Eudaemon II: Dragon and Colossus, Part 10

Story by Zerrex Narrius on SoFurry

, , , , , , , , , , ,

#10 of Eudaemon II: Dragon and Colossus


A few moments later found her carefully closing the doors behind her, then muttering as she threw the towel to one side of the room before taking off her bathing suit. She paused, then sighed and muttered before carefully putting it back into the box she'd taken it from, lightly setting it aside: whether she actually liked it or not, she admittedly did have respect for any gift that had cost over ten thousand dollars... but, as she pulled out the box with her normal clothes in them and pulled them on, she couldn't help but wonder if the reason the wolf had been so easygoing about the huge cost of all the horrible little gifts he had bought for her was because he expected to get the money back from the Apple Ball.

Cherry mused a bit to herself, then she shook her head slowly as she wandered back out of the room and headed down towards the kitchen, pausing only a moment to glance at a clock on the wall as she passed it: playing with the wolf had taken her longer than expected, and it was already almost five thirty. She decided the safest bet was heading to the dinner table... so she shrugged and turned on her heel, heading instead towards one of the back staircases that led directly down into the dining room; it figured the fatass wolf would have a direct path into both the safest exit and the place where he was served food from his little sanctum of the second floor.

Lone himself, on the other hand, wasn't yet making his way towards the dinner table: instead, he was still panting and wiping at his body with a towel, trying to dry his sweat and the water out of his fur. Normally, he might command a servant to do this task - he saw toweling off after a swim different than toweling off after a shower, even though he was generally naked after both - but right now, he didn't want anyone to see him. He was flushed and shivering, and his body was aching... worst of all was his penis, which had retreated into his sheath, and his testicles, which felt like they had shriveled up into his body.

But his lungs weren't aching as if he'd run a marathon, and his heart wasn't thudding in his chest, and now he was hesitantly convincing himself that it had been one of his best sexual experiences ever... that was why he was so tired, of course. And he'd lasted quite a while, right? The wolf nodded to himself, then he managed a bit of a weak smile, rasping: "Cherry... said I came hard... and I went all over that... bitch's face. Proved she... proved she was mine."

At this, he felt a swell of pride, then he finally stood shakily from the bench he'd been sitting on and began to pull his clothes back on, still breathing hard but now focusing on the other aspects of the sex. He knew it had been powerful... hell, he had probably soaked the bitch's face with just his first blast alone! Now his smile turned to a bit more of a grin as he pulled on the clothing he'd been wearing earlier, then he winced as the pocketwatch and anklet the wolf always wore tumbled out of the pocket of his shirt and hit the ground with a weak tinkle.

Immediately, Lone dropped to one knee with a grunt and snatched up both of these objects in either hand, glancing over them quickly to make sure neither was damaged or scratched. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw that the anklet was fine, then he smiled slightly at the engraving in the lapis lazuli gemstone - the wolf's own name, in proud, careful lettering. Then he glanced at the gold pocketwatch, dangling from one hand by its silver chain before he slowly swung it up and caught it, gazing silently at the front of the watch as the faintest stirrings of something like anxiety tugged at his mind.

Zerrex had given him this. Lone remembered how he felt; it was undeniable that he'd been amazed, humbled and respectful towards the Drakkaren, and even now he couldn't deny even to himself the honor the reptile had in showing up on his birthday and handing this over, telling him to take good care of it. Then he'd left without a word, leaving Lone to enjoy his birthday 'celebration...' a group of five females he hired to drool over him, take care of him, and feed him his favorite foods all day. None of his Apple Villa friends had shown up and even the others he thought he'd gotten in with had been absent... it had hurt the wolf, who had at first just wanted to show off his power, but in the end had just wanted someone other than a paid whore to talk with.

The wolf shook his head quickly, snarling at himself and clenching the pocketwatch tightly, the watch he wore like a badge of honor... then he quickly slid it onto his neck and mumbled: "Nice of him or not, it's still just a trinket, and he's still my archenemy in the plans that everyone has... I need to get rid of Zerrex, that's all. I don't like him, I don't look up to him, he's my enemy and that's all!"

The wolf flinched, however, at the sound of his own voice as he yelled the last bit into the shack, then he quickly hurried out, the pocketwatch jingling around his neck as he headed towards the pool. He didn't realize he hadn't bothered with the anklet: instead, he was absently twirling it around one hand before he pushed into the kitchen, pointing at the nearest servant and asking in a loud, threatening voice: "Is dinner ready yet?"

"The first course is ready to be served, sir, along with appetizers." The squirrel bowed respectfully, and Lone enjoyed the fear he saw in his eyes. He let his eyes settle on him for a bit longer, but then he quickly turned towards the swinging door that led down a hall and into the dining room, walking quickly away and rubbing idly at his stomach. His nausea had gone, and now he was definitely starving... after all, he hadn't snacked all day.

The wolf made his way down the connecting hall between the dining room and kitchen: this area was mostly used by servants, so it was low lit and nothing decorated the plain hardwood walls, and there was no fancy rug beneath but instead plain tile flooring. Then he pushed through the swinging door on the other side and into the dining hall, which had a massive table made of elm capable of seating a full hundred guests if need be, and a high ceiling from which dangled several beautiful chandeliers: two on the outside made of silver and crystal, and then one inside that was laced with precious gemstones and made out of pure gold. Along one wall were enormous windows that stretched all the way up to the ceiling, with oak supports crisscrossing to divide each piece of glass into its own little cubic window: the window segments themselves were huge and rectangular, then there was an equal amount of space as that of the width of the window - about ten feet - of wall. In front of these sections of wall stood suits of armor decorated with the Wulfe crest and with helms designed in the shape of noble wolf heads, eye sockets staring and muzzle protectors engraved with various expressions.

On the opposite side of the room, the same style of pattern followed... except instead of windows, massive, purple tapestries with the Wulfe crest in gold flowed down the wall, each with the motto "Loyalty to the People" emblazoned along the bottom in a different language for every tapestry.

Cherry sat at the right hand of the table, and Lone grinned as he saw her there: once more in her normal clothes and not the pretty dress, like he'd hoped, but she was still beautiful and amazing, with her wonderful curves and great muscles... and Lone winced before rubbing his head as he approached the table, coughing a bit but quickly returning his eyes to her and deciding that it had just been a trick of his tired mind. "Hey, babe... great to see you. You ready for a good meal?"

"Of course." Cherry smiled back at him, as Lone sat down, and then tilted her head as the lupine settled himself into his chair: she couldn't help but notice that, while every other chair down the currently-bare table was armless and plain wood, Lone's had a high back, comfortable armrests, cushions and was trimmed in silver. Far more a throne than a simple chair like everyone else, and she felt disgust roll through her body again at the way he so often tried to impress her and others with his wealth and political power...

But then the swinging doors opened, and several servants came through bearing trays: Lone rubbed his hands together hungrily, attention immediately turning from Cherry to the food that had been brought, and the female winced inwardly at the wolf's ravenous expression as one of the servants put down a bottle of wine as well. It looked like it was going to be another long dinner...

Zerrex sat up, rolling his shoulders slowly as glanced over at Tinny, who was still struggling with what he deemed to be 'kiddy weights.' The Drakkaren smiled though, as Tinman forced a final rep out before putting the weight bar back on the bench press and panting hard, wiping sweat from his forehead as he smiled faintly over at the reptile. "Sorry, Boss. Hope I didn't keep you waiting long."

"Nah. Don't worry about it, Tinman." Zerrex replied softly, then he stood up from his bench press and stretched slowly, glancing around his basement: formerly a thing of junk and messiness, Cindy had one day come down here and organized the entire workshop area, and that had left a surprising amount of room in the blank space his scattered crap had occupied. So he and Cherry had installed a basic weight room, which included bench presses for the both of them and custom weights and equipment. Of course, for other people who wanted to work out, it meant the selection of things to do was rather small... they only had a few fifty pound weights, and those were just so Tinny wouldn't feel left out. Even Cindy could press around three hundred pounds now without too much effort, and she was the weakest of them physically...

The reptile glanced back at the bent 'unbreakable' bar on his own bench press, then he stood up and carefully hefted it off, muscles bulging as he grunted a bit and carefully put the bar down: the weight on it was almost a metric ton, which wasn't quite the Drakkaren's max but was definitely good enough to give him a hard workout. He rolled his shoulders slowly as he idly watched Tinny removing weights from his own bar and put the fifties carefully aside, then the badger sat down and smiled at Zerrex, rubbing his thin, bare chest embarrassedly - he was a bit scrawny, but he did have a bit of muscle, and the reptile figured he was somewhat attractive. The issue was more the fact the badger was scared of mostly everything and was so damn shy.

Then he rubbed at his sore arms a bit before tilting his head, asking idly: "You want to go and put on dinner? I'll finish cleaning up here and then I'll head up after."

"Sure!" The badger smiled and nodded immediately, wiping at his face with the towel he'd thrown over the bench press before draping it around his shoulders, standing and then almost falling over the weight bar: Zerrex leaned forwards immediately, reaching out a hand, but the badger recovered himself with an embarrassed blush before hopping over it and grabbing his shirt from the floor, then running quickly up the stairs.

The Drakkaren shook his head with a slight smile, looking after the small male amusedly: he was definitely someone he didn't really mind having around, especially since he'd let himself loosen up a bit more. Then he sat down on the bench and closed his eyes, using the ragged towel he kept nearby to wipe off his chiseled, muscular chest as he murmured under his breath: "You're a good guy, Tinny."

It was pretty obvious everything was clean down here... but he badger was smart. What Zerrex wanted instead was time to think, as he breathed slowly and kept his eyes closed, concentrating and fingering through memories like files: he did so carefully, though, as if every memory was a razor hungry for his blood, not wanting to think of anything to do with his parents or anything where Requiem was any more than an enemy.

Finally, he settled on a memory he had when he was sixteen, probably only a few days before he killed his father: he and Requiem had been standing in the Estate's basement, the cold concrete room lit only by the fluorescents above... Zerrex could see it so damn clearly as he concentrated, wanting to remember everything he could about the huge Dragokkaren. He hated digging up the past and going through his memories, but remembering everything he could about Requiem would give him a slight edge that he would definitely need... from what he'd seen of the giant's moves and attack style, he hadn't been using any new moves, but was sticking to the same old styles. The issue was that the style was goddamn effective... and the Drakkaren wanted to make sure that he had as much of it memorized as possible.

Bringing up the memory was hard: mostly because he had blocked it out of his mind for so long. Even after all these years though, it was still sharp and crisp... and Zerrex smiled a bit as he murmured under his breath: "Curse or blessing? I guess we'll see..."

He shook his head a bit, then visualized, concentrated, and clasped his hands tightly together. And then he was back in the room, and Requiem slowly rose a hand. The Dragokkaren's voice echoed in his mind, and his cold blue eyes tore into him even though it was only a memory of his own making, in his own head. His voice spoke: I want you to show me what you've learned... your father wants me to start giving you other forms of training.

The Drakkaren remembers what he did: he'd spat, cursed his father in words he couldn't remember, and he and Requiem had argued for a bit longer before Zerrex had finally charged forwards - his first mistake. As he slid into his mind, into his own past, the reptile recognized what would happen immediately in response to the hurried and idiotic charge.

One of Requiem's hands snapped out and slapped him hard across the muzzle, sending him stumbling. Back then, it had been humiliating, but now the reptile recognized it had been a mercy on his uncle's part: had he wanted to, he could have met him with a punch instead, and Zerrex didn't think he'd really be here right now. But his response, of course, had been to try and leap towards the giant with a double hook kick... and Requiem had caught one of his legs in midair and turned swiftly, tossing him into a wall.

"Slow and aerial kicks are out unless I can land it almost immediately or break through a grab..." Zerrex murmured to himself, then he shook his head a bit and reached up to run a hand through his hair, letting his mind return to the fight in the past. Now he was up on his feet, and he thought his muzzle had been bleeding at that point... and like an idiot, he'd run forwards again. He remembered the look on Requiem's face so clearly, how exasperated he'd been... and then Zerrex had faked going into a slide before instead kicking off the ground and shoving his body forwards, surprising the Dragokkaren. Back then, he'd had more grace than power... and he remembered he'd tried a fancy but effective tactic, flipping once in midair to raise his momentum before he slammed a heel out and downwards.

Requiem, however, had slid one foot backwards and leaned out of the way, as agile as a dancer... and then he'd thrown an open palm out into Zerrex's stomach. The Drakkaren remembered how he hadn't been knocked back all that far through the air, had still managed his feet... but he'd collapsed and spent the next few minutes gasping for air, Requiem courteously giving him the time to recover. He knew now that the giant had targeted his solar plexus and hit with just enough force to not damage him, but force him to suffer the humiliation of losing all the air in his body... it reminded him that the giant had as much grace, accuracy and control as he did raw power, which was perhaps the real challenge.

Alone, even Requiem's massive strength wouldn't be enough to stand up to Zerrex: in the past, the reptile had fought both tech- and steroid-freaks who had been even stronger than he was, and he had always ended up peeling them limb-from-limb while they screamed. The issue was the fact that Requiem had spent all his life not only fighting, but learning the art of combat and the body itself: Zerrex was fairly sure if the Dragokkaren really wanted to, he could probably use two fingers to take the average person's life. It sounded ridiculous, but the reptile had a vast knowledge of basic body anatomy: the Drakkaren didn't want to underestimate him by deeming something too amazing or unbelievable to the possible.

Then he turned his mind quickly back to the past, to the fight... but it hadn't gone on much longer, and there hadn't been much worthy of noting: Zerrex had managed to score a hit against the reptile's shin, but his bad-natured, childish kick had been met with an angry backhand by the Dragokkaren and a lecture on meeting your enemy with honor on equal ground, and how a battle should be more like a dance than an ugly squabble between two true warriors, working not so much to inflict pain on each other but instead prove their superiority through tactics and artful fighting techniques.

Zerrex had ignored most of it, but he was glad he could remember now... now, no longer so stupid and childish, he could appreciate the words of the Dragokkaren. And he didn't exactly blame him, either, when he had been appalled at Zerrex's words that day, words which he now murmured allowed: "But there are no rules in a fight... the winner wins, the loser loses, and honor doesn't matter worth shit if you die."

That might be true for some scum, but if you respect someone, you meet them as an equal. Even if they're your bitterest enemy... and then it's not whether you live or die, fight or fall, win or lose... it's what you take from that. Requiem's voice said firmly in his mind, and he could see the Dragokkaren's blue eyes, hard but at the same time strangely compassionate. Don't you get it? It's not about how the world thinks of you. It's about doing what's right. Sure, pride's said to be a belt that'll hold your pants up even after you lose everything else... but pride's also the belt you wrap around your neck to hang yourself with in prison. Honor, on the other hand, is pure. And is part of doing the right thing.

Zerrex smiled a bit as he straightened, then he paused as another voice spoke in his mind: angry, young, and... so infinitely hateful... Fuck that! Like you and father ever did what was right!

Requiem had turned away, but not before he'd seen the flash of pain on his features... and the Drakkaren paused quietly for a moment as the last tidbits of the memory washed away with the giant turning his back to leave the room. He paused for a moment or so more, then headed to the stairs and brush his ivory locks out of his eyes, murmuring softly: "I'll have to remember to apologize to him for that later."

He shook his head slowly as he climbed the stairs, then wandered down the short hallway to pass through the living room and into the kitchen, pausing only a moment to throw his towel through the open doorway of his room. Admittedly, he had been a problem as a child... but he refused to take the whole blame for that. He shook his head slightly, then walked into the kitchen and leaned on the island, smiling at Tinny amusedly - the badger was standing on a stepping stool to make sure he could oversee the burgers he was currently frying up in the pan. "I do have a normal sized barbecue outside, you know."

"Not anymore... you broke that, remember? After we took the propane tank off and stored behind Miss Cindy's cabin." Tinman reminded him absently, as he easily flipped the patties and glanced over his shoulder at him with a brief smile. "You said it was big enough that I should throw it at you, and you'd try and kick it into the air."

"Oh. Right." Zerrex nodded and rubbed the back of his head, making a bit of a face: the metal training with Tinny was a wonderful exercise that kept him on his toes and gave him one hell of a rush, while letting him toughen up his body... but it had the downside of being rather expensive and likely meant he'd have to replace every metal outdoor appliance he had.

Tinman nodded, then he turned his attention back to the burgers, humming a bit as he balanced precariously on the stool: Zerrex decided to stay and watch him cook, just in case the badger lost balance and went face-first towards the stove... and he smiled a bit as he leaned on the island, wondering idly what Cherry was up to, knowing that she could take care of herself... but hoping that Lone wouldn't prove too much of a nuisance.

Lone made a slight face, then he burped loudly before patting his stomach and leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes and smiling as he looked pleased with himself. Cherry, again, had been horrified by the amount of food the wolf had eaten... and that his manners could be just as terrible even when he wasn't drunk out of his mind on vodka. The wolf was sipping at a glass of wine, but tonight he'd been light on the stuff... she was thinking he was having flashbacks of what had happened last time he'd overindulged himself.

Tonight's meal had been a four course feast: first the appetizer of garlic bread and shrimp, then a beef salad that was mostly beef fragments with a few green things in between for the wolf, and finally the main course: fish. Cherry herself had to admit it had been prepared amazingly well, filleted neatly and carefully served in rectangular strips of marinated and spiced meats... but the wolf had gorged himself immediately instead of taking the time to savor the delicious meal as Cherry had done. He'd also smiled condescendingly at her when she'd thanked the servant, throwing an arm wide and laughing - since his mouth was full of the potato salad that had come with the fish, this had resulted in several disgusting, clumpy white meteors flying out of the wolf's mouth to splatter all over the front of the table and the ridiculous purple bib he wore with his own crest on it. "Don't worry about them! They're just servants... all they're doing is their job. Not like you thank the moron who paves the road, either, right? And it's not like they work that hard... lazy idiots!" Lone called, waving his fork at them as the left through the swinging door.

Cherry merely looked at him and forced a smile: he looked like an overgrown toddler tyrant, who had already figured he could rule the house by screaming at the right times and not shutting up until his parents fulfilled his demands. Waving the large salad fork he was using to stuff fish into his mouth made him just look all the more the role... with his food-smeared and wine-splattered bib on, and the piles of food that were already dotting the table around him, he was far more like a retarded child than a king sitting in his throne, no matter how harshly he spoke or how hard he tried.

Then dessert had been served almost an hour later, and Cherry had silently thanked the servant when Lone hadn't been looking: the wolf had dropped his spoon, and was currently attempting to reach the ground, but his chair was too high. Finally, he opened his mouth to bark at a servant to fetch it for him, but then blinked as he saw they were already gone. The wolf frowned, then reached out for the old-fashioned bell pull that hung on one side of his throne - there were a few dotted around Lone's favorite areas in the mansion, and they set off an electronic beeper that all the servants wore, telling them the location they'd been summoned to.

Before he could reach it, Cherry quickly bent and snatched up the spoon, holding it out to the wolf while she forced herself to smile at him, and noting at the same time it was made of silver - the utensils he'd had her served were only normal steel. His plates had also been different... everything he'd been served on was made of either silver or antique china.

Lone glanced at her, then he slowly lowered his arm, almost sulking a bit as he took the silver spoon from her and began to eat the pudding and angel cake he'd been served. Cherry, on the other hand, only had strawberry ice cream again... she felt it was pathetic that the lupine remembered the food they'd eaten and yet obviously had no idea about the little conversation they had. She supposed different things were important to different people, however, and merely shrugged it off before eating as much of the disgustingly-sweet ice cream as she could manage: it definitely wasn't the sort of thing she wanted after eating something like the bass that had just been served.

When the wolf was finally dumb, he leaned over and jerked the bell pull almost savagely, grinning a bit at Cherry with a defiant look in his eyes. The female Drakkaren tilted her head, resisting the urge to glare at the wolf, then she glanced up and blinked as two servants entered, both of them carrying plain metal trays with a variety of cloths and small wooden bowls of water. Lone looked pleased with himself as he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes, a canine maid wincing visibly after his eyes were safely shut and looking miserable as she removed his bib, but asked in a voice that was falsely bright: "Did you enjoy your meal, honorable Mayor Wulfe?"

"It was a bit dry." Lone commented mildly, then he opened one eye, and the dark-furred female immediately forced herself to smile at him. A slow grin spread over his muzzle as the other servant walked around the table and put what Cherry now recognized as a miniature cleaning table down by her, and she fought to hide her anger and disgust as Lone asked in a voice that was almost teasing: "Isn't it nice that I let you guys do this for me?"

"Always a pleasure, sir." Cherry thought the maid's voice was a bit more strained now, but there was also the tiredness of long practice and repetition in it. "Now please relax, Mayor Wulfe."

The lupine was obviously more than happy to do so, resting back in his throne-chair and letting out a loud sigh of pleasure as he grinned up at the ceiling, feeling in control and loving the power. His body still ached a bit, but the pain was quickly lost as the female canine - who he'd had his eyes on for quite a while, and had been thinking of inviting to do some 'special overtime' with him, to tell the truth - gently undid his bib, then used a warm, wet cloth to brush gently over his face and muzzle, getting rid of the food he'd coated his face in.

Cherry watched this spectacle with nothing but disgust, waving the other servant away and helping him stack her fairly-clean dessert plates on the plain tray to carry out with him, before he went to work silently and carefully piling Lone's plates half on his and half on the maid's. She was currently looking morbid and unhappy again, as she gently rubbed the cloth over his fur, and the other servant gave her a gentle squeeze and supporting smile before he left with his tray stacked as high as he could manage. The rest of it - a much lighter load, at least - was left on the girl's, and Cherry wondered for a moment if he'd come back before figuring that he'd left it and a few of the wolf's plates on purpose. Lone was stupid enough to not notice a few extra or missing plates, sure... but he'd likely yell at his servants for not doing their jobs properly or whatever shit he could make up if they came in carrying a tray and left without one.

Then the female Drakkaren could barely repress her sound of disgust as the maid carefully began to brush off Lone's chest, closing her eyes and looking pained as she edged the wolf's shirt open a bit further, letting it hang off his shoulders. Lone gave a sound of contentment, reaching up a hand to grab her waist just above the tail, and she swallowed visibly, her eyes almost welling with tears as the wolf murmured: "Oh yeah... I like that... we should get you doin' special details, Monica, this is why you're my favorite..."

"Marylyn, sir. My name is Marylyn." she whispered in reply, and Cherry felt a burst of horror at the female's name: it was almost the same as the cat that Lone had shot those three years ago, who had been wearing almost the same uniform, except for the Wulfe crest emblazoned on the shoulder and the fact everything was purposefully perhaps a size too small... but at least Lone seemed to notice, twitching a bit and opening an eye, frowning up at her as she immediately gave as best a smile in return as she could manage.

He looked at her petulantly and silently for a few moments, then he finally said softly: "I know. But I'm going to call you Monica, sweetheart. I don't like the name Mary." A pause, then Cherry snarled as Lone reached up and grabbed her neck with one hand and backhanded her firmly with the other, growling as he glared into the frightened coyote's tear-filled eyes. "Now listen to me you fucking idiot bitch, don't ever question-"

A moment later, Lone was on the ground and rolling out of his throne, Marylyn leaning back against the table and staring with wide eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks. Then she nodded a quick thank you to Cherry before turning and running quickly through the door as she broke down into sobs of mixed pain and gratitude.

Cherry snorted as she looked at the wolf, laying stunned on his stomach near the back of his room - the fatass rolled surprisingly far. He groaned a bit as his arms slowly wrapped around his stomach, and Cherry reached down, easily righting his throne and judging the weight at the same time. A good, sturdy two hundred pounds, she thought... enough that it would break even the lupine's thick skull if she ended up swinging it at him.

Lone shook his head slowly, then he forced himself up to his feet with a grunt as he looked up and then frowned at Cherry, feeling a stupid, dull rage coming over him. "What the fuck are you doing?" he yelled, then shoved himself up to his feet, swaying a bit on his paws as he snarled across at Cherry and tried to steady himself by stepping back a bit: he blinked as he hit a suit of armor, however, then he glared over his shoulder before snorting and turning his attention quickly back to the pissed-off looking female.

Normally this would be enough to terrify him into submission... but today it only made him angrier, as thoughts about how she was supposed to be his, his property now, and how she was interfering with what to him was nothing more than a bit of playfulness and dealing with insubordination. And so he only felt himself becoming more infuriated when Cherry snarled at him and replied in an icy voice: "Stopping a fucking dickhead from hurting a poor girl. Zerrex has told you so many goddamn times... you keep your fucking filthy hands off your servants."

"Oh, keep my hands off, huh?" Lone snarled, then he glanced to the side at the suit of armor before grinning violently and seizing the handle of the longsword it held, jerking it free hard enough to cause the gauntlet that had been holding it with its point resting in a carefully-designed base to fly off. Then he brought the sword up so it pointed at her, the end trembling a bit in both hands as he glared angrily, three foot, double-edged narrow blade glinting in the light cast from the hidden lamps above the chandeliers. "I'll keep my hands off you then, bitch. I'll keep my hands off and still teach you a good lesson."

Cherry snorted, but her eyes narrowed nonetheless, as the wolf stepped forwards towards her, grinning like a lunatic. The sword was obviously more meant for decoration than battle, with its gleaming silver handle... but the blade looked like it was steel, and definitely sharpened. The sheer weight of the weapon alone could be enough to cut her, even if it wasn't... and although she was fairly sure she could dodge all the wolf's attacks with her precog, the real issue was the closed environment and the fact she couldn't kill Lone. Even if he came after her with a rocket launcher, she knew that Zerrex would expect her to take him alive... although, now that I think about it, a rocket launcher could be a might bit easier than dealing with a sword-wielding maniac... one shot, one dodge, one punch to the face.

The female breathed slowly, closing her eyes to focus... then they snapped open as she heard Lone give a loud, angry yell and he leapt forwards, slashing clumsily downwards at her: she leapt back, snarling as the sword snapped by her and crashed into the floor, bouncing once and leaving a long dent, then her eyes widened in surprise as she saw a ghost image of what the wolf was about to do next, quickly sizing up her options before throwing her weight to the side and ducking low, sliding in a bent squat under the table before she threw herself in the direction her momentum was carrying her, rolling easily to her feet up on the other side of the table.

Lone, meanwhile, had let out a loud, almost whining yell and jerked the sword up and hard in a circle as he stumbled forwards, shattering the wine bottle that was still on the table and cutting a large piece of the back of one of the chairs off. The wolf stumbled forwards, then blinked stupidly and looked back and forth for the female before catching sight of her, turning towards her and smashing the sword down into the tabletop, leaving a long, jagged cut in it. "Hey, you cheating bitch! Get back over here! I'm not done with you yet!"

"Fuck this." Cherry snorted, then she yanked one of the plain chairs free from the table and simply threw it at the lupine, grunting as one of her arms flexed powerfully. The sight of it flying at the wolf's head was beautiful... but the female had to admit she was almost impressed by the fact Lone actually attempted to react.

A strange sensation washed over the lupine as he saw the chair being flung at him: it was like time slowed, and, as he stood there, gaping stupidly at the sight of the chair revolving slowly through the air, aimed at his head, his instincts suddenly asked him politely why he was being an idiot before simply screaming at him to get the fuck out of the way of the big piece of furniture flying at him. Lone yelped, but the sound came out sludgy and weird, as he threw himself to the side, feeling like he was moving incredibly fast... but not fast enough.

The chair smashed into the wolf's face and sent him down in a crumpled heap, cracking and several of the crossbars on the back flying off in splintered ruins. Cherry rubbed the back of her head as she looked at the wolf mildly, then sighed and walked around the table, suppressing her own angers and disgusts to instead try and concentrate on the fact that Lone had suddenly reacted more like a seasoned soldier than a rich idiot, the speed at which he'd tried to dodge surprising. She put it down to an adrenaline rush, however... and the fact that the wolf had watched them so many times while practicing, he was bound to have picked up a few moves.

"Like that reversal. Obviously, the idiot isn't cut out for a sword, though..." Cherry muttered, crossing her arms as she looked down at the wolf. He twitched a bit, drool and blood leaking from his mouth, body spread-eagled and the pretty sword scratched up and laying half under the table now, and then she sighed and reached down, grabbing one of the wolf's legs before glancing out the window at the fast-descending twilight. Then, without further ado, she idly dragged him around the table and through the swinging door leading towards the kitchen, muttering about all the work she had to do as she pushed the door open for herself, but let it slam shut on the wolf's kidney and head.

Neither blow awoke the bleeding, splintered and otherwise flattened lupine, but they did have the positive effect of making her feel better. She let the same thing happen as she went into the kitchen, where two of the servants were comforting Marylyn, and she smiled sympathetically at her before jerking a thumb at the archway leading towards the front of the mansion. "You guys better get out of here. I need to talk with this asshole..." She paused for a moment as the others got up, then tilted her head and asked quietly, looking at Maylyn's tear-streaked face. "Hey. Wait a moment... is there anything else objectionable this asswad's been doing? 'Cause I can't kill him... but I can certainly make sure he doesn't pull the same shit with you guys again."

The others looked at each other uncomfortably, then the young squirrel she'd slapped the ass of earlier finally piped up meekly: "He... he does a lot of stuff like this. Hits us, likes us to towel him off when he's naked, and he's always doing... bad things to the female staff..."

Cherry nodded slowly, then she glanced down at the wolf with disgust before raising a hand and motioning that they could be dismissed. They left, one of the other maids putting her arms around Marylyn's shoulders, then Cherry walked over to the enormous, industrial-size fridge and opened it, glancing through before pulling out what she thought was a six pack of bottles of beer. Closer inspection found that the green glass bottles were filled with carbonated water, however, and the Drakkaren female smiled mirthlessly before shrugging, popping the metal cap off and taking a sip as she closed the door of the fridge. It would do, anyway.

She walked over to the wolf, then planted a foot on either side of his flabby stomach before simply upending the bottle over his face: Lone, however, merely twitched and moaned at the water splashing over his features, making Cherry frown as bottle emptied and only left a few droplets clinging to the neck. She paused for a moment, looking down at the idiot wolf, then simply dropped the bottle as well, and now Lone let out a loud yelp and he jumped, eyes flashing open and ears flattening out at the burst of pain in his head before he blinked slowly, the cracked glass bottle rolling slowly away down the floor as he looked up at the female Drakkaren and asked stupidly: "What's going on?"

"Oh, this and that, taking time away from the kids, you know." Cherry tilted her head back and forth, then she suddenly leaned down and snarled, bending to push almost nose-to-nose with the wolf as she put her hands on her hips, the wolf paling immediately as his eyes widened in fear. "You tried to sword me, you stupid fucker! And now I've found out about all the shit you've been pulling with your servants!"

"They're my servants-" Lone started defensively, then he shrieked as one of Cherry's hands locked into his ruff and she easily lifted him into the air, baring her teeth as her muscles flexed threateningly. The wolf clawed at her wrist, ears flattening against his head and tail curling up between his legs as he kicked weakly, shrieking in a voice that went from baritone to falsetto: "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Shut up!" Cherry shouted, slamming the wolf's lower back into one of the kitchen's nearby islands and bashing his head on the pots and pans hanging from the rack above, causing a few of them to fall down and rattle loudly off the marble countertop. The wolf fell silent immediately, however, curling up a bit as he began to sob loudly, tears rolling down his face as he went limp in Cherry's grip.

The female snorted quietly, then she turned and easily flung the wolf hard forwards in a vicious pitching motion, sending his flabby, weak body across the room and bouncing off the fridge: it rocked a bit with his weight as he fell to the ground with a loud cry of pain and a wracking sob, and the few jars on top rattled almost happily before a single one rolled off the edge and fell to the ground, shattering loudly.

Lone curled up slowly on the tile floor, crying hard, feeling suddenly vicious and spiteful and agonized that the Drakkaren he'd thought was his, that he thought had turned to become his girl had turned against him so cruelly and harshly... and he moaned in pain, hating the agony that was going through his entire body and the horrible ache in his skull, feeling blood running down his face as he trembled violently and begged: "Please... please..."

"Look, Lone. You don't seem to learn." Cherry walked over to the lupine, then she placed one bare foot on his skull and pushed firmly down, making the wolf squeal in pain, then he became silently as she asked in a soft voice: "Should I crush your skull?"

The silence spiraled out, Lone not even daring to breathe as he felt his eyes bulging with fear, his body shivering violently as he stared at the other bare foot of the Drakkaren, swallowing thickly and then closing his eyes, finally managing to breathe in and whisper: "No..."

Cherry twisted her heel slowly, gouging it into the wolf's ear and making him whimper in pain, curling up tighter beneath her as she looked down at him with disgust. Then she tilted her head slowly and drew her foot back, instead reaching down and grabbing him with both hands to jerk him up by the ruff again, slamming him back against the fridge as she dragged him up so their gazes locked eye-to-eye. Lone shivered violently in her grip, but his body was limp, and he looked terrified... which she figured was a start. "Listen to me, motherfucker. I'm here to help you... but you don't seem to get that these other people don't deserve you prancing all over their backs. They... are people too. Now, you need to get it through your head, you piece of shit, that you are not a god among mortals. Nor are you the Boss of the city..." Cherry stopped herself, then she let the wolf drop and shoved him back by the shoulders against the fridge, hating what she had to say next but knowing, at the same time, it was the only way to get back into the stupid wolf's favor after what she'd done to him. "But you could be. You have to learn restraint, though. It's... the only way to the heart of the masses."

"Yeah..." Lone whispered, looking up at her and nodding slowly, as he began to make his own connections in his mind. Of course it was all about manipulation... of course that's why Zerrex never was nasty to people, even though he could be! He treated them as equals, almost... well... Lone Wulfe could swallow his pride too, but only until everyone learned just how great he was. And okay, he understood why Cherry was angry and had been so violent... maybe he had been a bit out of line pulling a sword on her. "I'm... I'm sorry about the sword thing."

"Yeah. I'm sorry for beating you up." Cherry replied, and both of them figured the other was lying, but Lone didn't bother saying anything as the female Drakkaren walked away. She badly wanted to tell him to clean up the mess that the jar had made, but then decided it wasn't worth the extra pain in the ass it would cause. Already, Lone was returning to his mumbly, sulky, childish self, as she felt him glaring at her but also watching her ass as she left... and she sighed inwardly, rubbing at her head slowly as she headed towards one of the dens on the first floor. Maybe they'd beaten the wolf up too much...

Lone shuffled from paw-to-paw, then he headed slowly towards a bathroom, rubbing at his aching muzzle and then wincing as he pulled out a few large pieces of wood that had become embedded in his head. He turned on the light, then stepped into the bathroom and slammed the door behind himself, sulking as he looked in the mirror and asked his reflection plainly: "Why the fuck do you put up with her shit?"

He shook his head, already knowing the answer, mumbling about how they'd been doing so well together... but then he forced himself to brighten up a bit and ignore the words of advice she'd said. Sure, he felt guilty every now and then, or didn't exactly like the feelings he got sometimes after he'd been particularly mean... but he was always doing what was right, really. And taking care of himself, too, of course... and that was what was most important, right?

The wolf nodded to himself firmly, not caring that his thoughts weren't really coherent as he worked on picking the rest of the wood out of his face, frowning and hoping he wouldn't swell up or anything. Abuse was definitely part of the price he had to pay for hanging around with assholes like Zerrex and Cherry, so he was used to being picked on and beaten up by now... it wasn't fair at all, but he guessed that was life.

It didn't stop him from wondering exactly why exactly the female Drakkaren had freaked out so much, though... he frowned a bit at his reflection as he looked into the mirror. He'd seen Cherry do terrible things before to people who didn't obey her, and he knew she had a history of violence towards the world in general... and hell, he didn't think it was even the female issue. There had to be something else that she was trying to mask... something else that she was trying to hide, like... like...

Then Lone brightened as he seized on another idea that came to him: maybe the female had gotten so angry because she'd been jealous of Monica or whatever her name was! He nodded firmly several times, and then playfully scolded himself for getting so angry and coming down as hard as he had on Cherry, which is why she had obviously gone so mad on his ass. She was jealous, that was all... that was why she hadn't run home to Zerrex, or done anything really nasty to him except shake him up quite a bit... she didn't really want to hurt, she just wanted to get even with him for letting that one maid babe touch him! She probably didn't understand that she was his favorite yet... he'd have to make sure that she knew he really enjoyed her company the most and that she was by far one of the sexiest babes he'd ever been with.

And the wolf already had a few ideas forming in his mind of exactly how he could do that... he grinned a bit, then quickly bounded out of the bathroom and back towards the kitchen, humming idly to himself before almost tripping over one of the servants who was cleaning up the mess on the floor. He stumbled over his body instead, then snarled and turned around, raising a paw to boot the squirrel firmly in his side, causing him to cry out and curl up in pain as his head whacked loudly against the wall. Lone grinned cruelly at this, then he kicked him again, shouting angrily down at him: "Watch what the fuck you're doing, or I'll... I'll kill you!" He stopped, then hesitated before dropping down and grabbing the lapels of his vest, looking into the young squirrel's eyes and dragging him close, basking in the fear but at the same time feeling his own welling up in his chest as Cherry's words haunted his mind. "Don't you tell Cherry or anyone else what just happened or... or I'll hurt everyone you care about! Got it?"

Satisfied by the nodding of the squirrel, Lone snorted and stood, then said darkly: "Get one of the other servants to bring me and Cherry some popcorn, some other nice treats, and a bottle of whisky... someone pretty, not a fugly shit like you, have them bring it to the first floor common room in twenty minutes or so. And then I want someone to take a run out to pick up some movies and bring them back... and oh, that new game system too, and some of the new games. Shooting shit and whatever else is popular..." he stopped, frowning a bit, then snorted and waved a hand at the squirrel disgustedly, deciding to take a look around the mansion for Cherry. "Get busy!"

Then he walked quickly out, leaving the poor young male shivering and rubbing at his head slowly: Lone had obviously taken a beating, but if anything it had only worsened his mood. Then he sighed and went back to cleaning up the mess, figuring he could put on the popcorn in the miniaturized, professional popcorn maker that the wolf had bought from one of the theatres and get the butter ready before he called one of the girls up.

Lone wandered up to his room first: he figured Cherry would be in their bed, napping or just sulking, since that's she always did. In his mind, females were all the same, and he figured that even Cherry would obey the same kind of rules and styles that every other girl did. But he frowned when he found the room empty, before his eyes settled on the cordless telephone, and he grinned slightly before walking over and picking it up. He suddenly had an idea for another gift that would look fabulous with the female's dress for tomorrow...

He dialed the number in for Dana's, the Apple Villa jewelry shop, then waited impatiently for a moment before one of the clerks picked up. Immediately, he said he wanted to see Dana in his usual firm, self-important voice, and a minute or so later Dana was on the line, saying warmly in her deep voice: "Mayor Wulfe. An honor to hear from you. My apologies for keeping you waiting, I was with a customer."

"I have a custom order I want to make for tomorrow, Dana..." Lone said, but he rolled in the flattery like a pig in the mud nonetheless, grinning at his pockmarked reflection. "I got a real nice girl... the Lady Cherry, formerly Zerrex's. Well, she's decided she's too good for Zerrex and made the smart decision of choosing a real male... so I want to give her something nice to take to the Apple Ball."

"Wonderful news! She'll definitely be a big help with our plans!" gushed Dana, and then he could hear the shuffle of movement before she yelled irritably for someone. A moment later, she laughed and said that she was ready to take down the custom order, her voice sounding a bit more distant as she switched him to speakerphone. Lone grinned to himself, smiling slightly. Dana was someone who knew how to get things done... he knew she was standing there with one of her shop-slaves ready to take down the information onto a clipboard for her. He liked her style... not as good as him, of course, but still admirable.

"Well, I was thinking of getting a necklace for her, first of all... something in the art of the Apple Ball, I'm thinking a silver, apple-shaped locket with a wolf inscribed on the front... and of course I want her to have a Crusader's Sword." Lone said mildly, as he reached down and opened a small drawer, looking inside to admire the small, silver sword that dangled on the end of a silver-weave necklace. Tomorrow, he'd wear his pocketwatch in his pocket and the sword in its usual place around his neck... and of course, since he was the leader of the Silver Crusaders, there was a small diamond inset into the hilt of his silver sword. As he admired this, he paused, frowning a bit as he thought he heard something on the line before simply shrugging it off as static, closing the drawer as he glanced up at the ceiling. "But I also want the locket to be inscribed with my name on one side and hers on the other, on the inside..."

"Beautiful! I'll put Antonio to work on it right away!" Dana said warmly, then she paused, and he could almost hear her playing with her own Crusader's Sword. There were only five people other than Lone who bore one of these necklaces, all of them major Apple Villa merchants who had trusted in the wolf and decided to wait out the worst of what they saw as Zerrex's tyranny... and now that he had relaxed his hold on the town and the lupine, busy with his own problems, they saw this as the perfect chance to finally prepare long-laid plans. Requiem's appearance had been a coincidence... but an amazing stroke of luck for the group of six. "Can she be trusted?"

"She's a bit violent..." the wolf said slowly, then he paused as he rubbed at his face slowly. "But if she was being all... out of character, then I would have been worried. But she's not, she's definitely acting the same as always!" Lone didn't realize that the only action not out of character was when Cherry had kicked his ass... which ironically, was the only action that caused him to wonder if she was playing a game with him, but the fact she hadn't left had put a stop to that. Lone, after all, didn't understand the idea of self-sacrifice... in his opinion, if the job was hard, it wasn't really worth doing. Working hard was for stupid people and poor people... working smart was what the real big guys did, that was all. "I think something big happened between her and Zerrex... probably because of that other dude that came to town."

Dana laughed and nodded. "Yes, I heard along the grapevine. Which reminds me, Mayor Wulfe. Did you get the transmission from that band of inelegant ruffians, the Godkillers? I hate to say that I associate with such trash, but they've got quite a wonderful plan going on right now, I dare say, that almost makes me want to go and shake their dirty little hands after hearing it on their so-called 'private' radio band."

Lone perked his ears, tilting his head curiously. "No, that I haven't, Darla. I've been busy... entertaining... Cherry all day. What did they say?"

On the other end of the line, Darla - a flabby, rotund skunk - grinned and examined the multitude of rings on one hand, leaning back against the desk inelegantly. "Oh, just that they've got this wonderful plan to get rid of Requiem... they're apparently gathering a quote-unquote army. But later on, we got another message along the same private band, about an hour afterwards, saying that they were preparing to take out Zerrex instead. We might not have to worry so much about how our pet project holds up if things go well... just have it ready in case the Godkillers decide to do anything stupid."

"Yes, yes, but let's not talk about that over the phone." Lone replied mildly, then he cleared his throat. "In any case, I also want you to make her a pair of silver bracelets... they can be loose and all, I hear that's the style these days, all the rage in... wherever the fashion palace sits."

"It sits here, darling." Dana replied, and they both shared a laugh before going over the finer bits of the transaction: Lone would stop by before heading to the location of the Apple Ball - outside of town, only a ten minute or so drive down the road to an abandoned factory that had been gutted and turned into a gigantic, almost-ballroom with a large, open back area as well, for the 'special surprises' to wait until they were ready to present them to the other Apple Villa supporters who would be attending. Then the wolf hung up and hummed to himself before cursing and realizing it had been a good twenty minutes on the phone, quickly heading down to the common room, figuring he could get a servant to find Cherry for him.

Cherry, however, was already there, and she had a frown on her face as she slowly hung up the phone. Her instincts told her that something very bad was underway, and that she might want to get Zerrex and Tinman involved... even if it meant interrupting the Drakkaren's training. She was hesitant to disturb her husband, however, and almost wished she hadn't picked up the phone out of curiosity when she had noticed it was in use... although she couldn't believe the idiot wolf would get into a conversation about something that important on a public, traceable line. She sighed as she slumped in the couch, frowning, then glanced up mildly as she heard Lone all but bounce into the room.

The wolf looked at her sheepishly, then he smiled and held out a hand as she continued to keep her gaze even instead of breaking his face like she already wanted to and just forcing him to cough up everything he knew. "Hey, I think we just had a bad... you know... today... so... I wanted to make it up to you. We can watch some movies and stuff, and... just hang out. Because you know, you're really important to me, and I don't want you worrying about that or feeling jealous or unsure at all."

He paused, and Cherry nodded before reaching out to shake his head, wondering what the hell she was supposed to say in response to the wolf's stupendous self-centeredness: the lupine, thankfully, saved her the trouble by quickly shaking her head before intertwining their fingers tightly as he leapt forwards and sat down by her, grinning up into her face as the female repressed a wince, barely able to believe he was already pulling her arm around his shoulders and snuggling in close against his body, continuing to speak in a warm voice: "You know you're my favorite... you know how much you mean to me. And so the feelings you have are natural, of course, when you see someone else doin' stuff for me, but baby, it's all about you in here." Lone reached up and gently tapped his chest, looking at her seriously, and now Cherry felt nauseated. "I know you've been hurt... likely abused... by that bastard Zerrex, but you don't gotta worry about me... I won't leave you in the dust.

"And so, to prove that, I just wanna tell you that I forgive you for what happened tonight and I'm lookin' forwards to moving on and past our problems together." The wolf finished, then he smiled warmly up at her, eyes glittering. "Now howabout a kiss for the big wuffie, huh?"

Cherry felt nothing short of disgusted at the wolf's attempt to be cute, but she sighed inwardly as she lowered her mouth to his: he eagerly met her muzzle with his own, kissing her sloppily as his tongue forced its way up into her muzzle, and when they broke the kiss, he looked at her with a hungry expectance. She forced herself to smile, imagining herself crushing the wolf between her hands like a piece of cotton, then finally said: "Thanks, Lone. That... means a lot. I'm glad to hear that... that you forgive... me. And... I'm glad to hear I'm your favorite. I do worry, because of..." for a moment, she couldn't force the words, despite all her years of training and hard work, learning to act, learning to lie, and learning - most of all - to deceive. "Of how deeply I care about you." she finally finished lamely.

Lone grinned widely at this, then he nodded rapidly; apparently she'd said the words he'd wanted to hear. Then he smiled slyly up at her, ignoring the servant who came in entirely as one of his hands crept up her stomach and towards one of her breasts, saying teasingly: "Oh... we have to make a stop tomorrow before the Apple Ball, but I'm sure you'll enjoy the surprise..." A pause, then he glared at the servant as he heard him put down the oversized - in Cherry's opinion, anyway - tub of popcorn and a bottle of hard whisky that would undoubtedly get the wolf drunk in a mouthful or two. "Hey! Where the fuck are the movies?"

Cherry frowned at the wolf's manners: they hadn't improved at all, and already the maid was trembling under the wolf's grey eyes. Then, bravely, she managed: "Mar..." a look from Cherry as Lone tilted his head and frowned slightly, and the servant quickly coughed before saying meekly: "A servant should be back with them in about half an hour, sir."

"Oh. Good." Lone said moodily, then he paused and looked at the buttered and salted popcorn before reaching out and grabbing a handful, stuffing it hungrily into his maw and commanding: "Go and get us some glasses with ice! And more butter!"

The cat looked almost as horrified as Cherry felt at the rain of spittle and popcorn bits that flew from the wolf's mouth, and the way he was covering himself with food already, his fur getting greasy. Cherry used the excuse of reaching for the bottle to unlace her arm from around the lupine and shift away, wondering at the same time if anything would ever actually teach the wolf a lesson... if he was even capable of learning, really.

She sighed as Lone fumbled for the remote, now completely ignoring the servant that returned with the glasses and extra butter for the already-too-buttery popcorn. Cherry took a drink of the whisky and then made a face - it had been watered down heavily, and she didn't think it was even the same brand as the bottle was labeled... obviously far more for show than actual use. Then she frowned as the wolf snagged the bottle and poured a shot into a glass for himself, grinning as he apparently recognized the cartoon that came on. "Oh, sweet. I thought they cancelled this one, but I guess it must have just been 'cause of the rotation or some shit like that." He paused, then glanced at the female Drakkaren sitting beside him, who managed a smile in return. For a moment, she thought he was actually going to offer her something... then instead he nodded to something behind her and asked casually: "Can you pass me that pillow?"

"Sure." Cherry rolled her eyes inwardly as she shifted and took the pillow out from behind her back, passing it over to the wolf, who immediately snagged it - spilling a bit of whisky on his knee - before putting it against Cherry and dropping his body heavily against her. Cherry grunted a bit in surprise, and Lone grinned up at her cheerfully.

"Not too heavy, am I?" he teased, and the female Drakkaren wished like all the worlds she could just say yes. But before she could respond, he turned his attention back to the television, pulling the bowl of popcorn into his lap and ignoring her in favor of the flickering box. Cherry made a face, feeling disgusted at the wolf's behavior and hating that the only comfortable way she could rest was by keeping one arm around his shoulders: with all the grease he was managing to collect on his fur, it was like holding a flabby, furry slug against her body, or a plushy that had started to grow its own little creepy veil of mildew.

After twenty minutes of sitting like this, even Cherry began to feel uncomfortable... but the wolf showed no sign of shifting. Instead, he simply made himself a bit more comfortable, sinking a bit closer against her body and deeper into her lap, making her all but writhe with disgust, barely able to restrain herself from kicking the wolf out of her lap and throwing him down onto the floor. She knew she was supposed to be nice... that she was suffering the consequences for her little outburst on Lone earlier today over the way he'd been treating his servants... but Gods, she'd hoped that it would come in more a verbal lecture from Zerrex on not nearly killing the person you were supposed to be guarding instead of making the wolf all the more clingy for whatever freakish, masochistic reason he had. Then she sighed and frowned at the television, as she thought she felt the wolf drooling on her... No. Masochists can at least be fun at times and they don't cry like little babies when you hurt them. Lone's just amazingly self-centered... to the point where if it doesn't fit into his universe, it doesn't fit in at all.

A few minutes later, however, two servants came in carrying bags of stuff from both the electronics department and movie store. The fact that Cherry had never seen these people before made her wonder how many full-time servants were on staff at the Mayor's mansion... and then she winced as Lone elbowed her in the kidney as he leapt up, the wolf looking delighted as they put down the bags of stuff, quickly shooing them as he flung popcorn everywhere. "Get lost! Get lost, my stuff! And it had better be good, too!"

The wolf quickly toddled over to the bags, then he dug through them almost ravenously, pulling out two large boxes that made Cherry make a face: the newest video game systems out on the market. She and Zerrex played occasionally, sure, and sometimes Cindy joined in too... but they'd never really put any effort into getting any of the new stuffs. Mostly, she and Zerrex played old shooting games and fighters, stuff they could make fun of... when the wolf grabbed one of the bags and overturned it, she could see a mess of far-more-complex games amidst the pile of video discs that fell out. Lone clapped his hands together gleefully, looking like a child as he began to immediately sort through them, and then he glanced over his shoulder at Cherry with a cheerful grin. "Aren't I the best? We can have some nice, relaxing fun and then head up to bed..." A pause, then a slow wink. "Maybe we can have some more fun up there, too... after all, we had a hell of a time earlier today, didn't we? I wouldn't mind doing something else like that again."

"Good to hear." Cherry forced a smile as she sat back on the couch; fortunately, Lone was enraptured more with the video game systems than the load of bad action movies he'd had his servants buy. It gave her a bit of time to at least rest back, feeling like a nanny that had been given the task of taking care of an overprivileged child on Christmas. But, the same as a child on Christmas, he was currently absorbed in the new toys that had been bestowed on him... but these by himself instead of a benevolent fat male who came down the chimney.

Eventually, though, the wolf called for her help when he couldn't get one of the boxes open, frowning and clawing at the tape on the large, corporate-marked box rapidly but to no avail: finally, Cherry sighed and joined him on the floor, easily tearing the tape off and pulling the foam and bubble-wrapped console inside out, along with a controller. Lone paused, frowning at this, then he smiled up at Cherry and asked her cheerfully: "You don't mind if I just play for now, huh?"

"Not at all." Cherry responded, forcing a smile in return but feeling a bit relieved, nonetheless. She quickly headed back to the couch as Lone glanced through the instruction manual before tossing it aside with a mutter, moving over to the full-scale entertainment system he had set up. For the next ten minutes he struggled to figure out how to get the machine working, glancing every so often over his shoulder at Cherry, then he finally coughed and stood up, walking quickly over to a bell pull and yanking on it firmly to summon a servant.

"I uh. I don't see any reason why I should do it... they're my servants after all, they're here to serve me." he explained lamely, and Cherry had to struggle not to glare at him and call him out for being unable to figure out a few simple plug-ins. A moment later, however, a uniformed canine showed up, and Lone quickly turned his attention to him, saying loudly: "I want that thing working within five minutes." A pause and glance at the table. "And oh, bring me another bottle of whisky and some more goddamn popcorn. I'm frigging starving to death here."

"Yes, sir." replied the canid tersely: it took him less than a minute to plug the game console in, which made Lone frown at his back as he left. Then the wolf picked up the controller, selecting one of the shooting games and then walking over to Cherry and plopping himself down in her lap.

She winced, sitting back a bit and feeling the pudgy, greasy wolf settling himself against her before he grinned up at her inversely, reaching a hand up to stroke her face: Cherry fought her first instinct, which was to pull away as he left a trail of popcorn grease and crumbs on her cheek. "Hey, beautiful. Now you get to watch a real master at work."

"Looking forwards to it." Lone smiled at this, looking pleased with himself and apparently not noticing her droll tone. Then, for the next hour or so, he remained absorbed in the game... thankfully not even noticing the food or drink that was brought, but on the downside yelling and bouncing painfully in her lap every now and then when something didn't go his way, until he finally bad-temperedly threw the controller across the room after getting killed for the umpteenth time on the second level. It clinked off the television and fell to the ground, and Cherry winced as Lone crossed his arms and sat back against her, fuming. Holy shit... it makes me wonder how many televisions this idiot has gone through.

But only a few moments later, Lone had rolled off her lap and was now grinning up at her, reaching out to lightly stroke his hands over her body as he gazed into her eyes and said in what was probably supposed to be a seductive voice: "Hey, babe. Let's go up to bed now... we got an early start tomorrow after all, right? Just... why don't you let me go and freshen up a bit, and you can do the same and wait for me in bed, huh?"

Cherry frowned a bit at Lone's back as the wolf leapt up and all but pranced off, wondering what the hell he was up to: she really didn't like the look on his face or the gleam in his eyes, like he had some other thing he wanted to do that night. Then she sighed and stood, shaking her head a bit and pausing a moment to pick up the remote control for the television and at least turn that off: she could care less if the game console burned out from the lupine leaving it out, however.

Then she headed quickly to the nearest staircase and to the lupine's room, stripping off her top even as she walked down the hall, not really caring who saw her at this point and time. But she made it to the room without anyone spotting her, then she pushed through the doors and left them slightly ajar, quickly throwing the rest of her clothing off and taking a moment to wonder if she the wolf would leave her alone if she faked sleep... then she snorted and smiled bitterly at the floor as she crawled atop the covers, completely naked now: the lupine would likely convince himself he was raping and dominating her and fulfill all other sorts of nasty little fantasies if she did that.

Lone, meanwhile, had run to a bathroom on the second floor and was fumbling in the medicine cabinet, muttering under his breath. Even though he'd now left the company he'd worked for - hell, pretty much run, in his opinion - and wasn't supposed to have any associations with it, he still had enough dirt on them to get freebies every now and then from one of their sister pharmaceutical companies, which was more into body sculpting and genetic enhancement. And recently, they'd sent him a fun little bottle of pills that he wanted to try out... they were almost better than steroids, or the diet pills he'd supplemented himself with every now and then to make sure he was losing weight under Zerrex's watchful eye, without having to exercise too much.

Then he let out a loud 'Ha!' as he discovered the small blue bottle, grinning as he took it out and fumbled at the top for a few moments before grunting and finally ripping it free, peering down into it for a moment before turning it over and tapping it impatiently against his palm. A moment later, two small pills fell out, and Lone quickly threw both of these into his mouth and chewed them up before swallowing the bitter medicine inside. He wanted them to hit faster so he could perform all the better in bed, in his opinion... and really give Cherry a surprise at the end of the night.

He grinned widely as he put the bottle back, licking his muzzle hungrily and then feeling a slow wave of heat passing through him, letting him know the pills were working: he grunted a bit as he leaned forwards, panting slightly as he felt his heart rate kick up and quickly grabbing a towel. One hand fumbled at the cold water tap for a few moments, then managed to twist it and send down a spray of water: the wolf quickly soaked the towel, then rubbed it over his face and now-naked upper body - ironically, he managed to take off most of the grease as he wetted his fur, the cool towel heaven against his overheating body. A few moments later, however, the heat wave passed, and Lone threw the towel aside as the heat centered instead on his crotch area, and the wolf turned and quickly pranced off towards his room, trying to kick off his shorts as he ran and instead almost falling over.

He grunted, stumbling, then finally kicked them off, licking his muzzle hungrily as he imagined what he was going to do to Cherry now. He definitely planned to shoot all over her again... especially with the pills he'd taken. He grinned wider as he began to run towards his room again, paws making heavy thumps on the carpet as he put a hand in his boxers and rubbed slowly at his sheath, feeling the tip of his penis already pushing free from his furry pouch. The pills, after all, were a prototype fertility drug... it massively increased sperm production, which was why his balls sort of hurt right now but at the same time felt very, very full and nice... and he couldn't wait to surprise Cherry by giving her all but a bath in his wolf seed.

The wolf almost skidded past his door, then he straightened and brushed his chest off quickly before pushing them open, strutting into his room and grinning widely as he shoved the doors shut behind him, rolling his shoulders slowly as he walked towards his bed, his eyes roving hungrily over Cherry as his boxers tented higher and higher, one hand now squeezing his firming shaft inside his underwear as he began to pant softly already in anticipation. Cherry smiled at him in return, and he licked his lips slowly as he said breathily: "I want you, baby... and the big bad wolf is gonna give you such a nice surprise at the end of the night..."

"Ooh... I bet you will." Cherry responded with a smile and a murr, shifting her body a bit so she lay with her legs open towards him and knees slightly raised, hands behind her head and full breasts resting on her chest, her eyes half-lidded seductively: it was enough to bring Lone to full erection as he reached the edge of the bed, and the lupine grinned widely in return before reaching down to quickly jerk his boxers down, his nine inch, already bulging penis bouncing a bit as one hand grasped his knot firmly, the other reaching out to balance himself as he climbed up onto the oversized bed.

He crawled forwards slowly between her legs, hand stroking slowly up his bulging shaft and testicles dangling between his legs, feeling as heavy as bowling balls as he grinned up at the female lustfully. Cherry shifted a bit, wondering just what the hell the wolf had in mind, as he positioned his body over hers, panting quietly and already guiding his penis towards her entrance without much more than a groan of her name and a hungry look up into her eyes; obviously, the wolf had no idea what the word 'foreplay' meant, in any context.

She felt him rubbing the head of his cock up and down the lips of her sex, panting quietly as he brought one arm up to rest on her body, elbow digging into her almost painfully as he shifted his weight forwards, the other hand groping a breast roughly. Slowly, he drew his fingers up to pinch her nipple, and Cherry gave the expected moan and twitch, even though his untalented hands failed to elect much more than a slight, tiny roll of pleasure through her that was easily drowned out by the fact he was leaning on her so hard. Nor did the rubbing of his pointed cockhead up and down her slit excite her at all: she already knew it was going to be far less than pleasurable, and the heat and wetness she was emanating was only because she'd taken the time before the wolf had appeared to play with herself a bit.

Then the lupine arched his back a bit and, without warning, plunged into her, making her grunt in surprise as she felt his hot nine inch shaft shove to the knot in a single thrust, the lupine dropping most of his weight on her at the same time as his hand moved to grip her inner thigh, the wolf releasing a whine of pleasure as his eyes rolled up in his head. A grin of ecstasy spread over his muzzle as he began to thrust rapidly in and out of her body, rocking his hips powerfully and slamming his knot against her entrance again and again as Cherry bucked her hips back against him in easy time, the female letting out short moans and moving her hands up to stroke through the wolf's chest fur as he closed his eyes. She winced a bit nonetheless, unable to deny that this time he was doing a bit better at least and giving her some pleasure - probably thanks in part to her own preparation for him - but he was still moving almost jerkily, and the feeling of his elbow and full, pudgy weight on her body wasn't doing a whole lot for her overall pleasure.

Lone, on the other hand, was in the deepest ecstasy he thought he could imagine, as he thrusted wildly into the female's body with deep moans of pleasure, breaths already coming in pants as he felt his thick knot thudding against the wet lips of her sex again and again, loving the heat he felt boiling around his cock as it penetrated deep into her vagina again and again... deep for him, anyway. He knew he wouldn't last long, as his heavy testicles slapped firmly against the female's body over and over, feeling sweat already breaking out on his fur as the fertility drugs rolling through his system did their work.

He rocked harder forwards against her, as she gave a loud moan, then Cherry's back arched a bit as she let out a surprised breath as Lone slammed his hips forwards suddenly and hilted in her, knot popping into her vagina as her eyes widened. She clutched instinctively into his chest as her legs clutched his girthy waist, half-thankful that the lupine was already going to release into her, but half-miserable that he was once more going to release his pitiful little wolf load into her body and make her feel filthy all over again...

Lone, however, merely moaned loudly as he began to rock his hips rapidly, pummeling her with his penis and leaning his body firmly down on the female's. His thrusts were tiny but incredibly fast, his panting growing louder as he felt Cherry clenching him tight with his passage, and then the female arched her back against him and moaned loudly as she wrapped her arms tight around his neck, holding him down against her body as she bucked her hips hard upwards against him again and again. "Oh yes, Lone! Oh yes!"

Cherry felt Lone drooling on her a bit, and she hid her disgust with another loud moan as she continued to fake an orgasm, attempting to pleasure herself at least a bit with the wolf's mad thrusts that were little more than vibrations inside of her, rocking her hips hard against him again and again with enough force to almost dislodge the fat lupine: having him inside her like this reminded her of the time Zerrex had made her shove a small, sheathed combat knife and a tennis-ball shaped grenade up her vagina. Except that had been bigger... but the sense of discomfort more than pleasure was still there, and of humiliation as Lone rocked his body against hers again and again.

Finally, the wolf stiffened up and let out what was more a yelp than a howl, back arching as he continued to thrust madly: she felt his penis stiffening as she faked a cry of pleasure herself... but then her moan of surprise that came next was completely sincere, as the wolf fired what felt not like the usual sprinkling of seed into her, but a thick burst of something almost worthy of her real lover, as she grit her teeth and rocked hard against him. Lone panted hard as he slammed his cock into her again and again, as if trying to bury his sheath along with his knot, and she could feel watery seed leaking down her thighs and squelching out of her as he drove into her again and again. His nine inch shaft slammed deep into her passage as it released long, hot bursts of semen that seemed impossible coming from the wolf, seeming to squirt as far as any male she'd let take her, before he finally began to slow, his body heaving with his pants.

He grinned down at her, and Cherry stared up with surprise as he asked between pants: "Yeah... you like that... huh... bitch?" Then the wolf jerked his hips back to pop his knot free before slowly drawing his cock from her vagina, and Cherry shuddered and let out a quiet grunt as she looked down, seeing a good, surprising amount of seed leak free from her. She still felt strangely full of the wolf's almost-lukewarm load as she twitched a bit on the spot, then stared at his still-hard cock as he stroked it slowly; it was wet and sticky, coated heavily with his load, and she knew there was more seeping still from her and forming a puddle between her legs.

The wolf grinned wider, his eyes glinting before he slid forwards slowly, pushing her down onto her back as she tried to sit up and straddling her muscular body as he stroked his pink cock slowly, whispering down to her between pants: "I got more than enough for a few more, babe... I think I'll try your tits next and give you another good coat of Lone-paint, then we can stick it up your ass and maybe go another round in your tight vagina, give you another hard, screaming orgasm..."

Cherry felt nothing but disgust with the wolf, but she forced herself to reach up and squeeze her large bosom slowly, managing even to meet the lupine's eyes with her own half-lidded, forcing a smile onto her features. "Ooh, you know just what I like, Lone..." What the hell changed between this evening and now? How the fuck did he shoot so much and have the endurance for an easy double?

"Good, bitch... good..." Lone nodded, still panting, as he lowered his cock slowly to rub his pointed head around one of her nipples, the wolf grunting quietly and almost wincing a bit as he stroked himself slowly: his penis was obviously sensitive and perhaps even hurting a bit from his gingerly movements. But lust was apparently easily winning over anything else as he watched Cherry toy with her breast with hungry eyes, watching her fingers slowly roll down the firm mounds and then push them lightly together as he slid his cock to rub lightly at her other nipple, mouth agape with his pants and a bit of drool falling from the end of his muzzle.

Then he slowly lowered his shaft between her bust, closing his eyes with a moan as she gently squeezed her breasts together, easily engulfing his nine-inch member. He thrusted forwards between them, his pants already roughening as his knot bumped against the bottom of her swells, and then he drew back before thrusting forwards again, reaching down to squeeze her nipples in a way that he thought was pleasurable, but was more irritating than anything else for the female, as he murmured: "Oh yes... that's it, bitch... that's it..."

The wolf's cock slid easily between her bust, lubricated by his own watery seed, a hot but almost slimy bar that pushed into the valley between her breasts before pulling back, as Cherry held them easily together and made the occasional murr of pleasure for the wolf's entertainment. She gazed up at him, keeping herself as submissive as possible as she repressed a grin, watching Lone's body twitch as he cupped the tops of her breasts with his hands, the expression on his face of mingled joy and agony. It was like the blowjob all over again... except this time the wolf had set his own trap and was torturing himself with her body.

He moaned quietly as he arched his back a bit, his thrusts picking up in speed as he rocked his hips a bit harder, his belly jiggling slightly with every push of his cock between her bust. The wolf grunted quietly, eyes closing and head lowering, and his hands clutched harder into her breasts as he pistoned his cock with greater and greater firmness into her tightly-held bosom. He felt part of his knot sinking into that tight, wonderful valley, loving the feel of her taunt, smooth scales rubbing along his pink cock, moaning as he rocked a bit on her body as mixed pain and pleasure rolled through his form. His testicles dragged gently over her muscular stomach, and he could feel them heating up already, propelling rapidly towards another orgasm before he forced a grin and opened his eyes to gaze down at her hungrily, drawing back a bit and then raising himself.

"Here... I'll... ooh, get ready..." he panted, as he grasped his pink lupine cock with one hand, then he began to stroke himself rapidly, sensitive penis already ready for another orgasm. He rocked his hips forwards a bit as he watched Cherry slowly play with her breasts, rolling them together and moving her hands over them, watching her flick a nipple and slowly lick her muzzle as she looked up at him with a deep desire for his load... and that alone was enough to let him feel his cock stiffen up again in his hand, the wolf moaning as he arched his back, gritting his teeth tight and forcing himself to look down at her, raising his flabby body up a bit as he moved his hand firmly up and down his shaft.

A few moments later, he let out another low whine of pleasure, forcing his gaze to stay on her and then reveling in Cherry's moan of surprise as she thrusted her chest and head up towards him, bowing her muzzle a bit and opening her maw wide to receive his gift of seed as he shot a thick line of seed over her face: it amazed the wolf, as it splattered the pillows and headboard behind her as well as covering a good portion of her muzzle. Then he let out another moan and tilted his head skywards as he fired volley after volley of semen from his pink cock, the seed splashing over Cherry's face as she tilted her head back and forth in the flow, keeping up her moans but clutching her eyes shut and doing her best to hide her expression of disgust as she felt the wolf's watery load covering down her muzzle, her face, and splattering over her breasts.

The wolf thrusted into his hand again and again as his seed continued to leak out, finally going from long blasts to slow drips, and then he slumped on her body, panting hard, sweat rolling down his face and grinning stupidly as his lungs heaved, looking down at Cherry with bliss. His penis ached like crazy, but the sight of her covered almost completely in his seed amazed her, watching it slowly leak down to the end of her muzzle... and then his eyes focused on that one droplet, watching her lean forwards a bit, looking at him strangely before it fell and gently landed on one breast before continuing its journey downwards...

Lone rose a hand stupidly, expression vacant, then his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed heavily to the side, and Cherry blanched before leaping up, her first thought: Oh shit. I didn't kill him with sex, did I? But a quick check of his neck showed he was simply unconscious instead of dead, his breaths faint whispers in and out of his mouth as he drooled all over the bed. Cherry made a disgusted face, climbing out of the bed and then wiping at her face, hating the wolf's smell on her and how... liquid his seed was. It was almost like he'd pissed on her instead of shot his load with how watery it was... and she made a face before walking quickly over to the lupine's thrown-down boxers, picking them up, then pausing and muttering: "No. Bad idea."

She dropped them, and instead headed over to the wolf's closet, opening it as she heard Lone moan from behind her sleepily, then resettle himself on the bed. The wolf had knocked himself out... either a side-effect of whatever drug he'd taken to make himself shoot like a fountain - she was sure it had to be some kind of pill, the lupine was an idiot - or because he was unused to such physical activity as he'd gotten in today, despite his past rapes and sexing. She glanced idly through his racks upon racks of clothing, then shrugged and selected one of his ugly Hawaiian shirts before using that to towel off her face and breasts, which had also been thoroughly soaked. She paused a moment, then shrugged and used it to wipe the excess fluid from between her legs as well. Then she sighed and shook her head slowly, walking back over to the bed and silently climbing in under the covers, doing her best to ignore the wolf slumped in the middle and mumbling in his sleep and the good amount of lupine semen splattered on top of the comforter. Well, at least I don't have to rock him to sleep...