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Cerberus

Chapter 3: A Trip in the Library

Sneak Peek

The apartment wasn't far from the library, so he decided to just trudge it. Flynn did feel cold, and the setting sun wasn't helping. He was freezing even with his jacket on. He shivered from the cold and held that coffee to him like it was the only thing keeping him alive in that moment. He took a sip and it burnt his tongue, but that droplet of heat warmed him enough to keep going. He shot a cool huff of breath out his mouth afterwards to cool his burnt tongue.

It was a gorgeous afternoon by anyone's standards, but the wind-chill of his own body made this sixty degree autumn afternoon feel more like a frigged winter night.

"Baby, you're shivering like a leaf," a voice rumbled. Flynn froze, his body seizing up as he felt a powerful arm drape over his back and grip his shoulder. That hand was so warm and inviting, yet the fear it injected into him caused his heart to stop. "Come here, let daddy warm you up."

"How did you find me," Flynn muttered.

"Oh baby," Cerberus rumbled as he lifted his sunglasses onto his head. "I always know where my bitches are at." The hellhound had a wolfish, shit-eating grin that caused his gold fang to catch the setting sun.

"Let go of me," Flynn's voice was icy, and not just from his frost breath.

The collar of runes glowed on Cerberus' neck.

"Alright, alright," Cerberus lifted his hand, a chilling cold seeped in immediately when he did. "Just thought you might want a pick me up. Didn't realize that you were a frost mage, huh? Really makes that hellish heat acclimation a bitch, doesn't it?"

"What do you want from me," Flynn tried to keep his voice even, but a light shiver and a break in his voice gave away the fear he felt.

"Oh, honey, baby, sweet cheeks," Cerberus walked in front of Flynn, his entire vision being eclipsed by the massive beastly hound. "I thought you might be coming down from that bump I gave you earlier. Can't keep my new favorite master waiting for his next fix, can I?"

"Leave me alone!" Flynn shrieked, throwing the scalding coffee at the hellhound. The coffee splattered over his clothes, the hellhound immune to the Mc-Lawsuit Special.

"Sorry there sweet cheeks," Cerberus smirked. "I can't do that. You got me on a fucking short leash." Cerberus gripped the air, a chain of runes materializing and lashing onto cuff around Flynn's wrist. "You're stuck with me. And don't worry about the spill, baby. I used to roll in puddles of magma as a pup. This is more of a light spritzer."

"I don't want your damned drug or whatever, leave me alone!" Flynn didn't care who saw or heard, his breath a billowing cloud before it rolled on the ground and frosted the concrete.

"Relax, chill out baby," Cerberus crossed his arms, a heat radiating off him that was so strong the coffee steamed off him. It left him with a warm smell of coffee mixed with his cigarette, and a hint of manly musk. Flynn didn't want to admit it, but it was a good pairing. "If you don't want a hit yet, then how about I just walk you home. Keep you safe and warm?"

"I w-w-would rather suck a g-g-glass dick than let you n-near me," Flynn already felt the cold seeping deep into his bones. He felt like he would never be warm again, but he forced himself to keep walking. The earlier command of not wanting to be touched forced Cerberus to step to the side.

"You know there's an easy way for you to find some relief," Cerberus smirked and walked behind Flynn, his footsteps sending small tremors through the earth. "You'll catch your death soon enough if you don't regulate your body temperature with something."

"I can manage," Flynn continued to trudge on, his knees cracking, each step felt like torture. That's when he noticed why his body felt so cold. His veins felt dry, his muscles felt like cracked, frozen earth, and his head was pounding. Fucking withdrawal.

"Come now baby, I'm just offering a warm little snuggle," Cerberus teased. "It'll clear that cold right up."

Flynn's mind was blasted back to his past where his previous dealer told him the same thing.

It'll clear that cold right up...

"Leave me alone," Flynn snarled, frost rolling between his fangs.

"Uh hu," Cerberus continued to follow behind Flynn as he put his hands behind his head, his hairy pits exposed in his leather coat vest and tank. "Irritability, achy, joint pain, searing cold. I bet you're feeling pretty tired too."

"Shut up you fucking asshole," Flynn gripped his own shoulders, rubbing them to try and wring some warmth into him, but it was futile.

"How about I at least give you a little something to keep you from freezing everyone you talk to? Would that be helpful, princess?"

Flynn growled and turned to face Cerberus.

"Leave me alone. You've already done enough."

"Listen here dollface, I'm trying to be nice," Cerberus was starting to get annoyed with the constant rejection. "I'm offerin' to keep you warm and not give you a hit. Without me, you'll be curled up half-frozen in the trash before you make it to the end of the block. Not to mention your frost breath is going to get someone killed and I don't need you hauled away somewhere I don't want to go."

"Why would you h-h-help? Or better yet, h-how? I didn't even know about this ice breath shit until just now."

"Sleeping Beauty here thinks she's all smart now, huh?" Cerberus' frustration cracked into a sly grin. "I could smell your breath for a mile as it developed. I ran home and grabbed a little something for you." Cerberus put his massive hand in his pocket and pulled out a leather pup mask. He held it up, his two fingers filling that leather muzzle.

"You're fucking sick," Flynn spat the words out.

"No, for real though sweetheart," Cerberus seemed to be flipping through nicknames to find the one that irked Flynn the most. "Come here," Cerberus gently moved his fingers in that leather mask as though he were giving a bitch the 'come hither' g-spot call.

Flynn didn't realize he was walking forward until the ache in his muscles reminded him that moving was painful. How could he do that so easily to him?

"Here, take a closer look," Cerberus smiled and lowered the mask to Flynn's face. Scratched into the leather with a messy claw were some runes. "This will contain your frost magic, and stop that scowl from ruining your pretty face."

Flynn tried to slap the mask away, but he was sluggish and Cerberus easily moved his hand out of Flynn's reach.

"Are you really going to let your personal feelings for me get someone else hurt? This is the first sign of your emerging power. Who knows who else you could hurt with it? I know your gay-ass snores, imagine the damage to your apartment and that bitch roommate of yours."

Flynn's eyes went wide as he started to fully grasp the situation of his ice breath. It did seem to be getting more potent. Even now, fog was rolling through the corners of his maw like a rabid dog with their frothing drool.

"Don't lie to me, is it safe?" Flynn demanded. He was rewarded with a glow of that collar around Cerberus' thick neck and an affirming nod. "F-F-Fine..." Flynn shivered, his teeth starting to chatter.

"So you'll accept my help then?"

"Yes-s-s!" Flynn growled through chattering teeth.

"Good girl," Cerberus murred and lifted the mask up, his fingers making it look pitifully small. He slipped the mask over Flynn's mouth and clipped it in the back. As soon as he did, Flynn's electric blue mana pooled into the mask and the runes glowed to life. Flynn was going to ask if it was working, but he furrowed his brow. There was plenty of room for his muzzle to move and speak, yet for some reason, he couldn't. The words caught in his mouth and his tongue felt dry and heavy.

"That's a good girl," Cerberus pulled Flynn to his side, the warmth of his massive body thawing Flynn immediately. He felt like an ice cube thrown into a bonfire as the cold was scorched away. "A bitch should be seen, not heard." Cerberus gave a cocky grin. "And no voice means no more orders, you stupid skank."

Flynn growled, as he pulled his hand up to yank off the mask, but as his hand touched the clasp on the back, a painful shock zapped his fingers. Flynn wanted to curse, but all that came out was a little yelp.

"Yeah, only the person who put it on can remove it," Cerberus chuckled. "And thanks for giving me the open command of 'helping' you. I can do so much with that."