Disclaimer: I do not own Mana Khemia or any of it's characters.
"Vayne, truth or dare?" Flay asked. They had started a game of truth or dare after Nikki began complaining that she was so bored, since they had so much free time due to the vacation.
"Truth." The silverette answered.
His friend scowled, hoping to give him a good dare. "How good of a fighter are you without Sulphur?"
Vayne rubbed the back of his head. "Um... I really don't know, i've never fought without him." He laughed. "I think i'd probably suck though." Flay nodded observantly.
The boy glanced around at all of his friends, his eyes resting on Anna. "Anna, truth or-"
"Dare." The girl replied.
"Alright then. I dare you to not practice with your sword for the next week; you have to focus on alchemy."
"What!?" Anna yelled. "Vayne, that's absolute torture!"
"I'm sorry, but i'm not very good at dares." He apologized.
Anna sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. I've been meaning to get more into my studies in alchemy; this is as good a time as any to start." She stood and placed her sword in the corner of the room before reclaiming her spot in the small circle.
Vayne was faintly aware of the game continuing, though he didn't pay much attention to what the others were saying. Instead he dozed off, absentmindedly stroking Sulphur. He was exhausted; the last few weeks had been hard on him, as he had being pressured to do most of the work out of everyone else. (Meaning Flay made him do all the work.)
"Vayne? Vayne!" Nikki waved her hand in front of the boy's face, bringing him back to reality.
"Huh? What?" He stuttered, trying to remember what she wanted from him.
"Truth or dare?" She asked for the third time.
"Oh, uh t-" Nikki glared at him evilly, scaring him into changing his answer. Flay made a mental note. "Dare?"
The blond beast woman smiled enthusiastically. "I dare you to wear one of Sulphur's collars for the rest of the vacation. And you're not allowed to take it off for any reason."
Vayne looked at her oddly. "What? Why? They don't even fit." He reasoned.
"Yeah they do." Nikki pulled out a cat collar from behind her back. It was a purple collar that resembled the one Sulphur was wearing, but had a single ruby gem embedded in the front. "I still have one of the one's you made for him."
"Hey" The silverette questioned. "Where did you-"
"It doesn't matter! Put it on!" She demanded. Vayne looked around the room hopelessly at all his friends, pleading them with his eyes to help him. No one moved to his aid, so he sighed, took the collar from the blond and clipped it around his neck.
"Happy?" He sighed. The girl nodded with a little too much excitement.
Jess commented, "It suits you, Vayne."
"You think so?"
"I can't believe you actually put it on." Roxas said and Sulphur meowed at the same time.
"Really you guys?" The silver-haired boy whined.
"What?" Anna questioned.
"Never mind."
Jess glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh, it's getting late, we should go to bed." She dusted off her skirt and left for her room.
"Yeah, I need to get some sleep." Anna agreed.
The rest of the gang said their goodbyes and departed for their respective dorms. Vayne fell onto his bed and sighed. Sulphur jumped up next to his head and drifted off to sleep, his master following in his footsteps.
Sulphur meowed for the millionth time in Vayne's face. The boy opened his eyes wearily. "What?" He groaned.
"Wake up, you're going to be late to class." His mana said with a slightly amused tone that Vayne didn't quite understand.
The silverette got up and dressed for classes, Sulphur laughing at random intervals the whole time. "What's so funny!?" The flustered boy snapped at his cat.
"Oh, nothing." Sulphur chuckled sarcastically.
"If you say so..." The boy replied, completely missing the sarcasm.
Vayne walked to his workshop, receiving weird looks from everyone he passed in the hallway. Like normal, he was the first one of his friends to arrive, and cleaned up the workshop to pass the time.
"Hey Vay-"
Said boy turned around, seeing Jessica standing in the doorway to their workshop, a shocked and confused expression overtaking her features. "What?" He asked, squirming uncomfortably under her searching gaze. Sulphur couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter.
"What happened to you?" Jess asked, looking over every inch of her friend.
"What do you mean?" Sulphur began rolling on the floor, mewling an uproar of amused laughter that only freaked Vayne out more.
"Well, I mean you didn't notice this morning? And Sulphur didn't tell you?" She glanced down at the hysterical cat, who still was rolling before returning her gaze to Vayne.
"Apparently he didn't. What's wrong?"
Jess was about to answer, when Roxas walked in, carrying several books in his arms. He saw his silver-haired comrade, stopped dead in his tracks and dropped his books from shock.
"What the...?"
"Okay you guys are really freaking me out! What's wrong!?" Vayne tugged on his hair in frustration. When he did he felt a searing pain at the roots of the hairs, causing him to let go and flinch. "Ow..." He whined.
The boy rubbed the side of his head, feeling something warm and fuzzy. He tugged on it experimentally, receiving another piercing pain. "What is this?" He wondered out loud. Neither of his friends answered, though he didn't expect them to.
Vayne located a full-length mirror in the workshop and studied himself. What he saw shocked him. He had two silver cat ears on either side of his head, about an inch above his normal ears. His eyes were a more brilliant shade of blue, looking more energized than before. The thing that shocked him the most was his long, furry, silver tail that almost reached the floor. The fur reminded him of the tuft they used in alchemy. "What happened to me!?" The boy asked himself more than the others.
"Well, maybe the cat collar turned you into a beast man?" Jess suggested, eyeing the purple collar around her friend's neck.
Vayne tried to unclip the collar; it wouldn't budge. "What?" He asked no one in particular. "It won't come off!" The flustered boy yanked on the collar, attempting to break it; he couldn't care less at this point about Nikki's stupid dare. When it still refused to come of his tail whipped around behind him in frustration.
Jess jogged over to him and placed a calming hand on his shoulder, the boy looking at her face with mixed emotions flying across his. "Calm down. We'll sort this out." She promised. After a moment Vayne breathed out slowly and stop pulling at the neckband.
Just then, Nikki skipped in. "Hey guys!" She yipped happily. Noticing the tense atmosphere, she scanned the room till her eyes landed on Vayne. She saw his new appendages and asked shakily, "So, uh, Vayne... did you get a new haircut?"
"Nikki! What did you do?" The silverette whined.
Said girl held her hands up. "It's only supposed to not be able to be taken off. I never modified to it do that." She gestured to the boy.
"That's why it won't come off." Jess said. "Do you know how to reverse it?" She asked expectantly.
Nikki shook her head. "Nope."
"This can't be happening." Vayne moaned.
"What can't be happening?" Nikki jumped, her tail bristling in surprise. She whipped around, seeing none other than Flay standing directly behind her.
"Flaya! Don't scare me like that!" She scolded.
"But where's the fun in that?" The red head laughed.
Flay looked at Vayne and laughed again. "What have we here?"
"The collar did something weird to Vayne, and we can't get it off." Jess explained.
"Of course you guys can't, but I can." Flay boasted.
"'Really?" Vayne asked hopefully.
"Never underestimate me!" He pulled out his buster sword and pressed a button on the hilt, then pulled a wire, causing the sword to turn into a chain saw. "Now hold still." He ordered.
The silver-haired boy rushed up the ladder to the loft, crying, "Never mind! I'll keep it on, I love being a beast man!"
"Really?" Niki questioned. Vayne facepalmed.
Flay put away his weapon, scowling. "You guys don't know what fun is."
"So fun is cutting me head off!?"
"Exactly." Flay nodded, smiling sadistically.
"Is there any other less dangerous ways to get it off?" Vayne asked.
"Of course there are! Come on down and we can get started!"
"No, I think i'm good up here."
Flay shrugged. "Suit yourself." He walked to the corner of the room and began his daily workout.
After another few minutes Pamela and Anna came in. Jess explained the situation to them.
Pamela giggled, "So Vayne's a kitty cat now?"
"No i'm not!" The silverette yelled from the loft.
Anna rolled her eyes and shared a glance with Jessica. 'He's still in denial isn't he?'
Jess nodded. 'Yeah, it came as a shock to all of us.'
Nikki skipped over to the three. "I'm bored. Whatcha wanna do?"
"Be human." Vayne answered.
Pamela suggested, "Wanna play a game?"
"Like what?" Jess asked.
"We could play truth or dare again." The ghost offered.
The silverette on the loft sat up and looked pleadingly at her. "If you do, please leave me out of it."
"Sure." Nikki said, consoling her friends worries. Vayne nodded and laid back down. The blond turned to the rest of the workshop. "So, we playing truth or dare?"
Everyone agreed, and they began another game of truth or dare. Vayne paid little attention to them and soon fell asleep. His friends realized this when they heard a soft snore emitted from his mouth.
It was Nikki's turn. "Pamela, truth or dare?"
The ghost replied, "Dare."
The blond glanced up at the sleeping Vayne. "I dare you to go scare Vayne awake."
She smiled. "Back in a flash." She floated over to the loft and stopped in front of the clueless boy. Pamela screamed in a pitch that could have shattered glass, terrifying her sleeping friend awake.
He fell off the couch and backed into the wall, terror evident in his eyes. Everyone except Jess stifled a laugh as they heard Vayne's back collide with the wall. Jess, who was already feeling bad for her friend, heard him mewl pathetically, adding to her pity for the boy.
Pamela reappeared next to Flay, laughing her head off. "How'd I do?" She asked between giggles. Flay gave her a thumbs up in response.
They started playing again, Jess paying less and less attention as her mind focused more and more on her terrified companion. Eventually she couldn't help but leave the game to go check on him.
"Vayne?" She called as she climbed the ladder to the loft. When she saw his face her heart melted.
He was curled up on the couch, cringing into the cushions. His ears were pinned and his tail was puffed up to it's maximum size. She also noticed that his frame was shaking as he cowered away from her.
Jess sat down next to the distressed cat-boy, trying to find the words to comfort him. She was about to say something, but Vayne cut her off with a crushing hug. He caught her off guard, and it took several moments for Jess to regain her bearings and react. Slowly, she hugged him back, hoping it would make him relax his suffocating hold on her.
Vayne hid his face in her neck, his kitty ears brushing up against her jaw. She blushed a deep red, not used to such close contact with him. Hesitantly she ran her fingers through his hair; much too soft for a human. After a moment the boy calmed down, but Jess kept running her fingers through his hair. It was hypnotizing, just like petting a cat.
The silverette nudged her hand, a deep rumbling radiating from his chest. Jess's eyes widened. Was he purring? Experimentally she scratched his ear, causing the rumbling to grow louder with every passing second. Jess was shocked; when she played with Nikki's ears she never reacted like this.
But, she had to admit to herself, it was nice. Vayne rarely tried to get close to people, he was already used to being lonely all the time. For the first time since she met him, Vayne was opening up to her, even if it was in a pleasure-filled haze.
Jess's attention towards Vayne lessened as she was dragged further into the trance-like peace of petting him. Vayne rubbed his head against the side of her neck, acting completely out of his character. Even as a cat, this was the least expected way he would act, considering how he normally kept to himself without being antisocial; now he was an attention seeking piece of putty in her hands.
Vayne's tail wagged behind him happily, matching the look of pure bliss on his face, his eyes half closed. Jess smiled, he looked so cute.
"Having fun?"
Jess jumped, accidentally knocking Vayne off of her in the process. She looked over to the ladder, where Flay was looking at them suggestively. Jess blushed a red that would put tomatoes to shame and scooted away from the catboy.
"I thought you were playing truth or dare!" She stuttered, at a loss for words.
"We were." Flay smiled. "I got sent up here to check on you two." He lifted his eyebrows, waiting for a response.
Jess flushed a deeper red-if that was possible-and stared at Vayne, looking for an answer. The silverette returned her gaze, his eyes still slightly drooping from the memory of Jess's hands raking through his hair. His tail wagged slowly in his relaxed state.
The pink-haired girl turned her attention back to Flay. "Well, we're fine..."
The red-haired man smirked. "I can see that." Jess got a tick mark and chucked a pillow at him, which Flay easily dodged. He held his hands up and chuckled. "Okay, that's it." Then he descended the ladder, leaving the two alone again.
Jess looked back at Vayne, who was falling asleep. He was laid down the best he could with the on the couch and was struggling to keep his eyes open. She smiled, reached for his ears and scratched them. Vayne purred and soon drifted back off to sleep.
Even as he slept his chest rumbled consistently, which made Jess question whether or not he was really sleeping. He had tricked people into thinking he was sleeping before (He didn't want to be dragged around by Flay; he didn't even expect it to work).
She sighed and got off the couch and returned to the game of truth or dare. Before she descended the ladder she whispered, "Sweet dreams Vayne."
Yay! All done! I can end it here, but if anyone wants me to continue then speak up! Review please!