Chapter 54

Once Bitten, Twice Chewed

RECAP:

She just rolled her mismatched eyes and pointed forward. I had been so intent on her that I hadn't seen the large door that was right in front of us. She smiled, getting some sort of savage joy from my embarrassment as she opened the door and stepped inside.

Artemis POV:

The next room that we entered was dramatically different from the others that we had been in. Instead of a cave, hills, or a night time scene, there was the stark whiteness of a lab. There was the strong, antiseptic smell, the metal tables, desks, and chairs for both humans and centaurs.

On one of the tables was a long and shallow, plexiglass box with holes drilled in the top. Obviously for living specimens. I looked inside and chuckled dryly at what I saw. "And to think, I was expecting something mythical."

Holly glared at me, and I felt almost like shrugging. Inside of the case sat some rather large bull toads. I was quite used to seeing the likes of these, and can't say that I was impressed in the least. "They may not be mythical, but they're interesting," she assured me. "Here watch."

Holly reached down and poked one's back. I expected it to croak and hop away, but instead it said the words, "Fuck you."

My eyebrows raised. "Did that toad just say what I think it said?" I asked.

"Yep," she replied. "Swear toads. Some college warlocks' idea of a joke."

"Interesting," I murmured. "Why exactly are they here?"

"We're researching them of course. They've sort of become an epidemic, because magic improved their fertility levels and now they're everywhere, offending everyone."

"Interesting." I could feel the scientist in me stirring, wanting to help with this fascinating research. I needed to know more, so I reached down and casually poked a different toad. "Biiiitch," it croaked.

Hmm, note to self, apparently, they can say more than one word. "May I fully open this case?" I asked Holly, knowing that the experiments must not have begun yet. Because if they had then they would have been isolated into separate cages.

"Yes," she replied, pushing her hair back in the new way that she had recently acquired, a slight smile on her face the entire time.

I pulled the glass back to reveal the toads. "Molted green in color. Various sized ranging from normal to very large. Skin, moist and warted." I paused in my description to poke one yet again.

"Ass hole."

"Gift of tongues, deep voice in both males and females." This time I reached down to open the mouth and examine the tongue.

As a genius, there is not much that surprises me, but this did. Instead of a tongue, I was confronted with the sight of apparently strong white teeth. The type that humans often dreamed of. A small prod proved that to be true. However, I still needed to see the tongue.

"Arty don't," she said, but it was too late. I had already began to pry them open. The toad yielded to my hand with no problem .However, as I probed its mouth, the strong jaw crashed down on my finger.

"D'arvit!" I screamed, shaking my hand before the toad was finally thrown down on top of his comrades. Unfortunately, they did not appreciate this, as they all hissed loudly while a few jumped upwards toward Holly and I. Apparently, these creatures were also more intelligent than most of their kind.

"D'arvit!" Holly screeched, reaching down and throwing the two escaped toads back into their plexiglass confinement before slamming it shut.

A sharp throbbing echoed through my bitten index finger. "Let me see it," Holly said, her hand extended in annoyance. Apparently, she felt that she had warned me, and that I had disobeyed her. Though to be fair, by the time that she had spoken up, I had already been bitten.

"So, when did you become a nurse?" I asked conversationally as I did as she had commanded.

She ignored me while examining my finger. A slight dribble of blood had coagulated and was sitting on my finger. "Oh no," she murmured. "This is not good."

Needless to say, I felt a bud of worry root in my stomach. Holly was not one to over exaggerate. Not to mention that fact that a foreign species had just bitten me. For all I knew, they could be poisonous. Though from how they were stored, I seriously doubt that. "What's wrong?"

"The Swear Toad's venom got in the wound. Pretty soon, it'll start to swell and burn. At this point, there are only two real options for you."

I could feel the fire slowly creeping into my finger. As I looked down, I realized that the whole digit was indeed swelling. "And that would be?"

"We could just let it stay like that until it goes down in a day or two or..." she paused, biting and scratching her lips nervously. Something that I had never really seen her do before. Yet, I didn't have the time to consider that now.

"Or?"

"Or I could suck the venom out."

Now as a genius, my mind never goes blank. However, this time I came very very close. Suck my finger? In theory, this was the most practical solution. Yet, to actually allow this would be very unintelligent and cross a fine line that I have no wish to ever step across.

Then again, the burn in my double sized finger was more than enough to convince me otherwise. "Well?" she demanded.

"I am stronger than my baser needs," I gritted out around the pain. After all, I had been shot with a neutrino and mauled by a gorilla. How bad could this truly be?

"The burn's going to get worse. Much worse. Besides, I don't know how it's going to effect your human system." And she had a point. As a human, it could be slowly killing me. Though I doubt it since our body compositions are so similar. "Oh shut up and be the genius that you know you are. Just let me help you."

There were so many things that I could have said. Yet she had a point. This was business and nothing more. "Proceed," I ordered.

She smiled slightly before opening her mouth just wide enough for my finger. I had just enough time to take a deep breath before her lips closed around it. Her warm moist mouth enveloped the finger. I could feel the muscles of her mouth before working and pulling as hard as she could. The pain and swelling were slowly leaving only to be replaced by a warmth in my stomach. "Mmmmm," I muttered appreciatively.

Somehow she managed to giggle which did interesting things to the way her mouth felt. I tried not to concentrate on the ducking and bobbing motion of her head, but the only thing that could possible distract my mind was something reasonably difficult. So, I began to create a new orchestra concerto in my mind.

Before I could complete it, Holly gave one last hard suck before removing her mouth from my finger with a large 'Pop!'.

The digit had been restored to its previous size and all remnants of pain were gone. "Thank you," I said, finding it hard to make any form of eye contact. Afer all, what else can you say to the friend who just sucked venom out of your hand.

"You're welc- D'arvit!" Holly hissed, cutting off her previous sentiments.

I lifted my head and looked her over to see what was wrong. And from here, it was obvious. Her bottom lip was swelling at an alarming rate, meaning that the venom had somehow entered. This had most likely already been a cut from her earlier biting and when she sucked in the venom some had entered the break in her skin, causing it to react as it would have if a toad had actually bitten her.

Science was very useful, but not in this situation. Science would tell me to suck it out. Yet common sense stepped in to remind me of what boundaries I would have to cross. As a person, I have learned to follow the side of common sense. However, I am also a genius, and as such I listen to science. Science or reason... which would be more prudent in this case?

I would most likely have pondered longer had it not been for Holly. "Ughhh," she groaned in pain, and I knew exactly how she felt.

At this point, her lip was searing with pain and she wanted nothing more than relief. And in that second, my decision was made. "Holly, I'm going to suck the venom out," I said as if it was nothing more than a common colloquialism.

"No," she ordered angrily around her swollen lip.

Needles to say, I was somewhat annoyed at this point. If only everyone else could use logic as a problem-solving technique. It worked for me. "The pain and irritation are just going to get worse. So shut up and be the intelligent individual that I know you are. Just let me help you."

There. I had thrown her words back at her and she wold feel compelled to listen to them lest she become a hypocrite. I could see the desires warring in her mismatched eyes. One side wanted freedom from the pain while the other part of her felt the need to preserve her dignity.

Finally, I noticed a perceptible changed in her demeanor. She had come to a decision. "Do it," she ordered, closing her eyes and steeling her face almost like I was going to assault her. Though I could definitely make the case that this was an assault of sorts.

I took a deep breath, mentally reviewing the information that I knew about removing venom. Form a seal with the mouth, suck forcefully. And so, I leaned forward taking her bottom lip into mine. I've often heard teeangers at school call out 'awkward'. If I was that type of teen, then this would have been the moment to do so. However, I am quite proud that I am not that type of person.

I began to gently suck on her lip, drawing forth the blood and venom. I could taste it, hot and spicy on my tongue, yet I continued, pausing only to spit into the container that Holly had used for the same purpose.

As soon as that was done, I resumed my position. "Mmmm," Holly muttered in a pleasured tone that I could definitely understand. By this point, she must have been feeling such an enormous amount of cool relief that she couldn't have spoken even if she had wanted to.

All the while, the bitter taste was tainting my tongue. The flavor was somewhat hard to describe. The closest thing would probably be the taste of pure, undiluted lemon juice. Yet as I continued to draw on her lips, the flavor decreased and the only taste was the slightly coppery one of blood. I pulled away ,spitting out the last mouthful of venom. "Finished," I told her.

She smiled up at me, her mismatched eyes flashing. "Thanks."

"You're quite welcome," I replied.

Holly's cheeks were bright red, and she was having problems making eye contact. It didn't take a genius to see that she was utterly humiliated. "Why don't we just... forget that this ever happened?" I suggested seeing as I wanted the same thing.

Holly's eyes darted up to meet mine One could almost see the relief shining in her eyes. "We'll never talk about this again?"

"Never," I assured her.

Her face broke out into a large, happy grin. "Thank you," she squealed, throwing her arms around my neck. I was unsure about how to react, so I just gently rubbed circles on her back.

"You're welcome."

She pulled away, her cheeks even redder than before. "Let's get out of here."

I nodded, following her through a few more doors, the last of which led us outside unto a side street. "Well, I had fun," I grinned.

"Not a word," she growled, stalking away angrily as I chuckled from behind. Ahhh Holly, what I would give to know what was going on in your mind...

A/N:

Whoo-hoo! Another Chapter down. Rest assured that I am working on this story quite a bit. Be patient, I haven't abandoned anything, and don't plan on it. The next chapter should be coming up soon... hopefully. So, in the mean time, you guys should check out my other stories. They're pretty good, I think.

So, yeah, thanks to all of my reviewers and people who added me or this story to favorites. I love you guys. Keep reading and I'll keep writing. Oh and to review. Flames are welcome. They're what keep me warm and toasty at night. ;)

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Yours truly, madly, and deeply,

Einstinette