FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

At the Snow Leopard's Command For DrakeHavok By Draconicon

"So, you are here for a trade."

It wasn't quite the right term, but Havok hadn't known what he was getting into when Draconicon asked him to go to Kusan City to pick up someone from this guy. The white dragon had thought that it'd be a simple thing. Deliver a message, pick up this stranger, take him back home. They'd be done in a couple of days.

Instead...

Havok shifted from one foot to the other under the intense, dark-eyed stare of the snow leopard on the other side of the business table. Every time that he looked up, he swore that those black eyes were trying to swallow him up, and the white suit and the gray fur only made it easier to stare into those dark points. Havok shivered, feeling almost like he was losing something every time that they met each other's eyes.

"Dragon."

The feline's voice pulled his eyes up again, and this time, he was caught. The black orbs stared back, catching him and holding him.

"You are here for a trade, are you not?"

"...Yes," Havok said, feeling like the word was being ripped from his lips.

"A trade. Yourself for the rat. Correct?"

"...Yes."

"And you will serve for a period to make payment for the rat?"

"Yes..."

Each time he responded, it was a bit easier, and he was worried about that. Worried, though, not fearful or anxious as he had been.

The snow leopard didn't smile, but he did seem to take it as a good thing. The feline touched a button on his side of the desk, speaking into an intercom.

"Release Sollon from his duties. We have a replacement."

"Yes, Mr. Lee."

Mmmph...Drac, you owe me big for this...

Even when the snow leopard stood up, the male standing maybe two inches taller than the dragon himself, Havok couldn't bring himself to look away from those eyes. Neither did the feline look away from him. The formal cat walked around the table, never shifting his gaze, one white-gloved finger drawing a line across the surface of the table.

"You are afraid."

"...I'm a bit...concerned."

"Don't be."

It would have been the place for a chuckle, but this man - this Kai Lee - didn't even do that. He just walked around, standing behind Havok, and the fascination that those eyes created left them still staring at each other as the snow leopard rubbed his shoulder, squeezing it softly.

"This is business. I do not harm an asset. Nor do I risk it unnecessarily. Follow orders, and you will be fine."

Follow orders. That was the key part, he felt, though that might have been because of the insane pressure that was building on his mind. He was having a hard time thinking, a hard time feeling as he looked into those orbs. Whatever was being taken from him in that gaze seemed to be replaced by whatever it was that Kai Lee said.

Patted on the shoulder, Havok heard the command to follow, and without thinking, he did. He fell in step behind the cat, following him down the hallway. Mr. Lee walked with his hands clasped behind his back, gloved fingers tapping on the back of one hand, formal black shoes tapping out a rhythm on the tiled floor.

"Have you had experience as an experimental subject, dragon?"

"Some, sir," he said, surprising himself. Sir? "I've been used by both Draconicon and his sister."

"Then you have more experience than most of my subjects."

"What are you experimenting with?"

"You'll see."

They reached the elevator, the snow leopard standing out of the way and letting the dragon enter first. Havok did, after a moment's hesitation, and the snow leopard followed, tapping a button before standing up ramrod straight once more.

"Has Draconicon told you about my company?"

"Only that it runs the city, and you run it."

"That is accurate," the feline admitted. "We are a biotechnology company. Currently, we are researching a means for soldiers to perform their duties without devolving into PTSD over the course of their service."

"That's...impressive."

"It is. And not at all easy. Thus, the need for many different subjects."

"..."

He could see where this was going, and he wasn't sure that he liked it. The fact that he wasn't sure meant that something else was going on, something messing with -

He found himself staring into those eyes again, and Kai Lee's voice pulled at his mind, dragging his thoughts out, almost like the gaze was pulling his ability to think right out through his eyeballs.

"You will be safe. I guarantee it."

"Yes, sir."

The snow leopard nodded, and there was no more chatter until they reached one of the basement laboratories.

Havok lost track of time for a moment. One second, he was stepping off the elevator. The next, he was on his hands and knees in a carpeted room, looking out through a mirrored window towards an experimental chamber.

"What - mmmph!"

The dragon grunted as he felt a pair of heels rest on his back. He looked over his shoulder, then blinked.

It was Mr. Lee, of course, but the snow leopard had taken off his shoes, leaving him barefoot. His heels dug into the base of the dragon's spine, using him as a footrest, but it was the underside of those soles that caught his attention.

Both were marked with a strange sort of tattoo, almost runic in nature. Several straight-lined symbols that followed astrological signs, all contained within a circle.

Magical symbols? They didn't match anything that he had seen with Drac, but he knew when he was dealing with something supernatural. If there were tattoos like that on someone, he knew better than to ask questions unless he wanted a demonstration. He turned his head back to the window, trying not to think about the feet rubbing up and down along his spine, the snow leopard almost massaging him with them.

"What we've developed is an alternate intelligence," the snow leopard explained as the subject - another dragon - was given a box by a cluster of lab coat-wearing doctors. As he opened it, something lunged at him from inside the box, covering his face, spreading like latex across his muzzle. "The simplest way around developing PTSD is to ensure that the soldier in question is not 'there' when the event happens. The intelligence, in this case, is situated in the gear that the soldier wears, designed to seize control under the specific circumstances of great harm, great trauma, or the need to execute an enema."

"Doesn't that...doesn't that risk a take-over by a rogue suit?"

"That is one of the primary reasons for the test," the snow leopard said. "That, and finding a way to make the intelligence give control back to the person being controlled. And, of course, ensuring that the person's intelligence is buried far enough for the mental trauma not to have any way of taking root."

Havok was trying to pay attention, but the snow leopard's kneading heels and toes were working all the way up his back and then down along his rump, teasing, pulling, pushing, massaging. The experiment was a fascinating thing to see, but...

Well, it was hard to think of much else when he was essentially getting his ass groped by a set of very powerful toes.

Down in the experiment room, the dragon was soon completely covered by a latex suit, one that ran from his head down to his toes. It morphed, taking on the shape of a combat vest, belt, every accessory that was needed on the battlefield. The dragon's head was let out again, the subject gasping for breath.

"Not surprising, really. The suits take a toll on the wearer, at first. But ideally, it will become minimal as time goes on."

"Is that...what you're going to do to me?" Havok asked.

"Perhaps. I have yet to decide. You are a bit lumpy for a footrest, however. Roll over."

He was moving before he could think about it, surprised when he found himself flat on his back rather than on his hands and knees. Havok shook his head, trying to roll over again -

"Mmmph!"

Only to have ten fuzzy toes suddenly in his face, rubbing along his cheeks, grinding along his chin and his muzzle. They barely had any scent, unlike a certain dragon, but they were powerful, and they pushed him down quite handily, holding his face in place.

He was made to look up, meeting the snow leopard's eyes again. Once more, he felt that sucking feeling as they stared at each other, his emotions, his mind, all gradually emptying away.

"You are safe here." The snow leopard said it again as if he needed a reminder. "Regardless of what use I put you to, you will be safe. Repeat."

"I will be safe here. Regardless of what use you put me to, I will be safe."

"Now. Will you feel better if I actually use my feet on you? I know that there are some that prefer that."

"...I would like something like that, sir."

"Then serve them."

The snow leopard put his feet over the dragon's face, and Havok stuck out his tongue, tracing in little licks over the tattoos under the sole. It wasn't much, but it actually helped silence his worries.

The End