Chack - Beauty and the Beast
This is my half of an art trade with 
She asked for Beauty and the Beast Chack.
For those of you who don't know the original story, Beauty kept hounding the Beast to let her go visit her family and when he allowed it, they kept nagging her to stay longer. She finally goes back to him and finds that the Beast near death because he has pined away for love of her. She proclaims her love for him and breaks the spell.
See, I could seriously *not* see Chase pining away for anyone. I thought, if there's death involved after separation, it's going to be someone else's.
In this version, the separation period is something of a 'test' for those Chase considers for lovers.
And guess who passes?
Chase waited in the darkened tower. The dragon half waited in cold silence for the tolling of the twelfth hour. He waited through the chimes. When the final echo died from the cold stones of his castle, still he waited.
‘It is time,’ he thought to himself. ‘It is time for Jack Spicer to die.’
One fiercely-clawed hand moved towards the glass sphere that represented his lover’s heart. Just before touching the rosy glass, Chase hesitated.
“Perhaps just a bit longer,” he murmured to himself. “He might have been delayed on the road.”
No a harsh voice demanded. He knew the price for breaking his word. If he did not return by midnight on the third night, his life would be forfeit.
The voice was the voice of the dragon that dwelt in his mind; the beast that had very nearly destroyed every last remnant of his humanity. It was the driving force that had kept him going all these long years, but now . . .
“He would not know if it was midnight if he were traveling!” He protested. “The night is cloudy; he could not see the moon! The horse would have trouble passing through the wood!”
You make many excuses for him, the dragon observed. How many others have you slain from this very spot? How many others that were riding just as hard and as fast as they could to escape you?
The jibe struck deep.
Chase lifted his claw and placed it on the glass sphere. He could feel Jack’s heart fluttering under his palm, as if it knew the terrible danger it was in. For a moment, the half dragon beast cupped the rosy ball, simply admiring the beauty of the warmth and life it’s aura emanated.
Do it now the dragon growled. Or you will not be keeping your word. You will be a weak-willed beast! It is what must be done.
“I was so certain he would return,” Chase whispered.
There was a moment of silence as even the black-hearted dragon hesitated.
I know. it said simply.
“I love him.”
I know.
For a long, long while, the fearsome creature sat alone in the darkness, cupping the small ball of light and warmth and mourning his own broken heart.
The chiming of the half hour brought his fearsome head up.
As the echoes bounced from tower to tower and died again, he could almost imagine he heard Jack’s voice on the wind.
Do it now, the dragon said. If you wait any longer, you will lose all stomach for killing.
Chase knew this for the truth that it was. The beast brought both hands up to crush the delicate glass into shards. When he did this, his beautiful prince would clutch his heart and fall over dead wherever in the world he was. His lovely Jack . . . Chase’s mind wandered to the youth’s incredible beauty. Eyes like rubies set in a pale porcelain face and that skin that glowed like alabaster; how godly he had looked naked and reclining on a fur rug before the fire. Jack had first taken to relaxing so by Chase’s order and the dragon half would simply use the recollection of the youth’s beauty to satisfy his lust. Jack had known the purpose of the nude relaxation of course; he was no fool. And one day he had looked at Chase with his eyes shining like wet blood and murmured: ‘Why don’t you touch me?’
Never had another offered themselves to Chase without threats of violence first. But Jack had. Jack had looked beyond his hideous form. Jack had slept by his side and made love with him and all that he had asked in return was a chance to avenge his family and after all of that, why couldn’t Chase give him another few hours?
Or a day?
Or a few days? Perhaps he was in need of help; the frail youth was no warrior after all. Chase should go and get him!
Excuses . . . the dragon in him growled.
Chase was about to order that part of him into silence when a sound reached his ears. It was like the voice he had imagined on the wind, but stronger.
And now accompanied by hoof beats.
Chase carefully placed the heart sphere back in the wall altar before scrambling to a window.
“Chase!”
It was faint, but it was there; Jack was returning to him!
For a moment, the road broke from the surrounding forest. A figure flashed across it; dressed in black, with shining white skin and red hair and riding a lathered horse.
Jack was coming back to him.
For a moment, such elation took the dragon half he thought his feet had left the ground.
Jack called his name again and Chase bolted for the main gate, abandoning any sense of dignity as he pelted down corridors and stairways, his claws leaving gouges in the stone.
Jack was home! Jack was home! Jack was home!
He said he would come home and he did! He said he would come home and then never leave Chase’s side again and he had just come home, so the rest must be true as well!
~~~
Jack reined in his exhausted horse in the courtyard. The fallen prince dismounted and quickly ran inside. He did not know the exact time - curse this moonless night! - but it was late and he knew his time was nearly up.
Chase had been very explicit on what would happen to him if he did not return on time.
This was why the sight of the grandfather clock in the foyer stopped Jack in his tracks.
It was 12:43; nearly an hour past his deadline. But he still breathed? Why was he still alive?
Had something happened to Chase? Could the half-dragon not go through with his promise? Was he trapped and hurting somewhere in this decaying labyrinth of a castle?
That thought made Jack’s heart lurch with fear, but as he started up the steps to the section Chase haunted the most his ears caught the sound of Chase running in his direction.
Chase was well? Then why . . . was it possible the dragon monster hadn’t had the heart to slay him?
Was he too dear to the monster’s heart?
Did Chase, perhaps, love him?
Jack thought no more, for the dragon half that had captured his heart appeared at the end of the corridor and pounced. The slender prince was tackled roughly even as Chase curled around him to protect the youth from the rough landing in store.
When the youth dared open his eyes again, they were lying in a pile at the top of the stairs, Chase curled around him and clutching as tightly as he dared.
“I’m late! I apologize! I rode as fast as I could!” he blurted.
“Shut up,” Chase growled, though his voice was warm. “You returned.”
“I said that I would,” Jack returned, laying his head against the broad arch of the dragon-beast’s neck. “I missed you.”
“And I you,” Chase purred, squeezing him. “You returned.”
“And I’ve no more business to attend to,” Jack declared. “My family honor is satisfied; I will stay here and be your lovely boy on a rug until death takes me.” The beautiful prince leaned up to place a kiss on the end of Chase’s snout. “I love you, my Beast.”
“A-and I you, my Beauty,” Chase rasped. There was a certain hoarse desperation to his voice that said if it weren’t for his monstrous form the dragon monster might have been moved to tears.
Jack hummed with pleasure and relaxed into the tight embrace. He stroked the shining green and black scales soothingly. After a respectful amount of time simply holding his beastly lover, the delicate prince traced a black marking with his finger and hummed again.
“Chase? I have been without you for three days and I know of a fur rug and a fireplace that are similarly lonely . . .”
Chase chuckled darkly and pulled away enough to see the salacious look on his lover’s face.
“Jack . . . you have done what no one ever has; you have returned to this hideous monster. You have loved me. You have loved me for whom and what I am. You have earned a reward.”
“A naked reward?” Jack asked hopefully.
Chase laughed and pulled Jack to his feet.
“Something even better!”
The dragon monster took a few steps away from the prince and changed. His form shrunk, shifted, and changed color. As Jack gaped in astonishment, his demon-beast lover assumed the form of the most singularly beautiful man he had ever seen in his life. His face was smooth and pure as marble; his glossy black hair hung down his back like glistening ink, and his form under the suit of black clothes he now wore was trim and pleasing to the eyes.
Then he looked at Jack and the former prince nearly swooned.
His eyes were unchanged. Still gold with black slits and viciously, wonderfully wicked.
“Ch - Chase? What . . ?” Jack broke off sharply as the newly formed Chase yanked him into another tight embrace.
“Jack, you returned to me. You had your chance for freedom and you refused it. You returnedto me; you broke my curse.”
“Your curse?” Jack parroted stupidly.
“My curse that trapped me in my battle form; that kept anyone from seeing my original body. It kept anyone from seeing that me that could be and only showed my darkest, ugliest side to the world,” Chase purred.
“Your dragon body isn’t ugly!” Jack protested.
Chase hummed with delight at the exclamation and cupped Jack’s face in his hands.
“My love,” he murmured. “There is something I have been longing to do since that first night you curled up by my fire.”
Before Jack could ask, he found his mouth taken in a warm, passionate kiss.
She asked for Beauty and the Beast Chack.
For those of you who don't know the original story, Beauty kept hounding the Beast to let her go visit her family and when he allowed it, they kept nagging her to stay longer. She finally goes back to him and finds that the Beast near death because he has pined away for love of her. She proclaims her love for him and breaks the spell.
See, I could seriously *not* see Chase pining away for anyone. I thought, if there's death involved after separation, it's going to be someone else's.
In this version, the separation period is something of a 'test' for those Chase considers for lovers.
And guess who passes?
Chase waited in the darkened tower. The dragon half waited in cold silence for the tolling of the twelfth hour. He waited through the chimes. When the final echo died from the cold stones of his castle, still he waited.
‘It is time,’ he thought to himself. ‘It is time for Jack Spicer to die.’
One fiercely-clawed hand moved towards the glass sphere that represented his lover’s heart. Just before touching the rosy glass, Chase hesitated.
“Perhaps just a bit longer,” he murmured to himself. “He might have been delayed on the road.”
No a harsh voice demanded. He knew the price for breaking his word. If he did not return by midnight on the third night, his life would be forfeit.
The voice was the voice of the dragon that dwelt in his mind; the beast that had very nearly destroyed every last remnant of his humanity. It was the driving force that had kept him going all these long years, but now . . .
“He would not know if it was midnight if he were traveling!” He protested. “The night is cloudy; he could not see the moon! The horse would have trouble passing through the wood!”
You make many excuses for him, the dragon observed. How many others have you slain from this very spot? How many others that were riding just as hard and as fast as they could to escape you?
The jibe struck deep.
Chase lifted his claw and placed it on the glass sphere. He could feel Jack’s heart fluttering under his palm, as if it knew the terrible danger it was in. For a moment, the half dragon beast cupped the rosy ball, simply admiring the beauty of the warmth and life it’s aura emanated.
Do it now the dragon growled. Or you will not be keeping your word. You will be a weak-willed beast! It is what must be done.
“I was so certain he would return,” Chase whispered.
There was a moment of silence as even the black-hearted dragon hesitated.
I know. it said simply.
“I love him.”
I know.
For a long, long while, the fearsome creature sat alone in the darkness, cupping the small ball of light and warmth and mourning his own broken heart.
The chiming of the half hour brought his fearsome head up.
As the echoes bounced from tower to tower and died again, he could almost imagine he heard Jack’s voice on the wind.
Do it now, the dragon said. If you wait any longer, you will lose all stomach for killing.
Chase knew this for the truth that it was. The beast brought both hands up to crush the delicate glass into shards. When he did this, his beautiful prince would clutch his heart and fall over dead wherever in the world he was. His lovely Jack . . . Chase’s mind wandered to the youth’s incredible beauty. Eyes like rubies set in a pale porcelain face and that skin that glowed like alabaster; how godly he had looked naked and reclining on a fur rug before the fire. Jack had first taken to relaxing so by Chase’s order and the dragon half would simply use the recollection of the youth’s beauty to satisfy his lust. Jack had known the purpose of the nude relaxation of course; he was no fool. And one day he had looked at Chase with his eyes shining like wet blood and murmured: ‘Why don’t you touch me?’
Never had another offered themselves to Chase without threats of violence first. But Jack had. Jack had looked beyond his hideous form. Jack had slept by his side and made love with him and all that he had asked in return was a chance to avenge his family and after all of that, why couldn’t Chase give him another few hours?
Or a day?
Or a few days? Perhaps he was in need of help; the frail youth was no warrior after all. Chase should go and get him!
Excuses . . . the dragon in him growled.
Chase was about to order that part of him into silence when a sound reached his ears. It was like the voice he had imagined on the wind, but stronger.
And now accompanied by hoof beats.
Chase carefully placed the heart sphere back in the wall altar before scrambling to a window.
“Chase!”
It was faint, but it was there; Jack was returning to him!
For a moment, the road broke from the surrounding forest. A figure flashed across it; dressed in black, with shining white skin and red hair and riding a lathered horse.
Jack was coming back to him.
For a moment, such elation took the dragon half he thought his feet had left the ground.
Jack called his name again and Chase bolted for the main gate, abandoning any sense of dignity as he pelted down corridors and stairways, his claws leaving gouges in the stone.
Jack was home! Jack was home! Jack was home!
He said he would come home and he did! He said he would come home and then never leave Chase’s side again and he had just come home, so the rest must be true as well!
~~~
Jack reined in his exhausted horse in the courtyard. The fallen prince dismounted and quickly ran inside. He did not know the exact time - curse this moonless night! - but it was late and he knew his time was nearly up.
Chase had been very explicit on what would happen to him if he did not return on time.
This was why the sight of the grandfather clock in the foyer stopped Jack in his tracks.
It was 12:43; nearly an hour past his deadline. But he still breathed? Why was he still alive?
Had something happened to Chase? Could the half-dragon not go through with his promise? Was he trapped and hurting somewhere in this decaying labyrinth of a castle?
That thought made Jack’s heart lurch with fear, but as he started up the steps to the section Chase haunted the most his ears caught the sound of Chase running in his direction.
Chase was well? Then why . . . was it possible the dragon monster hadn’t had the heart to slay him?
Was he too dear to the monster’s heart?
Did Chase, perhaps, love him?
Jack thought no more, for the dragon half that had captured his heart appeared at the end of the corridor and pounced. The slender prince was tackled roughly even as Chase curled around him to protect the youth from the rough landing in store.
When the youth dared open his eyes again, they were lying in a pile at the top of the stairs, Chase curled around him and clutching as tightly as he dared.
“I’m late! I apologize! I rode as fast as I could!” he blurted.
“Shut up,” Chase growled, though his voice was warm. “You returned.”
“I said that I would,” Jack returned, laying his head against the broad arch of the dragon-beast’s neck. “I missed you.”
“And I you,” Chase purred, squeezing him. “You returned.”
“And I’ve no more business to attend to,” Jack declared. “My family honor is satisfied; I will stay here and be your lovely boy on a rug until death takes me.” The beautiful prince leaned up to place a kiss on the end of Chase’s snout. “I love you, my Beast.”
“A-and I you, my Beauty,” Chase rasped. There was a certain hoarse desperation to his voice that said if it weren’t for his monstrous form the dragon monster might have been moved to tears.
Jack hummed with pleasure and relaxed into the tight embrace. He stroked the shining green and black scales soothingly. After a respectful amount of time simply holding his beastly lover, the delicate prince traced a black marking with his finger and hummed again.
“Chase? I have been without you for three days and I know of a fur rug and a fireplace that are similarly lonely . . .”
Chase chuckled darkly and pulled away enough to see the salacious look on his lover’s face.
“Jack . . . you have done what no one ever has; you have returned to this hideous monster. You have loved me. You have loved me for whom and what I am. You have earned a reward.”
“A naked reward?” Jack asked hopefully.
Chase laughed and pulled Jack to his feet.
“Something even better!”
The dragon monster took a few steps away from the prince and changed. His form shrunk, shifted, and changed color. As Jack gaped in astonishment, his demon-beast lover assumed the form of the most singularly beautiful man he had ever seen in his life. His face was smooth and pure as marble; his glossy black hair hung down his back like glistening ink, and his form under the suit of black clothes he now wore was trim and pleasing to the eyes.
Then he looked at Jack and the former prince nearly swooned.
His eyes were unchanged. Still gold with black slits and viciously, wonderfully wicked.
“Ch - Chase? What . . ?” Jack broke off sharply as the newly formed Chase yanked him into another tight embrace.
“Jack, you returned to me. You had your chance for freedom and you refused it. You returnedto me; you broke my curse.”
“Your curse?” Jack parroted stupidly.
“My curse that trapped me in my battle form; that kept anyone from seeing my original body. It kept anyone from seeing that me that could be and only showed my darkest, ugliest side to the world,” Chase purred.
“Your dragon body isn’t ugly!” Jack protested.
Chase hummed with delight at the exclamation and cupped Jack’s face in his hands.
“My love,” he murmured. “There is something I have been longing to do since that first night you curled up by my fire.”
Before Jack could ask, he found his mouth taken in a warm, passionate kiss.