Chapter 2: complicated emotions
3 days had gone by since ember had first arrived and she was still as antisocial as ever, however periodically she did come out of her room to eat but sometimes she still felt the urge to hunt for food which discouraged Armen, but not a lot, sure she was extremely stubborn and hated him, but that wasn't going to stop him from making this work, so today he was going convince her to join him for a walk and he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
The clock just struck 11:00 am sharp, armen was about to embark, he climbed up the stairs and knocked on ember's door
"Hey ember!, can we talk a sec?"
She cracked the door enough to fit her head through and leered down at the human with a scathing sneer
"What?" She hissed
"Um hey, good to see you up!, so I was wondering if you'd like to go on a little walk with me this afternoon, I know this great little spot we can-"
"No" she replies coldly
"Oh, well perhaps maybe we could just watch a movie together later if that's easier for you" armen encourages
"What are you playing at human?" She inquires
"Excuse me?" he responds quizzically
She steps out of her room into full view of the human, blood encrusted on her claws from her previous meal
"I said what are you playing at human? Why are you acting this way toward me?"
"I'm you're host..it's my job to-"
"Cut the bullshit! I don't need charity from you! What are you after? What do you hope to gain from this interaction?"
"Gain? What are you talking about ember? I'm here to take care of you, I'm your host there's nothing else to it, my only wish is for us to get to know eachother"
"You're pathetic" she remarks colder than before "Not even being honest with yourself about your own intentions, all of you greedy little creatures have ulterior motives"
"Ember...what have I done to envoke this kind of anger from you? All I'm trying to do is be a good host for you"
"You were born, and I don't need to be "taken care of" by a loathsome runt like you"
Those words pierced him deep, armen had always been looked down on by his peers, but being insulted by liminals was something different altogether and for some reason riled him up, she was about to turn for her room but armen stopped her mid-stride
"Hey! Hold it lizard breath!"
She slowly turned around to leer at him once more
"What did you just call me?" She seethes, her eyes cold and steely
"You heard what I said damnit! All I'm trying to do is make this work! You being uncooperative, sullen and irritable is not going to make this better! I am doing damnedest to try to help you, but all you do is just blow me off and I'm not gonna stand for it!"
She turned around and slowly stomped toward him jostling the floor and leaving crack indentions from her every footfall, her fists clenched and her orange eyes glowing and slitting to faint ovals with nothing but pure rage.
"You insolent cur...who the hell do you think you are?!"
"I am your host family ember!" He shouts
"Are you challenging me human filth?!"
"If that's how you take it than yes! I have done absolutely nothing to deserve this hostility from you-"
She grabbed him and slammed him against a wall, leaving indention from the impact
"YOU ARE NOTHING!!! You're just like all the other perverted disgusting male trash!"
"Ember..."
"You know nothing about me!!, do you think you can even fathom what I've been through?!"
"Ember please...tell me, why do you hate me so much?"
"That last host I was sent to...he treated me like nothing short of a simple minded beast, a perverted narrow minded piece of trash who tried to take advantage of me! One night he got a bit to frisky and tried to rape me! So I sent him to critical condition! And I didn't have one regret about it, till I was told I'd get deported back to that hellhole I was spawned from,back to ridicule, fear, death and isolation, and I wasn't having that!, it's like we're nothing but fetishes to you repulsive creatures!!"
"Ember..I-I had no idea it was like that, If its any consolation, I'm so sorry you had to experience that"
She then slams her fist into the wall punching through and splintering it like it was a piece of thin wood
"l DONT NEED SYMPATHY OR PITY FROM A PIECE OF SHIT PARASITE LIKE YOU!!!" She screams at the top of her lungs, small flames fluttering out of the corners of her mouth as she speaks, armen just stands there frightened,chastised and trembling from the excessive show of force, and that this girl might actually kill him if he said anything else at this point
"E-ember" he just nearly whispers, he then gets thrown down the stairs and hits the floor with a loud 'thump!', ember then lets out a snarl and slams her door shut, audibly heard tearing up her room, armen took this opportunity to leave before he became the next thing she tore apart.
He took out his phone and called the one person he felt would help him; tionishia, the MON ogre agent
"Hey Tio, you there?"
"Armen!!, how are you sweetie? It's been a while since I've heard from you" the sweetest voice you could never expect comes over the line
"I could be better, say, would you mind joining me at the cafe? I'll buy you some sweets, I just wanna talk for a bit"
"You can talk to me anytime you want sweetie, but since you offered sweets, how could I refuse?" Armen chuckled briefly he knew other ogres and giantesses alike shared tio's sweet tooth
"Cool, meet me there in 10 minutes 'kay?"
"I'll be there!"
Armen made his way to the entrance, 10 minutes later and was met with the sight of what looked like a 6"10" teenage girl with a cute little baby face, light caramel tan skin with a beautiful sheen to it, two expressive warm ruby red eyes, long sandy blonde hair that flowed down her hourglass figure, a large red horn that jutted from her head and two long triangular hears that horizontally did the same, but most striking of all were the disproportionately large breasts she had, armen had known liminals to be well endowed, but Tio took the cake in so many more ways, and to only add to her beauty, she wore a frilly pink skirt, yellow jacket and white button up undershirt, and to top it all off a large yellow sunhat on her head with an open space to fit her horn.
Tio scanned the area for him till she spotted him, her face lit up with joy and literally charged toward him and enveloped the poor boy in an embrace he had no way of escaping, perpetually stuck between her large, warm bosom.
"Armen!!!! I'm so happy to see you! it's been so long I thought I'd never see you again!!!" The girl croons placing a soft kiss on armen's forehead,Tio is nothing short of an absolute sweetheart with a huge crush on armen but this crush didn't just evolve out of nowhere, armen and Tio go back about 2 years, ever since he visited Japan he had heard about the program but always tended to avoid it, however trouble just happened to find him when a rather nasty kobold decided he was going to be her next "meal", she chased him all through the city until a strange giant woman clad in yellow armor caught the dog girl and restrained the protesting canid, she told armen she was with the MON security force, an organization dedicated to keeping an eye on liminals looking to stir up trouble or are just too dangerous to live in society, on that same day he was offered by smith to join the program but he turned it down in fear, however his debt with Tio was far from being repaid, since he was a potential magnet for violent mons(like certain others we know of) smith assigned tio to look after him, and as they were out shopping tio just couldn't find anything she liked in her size because everything she owned was custom made, till armen offered to customize her outfits for her given the fact he knew how to sew and tailor(coincidentally). From then on Tio found a new appreciation for the boy and decided to spend more time with armen, and the more they went on dates, the closer they became, you could say armen feels the same way Tio feels about him, but he feels if he pursues a relationship with her it would cost her her job, so they stuck to plutonic friendship as a base, but that doesn't stop Tio from loving him.
"So sweetie what did you want to ask me?" She croons gleefully, ready to hear what the boy has to say
"It's about ember"
"What's wrong with her?"
"I knew I was already treading on eggshells with our relationship as it was, but we sorta had a fight this morning that sent me tumbling down the stairs, and left these on my neck" he pulled back his hoodie to reveal three claw marks on his neck from where ember strangled him, Tio gasped and embraced her sweetie kissing his wounds, while the other people looked on either with pleading frowns of jealously or disgusted scowls of disapproval
"What happened sweetie?! are you alright?! Does it still hurt?!"
"It does, but I suppose I brought it upon myself, I guess I pushed her buttons trying to get her out of the house today, but then I guess I pushed the boundary when I told her how uncooperative she was being"
"You shouldn't have done that sweetie! Dragons are extremely irritable and prideful, you're lucky she didn't kill you!"
"Yeah she could have, but she didn't, was she possibly restraining herself?"
"It's possible armen" she responds seriously, she only calls armen by his name when it was a serious matter, which is kinda hard to do with half a piece of cake In you're mouth "ember has had quite the checkered and troubling past, being abused, beaten and even attempted being sold on a black market for profit, or just berated for being who she is, she is an emberwing armen, they're dragons with quite a rep for being merciless killing machines, not every human is as kind to her as you can be, that's why she hates humans, and you being the only human who has ever been kind to her must have made her very confused and agitated. But if she restrained herself as you stated she must at least respect you to some degree for you're honesty, and let's face it, who would want to kill someone as cute as you?"
Armen blushed at the last statement, but then mulled it over his head
"Perhaps I should just give her some space today, hopefully she will come around tomorrow because of our talk" he looked back over to Tio who just stared at him with a dreamy look on her face
"What?" He asked
"You're just too cute when you're trying to be all stoic and diplomatic" she croons playfully
Armen smiled and eggs it on" not as much as you are"
Tio giggled to herself and went right back to staring at him, armen did the same
"You know I still really like you right?" She asks
"It was pretty obvious, you're usual kind and caring personality is amplified whenever you're around me"
"That's because you're such a catch! I don't understand why girls don't notice you"
"Me neither, but I got you're attention, so I guess I did something right"
That statement actually made tio laugh loud enough for others to hear
"Stop being so modest and down on yourself! You're quite the little stud muffin as far as I'm concerned!/"
"Thanks tio" he says with a warm smile plastered on his face
"Think nothing of it, your an important person to me and although I don't look it,I'm very selective of who I associate myself with and I wouldn't say something I didn't truly mean to others or myself"
"That helps a lot, well I'd best get back home, ember probably tore up her room while I was gone so I better see if the exchange will cover those expenses"
"They will actually, the exchange pays for accommodation, renovation, home repair, hospital visits, the whole 9 yards!"
"Wow! They really do cover all of they're bases!"
"Plus due to the fact that Smith-san was aware of the kinds of monster girls she put you in charge of, ember can't be held on charges for injuring you and at the same time you won't be if you are just defending yourself"
"Well ain't that a breath of fresh air" armen says breathing a sigh of relief
Tio then stands up and embraces him in a soft hug and plants a kiss on his cheek
"Just, try not to make her any madder ok? I'd be mortified if I heard you were in the hospital" she coos with a concerned pout on her face
Armen merely smiles at the adorable display and responds "I promise princess"
Tio's face turns beet red and she lets out a Yelp
"I-I told you not to call me that stupid!!" She squeals embarrassed thoroughly
"I gotta go Tio but I'll see if I can drop by the exchange headquarters later"
"Kay, still, you better call me later! and you owe me for not buying me sweets!" She pouts
"What?! What about that piece of cake I bought you?!"
"That was barely an appetizer!"
Armen bursts into laughter because of this girls obsession with sweets, but it only solidified his reasoning for liking her so much, she was a huge ball of positive energy that would make even a fire demon tame
"See ya tio!"armen calls back
"Byeeee!!" She shouts to him
Armen felt good about himself right now as he made his way home, and Tio alway had managed to lift his spirit, and always made him smile, even when he was at his lowest, her strange caring, warm almost aura like personality never ceased to brighten his day. He wouldn't deny he really liked her, really really liked her to the point he'd do just about anything to have her, well what guy wouldn't, she's a drop dead gorgeous woman with irresistibly cute features, with it all in the right places, but he couldn't let a relationship get in the way of her job, unless smith found some loophole in the exchange act allowing liminals and humans to pursue relationships under their discretion, (like that's ever gonna happen right?)
armen made his way up the stone stairs to his huge house and placed his key in the door, he twisted the deadbolt and primary lock then pushed it open, but to his surprise ember was standing in front of the door leering down at him once again, armen still a little sore with her just stepped aside and headed for his room only to be stopped by ember placing one of her clawed hands on his shoulder
"What?" Armen spat out coldly
"The couch, sit, please" is all she said
"What?" He asks quizzically
"Just sit on the damn couch!" She responds agitated
"Fine! " armen dismisses and plops down on the couch "what do you want ember?"
He looked up at her again but she wasn't scowling at him this time, rather she had a look on her face that was reminiscent of guilt or regret
"Look this is not easy for me to say so listen and listen well,...I-I'm sorry...f-for the way I've acted around you and treated you lately,I've been nothing but trouble for you and exploding like that in front of you earlier today wasn't the way to go about our first interaction with eachother" armen couldn't believe what he was hearing, was she sincerely apologizing?
"When did you arrive at this point? I thought you hated me"
"I-I don't hate you armen, I just hate humans, but I find it hard to hate you for some reason, part of me is telling me to trust you the other says the opposite, I didn't mean to throw you down the stairs ether, I was just so mad and confused, no other human had ever been as kind and courteous to me as you have been and all I've done is treat you like dirt, like an insect, after what I pulled I don't even deserve to be called a dragon" she seemed genuinely saddened by what she did, seeing as small tears were starting to form in the corners of her slitted eyes
"Ember..look at me" armen says which signals the reptile to look directly into his eyes"I may not understand where you were coming from, or the horrible things you've endured throughout you're life, but I know what it feels like to be alone, to want friends, to yearn for companionship, you never had that because humans wouldn't dare go near you or see you as anything but a beast to be slain and other liminals just cower in fear of you're presence, you are a very misunderstood creature seeing that you and you're species have quite the checkered history, I know you aren't bad ember, you just try to mask what's inside with pride and anger and an emotionless facade, but on the same token I know you're hurting inside and it's never good to bottle up you're emotions like you do" armen concludes, this lesson must have gotten through to ember because she was on the floor, a complete broken down sobbing wreck in seconds just letting her emotions flood out like a broken dam, armen just smiled sympathetically at the poor reptile and bent down to give her a tight reassuring hug, ember picked up on it and gave him her own bone crushing hug, tugging at his jacket with her claws, crying into his chest.
"W-why are you being so nice to me?" She gasps out between sobs
"Because you deserve it ember, you've had such a horrible life, from the very moment I met you I knew there was something wrong, it was only a matter of time before you exploded and let it all out, I care about you ember, I want to help you if I can. After all I am your host"
"You're t-the first human who has ever said anything like this to me, I-I don't know how to respond"
"You don't have to ember, at least not right now, take all the time you need" armen responds softly as he continues to stroke her soft hair
After about 2 hours go by and ember calms down enough to manage to look up at armen with puffy red eyes, he just smiled warmly once again and continued to stroke her long hair
"You feeling better?" He softly asks, but she responds with a nod only
"Ember?" He says
"Y-yes?" She responds timidly
"How's about we go to a restaurant tomorrow? just you and me"
"B-but what about all of the other humans?, they will stare and criticize"
"So? that doesn't mean anything, just ignore them"
"But what if I get angry?"
"I'll make sure to keep an eye on you and keep you happy, now how about you go compose yourself while I make us dinner, what's you're favorite food?"
"L-lamb"
"Ok, well I don't have that in stock, so I'll have to head back into the city to get some" armen grabbed his keys and headed for the door only to be stopped once again by ember, clinging to his arm, looking down and doing her best not to meet his gaze
"You don't want me to go?" He asks expectantly to which ember shakes her head slowly in response
"I'll be fine ember, I'll make this as quick as I can, I understand you're a bit vulnerable and emotional right now and you don't want to be alone, but I swear I will be back as quickly as I can"
"Do you promise?" She almost whispers
"Yes I do" armen says, ember then let's go and allows him to leave.
Armen lived closer to a grocery store than he did the coffee shop thanks to the prime real estate Smith-San gifted him with when he joined he exchange act, so he lives within walking distance of Fukushima city, which was convenient for quick store visits,not to mention as Tio said, the exchange pays for all of they're host family's expenses, so lucky him. Armen bought a couple legs of lamb for ember and a prime cut for himself, he left the store not having to pay a thing after telling them he was part of the interspecies exchange which for some reason they understood and told him all of his purchases were free of charge form this day on, he left the store feeling good about himself until he heard a familiar, unwelcome voice come from the darkness
"Well well well, look at what we have here, a human out after dark and alone, now I haven't seen many horror movies but that usually signifies the tragic end for a character" armen turned around slowly to see the very same black kobold he encountered before Tio saved him, and the look on her face meant that she knew she had him cornered
"Y-you!!" He said shakily
"Did you miss me?"
"I thought you were-"
"In jail? I was, until I broke out yesterday, do you know how hard it was track you down?"
"No, and I don't plan to find out"
"Aww come on, be reasonable, it's not like I'm here to kill you...yet"
"Then why were you chasing after me?"
"Because it's fun,I love seeing you little guys cower in fear, gives me a bit of a rush so to speak, plus you kinda grew on me "
"Look,I don't know what you're after or why you're after me, but I don't want any trouble or anything else to do with you, now if you'll please excuse me I have to get home, I've gotta a homestay waiting for me" armen sternly proclaims before stepping away from the kobold and walking away only to be grasped by the shoulder and thrown up against a wall" oh I don't think so, you still haven't met my friends yet"
"Friends?" Just as he mouthed the word he realized the wall he was thrown into wasn't a wall at all, rather it was a person, he then felt a long tail constricting around his torso and two pairs of arms grasp each of his shoulders
"Is thissssss him philia?" The first voice hissed, obviously she was a type of lamia
"He is quite a looker" the other says
"Yup girls, this is armen, the one who got away, armen these are my friends, Miho and Nayela"
Armen turned cautiously to behold the sight of two liminals staring down at him, the first was as he predicted, a lamia, but a strange one he had never seen, she was larger than the average lamia, but because of her size he assessed she was a naga, and her features were more reptilian than the average lamia as well lest tail was more muscular and covered in an aqua blue anaconda like stripe pattern, her skin was a light tan, her hair was like green and the crop top she wore was a light beige, the other girl was an oni, but she was blue and had several markings adorning her skin, plus what else set her aside was that her horns were longer than average, her eyes were a light shade of fiery orange, her hair was magenta, and the fur print loincloth she wore was snow leopard grey and she had to have been at least 8ft tall( normal Oni are only a few inches shorter than ogres) armen squirmed and tried to pull away, but his struggles were to no avail seeing as he wasn't able to even jar they're hands loose.
"Wow, he's pretty feisty" Nayela comments
"True but his efforts are wasted" Miho adds
"Let me go!!!!" Armen shouts
"Now why would we do that?, we're just getting started!" Philia proclaims before nailing him in the jaw knocking the boy out, she giggled briefly before dragging him off toward an abandoned warehouse
Back at armen's' house, ember was seated on the sofa expectantly awaiting her host's arrival, but with each passing minute she grew more and more concerned.
"Ohh where is he?, he is never usually gone this long, his outings are always short" she groans
Just then she heard an abrupt knock at the door and jumped up believing it was armen, she rushed to the door and flung it open only to be confronted with agent jones
"Oh, good evening ember" jones greets nervously
"Jones? What are you doing here?" Ember inquires
"I just came to check on you two, is armen home?"
"No, he stepped out to get groceries about an hour ago"
"Alone?! At this time of night?!"
"Y-yeah why? what's wrong?!" Ember asks with growing concern welling up in her chest
"We at mon special services have been getting reports of suspicious activity of the liminal kind in this area as of a week ago, at that time before armen met you he was attacked by a black kobold who was charged with aggravated assault and sexual harassment charges on multiple accounts, we managed to lock her away but somehow we got word she escaped custody , and was soon later became friends with some rather nasty, dangerous type liminals who formed a gang, at first it didn't seem very serious but seeing as philia rouge, that kobold went after armen once, more than likely she's looking for him now to exact some vengeance" jones states, ember stands there, dumbstruck, armen could be in danger and she was just standing here.
"I gotta go find him!" She proclaims before bolting out of the front door almost splintering it as she went along, then spread her large wings and took off into the night sky
"Wait ember!!" Jones shouts,before dialing Smith
"Jones? What's the deal calling at this hour?!" she comes over the line groggily
"Got a situation kuroko, a liminal situation, how long till you can scramble the MON team?"
The line was silent for a minute before smith spoke up"we'll be there in 20 minutes, but we're going to split the paperwork, I'm not covering you're ass again!" Smith shouted over the phone, prompting a groan from jones, she rolled her eyes and hung up dashing out of the house and into her car
"Please be alright armen, wherever you are"
Armen started awake, he slowly pried his eyes open which adjusted quickly to the dim lighting that shrouded the three liminals.
"So what are we gonna do with him? hold him for ransom?" Miho asks
"No, I have a much better idea" philia states before waltzing up to armen nonchalantly
"Mornin sleepyhead!, you sleep well?"
"Where am I philia?"
"Oh just an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city"
"Why did you bring me here?"
"That's a secret, but I think you'll like it"
"And if I don't?!"
Philia then contracts her claws and slowly slides them across armen's face, drawing blood with each flick of her fingers
"It won't end well for you" philia replies coldly glaring at him with cold silver eyes, armen just shudders and looks away
"Good boy, you hang tight handsome, the girls and I have to reconnoiter"
"Reconnoiter my ass" armen mumbles sarcastically
"So what are we gonna do?" Miho inquiries
"I say we have some fun with this human, he doesn't seem like he'll put up much of a fight against us, and I'm not letting him get away again" philia croons deviously
"Oh, I like the sound of that" Nayela coos
"Hey armen~" philia croons sickly as she swipes the binds holding him in place
"How's about we get a little frisky?"
"W-what?!"He asks completely caught off guard
"Come on it won't hurt, and I know your just the tiniest bit curious too"
"Wh-wha..." Before he can utter a decent sentence philia places a finger on his lips "it's ok..."
"Grab him girls!!!" She shouts immediately which prompts the two other girls to grab his arms and legs and hold him to the ground while philia straddles him
"No!!! stop it!!!! get off me!!!!" Armen shouts futilely
"Relax armen, I'll be as gentle as possible" philia croons as she unbuckled his belt
Armen never figured this is how his first encounter would go, but fate has ways of handing out surprises, at his moment all he really could do was scream, so he called out to the only person he could think of
"EMBERRRR!!!!" As if on cue, the warehouse door clattered open to reveal said dragoness entering through the massive hole she punched through the metal door, all three girls just stared in awe at the approaching enraged dragoness
"What are you doing here dragon? Get lost!! This one's mine!"
"How...dare...you" ember seethes slowly
"What?" Philia asks confused
"How dare you obscond with my human!!! Unhand him right now you disgusting lecherous beast!!"
"Is that a challenge lizard?! Here's an idea, how about you try and take him from me!" Philia growls getting up from her position and baring her long claws and fangs, her eyes changed from silver to red with rage and her furry tail puffed up with increased aggression
Ember just peeked at armen who was still having difficulty believing she had come to save him, then glared back at philia who was glaring right back growling like a mad dog
"I will only warn you this one time kobold, hand him over to me or will will be forced to end your life here and now" she then directed her attention toward the Oni and the naga who looked terrified but ready to fight if they had to "the same goes for you two"
"There may be many monsters who fear you're kind dragon, but I'm not one of them!" Philia snaps and throws a punch at ember who draws back considerably then slowly brings her head back around to leer at the now stunned kobold
"I warned you..." Ember grabs Phillis's arm and gives her a swift kick in the gut that sends her sailing through the air toward a stack of crates, crashing through them, philia recovers almost immediately and calls to her subordinates
"Get her!!!" She shouts
Nayela slinks swiftly toward ember and dodges a punch from the dragon then constricts around her like a boa, the two reptiles were briefly caught In a battle of strength with Nayela triumphing, miho stepped in and landed a few good punches on embers gut making her lurch in pain from each impact, but she wasn't out of the fight yet, ember then lashed her tail around and struck the Oni hard knocking her away, then with minimal effort pried the snake off herself and flung her around slamming her to the ground repeatedly before flinging her aimlessly away.
Miho sprung back into action after her fall and locked palms with ember, being among the giantess caste she as endowed with the abnormal strength they were known for which aided her in holding her own against a dragon also known for this attribute, however ember proved much too powerful for the Oni and forced her off herself and punched her in the same direction she sent the naga flying in.
Philia lunged out of nowhere and landed a diagonal kick on embers lower jaw disorienting her briefly before slashing her face with her claws as well as her midsection causing the dragoness to screech in pain and fall to the ground
"You uppity scaly bitch!!! You think just do anything because you're a dragon?! You think you're better than us?! Now that I've got you where I want you..any last words?"
Ember hawks a glob of blood at her face and let's out a snarl
"Fuck off!"
"So be it then" philia replies grimly then rears back preparing to lop her head off, until armen rushes in at the last minute knocking her down with his full body weight
"Armen!!" Ember calls out in suppose
"Get off of me you runt!!!" philia growls
"I'm not going to let you hurt ember anymore!!" he proclaims heroically
"Oh please" philia says delivering a hard punch to the gut then lifts him up by his jugular making him gag and attempt to move her arm"you can't even protect yourself, you pathetic weakling, look at yourself, struggling to get away from me and I'm not ever holding you that tight" she then stuck her claws into his chest and tore down with little effort inciting an agonized scream from the boy as she flung him up and kicked him away "pfft...some hero you are"
"NO!!! ARMEN!!!!" Ember shouts in anguish, watching the only human who ever showed her grace and understanding be flung aside and mortally wounded land on the floor with a dull thud
"Pity I kinda liked him, oh well I was just gonna kill him when I was done having fun with him anyway, he needed to learn his place at the bottom for thinking he would imprison me, for thinking he was better than me, the fearsome black kobold philia rouge" she chortles with grim satisfaction and turns her attention back to ember who was on the verge of insanity, her wings were fully unfurled and tiny embers stoked from her now large, glowing, veiny wings, her eyes started to glow as well with small tears forming in the corners of each, wanting nothing more than to see the kobold in as many prices as she saw fit burned to a crisp, she let out a deep gutteral growl opened her mouth to reveal fully grown incisors and streams of smoke spouting from her maw
You...YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!!!!" Ember howls with fury, now thoroughly enraged, she lets out a roar that shakes the very warehouse itself
She rushes philia and tackles her to the ground delivering 3 good punches and slashes to the face and chest then lifts her up and slams her to the ground twice before throwing her toward the other two liminals writhing in pain.
She stomps toward them, her chest scales glowing orange with incoming fire uttering a ground shaking growl, the three liminals cowered in fear and braces for their imminent death until...
"Manako take the shot!!" Smith shouts
Before ember had time to react she feels a sudden pain in her right shoulder, then she felt dazed and collapsed to the ground hard, leaving the three other liminals confused
"Alright you three on you're feet!!" Jones shouts authoritatively, immediately the three jump to attention, and suited men handcuff them and drag them to the mon special services van, while smith and jones walk in toward the scene of the carnage
"Yikes, looks like it went down here pretty bad" smith says" well that's what happens when you piss off a dragon, given the state those three are in I doubt ember will be able to dodge this bullet"
"Oh my god!!! Armen!!!" Tio shouts horrified, which snaps both smith and jones to attention, as she picks up his unconscious bloody body
"Oh god! Get an ambulance here quick!!" Jones shouts at smith before she rushes to Tio who was sobbing hysterically at her fallen friend who was joined by manako and doppel who looked on extremely worried
"How bad is he?" Jones asks the girls hoping he's not too injured
"He's got some nasty marks on his chest and it looks like one of them dug they're claws into his abdomen, if he keeps bleeding like this he won't make it through the night" doppel responds grimly
which only prompted manako to spiral into a sobbing mess along with Tio
"Oh no oh no oh no!!! H-he can't die he just can't!!" Manako cries out desperately
"Manako, sweetie, calm down he's going to be fine, go and get a medkit from the van, quickly"
Jones then looks over to ember, who was slumbering rather peaceably, and noticed without a shadow of a doubt a frown on her face with small tears trailing down her cheeks. 'Just what the hell happened?' jones asked herself
In the hospital armen started in his sleep once again and woke slowly opening his chestnut brown eyes
"Mornin' sleeping beauty!" Zombina, the mon zombie agent greets rather brashly
"Zombina?" Armen asks
"Who else? You sure gave us a scare last night, we thought you wouldn't make it" she replies with a steady smile, looking none too worried about him dying
"Whoa, wait! Ember! W-where is she?!"
"She's fine armen" jones says, softly entering the room
"Jones! Please don't deport her!"
She giggles and replies" don't worry sweetheart I'm not going to deport her, when she came to after we tranq 'd her last night she told us everything that happened, I wanted to warn you about how dangerous it was to go out at night without her, especially in your area, the black kobold phila had her sights on you as you found out the hard way" jones reveals
"Yeah, no kidding, but what about phila and her crew?"
"Luckily for you, because of they're repeated offenses going on unchecked by the exchange as well as the local law enforcement agency, they ended up getting deported this morning"
"Yikes, does that mean more paperwork for you?" armen asks coyly
Jones smiles and responds" more than you can imagine, you're lucky you're so cute, I wouldn't be as easy on anyone else" armen blushes at the compliment an looks away
"Aww ain't that cute! He's blushing! Old jonsey's got a crush on the kid!! " Zombina coos which turns into a fit of giggles joined by jones, armen just rolls his eyes and looks out the window toward the rising sun
Just then the door bursts open(more like splinters open, destroying the doorway in the process) and Tio charges in wrapping Armen up in another bone crushing hug, burying his face in her cleavage, making his heart rate monitor beep rapidly
"You idiot!! I told you I never wanted to see you here!! Do you have many idea how worried I was?! You could have died yesterday!!" Tio screams at him, tears still brimming from her puffy red eyes, her bottom lip quivering rapidly and cutely
"I'm happy to see you too Tio" armen replies nonchalantly with a warm heart melting smile, Tio just begins to sob again and buries her head in his chest" don't you ever do anything that stupid ever again you stupid stupid boy!!!!"
"Aggghh! Tio not so tight!! It still hurts!!" He cringes with pain and Tio is off him immediately, armen then looks down puzzled at his own injury, then he's quiet for a second, recollecting last nights events before his blackout
"What's wrong armen?" Jones asks
"I-I had to do something, that kobold was gong to kill ember...I couldn't just sit there and watch her be ripped apart...and even after she saved my life..I just couldn't bear the thought" he says his voice deep and filled with remorse and fear, jones simply smiled along with zombina and Tio
"Armen, we understand you were just trying to protect her, but what you did was reckless and could have very easily ended your life, and just so you know, ember is absolutely distraught, she wouldn't stop crying all night"
Armen sat there feeling a tight pain in his chest, he never wanted her to be that sad, especially because of him" can I see her?"
"Of course you can, she's out in the waiting room, do you want me to call her in?"
"If you could"
Jones then leaves to fetch the grieving reptile, leaving armen to think how about how how he was going to calm her down
A few minutes later his door cracks slightly revealing two orange puffy eyes
"Ember?" Armen says softly and the door shuts slightly" Come in" he beckons once again as softly as he can, she slowly steps the room, as expected, she is still sniffling and shaking.
Armen smiles warmly and opens his arms to her
"come here you" he says
Ember dives into his arms and wails into his chest, not letting up in the slightest
"I-I thought you were..." She gasps out
"Well I'm not, so I want you to do your best to calm down"
"Calm down?! CALM DOWN?! How the hell do you expect me to calm down?!"
"Ember..."
"She was this close to killing you!!"
"Ember!"
"Don't you dare tell me to calm down! You almost died last night!! And if you did I couldn't save you! do you have my idea how that makes me feel?!"
"EMBER!!!" Armen roars, interrupting the dragoness' rambling, she stopped and stared at him incredulously not sure exactly what to say
"Calm. Down!!!, I. am. fine!" She looks down sadly and starts to sob again
"Hey...look at me" armen then uses his hand and lifts her head by her chin to look at him" it's ok, I'm alive, that's all that matters, there's no need to worry anymore, now go get jones so I can see how long it'll be before we can go home" Armen says to ember who manages a brave smile, nods, lightly pecks him on the cheek and leaves to find agent jones.
Moments later she returns
"Hey jones, so how long?"
"Remarkably, you're fit enough to leave now if you wanted, you're wounds healed up faster than expected, you must be some kind of superhuman or something"
"Actually that may have been me" ember pipes up "Emberwing tears have healing properties, like Phoenixes, it may explain why you recovered almost instantly" Armen remembers her crying into his chest yesterday, meaning her tears must have been absorbed into his skin, giving him a healing factor, 'a saving grace more like'
"Well that solves that I guess, but I just have one more question" armen stares
"What's that?" Jones inquires
"Does the interspecies exchange cover restaurant fees?"Armen asks
Jones smiles and inquires again "where to casanova?"
"Just this nice brunch place down the way actually" he responds
"I'll reserve a couple of seats for you at yumiko's"
"H-how did you know-"
"All of the young couples go there"
Ember jumped and uttered a small squeak at the comment, blushed and turned around embarrassed
"U-um, right" armen says blushing as well
Jones bursts into laughter and says"you guys are just too cute!!"
"Get dressed armen i'll get you some transportation for you're date"
"Thanks jones"
She winks and tosses him is clothes, then she guides ember out of the room to give armen some privacy
10 minutes later armen is fit for duty and leaving the room, headed for the waiting room
As soon as he get to the desk the receptionist tells him" no charge needed, we are aware you are a member of the interspecies exchange act, you're expenses have been covered"
'jones you are the governor' armen says to himself
"C'mon ember, you have to be starving after you're little skirmish last night"
"I-I guess so"
He then beckons for her and and she willingly obliges with a smile, the two then walk out of the hospital happy to be in the company of each other.
At the restaurant, the two are treated by a angel liminal hostess, quite surprising at the least. And what's more they were taken to a booth specially designed for a dragon( give the fact ember's wings take up the majority of space in the booth.
Ember sat down nervously and peered out at the many folks shooting her curious and bewildered glances, even fearful and defensive looks from other liminals, she leered angrily at them and snarled low, then she felt something warm touch her hand and she snapped back to attention, looking armen dead in the eye
"It's ok..." He says softly
A neko stepped over and handed the two of them menus
"Hello you two! and welcome to yumiko's!, may I take you're orders?" She asks with elation
"I'll take a coffee and a short stack with hash browns and scrambled eggs" armen orders
" 'Kay, and for you miss dragon?" The neko asks ember who fumbled over her menu, and is mute for a second, the neko picks up on the fact that she is nervous and decides to help out
"If it's difficult for you to decide ma'am, may I suggest the dragoness special?"
"Dragoness special?" Armen inquires
"Indeed, it's a dish we make specially for carnivores who have a strict meat based diet"
"I-I'll take that!"ember speaks up
"Very well then, just sit tight you two I'll have you're orders out in a shake of an echidna's tail" the neko walks off to deliver their orders, while ember looks down defeated
"What's wrong ember?" Armen asks
"I'm scared" she says quietly
"Of what?"
"People, the ones around us, especially the other liminals, I can feel their stares"
"Remember what I told you yesterday, just relax and let it blow over" Armen says, soothing the fretting reptile
The neko soon returns with Armen's eggs, pancakes and hash browns, and for ember, a plate with two steaks, bacon strips, sausage, roasted lamb and ham which causes ember to salivate like a dog and stare down at the bounty of meat
"Bon appetite!!" She says before skipping off
"Well time to dig in"before Armen can even touch his food, ember piles into her first steak, scarfing it down like it was her first meal in days, then she went for the bacon and sausages not giving in in the slightest, armen looked on bewildered and impressed at the girls vitality, but soon found himself chuckling at her which caused her to look up from her meal
"What?"
"Oh nothing, you're just a bottomless pit aren't you? If you want more just ask"
She blushes and looks down"ok" she says before burping cutely and the already prominent blush on her cheeks reddens with embarrassment
Armen then just busts out into laughter with ember soon following, finally he got this uptight, prideful lizard to smile genuinely for the first time.
Maybe this might not be that hard after all