Caudle, due to book-related events beyond his control, was shorter than normal. The chiropteran bookseller was up, still wearing his night-clothes: striped pajamas complete with a night cap topped by a bauble at the end of its flopped point. He had given up asking on why the pajamas that fit just right on his slender six foot tall form fit him just as well no matter what size (or species) he became. 

       What didn't adjust to his size was the kitchen. He had drowsily enlisted the aid of a stepstool to operate the range and put a kettle on. The wait for the whistle of steam escaping had been enough for the sleepy bat to gather a tea bag and teacup. Normally the cup would be quite small for him, but at his current size it was scaled much like a coffee mug. 

       A careful pour was easy. Muscle memory of making countless cups of tea guided his fingers to ensure the proper steep.

       While Caudle had been occupied, his friend Durg had appeared at the breakfast bar with a bowl of cereal. The grey-scaled dragon towered over the chiropteran even at the best of times, standing well over eight and nearly to nine feet tall. His rounded muzzle was curved into a pleasant smile as he munched away, his visible eye tracing the path of the much smaller male around as he walked.

       The three foot and change bat walked out from behind the kitchen peninsula that the bar was located upon, carrying his steaming cup of herbal goodness with one hand's fingers warming themselves against the ceramic. A road block was present, one he was fairly used to with his larger friend around. 

       Durg's tail dropped straight from his hip, as thick as either of his well-formed thighs, and met the floor in an L shape that caused a bit of the flesh on the dorsal side to crease on itself from the sharp angle. The banded underside pressed flat to the floor for the rest of its length. Inconveniently, the girthy limb travelled all the way from the dragon's stool to the molding at the base of the nearby wall, making all non-flying routes out of the kitchen cross over its heft. Curled away from the oncoming tea-bearing bat, the plump draconic spade curled to one side rather than press flat up against the drywall. 

       Caudle was undaunted, perhaps too drowsy to feel the weight of the obstacle before him. He was definitely too sleepy to abandon his tea to use his wings to flutter over. So the path was clear. Walking fairly close to where the muscular limb met the floor, the bat extended one hand to press flat against the downward portion of its shape, about two thirds of the way up to its base on the dragon's hips. He lifted the same leg while the opposite hand held his teacup steadily. "Pardon, just passing by..." He moved to plant his foot on the kitchen tile on the far side of the flattened girth. 

       Sharply, the tail's nearly trapezoidal cross section coming from its relaxed state firmed into an oval as the muscles within the limb engaged. The right angle turned into a more gradual curve, lifting the darker dorsal scales up between the bat's spread legs to lift him right off the ground. 

       Drowsiness was abruptly a thing of the past for the chiropteran. Caudle held his cup with both hands as his eyes widened. "Bu-hah!" The undignified sound of surprise came unbidden as his body tensed up. 

       The serpentine limb kept lifting off the floor as if the bat on top of it were no weight at all. Durg's hips, which had been settled a bit back on the stool, tensed and slipped forward. The effect was immediate. Like a whip, the upraised base of the tail came down, sending a wave of undulating muscles towards the aloft passenger. 

       Caudle abruptly found himself sliding down the length of his friend's tail as the wave carried him towards the wall while keeping him mostly the same elevation off the floor. The rising spade would change this, of course. 

       Peeking over his shoulder, Durg addressed the smaller male for the first time that morning. "Y'know there's a crossing toll to pay, little man..." Before the bat could run facefirst into the semi-gloss finish on the kitchen wall, the dragon flicked the fat paddle at the end of his rear appendage up and tossed the diminutive tea-lover into the air. The spade continued its motion, curling up towards his spine as the serpentine length folded over itself loosely, suspended in midair with the banded scales of the underside awaiting his friend's landing. 

       The shorter-than-normal chiropteran landed lightly on the soft, yielding underside of the raised tail, coming to a halt smoothly. Through some miracle he hadn't spilled his tea just yet, and he wasn't going to let it happen now! "Wa-wait! Tea! I have tea!" He managed to blurt out before his friend could move the massive limb again.

       Durg's warm smile never left as he held his tail perfectly still, only lightly bobbing with the dragon's pulse. 

       Exhaling in relief, Caudle turned his attention to his cup. He took a long, slow sip, the pinkie on his hand that was holding the teacup's handle extending through muscle memory. He inhaled deeply of the herbal scent, before swallowing. Either due to his desire to drink well or the small size of the cup, the bat drained most of it in that first sip. He sighed, tension faded, and held the mug-scaled vessel to his much larger friend. "Okay, I'm done."

       The grey dragon daintily took the tiny ceramic away with the tips of his fingers, each of which were nearly the same diameter as the whole teacup. "I'll take that..."

       Nerves starting to settle in as he watched the cup get set down next to the dragon's cereal, Caudle swallowed, turning his attention to the never-changing friendly expression. "Thanks..."

       Not a moment later, Durg rolled his hips again against the stool. This time his girthy limb concertinaed rapidly, pushing the bat forward until his belly and chest were laid across one length of the serpentine tail's underside. The next length from his hips came down on his back, pinning the small male in place. The smooth, banded scales stretched and squashed easily, conforming to Caudle's torso and head, leaving his wings and legs dangling out either side of the makeshift sandwich. Turning his head back over the other shoulder, the dragon kept up the same warm expression. "The toll fee may take a few hours to process~"

       Caudle groaned weakly, blushing. His fingers twitched a bit in the relative cold of the kitchen while the warm, soft underbelly of his friend's tail operated like a laundry press to keep his core in place. Well... The things he had to do could wait... for a few hours at least...