Post by ShadaAntoinette on Jan 4, 2011 15:07:21 GMT -5
Alistor sat on the couch, watching television; since he was human again, it wasn't like he had anything better to do, so he figured he would stay out of everyone's way. Seemed like a good plan...until Rayflo entered the room.
"I thought you were gonna start training again?!" The Nos Vampire yelled, completely on purpose.
"You asshole." Alistor replied, grabbing the remote that he'd thrown.
"Eh. You'll get used to it. So what's on?"
"Nothing good. Like always..... Ooh, someone went on a live broadcast today bringing up events of the old days. Y'know, the last time humans and non-humans went at it. What was that called..... can't think of it."
"The Scouring. And be glad you weren't around for it, Alistor." They sat there, flicking through channels now and then.
"Oh.", Alistor said. "Don't forget, Johnny wanted you to stop by the restaurant."
"Hm. I'd better go do that now. Wanna come along?"
"Nah. See ya later."
Rayflo went to his room to get his jacket, and then went through the manor looking for Shada, wanting to ask if she wanted to come along. He saw Sira, as he walked through the house; she had been coming down the stairs, and gave him a slight nod in acknowledgment before heading into the living room. Rayflo turned around and followed her, if only to ask if she wanted anything. She told him no as she curled up on the couch with Alistor to watch television, and he left the room again, letting the two of them be alone.
Shada headed downstairs, a book under one arm, and a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in the opposite hand. Her eyes lit slightly as she turned to look at him and smiled a bit.
"Looking for someone?" She asked, jovially, shifting the books slightly.
"Yea, you. I gotta go meet a friend. He owns a restaurant and I was wondering if you wanted to go get some lunch? It's a nice place, and probably the best meal you'll ever eat."
"Tempting, but no. I have a few things I need to do around here. Keep the Succubus at bay, stuff like that. I don't want another episode like that last one." She replied, holding up the book. "But, I will see you later, all right? Go have fun." She could have kicked herself for that remark...it was just so...domestic of her. And she didn't like it. Giving herself an inward shake, she headed outside for her cigarette break. She didn't know what to do about him. Sure, she knew he and Alistor had some sort of deal going... and she was stupid enough to fall for it, on purpose, but smart enough to keep herself in check, right...? She was beginning to doubt herself. She needed to put some distance between them before she did something stupid. Plus....well, she didn't want to think about that, it would just complicate things further. After a while, Liir began to act up again, which made Shada stomp down on her until she was silent and subdued again.
Rayflo watched her go with a mild level of interest before running his hand over his mouth and sighing. She had changed a lot since they had first met. And that is all he wanted to think on that subject. He went into the garage, picked a car and sped away towards Johnny's restaurant. Although he kept his eyes on the road, his mind had fixed on what Shada had said. There had to be some way he could help her, right?
"No. No. It's her problem. Don't help unless she asks you, Rayflo." All he could do is wait.
Remus, on the other hand, slunk in through the kitchen window, which was amazing since he was so big but he somehow managed to do it without rattling anything. On all fours, he was in a primal state; his eyes were glazed over with the soul of the beast.
Sniffing the air, he padded to the refrigerator, the only noise of his presence being the soft clack of his claws on the floor.
He examined Shada for a while, as he sat there like a dog as she dug around in the freezer for something, only to decide that she was too busy to bother. Leaving as quickly as he came, he padded into the living room to stare at the television, laying on his stomahc, crossing his paws over each other. He took in the colorful images, before looking over at Sira and Al on the couch. He seemed to summon words then:
"I think I've been living in a house too long... I'm starting to feel domesticated."
Oblivious to anything around her, Shada finally found some meat. It had been a while since she'd cooked anything, and she just hoped that she didn't burn down the Manor. She did love cooking however, and since learning how to, she had expanded her knowledge of foods, especially meat, since she could eat it again... Her current body allowed her to do so.
After about an hour and a half, she finally finished the meal. Adding spoons, she served herself and called to the others.
The occupants of the living room had begun watching a documentary on some sort martial arts. Sira's eyes had closed. As they did so, she began to shrink, becoming her tiny kitten form. Her tail wrapped around her small body and since she was on the couch, she didn't have the fear of being stepped on. With a slight mew, she sighed and fell asleep.
The scent of Italian food drifted through the air, enticing the others, though Shada's voice did it's job just as well. Remus moved first, the scent wafting toward him. He padded back into the kitchen, laying eyes on the spaghetti he'd heard of but had never tasted before.
"Hmm... that red goop isn't blood...it smells good though." He took one of the plates and the noodle spoon that was in the center of the poit, carefully taking a large pile of spaghetti, amused by the springy behavior of the noodles as they dangled in the air. "Odd..." He considered eating the meal with his hands, but it looked like it would be difficult, so he rooted around until he found the utensils. He took a fork for himself and sat down at the bar, stabbing at the noodles. Shada couldn't help but stifle a chuckle at this, but he soon figured out that if he twisted the fork, the noodles would stay on the fork. "Mmh! This is excellent!" She set her plate aside, unable to hold back the laughs that forced their way from her body.
"I'm glad you like it, I haven't cooked in a long while, so I wasn't sure if this would be any good. I'm just happy I didnt burn it, or the house down." She went back to eating then, watching the other two file into the kitchen. Sira, in her kitten form, entered the kitchen.
"Remus, if you eat all of it, I'll rip you apart. I want to taste Shada's cooking too since I'm sure it's more than satisfactory. No insult intended, my phrasing fails. But the threat is still there, wolf boy." Shada stifled another giggle.
Alistor came in as Shada struggled to control herself and eat, making himself a plate. He began eating away, only to stop halfway through.
"Thanks for making food, Shada. Although the chances are Master's gonna come back with food from Johnny's. But still. It's good,too. Now that I think about it, I've never actually seen you cook before."
"DAAAAMN, Shada. You can cook!" Sira exclaimed from her place on the counter, next to the wall. Shada laughed and nodded.
"Hey! I hope everyone's hungry...." Rayflo's voice called out.
She shrugged and took another bite, watching Rayflo come into the house through the back door. He carried plastic bags in his hands, and looked surprised to see everyone eating already. "... Well... never mind. Look it, I brought home some dessert then." She smiled at him. "Remus, one pie is all yours. I know you're a big guy and chances are a slice or two won't hold you." He sniffed the air for a second. "Mm. Smells good in here....Wait a minute. Shada, I didn't know you could cook."
"There's a lot you don't know about me, huh?" She winked at him. "Still, I haven't do it in such a long time, I didn't think I would still be able to. I'm really glad to know you guys like it." She smiled and went over to the cake and sniffed lightly, though she had already decided to eat it anyway. She took a piece, and eat slowly a smile of pleasure on her lips. "Maybe I'll cook more often, yeah?" She noticed she had spilled sauce on her fur, and headed upstairs. "Using your shower, Rayflo!" She waved farewell and went to do just that.
Things went on like this for months, and Shada began to feel like she was becoming a domestic...the worst kind of thing to be when Wolf instinct coursed through her body. But, at the same time, she had to admit she enjoyed it.
One night, however, Rayflo asked her if she wanted to go out somewhere. Coincidentally, it was the same night a strange Drow woman came to the house. Now, Shada had seen the woman downstairs, the girl was gorgeous. She knew it was just a matter of time before Rayflo started in on his shit, although she had to admit she was hoping he wouldn't. Perhaps she had more feelings for the man than she let on, or maybe she just didn't want the woman hurt. Who knew? She certainly admitted nothing.
However, as she sat with him at the restaurant, she found that there was more to him than she thought. Surprisingly, she was enjoying herself, even if the mood had gone from pleasant to uncomfortable....she never did have a way with words.
"Shada, mind if we take a detour? Today's Sira's birthday and I thought we could get her a cake or something." He told her. She turned her head and stared at him.
"Today's her birthday? I didn't know that." Only because she didn't like the girl...Okay, so the real reason was jealousy, but again, that wasn't something she was going to out and out admit. Soon they had purchased a cake, and Shada got the girl some gifts before heading home. In the garage, it became apparent that Rayflo wanted something. He was watching her, and from the corner of her eye, she was watching him in return. But then he turned away and she knew he was going to say something.
"Shada.", he said without looking at her, looking at the steering wheel. "Do you..... Well.... Can.... What I'm trying to ask is.....er.... Canikissyou?"
He closed his eyes and winced at how quickly he asked that. He knew what kind of guy Shada thought he was, and was already anticipating the 'No' for an answer. They had already kissed once, but still. He couldn't help but see a 'No' coming. Her brows furrowed for a moment. She was a bit shocked for a moment. But she smiled at him.
"Sure, Rayflo." She said, her tail wagging a bit. She was curious, however, about what he was thinking at that particular moment. And she had surprised herself by saying yes, knowing full well that he was a perv. But, as long as he did nothing else, she wouldn't have to retaliate. And after how tonight went, she hoped he did, since she really didn't want to have to hurt him for being fresh. Rayflo opened his eyes, a little shocked she'd said yes. He chuckled a little bit, and then cleared his throat. Now was not the time to seem like a teenager or something.
He leaned towards her, putting a hand on the side of her face, and kissed her lightly. It felt strange kissing a woman for the first time where she wasn't drunk or being lied to. It felt.... warm.
He kissed her for a few more seconds before pulling away slowly. He didn't really know if he should say something or not.
"Um.....uh.....heh....er....", he stammered. This was certainly a new situation for him. His lips were just as she remembered then from their last kiss, but this time when he pulled away, and he started trying to say something, she grinned at him and pulled him back.
"No, Rayflo." She said, kissing him again. "Don't say anything." Liir was going to kill her for this, and judging by the way the Succubus was giving her a headache, she was right in assuming such things, but all she did was ignore her. This was her time, and Liir was not going to ruin it with her fury. She released him a moment later and just leaned against the door, smiling a bit, her eyes at half mast.
His eyes went wide as she pulled him back. Again, a first for a woman who wasn't drunk or being lied to. He kissed her back, somewhat disappointed when she stopped.
"..... Okay, now you have me all riled up. C'mere.", he said with a light smile as he leaned forward farther to kiss her against the door, one hand holding himself up against the door, the other sitting gently at her side.
She grinned at him. "Oh, do I?" She let him kiss her again and was about to retailiate, when Liir hit her mentally hard enough to make her cry out and clutch her head. "No, no. I'm all right." "No, no. I'm all right." She said quickly, holding her head. "Dammit Liir!" Liir gave a triumphant laugh. "Ahh... I love my job!" Shada jammed her as far down as she could, forcing her dormant again before looking at Rayflo. "Sorry about that." She said, grimacing. "Had a bit of a problem for a second..." She trailed off then, studying his face for a bit. She didn't know how he was going to react, and was going to be pissed if Liir had ruined the moment. But of course, the Succubus had.... and Shada felt like a tart.
"Oh. Oh, no. It's okay." He said when she explained. "I sort of remember the whole.....y'know....succubus...thing. It's okay..... Although, and don't take offense to this..... She sorta ruined the moment." He chuckled a little, and sat back in his seat. He couldn't help but just look at her, and then went on his usual impulse. "....... Don't suppose you could....just...er.... keep her at bay for the rest of the night, could ya?"
His words made her eyes widen. She was wondering how long it would take him to start acting like his usual self, and hadn't expected it would have been this moment for him to do so. Liir jabbed her, laughing at her. "What are you going to do now, Miss Shada? I don't care one way or another, since I'm going to enjoy your reaction either way..." So, with Liir acting like she knew what was going to happen either way, she licked her lips and sighed. "I could try..." And instantly knew she was going to regret saying that, especially when she knew what he was talking about. Liir did nothing but laugh at her, a hard, wicked laugh that made Shada want to rip her out of her body and stomp her to death. This was her life, not Liir's and she would do whatever she wanted, whether the irritating Succubus liked it or not.
"Really?" NO! Rayflo pushed the thought aside and shook his head. He liked Shada, and wasn't about to let his old ways ruin this. "No. No... I shouldn't have even asked that. That was stupid of me....Um.... Let's get inside and give Sira her presents, yeah?"
"If you say so." She stopped leaning against the door and opened it, got out and reached for her bags. She had said what she did, mostly to see what he would say, pushing his buttons just like she had when they were in the army together.
He got out of the car, and grabbed Sira's cake from the back seat. He was going to avoid this awkward moment as much as possible. He had just made himself seem like a total ass, and he knew it. And he knew Shada saw him as an ass, even if she wasn't going to show it.
He shut his door a little harder than he should have, and set the cake on the roof of the car, and started banging his head against it. He didn't even care if Shada saw or heard him.
She found her sleeping in the living room next to Alistor. Instead of waking her, she set the bags on the table in front of her and went to find some paper to leave her a note. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to go upstairs and take a nap. So, she wrote out a short note, explaining who's bags they were and wrote Happy Birthday on it, left it on the table next to it and went upstairs, taking two at a time to her room.
She entered and closed the door behind her before flopping down on the bed, mentally exhausted from dealing with Liir, who was doing nothing less but gloating and whatever the Hell was up with Rayflo. Oh, and she felt like a hussy, no less, which just added to her mood. She growled to herself and rolled over, trying not to let her angry tears run from her eyes.
He was going to go to his room and break out his stash of special booze and drink away his sorrow for the rest of the night. But instead, he stopped at Shada's door on the way and knocked.
"Shada?", he called through the door. "Shada, can you open up please?" She rolled over and got off the bed, wiping any tears that had managed to escape her choke hold from her face. She opened the door and leaned against the frame.
"Yes?" She asked, keeping her voice level and her anger at herself out of it. "What's up?" Oh great, so he was going to say something about it, and she was going to feel worse about it than she already did, but at the same time she was ready to hear what he was going to say.
"Listen." He said. He didn't like the tone of her voice. And things were going so great, too.
"About the car.... I didn't mean to ask that. I shouldn't have asked that. It's just.... I was trying to hard not to act like my old self. Ya now... like a.... perverted creep. I just... I really like you, and things were going good. I wasn't acting weird or creepy or anything, and then we started kissing and my mind wandered to one thing, then another, and....."
He put his hand over his face, because knowing Shada, she wasn't believing a word. Even though it was the truth.
"Look.... I'm sorry.", he said. "I know it probably isn't much or believeable coming from me, but I'm sorry. So.... If you just want me to leave you alone from now on, I get it."
"To be completely honest with you, I shouldn't have agreed to. So it was as much my fault as yours." She began. "And I like you too, so when you asked me, I took it like I used to back in the army. I guess some things really don't change about a person." She looked down at the floor for a moment, at her big, white paws. "But, at any rate, I think the choice really is yours." She told him. "I mean, look at it this way, for the first time since we met, we are actually getting along. We might act like horny teenagers, but at least we are getting along. Can't really ask for much more, to be honest." She stood up. "And the thing of it is, I have fun with you. What good would it do if you just left me alone?" She watched his face, well, his hand really, but his face nonetheless.
"......." Rayflo got somewhat lost in her explaination. He understood a little of what she meant, but at the same he had no idea. He honestly couldn't think of any girl accepting an apology from him this. Well, except his sister. But that was family, so it wasn't exactly the same as this.
"......Wait...", he said, letting go of his face and looking at her. "So..... are we cool with each or not?"
"Yea, why wouldn't we be?" Her eyebrows knit in confusion. Had she talked in circles or something? She was lost as to what he didn't understand. But at the same time, she couldn't really remember what she had been talking about. She leaned against the door frame again and watched his face. "Unless you would rather we not be."
"NO, no.", Rayflo said, a bit too eagerly. "Er.... no. I.... well, I kinda like being with you that way...... like... romantically."
Did he actually just say that?? Mentally, he was slapping himself as if to try and wake him up. He wasn't sure if he liked this sudden change in himor not..... No, that's not true. He knew he liked it. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to admit to himself or not.
"Um.....heh.", he said. If he was capable of blushing, his face would look like an apple right now. "I'll just..... go....now." Shada nodded and closed the door, going back over to the bed to sleep.
The days after passed with nigh any amusement. Rayflo has asked her to train Alistor, which ended up turning into a huge fight; Alistor had grabbed her tail and twisted it, which had hurt a whole lot. But the worst of it was when he called her a dog, more specifically a mutt. That hurt her feelings more than anything, mostly because she still liked him....In the end though, she knew it wasn't going to happen. So in the end, the experience had become a turning point for her as far as how she felt. Instead of following what she knew she wanted, which was.....well, we won't get into that, she blindly followed what her physical body wanted more than anything. Which turned out to be a bad thing, especially when Liir trapped Shada into her Succubus body.
Rayflo had allowed her to feed from him, though for some time after she couldn't even look herself in the eye whenever she looked in the mirror. It had been.....wonderful, in the worst possible ways. She'd enjoyed it far more than she should have, and had been worried that she was becoming a monster.
But, to her astonishment, the true monster was just outside the Manor. Remus and Gamma had brought back a Dragon artifact and when Remus opened it, it had burned the hell out of him. But, that had only been the beginning.....a strange bat creature, called a Sezera, which turned out to be a pet, of sorts of Remus and James' grandfather, attacked.
Shada and Rayflo, who had been in Rayflo's room, talking about what to do to get Shada's real body back when a noise outside had startled the both of them. What they saw when made Shada's blood run cold. The thing was facing Remus squarely, and both were fighting as if their lives depended on it. Perhaps it did, but that wasn't the concern. There was a huge monster outside of the house, fighting with a friend. Rayflo was out first, landing between its huge wings, planting the blade his sword. Shada, still in Liir's body, leaped down after him, studying the beast for a moment, debating as of what to do to help. A moment later, she was scratching at it's eyes, hoping to blind the said creature.
Nope, instead the creature grabbed her up and made like it was going to eat her. She was a blur of motion in the thing's hand, trying to break free. She was released when Remus planted his hammer into the creature's face. It made a loud, ungodly sound and dropped her, throwing Rayflo off in the mean time. She hit the ground with a painful thud and rolled out of the way, lest she get hit by the hammer in a back swing.
Her arm began to itch terribly as she watched Rayflo wield Remus' big hammer--Remus himself had sustained a broken neck, which Shada could tell hurt him badly. But soon, the creature was dead and Remus had taken to the forests; she'd watched him go worried that he would get hurt some more. In the mean time, she had torn all of the tendons and ligaments in her arms from scratching. Rayflo came over to check her over, to which she firmly told him that she was fine.
When he took her into the house, she finally was able to force herself to change forms though sheer will and all of the adrenaline rushing through her system. It hurt and Rayflo's bathroom looked like someone died in it, but she was herself again. She cleaned up the mess, as she heard Remus in the hallway. She left Rayflo's room then to find her friend, to make sure he was all right. He was a little worse for wear, but otherwise all right.
Through talking to him, Shada found that the creature that had attacked them was the pet of his...evil grandfather. He'd stolen the artifact from Remus and James, which was bad in itself, but the bastard had come into the manor just to torment James, whom he saw as his legitimate grandson. Nevertheless, the visit had taken away the facade of peace in the house.
That night, however, Rayflo suggested they all go out for drinks, to which the entire house agreed--including Gamma, who was in a smaller, more humanoid form. Everyone had a good time, despite the narrow escapes of the day. Shada escaped the clutches of her annoying Succubus and the others? Well, those that fought had escaped with their lives. Sira, escaped a hangover and Alistor? He, himself, escaped whatever death Sira would have given him, had she gotten the bad hangover she'd deserved. All in all, it was a good night, everyone got nice and drunk, inhibitions were lost, and for a moment, it was as if nothing happened. Life, it seemed, was good.
"I thought you were gonna start training again?!" The Nos Vampire yelled, completely on purpose.
"You asshole." Alistor replied, grabbing the remote that he'd thrown.
"Eh. You'll get used to it. So what's on?"
"Nothing good. Like always..... Ooh, someone went on a live broadcast today bringing up events of the old days. Y'know, the last time humans and non-humans went at it. What was that called..... can't think of it."
"The Scouring. And be glad you weren't around for it, Alistor." They sat there, flicking through channels now and then.
"Oh.", Alistor said. "Don't forget, Johnny wanted you to stop by the restaurant."
"Hm. I'd better go do that now. Wanna come along?"
"Nah. See ya later."
Rayflo went to his room to get his jacket, and then went through the manor looking for Shada, wanting to ask if she wanted to come along. He saw Sira, as he walked through the house; she had been coming down the stairs, and gave him a slight nod in acknowledgment before heading into the living room. Rayflo turned around and followed her, if only to ask if she wanted anything. She told him no as she curled up on the couch with Alistor to watch television, and he left the room again, letting the two of them be alone.
Shada headed downstairs, a book under one arm, and a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in the opposite hand. Her eyes lit slightly as she turned to look at him and smiled a bit.
"Looking for someone?" She asked, jovially, shifting the books slightly.
"Yea, you. I gotta go meet a friend. He owns a restaurant and I was wondering if you wanted to go get some lunch? It's a nice place, and probably the best meal you'll ever eat."
"Tempting, but no. I have a few things I need to do around here. Keep the Succubus at bay, stuff like that. I don't want another episode like that last one." She replied, holding up the book. "But, I will see you later, all right? Go have fun." She could have kicked herself for that remark...it was just so...domestic of her. And she didn't like it. Giving herself an inward shake, she headed outside for her cigarette break. She didn't know what to do about him. Sure, she knew he and Alistor had some sort of deal going... and she was stupid enough to fall for it, on purpose, but smart enough to keep herself in check, right...? She was beginning to doubt herself. She needed to put some distance between them before she did something stupid. Plus....well, she didn't want to think about that, it would just complicate things further. After a while, Liir began to act up again, which made Shada stomp down on her until she was silent and subdued again.
Rayflo watched her go with a mild level of interest before running his hand over his mouth and sighing. She had changed a lot since they had first met. And that is all he wanted to think on that subject. He went into the garage, picked a car and sped away towards Johnny's restaurant. Although he kept his eyes on the road, his mind had fixed on what Shada had said. There had to be some way he could help her, right?
"No. No. It's her problem. Don't help unless she asks you, Rayflo." All he could do is wait.
Remus, on the other hand, slunk in through the kitchen window, which was amazing since he was so big but he somehow managed to do it without rattling anything. On all fours, he was in a primal state; his eyes were glazed over with the soul of the beast.
Sniffing the air, he padded to the refrigerator, the only noise of his presence being the soft clack of his claws on the floor.
He examined Shada for a while, as he sat there like a dog as she dug around in the freezer for something, only to decide that she was too busy to bother. Leaving as quickly as he came, he padded into the living room to stare at the television, laying on his stomahc, crossing his paws over each other. He took in the colorful images, before looking over at Sira and Al on the couch. He seemed to summon words then:
"I think I've been living in a house too long... I'm starting to feel domesticated."
Oblivious to anything around her, Shada finally found some meat. It had been a while since she'd cooked anything, and she just hoped that she didn't burn down the Manor. She did love cooking however, and since learning how to, she had expanded her knowledge of foods, especially meat, since she could eat it again... Her current body allowed her to do so.
After about an hour and a half, she finally finished the meal. Adding spoons, she served herself and called to the others.
The occupants of the living room had begun watching a documentary on some sort martial arts. Sira's eyes had closed. As they did so, she began to shrink, becoming her tiny kitten form. Her tail wrapped around her small body and since she was on the couch, she didn't have the fear of being stepped on. With a slight mew, she sighed and fell asleep.
The scent of Italian food drifted through the air, enticing the others, though Shada's voice did it's job just as well. Remus moved first, the scent wafting toward him. He padded back into the kitchen, laying eyes on the spaghetti he'd heard of but had never tasted before.
"Hmm... that red goop isn't blood...it smells good though." He took one of the plates and the noodle spoon that was in the center of the poit, carefully taking a large pile of spaghetti, amused by the springy behavior of the noodles as they dangled in the air. "Odd..." He considered eating the meal with his hands, but it looked like it would be difficult, so he rooted around until he found the utensils. He took a fork for himself and sat down at the bar, stabbing at the noodles. Shada couldn't help but stifle a chuckle at this, but he soon figured out that if he twisted the fork, the noodles would stay on the fork. "Mmh! This is excellent!" She set her plate aside, unable to hold back the laughs that forced their way from her body.
"I'm glad you like it, I haven't cooked in a long while, so I wasn't sure if this would be any good. I'm just happy I didnt burn it, or the house down." She went back to eating then, watching the other two file into the kitchen. Sira, in her kitten form, entered the kitchen.
"Remus, if you eat all of it, I'll rip you apart. I want to taste Shada's cooking too since I'm sure it's more than satisfactory. No insult intended, my phrasing fails. But the threat is still there, wolf boy." Shada stifled another giggle.
Alistor came in as Shada struggled to control herself and eat, making himself a plate. He began eating away, only to stop halfway through.
"Thanks for making food, Shada. Although the chances are Master's gonna come back with food from Johnny's. But still. It's good,too. Now that I think about it, I've never actually seen you cook before."
"DAAAAMN, Shada. You can cook!" Sira exclaimed from her place on the counter, next to the wall. Shada laughed and nodded.
"Hey! I hope everyone's hungry...." Rayflo's voice called out.
She shrugged and took another bite, watching Rayflo come into the house through the back door. He carried plastic bags in his hands, and looked surprised to see everyone eating already. "... Well... never mind. Look it, I brought home some dessert then." She smiled at him. "Remus, one pie is all yours. I know you're a big guy and chances are a slice or two won't hold you." He sniffed the air for a second. "Mm. Smells good in here....Wait a minute. Shada, I didn't know you could cook."
"There's a lot you don't know about me, huh?" She winked at him. "Still, I haven't do it in such a long time, I didn't think I would still be able to. I'm really glad to know you guys like it." She smiled and went over to the cake and sniffed lightly, though she had already decided to eat it anyway. She took a piece, and eat slowly a smile of pleasure on her lips. "Maybe I'll cook more often, yeah?" She noticed she had spilled sauce on her fur, and headed upstairs. "Using your shower, Rayflo!" She waved farewell and went to do just that.
Things went on like this for months, and Shada began to feel like she was becoming a domestic...the worst kind of thing to be when Wolf instinct coursed through her body. But, at the same time, she had to admit she enjoyed it.
One night, however, Rayflo asked her if she wanted to go out somewhere. Coincidentally, it was the same night a strange Drow woman came to the house. Now, Shada had seen the woman downstairs, the girl was gorgeous. She knew it was just a matter of time before Rayflo started in on his shit, although she had to admit she was hoping he wouldn't. Perhaps she had more feelings for the man than she let on, or maybe she just didn't want the woman hurt. Who knew? She certainly admitted nothing.
However, as she sat with him at the restaurant, she found that there was more to him than she thought. Surprisingly, she was enjoying herself, even if the mood had gone from pleasant to uncomfortable....she never did have a way with words.
"Shada, mind if we take a detour? Today's Sira's birthday and I thought we could get her a cake or something." He told her. She turned her head and stared at him.
"Today's her birthday? I didn't know that." Only because she didn't like the girl...Okay, so the real reason was jealousy, but again, that wasn't something she was going to out and out admit. Soon they had purchased a cake, and Shada got the girl some gifts before heading home. In the garage, it became apparent that Rayflo wanted something. He was watching her, and from the corner of her eye, she was watching him in return. But then he turned away and she knew he was going to say something.
"Shada.", he said without looking at her, looking at the steering wheel. "Do you..... Well.... Can.... What I'm trying to ask is.....er.... Canikissyou?"
He closed his eyes and winced at how quickly he asked that. He knew what kind of guy Shada thought he was, and was already anticipating the 'No' for an answer. They had already kissed once, but still. He couldn't help but see a 'No' coming. Her brows furrowed for a moment. She was a bit shocked for a moment. But she smiled at him.
"Sure, Rayflo." She said, her tail wagging a bit. She was curious, however, about what he was thinking at that particular moment. And she had surprised herself by saying yes, knowing full well that he was a perv. But, as long as he did nothing else, she wouldn't have to retaliate. And after how tonight went, she hoped he did, since she really didn't want to have to hurt him for being fresh. Rayflo opened his eyes, a little shocked she'd said yes. He chuckled a little bit, and then cleared his throat. Now was not the time to seem like a teenager or something.
He leaned towards her, putting a hand on the side of her face, and kissed her lightly. It felt strange kissing a woman for the first time where she wasn't drunk or being lied to. It felt.... warm.
He kissed her for a few more seconds before pulling away slowly. He didn't really know if he should say something or not.
"Um.....uh.....heh....er....", he stammered. This was certainly a new situation for him. His lips were just as she remembered then from their last kiss, but this time when he pulled away, and he started trying to say something, she grinned at him and pulled him back.
"No, Rayflo." She said, kissing him again. "Don't say anything." Liir was going to kill her for this, and judging by the way the Succubus was giving her a headache, she was right in assuming such things, but all she did was ignore her. This was her time, and Liir was not going to ruin it with her fury. She released him a moment later and just leaned against the door, smiling a bit, her eyes at half mast.
His eyes went wide as she pulled him back. Again, a first for a woman who wasn't drunk or being lied to. He kissed her back, somewhat disappointed when she stopped.
"..... Okay, now you have me all riled up. C'mere.", he said with a light smile as he leaned forward farther to kiss her against the door, one hand holding himself up against the door, the other sitting gently at her side.
She grinned at him. "Oh, do I?" She let him kiss her again and was about to retailiate, when Liir hit her mentally hard enough to make her cry out and clutch her head. "No, no. I'm all right." "No, no. I'm all right." She said quickly, holding her head. "Dammit Liir!" Liir gave a triumphant laugh. "Ahh... I love my job!" Shada jammed her as far down as she could, forcing her dormant again before looking at Rayflo. "Sorry about that." She said, grimacing. "Had a bit of a problem for a second..." She trailed off then, studying his face for a bit. She didn't know how he was going to react, and was going to be pissed if Liir had ruined the moment. But of course, the Succubus had.... and Shada felt like a tart.
"Oh. Oh, no. It's okay." He said when she explained. "I sort of remember the whole.....y'know....succubus...thing. It's okay..... Although, and don't take offense to this..... She sorta ruined the moment." He chuckled a little, and sat back in his seat. He couldn't help but just look at her, and then went on his usual impulse. "....... Don't suppose you could....just...er.... keep her at bay for the rest of the night, could ya?"
His words made her eyes widen. She was wondering how long it would take him to start acting like his usual self, and hadn't expected it would have been this moment for him to do so. Liir jabbed her, laughing at her. "What are you going to do now, Miss Shada? I don't care one way or another, since I'm going to enjoy your reaction either way..." So, with Liir acting like she knew what was going to happen either way, she licked her lips and sighed. "I could try..." And instantly knew she was going to regret saying that, especially when she knew what he was talking about. Liir did nothing but laugh at her, a hard, wicked laugh that made Shada want to rip her out of her body and stomp her to death. This was her life, not Liir's and she would do whatever she wanted, whether the irritating Succubus liked it or not.
"Really?" NO! Rayflo pushed the thought aside and shook his head. He liked Shada, and wasn't about to let his old ways ruin this. "No. No... I shouldn't have even asked that. That was stupid of me....Um.... Let's get inside and give Sira her presents, yeah?"
"If you say so." She stopped leaning against the door and opened it, got out and reached for her bags. She had said what she did, mostly to see what he would say, pushing his buttons just like she had when they were in the army together.
He got out of the car, and grabbed Sira's cake from the back seat. He was going to avoid this awkward moment as much as possible. He had just made himself seem like a total ass, and he knew it. And he knew Shada saw him as an ass, even if she wasn't going to show it.
He shut his door a little harder than he should have, and set the cake on the roof of the car, and started banging his head against it. He didn't even care if Shada saw or heard him.
She found her sleeping in the living room next to Alistor. Instead of waking her, she set the bags on the table in front of her and went to find some paper to leave her a note. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to go upstairs and take a nap. So, she wrote out a short note, explaining who's bags they were and wrote Happy Birthday on it, left it on the table next to it and went upstairs, taking two at a time to her room.
She entered and closed the door behind her before flopping down on the bed, mentally exhausted from dealing with Liir, who was doing nothing less but gloating and whatever the Hell was up with Rayflo. Oh, and she felt like a hussy, no less, which just added to her mood. She growled to herself and rolled over, trying not to let her angry tears run from her eyes.
He was going to go to his room and break out his stash of special booze and drink away his sorrow for the rest of the night. But instead, he stopped at Shada's door on the way and knocked.
"Shada?", he called through the door. "Shada, can you open up please?" She rolled over and got off the bed, wiping any tears that had managed to escape her choke hold from her face. She opened the door and leaned against the frame.
"Yes?" She asked, keeping her voice level and her anger at herself out of it. "What's up?" Oh great, so he was going to say something about it, and she was going to feel worse about it than she already did, but at the same time she was ready to hear what he was going to say.
"Listen." He said. He didn't like the tone of her voice. And things were going so great, too.
"About the car.... I didn't mean to ask that. I shouldn't have asked that. It's just.... I was trying to hard not to act like my old self. Ya now... like a.... perverted creep. I just... I really like you, and things were going good. I wasn't acting weird or creepy or anything, and then we started kissing and my mind wandered to one thing, then another, and....."
He put his hand over his face, because knowing Shada, she wasn't believing a word. Even though it was the truth.
"Look.... I'm sorry.", he said. "I know it probably isn't much or believeable coming from me, but I'm sorry. So.... If you just want me to leave you alone from now on, I get it."
"To be completely honest with you, I shouldn't have agreed to. So it was as much my fault as yours." She began. "And I like you too, so when you asked me, I took it like I used to back in the army. I guess some things really don't change about a person." She looked down at the floor for a moment, at her big, white paws. "But, at any rate, I think the choice really is yours." She told him. "I mean, look at it this way, for the first time since we met, we are actually getting along. We might act like horny teenagers, but at least we are getting along. Can't really ask for much more, to be honest." She stood up. "And the thing of it is, I have fun with you. What good would it do if you just left me alone?" She watched his face, well, his hand really, but his face nonetheless.
"......." Rayflo got somewhat lost in her explaination. He understood a little of what she meant, but at the same he had no idea. He honestly couldn't think of any girl accepting an apology from him this. Well, except his sister. But that was family, so it wasn't exactly the same as this.
"......Wait...", he said, letting go of his face and looking at her. "So..... are we cool with each or not?"
"Yea, why wouldn't we be?" Her eyebrows knit in confusion. Had she talked in circles or something? She was lost as to what he didn't understand. But at the same time, she couldn't really remember what she had been talking about. She leaned against the door frame again and watched his face. "Unless you would rather we not be."
"NO, no.", Rayflo said, a bit too eagerly. "Er.... no. I.... well, I kinda like being with you that way...... like... romantically."
Did he actually just say that?? Mentally, he was slapping himself as if to try and wake him up. He wasn't sure if he liked this sudden change in himor not..... No, that's not true. He knew he liked it. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to admit to himself or not.
"Um.....heh.", he said. If he was capable of blushing, his face would look like an apple right now. "I'll just..... go....now." Shada nodded and closed the door, going back over to the bed to sleep.
The days after passed with nigh any amusement. Rayflo has asked her to train Alistor, which ended up turning into a huge fight; Alistor had grabbed her tail and twisted it, which had hurt a whole lot. But the worst of it was when he called her a dog, more specifically a mutt. That hurt her feelings more than anything, mostly because she still liked him....In the end though, she knew it wasn't going to happen. So in the end, the experience had become a turning point for her as far as how she felt. Instead of following what she knew she wanted, which was.....well, we won't get into that, she blindly followed what her physical body wanted more than anything. Which turned out to be a bad thing, especially when Liir trapped Shada into her Succubus body.
Rayflo had allowed her to feed from him, though for some time after she couldn't even look herself in the eye whenever she looked in the mirror. It had been.....wonderful, in the worst possible ways. She'd enjoyed it far more than she should have, and had been worried that she was becoming a monster.
But, to her astonishment, the true monster was just outside the Manor. Remus and Gamma had brought back a Dragon artifact and when Remus opened it, it had burned the hell out of him. But, that had only been the beginning.....a strange bat creature, called a Sezera, which turned out to be a pet, of sorts of Remus and James' grandfather, attacked.
Shada and Rayflo, who had been in Rayflo's room, talking about what to do to get Shada's real body back when a noise outside had startled the both of them. What they saw when made Shada's blood run cold. The thing was facing Remus squarely, and both were fighting as if their lives depended on it. Perhaps it did, but that wasn't the concern. There was a huge monster outside of the house, fighting with a friend. Rayflo was out first, landing between its huge wings, planting the blade his sword. Shada, still in Liir's body, leaped down after him, studying the beast for a moment, debating as of what to do to help. A moment later, she was scratching at it's eyes, hoping to blind the said creature.
Nope, instead the creature grabbed her up and made like it was going to eat her. She was a blur of motion in the thing's hand, trying to break free. She was released when Remus planted his hammer into the creature's face. It made a loud, ungodly sound and dropped her, throwing Rayflo off in the mean time. She hit the ground with a painful thud and rolled out of the way, lest she get hit by the hammer in a back swing.
Her arm began to itch terribly as she watched Rayflo wield Remus' big hammer--Remus himself had sustained a broken neck, which Shada could tell hurt him badly. But soon, the creature was dead and Remus had taken to the forests; she'd watched him go worried that he would get hurt some more. In the mean time, she had torn all of the tendons and ligaments in her arms from scratching. Rayflo came over to check her over, to which she firmly told him that she was fine.
When he took her into the house, she finally was able to force herself to change forms though sheer will and all of the adrenaline rushing through her system. It hurt and Rayflo's bathroom looked like someone died in it, but she was herself again. She cleaned up the mess, as she heard Remus in the hallway. She left Rayflo's room then to find her friend, to make sure he was all right. He was a little worse for wear, but otherwise all right.
Through talking to him, Shada found that the creature that had attacked them was the pet of his...evil grandfather. He'd stolen the artifact from Remus and James, which was bad in itself, but the bastard had come into the manor just to torment James, whom he saw as his legitimate grandson. Nevertheless, the visit had taken away the facade of peace in the house.
That night, however, Rayflo suggested they all go out for drinks, to which the entire house agreed--including Gamma, who was in a smaller, more humanoid form. Everyone had a good time, despite the narrow escapes of the day. Shada escaped the clutches of her annoying Succubus and the others? Well, those that fought had escaped with their lives. Sira, escaped a hangover and Alistor? He, himself, escaped whatever death Sira would have given him, had she gotten the bad hangover she'd deserved. All in all, it was a good night, everyone got nice and drunk, inhibitions were lost, and for a moment, it was as if nothing happened. Life, it seemed, was good.
