Neko-laus 2 : Toy Tiger

Yes, I'm alive. Just running around in circles. So here's the next installment. Enjoy!

Boon

A role of a good tactician is to know and accept their limitations. You over extend your abilities bad shit happens. I was knew what I could do and what I couldn’t. That was the reason that the Skullz survived long enough to be absorbed into the RIPpers back on….back home. I wasn’t the smartest in the crew. I wasn’t the brashest nor the most talented violence wise I knew how to tap into those individuals who were better than me and make things work. I guess that is what makes a leader.

I sat up in bed stroking the golden hair that was currently using my lap as a pillow. I was running through my options. While Mags was our greatest asset he was also the biggest fucking liability I have ever had. Leaving him behind wasn’t an option. Dying with him definitely wasn’t an option. My priority was to get his tight perfect ass away from the Empire. How to do that? I don’t know. Who would know? Grim. He knew the Mage Division. He said they killed his citizen chip which was why he could build himself his own little empire that, now that I could understand that more, the RIPpers were a “get bent” gesture back to THE Empire. When I finally got my ‘boon’ I’d get things a little clearer in my head.

My stomach grumbled.

Right now, I had a mentally tortured mage on my hands. The whole of the division knew that King Tigers didn’t get retired and they kept it from their people as long as they could. This victory tour was nobodies smokescreen. Newmarket knew his days were numbered as a King Tiger Handler. He was distancing himself. The download I got from Mack was that Newmarket was using up all his accumulated shore leave, three months worth. What I gleaned from that was that the Mage Division hoped the problem of King Tiger would be solved by then. I couldn’t count on Mack, even if my gut was telling me he was okay. Mack didn’t have any accumulated leave because Mags kept killing the Latents he was supposed to care for. Can’t work if you don’t got any one to take care of. Elway…he was a typical grunt. He killed what he was told to and if the order came down to plant a bullet between my eyes, he’d do it. They probably carry my lifeless body flopped over his shoulder. I shuddered.

So it was up to me and him – a wildcat and a domesticated Tiger.

“Nicky?” I glanced down and saw Maggie staring up at me as I finger stroked his hair. These golden strands were growing longer, slightly.

“You hungry?”

He reached up and cupped the back of my neck. He started to pull me down towards him then stopped as I felt his fingers trace my bare flesh of my nape. A slow smile crossed his lips. “You got it off.”

“There’s something else I wouldn’t mind getting off.” I arced an eyebrow and leered at him.

“Missed you, Nicky.”

“You won’t believe me, but I missed you too.”

“You missed me so much you took a one eyed Tiger to your bed.” I snapped my gaze down to Mags but there was nothing but a teasing light in his eyes. That was better than the flat dead look he had last night when he threatened Wendy.

“He was a means to an end and he thought he deserved payment for services rendered.”

Maggie put some pressure on the back of my neck drawing me down to him. “How positively mercenary of you.”

“No, that’s how mercenary the Mage Division thought I was. Now, fuck Wendy…”

“No thanks, been there done that.”

I sat up. What?

“Once upon a time, other Mages talked to me. This was before final rank was given. I hooked up with him for a semester at the academy. As you said, a means to an end, he kept the nights warm.”

Jees this means that Wendy has been fucked over by the both of us. “Nicky.”

I blinked and caught myself reflected in Mags eyes. “Nicky, make me burn. I’m so cold when you’re not with me.” My tattoo began to flare. The warmth and heat of it was more with Mag’s spark than it was with Wendy trying his damnedest to start it up.

“Are to telling me…?”

“Start a fire deep inside me, little Neko.”

We could have fallen on each other like animals starved to madness. I was locked in a cage but he was out in the big wide world being hailed as the conquering hero. Women would have thrown their teats and asses in his face hoping to curry favour knowing little more about him other than he wore Empire Black. As our lips touched each other in exploration, I knew he hadn’t strayed. The opportunity was there but he had resisted. He had waited…for me.

I was still in my underwear. He was still fully dressed. When he reached for his shirt buttons, I stayed his hand. “Let me. Sit up.”

I slipped out from under his weight, kneeling over his waist. “You lost weight, Maggie.”

“I wasn’t hungry.” Mags hooded his eyes as a seductive smile beamed back at me. I sat my hips down on his groin.

“Well this feels like someone’s a little hungry.”

Oh it was tempting to take a hold of both sides of his black shirt and wrench it open but my arrogant ass seemed a little fragile. It wasn’t easy to forget his silent tears on my neck and shoulders last night. These bastards had raised him and trained him to do their bidding and he had done it so well, for so long that this…what they were doing to him now was an ultimate betrayal. Did they even see what they were doing to him? Surely they knew that the whole of the Rank knew what it went to go on a grand tour like this?

“Nicky?”

How couldn’t they see how this was shredding this man to pieces or maybe that was the plan. Get the King Tiger off balance emotionally and magically then detonate. Those fuckers!

“Such anger in your eyes.” I twitched my head out of his hands and my bangs fell back down as they curtain they were intended to be. “I’m honoured.”

“This is why I don’t cut my hair.”

“You’re still easy to read.”

“No, I’m not.”

“To me you are.” Mags sat up forcing me lower on his upper thighs. His arms came around me and he tucked my forehead up against his throat. “Thanks for caring, Nicky. I want you to know that I’m never going to apologize for dragging you into this.”

“Oh please, spare me. I never asked for your apology. I’d still be a medical experiment somewhere if you didn’t.”

“So this is just gratitude?”

“What sort of slut do you take me for?” I finished unbuttoning his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. They caught around his wrists so I had to ferret my way through the folds to undo the buttons.

“Slut is a concept I have never associated with you.”

I pulled Mags shirt off. “And you better never…”

Kissing was sweet and unhurried. When his tongue finally came forward I met him halfway. Kissing was a means to an end. Mimicry of what I would be doing to the mage in my arms a few minutes later. Darryl showed me that kissing could mean something else. Maggie took it to another level. He was hard and throbbing and so was I. There was a faint taste of lingering alcohol in his mouth. Alcohol and mage control didn’t go well together. We were going to have to have a talk about that later…when my brain returned to it’s bigger head.

I slid of the bed backwards until I could stand up. I was tenting my underwear. Planting my hand on his upper chest, well away from the tattoo I pushed him backwards until he was laying flat. He threw his arms wide and nestled into the warmth of the spot I had just vacated. Now that was a picture of wanton.

I caught the heel of one his tall boots and pulled it down to get it off. I got a boot to the ass. I whirled on my heel but found him flat on his back with his arm over his eyes. “Sorry...”

I stripped him off and he just laid there – in abject misery. Well, would I be cracking jokes and carrying on if I knew my death sentence was close at hand? Probably. I’d lived under the threat of death for far longer. The wild, the politics of the wild, the misfortune of being the son of a traitor, the misfortune of being the son of a fucking powerful witch. Getting incinerated by your lover is low on the danger scale.

“You get me all revved up and leave me hanging, Maggie?”

“Just...just don’t look at me.”

“Kind of hard not to when your naked and you’re hogging the bed.” I tried to make my voice cajoling. Harder than it sounds when you’re sporting a stiffy and the damned tiger tattoo is searing my flesh.

“Everyone’s been so damned condescending these past few days. I’ve had to mask my face. If they knew...if they knew just how close I was to letting go...” Mags voice trailed off. “I’m not taking you with me, Nicky. You have to remove these mage marks. We have to break the synchronicity between us.”

I slapped him. I slapped him hard right across the jaw that was still exposed to me. He didn’t expect that and blinked at me with those big blue eyes. “What the hell was that for?”

I stood there breathing hard.

“I said what the hell was that for Nicky?”

“I fucking love you. How fucking dare you tell me to take those fucking, fuckity fucks tats off!”

“You hit me for that? Wait...fuckity? Uh....what? You love me?”

I felt my whole face flare crimson. I ducked my head forward and allowed my bangs to hide my face. I didn’t mean to scream it at him. Shit. I should have said it last night but like the fucking coward I was I swallowed it down. Mags yanked me off balance and I landed on the bed beside him. It didn’t take him long to roll over on me but there was a pillow between our chests.

The despair in his eyes a few moments ago was replaced with a glimmer of excitement. “You said it, didn’t you? You said you love me. Tell me again, without the profanity.”

He brushed my hair back off my forehead. “Please Nicky. Give me your gift again.”

I licked my lips. “I said...”

Mags closed his eyes as I looked up at him and a thin smile crooked his lips.

“I love you. The tattoos are staying. If you go kaboom somewhere, so will I.”

“I don’t want to drag you down, Nicky,”

“So fucking control yourself.”

“Profanity again?”

“You pick up at wildcat, you should expect it.”

“So how do I control myself?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well that really helps.”

“Keep your sarcasm to a minimum. I know someone who might. I should be talking to him soon. Now, enough of this talking shit, I thought you wanted some Wild type loving.”

“How about, you take good care of me. I’m feeling happy right how with your declaration, but I’m fragile. The tour was supposed to last another week but the brass cancelled it.”

“You were kind of looking like shit.”

“Thank you, Nicky.”

“I meant that as a compliment. It brought you home.” Mags moved easily with my direction until he was laying flat on his stomach. Tattoo placement was a pain in the ass. Unless one of us, meaning me, was willing to wear a chest protector, this was how it was going to be. Damn, even if it was on the back side, it was nice to look at. Even nicer to touch. I ran my hands over his warm ass cheeks.

Mmmmm,

Well wasn’t that impressive. My tigy wigy was ready to roll. I moved over him pressing my body against him. He was taller but from groin to shoulder we matched up pretty well. I reached up and covered his hand. He spread his fingers and I laced ours together and squeezed tightly.

“Welcome home”

“Glad to be home.”

I kissed his shoulder. Salty. I licked at his nape and nuzzled my nose into his hairline. I loved the color of his hair. Lick. Kiss. Suck. I slowly worked my way down his torso. He actually broke out into a slight giggle that he immediately squashed when I licked the small of his back.

“Maggie, get the lube out of the drawer.”

He had to rise to his knees to do that as well as let go of my hand. I pulled the pillow we had used as our tattoo shield under his hips.

“Relax...” I was better at fucking and Mags knew it. Then again, if a King Tiger was fucking someone, are they going to say, you’re not doing it right? Under my hand, he was improving. Ha, under my hand. Ooh, he was so warm around my finger and tight. I began to stroke my wrist forward and back. Telling him to relax was just a waste of breath.

Aaaahhhh.

He made the most erotic sounds probably because it wasn’t something he normally did. I brushed my lips over the upper swell of his ass as I slowly pumped my arm. His body was shaking. What?

Heheheheh. He was laughing?

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re kissing my ass.” Mags turned his face towards me, looking over his shoulder. The flat desperation that had colored his eyes the night before was gone.

“Should you really be mocking me when you’re in this delicate situation?” I brushed his prostate. He shuddered so delicately. That was a pleasant sight so I kissed his other cheek. I twinned my fingers and opened him further still. I watched through my bangs as a nice rosy flush pulled to the surface of his skin. The tattoo on my chest ratcheted up a notch in heat.

“...Nicky...” That voice sent a shiver from my ear to my tail bone.

“Arthur...”

Mags shook his head. “That’s the name the Empire gave me after they bought me. I can’t remember my first real name.”

“...Mags...”

“I’ll take that one as mine. Make me yours, Nicky.”

“I’m doing a piss poor job of it if you don’t know by now.”

This coming together was different than the other times. The heat of the tats were there driving us to carnal stupidity but there was something else burning a little deeper, a little lower and a whole lot hotter. The mage marks were like gasoline, a massive flare and explosion that rocked the bed but this need one was like a glowing coal, burning from within. Eating itself up.

I pushed deeply into him, gritting my teeth to keep control. I wasn’t a greenhorn. I wasn’t going to lose it on entry no matter how great he felt. My hands slipped around his hips anchoring him as I slowly pulled backwards. He groaned and shuddered as I sank deep, brushing his prostate again.

Nnnggghhhh.

It wasn’t until he cried out in release that I unleashed my restraint and began riding him hard. His golden strands of hair spread across his shoulders and onto to his pillow like a spiders web. I knew his eyes were enchanting but I think it was this uncommon color that ensnared me so quickly. The color of the sun was a rarity back in the Wild. There were shades of blonde in the Shambles but nothing this pure.

Ah, ah, ah. Mags face was a picture of bliss.

My pace was falling apart. I was going to come. I shifted to pull free but still as a hand slapped around my the back of my thigh just at the junction were my ass cheek met my leg. Mags’s blue eyes pinned me. “Stay inside me.”

I was too close to argue. “...Mags...”

“Nicky.” He stretched his jaw skyward exposing the length of his neck. Gaw...so sexy...so fucked up...so like me.

I lost it.

Apparently I passed out. I opened my eyes and found myself propped against a pillow and a broad chest. Mags forearm was wrapped around my shoulders while the other was across my stomach. His face was buried in the back of my neck.

“Tell me again.” His words were a warm breeze over my shoulder.

I leaned my head back to rest on his crown. “I love you.” That wasn’t so hard. Why the hell was it so hard to say before. “I. Love. You. Mags.”

“I’m not going to let them do it. I’m not going to die now.” I winced as his arms tightened around me. “I’m not going to fucking die now I got something to live for.”

I brought my hands up and laid them on his. He opened his fingers and I laced our hands together. “I’m not dying now I got something to live for.”

We leaned against each other, propping each other up. Now, I just had to figure out how to keep that from happening...the dying part that was. I hoped my ‘boon’ could help, because I was out of fucking options.


* * * * *


“Who fucked with this clock? Didn’t I tell you never touch this fucking clock?” The vid screen was on and I could tell that it was broadcasting in Grim’s private office. Very few got called to the private office – just the Lieutenants and that was when we were going to be pulling some shit that would really bring the Garrison down on our asses. Loose lips sink ships. I never was the honesty is the best policy sort but this secrecy had rubbed me raw. I finally got it. “Now I’m late and it’s going to look like we’re nothing but backwater thugs who can’t tell time. Fuck! Find out who messed with my clock.”

Grim tossed his ass into his leather chair and glared into the screen. He began primping and I had to bust out laughing. “Nicky, you little prick.”

Suddenly my side of the feed must have turned on because the scowl he wore suddenly faded. “The Empire seems to agree with you.”

“Looks can be deceiving, old man.”

“Oh, thanks for the name change, Peter Ojislayer. I sooo appreciate it.”

“Better than Mage Neko-laus Magnus.”

“Neko-laus Magnus.” Grim was serious for all of a second then roared with laughter. He stopped in mid gaw. “Mage?”

“Mage.”

“You tested as a Mage?”

“No, I tested as a Latent. I’ve been moved to Mage ranking and I think you know why.”

“Yeah, I’ve been watching the funeral march.”

“What can I do?”

“You know this call is being monitored.”

“Yeah. I haven’t hidden anything about trying to save King Tiger. Old Man, I gotta save him.”

“You figured out for yourself there are no King Tigers in retirement. On average, only one of four Tigers make it out. It might be easier to cut your losses, Nicky.”

“Some losses you can’t accept.”

“True. You’re a smart cookie, Nicky, I bet you looked at everything available. There is nothing in civilization that can help your King Tiger. I ought to know because I tried everything I could and still ended up with a pile of ash.”

I felt like I had taken a direct hit to the chest. Grim was my last hope. If he tossed me even a sliver of a bone I would have taken it and run. Instead I got nothing.

“It looks like I have to retract what I said about you being a smart cookie. Civilization is sucking the intelligence out of you? Maybe you should take your King Tiger problem to your mother.”

Mom? Why would I...?

“What is she, forty? Fifty? Takes some strong will to get to be that old. Too bad King Tigers don’t reach thirty. Something must be lacking in his diet or something.”

“Yeah, or something.” Mom was just as strong as Mags. He might be more powerful but she had the fine control to make surgical strikes. She had only taught me the basics to hide and control what little limited mage ability I had. There were tons of old witches and warlocks out in the Wild. I just needed to get my Mags out to them.

“There’s my boy. The MD treating you well?” Grim could read me so easily it was embarrassing, and this was before I started making payments to him.

“At least I’m not in a test tube.” I saw movement outside the door as the officer assigned to me watch me decided my ‘boon’ was all used up. “See you soon, old man.”

“You going to drop me a line when you get here?”

“Naw, you’ll know when we do.”

“Shall I hazard a guess?”

“Look to the skies.”

Grim pursed his lips then kissed his fingers and blew me a kiss. Very un-father like. “Say high to your Mother for me.”

“Time’s up.” The screen went dark and I was left sitting in the twilight. Grim gave me more than just a ghost of a hope, I had a start of a plan. Mom. I hadn’t thought of her because I had fallen into the technology is better way of thinking. I grew up out there in the Wild. I knew enough to walk out of the jungles and survive in the Shambles. I could read our language. I could write our language. I couldn’t read the Empire’s system but that didn’t mean the Wild was inferior. All I had to do was get Mags to Mom. Anyone with the ability is never turned away.

I just had to figure out a way to get us back home. How to get us to the Wild. How to keep Mags from exploding. And when we did meet Mom, how to keep her from killing me because I was guilty of regicide after all.