"Teasing Tiger, Leaping Lemur": A Tiger Hybrid Kim Taehyung Short Story
=
"Teasing Tiger, Leaping Lemur" The Kim Taehyung Tiger Hybrid short story is finally here!!! So this is part one of Taehyung's installment in the hybrid world of Big Bunny, Tiny Tiger (the story of Jungkook and Zoey) and now I am proud to give you the story of Taehyung and Tatiana!!! Eeeep! Be on the lookout for hints as to who comes next in this world!
This has been an ongoing project for months and I'm so happy to finally be able to share it with you!
I hope you enjoy Part One of Teasing Tiger, Leaping Lemur!
=
Taehyung dragged along the sidewalk, the heat scorching him as he did.
"Why didn't we do this later? It's cooler at night." he groaned, leaning on Jungkook for support as they trailed behind a certain copper haired tiger hybrid.
Zoey rolled her eyes before whipping around, nearly causing the two much larger males to completely run her over.
"Babe!" Jungkook gasped while digging his heels so neither he or Taehyung clobbered her. "A warning would've been nice."
"Sorry, baby." Zoey apologized to her boyfriend.
"Yeah, 'babe'." Taehyung teased. "You need brake lights."
"Shut up, Kim Taehyung." she said. "You are the one who is so insistent on living in the Rainforest District and this is it. And this is where Tati lives. Where YOU want to live. If you wanted the nocturnal sector then you should've said so."
Taehyung rolled his eyes as he reached out to ruffle Zoey's hair… nearly getting his hand tore off in the process.
"Do not TOUCH my hair!" she said, scrambling to fix the coppery strands.
They were already wild beforehand… admittedly.
"Come on, noona." Jungkook said tossing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his side. "It's just hot is all."
"And you decide that plastering our sides together will help this problem?" Zoey asked.
Truthfully, she was getting a bit irritated, herself.
They got diverted because of construction on Papaya Boulevard on the way in and they'd had to go the long way round.
She'd forgotten how hot and humid it was here and the reminder of exactly why she left the district was crashing down on her intensely.
"God, you need some dick." Taehyung teased.
Zoey growled launching herself across Jungkook at Taehyung but the former caught her around the waist easily and placed her back.
"Now, now children." Jungkook teased.
"I'm your hyung." "I'm your Noona!" the both of them echoed.
Jungkook laughed and lifted an eyebrow at Taehyung, "You don't even like when I call you hyung."
"And you." he turned to Zoey. "Yes, I'm aware that you're my cute little Noona. Now, please lead the way, babe."
Zoey simmered, only after she'd delivered a swift little kick to Taehyung's butt and led them on.
They eventually reached the right neighborhood.
"Welcome to Passion Village?" Taehyung asked he read the sign. "This sounds like a bad porn, Zo."
"It's named after the passion fruit." Zoey said. "But yes I agree it does sound like that."
"I like it." Jungkook said.
"You would." Zoey and Taehyung said unison, making the three of them crack up.
They finally made their way to Bromeliads Apartments, a rather impressive structure in and of itself.
Modern touches with old school nods woven into the very trees of the rainforest.
Most of the apartments in the Rainforest District were essentially very, very nice tree houses.
It combined modern architecture with nature in an absolutely stunning fashion.
Though Aquatown was almost completely underwater and absolutely gorgeous…. that was rich folk town.
"Wow." Jungkook said taking them in.
"Yup." Zoey said. "Now, come on, Tati lives all the way up there."
"The penthouse?" Taehyung asked.
"Not quite." Zoey said. "A few lower. I am still amazed how she managed to snag that one on a teacher's salary."
"Teacher?" Taehyung asked, curiosity flaring in him.
"Yeah, she teaches little ones at the preschool on Palm Avenue. I think it's called Little Leaders or something like that." she said hurrying them both along inside.
Rather than deal with the intercom that was almost never working, she whipped out her phone.
"Hey love!" the voice echoed through the speakers and Zoey apparently had chosen to use the speaker phone.
"Hey, Tati. We're here. We're coming up now." Zoey said as she shooed them into the elevator and hit the correct number."
"Ok, the door is open and I hope you're hungry." the voice said.
Jungkook narrowed his eyes at Zoey, a smile creeping onto his face.
"Always. See you in a sec." Zoey said before ending the call and taking note of the look her boyfriend was giving her. "What?"
"Does everyone in your friendship always try to feed complete strangers?" he teased.
"First off, I'm not a stranger. Tati is the love of my life." Zoey said.
Jungkook laughed, "Gee thanks."
"Hey, listen. I love you. I do. And yeah you are the love of my life. But listen Tati and me go way back."
"Further than us?" Taehyung asked, a smirk on his features.
"Ugh." she groaned. "No, I guess not but like me and Tati been through some shit together. So I am not a stranger and Jungkook you have literally hung out with her like several times already!"
"So I'm the only stranger then." Taehyung concluded, his nerves kind of gaining on him.
Zoey placed a hand on his arm, "It'll only be for a second. Tati is really nice."
"She is cool, man." Jungkook added, "I was just messing with Zo. Tati is nice. You'll like her."
"I hope so." Taehyung said. "I mean, I am trying to find a place here."
"Just relax and if it's meant to be then it will. I did talk to her and she's open to a roommate." Zoey assured her friend.
For all their bickering, Zoey and Taehyung did actually go way back and he would always be like a brother to her.
She cared for him and would help him in any way that she could.
The doors opened and three of them made their way down the hall, Jungkook and Taehyung following behind Zoey until they reached a door about halfway down.
Zoey rapped her knuckles on the door before swinging it open, knowing that Tati wouldn't care.
"Tati! We're here!" she called out before looking at the two men standing in the door. "What are you doing? Come on."
"We didn't expect you to just go right in, babe." Jungkook laughed stepping inside and sliding his shoes off beside her, followed closely by Taehyung.
"Make yourselves at home! I'm in the kitchen!" a voice called out.
"Oh we will!" Zoey called back, crashing onto the couch.
"Not you, you little hussy! You get your butt in here and help me!" the voice called back.
Zoey laughed, getting to her feet again before turning to them.
"Really, take a seat and relax. Tati's chill. Turn the tv on or whatever." she said before leaning up to peck Jungkook's lips. "I'll just be in the kitchen."
She disappeared around the corner as Jungkook and Taehyung took a seat.
"Thanks for coming with me." Taehyung said.
"Of course." Jungkook responded. "It takes the pressure off since you two don't know each other. I get it."
Taehyung nodded, taking in the place.
It was beautiful in design.
There were modern elements blended with natural textures and plant life blooming everywhere.
She seemed to like the theme of blending the two.
A vintage record player sat in the corner with the soothing tones of Elvis Presley's 'Love Me Tender' echoing around the apartment.
The scents bleeding into the room from the kitchen were sweet and savory and while he couldn't quite place them all, he knew that it was certainly interesting to him.
It mixed with the soft vanilla scent that he assumed was coming from the oil diffuser hidden amongst some of the plants.
The clicking of toe nails on wood caught his attention and he turned just in time to see a little brown chihuahua hop up on the couch with him, easily cuddling into his side and sniffing him down.
"Cocoa? Cocoa? Come here, girl."
Taehyung looked up and immediately felt like he was in some kind of drama where the title character sees the love interest.
She smiled at him, a bright curve to her smooth brown face that made the glimmering golden eyes twinkle in the light.
Her hair hung about her in thick black and white braids that matched the extremely long striped tail that curled behind her.
Clearly, she belonged to the group of hybrids who's animal counterparts presented very strongly.
Some mimicked those genes a lot while others barely showed more than something like ears and a tail.
Zoey, for example, had a very strong Bengal Tiger presentation while Taehyung barely showed more than the coloring of his ears and tail.
"Oh, hello. Sorry about that. Cocoa, leave him be. He might not want you on him." she said making her way towards him. "I'm Tatiana but you can call me Tati. You must be Taehyung."
For a moment, he simply stared.
Jungkook hid his amusement with a cough and nudged Taehyung with his foot.
He snapped out of it, blinking rapidly, "Uh, yeah, yes, sorry. I'm Taehyung. You can call me Tae if you like. Ni- Nice to meet you Tati."
She smiled at him.
"You'll have to excuse Cocoa." she said, picking up the little brown dog. "She loves people and attention. A little cuddle bug."
She pressed a kiss to the top of the dog's head before she sat her down and she went scurrying off towards the kitchen again.
"I don't mind." he said. "I, uh, I have a dog myself. A pomeranian. Yeontan is his name."
"How cute." Tati smiled. "Well, at least you know that if you do decide to move in here, that pets are fine as long as they're not like an elephant or anything."
Jungkook and Taehyung chuckled.
"You laugh but that was literally an issue. That's why the rule. Ms. Long on the first floor literally brought a baby elephant home one day because it had lost it's mother. FYI, that is the same elephant that is at the local animal rehabilitation center on Durian Street. His name is Cashew and he's quite the personality." she said.
"Tati, this is bubbling and I think it's gonna blow up!" Zoey's voice echoed from the kitchen. "I'm not trying to die over Laoka!"
Tati sighed and shook her head, "If you two want to head over to the table, "It'll be ready in just a moment."
Neither of them needed to be told twice, especially Jungkook, whose nose was already twitching with excitement.
He'd had the privilege of eating Tati's cooking before and learned very quickly that he was a fan of the recipes of Madagascar.
He just liked Tati in general.
She always smelled like warm vanilla or rich chocolate.
She made fantastic recipes that she was always sending home with Zoey or bringing when she'd visited their place.
And she had always been incredibly kind to him.
She was one of Zoey's closest friends and so it was important to Jungkook from the beginning that he make a good impression.
Lucky for him, Tati was a very accepting person who didn't tend to put pressure on a lot of things.
He supposed her endless patience came from dealing with the large group of preschoolers that she taught on a daily basis.
While he liked kids, he didn't know how on earth she did that all day every day and still have the presence of mind to function.
Taehyung, it seemed, was all but in love that moment and Jungkook had to elbow him in the ribs to get him to snap out of it.
"You're being kind of obvious," he said to Taehyung.
A flush started to crawl up his golden skin and Jungkook barely contained his snickering.
Soon enough the Tati was wheeling out a little bar cart full of dishes, Zoey trailing behind her with a tray of drinks and pitcher.
"You know… that is so freaking smart." Jungkook looking at the cart.
"What?" Tati glanced up at him before following his line of sight and chuckling, "Oh, yeah. I got so tired of making so many trips. My grandmother taught me how to cook and for her it was all about the side dishes. However, she had more patience than I did when it came to making a thousand trips into the kitchen. This was worth every scent from Skykea. Plus it makes loading the dishwasher a breeze."
"Had?" Taehyung found himself asking before he knew it.
Tati smiled at him softly, passing him a dish to sit on the table, "Yes, she passed away several years ago. But she raised me. She taught me alot and I miss her but I see her every day."
At his confused look she only smiled, "I see her almost every day when I look in the mirror."
Zoey turned and picked up a picture off the table and handed it to Taehyung, "That's Tatiana the first."
"You were named after her?" Taehyung asked, looking at the woman in the photo.
Tati did in fact look almost like a carbon copy of the lemur hybrid in the photo.
The styling was different, of course, it was a different time but she looked just like her.
Tati smiled, taking the photo in hand, "Yeah, funny how it worked out honestly. She went by Ana and she always called me Tati. Neither of us really ever went by Tatiana but as I've gotten older and since she'd passed, I don't mind it. It makes me feel closer to her."
Taehyung nodded, "I can understand that. My grandfather picked out my name. He and my grandmother actually raised me mostly too. They passed away some time ago."
Tati settled a hand on his shoulder, her golden eyes almost seeming to glow as they looked at one another.
"I'm sure you miss them. I know it hurts and I won't pretend to know your beliefs but my grandmother always said that people never really leave us. As they pass on, they simply change and help us along in life. She always said that our ancestors are a passage between the living and the dead. She always said that this life is temporary and we'll all make it to the Land of the Ancestors eventually and see the creator." she said and then shrugged. "Of course, I don't know what you believe, Taehyung, but I know when I was little and I lost my parents and went to live with her… she told me that and it helped me alot. And when she passed, I remembered her words and that I'd see her again… and it brought me comfort."
Taehyung could only stare at her after her little speech.
Who was he to her to reveal something so personal and to feel the need to comfort a perfect stranger?
It both confused and drew him in.
Jungkook sensing that Taehyung was lost in his thoughts, jumped in and began asking questions about the food which Tati was all too happy to answer.
Tati was quick to explain what dishes were vegetarian and what weren't, having provided a selection of both as she knew both Jungkook and Zoey did not eat meat.
"And there are sauces as well on the side because I wasn't sure who did spicy or not. So add to your content." she said and gestured to a few bowls. "This is sakay which is basically just chilies, garlic, ginger and olive oil. It's actually really good. And this is my grandmother's recipe for mango habanero sauce." she explained.
Zoey cut in, "Tae, you trust me?"
Taehyung lifted a brow at the little red head, "Uh, maybe?"
"I know what you eat!" she argued before she sighed, "All I was gonna say is just let me fix your plate. I been eating Tati's food for years. Let me hook you up."
"I don't know that I trust you." he teased, feeling a bit more at ease.
"Pft." she scoffed, making Tati laugh. "You've eaten everything I've cooked."
"And you've given me food poisoning. Twice." he countered.
"That was an accident and that second time was not my fault! I told you not to eat that fish and you did it anyway!" Zoey said, snatching his plate away anyway.
"Well, at least take comfort in the fact that I cooked this food so you won't be getting food poisoning." Tati added, pouring him a glass of lemonade and passing it along.
"Yeah, but she was left unsupervised in there for like five minutes." he teased.
"Ugh." Zoey grumbled. "I can't stand you. Fix it your damn self then!"
Tati laughed, intercepting the plate before Zoey's temper could get the best of her.
"I'll give you a plate, Taehyung-ah." she said, adding heaping servings onto his plate. "I can tell that you two have history especially if she's so willing to be a little beast with you."
"That is a prejudiced term and I resent it." Zoey huffed, not at all serious.
Tati lifted a brow at her small friend, "Everyone at this table is a hybrid, Zo. And you are a beast. A beast from hell."
"You don't even believe in hell." Zoey laughed.
"No but you do." Tati winked, effectively making Zoey flush.
"Stop that." Zoey said.
"Stop winking at me. You know I can't resist you and your hotness. My boyfriend is sitting right there." Zoey said, effectively flustered.
"What is true friendship if you can't make your friends cringe by flirting with them?" Tati asked.
Taehyung smiled.
He was seeing more and more of her teasing nature and he was beginning to like it.
"Sounds like you and Jiminie." he said to Jungkook.
"Jiminie?" Tati asked.
"Our friend, Jimin." Jungkook clarified with a laugh. "It's all playful of course. But we often flirt with one another to see who will crack first."
"Ah." Tati said. "I would do that to this one but she always blushes when I flirt with her. We've got another friend though who is completely shameless. Zuni is ridiculous sometimes. She just has no fear."
Jungkook snorted, "Sounds like Jiminie."
"Maybe we should introduce them." Tati said to Zoey.
"Oh god, no." she said. "Then there would be two of them."
"Hey, that's not such a bad thing." Taehyung spoke up.
"Well of course you would say that about your soulmate." Jungkook said.
"Oh? He your boyfriend?" Tati asked.
Taehyung nearly choked on his rice, "No, no. He's my best friend. We're just very close. Soulmate in the other sense of the word."
"Ah, I see." Tati said.
"Like me and you, bestie." Zoey said, blinking at Tatiana.
"Careful, Zo. Or you'll make somebunny jealous." Tati teased, aiming a wink at Jungkook.
Who, bless his heart, couldn't help but blush at the attention.
Tatiana, for all her gentleness and loving nature, apparently had quite the effect on people.
Perhaps it was the beauty or the smile or the way she spoke.
But Taehyung decided right then and there that he wanted to see more of her.
The night went along as usual, filled with drinks and laughter and more than a few records playing in the background.
Soon enough Zoey was all but dragging a tipsy Jungkook into the elevator only after assuring Tati that they would all be taking an Uber back.
Taehyung hung back in the door just a second.
"So what do you think?" she asked. "You interested in moving in?"
He nodded, "I am. I think we'd get along well. But part of me hesitates."
"Oh?" she asked, brows rising. "What are your concerns?"
He breathed out a laugh, "My concern is that if I move in, I don't know if I'll ever want to leave."
Tati furrowed her brows, "And that is a problem because?"
"Because I have a crush on you and we're not even roommates yet." he said flatly. "And while I do want to live her… I want you to give me a shot even more."
Tati blinked at him before she sighed, "Oh, uh, ok. Uh, but I hope you don't mind me asking but why can't both things coincide?"
He glanced at her, secretly rejoicing at what she was hinting at but also careful of the situation, "In the event of a break up?"
Tati chuckled, "Taehyung. You're already giving yourself anxiety over a breakup for a hypothetical relationship."
"I just don't want to be put in the friend zone." he admitted. "Or worse, the roommate zone. That's where relationships go to die."
Tati laughed, making him smile.
"Well, how about this?" she said. "You come do a trial run for like a week or something. In that time you can decide if you actually want to live here and also I'm sure you'll get a pretty good idea if you just think I'm cute or you actually want to date me."
"First of all, you would just let me do a trial run?" he asked.
"You're Zoey's friend." she pointed out, her tail curling behind her in amusement. . "If you did anything, A- I'd kick your ass. B- she would hunt you down. C- I'm fairly sure Jungkook would murder you if you cut off his newest food source. "
Taehyung laughed in amusement but he knew it was true.
"And also, you're pretty cute and I just kinda wanna hang out with you some more." she admitted.
Taehyung beamed and Tatiana all but fell out right there.
He was handsome and there was no denying that but when he smiled like that… he was radiant.
His big dark eyes sparkled and his grin turned boxy and absolutely wonderful.
Tatiana was suddenly regretting her decision all together.
How in the fuck was she going to survive a week with him?
Though it seemed it was too late.
"I'm in." he said. "Call me and let me know when."
They said their goodbyes and Tati closed the door behind him.
"I am so fucked."
—--
A/N: Scroll down to see some extra special additions!!!!
Hey loves! Thanks for checking out my work! For all kpop content check Masterlist 2.0 in my navi! Link in bio! Love, K 💋
-------
The inspirtation/mood board for Tati!
=
The inspiration/mood board for Tae!
=
@toomanyfictionalboyfriends
@thickemadame
@blackirisposts
@therealmrshale
@thegreatirene
@angelus320
@disneymarina
@sullybot
@kalliravenne
@alisoncdariel
@amethyst09
@gruffle1
@leah-halliwell92
@queenlexusloverofbts
@owenniasstars
@adventuresofnight
@tacobacoyeet
@glassesandthunderthighs
@lyn-g
@poopypantsmcgee666-blog
@milkshakelol
@sunnysidesblog
@speedyhandsbonkpalace
@mwitsmejk
@pinkcherrybombs
@abc-abc1234-a
@vj21
@kelly-fushiguro345
@minshookie29
22 notes
·
View notes
Health and Hybrids (IX)👽👻💚
[I can't remember the original prompt posters for the life of me but here's a mashup between a cryptid!Danny, presumed-alien!Danny, dp x dc, and whatever prompt made the one body horror meat grinder fic.]
PART ONE is here PART TWOis here PART THREEis here PART FOUR is here and PART FIVE is here PART SIX is here and PART SEVEN is here PART EIGHT is here and this is part nine 💚 Ao3 Is here for all parts
Where we last left off... Wonder Woman has secured the coveted position as The Only Reliable Adult in the sore eyes of an injured half-ghost. World's saddest presumed-alien takes his meds on purpose for once. The author wrestles with Roman numerals.
Trigger warnings for this story: body horror | gore | post-dissection fic | dehumanization (probably) | my awful attempts at following DC canon. On with the show.
💚👻👽👻💚
Danny is not in the container.
He very much doesn’t like the container.
The new lady and all the milling-about humans and his quickfast human have, however, encouraged him back to this room that looks just like the container's room, with one key difference. This one has a bathtub.
Danny touches the water.
It is too hot.
Danny does not want to go into the bathtub.
No one…no one is making him go in the bathtub. But everyone is gesturing, and making encouraging noises, and it makes Danny shrink into the sparse shadows of a partially-lit room, too afraid to get near the water, and too unhappy to cooperate.
It’s too hot. It smells funny in the way that cough drops and antiseptic tastes funny so it’s probably good for him, but Danny’s not a person and the water is too hot for him to put his core into.
The youngest human is so sad that it reverberates throughout the room, moaning and groaning and toying with Danny’s pull-toy fidget, which Danny is kindly letting it keep. It is laying on the floor. Danny does not have any feet for it to trip over right now, but Danny is hovering above it, so no one with a flesh body falls and hurts something when they trip.
Breaking bones hurts. Danny would know.
The new human lady tries to encourage Danny with his rocket ship. It doesn’t work. The bath is too hot even with the rocket ship in it. Danny wishes there was something he could use to change the temperature.
…He reaches over the side of the tub. Danny swishes a finger around in the water.
Nope. Still too hot.
Okay. Danny needs… Something. He needs. Something.
He quietly removes himself from the most familiar human and just…floats around the room. It is mostly bare. There is space for lots of humans to work with lots of technology to make things happen, but the room is mostly empty right now, except that it has a whole bunch of humans and Danny in it.
There isn’t anything helpful in this room. Danny goes to the next room.
(The new human lady follows behind.)
The next room has…the container. Danny hisses when he sees it.
No one does anything.
…Okay. Danny slides further into the room. No one is making him go in. Okay. He can…explore.
There are other things in the room. Danny can’t tell what all of them are, so he just starts opening things. He finds stuff made of wood and cotton. He rips something small in half, and a bandage falls out. He sticks a wet wipe in his mouth before he realizes it’s a wet wipe—that one drops out of his mouth and onto the floor. It tastes so bad.
The human makes a sad noise that might be a laugh too, but Danny can’t interpret now. He’s on a mission. He has more important tasks to finish.
There are more rooms with more things and Danny keeps looking. He finds towels and medical robes in cabinets and machines that do things that Danny can’t tell and tubes of all sorts and packages of medication Danny can’t eat. He keeps opening doors and looking inside and closing them because none of them help.
…There’s some white packets inside of clear plastic wrap. Danny can’t tell what they are. Is this something that he can use? Will it help?
Danny flexes his comeherelookitthis aura with a curl of his tail, and the human buzzes to attention in Danny’s current room.
Danny hands him the pouch.
The human does something to it. The crinkly-shiny wrapper falls to the floor. The human makes a noise, the packet creaks ominously, and the human holds out its hands so that Danny can take the packet back.
He takes it back.
Danny immediately drops the packet back to the floor because it’s hot!!!! Ugh!!!! If he had known that the package was one of the hot packets, he wouldn’t have bothered!
He floats elsewhere into the room, sulking. He opens more cabinets and doesn’t close them after. He—
Wait.
—Danny feels out with a hand. It’s…cold inside.
Danny shoves his face into the cabinet. There’s no food, just little vials, but yes! Cold! He shoves a hand inside and roots around, even though he is also trying not to crush or break the little vials. The white-coated humans don’t get close or try to get him, but they do make sad noises. Danny hummmmms an apology. But—
Out of the fridge comes squishy packs. There is nothing in them but squishy wet material. They are only cold.
Perfect!
Danny grabs as many as he can with his hands and one in his teeth and his teeth tear through the plastic a little and he kind of tastes the goo inside (gross!), but he has armfuls of cold packs and they are all very good at being cold packs.
The buzzing human comes back to find him and laugh, laugh, laugh all the way through the soft layers of the universe, but Danny doesn’t care, and also he needs it to show Danny where the bathtub is again so he can go sit in the gross medicine water. He might be a little lost.
Thankfully, once Danny stops moving and just stands around, it does. Great!
The lady is still there with the rest of the humans. Whatever. Danny spits the cold pack in his mouth into the bathtub and medicine water probably goes everywhere, but he can’t tell and doesn’t care. The rest of his pile he dunks into the tub by himself.
Now. Danny sticks an arm in the water.
It’s…better. Not so warm. Danny could probably tolerate it now. He doesn’t want to, sure, but he’s also covered in his own waste products and hasn’t cleaned anything in ages and ages and who knows how long. So probably washing out his insides in uncomfortably warm water and a little bit of cold pack medium is better than, uh…not doing that.
Danny slides carefully into the bathtub. Gross. The water is gross. Also it smells bad. Wait. Could he smell before?
He sniffs again. His hands slide through the water, and Danny has to work not to make himself intangible so that he doesn’t get wet. Getting wet is the point right now. He brings one of the cold packs a little bit closer to his body, the cool water radiating from it, and gently splashes water onto his abdomen.
Danny can’t exactly tell where and how he’s injured, and this form hides his wounds even from himself. Still, he remembers…he remembers most of the bad things. Being pinned down. The restraint bruises.
The bright lights.
The…scalpels…
When the human lady is suddenly at his side again, Danny flinches back into invisibility. She doesn’t yell at him for disappearing, or pull out a weapon to punish him.
She has ice packs in her soft flesh hands. One by one, without looking where Danny is hiding in thin air, she drops them into the bath, cooling it further.
…Danny quietly slithers back out of the shadows. The woman makes a quiet noise, and then she leaves the side of the tub.
He doesn’t know how to respond. He continues to wash himself by gently splashing water on his torso. There’s organs under there he’s gotta clean. Probably. If not, he ought to wash anyway.
Huh. There’s no soap here. Can he get soap? Maybe the weird water is supposed to be the soap. Bathwater doesn’t exactly lather, though.
Whatever. Danny washes everything from his sore scalp to his largely-nonexistent toes/tail. The water turns a filthy, corroded black-brown. Danny doesn’t even ask if the white-coated humans want anything to do with the water; he doesn’t want to see them, and this is nasty.
He pulls the stopper out. The water goes down. Danny watches it drain.
…Okay. So. They’re on the moon. Where does his gross water go? Danny hopes they don’t recycle it. A base full of mostly-humans probably doesn’t know how to filter ectoplasm out of the water supply. Or, depending on what they know or don’t know, they might not even know they have to.
Do they know what Danny is?
Danny hopes they don’t. Maybe they would give him back to the lab if they did.
…He doesn’t want to think about that. He wants another bath. Danny fusses with the taps by the bathtub long enough that the human lady comes back, with her fully articulated fingers that can grasp and twist and pull.
This time Danny gets cold water, which he likes. He doesn’t like that she’s so close, but he appreciates the help. The tub fills, and Danny washes again, and the lady comes back with a very soft towel that Danny wants to add to his bedding.
Danny definitely pushes the towel through his body a few times. It’s mostly to get the most water off of his body as possible, even though the human woman keeps her attention on him as he does.
He doesn’t relinquish the wet towel.
The woman holds her hands out for it.
…Danny scoots a little further back. It’s a nice towel. He wants it on his cot so that the sheets don’t absorb as much waste ‘n blood ‘n stuff.
One of the other humans in white walks forward, and Danny pushes himself as far back as he can go. It ignores him. It hands a second towel to the human lady with the red colors, and walks away.
The human lady turns back to Danny. She holds out her hand and a fresh towel, not suffused with contaminated medicine water.
…Kay. Danny can do Tradesies.
Danny gets a new towel, is nice and dry, and roams invisibly back to his cot.
The sheets are all nice and new when he gets there. The humming human’s little friends are all there, chatting and toying with Danny’s stuff. Hey!
He makes the head and his chest sticking through the ceiling visible to human eyes, and he hisses. They scatter quickly. It’s a little funny—he’s not actually mad at them, but they can’t tell, since they can’t hear the little tones in his core. Danny drops to float over his cot, lays down the towel, wraps himself in it, and puts his things back into his bed.
It’s kind of like having a grave. It’s nice and cozy.
When the small humans poke their heads out from behind the curtain again, Danny purrs so that they know he’s laughing at them.
If they fuss, that’s their fault. Danny pulls his rocket ship into his pillows, finds a stretch toy that’s easy to chew on, and eases himself onto his cot for a nap.
370 notes
·
View notes