Zmerr began gently squeezing her neck at the base, trying not to be too hard, but just hard enough to relax the muscles. They were all knotted up. It must have been terrible for Pyria to have neck pain so bad you could feel it when you touched it. He worked carefully and slowly for a while, making gentle lines up and down her shoulders. The muscles loosened a little bit, but it seemed like they'd need a lot of work and much more frequently.

"Yikes. No wonder your shoulders hurt so bad. You're all knotted up!" Zmerr said as he kept working. "You say this is all from being part dragon?" Zmerr had always kind of wished he'd been born a hybrid. He might have been taller and less awkward then, but if it meant being in pain all the time, he didn't want it. He felt bad for Pyria, but felt she wasn'tthe type to want or accept sympathy, so he didn't tell her that.