Illusion is Reality
Chapter 140
-You naked-
I wasn't worried when Ford pulled out his Weirdness energy detector. I wasn't worried when he hooked it up to me. I was a little skeptical when I noticed the remnants of his old project Mentem. "You wanna see what happens in my head?" I asked dryly.
"I won't say the curiosity hasn't struck me." Ford rubbed his neck. "But only if you're ok with this?"
"Yeah sure." I admit, I was a little curious myself. He placed the little suction cup things around my face, making me wiggle my nose at the ticklish feeling. He flicked it on and for a moment there was nothing on the screen.
"Is this broken?" Ford frowned.
I peered closer as well.
Perhaps my mental shields were stronger than I thought?
We both stared at the screen for a while before I noticed a sound coming through the speakers. It was incredibly faint but the volume was picking up and getting louder as I listened. Ford's eyes widened when he heard it too.
"What the…"
Red SA · O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei (Numa Numa English Version)
I blushed. Ford stared. "This is…?"
"What?" I huffed. "Who doesn't have the Numa Numa song playing somewhere in their head at any moment?"
"Numa what?"
I stared at him. "Oh you poor baby. We have a lot you need to learn…"
Try as he might, Ford couldn't get his mind scanner thing to go any deeper into me. I counted that as a good thing. Ford checked my eyes, shining a light into it and telling me that my pupils dilated into slits when that happened. "Now to check your teeth." He patted my snout.
"...are you sure that's safe?" I rumbled.
Ford didn't look worried at all. "Of course. I trust you." And that sent another thrill through me. But at the same time, "I don't trust me though." And with how much I itched to bite down on Fordsie sometimes, I couldn't risk it. Ford sighed, patting my nose. "What can I do to make you feel more comfortable?"
"With what? The idea of not instinctively biting down when a delicious piece of man meat like you climbs into my mouth?" I asked incredulously.
"What about a jack? I could get one to hold your mouth open?" Ford suggested."I know Fiddleford has a few."
I wiggled. "Maybe. But you cannot go inside my mouth. If you wanna see my teeth you see them from the outside." And seriously? Of all the things he wanted to examine. My teeth?! If Brother's Sixer was here, he'd throw a fit.
I summoned and sterilized the jack and opened my mouth the barest crack so Ford could put it in, wedging it between my teeth and carefully pumping to make it push my jaws apart. I whined.
"Sorry. Does it hurt?" Ford stopped to rub the side of my face. I didn't move, not wanting to ruin his work so far, "It's a little uncomfortable." I admitted, my words coming out clearly since I didn't speak with my mouth. Ford nodded. "Then I shall try to make this quick."
He got out some other tools and began inspecting my teeth, each one larger than his head. I was getting dentist flashbacks. "Huh." Ford commented as he ran a hand along a tooth, leaning dangerously deep into my mouth. "Your breath smells like some kind of fruit…" I blinked. "Really?" He nodded. "It's quite pleasant." I let out a warbling hum, rather pleased by this information. (The Weirdness sensor beeped softly, indicating a slight rise in energy.) Unfortunately, I was rather bored by the proceeding examination. He was just doing all sorts of measurements and making interested owl noises. I entertained myself by watching the way his mouth formed an O when he wasn't paying attention to what his face was doing. It was fun at first, but when I realized he was measuring each and every one of my teeth, I groaned. Ford seemed to notice I was feeling a little down with having to hold still for so long, since he reached out the hand that wasn't tapping a scraping tool down my tooth, to scritch the bricks around my jaw. I relaxed, rumbling a little as he managed to get all the good spots. Ooooh~ I stretched my long body out, settling in for some nice scritches. Yeeees~ Oooh yeeesssss….
I must have dozed off at some point because I startled when I felt Ford lower my mouth closed and take the jack out. I worked my jaw, licking at my teeth where the thing had been wedged. "Hey sleepy head~" Ford scritched my nose. "Anyway, I got all the samples I needed from your mouth, so you don't have to worry about biting me." I wagged my tail slowly. "So what do you need now?"
"I would like to check your nails." Ford walked over to my paws, kneeling down to lift one of my toes. "And perhaps get a scale for analysis. I'm still trying to figure out if you're actually made of gold or not." I hummed, looking down at my scales. "Well I shed sometimes. I could give you some from my next shed."
"Next?" Ford blinked. I chuckled, "Seb took my most recent shed. I think he's making it into some kinda suit?"
"Of course he would." Ford sounded fond as he rolled his eyes. "Also, you mentioned a blood sample~?" He really wanted one that badly. "Fine~" I shook my head before reaching up and plucking one of the feathers from my mane. It stung for a moment, like plucking a hair, before it healed and I held up the large feather. A thick black liquid was welling up from the hollow in the middle. "A blood sample and a feather sample." I expected him to take it while thanking me, instead he gasped. "Are you alright? You didn't have to pluck one- does it hurt?" He placed his hands around the area I plucked from and patted my feathers down.
"Xin, I don't want you hurting yourself." He laid himself against my feathers. "Even something as small as this." He added. I twitched. "But it's not a big deal."
"It is for me." Ford nuzzled against me. "Even if it's something small, " he repeated. "I don't want your first response to be causing yourself pain. Ok?"
"And how else would you have gotten the sample you wanted?" I asked. "Well you could have just made a feather or blood sample. I know you can synthesize items from almost nothing." He told me sternly. "So you don't have to do things like this."
I wiggled uncomfortably. Was my disregard of the way it hurt to just pluck a feather really that bad? It wasn't like I was hitting myself or anything? But Ford didn't like it- was worried by it. I guess he was right? Still, this was something I would have to remind myself of. "Alright." I told him just to reassure him. He seemed much happier to hear me say that. That was good.
He patted my neck and smiled. "Good. Now," he stepped back. "I'm going to need a much longer measuring tape." he said with a flat look at the length of my body curled around the room. "And a much larger room. Are you sure we can't go outside for this?"
I thought about it. "Weeeeell~"
I wiggled down along the sand until I was comfortable. Some children were still awake and were gathering curiously.
"What's going on?" One of them asked. I gave her a gentle smile. "My human is giving me a health check up."
"Are you sick?!" the children gasped. I was quick to reassure them, "I'm fine. But it would be good to check my health every now and then, just in case something happened."
They were quiet for a moment, likely thinking over what it meant that I could get sick. "Did the other dragons get sick?" one boy asked. I blinked. "The other dragons..." I trailed off, looking inward. "Some were slain. Others starved when magic waned. Most left the human plane." They left this dimension altogether. I looked up into the night sky, a sky that didn't have any stars yet, just a facsimile moon to provide a gentle light along the beach. "There are so few left in this dimension..." I breathed. Even in my own 'set, there were only a few hundred true dragons. Spread across the multiverse. A true Dragon and a minor dragon were different things. Minor dragons were essentially animals. A true dragon was something much like Xin. Almost god-like. They always got killed when they were young, or couldn't get the energy they needed to mature. Those who survived to adulthood were powerful. An adult dragon was something incredibly dangerous. So it was probably a good thing that dragons mainly found some planet to claim as their own and never bothered to leave it. They were pretty territorial, from what I know.
I suppose I was strange in that way, a dragon who claimed multiple planets. And dimensions. Even though I wasn't a real dragon.
"You're currently 80 feet long." Ford called out to me from around my hind legs. "Now I just need to weigh you." He fiddled with his portal watch (having realized he could ask me for coordinates to portal through items from his lab instead of having me grab them) and the heavy duty scale from his lab plopped onto the grass.
I got to my feet and circled around the scale before stepping gingerly onto it, trying to fit myself onto the thing without breaking it. The children giggled at how ridiculous I must look. I crouched on the weight, leaning down to look at the numbers. Ford's jaw dropped.
"You're only 29 thousand pounds?" Ford stared. "I know you're more long than wide, but that's still very light for how large you are…"
"I mean… I need to be able to fly, you know?" I leaned down to nudge him with my snout.
"You should weigh much more than that!" Ford cried aghast. "Are you hollow inside or what?!"
"Hey!" I protested. Ford patted my belly. "Are there organs in there?! I know you said you've got a heart, but like… what's the rest of your organs like?"
I gasped in mock offence. "I'll have you know that I have a stomach." Ford continued staring at me. When I didn't add anything else, his eyebrows rose. "That's it? Just your heart and stomach?"
"I got lungs and a brain too." I amended. And also a basic reproductive system but I wasn't gonna say that right in front of the kids. Ford buried his face in his hands. "I thought you made yourself anatomically accurate?"
"I did! Well, my first ones. I got tired of making all the organs every time. It's annoying, ya know?" I looked away sheepishly. Ford just deadpanned at me. "The only reason you're not dead from the severe lack of internal organs is because you're a god."
"I'll have you know that plenty of species can survive without their organs!"
"I'm a little afraid to ask how you know this." Ford's eye twitched.
"Psssh~ that's not important." I waved off. "Look, I'm missing a bunch of organs, but it's not an issue. I don't need them to function. And being lighter would put less stress on the ground I'm standing on." I stepped off the scale, it groaned as it didn't have to hold me anymore. I was lighter than I should be, but I wasn't light.
"I will be doing an x-ray later." Ford threatened. "Sure, sure Fordsie." I purred. "So what's next on this little health check up~?"
"Your temperature." Ford took out the largest thermometer I've ever seen. I nodded, opening my mouth a tiny crack. "Ahhhh…"
"Oh, this doesn't go in your mouth." Ford said sheepishly.
It took me a few seconds.
"No sticking things inside me!" I whined, curling my tail up to cover myself. "Xin, anything that goes in your mouth is going to be eaten." Ford said slowly. "So the other options I have are your ears or your armpit? I don't even know if your armpits work…"
"Can't you just point one of those thermal scanners at me instead?" I whined. The children were giggling at my suffering. Ah! Betrayal! Treason!
"Oh I'm going to try that too. I have a hypothesis that you show up differently on electronics than you would on a physical thermometer. So I was going to test both." Ford nodded. "...would your ears be alright? It's not your… ah..." he gestured to my lower half. "Unless you have some other place I can put it?"
I wiggled. The thermometer was big, but it wasn't that big. I was waaaay larger. I probably wouldn't even feel it. Frankly I didn't want it anywhere near my ears, the idea of a sharp thing going in my ears made me incredibly uncomfortable. And Ford was correct in that I would bite down if that thing went in my mouth.
"Fine. I can take it up my- But not in front of the children." I said finally. The kids laughed again, but obediently followed Care Unit 2 when they herded the group back to their homes. I materialized a tent around myself anyway.
"I'm going to be gentle." Ford assured me. That only made me flush orange.
I'd forgotten how embarrassing medical check ups were. Still, Ford seemed delighted by the data he collected tonight. And he gave me lots of petting and snuggling to apologize for the humiliation I went through.
"You want a what sample?!"
Note to self, when I let him examine one of my other forms next year, I'm going to set some more ground rules.
I sighed, leaning against my hand. It was late, as the Death Star was in it's 'night cycle' and the only people still awake were me and Hectorgon as we hung out in the living room. Well, Teeth was here too, passed out in the middle of his game. His player character was just standing there as a bunch of rats attacked him. His armor durability had managed to hold them off and away from his health points for the past ten minutes but I was pretty sure it was gonna break soon. Sucks for him. I probably should take his controls and move him, but I was a little morbidly curious about how long it would take for his player character to get eaten alive. Still, I was rather listless. Hectorgon glanced over at me over his Screen. "Ok, you've been doing that for the past few minutes, what's wrong?" he asked with the long patience of someone who was used to being the 'grown up' of the household.
"Am I losing my touch?" I groaned.
Hectorgon let out a sigh of his own, putting his Screen down to give me his full attention. "In what?"
"I mean… I know I've been trying to be more harmless while I'm with Ford, 'cause I don't want to scare him off…" I started. Hectrogon looked like he was trying very hard not to say something. "...but he doesn't see me as any sort of danger at all!" I groaned.
"...do you want him to see you as dangerous?" Hectorgon asked carefully.
"No! Yes? I don't know." I kicked my legs. "I mean, he's like… waaaay too easy going. Like he thinks I wouldn't just accidentally off him at any point!" I mean, I didn't plan to hurt or kill him, but this was ME we're talking about! Ford keeps thinking he could just waltz right into my mouth without any protections or weapons! Uuuugh! Does he want me to bite him?
...and now I was stuck on the idea of people just wanting to get in my mouth. Ugh. Eeew...
"Well, have you told him that you want him to be more careful around you?"
"I mean, I don't want him to stress out or be scared of me though!" I whined. "Ugh! This sucks!"
"Well, I feel like this is something you're going to have to work out with him." Hectorgon shrugged. "Either you tell him, or you're the one who's going to be stressing out about this."
"What if I train him up so he's capable of defending himself?" I mused, rubbing my bricks below my eye. "Or give him super powers?"
"I feel like that's a more complicated solution than the problem itself." Hectorgon deadpanned.
"But seriously, if he was capable of defending himself from me, it should give him enough time to get away if something happens." I added. Hectorgon was rubbing his temples. "Or," he drawled. "You tell him that you're worried for his life and safety, so he'll know to not put himself in dangerous situations with you?"
"But what if-"
"Seriously Bill. Do you trust him?"
"...I do."
"Then trust that this knowledge wouldn't push him away. Or stress him out." Hectorgon sighed. "Really Bill, you chose him. And despite everything, you're actually pretty good at choosing."
I blinked. "Choosing what?"
"People to love." Hectorgon smiled. "Seriously. If you truly love him, I'm sure he's worth it. And heck, you haven't scared any of us off. I doubt you'd scare him."
"...I'll think about it." I muttered.
"Bill, you're more loveable than you think." Hectorgon assured me.
I would have responded, but Teeth's player character was finally eaten alive by rats. It was pretty gruesome and I cackled at it.
"...and we're all insane to find you loveable…" Hectorgon sighed fondly.
And then my birthday came around. I spent the day with my human family and was going to have a separate party with my Friends that night when I went to sleep. But the night was young and I wasn't sleepy yet. Plus, I had something else I wanted to do for my birthday before bed.
I materialized as Xin, outside the bathroom where Ford was flossing, and knocked on it.
"I'm almost done Soos." Ford called back. I giggled. "It's just me Fordsie~"
The door opened. "Xin? What are you doing here? I already wished you happy birthday this morning." Ford blinked. I pouted. "Well… I was… kinda hoping… we could spend my birthday night together..." I wiggled from side to side, feeling a little shy now that I said it aloud. "I mean, we spent your birthday night together… so I just thought…"
Ford smiled. "Well, I suppose I haven't taken a bath yet." He ushered me inside and closed the door. "So… would you like to join me?" I was bright red, but nodded. Ford was blushing a little too, but it wasn't gonna be the first time he's seen me naked, and it wasn't going to be the last. Besides…
"I got some new shampoo, it smells like roses, I thought you might like to try it out." Ford shrugged. My tail and antlers popped out. "Oooh~ the ones at home just smell like lavender. I haven't tried rose shampoo yet!"
Ford chuckled as he got out the sponge to clean the tub before filling it. I was contemplating the tub size. "Would you mind if I expanded it? So we could fit more comfortably?"
Ford paused while bent over the side, scrubbing. "Well… so long as it doesn't mess with our plumbing…"
"Okie~" I sang, flicking my fingers and enlarging the whole bathroom. The tub was now as large as a jacuzzi. Ford blinked. Then he looked closer. It WAS a jacuzzi now. He glanced up and away to see there was a large shower stall beside it, separating the bath and shower. "Oh. I'm guessing you wanted a long soak?"
"There's a setting for back massage." I told Ford. And the scientist swooned. "I thought this was your birthday, not mine?"
I grinned. "Oh I don't see what's wrong with treating you along with myself." I felt the heart in this vessel pick up speed. I was feeling bold, and a little giddy about what I wanted tonight. About what I wanted from him.
Ford looked over to see me flinging off my clothes, wagging my tail as I leaned over to push on some buttons on the side of the tub. "And the water and electricity for this…?" Ford trailed off.
"It runs on the ambient Weirdness in the air. With a backup solar powered system that hooks into the one you've already built on the roof." I assured him. Ford set to taking his own clothes off as I got the hot water running. "Shouldn't we shower first before we soak?" Ford pointed out. I sighed. "Fiiiine~" Ford laughed at that. "You really like baths."
"I like relaxing in hot water." I shrugged. "So~ will you wash my hair~?" I purred. Ford rolled his eyes. "Alright birthday boy, get over here." and the two of us got into the shower stall, which was quite large on it's own, with chairs too. I turned on the water, testing the temperature with my hand before sitting down on a chair right in the path of the spray. Ford gently rinsed my hair, moving the locks around to make sure they were all getting evenly wet. And if he gave me some head scritches while doing so, well, it WAS my birthday after all.
I purred like a little motor as Ford moved the showerspray lower so he could begin lathering my ebony hair with shampoo. It didn't take long to scrub up a lot of bubbles and to have me leaning back in my chair, eyes closed in pure bliss. Ford detached the showerhead so he could begin rinsing off the shampoo, holding his hand to cup the water away from my eyes as he worked. My tail wrapped lazily around one of Ford's legs as I purred away in my seat, relaxed as could be. Ford was careful when working around my feathers and antlers, scrubbing his fingers along them.
"Is that nice?" Ford asked with a smile. I purred sleepily in response, making the scientist chuckle. "Do you want me to wash the rest of you too?" I nodded, eyes still closed. It was so nice. Being pampered. I didn't want to lose this. I turned my head to press into Ford's chest. I've been putting this off for months. I told myself it wasn't the right time. I had work to do. There were homeless people who needed a place to live, so they could get their lives back on track, so they could heal and recover and find themselves. I had more Council members to replace, through threats, through bribes, through force-
And the more I worked, the more I worried over what Ford would think of me. I had the best intentions in mind, but I knew more than anyone, the issues that arose from the 'good intentions' and 'bad actions'. I knew the issues that arose from the mentality of 'for the greater good'. And on some level, I think what I'm doing isn't considered 'right'. But it felt right to me. And I didn't know how Ford would react to it all.
I felt Ford clicking open the body soap and the wet sputtering sound of the gel being squeezed out. I heard his hands rubbing against each other to begin the lathering. I shivered a little as he placed those hands on me. He rubbed the soap around my ears, then down my neck and chin. He was avoiding my face for now, as it would be more difficult to work on. That was fine. I let out a pleased sound at the wonderful feeling of his hands trailing soap across my neck and shoulders, the way his fingers encircled and traced along my collarbones. He moved lower, scrubbing at my back as I arched into the sensation.
((((((((((((((Things get saucer from here on out ;D))))))))))))))))
Ford was feeling rather proud of himself for making me feel good. I could tell. "I'm going to wash your chest now." He said softly. I made an affirmative sound in my throat, not feeling up to proper vocalization right now. I felt his large hands move around and towards my front. I wondered if he was going to wash around or-
He scrubbed his hands around my chest, his palms pressing and sliding across my nipples with no fanfare. I let out a shuddering gasp as he continued scrubbing, moving his hands in little circles and unknowingly stimulating my poor nipples with their delicious friction. I knew he didn't realize what this was doing to me, since he stopped his rubbing to get some more soap. I raised my hands to cover my chest, blushing hard and wondering if I should let him continue or not… since it did feel rather… nice...
"Xin? What's wrong?" I heard Ford ask from behind me. Since he was sitting behind me, he couldn't make out my expression. I tightened my tail around his leg. "A-ah… well… my… um…" I was so warm right now. "My nipples are sensitive…" The damn things had gotten all worked up from the friction and pebbled. I could feel them under my fingers.
"Oh! I didn't hurt you, did I?" Ford leaned over, placing his hand over mine. I shook my head. "No, it's the opposite! It-" I was SO embarrassed. "It felt really good." Hell, my nipples were stiff, almost painfully so. I gently rubbed them with my fingers, wincing a little. "Goddamn, why're they sticking up like that?!"
"Like…" Ford trailed off, looking down and seeing the little brown nubs. "...oh…" he squeaked. "Did…. I do that?"
"...yeah…" I wiggled, pressing down on my nipples, trying to get them to stop sticking up. "Ouch!" I winced at the feeling. They had gotten so stiff that touching them was now painful. That sucked. I knew they stuck up when I was cold, but I was so hot right now and they were still-
"Does that hurt?" Ford blinked. I whimpered. "Yeah…" I rubbed them and huffed. "Eh… I should probably quit touching it and just let the damn things soften on their own…"
"...sorry." Ford laid his head on my shoulder.
"Nah, it's fine. It actually felt kinda nice… just… embarrassing."
"Why?" Ford looked down at my chest.
"Because it felt good." I poked at one of my nipples. "And you don't like when I get all horny and stuff."
"Well…" Ford blushed a bit. "It's not that I don't like it. I'm not going to say I don't want you being aroused when around me or anything." he quickly added. "I just don't want to be… participating? Unless it's a scientific study?"
"I know. I get it." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not gonna ask you to touch my dick or anything."
Ford was seriously blushing now, even his ears turned red. "Can you not say that so bluntly?"
"It's just…" I moved my hands away and down to lie on my lap. "You make me feel good. And I feel kinda guilty because you're not into that kinda thing." I admitted. "Like, I'm just… well, I like the feelings, the physical sensations of it. But I know you're not into it. So I feel kinda bad about it sometimes."
Ford thought about it. "Like how you get off on being tied up?" I nodded. He made an O face again. "And you're getting off on me touching you?"
"I love the physical sensations of pleasure. Touch." I raised my hands to my chest again, gently poking my nipples. "Nerves being stimulated." I pressed my legs together, wiggling in place. "And some nerves just… Really feel nice when they're stimulated."
Ford laid a hand on my head. "I can understand that. Hormones and nerves can do that." He looked down at my chest again. "What exactly, do you want right now?"
"I want to feel good." I moved one of my hands down to place between my legs. "I want to feel really good." I caressed myself, "Cause I'm all worked up and I just… really want to feel good." I turned to give Ford a guilty look. "I don't need you to touch me down there. I know you're uncomfortable with that. But, like, I want to touch myself. And I want you to touch me in other places." The hand still on my chest reached out a finger to gently circle around my nipple. "And I don't know if this is appropriate or not?"
"Well," Ford said carefully. "Tying you up is one thing, but I don't feel comfortable touching your nipples if it excites you. Not outside of a scientific study of your species' reproductive mechanisms and sensitivity." he added. "And this, right here, I'm not in a science mood. We're…" he coughed into his fist and looked away. "We're having a personal intimate moment. So it's not something I'm comfortable with doing in this context." I nodded at that. It was good to know his boundaries. "...alright." I sighed, moving my hands away from myself. "I guess we should just go soak in the jacuzzi now."
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Okay it's relatively safe now.)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
"I can at least finish washing your back." Ford placed a hand on my shoulder. "And so long as it doesn't arouse you, I'm fine with touching other parts of you."
"Then you should avoid my antlers." I told him bluntly. "I'm fine with them normally, but I'm already a little worked up right now, so I don't want to risk it until I've calmed down."
"Got it." Ford chuckled faintly. "I do want to make you feel good. Just not… in that way."
"Alright." I smiled, brushing my hair back and waving a hand to float a bar of soap over to us. "Want me to wash you too?"
"If you want to." Ford shrugged. I tilted my head. "Would you mind if I like looking at you naked?"
Ford's eye went wide and he turned bright red.
I continued. "Cause you're hot. And now you're naked and wet and all I'd have to do is look down and-"
Ford squeaked. I laughed outright. "The look on your FACE!" I doubled over myself as I cackled. Ford sighed. "You…" he reached out to pinch my cheek, tugging at it. "Ahhh!" I whined, pulling at his hand. "...you're messing with me." Ford deadpanned. I laughed, even as he continued mushing my mouth around.
"Bwut ish twuuu!" I grinned. I waggled my eyebrows at him. Ford groaned, burying his face in his free hand. "You're too much sometimes." he sounded exasperated, but he was smiling. "Washing yes. No-no touching is a no."
I cackled and nodded. Ford released my jaw, still deadpanning at me. "Horny dragon." he teased.
"I don't got these antlers for nothing!" I cheered, running a hand along one of the golden appendages. Ford just huffed and reached up to grab a scrub. "Well, I'm going to finish washing you first, then you can do me."
"Sure~" I leaned forward and nuzzled into his chest. His chest hair was tickly. Ford buried one of his hands into my hair, making me arch into it, purring. "Alright, hold still." Ford reached around me to begin scrubbing my back, having a bit of trouble with me pressed against his chest. "Are you letting go anytime soon?" he asked.
"Hmmm~ don't wanna~" I whined playfully.
"I won't be able to reach the rest of you."
"I'm clean enough. Unlike you, mister dirty, sweaty man~" I waved my hand to duplicate the scrub brush and began rubbing it along Ford's back. "You Pines sweat too much."
"It's a perfectly normal way of regulating our internal temperature. We can't all expel fire like you."
"Seb can."
"Sebastian is an outlier and shouldn't be included in the data." Ford was just rubbing my neck and shoulders now, making me purr harder. "Well wouldn't it be cool if humans could expel fire?"
"Yes, but it's not a good idea and you're not going to modify anyone to do so, are you?"
"Like you haven't wanted fire powers before." I huffed. I was forced to lean back so I could scrub his chest. I placed a hand on his pecs and made a deep purr. He squeaked. "You…" he cleared his throat, "You really like looking at me this much?"
"You're a juicy beefcake." I slid my hands up to caress his shoulders. So I had a thing for muscles sometimes. Not all the time. I'm picky about it. Hell, most of my tastes land in more of the androgynous and slender category. But plush and soft was good too. Or muscly~
"When you say that, it almost makes me think you want to eat me." Ford chuckled lightheartedly. I hesitated. "What makes you think I don't?" I let slip. Purposefully. Because I was testing the waters, so to speak.
Ford's eyes widened. He frowned. "I thought you didn't eat people."
"I don't eat people without consent." I clarified. "And I try to avoid eating people because if I did, they'd be gone, and I don't want people gone." I tiptoed my fingers along his collarbone. "And I don't want you gone. I like having you here, with me. But you look delicious." I purred. "And I just wanted you to know that."
Ford blinked. "Should I be flattered or horrified, in this situation?"
"I dunno. I just wanted you to know that it takes everything I have to not bite down when you stick yourself near my mouth."
"I see…" Ford frowned. "And your triangle form?"
I blinked in confusion before I realized he was asking if I experienced hunger differently in different forms. "Same thing, more or less." I paused. "I can't taste things as well in my triangle form. Liquids and stuff I can get a taste of before they get broken down. And I can create something like saliva so I can taste other foods for a brief moment, but that only works if they've been pulverized in an atomic blender so it just becomes a drink anyway. Solid food items just break down too quickly for me to taste. And then I'm left with just the taste of carbon and other elements. It's why I mainly stick to strong tasting drinks, if I wanted to taste stuff as a triangle."
"Would that make you less likely to eat me in your triangle form?"
I scoffed. "It wouldn't stop me, but I would hesitate since it would be a waste to eat you without being able to fully taste you." I eyed him. "If I ever get out of control, please run."
"You're really that curious about how humans taste?" Ford mused. "And the reason you haven't made a constructed human body to eat...?"
"I'm afraid that if I tried, I'll develop a taste for it." I shrugged. Heck, I have a minor craving for some of the other species I've eaten, accidentally or otherwise. But seriously, that species looked just like hamburgers! Hm. Now I want a burger. Great, I just made myself hungry!
"Well." Ford rubbed my shoulders. "Don't eat humans." I huffed. "Then you shouldn't put your body parts near my mouth."
"Fine, that's do-able." He nodded, looking down at my chest. "Well your nipples have softened." That they have. "Ok now let me wash you." I held up the scrub again. Ford nodded as he sat back and regarded me. I reached out to begin scrubbing the soapy brush around his pecs and down his stomach.
"So do you find me attractive because of how delicious I look to you?" He asked as I worked my way down his front. My eyes were straying of course, oooh~ still looks so funny. Just right there, looking so silly. To be honest, my own looked silly too. They all looked silly. Genitals were weird.
"I find you attractive because you're adorable and a dork." I told him, scrubbing his legs now. He can wash between his toes himself. "The muscles are attractive too. But it's like… The shape of your head, the rough calluses on your hands, the fluffy thick hair…" I listed off as I picked up one of his legs to begin scrubbing his feet. Oof, his feet really needed a scrub. He needs to wash between his toes more often. I would do it, but that would involve sticking my fingers between his toes and I'm not into that. "A lot of it is because of your personality and mannerisms." I began cleaning his other foot. "You hit my Moe-button."
"Mow-eh?" Ford frowned.
"Moe. It's an anime thing, but it's applicable in real life if you wanted to categorize it like that." I explained. "Despite how the word is misinterpreted nowadays, the word Moe does not mean 'cute' even though it's very closely related." I lowered his leg and gestured for him to get up. He did so, and then sat back down, straddling his chair backward so I could wash his back. "Moe is not a description. It is not an adjective. Moe is a feeling. An emotion. And Moe is a very personal emotion. Something that triggers Moe in one person might not hit that same button for someone else."
"So what emotion IS moe?" Ford actually seemed interested, which made me grin, because it wasn't often I found someone willing to let me talk about otaku terms and other anime info.
"Moe is the feeling you get when you form a sudden, visceral, affectionate, emotional connection to something or someone. Usually used in the context of a fictional character, but the same feeling happens even with real people or animals. This can be triggered by a person's appearance, or something they said, or something they did." I scrubbed his back, working up a nice bubbly lather. "Like when me and Zoe were watching a show and this character appeared. He was just a box, with a lopsided face drawn on it. And he talked in a squeaky voice. The very first thing he did on screen was flop over onto his face and say, 'Oh, I guess this is my life now.' And Zoe turned to me and told me, 'I love him. I would die for him!'," I snorted at the memory. "And that, is Moe." I nodded sagely. "That one moment, the creation of a deep affectionate devotion to that particular character, that is what Moe truly means." I sighed, going down Ford's back. "But nowadays, people misunderstand and assume Moe means 'cute' due to the prevalence of cute girl anime. Because invoking the feeling of Moe is a personal connection, it would be different for each person. So they attempt to mass market appeal to Moe. And cute little girls being cute and doing cute things, tends to appeal to a lot of the audience. The cuteness makes them lovable, and if it DOES happen to trigger Moe in someone, well, then that person would love to have more content involving the character that invoked that wonderful feeling in them. Enough to buy merchandise relating to that character." I groaned. "And with how much money goes into the character figurine market and other types of merchandise, many creators nowadays are writing and designing characters for the purpose of being made into merchandise. Mainly the female characters. Because they want to appeal to straight male audiences who have too much attraction to underage girls." I muttered.
Ford listened to all this as I scrubbed his arms and lower back. Finally, he spoke, "You feel very strongly about this subject."
"Yes." I huffed. "I won't say that this capitalistic approach to anime is wrong, anime has always been used as a way to sell a product. The Bakemon and Cybermon series were literally started by toy companies, the magical girl genre was popularized and sustained by the merchandise for it. ShounenHop and the creator of Gamer-King literally did a soft reboot of his manga to make it all about the Children's Card Game just so they could create the real life trading cards for money. Anime has always been about selling a product, just as much as it was about telling a story. It's why Miyazaki called anime a 'mistake'. Because he wanted japanese animation to be about the art itself. The story it could tell. The worlds it could create. Rather than the profit margin and mass market appeal to nerds for the sake of pushing merchandise." I sighed. "I'm just… A little upset that it's harder nowadays to find a series whose sole purpose was storytelling, as opposed to commercialization."
"...you really do feel strongly about this." Ford turned his head to look at me. "This… anime thing." I shrugged. "It's not just anime, it's media in general. But it's fine, there are still good stories coming out and being told, so I can overlook the trash content that comes out alongside them."
Ford was frowning in thought. Finally, he turned around fully and placed his hands on my shoulders. "For someone like you, with all of eternity before you, all you have to look forward to is entertainment created by others. Because it's something that was made by other people. It's something that you wouldn't already have knowledge of." He said with a tone of realization. "And… is that why… You love humans so much?"
"You're storytellers." I smiled at him softly. "Creators, dreamers, all of you, every single one of you, has the capacity to create or discover and produce something wonderful." I pressed myself closer to him, chest to chest. "Whether that's a drawing, a written story, a scientific discovery, a house in Minecraft, a short melody, a little dance you do when waiting for the microwave, a series of in-jokes between you and your friends, a quilt, a batch of fresh baked cookies, a poem written in response to something, a sandcastle, a snowman, a photograph of the fallen leaves on an autumn day, a homemade bar of soap, a carved pumpkin, a combination of clothing items into a coordinated outfit, all of it-" I breathed, "-they're all wonderful and beautiful and I LIVE to see them all. To experience them all. The creation of it all." I squeezed Ford's arms, gazing up at him. "Of course I love humans." I managed to get my gaze onto his eyes, even if it felt weird to do so.
Ford's own eyes were wide. He didn't say anything for a long while, long enough that my eyes shyly slid away from his. I made a noise in my throat, still holding Ford's arms, rubbing my hands up and down along them. Ooh, his biceps felt so nice~ I squeezed them, threading my fingers through the hair along his arms. And then I squeaked when Ford wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. "I love you." he breathed.
I made a confused noise. "What brought this on?"
Ford chuckled, burying his face in my hair. "Nothing much, just… I… I really appreciate you. And the way you are. The person you are. You're wonderful and I love you so much."
Oof! Looks like it was full body blush time. I squeaked again. "T-that's- ah- that makes me really happy!" I stuttered. "But I feel like I'm going to explode…" I was burning inside, feeling good and happy and giddy and- I was overloading. I wiggled some more, feeling tight inside my skin, it wasn't big enough, I wasn't big enough to hold all this in.
Ford blinked at my flushed form. I could feel the tingling of my scales growing along my skin. "I swear I'm not worshiping you! Why does this keep happening?" He reached a hand out to cup the side of my face, feeling the brick-scales jutting out. I shivered, leaning into his touch, panting out puffs of heat.
"I'm n-not sure…" I slurred as my eyelids fluttered. I just felt hot and tight all over. Like I was growing larger than my skin, pressing up against it from the inside. Ford moved his hand to my forehead. "You feel feverish, but I don't think you're sick… is the energy surge being converted into heat?"
I leaned away, making an affirmative sound in my throat. "I… I think…" I panted. "T-this might be a Zodiac thing…" I twitched as I felt the bones in my legs enlongating, the scales spreading down along them. I looked down to see they had turned halfway into paws. I wiggled my clawed toes. Ooh, I was definitely losing hold of my human form. "Dad and Blue have both mentioned something about how I could be empowered by it…"
"That's odd. The Zodiac here only kills Bill. Or, it was supposed to, at least." Ford looked down to see my transformed legs as well. "Is this stronger than a worship overload?"
I continued panting out heat, trying to expel this energy in some way. "It feels similar. I- I think… I need some water…" I shuddered at the feeling of scales growing along my back.
Ford turned the shower spray back on me. I groaned as it steamed and hissed when the water touched my skin. Ford's eyes went wide at that. "How… hot are you right now?" He placed his hands on me, wincing a little. "Oh." He carefully moved his hands around. "Your 'skin' is hot, but it just feels feverish. Your bricks are getting hotter, almost like an oven preheating." He noted as he compared how my bricks felt now opposed to just a few minutes before.
"Careful you don't burn yourself " I managed out, leaning my hands on my knees and letting my head fall limp. At least it wasn't getting any worse, the initial surge I revived from Ford's heartfelt words was being distributed along my form and getting more manageable as I used it up. I let out a bestial groan as my arms stretched out into paws, the clawed tips of my hands pressing into my knees where I was gripping.
"Fascinating…" Ford couldn't help but let slip. "I wonder if whatever power boost I can give you only works from verbal triggers?"
"Well I think it's par-cially from the fact that I'm hearing you say outright that you think I'm amazing." I almost wanted to say that getting complimented for who I was, as a person, was what triggered this.
"I said that I love you." Ford corrected. "Because you're wonderful." I whined as the energy I finally managed to get a grip on suddenly got back up. "Foooordsie!" I wiggled, feeling my spine extend upward.
"Oops." His face was pretty funny, but the bones in my jaws growing into a snout kinda made it hard for me to appreciate.
"Why don't you just let go and turn into your dragon form?" Ford pointed out as he stared at my growing form. I huffed out another stream of heat. "I wanted to try and get control over this. If it's really a Zodiac thing, I need to figure out what this does." I groaned as my spine made a crackling sound, growing longer. Wait...
I flicked my clawed fingers and a towel flew towards me. I threw it over Ford's face as he yelped. "Xin?! What the-"
"Don't look at me! I'm hideous!" I wailed, half stumbling and half slithering over to the mirror to see just how fucked up my body currently was. I recoiled a little from the warped thing in the mirror. Oh, it was worse than I thought...
I was...
I was…..
...a furry.
"Nooo!" I wailed covering my face. "It's not even a furry! I'm a scaly!"
Ford pulled the towel off his face. "Well, yes. You do have scales rather than fur. And you have feathers as well."
"Don't patronize me!" I flicked my claws and the towel covered his face again. ("OoF!?")
I huffed out a shot of blue fire as I began pacing back and forth. "Ok, pros… I think I've stopped mutating by this point. Cons…" I glanced back at my reflection. "Well, I mean… I don't hate the anthro aesthetic, in fact I'm quite a fan, but I just looked weird."
"I think you look amazing." Ford threw more oil in the fire. I simmered. "That's very flattering Ford, but right now you're kinda making this wo-" I squeaked as I increased in size, stumbling a little as my head hit the ceiling. "Ow!" Seriously, converting energy to mass maybe wasn't the way to go, but if I went for heat I would probably burn Ford. And light might blind him. What other forms of energy could I convert this into-
Ford yelped as he began floating off the ground. Every other object in the room that wasn't nailed down began to levitate as well. "Hm… gravitational energy also a no-go?" I asked Ford as he waved his arms and legs. "Did you just turn off gravity?!" he cried.
I rolled my eyes. "Of course not. If I turned gravity off then you'd be dead. The earth would explode, everything would fly off in every which way, unable to hold itself together, the heat from the core and the movement of everything would cause the planet to just-" I made a fwoosh sound as I threw my hands out. "And that's not even taking into account the momentum and velocity of how the planet was moving before the gravity all turned off. I mean, without gravity, oxygen would escape the planet and you'd all suffocate, but not before having your eardrums explode for the sudden pressure loss, or just straight up dying from molecules being suddenly torn apart from each other back into their elements and causing everything to just come apart atomically-"
"Wait!" Ford interrupted. "Is this… lessened gravity effect happening all- everywhere?!" Ford gasped. I reached out to pluck him out of the air, myself staying stationary due to simply holding myself in place. "No, I made a barrier around this room. Nothing happening in here will affect the outside. And I'll fix it all later." I looked around. "Also, the floating isn't because I turned gravity off, it's because I'm expelling my energy into the air and making it so the air itself is now pulling on everything else and . And before you ask, I did put a filter up to keep you from breathing it in and being adversely affected by it." I held him up to my eyes, careful to keep him at arm's length so I wouldn't be tempted. I was much bigger than him now. I couldn't help wiggling him around. "Huh. Pros, having fingers so I can actually hold you." I noted, picking up one of his arms and waving it carefully up and down. Had to be careful, didn't want to break him.
"Please put me down." Ford sighed. I did so, letting him float away again. "So… you can readjust gravity?" he asked. I shrugged. "Don't know what you mean by readjust. I simply have more energy and mass inside me than the Earth itself, and therefore my gravitational pull is stronger, if I allow it to affect the world around me." I generally kept it in pure energy form to prevent this sort of thing.
"How much energy do you have?" Ford sounded rather interested now. I couldn't help but stare, distracted by the way he floated around naked. I shook myself back into the present. "Not too sure. More than multiple star systems." I tilted my head. "I have more stored away that I can call up. I've been storing a lot of my energy elsewhere so I would have a much lower chance of exploding."
"I'd bet." Ford nodded. "Fitting that much energy in such a small area must be difficult." he made a swimming motion to try and get to me. I giggled and stretched my tail out for him to grab onto. He hung on and moved to sit on my tail, holding onto it so he wouldn't float away. "Have you calmed down somewhat?" he asked, petting my tail.
"That depends on whether or not you're going to do that 'not-quite-worship' thing again."
"I was merely trying to tell you how much I love you. And the reasons for why I do so."
I wiggled. "It's happening again."
"Are you perhaps… experiencing some sort of feedback loop of your own happiness from hearing me tell you how much I love you, and that adding onto whatever Zodiac thing might be happening?" Ford suggested. I blinked. "I mean, I do convert emotional energy into pure energy… and I'm capable of feeding off myself…"
"Well, I would like to help you figure out how to get control over this." Ford said, patting my tail. "Because I've found that I quite enjoy telling you how wonderful you are, and how much I love you."
"Foooooordsie!" I whined, wiggling back and forth as my cheeks flushed orange. He laughed, pushing off my tail to float over to my chest and wrapped his arms around me. "You're adorable when you're embarrassed~" he teased. I huffed out some more fire, facing away from him as I did so. "You're paying me back for all the embarrassing things I put you through." I muttered.
"Indeed!" Ford threw back his head and outright cackled. Ah, he DID grow up with Sebastian and Stan after all. I rolled my eyes fondly. "Well it's still my birthday! And I still want that bath." I rubbed a clawed hand down my side. "You're just giving yourself more work on washing me."
"Maybe I like this excuse to spend more time with you." Ford shot back.
I swooned. "Dammit Fordsie!" he laughed, smug as could be. Everything around us floated back into their proper places as I fixed gravity in the area, just opting to send the excess energy inside me to more useful things, like building another Island. I wonder how long it'd take for the humans to notice all the people suddenly moving out of their apartments? Or the lack of homeless on the streets?
Ford patted my belly, pulling me out of my thoughts on how much it helped the homeless community when my herald told them of me and my offers of sanctuary...
"Come on, let's get you in the tub." Ford smiled up at me. "I hope the water hasn't gone cold."
"With how warm I feel, I'm probably gonna heat it back up." I slithered over. Ford chuckled as he stepped into the jacuzzi. "Well, you are quite hot."
"You're getting flirting advice from Stanley, aren't you?" I huffed through my smile.
"He's quite good at it." Ford admitted, scratching his nose bashfully. He got the scrub again and I relaxed into the water as he started rubbing me down. Oooh~ that feels so nice on my scales...
"I'd like to study this… erm… scaly form of yours too sometime."
I groaned and buried my head underwater. "Fine~ but only because you're super cute when you're studying something."
And yes, the way his face lit up was absolutely adorable. God, why was he so cute?
I suppose I just loved his enthusiasm. The childish delight he has with doing the things he loved. There were so many people I knew who'd get so accustomed to life that nothing really gets a rise out of them anymore. But for Ford? Well, even if it's just something little, so long as it's something new, he'd be just as interested and motivated as anything. I curled myself around him as he continued rubbing the scrub along my scales.
"Remind me to take you to Avelin sometime." I purred. "It's a planet filled with lizardfolk. You could compare anatomy."
"Oh? Are they similar to the Eix Leel?"
"Max's people were descended from dinosaurs. The Avelians are an entirely different species that evolved reptile-like traits." I grinned. "It's a wonderful example of Convergent Evolution."
"Much like how lots of things get canine-like traits." Ford noted. "Or how almost all crustaceans end up crab-like."
"It's a very efficient body design." I hummed. "There are so many familiar looking species out there. In the multiverse. I tend to refer to them using the earth species that I know as a reference point. Is that unfair of me? Especially since in my 'set, the Earth is one of the newer planets and Corsclapians actually evolved before wolves and I should actually be referring to wolves as Cors-like?"
"I think you're allowed to categorize things in whatever way you best understand them." Ford patted my head.
"This coming from the guy who still corrects people's grammar?"
"The English language is an utter mess. I need to enforce some structure to prevent complete anarchy!" Ford protested.
"Down with webster! Viva de revolución!" I cheered.
"It's 'la revolucion'." Ford corrected.
I stared at him, my purposeful joke flying right over his fluffy little head. "You're cute." I laid my head down in his lap.
"I'd like to think I'm handsome." he pouted.
"You are the handsomest~" I assured him.
Ford was about to respond but he ended up yawning. Oh right, it was getting late. I helped Ford wash up as well and the both of us got out of the tub. "Can I dry you off with magic?" I asked. Ford nodded, without really thinking about it. He jumped when I breathed blue fire all over him.
Once the fires went out, with Ford dry and smelling of roses, with not a single burn anywhere, Ford sighed. "I should have asked for clarification first."
"You shave by setting your face on fire. Don't at me." I laughed, grabbing a towel to wrap around my waist. The issue with being in this anthro form was that I had to actually cover myself. Ford wrapped a towel around his waist as well, walking over to open the door.
And Soos fell over into the room, whimpering.
We stared at the new Mr. Mystery.
"Dudes, I've been waiting for the bathroom forever~" Soos wailed. He was wiggling. "I really need to go dude, like seriously. Like, dam's about to burst and stuff!"
I quickly pushed Ford out of the room. "Go ahead man."
Soos stumbled to his feet, pressing his legs together. "Thanks naked snake man." and the door shut in our faces. Ford winced. "I guess we took too long."
"I should build more bathrooms in this house." was my only comment. Ford turned to me. "...maybe. I'll have to think about that. This is still my house after all."
"I'll ask you first~" I assured him.
We made our way back to his room and I crawled into his bed, shuffling around in a circle a few times as I fluffed his blankets and pillows. Ford watched me finally lay down. "Is the nesting behavior something inherent to the species your vessel is, or to you in particular?"
"Bit of both." I yawned. Ford climbed into bed beside me, wiggling to slip between my much larger mass. "Xin, I don't think I can fit into the bed." he deadpanned. Then he straightened as an idea occurred to him. "Hey, do you feel up to switching forms?"
I rolled my head over to look at him. "To who?"
"William." Ford smiled. I blinked. "You really like William that much?" I was almost jealous. Of myself.
"I think they're the cutest one." Ford admitted. I was bright orange again. I quickly sent this energy off to restocking Void Deliveries' warehouse supplies. "Well, alright~" I shrank down, able to do so now that I wasn't full to bursting anymore. William was small, especially compared to Ford. I was a little miffed to be small again. Being bigger than Ford was kinda fun.
Before I could think more about the inherent fun that came from being bigger than other people, Ford wrapped his arms around me and pulled me up against his chest.
"You're the perfect size to hold." He whispered into my hair. And there I was, burning again. Ahhh Ford, even if it's my birthday, there's only so much a demon can take in one night!
I didn't respond, too flustered to come up with words, and also because my face was being pressed into Ford's broad chest and I was too distracted by the feeling of his skin against my cheek. I closed my eye, relaxing into the embrace.
"You're warm. That's another thing I love about you." Ford yawned. "And soft. Like a hot water bottle that fits perfectly in my arms." And I was fitting near perfectly in here, my head tucked under his chin, his arms around my lower back. Ford wasn't as furry and soft as Xanthar, but he was comfortable too.
"Happy Birthday Bill." Ford whispered. I tried not to let him see how happy I felt at being called by my actual name. Xin and William were me. But… I was always Bill on the inside. Even if Miz felt comfortable to be. Even if Zyun-Jan used to be how I identified myself.
I'm Bill Cipher.
And I think… that I didn't want to pretend to be anyone else for a while.
Hesitantly, I shifted again, shrinking in his arms as Ford made a confused sound.
His confusion turned to realization and to my surprise, he merely adjusted his hold on me, not even flinching once.
And before I could fully process that, Ford kissed the bricks above my eye. "You're beautiful, Bill."
...good thing I still had my energy set to go elsewhere, or I think I might have burned Ford's room down.
It was a wonderful birthday. I almost couldn't work up the desire to leave and head back to my side. Only the knowledge that Ford would still be here in the morning when I returned kept me from just snatching him up and taking him with me, to keep him forever. I know he wouldn't like that. But his words, his touch, his presence, it just...
...sometime inside me settled down, almost like it was satisfied.
I've never been satisfied.
This was a new feeling, being so calm and content. Not like I've never been content before, but I was just so relaxed. And I found myself wondering once again, was this what 'love' was? I know I didn't fully understand it. Love in all it's forms.
I knew that I loved, I loved with all my being. But telling the different kinds of love apart was something I was still learning. I could only go with my gut feelings, since anything more in depth would require understanding, knowledge and experience.
Well, I was getting that all important experience now, wasn't I?
The experiences I needed to learn and grow up.
I only hoped the things I learned here would lead me down the path to being able to do something I've never been able to do before.
I was very good at loving people. Loving others.
But perhaps...
Someday...
I could learn to love myself.
