Grey light filtered in through dirt smeared panes, illuminating the nest of ragged blankets and old newspapers piled on the rough wooden floor. Soft snores emanated from beneath the covers, the only movement the slight twitch of a mean-looking tail as it explored the room while its owner was asleep.
Because for kaiju, midday meant midnight and by now all members of the pack were nestled in their respective dens around the mansion, peacefully slumbering away. All of them were in dreamland by now, all except one.
Raiju huffed out a breath, nostrils quivering as he tried to snuggle father under the blankets and into the comforting warmth of his older brother. He should have been fast asleep by now, Scunner's rough scales pressing against his cheek, but something was wrong.
Whining, he rubbed his legs together. "Gotta go potty!"
Scunner snorted sleepily as Raiju exploded from the blankets, clambering over him to faceplant on the floor. Recovering, he slithered quietly over the cold floorboards, stopping by the door.
Quietly, he grabbed the ragged hoody that Scunner had found and patched up for him to wear. The dark fabric was faded and smeared with dirt, but he liked to wear it anyway. It helped hide his human features from the other kaiju, and that way he didn't get beat up as much.
The hallway was deathly still as he tip toed down it. The potty was at the end of the hall, nothing but a make shift hole punched through the floor, cascading into darkness. He would go in there, save for the risk of being cornered by one of his fellow kaiju. Instead, he chose to go outside.
The waves crashed against the rocky beach, the smell of saltwater thick in the air. Grey clouds choked out the sky as Raiju carefully make his way down the stone steps to the beach.
Suddenly, he paused, heart skipping a beat when he recognized a figure emerging from the white foamed surf. Chest tight, he tried to back pedal, giving a frightened squeak when he tripped over his tail and banged the back of his head against a boulder.
Otachi shook the water from her neon aqua hair, scowling as seaweed caught on her horns and flopped into her face. Tossing it away in disgust, she sauntered onto the beach, tail swishing coyly behind her.
Bare feet crunched on cold pebbles. Raiju opened his eyes to stare fearfully into the face of the kaiju vixen. Instinctively he dipped his head, tail curling between his legs in a sign of submission.
"Why aren't you asleep, pup, "she quipped irritably.
"S-s-s-sorry but…but I had to…go…" he groveled, before peeping up at her with big golden eyes filled with a million questions.
Sighing, she crouched down in front of him, still assuming dominance in the conversation as was according to kaiju code. "If you're wondering, I come out here all the time. It's the one part of the day where I can escape from sniveling whelps like you," she hissed, forcing him to re-glue his eyes to the ground. "Midday swims…clear my mind. " She looked back up at the mansion, tilting her head. "Maybe if you were actually good at being a kaiju, you would understand sometimes we need to allow ourselves to focus-" Her glowing irises suddenly widened as pain lanced through her belly. A surprised groan escaped from her mouth as she keeled over and threw up all over Raiju's feet.
"EEEEWWWWWW!" Raiju scuttled away in horror. He had never seen anyone vomit before, and to him it looked like Otachi had emptied all her organs out onto the beach.
"It's nothing! It's nothing!" Waving him away, she tried to roll over, hissing in anger as she looked for the entire world like a drunken cat trying to stand.
His fear ebbed slightly at her plight. He inched forward cautiously, voice merely a whisper. "Otachi…are you okay?'
Her struggles ceased as she glared at him, breathing heavily. Dark circles lay beneath her eyes. She had never looked this tired before, making his eyebrows raise in surprise. "I guess I have to tell someone, don't I?" She muttered in resignation before her tail lashed out and wrapped out Raiju's throat. "But if you tell anyone," she hissed, "ANYONE about this, I will tell Slattern that you're the one chewing on all his clothes!"
"You wouldn't," he gasped in terror, sweat beading on his face.
'Oh, don't underestimate me, pup," she replied back.
"Okay, okay, I promise," he coughed as she let go of him, allowing him to sink to the ground.
"Good, then we can begin," she sat down next to him, shoulders hunched in apprehension. "What do you want to know?"
"Erm…so all that stuff that came out your mouth? Does that happen a lot?"
She huffed, a tuft of hair blowing off her face. "…yes, it's been happening for the past week."
"I d-d-don't think that's good…I mean, it looked like it hurt."
"Aren't you the observant one, pup." She replied sarcastically.
"Maybe Oni Baba could look at you?"
'And uncover my weakness so someone else can take my place in the pack? I am not that foolish. I can get through this myself."
"Are you sure? I m-m-mean, do you even know what's wrong?'
She was silent for a moment, looking down at her stomach with an almost wistful longing. "I…have my suspicions…"
Raiju had never seen her look that way before. For a second, her icy exterior had melted. Her cunning and biting tongue couldn't hide the emotion that swam in her eyes for that brief second. He almost smiled, because for that brief moment he felt like he had someone who could understand him.
"You know what?" His eyes suddenly brightened up. "I think I have something that might help your tummy!" He jumped up, accidentally smacking Otachi in the face with his tail. "OOPS SORRY PLEASE DON"T KILL ME!" He exclaimed as he bounced away, "just follow me!"
Muttering under her breath, Otachi took chase, ending up behind a rather large boulder. "What are you doing?" She scoffed at the smaller kaiju scrabbling around in the dirt.
"Hold on, I almost got it." He smiled shyly as he unearthed a strange plastic bottle with bubbles inside. Human speak was scrawled across it in unintelligible scribbles. Otachi instinctively went on alert. "Raiju, this is a human artifact. This isn't allowed."
"Please, I know I don't deserve it but please put some faith in me for once," he pleaded, motioning for her to sit down next to him. She complied, watching wearily as he fumbling with the white plastic cap on top.
The thing hissed as it was opened, causing both kaiju to jump.
"Is it alive?! Are you opening its face?!" Otachi barred her teeth.
"N-no I don't think it's alive. I mean, I saw some humans doing the same thing to one of its kin, then they drank its innards. It looked like they liked it so I decided to steal one for myself. "
"Copying their customs? Pathetic." She scowled. "You go first."
Carefully, he tipped the now opened bottle towards his mouth, awkwardly lapping at the contents pouring onto his face. Cold bubbles hit his tongue, causing him to squeak and drop the bottle onto his lap. "Otachi, it sings on your mouth!"
"Give that to me," she snatched the bottle, splashing it onto her face. Her eyes widened in surprise as her mouth cracked open. "It's like drinking screaming souls! Wonderful!"
Back and forth they went, until the bottle was empty and their stomachs were full of carbonated beverage. They lay against the pebbles, staring up at the sky sharing nothing but contented sighs between them.
Finally, the female kaiju broke the silence. "I…feel better now. "
"Please don't tell Slattern about my stache."
"…for now, I won't. You have actually proven helpful for once, so I feel like I owe you my silence." She turned towards him. "Though I expect you to bring back more artifacts for us to share in the future."
He felt like he didn't really have a choice." Oh okay. I will! You can count on me!"
"And… in return, I will tell Leatherback to take it easy on you."
Raiju's face suddenly brightened up. "R-r-really?"
"Really, pup."
He bit his lip. "So…d-d-does this make us secret friends now?'
This caused her to laugh, and suddenly he realized why Leatherback was so in love with her.
"Yes, pup, we're secret friends now."
TO BE CONTINUED! ((thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter! It really humbles me to see how much support this fic is getting, and drives me to improve it every chance I get. Also, I plan to update every late friday early saturday, so stay tuned. I wanted this chapter to focus a little bit more on the kaiju and how they are nocturnal and basically take naps like giant toddlers :P SO, until next time: Read, review, enjoy :D ))