Eyes widening, Felix suddenly turned his attention over Nikki's shoulder. Swallowing, Nikki slowly twisted his neck around.
There, just a few feet behind him, Dulvelan stood with one of Tyan's wings trapped in his grasp. The little imp clutched Dulvelan's fist, trying to pry himself free, but the wide grin on Dulvelan's lips and his eyes locked on Nikki told everyone who his focus belonged to. With a chuckle, Dulvelan tossed Tyan into Felix's arms.
"Tell ya what. I'm feeling generous today. Take that trash and yourself, go jump in a landfill, and never come back," Dulvelan said with a wide grin.
But Nikki shot up - not that his short stature came up much past Dulvelan’s chest. Wrapped in a blanket, he didn't look very intimidating, but Nikki squared his shoulders and took a breath.
"No," he ground out, baring his teeth. "I'm not getting isolated. I'll be with you, fine, but I am not giving up my best friend or my career or degree or anything just to suit you. You want me as a mate? Then you're gonna fucking deal with me. I'm not some pretty face you can lock away in your secret creepy little cabin in the woods that looks like it'd be better off in a fucking horror movie. I'm going back to civilization. You can come with us."
With his finger in Dulvelan's stunned face, Nikki's size didn't matter. Only the strength of his will and his steel-toned voice.
"But I'm putting some fucking rules in place. Violence is out. Nixed. I don't fucking care if you want to call some piece of shit a steaming pile of dung and they throw a punch. You can clearly take it. Do. Not. Fight." Nikki readjusted his blanket and tugged it tighter around his shoulders before he held up a second finger. "Get a job. Something that will pay and is legal. You clearly know what's legal and what's not, so I'm not going to have a lazy freeloader as a mate. You want me? You provide and help pay for shit.” A third finger came up. “Sexism isn't sexy and if you make derogatory comments, I will not let you touch me. Ever. Again."
"What about in the bedroom?" Dulvelan asked, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Nikki's blush darkened and his fingers fell, disappearing under the blanket. "I… haven't decided yet. More rules to follow as I think of them."
"You're really going to let him come with?" Felix asked from behind. With a quick glance over his shoulder, Nikki saw Tyan had increased his size and supported Felix's weight as he helped the caracal stand.
"What choice is there? I'm not staying here away from everyone I know… and you know what happens if an omega is separated from their alpha for too long."
"Then… it's true? You really… are mates?"
Swallowing, Nikki tugged the blanket from his neck and glanced away, not wanting to see Felix's reaction. "It's true."
"Shit… that's… that's great, right? You, uh… found someone you wanted to mate with and here I am assuming he forced you…" Felix managed to get out.
Flushing darker still, Nikki yanked the blanket back up, pulling it over his head. He didn't correct Felix and glared at Dulvelan, warning him not to say anything.
"Fine, I'll agree to your little rules," Dulvelan finally said with a smirk and a shrug. "Just know, you'll have to meet dear ol' pops at some point… and if that thing hangs around, it'll be sooner than later. Fuckers like that report to one of Dad's top people, and they don't particularly like me."
"Gee, I wonder why," Tyan muttered.
Dulvelan shrugged, that smirk on his lips only getting bigger. "Who knows? They're all power-hungry vultures anyway… once the big man’s out to play, their fingers dig into everything…"
“Whatever the hell that means,” Nikki muttered. He shuddered then, the adrenaline draining away. “Augh, fuck… I need pants. You need pants. And I bet yours are too big for me.”
Dulvelan shrugged, clearly not caring that he stood in front of Nikki’s best friend completely nude.
“Yeah, well, yer tiny, what do you expect?” Dulvelan said with a grin.
“Go put some pants on!” Nikki shook his head and turned away from Dulvelan - now that fireballs or claws or talons weren’t going after anyone. He helped Tyan get Felix to a chair at the table, then took a look at his best friend’s wrist.
“Fuck…” Felix hissed out, even with Nikki’s gentle handling.
“Shit, man… you’re gonna need surgery to fix that…” Nikki said. He glanced about the room, looking for something to use as a sling.
Tyan, however, gently nudged Nikki out of the way. “I got this.”
Though Nikki frowned, he did move, sitting beside Felix instead. Tyan knelt between Felix’s legs and gently took the feline’s arm. White eyes met Felix’s, and the imp smiled.
“Might hurt… knitting your bones back together…” Tyan murmured, greenish light starting to come from his fingers as he began to caress Felix’s hand and wrist.
“Just… nngh… just do it…” Felix managed to get out between clenched teeth.
As Tyan ran his fingers over Felix’s bruised and mottled skin, Felix hissed in pain. Nikki held him still, just in case the big feline drew back. But Felix held still, suppressing his trembling, breathing heavily through his nose. After several moments, the bright green light dimmed and winked out. Tyan sat back on his heels and met Felix’s eyes again.
“It’ll be really sore for a bit, so don’t do anything strenuous or stupid,” Tyan cautioned. Then, the imp surged up and wrapped his arms around Felix’s neck, burying his face just under Felix’s jawline. “I can’t believe you actually tried to fight him head on…”
Nikki drew back, blinking at the sight, as Felix let out a little chuckle and wrapped an arm around Tyan’s back. The imp’s wings fluttered slightly but settled, his tail swishing behind him in pleasure.
“I told you… I had to try,” Felix replied, his voice quiet.
“Uhm, not to interrupt, but uh… how do you guys know each other?” Nikki asked, staring at the scene.
“Uhm… well…” Tyan’s red skin flushed a bright pink, the blush even going to his shoulders.
“They boinked in the woods,” Dulvelan said with a yawn as he sauntered back down from the loft area. Now, at least, he wore his jeans. He even had Nikki’s shirt, flannel, boots, and socks in his hands. And an extra pair of pants, which Nikki could guarantee would not fit him.
“You uh… did what now?” Nikki focused his eyes back on Felix who sat there, with a flushed Tyan straddling his lap, smiling like a damn fool.
“Yeah… see… apparently I’m magical? And Tyan awakened it…” Felix said, pointedly looking at anything but Nikki.
“Like I said, they boinked in the woods. Now he’s got an imp attached to him,” Dulvelan oh-so-helpfully supplied, holding out Nikki’s clothes. “Here, try the pants. We can make the imp resize them once they’re on you.”
“I’m … still on the boinking part,” Nikki muttered, taking the clothes and leaving them in his lap.
“Best way to awaken a late bloomer,” Dulvelan grinned, his tails swishing behind him in amusement. “So what’s the plan, anyway, kitten? Ya just gonna make us waltz into yer camp and be all ‘yo this is my new mate I found him in the woods, ain’t he cute?’ Cuz I’m all for it, I wanna see the look on those mortal faces.”
Nikki flushed and dropped the blanket from his shoulders, long enough to pull his tank top over his head. Biting his lip, he turned away from Felix and Tyan, holding up the large pair of Dulvelan’s jeans.
“I don’t know… maybe you can follow after we get back to the city?” Nikki suggested. With a slight huff, he tugged on the pants, doing his best not to expose himself in the process. He only had to stand to pull the waistband over his ass.
With a frown, he held the waistband well away from his hips and leveled a glare at Dulvelan. “Why are your pants so big? They barely even fit you.”
Dulvelan shrugged with a grin. “I like baggy shit.”
Grumbling, Nikki turned to Tyan. “So… can you make these smaller or was this asshole pulling my leg?”
Tyan slowly drew back from leaning on Felix, looking the feline over. His fin-like ears twitched, but he nodded. “Yeah… I can do it. It’s the same magic that lets me get small and big and all that… I gotta touch the pants, though.”
With a shrug, Nikki stepped closer to Tyan and the imp laid a hand on the pant leg. A bit of a glow came from his hand and then the pants shrunk - until they fit snugly around Nikki’s hips.
“Great - thank you - not that I’m a fan of the ripped-up look, but it’ll do till I can get to my own clothes,” Nikki said. Tyan nodded and buried his face once more into Felix’s neck, to which the larger feline let out a little sigh.
“Tyan, you’re not going to be able to stay like that all the time,” Felix said, leaning back against the table so he was a bit more comfortable.
“I know,” came the muffled words, “just let me for a bit. Please.”
“He’s drunk on ya,” Dulvelan said, crossing his arms as he watched Nikki shove on his socks and boots. “He probably didn’t even realize how much magic ya got when he offered to open yer channels, but this can happen to an unprepared, meddling bitch.”
Nikki smacked Dulvelan’s arm and glared up at the horned man. “Stop it with those kinds of words.”
“What kinda words?”
Nikki crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed.
Dulvelan shrugged and finally said, “Fine, fine, but I reserve the right to call ya my bitch in private.”
A dark red blush bloomed across Nikki’s cheeks and he turned away, grabbing his flannel. “...We’ll see.” Then Nikki glanced at Felix and Tyan. “You didn’t happen to find my backpack while you were looking for me?”
“Yeah, I found it. We left it by the entrance, so we could grab it on our way out without it getting damaged,” Felix said, his fingers making circles on Tyan’s back. “And I made sure your water bottle was in there, too.”
Nikki relaxed slightly and nodded. “Great… thank you, Felix. And… I’m sorry for yelling at you yesterday. I… I wanted to tell you that when I saw you back at camp… but well then things happened.” Like getting jumped by Dulvelan. And molested. And kidnapped. And-
Shaking his head, Nikki glanced towards the shattered door of the cabin. “Speaking of camp… we should get back.”
“Yeah, Prof was gonna send a search party this morning to look for you,” Felix said, then let his head drop back onto the table. “Fuck, though, man, I’m tired. I’ve been up all night learning how to control my damned magic…”
“Uhm… then we should definitely get back so you can sleep…” Nikki rubbed at his arm, trying not to feel too bad about the whole thing. After all, it was Dulvelan’s fault - right?
Felix lifted his head and raised an eyebrow, staring past Nikki to Dulvelan. “So what do we tell the prof? You got found by a mysterious stranger and he’s now your mate, surprise?”
Dulvelan let out a bark of a laugh, then he started moving around the space, picking up belongings and shoving them into a rucksack.
“I mean, that might be what we have to tell him… maybe let him know that I uh… tripped and fell or something and Dulvelan found me, patched me up at his place, and things escalated?” Nikki suggested. “And that’s why I’m not wearing the pants I was before?”
“How are you going to explain how you’re fine now?” Felix asked, glancing at the Dulvelan. “Or his horns.”
“Uhm… he’s magic,” Nikki said with a small shrug.
“Prof’s a scientist, Nikki,” Felix countered, letting out a little chuckle. “Hell, I didn’t think magic was real till I did it myself.”
“Right… uhm… I don’t know. We’ll just say I met him in the woods when I was trying to find my way back, he offered me a place to sleep, and shit happened,” Nikki muttered, his shoulders slumping. “I’m not good at this…”
With a tap from Felix, Tyan finally slipped off of Felix’s lap, shrinking himself down to a foot in height. The feline stood and stretched his back a little, before the imp settled onto Felix’s shoulder.
“How do we explain your little shoulder imp?” Nikki asked.
“I’m just gonna tell the prof that I’m a sorcerer and he’s my imp familiar,” Felix said with a wide grin.
Dulvelan suddenly swung an arm around Nikki’s shoulder, tugging the feline close against his chest. “Ya know, I think we’ll get along great. I like the way he thinks.”
“Oh great,” Nikki said with a sigh. “Well, let’s just… get back to camp…”
“After you, kitten.”
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