"..."

Ah, shit, here she goes again, giving me that smug-ass stare again. What is she smirking about now? If the Chesnaught didn't see it, he wouldn't have missed the giggling that was aimed in his direction. He'd swear she was just doing it to piss him off, but some other part of him knew that she was just too much of a wimp to get down and fight him.

"Aww, poor little chestnut, unable to climb up a tree so you can get to me?"

"Shut the hell up! You know fully damn well that that was MY bed you burned, you little bitch! Now get down here so I can settle this like a man and hit something easily broken, like your bones!" The Chesnaught, lovingly titled Chester by his trainer, knew he might have been going too far with the threats, but hey, they seemed to be working. "She", or Dell if you prefer names, a Delphox who had been the later addition to the twosome, had been given by a friend of their trainer for some reason, unbeknownst to either of the other two. She shuffled around in the leaves for a few moments before finally landing on the ground, a few feet from the fluffy and spiny "friend" of hers, with the usual shit-eating grin on her face that had set Chester off so many times.

"Is this fine? Am I down enough for you?"

"Shut it. Would you mind explaining to me why you sent my bed - and almost me - into a pile of ashes?"

The Delphox's face flashed into a frown before fixing itself almost forcefully. "Well, perhaps you'd like to explain to me why it's such a big deal? I mean it's not like it was important - you can always just sleep next to 'Master'," Dell created air quotes to emphasize herself, "as you like to call him. Really, it doesn't matt -" She skidded to her right after her assailant had thrown a rather hefty right-hook in her general direction.

"Come here!" Chester's face was almost as red as his nose, out of both embarassment and anger. "I could break you with just a scratch, you know!"

"Look, if you would just listen to me - " Another dodge. "Maybe you'd let me explain that - " Avoiding quite a large rock thrown in his direction. "Would you quit!" Dell snapped as her footpaw pounded and smashed into the dirt below their feet with the tantrum. "This is why we were sent outside for the rest of the night; because we're so destructive when we bicker! Perhaps we could just talk it out for once?"

"..." Her smile this time seemed slightly more sincere, so the larger of them sighed and agreed, slamming himself down with a huff. The more he could bitch about this bitch, the better.

"Now, please, tell me why you're angry." Wow, that sarcastic tone couldn't have been cut with a Sandslash, it was so thick.

"I'm fairly sure you know, but you'd just reply with another smartass comment if I said so, so I'll just repeat: You incinerated my bed. Which wouldn't make me half as angry if I hadn't been sleeping there at that moment."

"Right, and I'm sorry about almost killing you - I honestly had no idea you were still in the bed." Chester could swear he could count off the gaskets blowing in his head.

"How could you not notice someone as largeas me sleeping in something made to be spacious for someone smaller? I would call you a liar, but I know that even you're above that."

Dell's face seemed to be getting irked. "I was... distracted, okay? I woke up in the middle of the night, and went to get a glass of water or something to calm down, but then I tripped over you and I guess it just set me off, and since I presumed that it was only your bed, that it would be somewhat fine. Had I knew you were in there, I would have just burnt all of those discarded papers in the trashcan like I did last time!" The fox's face had become a slight shade of pink with a hint of... really? Was that genuine regret?

"Last time? You've done this multiple times? Jeez, what's been troubling you so much that you've gotta burn things like that?" Chester actually kinda felt bad - if he hadn't been almost cooked like dinner and knew this was a regular occurrence, then he wouldn't have blamed her for all this.

"Just... something from back when I still belonged to that other trainer. I keep getting dreams about it, and I'd just wake up and be angry."

Chester slipped a hand over to her shoulder, though for what reason he couldn't discern - wasn't he the one that was supposed to be complaining? "What about your old trainer? I'm sure you were pampered enough tha - "

"I don't wanna mention anything about it." The tone in Dell's voice was cold like ice as she nudged Chester's hand off of it and began to stand up, only to be stopped by her own hand becoming enclosed in his. Her face became angrier, only slipping out and pulling away. "I said I don't wanna talk about it! Goodness, you're such an ass sometimes!"

He couldn't honestly believe what he was hearing. She's really bitching now? "Hey, you're the one who said we should 'talk this out', so if you're not gonna fess up, than I guess I'll just do this to make you!" He pushed using his massive weight towards the Delphox. He meant only to really nudge her, to spur her on a bit, but instead he went a bit overboard, sending her face-first into the dirt. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry!" He tried to help the poor girl up, but recoiled when she screamed.

"Aaaah! Please, no! Don't hurt me - I'm sorry!" The fur on her face was matted with... tears? She seemed to be all-out bawling, sniveling included. "I'm sorry that I've disappointed you, Master..." Master? As in her old trainer? She's having flashbacks? "I'm sorry I'm not good enough for Master; please, forgive me! Don't hurt me, please..." Hurt her? Oh, god, they didn't...

Chester was almost sickened to his stomach. That's why she wake up during the night, then. He nudged her, pushed her, and poked her to try and wake her up, but it didn't really help much - she continued to beg and plead for minutes, before she finally opened her eyes, although they didn't seem right. The deep orange pools seemed... empty, devoid of any sort of reason or thought, though the rest of her face seemed to take on a guise of happiness, or pleasure.

"O-oh! Master, I know! Please, maybe I can be of use! F-fuck me, Master, and maybe I won't be so useless!" She accentuated her point by sticking her backside up into the air and shaking it. Chester realized two things - that he instantly felt bad for ever accusing her of this stupid incident, and that he really should have been addressing Dell as a 'dick' this entire time. Not only did he use her - er, him for that... the asshole of a trainer just dumped him here when he finally became dissatisfied.

"Dell! Dell, stop it!" He called to him, perhaps hoping that maybe some actual language would snap him out of it. "Come on, you aren't with that prick any more - you're here with Master, and me; two people who actually care about you!"

The Delphox just shook his head, eyes still empty and full of forced lust. "No, no, please Master! Master must use me! I'll be useful as your cum dump - just fill me up!" His ass was still up in the air, sheath and testes out for the open like just the hole above it. His anus was oddly clean, and still slightly agape - to match one whom had been used.

Chester couldn't hold on to his meal at that point, and in the next few seconds, it was lying near the farthest corner of the house, while the Chesnaught simply and futilely tried to talk his poor friend out of his traumatic trance. He desperately thought for a moment before finally just lifting his arm and, making sure he wasn't going to hit him too hard, slammed it down onto Dell's head, enough to hurt and probably bruise it, but not enough to break anything - he really was full of hollow threats, eh?

The fox jumped and screamed, though this time in pain and not... terror. "Hey, what was that for you big oa -" Dell finally noticed what position he was in and stared at Chester like a Deerling in headlights. Chester knew what he was staring at - the display wasn't exactly an ethically or emotionally pleasing one, but seeing an ass like that wagging itself in front of him - it was disgustingly physically appealing. The tears on the fox's face welled up once again, and he began to stammer, "Wh-what is going on? Why are you - why am I...? Were you going to r-r-"

"NO." Chester's voice rang out throughout the air in a mixture of lament and bitterness. "I wouldn't ever do what... your last trainer did to you."

"What? H-how do you know about that? I've never..." Dell's position changed to sitting, although in a more fetal manner, with his legs tucked up to his chest. He started to tremble when his partner sat beside him and put an arm over his shoulder.

Chester explained what had happened moments prior, taking care to spare some of the more... embarrassing details so as to not damage the fox too much. Even so, Dell continued to tremble, understandably crying, wracked by the experience.

"S-so... now you know... I'm just a useless slut." The Delphox almost ate his words when Chester silently hugged him. It was... the most gentle thing the big guy had done in a long while. In fact, last time he did this was when the other had first arrived - Master told them to hug, as it was a sign of affection, but the little fox avoided him like poison. Now he could understand why - he hadn't trusted anyone after being mistreated and then abandoned.

"No. You're not useless." Chester's voice was simple, almost with a matter-of-fact air. He wasn't just trying to suck-up, either. He had seen what Dell could do in battle, and the fact that he had incinerated his bed on a whim, while still irking, was kind of impressive. "Ever since you've come here, you've fit right in with Master and I. We've been able to appreciate how great you are - you hardly even have to try to fight most people. I'm sorry your last trainer did those things to you, but it doesn't mean in the slightest that you are anything less than what we think of you."

Dell could only sit and weep; how could he really have done anything else? His guise was all but shot down, and he felt alone and helpless. Until he thought about it, at least. His frown all but disappeared, leaving a small ghost of a smile in its wake. That's right - he wasn't useless. He wasn't alone - he had someone right in front of him. Hugging him, treating him as an equal, rather than trash off the street. He tried to avoid crushing Chester's neck when his arms wrapped around it, finally reciprocating the hug. Oh, what did he have to worry about, anyways? Chester was almost a rock - his rock.

"Th-thank you... Chestnut." He giggled through his bitter tears at the nickname, this time not used in jest, but rather in endearment. "Can we... stay like this, for a little while?" The girly-boy's face heated, but he obviously meant what he asked. And what else could Chester say rather than 'yes'? He wasn't going to just leave his poor friend all alone. So he nodded.

"Thanks again." Dell and Chester lied down, allowing the other to get comfortable against themselves. Soon the two were snugly up against each other, the smaller one's face buried into the latter's neck, feeling security from his bulky arms dressed around him. They looked each other in the eyes, and silently each one licked the other's cheek.

"I love you, Chester."
"I love you too, Dell."

It may have been platonic or may not have been; either way, it surely was a huge step in the right direction.