A Close Thing | By : Mizor4 Category: +M through R > Pokemon Views: 5500 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
A thick fog hung low across the ground. Simi woke shivering and damp in the early morning haze, slumped against the porch's wooden railing. She didn't remember falling asleep outside, but she felt it now, her back protesting and her but angrily numb.
She called out "Zoroark!" without thinking, still half asleep, then waited for a time in silence, made all the more oppressive by the heavy air. Hunger complained loudly in her stomach, trying to motivate her stiff limbs to action. A tightness behind her temples urged her to keep still. She couldn't, not forever, and peering into the swirling mists wouldn't make Zoroark appear.
Standing took more effort than seemed worth it, but Simi forced herself to retreat inside, which didn't feel any warmer. The coals in the hearth had grown cold, left unattended overnight. Any child could start a fire, but rage shook her clenched fists. Angry hot tears warmed her stony cheeks. For a moment she imagined sweeping the jars of herbs from their nearby shelves, how they'd shatter, using the metal fire poker to crush the remaining shards to dust. Only the most tenuous whisper of restraint held her back from a useless, destructive fury.
When she managed to control her anger, or rather wait for exhaustion to smother it, Simi went to her room and dropped into bed. The faintest hint of blood's metallic tang clung to her sheets. She imagined Zoroark's scent, like warm fur, so subtle she couldn't really describe it, a bit earthy and pleasant. Soft, and comforting and raw and gentle and strong and exhilarating and- Simi hugged her pillow, only allowing herself to admit she loved him now that he was gone.
Simi drifted in and out of uneasy sleep until she could no longer ignore the grinding pain in her gut. She relented, spilling out of bed to make food, but only after peering out the front door to check if Zoroark returned. He hadn't.
It took longer than it should have for her half-numb fingers to spark kindling into a small flame, building it up to a crackling blaze to help drive away the chill. Simi had no real desire to eat, but she dropped a rasher of bacon into the small pot, letting it crisp before adding a simple mixture of oats and water. Maybe the scent of greasy, sizzlingmeat would entice Zoroark back. Once again she glanced outside while waiting for the water to boil.
She ate mechanically, unthinkingly, except to work herself up in hope. Simi put her empty bowl down and didn't rush to the door, and when she peered out, Zoroark didn't wait for her. She closed the door and returned to bed, slumping onto her back and staring at the wood ceiling. Mother should be home in a few days. She'd probably tell Simi to learn something from this. Those who saved lives didn't have the luxury of making the same mistake twice.
The day dragged on. Occasionally Simi poked her head outside to call for Zoroark, then returned to bed. She didn't want to be alone after knowing what it felt like to have someone next to her, arms around her. No matter how long she spent with her eyes closed, she couldn't fall asleep. Never had she done so little and felt so exhausted.
Boredom and melancholy mixed to form an emotional concrete that locked her thoughts in a useless gray lump. The feeling persisted when Simi woke the next day. A brief spark wavered in her chest in the first few moments of consciousness, as if the time spent sleeping increased the chances of finding Zoroark outside. She stood barefoot on the smooth porch steps, not having bothered to put anything on over her shift.
Sunlight warmed her pale skin, little left of the sunburn from a few days ago. Simi almost didn't bother, but without Zoroark as a precaution, her ingrained sense of modestly dragged her back inside to pull a dark green dress over her head.
She returned outside, though the hopeful wisp of waking energy guttered. Grass poked between her toes, the ground beneath cool despite the sunlight. Simi sat where she took Zoroark their first day outside together, where he made a lake for her. Only the distant familiar treeline remained now, the same as it had been since her childhood.
Even the sun in all its glorious warmth felt pitiful when compared to the comforting weight of Zoroark's body against hers. She lay back in the grass and sighed, the sun a reddish neon blur behind closed eyelids.
Simi didn't hear anything, didn't notice Zoroark until she sat up a time later. He lay next to her on his belly, chin nestled into the grass, paws placed beside his angular face as if prostrating himself, burgundy mane spread across his back. Only his metallic blue eyes moved, following Simi.
She blinked, her tiny voice lost in the gentle breeze. "Zoroark?" At first she didn't trust her eyes, not daring to believe him more than a hallucination. His velvety short haired snout felt solid and real beneath her trembling fingers. All this time pining for him and she never considered what to say if he did come back.
Tears didn't have time to slip from her eyes before Simi all but fell atop his head. She buried her face into his thick red mane and cradled his head, her body curling about him possessively. Zoroark remained still and silent. Bile crept from her stomach.
Simi sat up suddenly, ignoring her tears. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Zoroark looked away. "I'm broken." He sounded so hopeless, the words stabbing between her ribs like a knife. "You knew." The knife twisted.
Simi almost threw up. "I-" She blinked uselessly. "I thought maybe at first, but then you healed so quickly and you seemed to be getting better, your wounds closed, and I thought maybe it would all be okay and I'm sorry, Zoroark. I'm so sorry." She took a long, ragged breath. Zoroark still wouldn’t look at her.
"Please," Simi begged. "I promise everything will be okay. You'll be okay. You might-" but she trailed off. He'd never run like he once did, and she doubted anything less than a full recovery would bring him any comfort. "Tell me how to help."
Zoroark didn't answer, his brilliant blue eyes haunted and half closed. Simi lay on her back and wriggled towards him, lifting his heavy chin and pulling him onto her shoulder, head to head, cheek to fuzzy cheek.
"I missed you." Simi stroked Zoroark's angular snout, enjoying the way his nose twitched when her fingers brushed just above his nostrils, his long slow breaths warm on her breast. His head tilted against hers.
They lay for a time, Simi closing her eyes against the sun, now almost directly overhead. The grass beneath her back felt softer, probably thanks to the damp weather yesterday, but Simi decided to attribute it to Zoroark's return. Sweet earthy scents of growing plants perfumed the air.
When her hand slowed, coming to a rest at the transition from gray fur to red mane on his forehead, Zoroark pulled away and sat up. Simi quickly followed, readying herself to pounce if he vanished, but he simply pulled his knees up, placing his arms atop them to prop up his chin in a dejected hunch.
"I can't hunt." Zoroark sounded pained to acknowledge it aloud.
Simi relaxed, somewhat. "We have plenty of food here. And I'm old enough to work on my own if things are tight. Which they aren't." She added the last bit quickly, but she had been thinking about it in the hours spent sulking. Her mother might not be as eager to house a pokemon, certainly not if she ever found out how Simi felt about him.
Zoroark growled. "Why? I offer you nothing."
Because I love you, Simi thought. Did she dare make the admission aloud? Would Zoroark even understand the concept, ever love her back? The uncertainty kept her tongue still, leaving her negative thoughts to slowly eat through her stomach lining.
Simi's voice wavered in a poor attempt at nonchalance. "I know it's probably not what you would choose, but it wouldn't be so bad to stay here, would it? With me?" She tried hard not to stare too obviously while trying to judge his reaction, holding her breath, straining for any twitch of his angular inhuman features.
Zoroark glared at his feet, his voice a low grating sound. "And do what? Wait for you to realize I'm a burden? For winter?" His shoulders slumped. "To freeze."
Her green dress didn't lend itself to ease of movement, especially while sitting. She pulled the hem up past her knees and awkwardly shuffled between Zoroark legs. He didn't look up but caught her easily as she half bowed half fell into his chest, wrapping her arms around him.
"You'll never be a burden to me." Simi tried to carry him onto his back with her momentum, but he didn't budge, which only slightly ruined the intended gesture. "I didn't save you so you could die. I'll always be here for you." Then, sheepishly, she added, "Could you lay back?"
Zoroark growled something inaudible but did as she asked. Simi squeaked when they hit the ground, and she quickly wriggled into his thick black chest fur. One set of Zoroark's claws rest atop her back, teasing her shoulder blade, but his head flopped to the side, looking away.
"I'm useless."
"Don't say that," Simi whispered, not bothering to pull her face from his fur. "You'll figure something out. We will. You have no idea how incredible pokemon like you are. Injured or not." Simi bit her lip, trying to think of something to distract him with and coming up with few options. "I know at least one girl who's very interested in you." She gently rolled her hips, nestled between his legs, in what she hoped was an alluring gesture.
Zoroark shifted to eye her. "I don't think I can give you pups."
She blushed, knowing she should have expected a blunt response. "N-No, but I've heard that – that boys usually enjoy the other part, at least humans do."
Zoroark's chest vibrated softly beneath her, more like a purr than a growl. His metallic blue eye lingered on Simi's face, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Her voice shook, the words far more forward than she was really comfortable with, but for him- "Maybe there's something I could do to make you feel better?"
Zoroark let his gaze drift back out towards the distant treeline. "Food."
That also probably should have been her first thought. Despite the slight pang of embarrassed rejection, Simi laughed, somewhat relieved. "Then let's get something to eat." If he hadn't found any food on his own, it had been the better part of two days since his last meal. She didn't ask.
Zoroark took her offered hand to help pull him up but obstinately refused to lean on her shoulder. It seemed he managed to figure out how to get around on his own, even if his awkward gait seemed more hop and fall than walking. Simi might have chuckled at the display had she not been painfully aware of the disgusted look on his face, fangs bared in a mix of determination, effort, and vicious resentment. He made it up the porch steps and into the house completely on his own.
Her mother might not be terribly impressed by the amount of meat Simi went through in the last few days, but she'd make up for it somehow. Not that it had been exorbitant either, and watching Zoroark eat with the ferocity of a true carnivore made it worthwhile. He hovered behind her as she cooked, poking his snout into anything edible she left alone for more than a few seconds, but gracefully slid out of her way when she moved about.
The onion gravy she attempted didn't quite turn out as thick as intended, but its savory scent filled the small house. Simi gave Zoroark the larger portion, and would have brought it over to the table, but he snatched the bowl from her hands and sat down right there in the kitchen, back to the wall, and dug in. She laughed, took her own bowl, and sat beside him on the floor next to the hearth, smokey and warm.
Simi spent more time watching Zoroark than eating herself. His long claws speared meat, holding it up just long enough for his fangs to tear apart and swallow mostly whole. The blood red claws on his right foot lay just inches from her small human feet.
Zoraork finished quickly, gazing longingly into his empty bowl which no longer contained so much as a smear of gravy.
Simi offered the remainder of her food. "Here. It's yours." His claws twitched towards the bowl, but he hesitated, letting out a low bitter growl, almost too quiet to hear.
"I'm not hungry," she insisted. "Eat." Simi pressed the bowl into his paws, and he took it reluctantly at first, but after one more guilty look towards her, he obeyed, and soon Simi had two licked-clean bowls. They wouldn't take long to wash.
Simi returned to Zoroark's side. "Feel any better?" she asked.
Zoroark nodded, not quite meeting her eyes. "Thank you."
Simi glowed from his simple gratitude. She knelt beside him, cupping his cheek in her hand. "My mother and I help people. That's our job. There's no shame in getting hurt."
Zoroark said nothing, but he leaned into her touch, closing his eyes. Simi scratched his jawline just below the ear. He nearly pulled her off balance, and Simi paused to take a seat and sidle up next to him.
Zoroark also shifted, lowering himself to curl up against her leg and rest his chin atop her thigh. One of his paws held her just above the knee so she couldn't pull away, not that she would have. He looked so adorable, his warmth penetrated far deeper than that of the crackling hearth.
Simi stroked his head. "What's it like living out in the wild?"
Zoroark peered up at her, but let his eyes drift closed before answering. "Every day I proved I am better than the dead. I fought and won."
Simi shivered. "And you enjoy that?"
He growled, a savage bass rumble. "Yes." His claws twitched, digging into the soft flesh of her thigh for the briefest moment, then relaxed.
Simi twirled one of the dark gray accents jutting from Zoroark's mane about her finger then smoothed his head before doing it again. "The bed is more comfortable if you're tired."
Zoroark nodded but didn't lift his head from her leg. They remained on the floor for a while. Like this he seemed so gentle, but she couldn't get his answer from her thoughts. What would it look like to see a creature like him fight? She only had to look at the long claws curled tenderly around her leg to imagine.
Eventually Simi's back started to ache, and despite not wanting to disturb her resting warrior, she scratched his chin insistently until he looked up at her. "C'mon, it will only get harder to move if you fall asleep here."
Zoroark grumbled but rose and hobbled after her toward the bedroom. A warm red glow lit the sky outside, later into the evening than Simi realized. She'd done little besides sleep, yet she felt as exhausted as Zoroark looked.
Before Zoroark could enter the room, Simi stopped, blocking him from moving to the bed. He held to the door frame to steady himself. A blush colored her cheeks, but she bent down and slowly lift them hem of her dress up and over her head, wiggling her hips a bit unnecessarily. She placed the dress neatly atop her dresser, then removed her shift a little more awkwardly, not looking back towards Zoroark. She felt his gaze exploring her like a physical touch regardless.
Even when alone she didn't sleep completely naked, but she crawled into bed and lay down, daring a glance towards Zoroark who still stood in the doorway. His eyes roamed unashamed from her breasts to hips, curious, though she at least imagined hunger in those frosty blue eyes.
Zoroark approached, limping, and Simi bit her lip when he reached the edge of her bed, towering above her, claws and fangs and impending violence never more plain. His wide paw sank into the mattress just shy of her ribs, then he descended upon her. She didn't leave him enough room not to, and Zoroark settled atop the right half of her chest, his pleasant weight softened by silky fur.
Their bodies wriggled against each other, shifting into a comfortable position, Simi pulling one of Zoroark's powerful thighs between her legs, Zoroark snaking his long muzzle into the crook of her neck, sniffing ticklishly at her skin. Once more she could only see him as her gentle puppy, his large claws holding her shoulder fondly, gently pulling them closer together.
Zoroark licked slowly at her neck, causing Simi's breath to grow ragged, her fingers finding the slightly too-prominent ridge of his ribs. Before she could work up the courage to say anything, Zoroark drifted off to sleep, his head limp atop her shoulder where he faltered mid lick. She smiled.
"Sleep well," Simi whispered and placed a delicate kiss on the side of Zoroark's muzzle before joining him in easy sleep, warmed by the protective weight of his embrace.
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