Dealing
#5 of Krystal Mercs
Time seemed to have lost all meaning to Lance. The minutes turned into hours, and the hours turned into days, but to the black wolf, everything seemed distant, as though it had all happened long ago. And yet, as he sat staring out into the empty void of space, his mind was filled with nothing but vivid recollections of his first mission.
Lance spent much of his time on the observation deck, staring out at the blackness and far off sparkles. The sickness that had filled his stomach upon docking with the Great Fox, had left. But in its place now sat a hole as empty as the space outside the windows of the renowned ship. Lance felt as though he had lost something, but didn't know what. He wished for the moments before he'd launched, before he'd even come to join Krystal's mercenaries. But that was all gone now. Forever unattainable.
After Ruby had coaxed Lance out of his cockpit, the newest member of Krystal's Mercs didn't say much of anything for several days. He sat with his fellow pilots when eating, but their voices and actions were like sights and sounds to a deaf and blind man. Even the food had no taste. Sleep was something that came only out of exhaustion, and when he did sleep, Lance's dreams were a mixture of foggy memories and dazed nightmares.
That first night, Lance lay awake in his bed, waiting for sleep to take him. But it would not come. It left him alone with fresh memories of the day's events playing over and over in his mind. Silence eventually filled the darkness of his room as the rest of the ship went to sleep; and then, Lance felt truly alone. The darkness and silence seemed to drag on forever. When he looked at the digital clock beside his bed, he expected it to say something like three-thirty. But it was only ten to twelve. For the first time since embarking, earlier that day, Lance's thoughts turned to something other than the mission. Reminded of Bell's daily exercising, the wolf decided to join her in the gym, hoping that the activity might tire him out so that sleep would come more easily.
When Bell stepped into the gym, she showed signs of surprise at Lance's presence, as if she had not expected to see him there. But she said nothing and continued as though it were any other day. Already stripped bare, as per the rabbit's rules of training with her, Lance joined Bell and took up his usual position.
For two hours, Lance assisted Bell with her various exercise routines, from holding the punching bag while she punched and kicked it, to wrestling with her on the padded mats as they sparred. Although the thought hadn't occurred to him initially, Lance found Bell's naked body a welcome distraction from the haunting memories plaguing his thoughts. He allowed his eyes to take in the sights of her large, perky breasts, her curved back and round rear, and even the plump lips located at the tops of her thighs. Just as always, the black bunny showed no signs of shame, even when Lance's own naked body rubbed against hers as they sparred. Standing proudly in the open air, the pointed tip or full length of Lance's erection sometimes brushed against Bell's attractive figure, but she paid it no mind.
When they were both drained of energy and the time neared two-thirty, Bell declared the session over and made her way over to the seating area for her bottle of water. Lance remained where he was, standing still for a few moments to catch his breath, but letting himself take in the sight of Bell's usual display. She bent over for several moments, giving Lance an inspirational view of her succulent womanhood nestled snugly between her thighs, then stood up once more. Normally, she left at that point, and Lance would watch her walk with a slight but seductive sway in her hips and a noticeable jiggle in her breasts. But today the lapin decided to sit on one of the lowest benches, leaning back with her elbows resting on the next bench up, and allowing her knees to lazily fall to either side of her. And there she sat, casually resting without a care, full spread and completely bare.
Lance just stared for a moment, the image burning into his mind. But despite the physical stimulation he was feeling, he simply wasn't in the mood. So, without a word, Lance left the gym and made his way back to his room. There, the wolf slumped on his bed, closed his eyes, and waited for sleep to finally take him.
The next day seemed grey and colourless. Sounds were dull and voices distant. As if all his drive and motivation had been sapped, Lance acted more out of habitual routine than any sort of desire or purpose. After eating what little he could force himself to eat, he wondered aimlessly through the many corridors and rooms of the Great Fox before finally coming to rest in the observation room. Looking out at the vast void, Lance felt almost connected to it, as if it were a part of him. In complete silence he sat, just staring, while the memories of the previous day's mission repeated over and over in the back of his mind. The minutes turned into hours, and only when his stomach growled for food did the black canine realised he'd spent almost the entire day staring out into the black emptiness.
Dinner was the same as breakfast, dull and unreal. But there was one exception; Lance ate a little more, and didn't feel the need to force his food down. Afterwards, he returned to his room where he lay in silence on his bed. Like a patient pet waiting for their master to return home, Lance waited for twelve o'clock to roll around. There were only a few hours to wait, but they passed slowly. Eventually, at four minutes past, the wolf made his way to the gym. His session with Bell had proven helpful the previous night, so Lance was eager to continue showing up.
It was a simple routine; breakfast, the observation room, dinner, exercise with Bell, and then sleep, but it became Lance's norm for the week. And with each passing day, the black wolf felt just a little less dead inside. After a few nights, he even felt in the mood to _indulge_again. With fresh memories of the black bunny's naked body in his head, and his arousal begging to be taken care of, Lance flopped onto his bed before rolling onto his stomach. Once in that position he began to buck with his hips, grinding the underside of his canine member against the mattress and the sheets between them. It didn't take long before Lance gripped the sheets in his fists as he pressed against his bed harder, breathing heavily into his pillow. The wolf imagined Bell bent over before him, while he fucked her from behind, his hands upon her rear, squeezing her cheeks as he buried his knot in her sex from between the back of her thighs. And when he finally came, Lance simply lay there, breathing heavily as his mind swirled into the blackness of sleep.
On the fourth day, or maybe it was the fifth, Jess came to sit with Lance in the observation room. All the other pilots knew what he was going through. They'd all been there themselves, at one time or another. So they hadn't tried to pressure him, letting him deal with it in his own way. But they hadn't completely ignore him, either. Though much of it went unnoticed in the first few days, each of Lance's fellow mercenaries had expressed reassurances and their support, in their own ways. Curtis would lay a silent hand upon Lance's shoulders, while Jess would give him a warm hug. Ruby would smile, though his eyes said more than his mouth did. They showed wisdom and experience, even a certain sadness. But there remained a light in them as well, a sign that even the darkest darkness would fade away in time, chased away by the shining light.
Sitting next to Lance in the observation room, Jess prattled on about trivial, gossipy type things. She seemed to be speaking more to the room than to the wolf, but he found her presence, and her familiar, near non-stop rambling to be strangely comforting. It was a reminder that nothing had really changed, that life goes on. The wolf even found himself smiling at some of the things the panther had to say.
It was a little over a week and a half before Lance felt _good_again. He felt different, though, changed. Something inside had been lost, or perhaps added, and it had permanently altered how he felt and saw the world. Lance wasn't quite the excited and cheerful person he had been before, but he once again felt sociable and ready to face each day, and his thoughts no longer constantly strayed to the events of _that day._Life had once again returned to the hollowed out husk.
*****
"You're mad," Jess declared, "It'll never work."
"Of course it will," Ruby assured her.
As Lance walked into the mess hall, he found Ruby and Jess in what appeared to be the middle of a disagreement.
"Taking Lakrus is suicide," the tan furred feline tried to explain, "Take Sevves instead."
Ruby sat at one of the tables that ran along the side of the hall, with Jess standing behind him. Opposite them sat Bell, and between them, on top of the table, was a holographic display that showed a map with various terrain types and an assortment of creatures and militaristic units. As his gaze washed over the scene, Lance immediately recognised the game they were playing as an old, but still very popular strategy game called Shin Ta'Mon. The name of the game was that of a fictional, fantasy world, in which players controlled characters with varying strengths, weaknesses and abilities, and used dice to move and attack the other player's characters. The point of the game was to either defeat all of the opposing player's units, or get past them and take control of one of two fortresses located on the far side of the theatre.
Lance made his way past the three pilots and over to the serving racks. After taking a plate of food, he walked back to sit one seat down from Bell and began watching them play. From where he sat, Lance had a clear view of the game. He watched as Ruby picked up a small, round disk with numbers and lines around its edge, and placed it against one of Bell's larger, rectangular discs.
Ignoring Jess' advice, Ruby proudly declared, "I attack the walls of Lakrus directly, with my Chinshree's Charging Attack!"
Above Bell's larger disk was the holographic image of a rather menacing looking stone keep. And, as Ruby placed his disc down next to it, so that their edges were touching, the image of a large, elephant-like creature appeared and slammed its entire body into the stone structure.
Ruby rolled a dice and smiled as he announced, "Seven points of damage."
Bell, whom until now had been lounging back in her seat, sat up and placed one hand upon her Lakrus disc, and with the other, turned a ticker built into one of the curved corners. After nine ticks, the black bunny leaned back in her chair again and with almost no hint of emotion dictated the results of Ruby's attack.
"Your direct attack upon the walls of Lakrus prompts its defensive ability, Counter Attack, dealing an automatic five points of damage to your Chinshree. Additionally, since Lakrus sustained more than five points of damage from a single attack, I can use its special ability, Focused Assault, which allows the forces within Lakrus to attack twice, at the expense of ignoring the next attack to come from another source." With that, Bell rolled her dice twice. "Fourteen. Your Chinshree is dead."
"What?!" Ruby stared at the table in stunned silence.
"Told you," Jess said as she shrugged.
Bell leaned back in her seat, turning her body a little in Lance's direction as she did. At the same time, she also moved her leg around, making it so that one leg was out in front of her, under the table, and her other leg was out to her side, pointing in Lance's direction. This gave the black wolf a rather interesting view as he now noticed what Bell was wearing, a baggy, off-the-shoulder t-shirt and not a stitch more. Since joining Krystal's mercenary crew, Lance had noticed that Bell seemed to have a more casual attitude towards clothing. She trained in the nude, at night, and occasionally went bottomless during the day. The other pilots didn't seem bothered or surprised, so Lance figured this was nothing unusual for the rabbit. But Lance felt it rude to stare, and so tried to ignore it.
In an attempt to put the black bunny's now exposed sex from his thoughts, Lance tried to focus on the game. But it wasn't long before he realised he had no clue what was going on. His eyes had seen Ruby and Bell make their moves, and his ears had heard them declare attacks, but his mind had held onto nothing. With each passing minute, Lance's gaze kept straying back to the sight of Bell's bare lap. At one point, he even noticed Bell's hand resting on her thigh while her fingertips idly stroked just beside her plump lips. Did she do this, too, Lance thought to himself. Or was she not aware she was doing it? The wolf tried his best no to stare but could no longer tear his gaze from what he was seeing.
Slowly and casually, Bell's fingertips pressed and rubbed up and down against her soft flesh. Her black fur turned silver white as it shifted and shined under the small amount of light that found its way under the table. After a short time, Lance saw Bell move her fingers, pushing them between her folds and moving them up and down between them at the same speed. The wolf could even see a coating to slick juices forming around the bunny's fingertips.
Finally, Lance made a decision. Get up and leave. He didn't know if this was just what Bell did, or if she was even aware she was doing it. Did Ruby and Jess know what she was doing? Whatever the answer, Lance didn't want to risk getting caught staring, in case it got him into trouble. Feeling aroused by Bell's display, the wolf made his way to his quarters and remained there for the rest of the day.
After Lance's abrupt departure from the mess hall, Bell slumped in her seat and stuck her sticky fingers her in her mouth.
"Don't look at me," Ruby exclaimed as his gaze met Bell's.
Jess just giggled.
*****
It was late that evening when Lance heard a knock on his door. He had all but forgotten about Bell's display in the mess hall, but when he opened his door and saw her standing there, the sight of her fingers shamelessly sliding between her succulent lips instantly sprang back to the front of the wolf's mind.
"A woman could die of boredom waiting for you," Bell scolded as she pushed her way into Lance's quarters.
"I, what?" Lance barely had time to realise what she had said before Bell had placed a hand upon the wolf's chest and begun pushing him backwards. Caught off-guard and uncertain what the rabbit's intentions were, Lance could only stumble backwards as Bell advanced, steering him towards the bed.
"Let's get a couple of things straight," Bell started explaining. As the back of Lance's legs bumped into his bed, Bell gave his chest a push, sending him falling backwards onto it. And before Lance could sit up, he was stopped by the curvaceous bunny climbing on top of him. "This is going to be the one and only time I come to you," Bell continued, her tone stern, "In the future, if you want something, come and take it."
Lance just nodded obediently, although he wasn't entirely sure what she meant. This sudden turn of events had completely put him off balance. Right then, if Bell had asked Lance what two plus two was, his brain would have just stalled. It wasn't until he felt the waistband of his shorts being pulled down that Lance realised just what Bell was up to. His pointed, canine member stood proud and tall as he looked down to see the black beauty was still only wearing her baggy t-shirt. Without the slightest hint of hesitation, Bell straddled Lance, positioned his member between her legs and slid slowly down onto it. Lance gasped as the pleasure washed over him. But his attention was soon brought back to reality when Bell's stern voice cut through the bliss.
"And secondly," she added, "this means nothing. It is sex for the sake of sex. Physical pleasure. Do I make myself clear?"
Lance looked Bell in the eyes and nodded, finally beginning to reassemble his scrambled faculties.
"Good," Bell said. Satisfied that Lance understood, the rabbit lifted off her shirt and began slowly bucking her hips.