“R-Ray. Wait a moment.”
Thinking he might really fall under the bed at this rate, Naro hurriedly pushed his shoulders away. Fortunately, Ray was pushed back and sat properly on the bed looking at Naro.
“Ray really…”
He still couldn’t believe it. No matter how much he was living in a different world, this was still too surprising. The Ray before his eyes right now was unmistakably human itself.
Naro fumbled Ray’s face with his hands. The texture of the skin was exactly the same as a human’s. But at the same time, the lustrous hair reminded him of dragon scales, and the way he wiggled his hips was exactly the same as when the dragon wagged its tail constantly when feeling good.
In other words, though it was a perfect human appearance, this person was really Ray.
“Dragons can do this kind of thing too…”
“Naro.”
“Uh… yeah?”
It was too unfamiliar and fascinating to hear his name called from Ray’s mouth.
“It’s morning.”
“Ah, yeah, right. It’s morning.”
“Then we should do our morning greeting.”
Morning greeting? Only then did Naro go “Ah” and nod his head. Come to think of it, when Ray was a dragon, he would lick his lips to his heart’s content every morning upon waking and wouldn’t let go easily.
Wait. Then did he have to do that now? With Ray who’d become human?
Naro’s head started getting complicated. Greeting with kisses in the morning was an established routine. But even so, wasn’t it a bit much to do that with such a full-grown man?
“Naro.”
As Naro was suffering, Ray moved directly. He bent his waist and licked Naro’s lips with his tongue. Naro was startled and his shoulders flinched. He’d barely just accepted the fact that Ray had become a person instead of a dragon, and if he did this, his barely calmed heart had no choice but to run wild again.
Naro pushed Ray’s shoulder away, but perhaps because his body was solid, he didn’t push away easily.
“Morning greeting. Why won’t you do it?”
Ray grabbed both of Naro’s hands and made him wrap them around his own waist. Then he casually brought his face close while simultaneously pushing forward his lips.
“Hurry, Naro.”
He wasn’t unaware of what he was urging. Every morning, Ray would lick Naro’s lips with his tongue upon waking and greet him. And around the time that greeting became familiar, Naro also hugged Ray tightly in his arms and kissed him.
“Wait a moment!”
But the situation now was too different from then. After blocking the approaching face with his hand, Naro quickly escaped outside the bed.
“U-um… let’s skip morning greetings from now on!”
“Why?”
Why indeed. Because right now you’re in the form of a complete person.
“I just think it would be better that way for the future.”
When he was a dragon, how should he put it? Right, it felt like touching a pet. Though he was a dragon, Ray used to act like a dog following its owner. But in the form of such a robust man, he couldn’t act the same as before.
“You always did it, but why are you saying you won’t do it anymore?”
Ray came down from the bed with big strides, his spirits dampened. At that moment, the blanket flowed down, revealing his perfect nude body as well.
Kyaa, Naro let out a small scream, covered his face with his hands, and turned his head. When he was a dragon, he hadn’t put anything on him, so being naked was natural, but he couldn’t casually look at the sight of a full-grown man completely naked.
Moreover, he seemed to have seen something tremendous between his legs.
“Naro. Are you avoiding me? I thought you’d be happy if I became human. But why can’t you recognize me and won’t do the morning greeting?”
A deflated voice reached his ears. The hand covering his face slowly fell down. Right, perhaps Ray using his power to become human was all because of himself. Though he didn’t fully understand by what principle that could happen, at that time when Ray kept trying to go outside, he had grabbed him and said things like humans are different from dragons, since the species are different, humans won’t easily accept you.
For now, Naro brought the blanket that had been hanging on the chair and quickly wrapped it around Ray’s waist. Even if it was spring, mornings were still chilly. It was just a makeshift solution, but it was still better than leaving him bare-bodied.
“I-if you stay like that, you’ll catch a cold.”
But he still couldn’t meet eyes with Ray who’d become human.
“Um… to explain, I’m not avoiding you, I’m just a bit surprised. I didn’t know you’d really become human.”
“You’re not avoiding me?”
Naro timidly nodded his head while glancing at Ray. He, who’d been making a subtle expression, suddenly lifted Naro up and sat down on the bed again.
“Ray, what are you doing…!”
Making his averted gaze meaningless, Naro ended up sitting on Ray’s thigh facing him. Just as Naro hugged Ray tightly facing him every morning, this time Ray wrapped his arms around Naro’s waist and met his eyes.
“If you’re not avoiding me, then prove it.”
“Huh?”
“Morning greeting. The one you always did.”
Ray pressed. Ray’s appearance as a human was more outstanding than any man Naro had encountered while living in the previous world and the current world. He was already dying of awkwardness from suddenly becoming human, and it happened to be with a face he couldn’t adapt to even more than that, so he didn’t know what to do with himself.
“Naro. Quickly.”
The thick arms were affectionately wrapped around his waist, but the strength was strong so he couldn’t escape easily. The posture of crossing solid arms clearly showed the intention not to let go until his wish was granted.
At this rate, he might have to repeat this tug-of-war all day. After making up his mind, Naro grabbed both of Ray’s shoulders and slowly lowered his head.
Their lips touched lightly with a cheerful sound. The soft texture was especially unfamiliar. Ray’s lips were much softer and warmer than when he was a dragon. After kissing like that for a few seconds, Naro raised his head sharply.
“Is that good enough?”
“Yeah.”
Ray smiled brightly and stuck out his tongue. He rushed to lick Naro’s lips, but Naro quickly blocked him with his hand.
“Again.”
“Listen, Ray. From now on, I’ll do the morning greeting. Only me.”
“Only Naro?”
Ray tilted his head. Since he didn’t seem to have any intention of agreeing to skip the morning greeting altogether, this was the best option. No matter what, he didn’t think he could accept a full-grown man licking his lips.
“Mm, yeah.”
Fortunately, Ray readily nodded his head.
“Yeah, then can you release your arms now? I can’t move.”
“There’s still one more thing left.”
What more was left? After brief pondering, Naro recalled what he’d forgotten.
“Ah, good morning. Ray.”
As he added those words, Ray’s face brightened instantly and he hugged Naro tightly in his arms.
“Yeah, good morning. Naro.”
The breath touching his ear tickled. The way he rubbed his face against Naro’s shoulder to his heart’s content was unmistakably the same as his behavior when he was a dragon.
* * *
“Um, you know. Ray.”
“Hm?”
“I-if you stay like that, it’s hard for me to cook…”
Naro slightly turned his head. As he first saw Ray’s face embracing his waist from behind, he could only smile awkwardly.
“But I don’t want to separate. I like Naro’s smell.”
When Ray put strength into the arm holding Naro, his feet that had been touching the floor lifted and his body floated slightly in the air. Just after being startled and dropping the knife he was holding, hot breath was felt on the back of his neck. Ray had buried his face and started rubbing constantly.
At the ticklish feeling, Naro had no choice but to bite his lips. But he couldn’t waste morning time like this forever. These days, just organizing the shop was quite overwhelming, so adding a bit of exaggeration, 24 hours weren’t enough.
Naro left Ray fidgeting behind him for a moment and started turning his head quickly. Ray had become human from a dragon, but his actions and thoughts were still immature. He seemed not yet adapted to human life.
Even when he hurriedly bought clothes at the plaza, Ray had wondered why he had to wear such uncomfortable things. Then basically, his nature was closer to a dragon than a human.
Come to think of it, there was something Naro used to do often when Ray was still a dragon. When they were together at the pharmacy, an action he always did when Ray stayed obedient without causing accidents. When that came to mind, he felt like he’d found the answer.
“R-Ray!”
“Hm?”
“If you stay obediently over there while I cook, I’ll praise you.”
Ray slowly blinked his green eyes. It seemed like ‘praise?’ was written in both eyes. Since Ray had memories from when he was a dragon, he must have that memory too.
“Okay. I’ll stay obediently.”
As expected, Ray readily nodded his head and walked to the bed, plopping down. Though the warmth that had been touching his back disappeared making him feel a bit empty, it was fortunate this worked. Since Ray might change his mind again, Naro moved his hands twice as busily as usual to make breakfast.
