[The touch of something against her tail should have bothered her (there was a thing in her space), but it was a warm something. The lamia rumbled a pleased noise that mostly made its way through her scales, and her tail uncoiled a bit to inch closer to the warm thing she could feel close by.]
Not...that cold.
[Being this close to going into hibernation mode also made her a bad liar.]
[Kaede blinked, slowly, and it took a long time for her eyes to open again. She just wanted to sleep. Sleep until the sun came back up and everything was warm again. How quickly things had spiralled away from her.
The lamia continued gradually shifting her coiled tail closer to the warmth, but it was a rather slow moving and unthreatening motion.]
Guess so. Why does...why's it matter, about me.
[And now she's reached the existential rambly part of cold.]
It's just...me. I'll sleep. Wake up...sometime. I guess.
[She'd defrost eventually. It'd just suck in the meantime.
By the time the touch to her face registered, her usual headshy indignation had to compete with the lamia's appreciation of all things warm and soft. And the monster was more awake, anyway. And far less in denial about what she needed. She leaned forwards instead of jerking away, leaning against the palm that touched her appreciatively.]
[ Kaede’s tail opens up, Alex taking it as an invitation to move closer. She sits, holding her arms out to her as she wasn’t really sure what would be the most comfortable for Kaede. ]
[When Alex pulled her hand away, the lamia followed, sluggishly and only slightly graceful. But she stopped before she returned Alex's embrace, her human mind finally hesitating.
The rest of her, though, had different ideas. While Kaede lingered out of range, palms pressed to the floor, her tail looped around Alex--slowly, and with a decently large buffer of space so she resembled a donut of snake. Her scales sometimes scraped against the floor too--she was wiggling her tail backwards, it happened.]
[ She sees Kaede coming near, and then suddenly stopping, leaving her arms hanging up awkwardly. Her lion-like ears twitch when something suddenly wraps around her, and she’s not quite sure how she feels about the very scaley hug.
[The tail didn't squeeze, at least, now torn between instinct and Kaede's mind scrabbling for control. But there was enough to curl around twice over, and gave her human torso something to rest on. She flopped over onto the cool scales, as much as she itched to get closer. Some parts of her that hadn't been exposed to the cold yet shivered a bit in open air, but Kaede wouldn't allow herself to get more comfortable.
The very end of the lamia's tail kept flicking, though the cold-born sluggishness made it look more like a lazy wag than an agitated flick. No rattle, either--just stripes like a harmless garter snake. The dangerous part of her was in the least monstrous half. Though...Kaede wasn't doing a good job of looking dangerous, except as maybe a sullen pile of scales to trip over.]
[ Not quite sure how else to help her, Alex reaches over to stroke her hair, letting her rest some more. The poor thing looked like she could use it, and if Alex was being honest, she could too.
Oddly enough, she finds herself comfortable enough in this makeshift nest of a snake to start nodding off, losing the battle of keeping her eyes often after a few more minutes. ]
[Kaede mumbled after a sluggish moment, her alarm muted and the sound delayed. Something was touching her head, she should be Concerned. But it was soft, and warm, and now that she'd laid down getting up seemed like an impossible effort. So little rumbly noises they remained.
With nothing shooing them away, the coils twine closer and closer to the Warm Thing. Still not tight enough to squeeze, but enough to consolidate all those cold spots. Sorry for the cold scale touches, Alex.]
[ She’s surprisingly not bothered by the scale-y embrace, finding some comfort in it. It’s not until some time that she stirs again, not realizing how tired she had been. A yawn escapes her lips as she tries to rub the sleep out of her eyes, one hand resting atop Kaede’s.
Alex can’t find the heart to wake her yet, shifting to brush some of the hair from Kaede’s face as she watched the young woman sleep. ]
[Once Kaede was out, she was out; it took a lot of energy to keep up her hyperaware paranoia, and once she had dropped her guard, all that exhaustion caught up at once.
The lamia mumbled sluggishly when her hair was brushed, a sound that rumbled through her scales.]
...little longer, Aiko. 'M tired.
[The stripy end of her tail draped over Alex's hand and wrist, a reciprocal squeeze.]
But…Alex needed to go and continue helping out, so she carefully tries to wriggle away, fingers pushing gently against Kaede’s tail. Her legs made it harder to away though, her hips catching around the ring of scales. She continues to wriggle though, hoping the fur of her legs don’t itch. ]
[The striped lamia shifted a bit when poked, scales twitching as if dislodging some little insect or bit of dust. The touch of fur mollified her somewhat; it was like a soft cloth on her scales. And it was getting harder to keep her grip on it. Kaede mumbled again in sleepy protest, curling a little closer around the now moving warm thing. Nooo, stop moving.]
[The touches on her scales intensified, no longer light, intermittent things but constant scrabbling ticklish things. The lamia didn't quite squeak (yet), but it certainly set off a wiggling, squirming reaction. Her coils loosened and lost their grip, wriggling about like an eel in shallow water. As she jolted back to wakefulness, her body lagged behind, movements sluggish and erratic by turns.
Now she did squeak, trying to get away from the unintentional tickles.]
[The circle of coils broke up into a squiggly line as Kaede scurried away, covering the sides of her human torso. She didn't get too far before stopping, but Alex was free now!]
[ Alex falls ever so gracefully onto her face when Kaede suddenly scrambles away from her. She sits up, rubbing her sore nose as she watches Kaede pull away like a cornered animal. A very tall and long, cornered animal. ]
[Someone saw her being something that wasn't cool and collected, how mortifying.]
It's--but. [Further dinging her image of the hardened monster, the lamia's tongue flicked out a moment. She snapped her head back, almost going cross-eyed to look at it like it had betrayed her.] You better not tell anyone!
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Aren’t you…Kaede?
[ the door creaks open as she steps in and moves closer, her hooves clicking against the wood. ]
You’re really shivering…
[ She rests a hand against her tail, feeling the small tremors. ]
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[The touch of something against her tail should have bothered her (there was a thing in her space), but it was a warm something. The lamia rumbled a pleased noise that mostly made its way through her scales, and her tail uncoiled a bit to inch closer to the warm thing she could feel close by.]
Not...that cold.
[Being this close to going into hibernation mode also made her a bad liar.]
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[ Because she was definitely cold.
The sudden movement surprises Alex, but she doesn’t pull away. ]
I don’t think we bace enough blankets to cover all of you. Do you think you can move?
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The lamia continued gradually shifting her coiled tail closer to the warmth, but it was a rather slow moving and unthreatening motion.]
Guess so. Why does...why's it matter, about me.
[And now she's reached the existential rambly part of cold.]
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[ She doesn’t look too well. Alex’s brow furrows as she reaches up to press the palm of her hand against Kaede’s cheek.
Far too cool to the touch. ]
Of course it matters
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[She'd defrost eventually. It'd just suck in the meantime.
By the time the touch to her face registered, her usual headshy indignation had to compete with the lamia's appreciation of all things warm and soft. And the monster was more awake, anyway. And far less in denial about what she needed. She leaned forwards instead of jerking away, leaning against the palm that touched her appreciatively.]
You're warm.
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Then, want me to stay with you for a bit?
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...sure.
[The lamia's coils started to loosen and uncurl, but it was sluggish going. The warm blooded creature in the room could probably step in faster.]
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The rest of her, though, had different ideas. While Kaede lingered out of range, palms pressed to the floor, her tail looped around Alex--slowly, and with a decently large buffer of space so she resembled a donut of snake. Her scales sometimes scraped against the floor too--she was wiggling her tail backwards, it happened.]
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But…it was still a hug, wasn’t it? ]
Erm…is it helping?
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The very end of the lamia's tail kept flicking, though the cold-born sluggishness made it look more like a lazy wag than an agitated flick. No rattle, either--just stripes like a harmless garter snake. The dangerous part of her was in the least monstrous half. Though...Kaede wasn't doing a good job of looking dangerous, except as maybe a sullen pile of scales to trip over.]
Enough.
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Oddly enough, she finds herself comfortable enough in this makeshift nest of a snake to start nodding off, losing the battle of keeping her eyes often after a few more minutes. ]
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With nothing shooing them away, the coils twine closer and closer to the Warm Thing. Still not tight enough to squeeze, but enough to consolidate all those cold spots. Sorry for the cold scale touches, Alex.]
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Alex can’t find the heart to wake her yet, shifting to brush some of the hair from Kaede’s face as she watched the young woman sleep. ]
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The lamia mumbled sluggishly when her hair was brushed, a sound that rumbled through her scales.]
...little longer, Aiko. 'M tired.
[The stripy end of her tail draped over Alex's hand and wrist, a reciprocal squeeze.]
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But…Alex needed to go and continue helping out, so she carefully tries to wriggle away, fingers pushing gently against Kaede’s tail. Her legs made it harder to away though, her hips catching around the ring of scales. She continues to wriggle though, hoping the fur of her legs don’t itch. ]
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[ Okay that was tight. Alex tries to find purchase on the smooth scales, her fingers sliding awkwardly over them. ]
K-Kaede…!
[ It was a trap. An adorable trap. ]
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Now she did squeak, trying to get away from the unintentional tickles.]
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[ The sudden wave of scales jostled Alex about, almost causing her to fall over. She looks at Kaede, almost as surprised as the poor lamia was.
Was that by any chance… ]
Sorry, are you…um…ticklish?
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I'm not!
[A bit too vehement of a denial, hm.]
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…
[ Should she just pretend to not know this now? ]
It’s…not a bad thing to be ticklish.
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It's--but. [Further dinging her image of the hardened monster, the lamia's tongue flicked out a moment. She snapped her head back, almost going cross-eyed to look at it like it had betrayed her.] You better not tell anyone!
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…Is there someone who wants to know?
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