Drinks of Red

She let Ndale drag her onto his lap and twisted her toes in the fur of his tail. "Some of the fights I got into damaged the blood vessels. Not enough blood flows into my hands and feet to keep them warm," she explained quietly, tugging her jacket down off her shoulders and tracing some of the scars on her upper arms. "I have more wounds on my legs so my toes are always colder."

"So, as mutual lovers of being pet, you're just sharing your expertise in the art of petting with me, ne?" she chuckled.

Her back arched and a loud purr erupted from her throat as his hand ran down her spine. "Y'know I've never purred in front of a cat before. You must think I'm so strange."

"Nothing, evidently. If you are merely sharing your expertise with me then there is no reason of get back at you. You're safe from my wrath for now." She shifted a little to make herself more comfortable and leant into the cheetah's chest.

Ndale made a humming noise of understanding. Man, these fights seemed to have really played a huge part in who Raye was today. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He chuckled lightly and nodded.

"Indeed, I am. I hope you're taking notes." The feline switched to rubbing firm but gentle circles around the girl's vertebrae, working his way down her spine. "In truth, I find your purring actually highly...enticing." His lips peeled back to display a full grin. She really was a weird dog.

"Oh, I am safe then. I feel so relieved. I had no idea what your mind would come up with for me." He purred. His hand was slowly nearing her lower back and his smug air suggested he was up to something. It slowed as it reached the hem of her shirt and he hesitated only slightly before his hand slipped under the fabric for his warm fingertips to meet the skin over her lower spine. Vaguely, Ndale wondered where he would encounter a limit where Raye would push him away. He really was too curious.

"Oh? Do you want me to remember so I can reciprocate at a later date?" she purred, arching further into his touch.

She laughed. She had to. "Neither do I. My mind can be rather unpredictable at times." She tended to stay away from her own mind. At times it could scar even her. And when your own mind scared you, you knew it was a bad sign. That and the little OCs living in her mind were quite good at adding their bit whenever the opportunity arose. Sometimes she hated being a fanfic writer. Her OCs could be such a pain.

Her eyes flickered open when she felt skin. His skin was definitely warmer without the material of her shirt in the way. She nuzzled against his collarbone, cheek pressed against his chest. Her fingers slipped from her arms and pressed against the Cheetah's stomach.

"...what are you planning?" Her tone was merely curious.

"That's completely up to you." The feline stated simply with an air of indifference. He gave a light chuckle. "Unpredictability can be fun, though, guess it depends on what you are doing though." He trailed off, leaving that thought hanging as if to be pondered.

As cold fingers met his skin, Ndale's abdomens tightened and he shivered lightly. He quickly relaxed again though, and he kept his lazy grin in place.

"Planning? What makes you think I am planning anything? I'm just trying to warm you up and show you a bit of how to be pet...isn't that what we had already established?" He purred deeply, the sound seeming to just curl in his chest. His fingertips spread and his palm pressed against her skin, it stayed a moment, then smoothed it's way up to sit on her side as her hip met her waist, where stayed to rest warmly. "Now, where did that bottle get off to..?"

"I might rise to the call."

She nodded her head softly with a small smirk. "Unpredictable is interesting."

"You're doing a good job of warming me up. You radiate heat better than I ever could. I might just have to permanently attach myself to you." She could feel the purr against her cheek and her eyes slid half-closed. She had missed feeling safe so close to a person. For months now she had stayed away from people. And to be close to someone again without any suspicion that they'd turn around and stab her in the back felt so good.

She shrugged lazily in response. "Maybe it grew legs and walked away."

Ndale gave another low, airy chuckle that shook his chest lightly. It was the only return he gave for her comments. If he had known what she had been thinking...he would have felt a pang of guilt. Trust him? Wasm't suspicious? He may have laughed if he had known...Of course, though, he would have had her thought no other way anyway. But, he didn't deny he had a soft spot for her, he liked her, really. Not romantically, but she was turning out to be a great friend with a wonderfully amusing personality. But...as it were...

"Walked away, hm? Dang...I'd go chase it...but I realllyy don't feel like it, since it would involve getting up..." The cheetah huffed. "Not sure if you'd let me move anyway." He grinned.

"Too right you are, Dear King. I'm far too warm to move at the moment." Her eyes slid shut as she nuzzled against him. And she was enjoying company.

The darker half of her was hissing and growling. It didn't want her close to anyone. It didn't want her to trust. It wanted her to leave. Leave the cellar. Leave the castle. Leave the island. She was a wild animals and she should stay that way. She should drop her human guise and live like an animal.

But the other half of her shot down that half. She needed to start trusting a little more. She had lived so much of her life in doubt that she was close to taking the darker half's side. She needed to loosen up and make friends. No one night stands just to feel close to someone for a short amount of time. She needed to create proper bonds of friendship.

"You'll just have to find another way to amuse us, then,Ō chītā yō-juu."

Giving a low sound of amusement, Ndale let the wolf girl nuzzle close to him. He never had had personal space issues and he was fond of contact, so he had no qualms.

"Amuse me, or you, or both?" He grinned. "Because I think I should find it very amusing to try and deny you my heat and see your reaction, since you as so comfortable...however, as you just stated, I don't think you would quite be so of the same mind." The cheetah's tone was laced with cocky humor and he moved his hands so they were in a better position to push the girl away than hold her close, threatening to follow through with his idea.

She gave the skin closest to her mouth a sharp nip to show him just how fond of his idea to amuse himself she was. She laved her tongue over the area in silent apology almost immediately after, though.

"After hearing your idea of amusement, I'm inclined to be selfish and say just myself." A quiet yawn passed her lips and she hissed a sigh. It was rare she ever felt tired enough to yawn. But when she did, she generally didn't stop at one yawn. And she thought it rude to yawn in front of people.

"But, if you can find a way to amuse the both of us, feel free to share."

Ndale gave a wince and a flinch at the nip to the skin on his neck.

"Tch, hey now. No biting." He huffed in a fake exasperated way, arching his neck just a tad at the feeling of a tongue over the abused area. He did chuckle lightly, though. No sound, but a slightly shaking of the shoulders gave it away. "No. I don't think I'll share...it'll be more fun to just surprise you, I think."

At her yawn, he looked down, smirking. He dragged up a hand to brush his thumb over her bottom lip.

"Tired, there, hun? Do we need something to keep you awake as well?"

She lifted her shoulders: sorry. Its not like she had meant to bite him. It was just a mindless act of her more animal mannerisms.

"Why do people think surprises are fun? I hate them," she mumbled.

Her eyes flickered up to meet his. "I'm not going to sleep." There was no doubt in her voice. She wouldn't let herself sleep. She'd go to any length to make sure she didn't sleep. Sleeping meant nightmares. She couldn't deal with those nightmares.

And the only way she could evade them was not sleeping. She was fine with that. She was used to no sleep.

Sitting on the cold stone floor of the cellar was beginning to hurt his butt, he noted. The feline shifted slightly, hardly finding any relief. Ah, such was the life of a pillow, he supposed.

"Because surprises are fun, if you're the one doing the surprising." He mused cockily. In other words, in this case, he was the one going to be having the fun, not her. He was a little surprised at her tone, though. "If you want to sleep, you can. I don't mind, I could just wake you in a bit. That, or I may dose off too." He shrugged, fine with that as well. He was sleeping earlier, but he really never seemed to be able to sleep too much. Sleep was good.

"And that is why I hate surprises. I'm never the one doing the surprising."

Another yawn passed the canine's lips. She cringed at his suggestion. "No, its fine. I'm not going to sleep." Her tone was a little more tense than she had hoped it to be. well, if he didnt notice her odd behaviour before, he was definitely going to notice now.

The mere thought of falling asleep with him so close planted a seed of fear in her stomach.

She looked around quickly for something to take the conversation away from sleep. There really wasn't much.

Her eyes settled on the bottle of wine lying on the floor and she reached over to grab it. "Looks like it didn't run too far, ne?"

"Then maybe you should be more spontaneous?" He shrugged lightly. "Besides, life is either long or short but either way it's no fun if you don't get a surprise now and then. Who wants to always know what's going to happen?" Ndale smiled softly. "Shae was certainly a surprise." Shaking his head to pull himself out of his musings, he raised an eyebrow at Raye.

"Alright, fine fine. You don't have to sleep, do what you want..." Ndale gave her a strange look for her behavior. It was unusual, her reaction to sleep, but he guessed that it really wasn't any of his business. He knew some people who didn't like to sleep, so, really, it wasn't that unusual. But, it really didn't matter to him any. Of course, she only became more obvious when she grabbed the wine bottle. Up until this point, Raye have been particularly reluctant to consume the drink, and now when faced with a different topic, she was turning to it. It seemed obvious to Ndale that is was a distraction. But again, made no difference to him, so he followed it willingly enough.

"Huh, yeah, lookit that. Wants to be drunk after all."

"Most of us want to know what's going to happen. It makes life a little easier on us." A bitter smile tugged at her lips. "My lovers were all surprises. And so were their deaths. Most of the surprises in my life have been unpleasant at best." Her shoulders lifted a little then slumped. "That's the biggest reason I hate surprises. Most of them have ended in death. But, at least I'm not connected to the HA any more. That should keep those sorts of surprises to a minimum." There was an almost foolish optimism to her tone.

She gave him a weak smile back. "Sleep...isn't good," she offered as an explanation. Sleep was the bane of her existence. She dreaded any time she felt the need to sleep tug at her harder than usual.

The relief she felt when he followed through with her crappy distraction was almost tangible though her face twisted into a mild grimace. Faced with either talking about her sleeping habits or drinking wine, she'd pick the wine any day. She didn't need him finding out about her sleep-related disorders and trying to get her to visit a doctor or something.

She nearly shuddered at the thought. She loathed doctors.

"Yeah...must do." She raised the bottle to her lips and took a swig of the liquid inside. "I guess we can only comply with its wishes."

"I don't want to know. I want to die before my two years are up, want something exciting to happen, even if it ends in death." He hummed lowly. "Whatever you want though. I'm not saying knowing is a bad thing entirely." He shrugged, bored with this subject. He wasn't about to argue a matter of opinion. He did nod noncommittally though, to her dislike of sleep. Again, not his business. Though, he did smirk knowingly at her visible relief, chuckling lightly.
Really, he didn't care. He didn't know why she thought he would.

"Indeed, it's mandatory now, it's expressed it's wishes, we must comply." The cheetah grinned and watched the girl take a drink. He didn't ask for the bottle, because his intent was to observe the girl drunk, not to get smashed himself. If he could just slide by without drawing notice to it, that'd be great. So for now, he just sat, limbs intertwined, sharing his body heat and waited.

She snorted a disbelieving laugh. "And here I thought I was the only one..." She hadn't met anyone else that wanted to die before their time was up. When people found out that she wanted to die early they usually gave her odd looks. Called her insane, suicidal.

She tipped the bottle to her lips and took another draught. Her eyes slid closed as she began feeling the effects of the alcohol spread through her.

Her eyes fluttered open and she lifted the bottle to press the rim of it against his lower lip in a silent offer.

Ndale scoffed lightly, rolling his eyes before looking down, amused at Raye.

"No. You're not the only one. Maybe you're not as special and the only one lonely, depressed and in the middle of hardship as you think you are. Maybe you could even open up to people. Oh, look at that, such a novel idea, yeah?" His deep tones were seeped in sarcastic amusement. In all honesty, Raye spoke of these troubles so often, like they defined her. It didn't make sense to Ndale. If things were hard, you either shared with someone who could help you, or hide it and stick it out. He was taking the latter. Odqura and Shae were the some of the only people who knew the full extent of his illness, and even then, Shae didn't know all of it. He was gritting his teeth and dealing with it by himself. Raye was...telling him about her problems....but holding back. He didn't know what she was trying to do.

Feeling the bottle against his lip, Ndale opened his mouth in acceptance, but didn't move his hands to take the bottle or make to pour it in to his mouth himself.

"...Who would I open up to?" she asked quietly, eyes fixed onto a shadow on the other side of the room. The Jinn drew in on herself. She didn't like opening up to people. That meant being vulnerable. And being vulnerable scared her. She had lived most of her life alone - caring and looking out for herself. And even when she started interacting with people on a personal level, there was always a part of her that she held back. She hadn't ever given herself to someone fully to someone.

She tipped the bottle, the soft pink liquid inside sloshing. "...lazy cat."

"A friend? Someone you trust?" He spoke quietly. "It's up to you." His tail flicked, uncovering Raye's feet before covering them away.

The liquid poured in to his mouth, but he didn't swallow. The feline had a small mouth full help when the bottle tipped back down and the flow stopped. He closed his mouth and smirked, coming up with an evil. Ndale leaned down and moved a hand to tilt Raye's chin up, bending forward to press his lips to hers, fully intending to let the alcoholic drink slip back past and into her mouth.

"Have to give trust to get it." She didn't trust people easily. And when she didn't trust, not many people were inclined to trust her. She had acquaintances that she called friends but, flicking through her memory, she had only really ever had Quetzalcoatl that she had called friend and meant it.

Her chin tipped easily at his soft coaxing and her eyes slid shut as lips touched hers. She accepted the wine, letting it slide down her throat. Her tongue passed through his lips, delving into his mouth to harvest every last drop of the alcohol.

Ndale slid his barbed tongue roughly over the intruder in his mouth, as if in reprimand for being there. It vibrated with the strength of the growling purr that rippled up his throat. He closed his mouth slightly, decreasing the space and thus her access. He made sure to run his canines over her tongue as he pulled back, then released it completely, returning to his previous position as if nothing had happened. The only difference was the evil grin on his face and the amused light in his eye.

"Exactly. Now, how much of the bottle is left?"

She stuck her tongue out, her nose wrinkling slightly. "Don't like a dominant woman, ne?" she chuckled, tongue slipping back into her mouth. It lapped over her lower lip and her teeth pulled her spiderbites into her mouth. Her teeth scraped against the piercings a few times before, clamping down on the cool metal.

Her eyes slid down to the bottle in her grip. "A fair amount." She hoisted the bottle up to his eye level. Between them, they hadn't really drank much.