teleport in. As well, with all the new items inside, Ixen needed Yori, this time to be in reverse. It was already serving as a bit of a downer that he was able to do so much with magic in such a short time, but he was with Nivem, so it was ok.
However, the next day proved to put an end to that relationship, with Nivem breaking up with him over Yori's release. Lacking the energy to even do much of anything that day, Ixen left leaving Elsu to do any current jobs.
Thankfully, the bed was more or less unchanged from before, and Ixen, now quite depressed over the break-up, only had the energy to go to sleep for the day.
The third day, and one where this now all takes place, leaves Ixen in a still poor mood. However, he knew putting off work for even a day more would be bad for the pair, so he pulled himself up and out, with Yori left to continue researching and studying.
By the time Ixen made it back, his mood was even worse, now with some putting emphasis on his weight. This time however, he simply sat down in the den. Waving to the familiars, one quickly brought him a game to play, as he used his mana to turn it on, in an attempt to distract himself. Before he could get far however, Yori appeared, standing in front of him with a look of almost annoyed contempt.
"The hell? You bring me out here, only to ignore me the last couple days? What the hell?"
"S-sorry, I'm really not...I don't mean to. I hope you are doing well. Certainly made the place your own."
Yori didn't give him any reply back, simply looking down at his form, the massive tail connected to his frame, the wide belly and thick, yet fragile arms. And the ruby red claws on his hands and feet. The sight of it caused Yori to blush a bit, before placing a paw on his stomach.
"Geez, you got fat. The hell were you doing after you finished the years in Odarriya? Eat half the food in the merchants district?"
"Ugh, I don't want to hear this. Sorry, I just didn't think about it all. No I didn't eat all that, it just kinda happened, ok? Not all of us can be as fit and form as you are."
The sharp reply caused Yori to smile internally, as he began rubbing the dragon's belly. Each movement of his soft paws over his stomach left Ixen groaning a bit, from just how pleasurable it was to feel his belly getting rubbed by another.
"Never said the weight was bad. You looked kinda thin back then anyway. I think it looks good. Even if you are a fat ass now."
"Wait you...um...l-like it?"
Yori shrugged as he continued, leaning in and continuing to rub Ixen's belly. The feeling was quite different than what Nivem did, with her being less than fond of his stomach size. Still, while it felt a bit invasive, Ixen couldn't help but put an arm around him, pulling him in as he nervously scratched the scales on the back of his head. He tried his best to hide his enjoyment, though the smile was clear as day to any who looked upon it.
"T-thanks...um...I assume for trying to help me feel better."
"This isn't about you, dumb serpent. I just kinda like...how big and soft you are. Damn...you do NOT work out at all."
"Working out is for losers who don't see the superiority of a mage. Magic is far better than anything else."
Ixen's last comment on magic superiority left Yori smiling as he pressed himself into Ixen's belly. With an arm around him, Yori only managed to murmur out how right he was, and how it was nice to meet another who understood, like himself, that nothing else had a place in a world of magic.
With that, the pair of close minded individuals relationship slowly began to form. As Yori's apparent self sufficient nature was not as strong as he let on. And one where both of them saw magic as the strongest and most capable thing to exist.
