It is as the sun is setting, that he realizes what the feeling in his mouth is. He is laying, with his head on Orange's lap, letting his eyes drift shut, and watching the colors of the sky as they reflect on the water. He is content, and happy. Then, before he can really understand why it's there, his mouth starts to hurt. At first, it is just a small pain, and he blinks in confusion. Then it gets bigger, stronger. He thinks about the days that have passed, and it is obvious. His new teeth are coming in. He closes his eyes, and buries his head deeper into the flesh of Orange's legs.
It is going to hurt. It is going to hurt a lot. And it is going to hurt a lot for several days. He's only lost one or two teeth at a time before, and it hurt then. Now, he has lost all of them, and they are all coming at once. He will be happy to have teeth again. He will be happy to eat, and fill his empty stomach again. He is not happy that it will hurt so much before that, but it is something that must happen.
For a few childish moments, he wants to push Orange over, because the pain is all his fault, but he doesn't. Orange probably doesn't know how much it hurts. The last time, he cried and cried. He tells himself that he can't do that this time. No matter how much it hurts, he shouldn't cry like he did before. He knows what to expect, so it should be okay.
Orange notices that something is wrong. He doesn't know how, but Orange does. Fingers are in his hair again, and Orange is leaning over to get a good look at his face. He hides his face deeper into Orange's legs, snakes his arms around Orange's middle, and holds tight.
Orange makes a small sound of concern, and the fingers move rhythmically against his scalp. The pain isn't even that strong yet, but the warmth of Orange's legs is so very comforting. He wonders if he can convince Orange to stay, like that one night, were they stayed awake together.
Orange indulges him until the sun sinks, and the dark of evening creeps across the sky. He knows that Orange will leave, but when he feels little human hands push lightly on his shoulder, he tightens his hold around Orange's middle. Not yet, he wants to say. Please stay, he wants to say. Instead, he just shakes his head, and hopes that Orange understands. It will get worse, and it's Orange's fault, so he should stay.
There are gentle human fingers running through his hair again, then Orange pushes gently at his shoulder one more time. This time, he lets go. He slowly sinks back into the water. The sudden loss of warmth makes the pain spike, and he looks sullenly at the water, and not at Orange.
He can hear the noises of Orange getting out of the water, of him slipping on the things he puts on his feet, but he doesn't look up. He is unhappy, Orange should stay. Then, suddenly, there are hands on his cheeks, and Orange is gently pulling his face up, so that they are looking at each other. The warmth from Orange's hand is amazingly affective at making the pain less harsh. He feels like he could melt like ice in those hands, and he looks up at Orange.
For just a moment, Orange looks upset too. Then the moment is gone, and he isn't sure it was there at all. Orange leans down, so close that their foreheads touch, and the whole world is made of brown eyes. It's important.
Then Orange blows in his face, and the moment is ruined. He shakes his face, and shoves Orange in indignation. He frowns up at Orange, but Orange just seems like he's pleased. He thinks about splashing Orange, but his runt is already walking away. He watches, and just before Orange disappears into the human place, he turns around, and looks back.
\/
It is a very long night. He hasn't slept well in a few days. The night before, because he was been sure the humans were out to get him. Any sleep was plagued by nightmares. Even when he managed to fall asleep, he had woke to the sound of pounding of human feet. This night, it is better, but also worse. The problem is very different, so it is hard to compare.
His mouth hurts horribly, and for a long time, he writhes in his favorite nest. He is tired, and he is in pain, and sleep is impossible. He really thinks Orange should have taken responsibility and stayed. It doesn't seem fair that he has to suffer this alone. The idea is petty, but he doesn't care. When he is not so miserable, he will care, he doesn't at that moment.
Very late in the evening, in the haze of pain and unhappiness that he finds himself in, he hears soft human foot falls. His mind desperately clings at the sound. It has to be Orange. No one else comes in the night. He wanted Orange to stay, and he came back. He is out of his nest and swimming to the water's edge within a heartbeat.
He breaks through the water almost desperately. He blinks his eyes to try and see in the dark, and he realizes very quickly, that he has made a very big mistake. The realization does not come fast enough. All he can see is a huge, looming figure, that could never be his Orange. He tries to duck back into the water, to swim away, but in a flash, there is a large, warm human hand grabbing his hair.
It is nothing like Orange. He knows exactly who this human is. The hand that grabs violently at his hair is big, with long boney fingers.
He screams at the top of his lungs, as the hand pulls him out of the water by his hair.
He tries to pry the human hand away from him with his little hands, but there are no claws now. All he can do is paw and push at the hand helplessly, and scream and whimper. Then the human's other hand is on his wrist, and he is completely out of the water, dangling by his hair and his hand as he struggles to get out of those strong human hands.
In one great motion, the hands let go, and he is tossed. It is a disgusting feeling, being flung so carelessly through the air. He lands on hard, solid ground and the impact rattles his aching head and mouth. He whimpers and cries in distress, and curls in on himself on instinct alone.
He forces his eyes open through tears. His vision shows him the light of the stars reflected on the water, and the large, ominous figure that stands between him and the water's peaceful edge. He has to get back to the water. It doesn't matter that he hurts, it doesn't matter that he's scared. He must get back to the water, so around the pain in his head, and the tender flesh of his wrist, he moves. He reaches with his hand, and the soft earth under his fingers gives way, allowing him to dig deep, and pull himself forward. Then he does the same thing with the other hand, ignoring how his wrist protests.
The human moves, and he only has time to curl in on himself, when the human's foot kicks at his stomach. He cries out in pain, but worse than the pain, is that he rolls farther away from the water. He sobs in desperation. He must get back to the water, he can't just stay quiet and hope that it stops. This is a matter of life and death. He doesn't know how long he can last outside of the water, but he knows it isn't as long as the human can. This will not be like the time with Orange. When lethargy sits in, he will simply die. This human is not going to roll him back into the water.
He thinks about the girl coming in the morning, about her finding him dead. He can't stand the thought. Even if the humans looming shadow is upon him, he must keep trying.
Time blurs. He keeps trying, again and again, only to be pushed back, to be hit more. But he keeps trying again and again. It's hopeless, he knows that, but he can't give up. After every strike, he tries again, after every time those human hands grab him and drag him back, he tries again. It all blurs into pain, and the unsettling feeling of large warm hands on him.
When he finally stops trying, it isn't because of the pain. It is because he can hear water sloshing around in his head, it's because he feels unease seep into him, it's because all he can do, is twitch. Through the haze, he can see the water, the beautiful stars reflected off of it's glass surface. He tries to reach one more time, but his hand only twitches uselessly.
He can hear the human laughing, and he knows it is over. He is going to die. The girl will find him in the morning, nothing more than a rotting carcass.
He is wrong. As if the human was waiting to see how long he'd last, those big warm hands are on him again. They aren't gentle, and he hates how his body craves the warmth they provide. Humans are so evil. He doesn't even have the strength to sob.
He is being carried. He would wonder where, but he can't think straight.
Then he is flying through the air again, and it almost feels comforting. It is so much better than having those hands on him. It's disgusting, and unnatural, but it is so much better.
Water explodes around him, and the fog in his mind clears. He is back in the water. He doesn't have time to question. Like something coming back from the dead, he swims as fast as he can down to the bottom of the pond. His eyes are wide and terrified, as he looks up at the surface of the water. He sees the huge figure of the human looking right at him, of white teeth smiling down at him.
The human laughs, and walks away.
He is left alone. His mouth is on fire, his head, his tail, his chest, his stomach, his hands, his fingers, everything hurts. He swims to one of his nests. The safest one. The one where nothing can see him, and where he can see nothing. He curls up, and sob.