The dragon had been suspiciously busy lately.

Coming to bed to scoop the cuttlefish up for cuddles as they drifted off to sleep together had remained the same as always, albeit taking place in increasingly later hours of the night. Not wanting to pry into his goings-on at his lab - which produced various solutions for the purpose of transformation - remained the same as always too; Sepia was busy themselves throughout their days, and leaving work at work was commonplace for them for the most part, the unspoken agreement coming in especially handy on the days when the poor dragon came home showing signs of a bad batch of potion-making.

Though the observant and curious creature had noticed something else, aside from the dragon returning to their bed late. Despite Nor's meticulous cleaning, tentacles caressing those ebony scales when they partook in their usual nightly ritual of affectionately enjoying each others physical company would detect scents that were unfamiliar from the usual residue of the lab Sepia had grown accustomed to over time.

"What have you been up to...." the tentacled creature muttered to themselves, out into the empty room, eyes closed as they were instructed to be. They sat patiently upon the backless stool left out for them by the dragon. They hadn't laid eyes on him all day, since morning... All they'd found was a note when they'd returned home for the evening, written by Nor's familiar writing on the countertop:

"I have a surprise for you.
You'll find a seat in the back room,
Sit there for me, keep your eyes closed,
NO PEEKING - wait for me there.

xo, Nor"

Recalling the scent the night before that piqued their curiosity the most - a scent that reminded them of themselves, and the ocean - Sepia's facial tentacles writhed over themselves in anticipation. The striped arms extended out a bit, an automatic expression of the cuttle's thoughts, reaching out into the air in a fruitless bid to come in contact with that fascinating scent again as they recalled the moment.
Anxiety built in their belly, mounting quickly as they heard the door to the room open. Fidgeting with their hands rested on their lap, they took in the unseen looming presence dampening the sound behind them as he drew closer with careful steps. Their breathing quickened, beak opening to speak-

"Keep your eyes closed..."

Sepia's beak snapped shut and frilled brows expressed their surprise and confusion at their partner's voice - his voice seemed to come from a place... Taller than they were used to.

A pair of large clawed hands then came to rest on each of the cuttle's shoulders out of their perceived darkness, slowly sliding over their skin and forward, over their collarbone, further, to rest on the upper portion of their plush pectorals. Setting their skin alight from the anxiously anticipated sensation of touch... His hands felt pleasantly warm, like they always were, a draconic trait Sepia had come to love (most times, until he was cooking them alive in warmer months in a cuttlefish-wing-burrito during sleep).

A perfect beat after Sepia let out a purr at the satisfaction of the contact on their chest, a second pair of hands had made their way to each of their large ears, startling the creature. Eyes fluttering open in surprise for a moment, a gasp, reflexively turning to turn to look at what was going on, was there someone else?-

"Ssshhh, it's okay. Just me." He chuckled. "Close those eyes still, and relax... Feel this form I crafted for you, bit... by... bit."

Beak parted and heart pounding in their chest, Sepia obeyed, jamming their eyes shut again before they could see anything. They chuckled nervously to calm themselves, eager to feel the next sensations laid upon them from their love's mysterious new body.

Hands massaging their chest in slow, lazy circles, and now lovingly tracing along the ridges of their ears as well with the surprising new set of hands, Sepia smiled wide and relaxed into the massages, parsing that his hands were smoother, and had less digits than they were used to as well. Fascinating.

The mysterious figure moved in even closer behind them, after a long moment of wonderful caressing, taking his time, giving them plenty of time to wonder what would come next. A rumbling chitter, like of Sepia's own voice, and of their species, but deeper, clicked from what sounded like a beak by their ear.

Sepia's beak parted again in awe, the pieces finally and fully clicking together in their mind as to what he had turned into. They squirmed in their seat, crossing their feet over each other and squeezing their toes, fighting to keep their eyes closed, a small sound escaping them. "He's... Like me?" The three-digit hands of theirs didn't know what to do, so had resolved to rest tightly in between their tense thighs.

The gentle creeping of tentacles upon their face was the tipping point though, and Sepia's eyes could not stay closed a second longer.

Lids raising slowly, waiting for permission, or an order to close them again. When nothing came, the waved pupils searched their field of view, confused, before focusing upwards above them...

Coming into focus loomed a beaked, shadow-skinned creature so unique and beautiful that the cuttlefish's heart flipped at the sight and their pupils dilated with desire. Chromatophores flooded deep colors over their skin in waves as they locked in to the familiar, yet brand new, gaze of the other - utterly captivated by the acid green irises and waved pupils gazing deeply back at them.

Nothing at all, not the room or the world crashing down around them, could have pried their attention away from the prize before them in this moment.

Too stunned to speak coherent words, Sepia let out a breathy, gleeful noise resembling laughter, a small display in comparison to the enormous amount of joy and excitement that flooded them. Apparently, they had raised a hand up to meet the similarly-digited one on their chest to hold it tightly, though their thoughts were churning so wildly that control of their thoughts or actions were out the window at the moment.

He had experimented a lot with his form that the cuttle had seen, but this was something that was entirely out of the realm of their imagination. Long tentacles atop their head had, with a mind of their own, extended and reached out to explore the treasure above them as well, feeling along his upper set of arms.

Inky tentacles felt and explored over the caramel skin, Sepia's own striped tentacles reaching up to entangle with them in such a satisfying way that they'd never experienced before, the feeling of it causing a new kind of hungry heat to pool low in their body. Their gaze scanned from his mesmerizing eyes to all around his new face - ears, like theirs, though much smaller in comparison. An obsidian horned beak, cephalopod arms just like theirs extending from the sides of the face, frills even decorating his skin texture just as Sepia's, and in place of the long parietal tentacles Sepia possessed, were shorter and light-colored ones, resembling his old draconic horns funnily enough... Their beloved dragon was still familiar, though now alluring them on what felt like a cellular level.

"Ho...ney..." mouth corners pulled back in a big open smile, Sepia's lids fluttered in intoxicated awe. "You... Wow..." more words followed, but they were little more than barely comprehensible stuttering, words of wonder and adoration.

Nor chuckled and tested out his beak by leaving a preening kiss on the smaller cuttle's forehead, toying with frills atop their head. "Love it, don't you?"

His upper arms moved to hug closer around Sepia's upper chest as the lower limbs snaked underneath their arms to hug lower as he moved in even closer, melting the sepia toned cuttle more with every moment. "I've been working on it all week... Making me perfect for you." Resting his head atop of theirs, he enveloped them in his arms as much as he physically could as they sat, tentacles hugging onto the others', and caressing skin where he could, rumbling new, loving sounds at them, making sure his cuttlefish felt as enveloped as possible.

Sepia closed their eyes and soaked in the moment like a dry sponge, malleable putty in his four hands. They felt hypnotized by him and his beauty at the best of times, but now, they were useless. The world did not exist outside of what they could feel of him. "You're always perfect to me, my Nor... My... Love. But... Shit... Wow..." The last word drawn out and ending with a breathy laugh.

Their large plump tail wiggled side to side back against him, brushing his legs. They leaned back into him, feeling like they were melting together as waves of color, heat, and pleasure coursed through them. Snapping out of the moment with a startled sound - they had almost fallen over and out of their seat by letting go of a bit too much of their senses, though strong black arms saved them from falling to the floor.

"Whoa-" Nor held up the cuttle with a grunt and carefully stood them up, extra arms and accompanying back muscles making the effort that much easier. Once they could find the ground underneath their feet and uneasy legs, standing with him facing their back still, they immediately could tell that their earlier observation was right - he *was* taller, considerably taller. Sepia's beakmouth contorted into a nervous, very blushy smile at this new revelation, almost too nervous to turn and see just how handsome he was in his current, looming form. It might undo them entirely...

"Wow... You're- you're tall-" feeling a bit like prey with the new size difference, they shivered and shifted to release the nerves.

Sepia then turned their head first, with hesitation, to look back and up at him. Deliberately moving the rest of their body in his arms to face him, Sepia studied what they could see as they moved. Resting their hands on his chest - the lower one - Sepia moved their hands upwards slowly to glide the surface of their palms over the fascinating anatomy of two sets of pectoral muscles, feeling them tense a bit under their touch in response as if inviting them to touch more.

The mix of immense curiosity; a thousand questions all asking themselves in unison in their thoughts with no time to ask one, and no vocal chords to cooperate to voice them; and flooding, heavy, pulsing, firey desire was threatening to overstimulate the cuttle. Their skin texture spiking then and smoothing out, chromatophores going wild, showing their elated distress. But when they focused upward on the familiar bright green hue of his eyes, the electric raging seas and mounting loud static in their mind slowed down slowly but surely as they breathed in the moment and let themselves surrender to trust, and relax in their partner's comforting presence.

Sepia then moved in for a close hug, nuzzling in and nestling their head underneath his chin and over his shoulder, as close as they could physically get. A small sound of relief emenating from their sighing chest as draconic warmth surrounded them. Two of his arms hugged them in close, while one rubbed comfortingly at their lower back, and another palming their large ear under a caressing thumb.

"Mmm..." Nor rumbled, nuzzling Sepia with his beak. "I hope you're alright, your poor colors, dear. But... This reaction... I've never seen you so... Excited. This is all I could ask for."

"And a hug this amazing is all *I* could ever ask for. Four arms is... Incredible. I'm ok... More than okay~ I..." They nuzzled into his shoulder and neck, planting some beak kisses. Even now in the heat of this moment that would be seared into the cuttlefish's memories for life, he was worrying, checking in on them, making sure they were happy... "I love you so much."

Nor smiled smugly, contentedly. The former-dragon was immensely proud of his work. "These four arms... All the better to hold you with."

Sepia purred and chittered, squeezing him and swaying, hands rubbing around his back, and then down, holding onto his hips.

"All the better... To hold you close..." He kissed their cheek, nuzzling into their receiving face tentacles. Nor's lower set of hands then both firmed their grasp increasingly as they made their way downward along Sepia's curves to rest with open-palmed squeezes that were *just* hard enough to tantalize on the smaller cuttle's plump mounds that rested on either side of their wide tail. Sepia gasped.

"And give you..." The second pair of clawed hands firmly, possessively, grasped them on either side at the ribs, the large three-digit hands spanning wide enough across the other's smaller frame to make Sepia gulp and burn up even more, what a lovely feeling... Then one trailed along their color-changing skin to sneak up and close around the back of their neck, claws digging in just so,

"All of the attention your beautiful little body deserves, all at once."

~~~

and RIP their neighbor's restful night of sleep