Skyfall Chapter 8
8 "Come on, Decipher," Misha begged, "If you can stand today, I want to show you where I live." I groaned. Ever since Misha had discovered a small injury to my spine, he had been determined to make me walk. I slowly stood up from the bed as my legs wobbled. Misha helped support me to keep me upright, but pain soon overwhelmed my nerves and my knees buckled, which tipped me over. I feel back down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Come on, just take a few steps. I swear if you start walking you'll feel better." Misha said, taking my hand. "Why can't I just rest?" I complained. I was very excited to see where Misha lived, but I did not feel like my legs were going to allow it today. It must have been weeks since the incident that put me here had occurred. I lost track of time. My legs had been slowly improving, but I was exhausted. I had a late night chatting with Kato, who stopped by to check up on me last night. "If you can't walk it means there is extensive damage, but so far I think your nerves are just messed up a little. If you can get up and walk, you'll help your body heal." He said, massaging my sore legs. Even Misha's wide, hopeful eyes couldn't encourage me. I was tired and the pain made me irritable. "Just let me sleep!" I pleaded with him. I grabbed his hand to stop him from touching my sore, twitching legs. "Everything hurts. We've been trying this for hours!" "You've been here for days. I know you want to get out." Misha said, falling back into the chair beside my bed. He glanced up at the clock, "Shit. I have to go. I have other patients to see. You have two hours to nap. Then, I'm coming back and dragging your ass out of this bed." "Fine." I grumbled, laying down and closing my eyes. I woke to a less familiar voice right outside the door. "...training has been going well. It would be a good idea, and perhaps his memory will return." The voice said. "Hale, I don't know. He's unstable, and I just discovered a spinal injury." Misha replied. "I know. You two have grown close, but I trust you're giving me honest opinions, Misha. You're not trying to shelter him because he saved your life, right?" Hale said with a laugh. "I do not think you can trust him. Haven't you learned that these experiments of yours always end up blowing up in your face? Quite literally, in fact! Remember that drake beast that caused this entire issue?" Hale paused for a moment, "That's why you've been acting this way towards the dog, isn't it? You're feeling guilty about what happened to him." "No. That's not it." Misha said flatly. "I mean, that's a part of it, but honestly sir I just want to clean up my mess. I realize I made a mistake, I don't want to send another one of them out to Eldon!" My heart was racing as Misha shouted. Everything seemed so loud. I kept my eyes closed in case they were looking at me. I did not want them to know I was listening. "It's a week away. I'm sure he will be ready by then. The spinal injury is small, and surgery can be performed." Hale said. "Surgery...I don't know anything about his anatomy. He might not even have the same internal organs as we do!" "If I had to guess, Misha, I would say he is a cross between a werewolf morph and a human." Hale's voice seemed dark, "I thought this was determined when you examined his DNA, geneticist." I swallowed hard. Misha had examined my DNA? He must have seen some foreign strands in it...My heart began to race. "It's...still different." Misha sighed. "Being a geneticist doesn't always help with these things, either. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to wake Decipher up and try to examine his legs." "Fine. But he will accompany Kato and Sheila to Eldon." Hale said with a very authoritative tone. "Perhaps you could accompany them as well, since he's your pet." I heard the door open, and footsteps walking away. I slowly opened my eyes. "Your pet?" I asked groggily as I opened my eyes. "Don't listen to Hale." Misha sighed. I could tell the conversation was weighing heavily on his mind. "I heard a lot of that conversation." I confessed as I sat up slowly. Misha let out another groan. "You don't have to explain it to me, Misha. Not right now." I said, trying to look him in the eyes. "But someday, I do expect answers." "You deserve them, Decipher." Misha sighed again, digging through the cabinets on the other side of the room. "I have a confession to make, Decipher." I shuddered, afraid of whatever he was about to say. There were so many things he could have said to completely destroy me right now. I tried to avoid running through the options in my head, but I ended up blurting out, "I'm one of your failed experiments?" Misha looked up with a surprised expression, "What?" He said with a slight smile, "No! Not at all." He pulled up his chair and sat next to me. "What did Hale mean by that?" I asked softly. "You called me a mistake." "I said it to appease Hale. He does not like it when I connect with things that aren't human. I have gotten myself into trouble on a few occasions." Misha hung his head again. "...which is what I wanted to confess." Misha let out a heavy sigh. "My...experiments... See, I have a passion for genetics. Many people can shift into some sort of non-human shape, but I've never been able to. I've always felt a desire to be able to shift, but nothing works. I am immune to werewolf bites, slithurm venom, and all the other shifter toxins." I had to pick my brain to determine what a slithurm was. A snake shapeshifter, a creature that uses a human form as a disguise and bites victims to allow them to be able to turn into a snake, much like a werewolf, except certain personality traits were passed along with it... "So I've been working on developing a serum that rearranges the DNA of living beings. I have turned small, feral dragons into bipedal creatures that can speak human tongue, and even make emotional connections with us!" Misha continued, "...but I've still been unable to create a serum that will work on me. The drake that you encountered in the basement...the drake that Hale had killed, it was trying to protect me. Something went wrong in the lab, a small issue..." Misha's voice trailed off, I felt the hurt in his voice. "It was a gas leak. The drake thought I was in danger, but the gas only affected the drake's body, not mine. So it panicked, broke out of it's cage, and tore up the gas valves...and caused some explosions. It reacted by lighting it's own flames in attempt to protect me. My face was burned by one of the explosions. It was trying to protect me, it just did not understand how." I felt sick. The creature had been trying to protect Misha, and then I nearly killed myself trying to protect Misha. They had killed that creature. I could see why Hale saw a pattern occurring. I stayed silent. I had no idea how to react to this new information. Hopeful for a response, Misha stared at me with large eyes. "You told me that you did not experiment that way." I said, my eyes narrowed. Misha looked away, "I was telling you what I had been told to tell you." "You've lied again, Misha." I closed my eyes tightly, and felt as if I were trying to wake up from a nightmare. "I just don't know how to feel right now." "I get it." Misha said. "You're upset, I can tell. That's okay. I'm really sorry that I lied to you, Decipher. But I promise, I do care about you." He said, clutching my arm. I jerked my arm away and snarled. I felt afraid of him right now. He put his hands up and stepped away. "Decipher...Please!" Misha said, "I want to start being honest with you. Fuck all these rules. I told you I cared about you, didn't I? I told you there was something more to what I meant, right?" My ears flattened and my face fell into a worried, conflicted expression. "Get out of bed, please Decipher." Misha begged me. "If you don't, I'll have to drug you and have someone slice you open and do surgery. I don't trust them with you, Decipher." That was enough motivation for me. I nodded and jumped out of bed without thinking. My legs twitched in pain and involuntary movements caused by firing nerves, but I stood standing. I grit my teeth as my lips pulled into a snarl, slowly trying to stretch my legs.
I successfully stood for a few minutes, and was even able to move my legs. Misha watched carefully and gave me a few instructions. I was nearly unable to move in some of the ways he would have liked, but I think the nap had helped me. The idea of someone slicing me open was also terrifying enough to continue to stand. Misha approached my legs slowly, "I'm going to give you an injection that should help repair the nerves. It will feel strange but should instantly feel better." He said as he looked up at me cautiously. "Why didn't you give me this before?" I growled. "I had to be sure the damage wasn't too extensive, otherwise it would have healed incorrectly." He explained. He jabbed the needle into my leg; I winced in pain. He was right, the injection did make my legs feel better, but they shook violently. I worked hard to steady my muscles. While I was distracted, Misha quickly injected something into my spine. "You could have warned me first!" I snarled as I clutched my back, nearly tipping over. "Sorry. Just wanted to make it quick." Misha said. I took a few steps away from him. My legs were already feeling better, but were quite stiff. Misha followed my steps. I sighed, wishing I had done this earlier. Perhaps if I had, I wouldn't have overhead the conversation. At this point I was unsure if I preferred to remain ignorant or hear more truth come out of Misha's mouth. I turned to face Misha. "Are you sure you're done lying?" I asked. "I swear Decipher; I'll do my best to tell you everything you want to know." He said quickly. "There are some things I might not be able to explain, but I'll try. I don't want to lie to you; I never wanted to lie to you!" I felt like Misha and I had reversed roles. Suddenly he was begging for my attention, perhaps my affection, and I just wanted to run away. But I didn't. I thought he deserved more than that. As angry as I was, I also realized that I was lying to him as well. If he had problems with me being a different species...I squirmed at the idea of him finding out I was from another planet entirely. After a few moments of silence I met his eyes, "Okay, Misha. It's uncomfortable for me, but I still trust you." I said, "So what do we do now?" "A while back you asked if you could see where I lived. I wanted to show you." Misha said, stepping closer to me. "You can see my lab, too. I do most of my work in the basement. Are you ready to start walking around? If you walk enough today, your legs should repair themselves by tomorrow. Kato won't be training you for the next week because he preparing to go to Eldon." I nodded, "Right. I'm going too, aren't I?" I said. "And yes, I can walk." "Let's get going, then!" Misha said with a smile, "Yes, you're going to Eldon." I followed him out the door, realizing that we had been in the medical wing the entire time instead of in the basement, where I had assumed I was. We walked past the dining hall, which I had missed in the past few weeks I'd been trapped inside my small room. I stopped walking when I caught sight of Kato, who was in the middle of an argument with someone. When I approached them, I saw Sheila's amber hair and winced. Sheila snapped around and glared at me, at least I thought she was glaring at me. "Are you okay, Kato?" I asked as innocently as I could, hoping to avoid Sheila's wrath. I hadn't noticed Misha hesitated to walk with me, but I looked back to see him frozen in place. My legs were aching. I hoped nothing violent was about to happen. Kato looked up at me nervously, opening his mouth as if he were about to speak when Sheila suddenly took off in the direction of Misha. I turned and ran after her as she yelled, "There you are!" Colliding with Misha, they both fell to the ground with Sheila holding a knife to Misha's throat. I stopped a few feet from them, unsure of how to handle this. "You killed him." Sheila hissed at Misha, who was looking up at her with terrified eyes. Kato had run up next to me, "Sheila, get off of him." He snapped, "You can't kill Misha." "I don't see why not. He killed Wes." She said, pressing her dagger into his throat. Misha swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to, you know that. I took every precaution..." He said desperately. I looked across the room to see two guards running up to us. She made a shallow slice in his neck with her dagger and then returned it to a sheath on her side. "Next time it's going to go all the way through." She whispered through grit teeth, getting off of him as the guards approached. I felt helpless, snatching Misha up and covering his neck with my hand. He stood shakily and winced as blood covered his white coat. She and the guards began shouting at each other while Kato ushered us back towards the medical wing. I heard Sheila shout after me, "Dog. You're next on my list!" I shuddered as we walked away. Glancing back, I saw her struggling against two guards as they dragged her off. I sighed. "Was Wes killed in the accident?" I asked softly. Misha stayed quiet, he looked terrible. "Yes." Kato replied for him. I winced. If she blamed Misha's last experiment, it was no wonder I was first on her list. "Hale's been keeping her busy for the past few weeks in hopes that she would vent out all her rage," Misha sighed, his voice shaking, "but clearly that didn't work." "You probably shouldn't come with us to Eldon, Misha." Kato said as we entered one of the infirmary rooms. Kato pulled out a bandage as Misha sat down. I sat down next to him to rest my aching legs. "We'll see what happens." Misha sighed, "But if I don't go Decipher is still at risk." "I can protect him." Kato assured Misha as he wiped away the blood with a cloth. "I can protect myself." I added. "I've been doing well in training." I reminded Misha. "That doesn't make me less worried." Misha winced while Kato bandaged the wound. "But I know you can." He stood up, still shaking. I hesitated. I did not feel like going back out there. I was already afraid of Sheila, but Sheila wanting revenge was far more terrifying. I was a ticking bomb in her eyes, something that would soon explode and cause terrible things to happen. "What are you two doing for the rest of the day?" Kato asked, cleaning his hands off. "We were walking around to fix Decipher's legs up, and then just relaxing. Decipher probably misses his room, so we'll probably end up there later, why?" "When you're better, Decipher, you should consider training with me a few days before we leave, just to brush up on your skills." Kato said. "You're right." I said, "I also plan on training independently as much as possible before we leave." "What route are we taking to Eldon, Kato?" Misha asked. "Skyfall pass." Kato replied, rubbing his head, "It's a huge headache, I know, but we can't risk using any of the vehicles during this time. Hale is thinking horses might be the best option, since Sheila cannot use magic. Of course, there is always the option of Decipher and I travelling without her using magic. Unless one of us wants to link with her, but I doubt she'll go for that." "I vote we travel without Sheila." Misha said, looking down at me, "Has he used enough magic to transport himself yet?" "We haven't even attempted it, but I seriously doubt he'll have an issue. We only need to transport to the edge of the pass. Beyond that walking is the best option, anyway. But I'm not sure if magic links will work the same with him, if you were considering travelling with him." "What do I need to create a magic link?" I asked, trying to interpret all this information. "You need to be very trusting and emotionally connected to the person. I can't connect with Kato because our energies never really worked well together, though, even though we're best friends." I swear Kato rolled his eyes, but when he noticed me looking he nodded and said "Right. Something like that." "Liars." I said, standing and stretching my aching legs. "Well come on Misha, we can't hide here all day." I said with newfound courage. Maybe I just wanted to prove I was stronger than I felt like I was. "Hey this time it's actually a personal reason." Misha said, following me out the door, "See you later, Kato." Misha and I walked together in silence. My legs were aching but I managed them better than I thought I would. "Kato and I have a personal history together." Misha confessed after a few moments, "Something happened that left a bit of...conflicting energy between us." "Are you referring to love? That different kind of love that you mentioned before? Sometimes he looks at you like he adores you, or used to adore you." I raised my eyebrow, smiling. I was mostly teasing. We hadn't run into Sheila yet, so my mood had improved a bit. "Yeah. That kind of love." He sighed. The rest of the walk was silent. We walked through the hallways and finally arrived at a door labeled G16. Misha held a keycard up to the block on the wall, which unlocked the door. "Most employees that don't work in the field, like the doctors and scientists, stay in these areas. We like being shut in, I guess." Misha said as we entered the room. It was dark inside; he flipped a switch that ignited a fireplace in the corner of the room. I studied the fire, it seemed unnatural somehow. The warm firelight illuminated the room. It contained a bed, a desk off to the side, and a bathroom. The desk was littered with drawings of internal organs and other papers full of complicated text. I was instantly curious as to what they said. There were no windows, but the room felt cozy in the firelight. "Not quite what you enjoy, I'm sure." Misha laughed a bit, "but I enjoy the quiet, secluded area. I'm also not here that often, so it doesn't really matter. If I ever want sunlight I just head up to one of the public lounges." "No windows, though..." I mused, looking at the dark walls. Misha flipped another switch, which caused part of the wall to slide upwards, revealing a window. Outside of the window was a view of the main entrance. "It's not the best, but I can get some natural lighting this way. Plus, it's a mirror on the other side, so no one ever sees inside of here. Very private." I watched the people wander around the main entrance, "Strange." I said while Misha slipped off his blood-splattered coat. I turned to face him as he took his baggy clothing off. I don't think I had ever seen his figure before. He removed his shirt, too, sighing as he stared at the blood that had soaked through. "Damn Sheila." He said while he dug around in his cupboard for another shirt. His body was so lean; I hadn't expected that. I felt the urge to wrap my arms around him, to protect him. Suddenly he seemed so vulnerable. I watched the muscles in his back flex as he bent over, searching for a shirt. When he found one, he stood up and faced me with a surprised expression. My ears fell back as I was caught staring at him. "I'm sorry." I said, "I just have never seen you like this before." I looked away. "Don't be sorry." Misha smiled, "Stare all you want. I'll take it as a compliment." He tossed his shirt to the side and sat down on the bed. "Besides, I stare at you all the time." I was embarrassed, but I guess what he said meant it was okay. I sat down next to him and continued to look over his lean, muscled body. He reached his hand over to touch my arm, which was easily three times as thick as his. He ran his hands across my biceps, and down to my hand. He brought my hand up to his shoulder, inviting me to touch him. "How are the legs feeling?" He asked. I accepted his invitation and returned his touch, running my own hand over his arms, and down his back. "Better." I said softly, distracted with the lines of his body. I think he asked something else, but I was entranced as I ran my hands across his body. The physical touch was so foreign to me. I felt ripples of his energy pulsing into my body as I touched him. Pulling my hand away, I focused hard to try and stop that from happening. I did not want to accidentally copy some of his DNA and have him notice something strange. When I hesitated, Misha leaned forward and gently pulled my own t-shirt up over my body. He slowly pushed me backwards onto the bed, hovering over me with his small figure. My head fell back into the pillows. My body felt so limp as he moved his hands across my torso. I exhaled deeply, heart racing. I almost wanted to stop him. Part of me was still struggling with what he had told me earlier, but as he continued to touch me all of my worries vanished. I whined softly. I was somewhat terrified of what was happening. Misha flipped the switch again so that the window closed, leaving us in the dim, warmly lit room. "Shh." Misha whispered, his fingers tracing across my forehead. His touch was so comforting and warm. I slowly began to relax. Misha brought his lips up to my face and kissed me. I was unsure of how I could return the gesture with my canine mouth, so I just sat there staring at him awkwardly. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice. Misha moved his arms down my sides until he hit the ridge of the shorts I was wearing. His hands tugged at them, pulling them down slightly. I wasn't wearing undergarments. I hadn't had a chance to change out of my casual clothes that Misha had given me in the infirmary. Misha pulled my shorts down and revealed my sheath. He stood up for a moment and quickly slipped his own pants down, but he was wearing black boxers. I saw a bulge in his boxers as he moved back down over me. I carefully watched what he was doing, feeling nervous and short of breath. My tip had started to poke out of my sheath, which added to my embarrassment. "Misha...what are.." "Trust me." He cut me off, placing his hand on my mouth, "I'm going to show you how much I care about you." He said, sliding his hand down to my sheath. "If you want me to stop, just say so. But give this a chance for a second. I think you'll really like it." His smile was so genuine and warm, and mixed with my nervous, shaky state, I couldn't move. Misha's hand stroked up and down on my fuzzy sheath, causing it to swell. The red tip burst out completely from it very soon, and Misha continued to stroke at it gently. He traced the veins that were sticking out of the side of it, and played with the round, swelling orb at the base. The wide, red shaft was so large next to his delicate hands, and he used both of them to rub it all over. I began to pant heavily. I felt so conflicted. This felt good yet horrible at the same time. I was so confused. Misha leaned his chest into mine as he stroked me, his hands exploring that area very thoroughly. I closed my eyes and gasped with pleasure as his body rubbed against mine. Slowly my nervousness melted away with a deep pleasure that moved through my entire body. I felt sensitive all over. At some point, Misha removed his clothes entirely and pressed his own member against mine, his soft, rounded head stroking against my pointed, red tip. He softly moaned in pleasure next to me as I wrapped my arms around him. After a few minutes, he moved back down to my groin, rubbing his face against it. He licked it quickly, and then took half of my penis into his mouth. It was so wide that he was barely able to fit it into his mouth. My hips jerked at his touch, my body instinctively thrusting as I growled in pleasure, "Ahh, Misha! What..." I said with closed eyes, thrusting myself deeper into his throat. I was completely engulfed in the feeling as he played with me inside his mouth. The feeling was overwhelming, almost uncomfortable. My muscles began to tighten and constrict in odd ways. Soon, I felt a liquid shoot out of my tip and my entire body locked in pleasure. I think I let out a few involuntary moans as my body quivered with pleasure. Misha was stroking himself by this point, and soon his body had a similar reaction. He swallowed hard as the last of my length slipped out of his mouth, gasping for air as his body shivered against me. I grabbed the back of his head, unable to do much else. He moved up towards my face and I helped drag him up, clutching his small body in my arms and holding him tightly. Misha's face had a huge smile on it as he wiped his mouth off, panting, "I...I told you you'd like it." "I...yeah." I replied with a laugh, barely able to speak. I held on to his body. I felt amazing. "Fuck the rules, Decipher." Misha whispered as he buried his face into my shoulder. "I love you."