Of Scales and wings and Things that Go Bump (in the night)
Title: Of scales and wings and things that go Bump (in the night)
Chapter 12 / (?)
Fandom: Losers
Genre: AU
Rating: PG 13
Word Count: roughly 1500
Disclaimer: I do not own the movie or Comics The Losers or characters within. I do not make money from writing or posting this fic.
hidden author's note. and yay! draggie jensen finally. more of him to come. :3
A/N: I have made a notable decision regarding Jensen's coloring mentioned in the previous chapter. I love the image i tried to create for him, and you all may hold to it if you like, but it became too much to keep up with in the course of writing this fic. on that note, i have concluded to make him into storm tones. I have made a (rough) picture that should demonstrate his approx coloring fairly well. Picture may be found here.
Raw versions may also be found for Cougar and little Red .
On to the story...
Chapter 12
There are moments in a sniper's world where they know they missed that shot. There was a target, and a moment, and a perfect visual, but because of something else, they missed the shot. Maybe the call came down to abort. Maybe the rifle jammed at the last second, and the bullet never fired. Or a cross wind took the bullet off course.
Cougar will never think about those missed moments, but this was an instant that will remained burned in his brain. The second Jensen had changed from being human in a dragon's body, to dragon within a dragon's body, that would stay. This was his moment, and he wasn't about to miss it.
Disregard the fact this dragon was bigger than either of his forms. Deny the fact he'd practically asked, no, demanded this. Accept the adrenalin and the surge of pride that this had been possible, and latch onto the sudden spike of eager pleasure. For yes, this would be fun, satisfying even. It had been a very long time since he had a challenge of this caliber, with something that was so like himself.
“Leave!” The word was hissed in the wake of the deafening roar, but the human members of the team heard it, withdrawing a swift, careful retreat as Cougar crowded in close. Jensen's chin reached his knees and their eyes were nearly level as the dragon snuffled at him, breathing in the rich mixture that defined Cougar's scent. Slate slits peered him over, assessing, judging. The body was human, the scent screamed dragon. And the dragon in Jensen's mind couldn't determine how to deal with it. The scent was familiar, sunk into his scales and his mind, but what it looked at was not the scent. The uncertainty rumbled from his chest, the mild irritation of the other human briefly forgotten, and Jensen butted Cougar's chest. Cougar chuckled softly before making soothing noises deep in his chest, the vibration reaching that which was and was not Jensen. “Storm cloud. Ever changing, and it matches your scales.” He reached out and stroked the scales along the forehead, above and between the eyes, back toward the horns. “La Tormenta.”
A rumbling, purring noise issued from the dragon's throat, one Cougar returned as he turned the petting gesture into a mind-melting repetition, giving the dragon something soothing to focus on. Jensen's body relaxed, slowly, until his body slid into a lumpy mess on the floor, a taloned forepaw batting at Cougar on the way down. The sniper knelt, but it wasn't enough. Another swipe had him sprawling between twin dragon paws and a large scaled head settling onto his chest. “No. No!” The firm words only made his captor lift his head a little, a rough tongue dragging across the shirt for a moment before teeth dug into the material. It ripped away easily, leaving swiftly scaling skin open for another long lick. When Cougar growled there was a huff of too- hot air and the head settled back onto him. Cougar sighed and settled in for a long wait.
Jensen came to to the realization that he felt wrong in his own skin, and he could hear Cougar very close, murmuring. There was a raspy quality to his voice, the could- be growl that made random thoughts wonder if Cougar was all scale-skin and human body at the moment. Jensen stretched and yawned, careless until something struck the line of his jaw. It was a small hurt, but it snapped his attention down, peering at Cougar through narrowed eyes. Wait, he had to look down? He shivered in his body, realizing that his little moment earlier was more than just a weird dream. It was real.
“Tormenta?”
Jensen snorted, then whined in frustration as he realized he still couldn't speak. Instead he'd have to change back, and at the moment he really wasn't sure how. He shoved his nose against Cougar, glancing back along his body and then back at Cougar. He huffed, nostrils flaring as hot air rushed over his teammate, making the strands in his face flutter. “Eh, hello. Finally awake, Jensen?”
Jensen churred in agreement, the vibration feeling different in this form than as a human. But it brought an answering smirk on Cougar's face. “Come on. Let's get you human before your mind switches.” He levered himself up and away from Jensen's feet, then placed a hand on Jensen's forehead. His hand fit neatly between the low ridges above Jensen's eyes. “Remember what you really are and demand the change.” There was a subtle twitching of muscle and scales against one side of his hand, and Cougar imagined it was the classic raised eyebrow- not that it would be visible on this body. "Confía en mí." Trust me.
Jensen closed his eyes, letting all the familiar fun times with the team fill his head. But his mind reminded him that he was not just human, and he was dragon, and this body was now his. He conceded the fact, but he needed to be human. He couldn't travel like this /he could fly / and he wouldn't be able to fulfill his role for his team /they were humans, didn't matter / wouldn't be able to thank Cougar for the obvious pampering /my scent mixed with his, ours, MINE / . And that's when lightening struck him in a way that he hadn't allowed, facts he'd been dancing around. Cougar's constant irritation, companionship, the back-and-forth that had driven the team psychotic. Huge eyes opened and peered at Cougar, who returned his gaze with a familiar slit glare, waiting calmly, no challenge, no pretense. He shoved his nose forward, burying his muzzle against Cougar's chest and inhaling deeply. His scent, wrapped around Cougar, like another home, different and unprepared but waiting.
He could feel his body, like a distant fog in his mind, shriveling and shrinking back to his frail human form. And when Cougar made to step away, Jensen grabbed with not quite human arms, wrapping Cougar against him and burying an increasing flatter face against the other dragon's jaw, nose nudging against hidden scent glands. He clung to the man as he returned to humanity, and let the pieces fall back together in his mind , making sense of instincts. And it felt cliched, because it only worked like this in fairy tales and romance novels.
Apparently, it also worked between dragons. Sometimes.
“You can let me go.”
Jensen growled slightly but forced himself to loosen his arms, pulling his face out from between Cougar's neck and shoulder. The hacker was giving him a nicely neutral look. “Jensen?”
“I think I need to stop watching the 'Twilight Zone' while eating peanut butter pickle sandwiches.” Cougar made an appropriate gagging noise in appreciation of the lame humour - he'd never seen the hacker eat anything of the sort- as he carefully extracted himself. “Seriously. I'm tired of randomly losing track of my mind and forcing myself to puzzle things out later. Why do I have your scent soaked into my skin and scales, and how the hell did I wake up as a dragon?”
“I challenged your authority as dragon. Our last fight was enough that your body finally finished what your mind has been doing. Making you truly de la Sangre.”
“Cougar. Why am I drenched in your scent?” The hard edge coloring Jensen's voice did not escape notice.
“I would not have you reeking of the others.” The tone is enough to startle the hacker, but not enough to scare him. He's past the point of letting Cougar's antics scare him. “You want me.” It's not a question; the inlaid scents and actions and Cougar's demeanor in this moment cannot refute this fact. Cougar's nod only confirmed it. The man stands before him, chest raw with what Jensen is just noticing looks slightly like rug burn, covered in their mingled scents, dressed only in a pair of jeans. It makes part of him want to tumble Cougar back to the floor and possess in ways he's trying not to picture in his head, because while he's not a homophobic bastard, it's still a startling revelation. “We're gonna talk about this later. Because I have some questions and need to think, and I'd really hate to fuck up what little sanity we have left as friends and teammates, but dammit, I can't get out of my head just how good we smell.” He grimaced a little. “And that still sounds a little odd. So, later, but it will happen. No avoiding me.”
There's heat in the look Cougar sent his way, but the sniper nodded and stepped away, leaving Jensen free to hunt down a room, and clothing, and reconnect with the others to find out just how badly he'd fucked things up this time.