Okay, this chapter gets a bit hurt/comfort, as Skye finally gets a chance to really decompress.
It's also kinda fluff and cuteness, because I apparently can't help myself =P
Chapter 9
Swinging open the door to her apartment, Skye wasted no time in flopping down onto the sofa, her ears flicking as she heard Taylor door shut behind her.
"Not much I know, but what's mine is, well, mine, but you're welcome to most of the stuff in here, my mother wouldn't even notice if half the stuff out here vanished." She said, her voice muffled by the sofa cushion her face was buried in. "Just don't go into the room with the yellow door. In fact, just don't even open it." Using her tail, she picked up her laptop and hoisted it over, rolling over and planting it on her legs, affording a glance towards an uncomfortable-looking Taylor. "Hey, nothing in here is gonna bite you...and considering your circumstances that includes any bugs that are around."
Reaching an arm up, she patted the sofa above her head, watching with a grin as Taylor came over and sat down. "I guess...I mean, I haven't been around anyone else's house in...a long time." She eventually admitted, drooping slightly. Rolling her eyes, Skye flicked her ears against Taylor's hand, grinning backwards at her as she looked down at her questioningly.
"You don't need to be on edge here Taylor, I promise." She said quietly, flipping open her laptop and browsing for music, idly wondering whether she could just connect her suit to the internet and have it download a bunch of songs for her to listen to. Then again, she could just will into existence a suit that already had all of her favourite songs, so it was kinda redundant.
It was Skye's turn to be surprised when Taylor brushed a finger slowly against her ear, making it twitch and flick. "Sorry, I just got curious. I'm guessing your ears are super-sensitive then?" Skye nodded, reaching up with a hand and brushing her hand against her ear, trying to find a way to describe it to Taylor. There wasn't really any good words to describe what touching her ears felt like, because it wasn't an experience she'd ever felt before. It just felt amazing, and that was really the only way she could put it.
She dropped her head back, her ears brushing Tayor's thigh. "It's...hard to describe. I mean, it'd be like describing how it feels for a guy to have a penis, y'know? It's not really...ugh, you know what I mean, right?" Skye asked, raising an upside-down eyebrow at Taylor before focusing on her laptop again, bringing up some music and setting it to play before closing her laptop with a snap and setting it off on the table with her tail.
"Yeah, it's like trying to describe how it feels for me to be able to control insects and stuff. So, it feels good when you get ear scratches huh?" Skye tipped her head slightly to look at Taylor, narrowing her eyes at her innocent expression. Sitting up, she drew her legs up to her chest and bundled herself up in her tail, peeking out at Taylor, who simply nonchalantly stretched her legs out.
"I'm not a cat you know, and I can't help it if my ears are erogenous zones!" Taylor's cheeks reddened immediately, to which Skye rolled her eyes. "Not erotic zones, erogenous. It means an area with heightened sensitivity. Sure, it can generate that kind of...response, the same way that having a good massage can do the same. My tail is pretty much one big but moderate erogenous zone, and my ears are about a million times more sensitive, to the point even wind makes them feel good." Her voice dropped slightly at that admission, to which Taylor grinned.
When Skye opened her mouth to question it, Taylor balled up her cheeks then blew a gust of air at her, making her ears flicker. "Aww, I was hoping you'd purr again or something." Reaching around with her tail, she bopped Taylor on her head, retracting the tail before she could grab it. "Oh, I see how it is..." Taylor said slowly, leaping at her and making her laugh as she rolled backwards over the sofa, forced to wrap her arms around her stomach as she started laughing, Taylor having face-planted straight into the cushion at the other end of the sofa.
The girl rose and vaulted the sofa, forcing her to hop back and avoid her trying to grab her, then spending the next five minutes darting around the apartment as Taylor chased her, laughter forcing its way out of her. It made her happy to see a wide grin on Taylor's face as well, the now-energetic girl a far cry from the shy and introverted girl she'd met not six hours ago. It was obvious that Taylor just...she needed a friend, someone who would let her actually be happy, and if Skye was able to be that friend, then she'd do her damnest to never betray that. Though, as Taylor caught her in a headlock and began insistently brushing and tugging on her ears, maybe she should have reconsidered that slightly.
A sudden pinch to her ear prompted an unconscious whine from her throat, and Taylor blinked in surprise as she was suddenly holding thin air, Skye having slipped out of her grasp. "Okay, don't...do that, please. I...it..." Skye tried a few times before dropping her arms. "You trusted me and told me about your powers, so...well, I might as well tell you a secret of mine in exchange. but...I beg you to please never tell anybody. Ever." The firmness of her tone seemed to surprise Taylor out of her staring, and the girl dropped her own head, apologizing quietly. "No, don't. It's...just that it's...something about me means that when you did that...it's not just painful."
Taylor stared for a few moments before her lips drew into a ring, her expression relating surprised realization, making Skye grin as she led her into her bedroom and they sat down on her bed, Skye wrapping herself up in her tail. "Okay, so...I got hurt on Wednesday, but...for me, it's been more like...a few years." She murmured quietly, though the sharp intake of breath from Taylor told her that the girl had heard her. "I...when I fell, I woke up, and I was surrounded by things. The 'Possessed' is what they were called, and when I woke up, I screamed, since they had...holes in their head where their faces should be, leaving just their teeth."
She shivered lightly, tightening up her tail around herself. "And...when I...when I screamed, they attacked me. I couldn't move, I was chained down, and they tore my..." She gestured at her throat, wincing at Taylor's horrified expression. "Then I woke up again, in the exact same situation, and the fact I just had my throat torn out meant I bolted upright. They attacked me again and once more, and then I managed to stay still. They relied on sound and movement you see, and so as long as I was careful, they wouldn't attack me. I don't want to go into...too much detail, but I got free and found a suit of armour and a weapon."
Taking a breath, she glanced up from where her gaze had fallen to her hands fiddling with the fur of her, dropping her eyes again. "Then...I died again. And again. Over and over again to so many...things. Some of them were..." Skye shut her eyes, miming a pistol with her hand and putting it against her chest, clenching slightly at the noise Taylor made, her stomach dropping.
She told Taylor a tiny fraction of what she went through, then covered herself in her fur. "And...as it went on...according to my suit, my brain started trying to find a way to cope with all the pain. It started releasing endorphins every time I felt pain, both to try and blunt how much it hurt, as well as making me feel good to offset the bad. But...well, it worked too well, and now..." She peeled her tail back enough to show the bruise on her jaw, running her finger along it delicately. "When I feel pain, it feels good."
She glanced up at Taylor, biting her lip as she saw tears forming in the girl's eyes. She saw it coming, but she still let out a yelp of surprise when Taylor reached forwards and pulled her into a hug, her forehead coming to rest on Taylor's shoulders. Then, Taylor started rubbing her back and quietly comforting her. An itching behind her eyes caught her by surprise, and she realized she was actually crying.
Skye tried to control her tears, but the constant reassurances and comfort of Taylor just...pushed all of that away, and she decided that just for once, just for this moment, she could let herself fall apart. She didn't have to be strong, not here. There weren't any demons who would take advantage of her weakness, it was just Taylor there with her, and she'd already seen her crying, so more wouldn't hurt. Somehow, her head migrated to laying on Taylor's thigh while the girl gently toyed with her ears. She let her eyes drift shut, enjoying the feeling as Taylor twirled her fingers around her ears, gently folding and rolling them, brushing them inside and out, while her tail was folded up between her legs and flicked from side to side across her chest. "Taylor?"
The girl hummed, and Skye peeked an eye open to look at her, seeing that her eyes were still watery, teardrops running down her cheek and onto her chin where they dropped onto her chest. "I don't...I really don't get-" She cut off with a sniff. "How could you do it? Years of...that, but you're still able to just...to just lie here and let me play with your ears like it was nothing. How could you ever-" Taylor cut herself off, leading Skye to frown as she looked at her, another sniff before she continued. "How could you ever question your own strength after enduring something like that?" Skye shrugged, and her throat rumbled as she felt Taylors' hands clasp her ears and her nails scraped them both delicately, her eyes closing unconsciously as Taylor ran slow, soothing rings inside of them with her thumbs.
"I just...did. I wanted to go home, so I took that dream, I held it tight, and I didn't let go of it until I cut Hayden apart and...-" She drifted off, her eyes remaining shut as she sighed. "-...and I made it home." That was how she eventually decided to end it, deciding against telling Taylor about the ball or the fact she absorbed the Crucible. "There are...well, a few things I left out, but I...don't want to talk about them, okay?" Taylor nodded at her, an arm rising to wipe her eyes with her sleeve.
"It's fine...and thanks for...y'know, trusting me." Skye grinned up at Taylor, flicking her ears. "I guess this makes us even at least." After a moment more, Taylor rolled her hand around her ears and brushed them with her thumb, making Skye's lips curl upwards. "Well, are you still planning to find Parian and ask about working with her? Because I think that...well, spider silk is pretty soft and durable as long as it isn't made sticky. Between us three, we'd probably be able to make some killer clothing." Considering that, Skye hummed.
In her mind, spider silk wasn't very strong, but that was because she was picturing the absolutely tiny strands that spiders wove. If it was all woven together and layered, maybe it'd be stronger? Taylor obviously had put some thought into it after all. "Hey, you probably know more about your abilities than me, so if you say that spider silk is soft and durable, I believe you. I mean, just by looking at my tail, you wouldn't assume it's as soft as it is, would you?" Skye waggled her tail from side to side for good measure, drawing Taylor's eye.
"Nope, and the first thing we're making is a set of spider-silk fur scarves." Rolling her eyes, Skye waved her tail about before shrinking it to its normal size, sitting up and yawning casually. "So, how long can I stay here? Because I figure I should probably get back at least sometime tonight." When Skye turned to raise an eyebrow at her, Taylor folded her arms. "Dad doesn't like mobile phones because of...what happened, so we only have a landline at home and the office phone at work, no mobiles." Blinking, Skye gave Taylor a deadpan look, making her shift from side to side. "I know, it's illogical, but that's why fears like that are called irrational."
Patting Taylor on the back with her tail, Skye got up off the bed and made for the door, hearing her walking along behind. "Hey, I'm not judging. We have a phone on the wall you can use if you want to call him, and I don't mind cooking you some dinner. If you want me to, I can walk you back home, since you'd have to cross ABB territory if you went in a straight line. But, it would be nice to have someone to eat with for once..." She grinned when Taylor bopped her on the head with her fist, utterly unrepentant.
"Fine, I'll stay for dinner, but only if you come over to mine tomorrow. Trust me, dad would be happy to meet you, and he makes a killer lasagna. Plus, maybe a third person at the table would make dinner a more fun experience." Skye smiled, heading for the kitchen and picking through the cabinets and the fridge/freezer to find some food to put together, whilst in the background she heard Taylor pick up the phone from its cradle and start dialling a number.
She deliberately toned out Taylor's voice, not wanting to invade her privacy, and instead grabbed a few bits and pieces, placing them on the counter and starting to prep them. After a few minutes, Taylor came into the kitchen, leaning on the doorframe. "Dad said that's fine, he was about to call the house again because he's working late tonight. I'm just glad I actually called him, since he was getting worried about there not being a response." Humming in agreement, Skye gestured at the food.
"This all look alright to you? I should have asked if you have any allergies actually, sorry." Taylor stayed where she was and shrugged, telling her that she didn't have any known allergies, so as long as she was using common cooking ingredients, she'd be fine. They chatted back and forth, Taylor setting the table, when Skye's mother came in, sparing a glance at Taylor before walking past and straight into her room, the door slamming shut as her usual. "Don't mind her, she's..."
Skye trailed off at the look on Taylor's face. "A drug addict." Taylor finished for her, her face obviously not pleased at what she saw. Skye shrugged and turned her focus back to cooking, hearing the scrape of wood as Taylor pulled out one of the wooden chairs from the table and sat on it. "So, when you said you and your mother just kinda ignore each other, you really meant it like that?"
Nodding, Skye snagged some extra food and added it to the mix, talking as she did so. "She...when dad died, she took it hard. Like, scarily hard. I was old enough to know what had happened and pretty much had a crash-course for how to live, since she was too busy taking drugs to numb the pain of her loss. She really loved him, and...well, that's the result." They lapsed into silence, broken only by the wooden spoon scraping against the bottom of the pan, or the spitting of oil and liquids.
Plating up the food onto three, she took one out and knocked on her mothers door, the door opening and her hand reaching out just long enough to give her a small roll of dollars then take the plate. Heading back into the kitchen, she tucked away the money then sat down at the table, the cash catching Taylor's eye. "What's that for? I thought you said your mother only ever gave you cash on rare occasions."
She took a bite of food before responding. "It's not cash for me specifically, it's for buying food for the week. Sixty bucks, enough that if I'm good about it, I'll have some extra off the top to use for my own needs. She knows that I won't just spend it stupidly, so she just gives me the cash for the week, and in return, we just...exist together. I cook the food, or if she wants something else she'll just tell me so, usually in a sentence or less, or by leaving a note before she goes to work."
"And you're...okay with that?" Taylor asked hesitantly, drawing Skye's attention to the fact she hadn't even had a bite to eat yet. Shrugging, she looked between Taylor's eyes. Sure, it wasn't exactly an ideal loving family situation, but it was better than nothing at all. Skye got what she wanted, her mother got what she wanted, they both came out of it with what they wanted. "It's not right. A parent shouldn't..." Taylor cut herself off with a shake of her head. "Sorry. Just me being nosy."
"Taylor, look." Skye muttered, putting her cutlery down and folding her hands together. "I'm happy with this. Meeting you and being your friend was...is, nice. And trust me, I've lived like this for a while now, so I really, genuinely don't mind it. I get that it isn't nearly a normal or optimal way to live, really, but I'm happy living like this. I don't have someone looking over my shoulder every five minutes to make sure I'm not doing something I'm not allowed to do. And I get a small bit of money each week depending on what I can save on, kinda like pocket money that varies based on how much of a saving I can make."
She picked her cutlery back up, watching Taylor sigh and take a bite of her own food, a smile pulling on her lips when she perked up. "I guess. I mean, you seem happy enough, and hell, I've only known you for like, today, so I can't exactly judge. It just...drugs scare me. I told you about that time when I was a kid on the bus didn't I?" Skye nodded, the smile on her face fading away as she remembered Taylor's rather...vivid description of a meth addict freaking out on the bus when she was a child. "I don't...you wouldn't ever use drugs, would you?"
Humming, Skye quirked her mouth to the side. "Not...well, it's a technicality, but my suit used stimulants. Think fo them like adrenaline or something, enhanced reflexes and stuff like that. I never got addicted to them or anything, but I did technically use drugs. And no, I have absolutely no intention of ever touching a regular drug. Painkillers and shit, sure, I'll take them if I need them, but nothing like what my mother does."
Taylor perked up at that, eating more heartily as they moved from the heavy topic to lighter things. As it turned out, they both didn't really have an eye for fashion, but they both had abilities Parian could probably make handy use of, so as long as they could find other ways to be helpful, maybe the young woman would actually take them on. If that failed, they could always just be normal. Taylor had admitted that she had plans to become a hero, but they were more made out of a childish desire to use her powers to fight bad guys.
And, after seeing the attention Skye got just because of her body changing in a way she couldn't hide, she had realized that maybe powers weren't all they were chalked up to be. That was cemented by her pointing out that just fighting bad guys wasn't going to make the world a better place, not when it came down to it. If she wanted to really change the world for the better, she'd have to do better than putting on a skintight outfit and going out to fight bad guys, making quips and punching faces. She'd need to use her head, her intellect, to make a lasting and real impact on the world at large.
Then, of course, she just had to go and ruin the inspirational moment by making Skye blush, saying that she already was Taylor's hero, saving her from Sophia and the other girls.
Crossing Brockton Bay late at night was most definitely inadvisable for normal people.
The route they had to take took them through ABB territory, and since they were both white, teenagers and alone, that meant that to pretty much any gangbanger in the area, they were both fair game, and juicy targets. Of course, she wasn't normal, and neither was Taylor. Taylor was using insects to keep an eye out, acting as an early warning system that kept them away from any of the ABB. That meant they made it all the way through ABB territory only having to pass one pair of ABB grunts, who only looked at them a single time before ignoring them entirely, probably busy doing something else.
As they came upon Taylor's house, she took note of the beaten-up car outside and the dilapidated state of the house, reinforcing her perspective of Taylor's father as being a man far too busy for minor things like a split-through bottom step, grass that was overgrowing, fading paint and a heavily-rusted fence. "Well, this is me. I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow then?" Skye nodded, reaching out to give Taylor a brief hug.
"Yeah, I'll see you in homeroom." With a brief wave, Taylor hopped up the steps to her house and into the front door, while Skye tucked her hands away in her pockets and strolled back the way they'd come from, her tail swaying from side to side carelessly. As she walked, she pondered how she was going to get in touch and convince Parian to take her and Taylor on. Sure, they could offer very nice materials, but there was still the issue of actually being a partner rather than a subordinate.
After Hayden had bossed her around, she had a pretty firm view about not letting someone command her around any longer, and if Parian started demanding she do things, she wouldn't take it well. Taylor was in the usable situation of having to actually be taught what to do, since she had to make her spiders weave the silk, but with Skye, she could just make it so that her tail shed all its fur then regrew it over a short period.
She would need to make an excuse there, like it making her tired since her tail is replicating fur. That was her running idea for her ability to pull items out of thin air, making it out to be that if she did it too much she'd get tired. Of course, if Parian just decided they were too much hassle, then they'd pretty much be high and dry in that front. Taylor definitely had an eye for designing, since over the afternoon and into the night she had idly sketched a design for a scarf that was lined with fur, made from interwoven spider silk.
Letting out another yawn, she raised her arms and cracked her back a few times, blinking away the moisture from the yawn and humming. There was someone looking at her. She focused a little bit more on her sixth sense and picked out that they were watching her from behind, and slowly getting closer. Rolling her eyes to herself, she kept walking, her tail elongating as she rubbed her arms then wrapped it around herself.
Coming up to a crossroads, she looked each way, a glance backwards showing that a red-and-green clad ABB member was following her. She spared him a moment of observation before pointedly turning away, smirking as her ears heard the angered growl he let out, and the click of a folding knife of some sort was locked into place. As she made to cross the street, he spoke up, his knife pressing against her back. "Alright you wolf-ass slut, wallet and keys then get on your knees, or I'll cut your fucking tail off and feed you it."
Turning slowly, she smiled at him, her eyes twinkling in amusement at his confused glare. "I think...-" She then reached out and grabbed his wrist, tightening her grasp and making him yell in surprised pain. "-not. You see, I might have let you go with a warning, but then you threatened to cut my tail off. I quite like my tail, you see, and threatening it like you did, well, it'd be like threatening to cut a man's dick off." Twisting his wrist, she forced the man down to a knee. "So, I think it'd be only fair that, as you threatened something so valuable to me, I should do something equal to you as you threatened me with, capisce?"
She grinned as the terrified realization washed across his face and he began to splutter apologies and promises. Rolling her eyes, she snapped her knee out, cracking him in the face and making him bow over, quickly sweeping her leg around and axe-kicking him into the ground, leaving him in an unconscious bundle. Huffing slightly, she turned away and crossed the street, leaving him where he fell. If someone found him, they could decide what to do with him.
Honestly, threatening to cut her tail off, what an idiot.
There were no more incidents as she made her way across Brockton Bay, a peaceful walk which ended as she stepped inside, leaning against the door with a sigh.
That was the first time she'd caused someone a real injury. Her little scuffle with Sophia didn't count, and she didn't count Hayden as human, he was a robotic asshole who deserved what he got for trying to betray her. The demons obviously weren't counted, otherwise she'd be the most prolific murderer in existence. But that was her first time putting someone under her foot, and it felt...wrong.
She enjoyed scaring him, sure, but that was because she was angry that he threatened to cut her tail off. But when it came to actually putting him down, she just...didn't really like it. Her disassociation with killing only extended to those she really hated, or those that obviously weren't human. That was...hopefully, a good thing, the fact that she didn't want to kill people. And her actions definitely could kill him. If nobody had found him by now, he might be dying.
Not that she cared enough to go back or even use her powers to save him, if he died then it was his own fault for doing what he did. His way of speaking, calling her a 'wolf-ass slut' and ordering her to get on her knees, it all told her that he probably wasn't just looking for her money or her keys. That was something she definitely would not forgive, nor forget. Maybe she was reading too much into his intimidation attempt, and he was deliberately trying to make her scared, to make her appreciate that he wasn't actually doing what he implied, settling for the money instead.
But she had to go off remembering his tone, body language, the way he stood and the way he said those words, and they told her that he had every intention of satisfying himself with her body as well as the contents of her wallet and taking her keys, probably planning to force her to take him home so he could steal everything there as well. Shaking her head, Skye pushed off the door, breezing past the living room where her mother was watching the television and disappearing into her bedroom, flopping onto the bed with a grumble.
Her nose twitched, and she realized that she still had her enhanced sense of smell, meaning the odd scent she was detecting was Taylor. Taylor...her friend. It was weird to think about the fact that she actually had a friend, someone to bring over after school or to visit herself. She'd never actually been inside someone else's house, the only abode she'd ever known was the apartment.
She smiled as she raised her hands to her ears and gently rubbed at them. Taylor was cool as well, she would toy with her ears and her hair while they just chatted about inane things, or would ask Skye for feedback about her doodles. Having an actual friend was an utterly new experience, and she meant it when she said that she would never betray her. And she had powers! That wasn't something she expected when she found her washing out her things in the toilets. Sure, not as flashy as Alexandria or Eidolon or Legend, but still powerful in its own right. She was basically the perfect pest controller, and she could definitely use that to protect herself as well as the more economic focus of being able to produce clean, or just not-sticky spider silk.
Taylor had plans for gathering up a bunch of spiders, which she would use to make a demonstration piece for Parian using the drawing she'd done. Skye would basically just need to shed her tail fur and gather it up, and it could be used like a commodity, making her feel as though she had the easier job, and she was right. That also meant Parian would probably take on Taylor properly, but Skye would likely be left just as a supplier. She bit back her flash of annoyance at that thought. Nothing was set in stone yet, and the softness of her tail fur meant Parian would probably not want to alienate her, not least as it'd mean Taylor wouldn't be happy that her friend was being pushed to the sidelines. But there was always the chance that Parian would just turn them down anyway.
After all, nothing was guaranteed.
"Morning, Skye."
Blinking, Skye glanced at Taylor, noting the fact that she was now sat at the desk beside her, rather than the one in the other corner. Sitting down, she looked at Taylor. "Heya Taylor. I'm guessing you asked the teacher if you could move? Then again, Mr Gladly would probably just call it 'hip' and 'cool' that you've decided to move yourself." She grinned as Taylor snorted and covered her mouth.
"Yeah, I told him I'm moving and that if he wanted to he could bring it up with you. I figured you'd be okay with it?" Skye rolled her eyes at that. As if she wouldn't be okay with Taylor moving. Having her in the desk beside her meant that nobody annoying could try to move there. "So, did you get home okay last night? I would have called to ask but I don't actually know your home number?" Skye blinked, then pulled out her phone, a cheap thing with a top-up phone plan she could just about manage with the extra cash from the money her mother gave her.
She brought up her number and quickly scribbled it down on the corner of her notebook then tore it out and gave it to Taylor. "There we go, now if you really need to, you can call me. I don't have many minutes though, so seriously, please only do it if you really need to. If you can, try and get a cheap phone of your own, that way you can text me, it's way cheaper than calling." As she spoke, Skye opened her contacts and selected one of the only three in there, the other two being the landline for the apartment and her mother's phone.
Writing down the apartment number, she again tore her paper and handed it to Taylor. "Thanks. I'll look into getting one, and I guess my dad would be happy with it so long as I only used it for emergencies or when I'm at home or an otherwise safe place." Skye nodded, eventually just deciding to tear out the entire page from her notebook and start doodling, the act of which caught Taylor's attention. "You draw as well?"
Skye waved her hand about. "A little bit, though it's way less impressive than your drawing. It's just my own little doodling." Flipping her notebook opened, she passed it to Taylor's desk, letting her go through the random drawings as she sketched, whilst inside her mind she was trying to figure out the best way to sell letting her and Taylor join up with Parian's little business. She could maybe go into it making it clear that she and Taylor were a package deal, but that made them sound too close, and they were just friends. Maybe...no, there wasn't really a way to make Parian take them both, they'd just have to rely on her deciding that it wasn't worth the hassle. "Um...Skye?"
Blinking, Skye raised her head, her eyes narrowing as she saw Sophia holding her notepad. Skye put her pencil back, and adopted the most level voice she could manage. "Would you kindly give my notebook back to Taylor?" When Sophia snorted and tossed the pad to Madison, Skye got up, her lips decidedly not adopting any sense of amusement at the flicker that passed across Sophia's face. "I don't want to have to ask again. Give. The notebook. Back." Madison definitely seemed to be the weakest link of the three girls, and Sophia giving her the book was an odd decision.
"Aww, is the book precious? Maybe secrets about your creepy adoration for the dork? Did she ever tell you how she had to cry to get to sleep when she was younger? Then again, I guess she'd want to latch onto you, two creeps that the rest of the school knows should have just been kicked out. Dumb dork could eve-" Skye turned her focus to Emma, halting her tirade mid-word as she levelled a glare against her.
"Say. Another. Fucking. Word. I dare you." Satisfied in how cowed Emma seemed to be, she returned her focus to the ringleader of the little group. Normally, she would have adopted some kind of faux-thoughtful pose, or used her tail in some way, but no. Right now her tail was rock-steady and her ears were fully taut, both fact of which seemed to be getting into the subconscious of the three girls as the proof that they had just pissed her off severely. "I warned you yesterday that Taylor is my friend. She is off-limits to your bullying. This is your second warning. If you try this shit again..." Skye shook her head.
Taylor had confided in her that she didn't want to hurt her bullies. So Skye would respect that. She wouldn't hurt them...physically at least. Mentally terrifying them and making the very thought of annoying her cause them to quiver was fair game in her mind. "Sh-she can have the stupid fucking book then. Fucking queer, do wolf parts get you off then or something?" Sophia snarled, snatching the notepad and tossing it at her.
With a wave of her tail she grabbed it and put it back on Taylor's desk, watching as the three girls pulled a hasty retreat to their own seats near the front of the class. Sighing softly, she let her tail started waving like normal, her ears settling and cramping slightly from being pulled taut. "Taylor?" She asked softly, turning to look at her only to see that she was wide-eyed and staring at her. "Taylor?" She asked again, grabbing her chair and sitting down closer to her.
"Am...am I going to have to get used to you being a knight in shining armour or something?" Taylor said with a small smile, to which Skye blushed lightly and rubbed her neck, then yelped as Taylor grabbed her and hugged her. "Thank you." She whispered softly, tightening her grasp. Skye reciprocated the hug, wrapping her tail around her and rubbing her back lightly. "Nobody's ever stood up for me before, it's...thank you." She said again, the earnestness in her voice catching Skye off-guard. Breaking the hug, she used her tail to brush Taylor's head, grinning as she shivered from the feeling of the fur.
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
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