Neko-laus 2 : Toy Tiger

Yes I’m late. I have an excuse. You probably don’t want to hear it so I shall just tell you that Nicky deserves a swift kick in the ass. He did something unexpected which resulted in scraping the first draft of this. Grrrr. I think’s it’s better but still…oh well, read review and enjoy.

By the way check out http://derekicasnake.com for my bloggy updates and news. Tah

17. Breakdown

Thinking about what I want to do and actually getting it done isn’t as easy as I thought it would be and truthfully I didn’t think it was going to be easy at all. I also thought that Mags would be helping me out. I mean this would save both of our lives. Instead after that little promotional jaunt and teary breakdown, King Ass has come back with a vengeance. The powers that be had returned to granting his every wish and his wish was to have me at his side every freaking second every day.

My status as a Latent was revoked. It had been my understanding that ranking was an absolute. Once ranked you could only go up or down steps like Tiger Three to Tiger Two. Being ripped from the lowly over protected Latent status was shocking. That self same former Latent was now placed in the hallowed halls of the Mage Division. I didn’t know that could be done. There were a whole lot of others who didn’t think it could be done or should be done. I was one of them. I’m not a mage. Trying to light the end of my cigarette with magic leaves me slumped on my ass on the floor in a near coma. Who has the power and authority to do such a thing?

King Ass.

I sincerely doubt that the higher ups were cowed by Mags much. I mean, they know that he knows that they have plans for him and that they ain’t the kind that mages come back from. No, my change in status is more than a little big higher ranked that King Ass. Not only it makes me uneasy to basically be unarmed in a room full of mages but I’m absolutely fucking terrified that I have caught the attention of someone or something so powerful. I’m a crouch in the bushes and spring a deadly blow kind of guy. I feel like there is a target locked on me.

So I’m considered a Mage now – a PM IV which is the low end of the mage spectrum. If one of the other Mages on the ship decide they want an apprentice – insert slave worker here – they could tap a low ranker to do that. A PM IV is as low as one can go and still be considered a Mage. I might have been looked at with covetous eyes when I showed up in the Mage mess hall in uniform black but they knew better. Even wrecked as Mags was now, challenging him for his little neko was asking to get turned into a pile of ash.

So within a few days of my life being thrown into total chaos with Mags return, my status is changed, those who had looked up to me, the other Latents, were barred from speaking to me and a mage didn’t need a groom. This storm has continued unabated for about thirty-six days and it’s taking a toll on me. My solid ground has fallen away. I didn’t know what he is attempting to do. I mean one moment Mags is clingy; the next he’s in the-do-as-I-say-now mode; or he’s overly attentive only to be so cool to the point of ignoring me. I’m off balance and I don’t like it. I’m not eating. My sleeping is…well, it’s not restful.

I think that all of this upheaval and speaking with Grim have started all this up again. I thought I had outgrown them. I thought it was behind me. I’m starting to think that this forgetfulness was nothing more than wishful thinking. I have dreams. No, I have nightmares. No, that means I’m lying to myself. Memories are resurfacing I thought I had buried so long ago. Memories of my life in the Wild.

I have to be strong. These recollections are just ghosts of my past. I’ve already lived it. I’m still alive, they aren’t so doesn’t that make me the winner? Why are they coming back now? I snorted to myself. I knew why they were coming back. I was going back. Just the mere thought of returning to my homeland has set me off like a defenseless child. But that is what I was back then. I was alive only because of my mother’s good graces. Yes rain was not a good thing for me but now the reasons why were focusing in sharply.

They were more than just cowering in fear for my life as a boy. There were so many other horrible things and most of them had to do with my father. How many times can you kill a man? I guess the King figured he was entitled. He had my mother as his Witch and while he might have forced her to be his Consort, it was not a loving relationship. So he played us. My safety for her cooperation. Her wellbeing for my enduring the endless cruelty by him and his vassals. I had no friends in the stronghold. It was made clear that anyone even trying to speak to me would be punished. Then, I grew into my father’s image and…

I wasn’t going back there. What ‘there’ meant I didn’t know yet. Was it the Wild? Was it the memories? Was it something else intangible? All I knew was that I was cut off from my support.

I had a summons from King Ass to come down to the Mage’s Lounge. Now. I was tempted to ignore him but the fucker had really embraced the master mode and it was really not worth the stress of putting up with his attitude later in the privacy of the quarters. When the hell did I start caving?

“Neko! Come here.” Mags bellowed as soon as I crossed the threshold. I eyed him as he sat on the black couch with one leg crossed over the other and his long arm propped on the back of the seat. He had a bottle hanging down from that hand. Was he even taking his meds anymore? Gaw it was that bad that I didn’t even know if those handful of pills were still a heartbeat from keeping us from going up in flames.

“NOW!”

I narrowed my eyes. I was getting to the point of not caring.

I walked up to him well aware that everyone in the lounge was staring at us openly. What was not to watch? We were more entertaining than anything on the video screens. I stopped in front of him. “What?”

“Sit.”

“You seem to be mistaking me for some sort of domesticated animal.”

Mags slouched back on the couch and took a drink from his bottle. I could feel his cool gaze strip me naked in his mind’s eye as it from my feet back up to my eyes. “No, no one would ever think that something as wild as you could ever be tamed but I do like it when you purr underneath me. Now sit.”

I matched his look for a moment and saw the promise of violence in those blue orbs. My jaw firmed and I snorted. I might be considered less than civilized but even I knew enough not to air dirty laundry in public. I made a move to sit.

“No.”

I stopped.

“Here.”

I thought he was going to pat the leather seat beside him but he spread his legs wider and touched the narrow leather gap between them. I could feel a burn of embarrassment stain my cheeks. What the hell was he trying to prove? His eyes narrowed as he began to caress the seat. “Nicky…”

If he had called me Neko I was out of there. Gaw. I tuned and perched on the edge of the seat still very much aware of his warmth enveloping me…and the stench of alcohol. Mags eased back even more draping his other arm around my chest and urging back to lay on him.

“What the hell is the matter with you?”

“What? I can’t show affection?” He began to nuzzle my neck.

“Not in public.” I jerked my head away from his lips.

“If I remember correctly, you were doing this sort of thing when your boys got themselves slaughtered.”

I stilled. Stunned. Absolutely stunned that he would bring something up like that. I had told him in confidence. His hand entangled my hair and he pulled my head back against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry Nicky but put up with me right now.” He whispered against my ear.

What?

“I’ve played the ass these past two weeks for this opportunity. I can’t let it pass now.” He stuck his tongue in my ear. I elbowed him off me as my hand slapped over my ear at the cool wetness clinging there.

“Yo, Tiger Wendell!” I peered through my bangs. Wendy blanched as he was spied heading out the door. “Come over here.”

I moved to get up but Mags yanked me back down on the seat. To make matters worse, he ruffled the top of my head and spread my hair all over. Most of it landed in my eyes and over my face.

“I’m…”

“This is not a request, Tiger. Front and center now.”

You could have heard a pin drop. Watching King Tiger drag the little untamed kitten around was fun as hell for the Mages..It was even better when I lost my temper and lashed out at him. Usually I clocked him a good one then stalked off. Showing up later in the mess hall with my neck all covered in hickies didn’t help my reputation.

Wendy walked up halting a good ten feet away. Mags patted the leather seat cushion beside him then transferred his hold back to me to keep me from bolting.

“What do you want?”

“Take a seat, Wendell, we have some things we need to discuss regarding what happened last month.”

“He was a Latent at the time…”

“I can protect him better now that he is a mage. I don’t need the mangy tigers and lowers sniffing around my Latent.”

“My actions were sanctioned.”

“Sit. Now. Nicky, just relax you’re not going anywhere. Do I need to put up a cone of confinement or are you guys going to bugger off and give us some privacy. Needless to say, my control isn’t improving. I said sit Wendell.” King Ass at his finest.

Wendell sat. I fumed. The rest of the mages either left or moved to the far side of the room. Mags leaned back and stretched his arm…right around Wendy’s shoulders. “You remember the Academy Grant?”

“Yes, I remember the Academy King Tiger.”

“You didn’t call me that then.”

“We hadn’t been assigned ranks yet.”

“Call me what you used to.”
“That is inappropriate…”

“What’s inappropriate is that someone I have considered a friend all these years has tried to stab me in the back.”

“I told you I was sanctioned.”

“There is nothing in the logs anywhere listing your orders to subvert my Latent.”

“But…” Wendell stiffened as Mags ran his fingers gently down the side of his scarred face.

“Hush now. I can count on these two fingers people I call friends and right now both of you is sitting here on the couch. I got a little upset when my friend began acting out of character. You have always been a dyed in the black Mage recruit. We might not have been lovers at the Academy but we were steadfast fuck buddies.”

“Gees, Kin…Arthur.”

“There not so hard eh? You know you might want to try it to Neko.”

I thinned my lips by pressing them together. “You remember my name first.”

Mags made a move to kiss me and I squirmed but didn’t get away. He seemed to be a little bit more stronger than before. Was he working out?

“Arthur…”

“Planned obsolesce Grant.” Mags let out a big sigh. “Both you and I have been abandoned by the Empire. I was sold. You were chosen. He was stolen. It doesn’t matter how we got here, we have given them good service and as soon as we get sick or injured we are useless. We are breathing but we are obsolete. You know this Grant. They dangled a carrot of a teaching mage before you to get you to try and separate Niky and me. You were never one to lie to yourself before, so why are you doing it now? You’re scarred and you’ve lost an eye. They would never put you before the class. You are a symbol of defeat.”

“I can still cast.”

“I know you can, they just won’t let you. You’ve seen the job sheet. There are jobs listed there that you could carry out but they won’t assign them. They are giving them to recruits who haven’t past their exams yet. How insulting for you!”

Mags leaned over and wrapped his arm around Wendy’s neck drawing him close to us his voice dropped lower to almost purr. “They have forgotten that we are Mages. They had trained us to jump at their command but never forget, Grant, that we are Tigers. You may be maimed; I maybe crazy but this power running through us is ours.”

“What do you want? You never had anything to do with me after graduation.”

“That’s because you cut me off cold you little shit. They broke us into rank and you treated me like I had the plague. Do you know how many nights I dreamt of your sighs after you dumped me? The way you kiss…” Mags pressed his mouth against Wendy’s lips.

I understood in that one instant the hell my uncle must have felt to see the object of your love and desire snuggle and kiss with another. The previous hurt had frozen my heart but I was able to contain it. But this. What I felt now…I’d punished Donnie too harshly. I never loved him. I was fond of him, like a treasured pet so his betrayal hurt but if this was love…

I moved before either one of them could. My fist slammed into Wendy’s face knocking him backwards on the seat. Grabbing his shirt front with both hands, I yanked him to his feet and threw him over my shoulder. He crashed into the small black accent table behind me. Blonde hair landed in a heap on the broken furniture.

“Nicky!” Mags moved to grab my wrist.

I ducked past him, grabbed his shoulders and yanked him forward as I brought my knee up hard into his sternum. He landed back on the couch. I straddled his thighs and punched him hard in the jaw. His head snapped sideways. If I had my claws, I would have used them but I didn’t so I punched him again.

“Stop it!”

Wendy jumped on me. I slipped onto my back, twisting like a little neko and got one foot up under his torso. I felt it. I felt Wendy’s draw before the power began to manifest itself into whatever shape he was calling for. I could even sense the direction it was aimed at. Me. Not going to happen. I took his power stream from his control and directed it back at him in a simple but effective hammer strike thrusting it back into his chest. Wendy flew back off the couch to the far wall. I didn’t see him land because my world was rocked with a right cross. My legs buckled slightly as I staggered sideways. I snapped my head back around making my hair lift out of my eyes.

Mags stood there blood running down his nose and from the corner of his lip. “If you have a problem with me, Nicholas, then you take it out on me. Grant is no match for you.”

Power glowed under Mags skin. Some of his magical glyphs were glowing as his magic swirled around him. An unbidden thought or was it a memory came to my mind as I watched the unique power glow within him just under the surface of his skin. It was pulsing the way embers hung to an almost burnt out log -- shades of gold and orange with the edges tinted with scarlet reds. I used to watch the fire and just be entranced with the dance. I haven’t seen a true hearth fire since I was forced to run from the Wild. Why did it come to me now? I tore my eyes away from his glyphs. I wanted to walk into his arms. I wanted to feel them around me. I missed his warmth. I missed the character I had fallen for. I didn’t like this new Mags. I didn’t like how I reacted around him. I took one step towards him. His glyphs powered to full turning to gold and orange shimmer.

I stopped. He was scared of me?

His hand came up towards me and I reacted or maybe it would be more truthful to say my latency reacted. Whatever Mags intent the power that reached for me divided around me as if there were a stone pillar before me. Once the magic was unleashed the strongest became it’s master. I think it was only because I surprised him that this happened. I grabbed the individual streams and rewove them back together into one and then directed its’ path into the bulkhead. The floor beneath our feet shuddered and then everything electrical burnt out. The stench of burning wires filled the air. We were in the Mages lounge, mages who were the cream of the Empire, and they screamed and cried out as the walls began to shake.

For three heart beats we stood in darkness or near darkness. Mags glyphs were the only light in the room – an eerie red glow. He lifted his hand again. I jumped forward cold cocking him in the jaw. He didn’t see me in the darkness. I hit him again. Off balance he staggered sideways and hit the couch. The glow had dropped dramatically as the shock of my attack rocked him. My thoughts were filled of him kissing Wendy. He did it so casually. It was second nature. I punched him again. He dodged this time so my fist hit the back of the couch.

“NICKI!” His voice was hard with anger.

I caught my balance then did a spinning kick towards his head. I caught him high in the upper arm. His glyphs sputtered out.

A claxon rang deafening everyone in the room. Red emergency lights kicked in casting everyone in a demonic glow. Blood streamed out of Mags nose and another trail seeped down from the corner of his mouth. I could see the anger in his face and the way his eyes narrowed.

“What the hell are you doing!” I really couldn’t hear him but that’s what the shape of his mouth seemed to say.

I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m confused. I’m lost. I’m out of my element. I have no one to turn to. No one to cling to. I’m so fucking alone and…I broke out crying. It wasn’t sobbing. It felt like something broke inside me – a dam that I had built so long ago had finally failed against all the battering I had taken. I wailed like a wounded animal.
Mags froze. The anger on his face changed to a frozen horror. That was it. I couldn’t take any more. There was still enough power surging through this room to direct it through the remaining circuit pathways and short out the claxon and the red light. I clung to enough power to drag it back to the door to get it open slightly.

“NICKY” Mags called out after me.

The light assaulted my eyes as I started down the corridor. I was still wailing. It hurt my chest. My throat tightened with emotion as snot and tears poured out of me. Nothing should hurt so bad. Gaw…if this was fucking love…I didn’t want any part of it.

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