RP: [ficlet] “The Power of Prayer” [repost]
Description: Wu Bai demands payment in full for services rendered. But who pays more, today, Kyle or Dani?
Characters: Dani (who belongs to hollsh), Kyle and Wu Bai.
Warning: Uhhhmm...comes pretty close to non-con but...not really, no. But if just flirting with the idea bothers you, go away.
A/N: This happened months ago. Sorry...^^;
“The Power of Prayer”
She wasn’t stupid, not by a long shot.
Dani was likely the most observant one in their households all put together. She knew that something had been on her boyfriend’s mind of late. It always seemed to be buzzing, that mind of his, his brow always showing him fretting more often than she’d like.
She just wasn’t truly omniscient. That’s all. She didn’t know anybody that was, either.
Kyle’d asked to see her that night (which was a little tedious, to be honest. At first, his formality was cute, but now it could be a little grating when she knew that he was normally quite informal), to which she said yes. Then he kind of...cancelled. It was about a half-hour later, too. He wasn’t sounding much like himself at the time, so she took it upon herself to leave the store early and go to him, instead. Since she wasn’t expected (and just teleporting into his place would be rude when he was doing goodness knows what, if not pretty creepy), she went about it the old fashioned way: ringing the doorbell.
A few moments went by before a tinny version of Kyle’s voice came through a small speaker that was just above the doorbell: “Allo. Qui’l y a...” He sounded tired at best.
Maybe this wasn’t a great idea, then. But she went ahead with it-she was already here. Dani pressed the button to talk and leaned forward. “C’est moi, darling.” There was a pause of the other end and what she thought sounded like “Shit”. She raised an eyebrow, a heavy feeling pooling at the bottom of her stomach, as much as she resisted it. What the...? Maybe the place was a mess and he didn’t want her to see it. That must be it. No reason for silly conclusions. He was incredibly anxious about that sort of thing.
Which was also starting to get grating.
“<>” Dani heard a small crash over the speaker before it cut off, as if he slipped. “<<...son of a...Dani...uhm...the place is really a mess right now...>>
See? Nothing like that. Annoying, but not menacing.
“<>”
The speaker came back on. “<>”
Dani shook her head, smiling yet looking a little exasperated, though he couldn’t see that. “<>”
“<<...ooh, you would mind this.>>”
“<>”
“<>” Dani’s smile turned into a frown. There was just no reason for that kind of tone. There was another pause before a laugh. “<>”
“<>” The heavy feeling as back, if for only a flicker. Her body knew that Kyle was picking a fight before she did.
“<> “
“<>”
There was an annoyed sound on the other end and Dani stood up straight, and the thought of rescinding the plea crossed her mind. He was being a...a brat. About something she’d seen before, even.
“<<...all right. But don’t faint or anything.>>”
“<>” In the middle of her sentence, she teleported into the living room. Maybe she should have believed him: balled up papers were everywhere, as well as empty beer cans, books, and folded laundry that hadn’t been put away. She shuddered at the sight, thinking that his office could only be much, much worse. Thankfully, nothing was staining the walls or anything, or Dani would have an even stronger urge to turn around and run away. Muffin’s corner was an oasis of cleanliness, however, which made Dani grimace slightly. She didn’t know if it were admirable or just sad that he still had the foresight to keep the snake’s area so spotless while he lived in squalor.
There was a rustle in the back of the apartment. Dani took a deep breath (but not too deep) and stepped through towards Kyle’s bedroom. She glanced back at Muffin and the snake hissed a sad hiss that was rendered noiseless by her aquarium. For a moment, Dani imagined that she was saying “Help”.
She opened the bedroom door to a pleasant enough surprise. Compared to everything else, anyway. He was ready cleaning up his room, the window was open and the floor was clear. He was unfurling a new top sheet when he smiled widely for her, sounding welcoming. “Hi! How are you?”
The “Flight of the Bumblebee” he just did was more than obvious. His hair looked like crap. Dani giggled for a moment behind her hand at the thought, then remembered that she was supposed to be kind of miffed. And the weird feeling that had pooled in her stomach was creeping back. “I’m wonderful. And-”
“How’s the hotel doing? I know I should be visiting it more than I have…”
“That’s going well, too. My staff is nice, actually a little funny. They tease one another a bit.” Dani crossed her arms and smiled. “I like them. I’m busy, but I like them. They don’t say anything bad about Joey, either, which I appreciate.”
Kyle was tucking the covers over the pillows by then, still smiling. “I’m very glad to hear that. Two businesses, two that that you like-both of them have to do with books… Edwin would be beside himself with proudness.”
There was a long pause, which he finally broke with a laugh. “’Pride’. I meant ‘pride’. Don’t tell Garrett I forgot such a simple Standard word…”
“No…no, of course not…”
“Hey…” The Earth Type walked around the bed to Dani and put his hands on her shoulders. Just thinking about that small detail made her notice that he looked a bit ashen. “Don’t think that I’m not proud of you to. Because I am-immensely so.”
It rolled off her tongue before she had the complete thought in her head: “Then why didn’t you say that?”
Blink. There was another pause. “…pardon me. I just…thought that he would be, that’s all. I meant no ill by it.”
She sighed and leaned against him. “I know you didn’t. You never would. I’m sorry, too.”
“For what?”
Dani just wanted to fall onto the bed and stay there for a while. She didn’t particularly care how suggestive that sounded in her head, too. Her mouth twitched a few times, trying to find the right words. Alas, she didn’t, and had to settle with blunt ones, instead. “What’s happened?”
“I’m afraid that I don’t follow.”
“This, Kyle.” Dani motioned to the floors and the rest of the room, then his hair and his face. “You call to ask to see me-which you don’t have to do-then you cancel within the same hour. That’s just not…normal without an explanation, and you know that. So tell me. And don’t act cute and formal...” She attempted to soften her words with a “Please” tacked on the end, but that probably had no effect. “I’m worried.”
His response was cool. “I’m sorry for worrying you…let’s look at this one thing at a time.” Kyle touched his cheek with a finger. “First thing, I haven’t shed for the summer, yet. If this keeps up, I’ll have to go to a spa or something, and I haven’t got an entire day to waste, so I’m not looking forward to the possibility.”
Somehow, that didn’t exactly sound right, but Dani let it go.
“Second, I was sleeping before you came in. Bedhead.”
Of course, Dani was incredulous. She raised an eyebrow. “‘Bedhead’.”
“Yes…” Kyle’s ears turned slightly, flattening in chagrin as he looked at her. He was frowning, now, the coolness that he had been answering with fading pretty fast. “I’ve been…having these mic-”
A sharp breeze came through the open window that made her shudder. Those really weren’t the things she was asking about and she was going to say so before she was interrupted by a loud “Ahem” and temperatures dropping noticeably.
Kyle didn’t move. He had his eyes shut and was gripping Dani’s shoulder somewhat tightly, keeping his tail wrapped around her waist. “Tell me that isn’t Lady Wu Bai.” When Dani was silent, he cursed under his breath and turned his head to see the beautiful woman decked out in a white dress with blue trim sprawled out across the bed, making herself quite at home. It was disturbing how she looked just like Garrett, right down to his look of pure smarm. Being his sister simply was not an excuse for such a thing. “Lady, what a pleasant surprise,” he said with a gentle, and undoubtedly fake, smile reserved for troublesome patients and coworkers. He pulled Dani even closer to him.
The water dæmon clapped. “Like honey, that was. I almost believed it.”
“To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“My pleasure, of course.”
Dani gritted her teeth and felt her fingers curl up to make fists. She knew what she was talking about as soon as she said it: Kyle had asked for Wu Bai’s help when Opal and the others had gone missing a month or so ago. He must have been half-crazed with grief to pray Wu Bai, as she made it clear that she was an amoral and selfish being-an amoral and selfish being that always wouldn’t have minded acquiring him, apparently. She easily defeated the Green Witch and now she demanding payment for her services, despite the fact that she saved her own brother in the process.
Maybe that’s why she’d taken so long to collect-she was mulling over the ethics of this. Looks like her hunger won out.
Kyle hesitated; Dani could feel every bit of his apprehension as Wu Bai continued: “Come on, come on. I know you want to get this over with.” She licked her lips and patted beside her on the bed. “And I’m famished.”
It was as if Kyle lost his voice for a few seconds as he opened his mouth and nothing came out. “...Dani…”
It made her feel horrible to admit it to herself, but Dani was the tiniest bit relieved that Kyle was so afraid of Wu Bai. He didn’t want to do this...she was at ease.
What horrible thoughts to have. She’d have to apologize for them, later.
“What about her? Let her wait other room, I don’t care. It’s not that private to me.”
He gulped. “No…she wanted to stay, madam.”
“Oh? Well…” Wu Bai said as she sat up on her knees. “Titillating for you?”
Dani grimaced. “Not in the slightest…I want to support him.”
“Darn. And I was starting to like you.” The dæmon shrugged. “Whatever. Just don’t get in my way, then.”
Her nonchalance was disturbing, but that was much easier than Dani thought it would be. …So maybe her feeding was going to be even worse. Kyle shuddered and looked around. “Do I have to…say something?”
Wu Bai patted the spot on the bed beside her once again. “You know me, sweetie. I don’t give a shit about ceremony, anymore.” When Kyle sat down on the bed, she touched his chin with her thumb and forefinger. “You could stand some shedding and a hair brush…but you’re damn pretty as is.”
Kyle looked slightly embarrassed and Dani felt her face getting red in anger. “Thank you, Lady,” was all he said in reply. He took Dani by the hand-it was quite hot and shaky from being nervous. He said “Thank you” to her so quietly that she barely heard, but he didn’t repeat himself. She wanted to protest, but chances were high that it’d make things worse.
Ignoring that he said anything to his girlfriend, the icy dæmon smiled. “You’re very welcome...” And before any other word of negotiation could be uttered, Wu Bai pulled Kyle back with one hand, pushed his hair away from his neck with the other, and sank her now incredibly sharp teeth into his neck. He didn’t scream, but he clenched his hand tightly around Dani’s and let out a gasp that was rather familiar to her by now.
For a while, Dani was only very uncomfortable, but she kept herself composed and rubbed Kyle’s hand, trying to let him know that she was right there. She was pretty sure that he wasn’t even aware of her presence, anymore, but she was there. Even when it got really, really uncomfortable, when he was making sounds she hadn’t heard from him and reacting in ways she hadn’t seen. Not directly. It was slightly reminiscent of when he had frenzied all that time ago: he looked hungry in a carnal fashion, yet vacant. Kyle grasped her hand as tightly as he could suddenly everything was louder. Wu Bai ate, Kyle moaned cried out, Dani suffered.
He screamed out one last time and Dani thought she was going to pass out, herself, from Kyle’s squeezing. Wu Bai paid them no mind, of course, looking happily dazed and sated. “Oh yeah.”
“It...it’s over?” Dani asked tentatively.
“Uhm hm...unfortunately.” Dani her eyes slowly and found Kyle on his side, the puncture wounds on his neck already healing as he laid there, knocked out, in a kind of impure afterglow. The thought was enough to make her sick. She looked up at Wu Bai angrily, who was lying back on her elbow and wiping specks of the warm blood off the corner over her mouth with her thumb, looking as though she were still in ecstasy. “Wow.”
“What did you do?” the M’ren woman asked through gritted teeth.
“You were there. You saw that I was eating.” Wu Bai sounded as dreamy as she looked. “Rocked both our worlds in the process. Ay, Mamie, I love being a dæmon.” She scooted down beside her shell of a meal and put her arms around his waist and yawned. No response from Kyle. “In a word, ‘yum’. I’ve got to do this again.”
The rage that had already bubbled up was starting to full-on roar in Dani’s ears. “You’ve been paid. Get away from him.”
Wu Bai raised her highly arched eyebrow. “Excuse you?”
If Kyle was even half awake, he would say the same thing. Right? “I said you’ve been paid. Go away.”
“And I don’t want to. I like it here.”
THWACK.
Wu Bai stared up at Dani and touched her own cheek gingerly-if she were anyone else, it would be red and throbbing. Maybe it would have a handprint on it, too, the slap had so much force behind it. Good thing Wu Bai wasn’t some other person. “You...you would dare strike me? A dæmon?!”
Dani was shaking hard from anger. Anger and nausea from the cruelty she’d witnessed. “You’re no dæmon! ...I mean, you are a demon! A devil! An evil beast! Get out!”
Going from a look of slight bewilderment to being incredibly displeased, Wu Bai sat up slowly. Her eyes seemed to film over in blackish-blue, making them look dead. The room was getting cold, like the very depths of the sea; tendrils of her long, dark hair were standing on end and the word ‘Medusa’ crossed Dani’s mind. Only this gorgon turned you to ice. “Say that again. Say it and I’ll show you what an ‘evil beast’ looks like.”
She shook and took a small step back, but otherwise, Dani stood her ground. “I...I-I won’t indulge you! You’ve been paid in full, now get out! You’ve done enough!”
“You should be thanking me, too. Your brother’d be worm food right now if I didn’t defeat Gita.” Wu Bai took her hand away from her cheek and stood up slowly on the bed. “I’ll remember this.”
“I don’t...” Dani squeezed Kyle’s limp hand. “I don’t care. You’re not using him for your sick games, anymore.”
“Games?” Wu Bai’s lips parted in a beautiful smile, then she let out a laugh that was dripping with acidity. “I was straightforward about I was doing, at least. I told him what I wanted before I even saved the others, he knew that I wanted blood and how I go about getting it.”
“That’s no excuse to hurt him!”
“Uh huh. Oh well, it wasn’t so bad for him.” The water dæmon caressed Kyle’s cheek with icy fingers. Her eyes lost their threatening hue and her hair draped her shoulders once again in their rivulets of silk. “See? He’s smiling. And from how he was looking, he needed that smile.”
Reluctantly, Dani glanced down to see that Wu Bai was right. That he was smiling in his sleep, not that he needed it. “...what you did was still wrong,” she said gravely. “He never would have done it if his friends weren’t in danger so don’t act smug about it. Just leave.”
Wu Bai rolled her eyes and rose from the bed, sitting in mid-air. “Fine, I’ll leave. But you remember that smile. May not see it again for a long time.” With another blast of cold air and that awful laugh, she was gone.
After taking a few keep breaths, Dani scooted into bed with Kyle, though she was still shaking with outrage. Only her promise to Kyle to not say anything about this was keeping her from screaming to Garrett about it, but just barely. Family? Like hell she was. Sorry, Joey.
He was still smiling in his sleep. How...bothersome. It meant nothing, but it was still bothersome. She went over the events of the last hour or so in her head and was even more dissatisfied to remember that most of her questions were evaded as well. In all, the visit had been a big disappointment.
“I’ve been having these…” What? What was he talking about? She’d finally been getting a straight answer and Wu Bai had to go and ruin it. Damn her. Kyle shifted a little. “Hm...” His sigh wasn’t one of pleasure, she noted, but worry. The worry penetrated even his sleep.
Like it was mentioned before, Dani wasn’t stupid. She was likely the most observant of all of their households.
It didn’t really help here, though.
Characters: Dani (who belongs to hollsh), Kyle and Wu Bai.
Warning: Uhhhmm...comes pretty close to non-con but...not really, no. But if just flirting with the idea bothers you, go away.
A/N: This happened months ago. Sorry...^^;
“The Power of Prayer”
She wasn’t stupid, not by a long shot.
Dani was likely the most observant one in their households all put together. She knew that something had been on her boyfriend’s mind of late. It always seemed to be buzzing, that mind of his, his brow always showing him fretting more often than she’d like.
She just wasn’t truly omniscient. That’s all. She didn’t know anybody that was, either.
Kyle’d asked to see her that night (which was a little tedious, to be honest. At first, his formality was cute, but now it could be a little grating when she knew that he was normally quite informal), to which she said yes. Then he kind of...cancelled. It was about a half-hour later, too. He wasn’t sounding much like himself at the time, so she took it upon herself to leave the store early and go to him, instead. Since she wasn’t expected (and just teleporting into his place would be rude when he was doing goodness knows what, if not pretty creepy), she went about it the old fashioned way: ringing the doorbell.
A few moments went by before a tinny version of Kyle’s voice came through a small speaker that was just above the doorbell: “Allo. Qui’l y a...” He sounded tired at best.
Maybe this wasn’t a great idea, then. But she went ahead with it-she was already here. Dani pressed the button to talk and leaned forward. “C’est moi, darling.” There was a pause of the other end and what she thought sounded like “Shit”. She raised an eyebrow, a heavy feeling pooling at the bottom of her stomach, as much as she resisted it. What the...? Maybe the place was a mess and he didn’t want her to see it. That must be it. No reason for silly conclusions. He was incredibly anxious about that sort of thing.
Which was also starting to get grating.
“<>” Dani heard a small crash over the speaker before it cut off, as if he slipped. “<<...son of a...Dani...uhm...the place is really a mess right now...>>
See? Nothing like that. Annoying, but not menacing.
“<>”
The speaker came back on. “<>”
Dani shook her head, smiling yet looking a little exasperated, though he couldn’t see that. “<>”
“<<...ooh, you would mind this.>>”
“<>”
“<>” Dani’s smile turned into a frown. There was just no reason for that kind of tone. There was another pause before a laugh. “<>”
“<>” The heavy feeling as back, if for only a flicker. Her body knew that Kyle was picking a fight before she did.
“<> “
“<>”
There was an annoyed sound on the other end and Dani stood up straight, and the thought of rescinding the plea crossed her mind. He was being a...a brat. About something she’d seen before, even.
“<<...all right. But don’t faint or anything.>>”
“<>” In the middle of her sentence, she teleported into the living room. Maybe she should have believed him: balled up papers were everywhere, as well as empty beer cans, books, and folded laundry that hadn’t been put away. She shuddered at the sight, thinking that his office could only be much, much worse. Thankfully, nothing was staining the walls or anything, or Dani would have an even stronger urge to turn around and run away. Muffin’s corner was an oasis of cleanliness, however, which made Dani grimace slightly. She didn’t know if it were admirable or just sad that he still had the foresight to keep the snake’s area so spotless while he lived in squalor.
There was a rustle in the back of the apartment. Dani took a deep breath (but not too deep) and stepped through towards Kyle’s bedroom. She glanced back at Muffin and the snake hissed a sad hiss that was rendered noiseless by her aquarium. For a moment, Dani imagined that she was saying “Help”.
She opened the bedroom door to a pleasant enough surprise. Compared to everything else, anyway. He was ready cleaning up his room, the window was open and the floor was clear. He was unfurling a new top sheet when he smiled widely for her, sounding welcoming. “Hi! How are you?”
The “Flight of the Bumblebee” he just did was more than obvious. His hair looked like crap. Dani giggled for a moment behind her hand at the thought, then remembered that she was supposed to be kind of miffed. And the weird feeling that had pooled in her stomach was creeping back. “I’m wonderful. And-”
“How’s the hotel doing? I know I should be visiting it more than I have…”
“That’s going well, too. My staff is nice, actually a little funny. They tease one another a bit.” Dani crossed her arms and smiled. “I like them. I’m busy, but I like them. They don’t say anything bad about Joey, either, which I appreciate.”
Kyle was tucking the covers over the pillows by then, still smiling. “I’m very glad to hear that. Two businesses, two that that you like-both of them have to do with books… Edwin would be beside himself with proudness.”
There was a long pause, which he finally broke with a laugh. “’Pride’. I meant ‘pride’. Don’t tell Garrett I forgot such a simple Standard word…”
“No…no, of course not…”
“Hey…” The Earth Type walked around the bed to Dani and put his hands on her shoulders. Just thinking about that small detail made her notice that he looked a bit ashen. “Don’t think that I’m not proud of you to. Because I am-immensely so.”
It rolled off her tongue before she had the complete thought in her head: “Then why didn’t you say that?”
Blink. There was another pause. “…pardon me. I just…thought that he would be, that’s all. I meant no ill by it.”
She sighed and leaned against him. “I know you didn’t. You never would. I’m sorry, too.”
“For what?”
Dani just wanted to fall onto the bed and stay there for a while. She didn’t particularly care how suggestive that sounded in her head, too. Her mouth twitched a few times, trying to find the right words. Alas, she didn’t, and had to settle with blunt ones, instead. “What’s happened?”
“I’m afraid that I don’t follow.”
“This, Kyle.” Dani motioned to the floors and the rest of the room, then his hair and his face. “You call to ask to see me-which you don’t have to do-then you cancel within the same hour. That’s just not…normal without an explanation, and you know that. So tell me. And don’t act cute and formal...” She attempted to soften her words with a “Please” tacked on the end, but that probably had no effect. “I’m worried.”
His response was cool. “I’m sorry for worrying you…let’s look at this one thing at a time.” Kyle touched his cheek with a finger. “First thing, I haven’t shed for the summer, yet. If this keeps up, I’ll have to go to a spa or something, and I haven’t got an entire day to waste, so I’m not looking forward to the possibility.”
Somehow, that didn’t exactly sound right, but Dani let it go.
“Second, I was sleeping before you came in. Bedhead.”
Of course, Dani was incredulous. She raised an eyebrow. “‘Bedhead’.”
“Yes…” Kyle’s ears turned slightly, flattening in chagrin as he looked at her. He was frowning, now, the coolness that he had been answering with fading pretty fast. “I’ve been…having these mic-”
A sharp breeze came through the open window that made her shudder. Those really weren’t the things she was asking about and she was going to say so before she was interrupted by a loud “Ahem” and temperatures dropping noticeably.
Kyle didn’t move. He had his eyes shut and was gripping Dani’s shoulder somewhat tightly, keeping his tail wrapped around her waist. “Tell me that isn’t Lady Wu Bai.” When Dani was silent, he cursed under his breath and turned his head to see the beautiful woman decked out in a white dress with blue trim sprawled out across the bed, making herself quite at home. It was disturbing how she looked just like Garrett, right down to his look of pure smarm. Being his sister simply was not an excuse for such a thing. “Lady, what a pleasant surprise,” he said with a gentle, and undoubtedly fake, smile reserved for troublesome patients and coworkers. He pulled Dani even closer to him.
The water dæmon clapped. “Like honey, that was. I almost believed it.”
“To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“My pleasure, of course.”
Dani gritted her teeth and felt her fingers curl up to make fists. She knew what she was talking about as soon as she said it: Kyle had asked for Wu Bai’s help when Opal and the others had gone missing a month or so ago. He must have been half-crazed with grief to pray Wu Bai, as she made it clear that she was an amoral and selfish being-an amoral and selfish being that always wouldn’t have minded acquiring him, apparently. She easily defeated the Green Witch and now she demanding payment for her services, despite the fact that she saved her own brother in the process.
Maybe that’s why she’d taken so long to collect-she was mulling over the ethics of this. Looks like her hunger won out.
Kyle hesitated; Dani could feel every bit of his apprehension as Wu Bai continued: “Come on, come on. I know you want to get this over with.” She licked her lips and patted beside her on the bed. “And I’m famished.”
It was as if Kyle lost his voice for a few seconds as he opened his mouth and nothing came out. “...Dani…”
It made her feel horrible to admit it to herself, but Dani was the tiniest bit relieved that Kyle was so afraid of Wu Bai. He didn’t want to do this...she was at ease.
What horrible thoughts to have. She’d have to apologize for them, later.
“What about her? Let her wait other room, I don’t care. It’s not that private to me.”
He gulped. “No…she wanted to stay, madam.”
“Oh? Well…” Wu Bai said as she sat up on her knees. “Titillating for you?”
Dani grimaced. “Not in the slightest…I want to support him.”
“Darn. And I was starting to like you.” The dæmon shrugged. “Whatever. Just don’t get in my way, then.”
Her nonchalance was disturbing, but that was much easier than Dani thought it would be. …So maybe her feeding was going to be even worse. Kyle shuddered and looked around. “Do I have to…say something?”
Wu Bai patted the spot on the bed beside her once again. “You know me, sweetie. I don’t give a shit about ceremony, anymore.” When Kyle sat down on the bed, she touched his chin with her thumb and forefinger. “You could stand some shedding and a hair brush…but you’re damn pretty as is.”
Kyle looked slightly embarrassed and Dani felt her face getting red in anger. “Thank you, Lady,” was all he said in reply. He took Dani by the hand-it was quite hot and shaky from being nervous. He said “Thank you” to her so quietly that she barely heard, but he didn’t repeat himself. She wanted to protest, but chances were high that it’d make things worse.
Ignoring that he said anything to his girlfriend, the icy dæmon smiled. “You’re very welcome...” And before any other word of negotiation could be uttered, Wu Bai pulled Kyle back with one hand, pushed his hair away from his neck with the other, and sank her now incredibly sharp teeth into his neck. He didn’t scream, but he clenched his hand tightly around Dani’s and let out a gasp that was rather familiar to her by now.
For a while, Dani was only very uncomfortable, but she kept herself composed and rubbed Kyle’s hand, trying to let him know that she was right there. She was pretty sure that he wasn’t even aware of her presence, anymore, but she was there. Even when it got really, really uncomfortable, when he was making sounds she hadn’t heard from him and reacting in ways she hadn’t seen. Not directly. It was slightly reminiscent of when he had frenzied all that time ago: he looked hungry in a carnal fashion, yet vacant. Kyle grasped her hand as tightly as he could suddenly everything was louder. Wu Bai ate, Kyle moaned cried out, Dani suffered.
He screamed out one last time and Dani thought she was going to pass out, herself, from Kyle’s squeezing. Wu Bai paid them no mind, of course, looking happily dazed and sated. “Oh yeah.”
“It...it’s over?” Dani asked tentatively.
“Uhm hm...unfortunately.” Dani her eyes slowly and found Kyle on his side, the puncture wounds on his neck already healing as he laid there, knocked out, in a kind of impure afterglow. The thought was enough to make her sick. She looked up at Wu Bai angrily, who was lying back on her elbow and wiping specks of the warm blood off the corner over her mouth with her thumb, looking as though she were still in ecstasy. “Wow.”
“What did you do?” the M’ren woman asked through gritted teeth.
“You were there. You saw that I was eating.” Wu Bai sounded as dreamy as she looked. “Rocked both our worlds in the process. Ay, Mamie, I love being a dæmon.” She scooted down beside her shell of a meal and put her arms around his waist and yawned. No response from Kyle. “In a word, ‘yum’. I’ve got to do this again.”
The rage that had already bubbled up was starting to full-on roar in Dani’s ears. “You’ve been paid. Get away from him.”
Wu Bai raised her highly arched eyebrow. “Excuse you?”
If Kyle was even half awake, he would say the same thing. Right? “I said you’ve been paid. Go away.”
“And I don’t want to. I like it here.”
THWACK.
Wu Bai stared up at Dani and touched her own cheek gingerly-if she were anyone else, it would be red and throbbing. Maybe it would have a handprint on it, too, the slap had so much force behind it. Good thing Wu Bai wasn’t some other person. “You...you would dare strike me? A dæmon?!”
Dani was shaking hard from anger. Anger and nausea from the cruelty she’d witnessed. “You’re no dæmon! ...I mean, you are a demon! A devil! An evil beast! Get out!”
Going from a look of slight bewilderment to being incredibly displeased, Wu Bai sat up slowly. Her eyes seemed to film over in blackish-blue, making them look dead. The room was getting cold, like the very depths of the sea; tendrils of her long, dark hair were standing on end and the word ‘Medusa’ crossed Dani’s mind. Only this gorgon turned you to ice. “Say that again. Say it and I’ll show you what an ‘evil beast’ looks like.”
She shook and took a small step back, but otherwise, Dani stood her ground. “I...I-I won’t indulge you! You’ve been paid in full, now get out! You’ve done enough!”
“You should be thanking me, too. Your brother’d be worm food right now if I didn’t defeat Gita.” Wu Bai took her hand away from her cheek and stood up slowly on the bed. “I’ll remember this.”
“I don’t...” Dani squeezed Kyle’s limp hand. “I don’t care. You’re not using him for your sick games, anymore.”
“Games?” Wu Bai’s lips parted in a beautiful smile, then she let out a laugh that was dripping with acidity. “I was straightforward about I was doing, at least. I told him what I wanted before I even saved the others, he knew that I wanted blood and how I go about getting it.”
“That’s no excuse to hurt him!”
“Uh huh. Oh well, it wasn’t so bad for him.” The water dæmon caressed Kyle’s cheek with icy fingers. Her eyes lost their threatening hue and her hair draped her shoulders once again in their rivulets of silk. “See? He’s smiling. And from how he was looking, he needed that smile.”
Reluctantly, Dani glanced down to see that Wu Bai was right. That he was smiling in his sleep, not that he needed it. “...what you did was still wrong,” she said gravely. “He never would have done it if his friends weren’t in danger so don’t act smug about it. Just leave.”
Wu Bai rolled her eyes and rose from the bed, sitting in mid-air. “Fine, I’ll leave. But you remember that smile. May not see it again for a long time.” With another blast of cold air and that awful laugh, she was gone.
After taking a few keep breaths, Dani scooted into bed with Kyle, though she was still shaking with outrage. Only her promise to Kyle to not say anything about this was keeping her from screaming to Garrett about it, but just barely. Family? Like hell she was. Sorry, Joey.
He was still smiling in his sleep. How...bothersome. It meant nothing, but it was still bothersome. She went over the events of the last hour or so in her head and was even more dissatisfied to remember that most of her questions were evaded as well. In all, the visit had been a big disappointment.
“I’ve been having these…” What? What was he talking about? She’d finally been getting a straight answer and Wu Bai had to go and ruin it. Damn her. Kyle shifted a little. “Hm...” His sigh wasn’t one of pleasure, she noted, but worry. The worry penetrated even his sleep.
Like it was mentioned before, Dani wasn’t stupid. She was likely the most observant of all of their households.
It didn’t really help here, though.