An Evertech Tale Chapter 23
#23 of An Evertech Tale
Splicer's going around for a little reassurance after being left reeling by Orwell, sadly it seems like Orwell hasn't quite had his fill yet...
_ What am I doing here again?_ Splicer was confused, he was walking down a dirt path among a forest of trees. He was in the tree garden, but his mind was on the forest. He picked a tree and sat with his back against it, the rough bark rubbed up against his still sore back. Days had passed since the whipping and it still felt like it happened hours ago, usually cuts and bruises would be gone by the next morning, but it was like his back was set to heal as slow as possible. He rubbed the back of his head against the rough bark trying to focus on something that wasn't the pain, he didn't want to admit how good it felt. Why did the terrier have to fuck with his head like that, he couldn't tell which way was what or why the burning felt so damn good.
Splicer punched the dirt, before rolling onto his stomach in the dirt, letting the sun beam down on his back. He didn't have any work to do for the day so he thought he might as well make sure the flowers he died to plant were doing well. Joven did his job spectacular though, the plants were always in perfect health, it made him wonder why he ever had to work in the garden in the first place. Clouds rolled in and soon a light drizzle began to fall to the wolf's fur. He felt mud forming around him, but the fresh rain felt nice on his back as he imagined he was in the midst of an odd sort of spa treatment. Splicer heard paws approaching him.
"You look like an idiot lying in the mud like that." Splicer looked up at the badger accosting him.
"Sup Joven." Was all Splicer could think to say, trying to brush it off.
"Ohhhhhh those whip marks still don't look too good, is that one gonna scar?"
"Yeah, think so. Orwell really did a number one me, must have done something to the whip to make it so it wouldn't heal fast I guess."
"Nah Orwell wouldn't do that, unless Laguna did something to the nanites they should be all gone by now, but even I can't imagine he'd do something like that, he prefers his pets looking factory new after all. Unless..."
"Unless what?" Splicer was starting to feel a little annoyed as he hoped to his feet looking for a straight answer from someone. Mud and water dripped from his fur.
"God, you look even more like an idiot now. Like I was saying, before you cut me off, was unless you yourself didn't want that back to heal. Might just change your healing up a bit I suppose."
"No, I wouldn't, I don't, like this?" Splicer wasn't even sure what he was saying at this point. He knew that the pain felt good to him but he still wasn't sure why, it had to still be something Orwell did to him.
"Coulda fooled me when you were working yourself to death with barely any complaints." Joven started trudging down the path, not caring too much for the wolf running along behind him.
"Hey! No that was different, it was a trial!"
"Could have stopped at any time..."
"But then I would have failed."
"Doesn't change the fact you could have."
Splicer stopped in his place, why didn't he just quit? Was he really willing to die before giving up on a challenge? That happened before Orwell's interference too, Splicer slumped back into the dirt, making sure his back got coated like the front.
"Fucking, asshole..." Splicer muttered to himself, but he couldn't deny the facts, he did in fact, look like a complete idiot. He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes, letting the rain softly fall onto his face.
He was letting water hit his face, this time it was a scalding hot shower washing the dirt from his fur. He made sure to take the most roundabout way to the elevator, double checking the front doors which he already tested on the way to the garden. Just so he could get more muddy pawprints on the shiny lobby floor. Most likely he was going to be forced to mop them up before his usual work the next day but all the same remembering the mess he made of the floor brought a smile to his muzzle. He turned the water off and took extra care drying his cage and collar, making sure he didn't have any moisture clinging to the fur underneath. He went to sleep that night wishing his back would be magically healed like every time before.
The next morning the stinging in his back was gone, he looked in the mirror to confirm, all but one whip mark was gone. The first line Orwell drew from shoulder to shoulder was still lightly visible. It must have been the terrier's favorite spot because it was given the most lashes to it. It almost felt weird not feeling the constant stinging pain he was used to in the morning, but he was happy not to be worried about how good he felt. As expected he mopped the floor and was sent to fill out more of the endless spreadsheets he was assigned, but his mind wasn't on them and most of the work he did was shoddy at best. Looking among the endless rows of white rectangles had his eyes playing tricks on him. He squinted, numbers blended into each other, forming mini trees. Each cell was lined with a mini forest, he almost wanted to scream. He started highlighting every cell on the screen and just deleted anything in them, but even then he knew there was an infinite number of other forests on the sheet, he knew deleting data would lose him money so he undid it, just staring at the trees on the screen. He leaned back in his chair arms behind his head as he tilted back looking at the camera in the room.
"Yeah, think I'm about done for the day, mind if I call it now?" Splicer called out to the camera. No response came, until his computer turned off by itself. He figured that was as good of a response as any, he turned in for the day.
"Don't insult me, I know how to do my job." The annoyed voice on the end of the line barked out.
"I'm not saying that Orwell, I'm saying are you sure you didn't do your job too well?" Laguna had his head in one paw as he held the phone with another.
"Look I don't know what's going on in that little mutty head of his, but I know this much. Anything I did to him is long gone by now."
"Joe didn't put you up to anything?"
"You know as well as I, he would never do something like that."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just a little worried, he seems to be off recently."
"I still don't see why you care so much about a dumb mutt, and can you stop calling me, I'm not one of your lapdogs after all."
"I could change that if you'd like~" Laguna heard a faint mother fucker before the line went dead. He sat back in his chair and sighed.
...
Splicer was sitting cross legged on the counter sipping on a coffee, Aurich was looking at him with concern.
"And they turned into trees? And you're sure you're not lost in the sauce?" Aurich raised a paw to his face and mimicked taking a drink before he had a sip of his own coffee.
"Damn, if only it were that easy." Splicer was looking down into the black coffee, all these weird things going on in his head was starting to pile up, his lip quivered a bit.
"Hey, it'll be alright, have you told Laguna any of this?"
"I'm sure you already know the answer to that one."
"Yeah, but I'm sure he could help, you need to give him a little of the sweetness you give me~" Aurich said with a wink, brushing his tail against the wolf's cheek.
"Yeah, except the whole being kidnapped, forced labour and having sex with random people for money. I've no idea why we aren't thick as thieves..." Splicer brushed the tail away, he wasn't in the mood for the skunk's teasing him right now.
"Oh yeah, but I mean, it's your fault for snooping around our building in the first place!"
"Your building? That was probably built for the sole purpose of luring me here? For this exact reason?"
"Oh shut up, stop overthinking it all, you'd love everything if you could just go with the flow.
"You are really pushing your luck Aur..." Splicer was done with the joking and playing, he still wasn't a fan of his imprisonment and every time Aurich teased him about it like it was no big deal. His fur stood on end and he had to fight back a snarl. He knew the skunk was just trying to add some levity to the wolf's situation but Splicer just wasn't feeling it today. He hopped off the counter and finished his coffee, prepping the day's meal in silence. Aurich stood back and watched, he had gotten to the point of letting Splicer handle smaller meals alone with little oversight. The wolf still couldn't cook meat right in general, but he was getting somewhat close to a decent temperature after all the training Aurich tried to bash into his skull.
Cooking usually made Splicer feel better, and as much as he hated to admit it, today was no different. He enjoyed the once foreign feeling of making his own food and seeing the result of other furs enjoying his food. Usually, he only ever saw Aurich's reaction but a fair few times he saw the pink words in his vision telling him 'Good job puppy!'. Even hating the badger calling him puppy, he couldn't help but to smile.
The noise of steel scrapping stone was calming to the wolf, no matter how many times he heard it, he wanted more of it. He added his new tally to the underside of the table, it was getting to the point he was going to need to ask for a second table.
Wonder if I could add one onto my tab? Splicer ran a paw over the rough table surface, still remembering his promise to burn the building to the ground. He hated the place still, but if he burnt it, it would probably take the garden with it, and that was a trade off he couldn't make. Even still there was something about his room he was starting to like, since he began his work, he couldn't remember a time he spent as long in any one place as he had in this room. He walked over to his closet and looked at the mark on his back, he traced a finger along the mark on his back. No matter how many days passed, the mark didn't seem to want to leave. He recalled the stinging sensation of the whip flashing across his back over and over again, he placed a finger in his mouth and chewed gently.
Fuck why am I getting so worked up by this? Splicer didn't want to admit it, but he wished he could feel that sting again, just for a bit. Maybe next time Aurich had his pantry time with him, he could ask the skunk to be a little rougher, he wanted to experiment with this new desire.
...
It was another few months before Splicer saw the chance, he was drinking his morning coffee on the Saturday he knew Aurich would be unlocked for. He saw the skunk walking in, rubbing their eyes trying to shake off the groggy feeling he had. It was all an act though, he knew the wolf had been counting the days and he wanted to see if the wolf would actually ask for it this time.
"S-so I was, you know, wondering if you wanted to, you know?" Splicer stammered, he was good at playing the seducer for show, he wasn't used to actually being in the mood for someone.
"Yeah? You're going to need to be more spefic today, I'm feeling sluggish." Aurich grabbed his coffee and looked the wolf up and down. He wondered how early the wolf got up to make his fur shine like that, and he caught the light hints of lilac and lavender on their fur. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to resist waiting until the pantry to take the small wolf.
"Please, I want you to... I want." Splicer swallowed his pride before squeaking out. "Please be rough with me today..."
_Adorable._Aurich was thinking as he watched the shy wolf walking towards the pantry, tail swishing side to side anxiously. Aurich finished his coffee off and waited just a second before following the wolf.
...
Splicer came out of the pantry twenty minutes later shaking. He gulped, his back was covered in scratch marks and his throat felt bruised from how hard the skunk pulled his collar when he felt the skunk finish in him. He loved every second of it too, he just whined, wishing he was allowed to get off to, he touched one the claw marks and it made him leak.
"Someone fancies himself a bit of a masochist it seems." Aurish wrapped his tail around the wolf, making sure to be as gentle as possible to avoid putting to much pressure on the wolf's back.
"M-maybe," Splicer wasn't sure what else to say, his face was burning. "Vay must have broken my head in and now I feel this way."
"Nah, I'm sure it was always there. Maybe it just got brought up by something, who can say?"
Orwell, he did something to me. Splicer flashed back to the forest, it had to be then, didn't it? He bid Aurich good day and went to the elevator, he asked if he could meet with Laguna. The elevator came to life and began moving.
"Well this is a first puppy! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Laguna asked, wondering if today was the day he's been waiting for.
"Hello," Splicer didn't know why he was even here, he looked at the desk, the contract was sitting right on top facing him. "Laguna, I need to talk to Orwell."
Laguna was slightly disappointed, he knew that it was wishful thinking that the wolf would be broken right now, they were on the comedown of a good time with Aurich after all. He was curious as to what he wanted with Orwell though.
"Why do you want to see him?"
"He fucked with my head, he needs to fix it."
"I've discussed that with him endlessly, he swears up and down that you're the same wolf as when you went into his simulation."
"I don't care what he swears, I don't trust him."
Laguna pulled up his phone and scrolled through his contacts, a brief greeting later and he thrust the phone towards the wolf.
"Here you go puppy, you won't like what he'll say though..."
Splicer grabbed the phone and raised it to his ear.
"H-hello?" He hissed into the receiver.
"Oh, hey mutt, fancy you calling me. I knew it would happen sooner rather than later. Having thoughts of me still?"
Splicer's blood froze at the sound of the terrier's voice. He took a second for a shaky breath before he re-focused on his objective.
"What did you do to my head?"
"I told Laguna a thousand damn times, nothing! I've got an idea though, why don't you ask your owner to have a longer visit with me and we can explore that mutt brain of yours more. Actually it would line up really well with my schedule right now, plus Joseph wants more data on you, I suppose the timing of your call couldn't be better, put your owner back on the phone."
Splicer let out a disgusted huff tossing the phone back to the badger who caught it in their cupped paws.
"Watch it puppy, this is an expensive phone, I'd hate to make you pay for it." Laguna raised the phone to his ear and started writing notes down in a notepad.
"I see, alright. How long is he asking for this time? That long.... But you'll be paying? Oh, he's paying? Just research with no lasting effects again? I mean I'd rather it be done here but if he's paying triple plus transport, I can't say no. As long as you send me everything I'll have him sent your way. Yeah, alright, I'll pass that on..." Laguna hung up and looked up at Splicer who had a pained look on his face.
"Please no, don't say it.." The wolf whined.
"Sorry puppy, better get ready for a trip I suppose. By the way I was told to warn you that Orwell isn't going to go easy on you this time."
...
He was dropped off at the airport, alone. Splicer looked around him, it felt weird not having someone telling him what to do. Asides the ever-present red box he had his briefcase in his right paw and nothing else. He was waiting for a directive from the box but it didn't move, he took an experimental step forward and was amazed when the box moved an equal amount. A smile crept across his face as he began hopping and skipping around the airport stopping at the first bar he found, slapping his briefcase on top of the long tabletop.
"Hey, barkeep, one dark and stormy please, make it a double!" He cried out, reveling in the false freedom he had.
"Evening sir." The deer heading the bar turned around to face the wolf, before giving a concerned look around trying to find something. "I'm sorry, is, your owner around anywhere?"
"God, just," Splicer sighed. "Please make me my drink, I'm, on my way to meet them now actually."
He lied but he didn't care, he just wanted to enjoy this fleeting joy he was feeling, knowing that he was going to back in hell soon enough. Three drinks later he was laughing and joking with the deer about whatever fun stuff he missed out on while he was locked away. His favourite hockey team was knocked out of the playoffs, again. Two new games came out in a series of games he enjoyed. He was trying his best to explain his odd predicament without any of the finer detail, he was in a temporary pet contract with someone to pay off some debts. The deer nodded solemnly at that, touching on his own collar, maybe other people were stuck in similar situations. Splicer saw a warning appear in his eyes telling him to get to his gate number. He let out an annoyed sigh which got an eyebrow raise from the deer.
"Something wrong sir?"
"N-no I'm fine just please give me my tab."
The box was beginning to move on its own again and Splicer hurriedly opened his briefcase and pulled out a black card.
"Alright, right away then."
The box was starting to approach.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck, please, hurry!" Splicer was urgent, he wasn't looking forward to feeling the sweltering pain of the box.
"Yes, of course here it is sir."
"Thank you!" Splicer slammed his card into the reader and hit the first tipping option he saw, fifty percent. The deer did a good enough job so he wasn't too miffed, he was mainly annoyed by the real time debt increase he saw in his eyes. He grabbed his briefcase and started moving with the box before dropping the card reader back down, just barely avoiding skinning his elbow in the red. He began to run off towards his gate.
"What an odd wolf..." The deer said as he put the card reader back in place and cleared his glass.
...
Splicer was on the plane, he spent the whole time with his briefcase in his lap, covering his exposed cage. He was off the plane. The box didn't even give him a second, it was already moving along at a jogging pace. Splicer was speed walking along, until he got out of the airport where he broke out into a dead sprint. Even with that, he was barely keeping pace with the red line running along. He tried to count the kilometers he ran, but he had to focus on staying at his speed. Thinking about anything else had his tail rub up against the line, making it feel like it was being put into boiling water. He was working overtime, even with the nanites circulation his blood at peak efficiency, he was sweating. Eventually he came to a stop with his paws sore from slapping against the concrete and he fell to the grass in front of a house. A door opened and he saw a familiar face looking down at him.
"Took ya long enough... Though I suppose, I could have sent a car if I really cared." Orwell poked the wolf with his foot, feeling their damp fur clinging to him. He rubbed it off in the grass.
Splicer tried to get out a fuck you but his lungs were starting to spasm so all that came out were a few wheezing coughs. Orwell felt a little bad for forcing the wolf to run so long at such a speed, he knew that twenty-six kilometers was a long distance, even if the wolf had help.
"Welcome to my house...mutt." Orwell muttered, grabbing the wolf's collar and dragging him across the grass to the door.