“I mean it. The food here is disgusting,” Winter complained to an attentive Qibli after leaving the prey cave. “I miss walruses. Seals too. They are chewy and savory and better than cows in every way.”

“Tell me more, my Prince.”

The SandWing’s mockery of his title earned him a growl. “Bite me,” he shot back. “This is serious. If I do not taste walrus meat soon I will actually die.”

“I don’t get it. What’s wrong with cows? Or even deer?” Qibli leaned against the tunnel wall, and counted off with his talons, “They’re juicy, they’re tender, they’re very easy to catch. Oh! And the squishy mammal bits under their tails taste amazing.” He smacked his lips. ”Mhm, now I’m hungry again— Three Moons, I’m turning into Clay!”

Winter snorted despite his efforts to remain stoic. Not that propriety mattered much in the presence of his strange SandWing friend, but he was getting out of practice, and that would simply not do. 

“You would eat anything,” he observed. Qibli stuck his forked tongue out at him. “And you eat that part?” He tossed up his snout, only somewhat of an exaggeration. Every kind of meat was fair game, even if he personally wouldn’t go for it. “Disgusting.”

“Nuh-uh!” Qibli shot back. “It’s delicious! Maybe his royal highness is just picky.”

“I am not picky! You take that back!”

“I don’t believe I should.” He knew Qibli was trying to get a rise out of him, so kept his muzzle shut before he fell into the SandWing’s trap. Infuriatingly, Qibli’s grin only widened. “Tell you what, if you eat that that part the next time we share a cow or deer, I’ll admit you’re not picky.”

Quills rising at the disgusting thought, he nonetheless blurted, “Fine!”

Qibli giggled and turned around. “See you at dinner,” he said, before walking away without another word.

“I don’t know about this, Qibli,” Winter said as Qibli dragged a freshly slaughtered cow into their cave, painting a messy streak of crimson across the stone floor. Qibli always acted a bit strange, but this was pushing it. “Can’t I just eat its liver or something? Those are gross enough, I should think.”

“Nope!” Qibli chirped, dropping the cow. “It has to be the soft bits. You always avoid that area. Want me to cook her for you? It’s a lot better that way.”

“IceWings do not eat cooked meat, thank you very much.” With that said, Winter huffed and turned toward the beast, glancing down at its rump, looking for the ‘soft bits’. Admittedly, he’d never really paid much attention to prey back here. Mammals were weird in all sorts of ways, but that area in particular wasn’t somewhere he wanted his mouth near.

He cautiously approached the cow's backside to get a better look at its fleshy external reproductive parts. As it was on its side, the cow’s tail was draped across its thigh, leaving its plump slit and its puckered hole completely uncovered. It was difficult seeing anything female about this… place. Dragons had sleek, attractive slits. Males and females alike. Everything in one stylish slot. But this cow, like every mammal, kept things separated, a baffling design choice that just looked prolapsed to him.

Cursing his hesitation, Winter eventually leaned in and sniffed the rounder fleshy part at the right, only to pull back suddenly as the scent of dirty animal invaded his nostrils. "Ugh! Like I said, disgusting."

Qibli had the audacity to laugh. "That's her anus, your brilliance. Of course it smells bad. Not quite the squishy part I was talking about. You do you, though."

"I knew that!" Winter growled. "Shut up."

"Just offering some friendly advice. But seriously, try her properly. Maybe give the slit a taste? I promise it’s good!"

"You're trying to make this uncouth, aren't you?"

"Me? Uncouth?" Qibli gave an overdramatic flourish of his wings, and he noticed an annoying glimmer in Qibli’s eyes. "You wound me!"

Snorting, Winter ignored the Sandwing and went back to sniffing the poor excuse for a meal. It had an odd smell. Earthy, tangy, with a hint of something else he couldn’t quite place. He didn’t want to lick it, three moons, did he not want to lick it, but Qibli insisted it was good.

Closing his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see it, he stuck his tongue out, leaned forward, and gave the cow’s disgusting sex a tentative slurp, enveloping the entirety of its fat, swollen slit with his lengthy tongue. 

He smacked his lips when he pulled away, frowning. “It’s… not the worst thing I’ve tasted.” 

Qibli beamed at Winter’s admission, though Winter ignored him in favor of going back for a second lick. He then nibbled on the cow’s leftmost lip, up from his perspective, and decided to try it for real. Licking his lips hesitantly in anticipation, Winter dug his teeth into the tender flesh and tore a small bloody chunk off the upper meaty fold.

 He chewed thoughtfully before swallowing.

“Also not the worst thing I’ve tasted,” he added before going for a second bite. “Tangy, quite fatty. Why is it so fatty here anyway?”

“My guess is so it feels good for the male cow,” Qibli suggested without a hint of shame. “Soft and plump, with lots of fat cushioning the base of your penis as muscles deeper inside squeeze. Can you imagine how good it feels?”

Winter looked at Qibli as though he’d gone mad. “That’s disgusting! This is prey you’re talking about!” To make his point, he bit off another chunk, this time near the tip of the cow’s plump mound, swallowing loudly. “See? Prey. I do not want to imagine prey mating.”

“Who said anything about prey mating?” Qibli said slyly.

“Are you trying to make me lose what little I’ve eaten?” he hissed. ”What is wrong with you?” 

Qibli briefly tossed his forepaws up. “Jeez, relax! It’s not a big deal. See, prey is the best when you’re feeling pent up. No social hoops to fly through, no chance of rejection, and best of all, no risk of eggs. You even get a free meal out of it! Sex and food, all packaged in one body. What more could a dragon ask for?”

His heart skipped a beat. This went beyond anything he expected. Qibli may have been weird, pushy, and downright annoying, but this… this… 

“You mate with prey?!”

“Keep it down,” Qibli said, looking anxiously toward the cave’s entrance. Even Qibli seemed to understand the taboo he was dancing with. “But yes. I know it sounds weird, but come on, you know what it’s like. The urge to jump some random dragoness, and just… stick your penis inside them. Obviously we never act on that urge, but what if I told you prey are just as good? The soft folds of a mammal’s slit, the squishy wet heat of their insides squeezing in shock and panic, the thrill of a hunt along with the satisfaction of breeding.” Qibli exhaled a brief flame, eyes glazing over. Winter stepped back from his insane friend. “I can show you, if you’d like? All this talk’s gotten me in the mood, and there’s a perfect body right there. Even freshly killed they feel good, though she won’t be fresh for too much longer.”

Winter’s thoughts swirled like a blizzard. As disgusting as the words coming out of Qibli’s mouth were, as they should be, he couldn’t deny the appeal of an easy, consequence-free lay. He’d never even considered cows could be mated with, but they were female too, he supposed. Something Qibli forced him to consider by making him chew on the cow’s fleshy and very female bits. 

This was calculated, the blasted SandWing. Ease him into it by getting a good look and taste of a cow’s slit, then drop this insanity. 

He opened his mouth to tell Qibli to stop talking, and for them to never discuss this again, only to choke on his words when he saw something long, sleek, and pink dangling between his friend’s hind legs. 

Qibli finally had the gall to look embarrassed.

“Uh, sorry,” Qibli said sheepishly. “I said I was in the mood, didn’t I? Watching you lick and nibble on her is really sexy. Sorry to interrupt your meal, but I need to stick it somewhere. Leave if you want, but you can also watch? I don’t mind. Maybe you’ll even get jealous?”

Before Winter could reply at the absurdity of getting jealous of such a disgusting act, Qibli was already pushing him aside to mount the cow with shockingly practiced motions. The SandWing then lined himself up with the cow’s half-eaten sex, let out an excited exhale, and slowly pushed inside, uncaring that he was watching. Uncaring how wrong this was.

A loud, embarrassing schlork echoed through the cave as Qibli's penis sunk inside, Qibli groaning as buried himself to the slit in a single thrust. He held himself there, a look of bliss on his face Winter had never seen before. Eyes closed, forked tongue peeking out, wings spread and talons curling, he seemed to be enjoying himself. 

“Oooh, she’s still warm!” Qibli groaned, holding perfectly still as his wings fluttered at his sides. “Wish she was tighter, but this is definitely good enough.”

Winter squirmed, unable to look away from the dragon fornicating with a dead animal. It was a disgusting, vile act that Winter had no reason to humor. No reason to allow it to continue. 

But he couldn’t say anything. His tongue was tied. If this cursed union was so wrong, then why did Qibli seem to be enjoying himself? Why did he seem so pleased?

Qibli slowly pulled out, then when half of his shaft remained inside, he slammed forward, generating another wet smack. He moaned, then seemed to realize how loud he was, and moaned a little quieter. 

“Winter, you have got to try this when I’m done!” Qibli said as the loud plaps of the SandWing's vigorous thrusting echoed in the cave. No one else was around, but Winter still nervously looked over his shoulder. “Feels just like… ha…  a female dragon! She’s even still warm, wet too! And the blood makes her even slicker! Hnn, I can’t— I'm close!”

What could Winter even say to that? His best friend was mating with the corpse of a cow. He squirmed in place, feeling warm, tight between his legs. Shame washed over him like a tidal wave. He was getting aroused from this act of deprived indecency! He could feel his penis pressing on his genital slit from the inside, trying to pierce through. But he clenched down, holding back the urge to let it out. 

Qibli’s motions grew erratic, desperate, and Winter knew he was close. He was proved correct a few seconds later when Qibli snarled and pushed forward, burying himself into the cow and holding deathly still. “Hnnnnn, I’m— there! Ooooh!”

Qibli’s orgasm—as what else could it be?—lasted for about half a minute. The SandWing lay slumped across the cow’s side once finished, licking the cow’s neck as though giving affection. He backed up, sliding himself out of her vagina and causing a cascade of fluids to spill from her backside. 

Winter could only watch on helplessly as his friend’s ejaculate leaked out of the cow, ruining his meal.

But that didn’t mean Winter was any less aroused. He had failed in holding back, his penis having breached his genital slit, though he did try his best to hide his shame by sitting with his tail curled around his front talons. 

Breathing heavily, Qibli turned to him with a glow on his cheeks and a bright, dopey grin. “They feel better when alive, but wow, that was fantastic. Do you want a turn? I can tell you’re excited. I promise it’ll be worth it! She feels sooo good!”

Winter stared at the gooey, red-tinted mess Qibli made of the cow’s crotch. Despite his instinctive revulsion at the thought of another male’s ejaculate, he was tempted. He’d never had sex before. He just couldn’t justify it; being a prince meant any social faux pas would reflect poorly on him and his family. There were slim pickings of IceWings here, no one in his social class, and any other tribe was simply not an option. No matter how pretty Moonwatcher was… 

He shook his head. 

But mating with prey… There was an idea. No one would have to know. Qibli was right about that. Easy, no social hoops to fly through.

And yet, he didn’t want to mate with something dead, let alone covered with his friend’s pleasure. But there was an easy solution to that. “May I… try a live one?”

Qibli beamed.