"Yes, I did be a dragon! I''ll show youter what I can, but for now I need to rest." ra awkwardly smiled, her exhaustion clearly showing on her face.


    "Hmm Alright I can wait, but what cannot wait is Silver exining how the hell it all went down." I snapped my head back to Silver as I still wanted to hear all the details. If I was going to ept Silver growing up I may as well embrace the girl in me and get all the gossip.


    "Are you sure? I feel like you won''t be able to handle it." Silver showed genuine concern, which was fair. I haven''t been the most stable whenever I hear anything romantic involving him, but this can be training… I guess.


    "Y-yeah! As a mother, I must do this for myself, so please don''t hold back." Coming up with an excuse on the spot, I dragged ra by the hand and sat back down on the bench.


    "If you say so." Silver let out a sigh, definitely thinking it will not go down well.


    "Can I have a nap while you guys talk? I pretty much know everything anyway." ra sat right next to me and leant her head on my shoulder, almost poking me with her horns.


    "You can, but please use myp before you poke my eye out." I wasn''t against ra leaning on my shoulder, but she couldn''t exactly hide her horns like I can with my tails.


    "Oh yeah, sorry." ra slid her head down to myp as I started patting her head, hoping to provide a bit offort. She has never really taken headpats before so I was curious if she would let me continue.


    ''Her hair is so smooth. I need to find more excuses to pat her head just to feel it.'' Unlike mine, which was softer and fluffy, ra''s felt elegant and nice to run my fingers through.


    "Are you okay with me telling Shaman everything?" Silver looked at nor for confirmation, as this was about their personal lives. I may be Silver''s mother, but if nor isn''tfortable with it then there isn''t much I can do.


    "Yeah, it''s fine… But before we start, it just urred to me that Shaman will technically be my mother-inw now right?" nor raised a good point. I didn''t know how I would feel if she started calling me mum.


    "I guess so, but don''t force yourself since you are older than her."


    "..." I was petrified by what Silver had just said. I wish I had never heard it, but he was right. nor was approaching her mid-twenties while I hadn''t even entered my twenties yet.


    I honestly couldn''t believe I hadn''t realised this sooner, since it just made things 10 times weirder.Still, Silver himself is the strangest anomaly of all, so there''s no point of delving into the ethics of it all to begin with.


    If the system is right, he is ssified as an adult and might even be mentally older than me now?! Oh god, this is a rabbit hole that I need to step out of before I drive myself crazy.


    "I-I don''t think you should have said that Silver." nor instantly noticed my reaction and realised the mental impact it had on me.


    "Pfft."


    "ra!" Hearing ra snicker at me, I grabbed her horn threateningly, warning of the consequences of uttering yet another sound.


    "Aye, Aye, not the horns!" ra was essentially paralysed, now realising that her horns were not very flexible, making any further movement inadvisable.


    "I''m going to pretend I never heard what you said Silver... And nor, for my sanity''s sake, please don''t call me mother either. I see you as more of a friend than a d-d-daughter." I just needed to ept things as they are and be happy for them.


    Thinking it over again, I guess our age differences were not that big of an issue. Sure,pared to the long lifespan of elves and demi-humans, a decade or 2 isn''t that big of a deal.


    "Understood Shaman." nor straightened up, explicitly making sure to call me by my name.


    "Phew, you can continue." I let go of ra''s horn while taking deep breaths to calm myself down, refocusing myself on the conversation.


    "M-my bad… Anyway, I guess this all started a month ago…"


    ***


    <1 month ago, Silver POV>


    ''I really need to sort myself out.'' I was currently rolling around in my bed, hugging my pillow, trying to figure out my feelings for nor.


    I clearly find her attractive, and have been getting closer to her ever since Elfheim, but I knew my mental age and body were too young for her. However, now that I have evolved straight into adulthood, I feel like I stand a chance.


    Although, there was still a part of me that felt like this was very, very wrong.


    ''I should ask ra or Elysia for some help… Maybe not Elysia.'' No offence to Elysia, but I still vividly remember my days as a wolf cub and how terribly fast they got into a rtionship. In hindsight, it is a little sad to see how touch deprived those 2 must have been, but Shaman got lucky that they werepatible in the end.


    ''At least ra eased a bit better into it. Granted, it was thanks to Freja''s forced intervention.'' ra was the best candidate to ask about how to deal with my feelings, but looking back, her situation wasn''t perfect either.


    ''How do you even get into a love triangle in the first ce? I''m surprised it''ssted this long without Elysia turning even more insane than she already is.'' I was slowly diverting back to worrying about my mothers rather than my own feelings.


    ''Enough about them, let''s just ask ra.'' Opening up the system chat, I scrolled to ra''s name and opened the chat. We were yet to message each other one-on-one so there was nothing there.


    ''Time to draft up a message.''


    <30 minutester>


    ''Is this okay? Why do I feel even more nervous now than I do when I am around nor?'' I had written out quite a lengthy paragraph describing my feelings and asking for help, but when I hovered my hand over the send button, I just couldn''t press it.


    "Come on, it won''t be that bad, what''s the worst ra will say?" Surely there was no reason to be worried. It wasn''t like I was texting Shaman, who would pass out upon reading my message.


    ra is much calmer and has been fine teasing me about this rtionship for months now.


    ''Fuck it.'' Hitting send, I quickly closed the window and smothered myself with my pillow. It was prettyte, so I doubted I''d get a response right away, but my impatience kept me hoping I''d get some something soon. I had no idea what ra''s schedule was like, so it might take until tomorrow night.


    ''I don''t know if I can wait that long.''


    *Ding*


    Just then, the system alert rang, sending me jumping out of bed as I wasn''t expecting a response that soon.


    I was about to open it up again, but then anxiety decided to creep on me, thinking about what would happen if ra took it badly.


    ''Stop! ra sees me as her own son, so what is there to be worried about.'' Although I had technically be an adult, I still could still experience social anxiety like anyone else. It was normal to ask family for help.


    [Omg Silver, I can''t believe you are finally admitting it. Of course, I will help you out dear. Did you want to meet-up or is keeping to text fine.]


    Despite my anxieties, ra was as supportive as I expected.


    ''I don''t know about meeting up... Texting will be a lot easier and I only need simple advice so it should do just fine.'' Sending my reply, I kept the chat open, waiting for ra to respond.


    [Too easy. I guess to start off, if you have any free time, you should take nor on a date. Your situation is rather peculiar, so if you take her out to hang around try to gauge if she is into you or not. It will be easier to confess once you know the feeling is mutual, and it is better to first dispell any worries she may have regardless your unusual burst of growth]


    Reading over ra''s advice, it made sense that I should try to learn more first. I did go from teenager to adult very quickly, so nor might not even be able to see me as a man yet.


    The only issue is… how am I meant to tell? I can''t just ask her straight up, right? I texted ra my concerns, mentioning I had no idea how to read bodynguage in a romantic way and I didn''t want toe off too strong.


    It didn''t help that ra and Elysia''s teasing made it harder for me to do anything as nor might already be on guard regarding my intentions.


    [Of course you don''t ask her bluntly, at least not yet. Now think about this, Silver. With how aware she probably is, won''t it be a good sign if you invite her on a date? I rmend saying it''s a date and if she epts, be confident that she is interested.]


    ra made a very good point and it was subtle enough that I didn''t feel like bashing my head against the wall.


    ''Alright it''s decided then, I''ll ask her out on a date.''