The Post

Wraith drifted in and out of sleep as his wife curled up against him equally asleep.

He was dreaming something short of heaven, purring as he slipped under warm blankets. He was in the middle of a dream conversation with someone about apple market prices and the effectivity of salted wounds when something shocked him and his wife awake.

He sat up, still half-asleep, wondering who the fuck was making such a silent racket this early in the morning. The whole place reek of bloodlust; swears and curses bouncing all over the walls of Wraith's mind. The man took a few moments to clear his thoughts, grumbling all the while for being disturbed early in the morning. His wife merely mumbled sleepily before drifting back to sleep.

The man's temper, highly influenced by the other person's anger, flared high as he stomped his way towards the Postman's room.

"What in the blue blazes do you think are you doing?!" Wraith growled loudly as he kicked the door open. He stiffened at the sight of his two guests, the smaller one straddling the bigger one in an armlock.

Cry had Jian down, pegging the mutt down by sitting on his lower back as he literally tried to strangle his slave by pulling Jian's chin up by one hand. The other hand had the mutt's arm pulled behind his back, Jian was either warbling or crying out in surrender as the mutt thumped the bed in a panic.

"Cry! What are you doing?!" Wraith asked, surprise written all over his face as he wrenched the two apart. Cry immediately tried to get his hands on the mutt again when Wraith slackened his hold.

The older man kept a better hold on the Postman as Jian edged off to the other side of the bed. The mutt crouched and whimpered as he faced Cry's general direction. The Postman merely growled at his slave as Wraith huffed in irritation.

"The sun isn't up yet, and already you're making such a ruckus. What happened this time? Dog jumped you or something?" Wraith asked drily, his eyes widening when Cry's face burned red.

"He actually tried that?"

Cry shooke his head violently, cheeks burning impossibly redder. Wraith merely crossed his brows in confusion as he tried to read the Postman's jumbled thoughts. He was getting a lot of death threats towards the mutt, which he immediately ignored as spam; and a few snippets of what happened.

"So... he was kissing you to sleep last night... and when you woke up-" At this point the Wraith trailed off in silence at a rather angry outburst from the Postman.

"-your neck was covered in bruises." the older man ended in a bored tone. Cry's angry glance questioned his tone, and Wraith merely shrugged in answer before pushing the Postman forward.

Cry stumbled forward and sprawled on the bed at the rough handling, the glare he threw back at Wraith would have been enough to kill an army.

"Well, what do you expect? You were necking rather obsessively last night, disturbing everyone else the way you were broadcasting your satisfaction." Wraith merely growled. He had obviously wanted to stop the two from what they were doing last night, but Reese had stopped him, saying something along the lines of, "It's only a little."

"Now, shut the fuck up and stop trying to kill your mutt. Breakfast is in an hour, I expect perfect radio silence from both of you during that time, or else."

The Postman let out an irritated huff, threw another glare at Jian and got up to bath. The mutt trailed after him slowly, careful to keep at least an arm's lenght away from Cry.

Facing himself in the craked mirror, Cry ran his eyes over his own reflection. In the morning light, the red bruises around his neck and collar were unmistakable. They bloomed like a flower necklace on his white skin, evidence of Jian's minstrations last night. The Postman rubbed at them, as though willing them to go away. He can see Jian hulking against the doorframe to the bathroom, mouth set in a pout as the mutt whined a weak apology.

Cry merely huffed as he set about pouring water into the tub. The buckets from last night were once again filled with hot water. Wraith or perhaps Reese had refilled them while the Postman was asleep, which was odd cause Cry would have definitely woken up at the slightest sound. Still, hot water was hot water, however it was derived.

Jian was still by the door, whining loudly now, attempting to call Cry's attention to him. When the Postman made no sign of noticing him, the mutt surged forward and wrapped strong arms around Cry's waist, cheek nudging Cry's head in apology.

"Damn mutt..." the Postman muttered as he relaxed into the embrace. His anger from earlier now simmering into discontent.


Cry pulled the hood tighter around his neck as they walked out the door. After they bathed, they had joined Wraith and Reese for an early breakfast. Leevy was still asleep and could not join them. They ate in silence, each preoccupied in their own thoughts. The Postman and his mutt departed before daybreak, the world still bathed in blind dawn.

As they left, Wraith had pulled him aside, stressing once again the importance of getting the letter to the Postman. Cry had merely nodded, still at odds whether to follow his original orders or the new one. Wraith had picked up on that and had sighed wearily even as Reese bid them farewell.

Weaving through the trees, Cry couldn't help thinking. This was his very first round and already it's being disrupted by human whims and what-not. He couldn't help thinking about the jeers and insults he'll recieve if he followed the wrong order. Jian seemed to sense his disquiet and had remained silent to let Cry think in peace. Every now and then, the mutt would take the Postman by the elbow and steer him away from ditches and other potential dangers. He ended up picking the safest route by smell, leading the Postman up small hills sometimes or through the thickest undergrowth that scratched them up badly.

The Postman let him choose the way though, Jian's sense of smell was absolute. Their direction led them to Charter, the path they took void of the most troublesome dangers out here in Eden. They talked little, arguing once when Cry had wanted to refill his skein at a clear-running stream. The mutt had vehemently refused, pulling the Postman back everytime he tried to approach the water. He was close to just bowling past the slave when he saw that his clear-running stream wasn't exactly a stream.

He had never noticed but the stream was only a few meters long, it was more of a pool. Which was odd, considering that they've been walking by it for over an hour now...

With a shudder, Cry backed away from the water quickly, Jian's huff of annoyance following him. Without seeing it, the mutt had sensed that the pool had been dangerous. The two quickly escaped the pool, Cry glanced back and realized that the water or creature or whatever Eden-izen it was slowly following them. He put on a burst of speed, eager to escape whatever kind of danger the pool promised.

They travelled during the day, Jian keeping them safe from the worst. At night, they slept above grounds. Never too high, never too low. They stuck to the mid-level trunks, wary of the rustling below them and of the night sounds around them. But even then, they weren't safe, Cry had woken once or twice a night to find himself staring right into burning red eyes that blink at him slowly before disappearing into the darkness. During those times, Jian had been awake as well and had been the one to suppress Cry's scream with a palm, the Postman sometimes envied the mutt's blindness.

Other than the monsters that surround them, there were also the unexplainable things that happened constantly. Monsters or phantoms without cohesive form or reason.
Such as the child that was always following them in silence. Cry could see him at the corner of his eyes, staring at them mournfully with deep black eyes, but he always disappeared whenever the Postman turned in his direction.

The stress of keeping oneself safe and sane was enough to break anyone's mind. For once, Cry was actually finding Jian's presence a blessing. The mutt was a perfect distraction, and many a times Cry would find himself pulling Jian down for some tongue-kissing to ease the stress off his mind. The mutt didn't seem to mind.

Nearly two weeks in forest Eden was enough to wear the Postman down. Travelling between Nana and Fowler City had been tiring but not nerve-wracking. Cry had been travelling with a large merchant troupe and was kept entertained or distracted. Plus, between Fowler and Nana was mostly vast desert, it was enough to nurture that small thread of agoraphobia everyone has. But it wasn't as debilitating as the forest that was 70% of Eden.

And thus Cry was ready to just bowl over in relief when they strode into Charter. Looks like Jian was glad too, judging by the relieved sigh that escaped the mutt's lips as they headed for the inn.

Unlike the cement fortress that Fowler City was, Charter was a small collection of shacks and wooden buildings on charred ground. Rumor was, that in order to tame the land, someone had burned part of Eden for over six months, continuously tending the blaze until the ground itself was burning like coals. It had then taken a week for the whole place to cool down, and then the construction started. Well, whoever it was that built Charter had no education in architecture.

The buildings were rickety as though one strong gust would be enough to level the whole town. 3 large community buildings, the inn, a warehouse, and something akin to a municipal hall at the town center. Then shacks, cabins, and houses circling all around. Merchant stalls right in the middle, in the open space that was probably used as a central gathering area. The ground was black and so were the people's faces, black with grime and coal. Even now, fires were lit at the town borders, the community tended them, all to keep themselves safe from Eden.

Their appearance turned heads as they crossed the center, a boy in Postman gear and a taller man all swathed in bandages and a blindfold. They'd only have to stop in Charter for one night, the town being a small one. Cry would be able to drop his letters off within the rest of the day, take a full night's rest and set off by lunch tomorrow. Plus, he didn't have to exchange pleasantries with anyone like General Trent here. Which also means that there's no actual law in Charter, thus no free dinner or baths for him and Jian.

The letters he'll need to pick up will be with the innkeeper, and the letters he'll need to leave for the next Postman will stay with the man as well.

Striding into the bar/inn, Cry took a second to survey his surroundings before approaching the bartender. Everyone fell silent, and suddenly all eyes were on him. Jian whimpered quietly and stuck to Cry. The once courageous tracker in Eden suddenly became a submissive mutt in civilized company. It as a trait that Cry noticed with Jian, the mutt was more alive, more human out there in Eden; than he was in territories.

"Postman." the bartender said in greeting before retrieving the stack of letters from under the counter. He began to hand it over to Cry but the Postman refused to take it. Instead, he took out a stack of letters from his own bag and gave those over to the bigger man.

The bartender seemed perplexed when Cry added his stack to the ones bound for the Hills. Cry merely shrugged and gave no reason. Another digging in his bag brought out two sticks of cigarettes. Gesturing to himself and Jian, he handed over the sticks to the bartender and waited expectantly.

The man seemed to realize what Cry was paying for and called for his own slave. A girl, shackled at the wrists ran up to them and was ordered to lead Jian and Cry to a room. As they left, the silent bar gradually returned to it's noisy state. The slave girl led them in silence to a room on the second floor. Judging from the minimal squeaking of floorboards and the fact that it was still standing despite the ruckus from downstairs, the inn was probably one of the better built buildings in this town.

A room at the end of the hallway.

The girl opened the door for them and backed away as Cry and Jian entered. Instead of beds, the inn had hammocks, comfy but not exactly restful. Cry began to regret the 2nd cigarette stick, and hoped that the food will be more than enough to compensate.

As though sensing his thoughts, the girl muttered something about getting food and left at Cry's nod.

Though Cry was tolerant of their current dwelling, Jian turned depressed, especially when Cry led him to the hammocks. The mutt's nose was already stuffed with ash from the fires, and he had been looking forward to sleeping on a bed. Jian merely sniffed in disdain as he sat down on the hammock roughly.

The Postman couldn't help chuckling as his slave tumbled back and onto the floor. Hammocks weren't built for careless movement, a truth that the mutt learned belatedly as he picked himself up.

Pulling at Jian's hand gently, Cry led his slave to a chair and seated him before straddling the mutt's lap himself. Hands quickly settled on his hips as Jian drew him closer until his chest was pressed against the mutt's face.

Sighing, Cry pulled his shirt up and allowed the mutt to kiss his torso, the hands running all over his sides and under his shirt.

Jian rubbed his face gently against Cry's skin, marvelling at the velvety feel of the Postman's body. His lips accidetally brushed against Cry's right nipple and the body under Jian's touch twitched. A barely concealed squeak escaped the Postman's lips at the action, a sigh closely followed when Jian's hand slipped under the hem of Cry's pants.

Grinning, Jian attached himself on one of the pert nubs, tounge licking and teasing even as Cry tried to wriggle away. He started flicking the left nub with his thumb, pressing and rubbing at it constantly.

Cry's breath hitched as soft licking turned into sucking. Jian wasn't giving way, the mutt had him by the breeches, literally. Cry wondered when and who taught Jian how to do what he was doing now. It was just his nipples yet the Postman could feel himself hardening, his pants suddenly tightening up.

And then Jian's mouth was doing the same thing to his other nipple, the one he'd been playing with by hand. Cry glanced down and was surprised by the state he was in. With his shirt pulled up, the Postman could clearly see the red marks that Jian had traced all over his chest, could see the salive glinting in the light on his painfully hard nub. Could see how Jian had somehow unzipped himself and was now jerking himself off even as he sucked on Cry's chest.

The mutt was huffing, teeth coming dangerously close to biting as he nipped Cry's skin. Finally unable to concentrate, the mutt merely pressed his cheek against Cry's stomach, breath ghosting over the Postman's navel as his hand picked up speed. With a groan, the mutt came in and over his fingers, cum stained his hands and as Jian turned to look for something to wipe at, Cry grabbed his wet hands and directed the it to the front of his own pants.

Jian seemed to get what Cry wanted because he quickly freed Cry from his confines and with his cum-covered hands, proceeded to handle the Postman's organ the same way he handled his, all rough palms and quick jerks. Cry was thankful for the lubricant as he bucked his hips in time to Jian's hands. He was the one groaning now as he braced himself on the mutt's shoulders.

With a muffled cry, the Postman stiffened, hips snapping forward as white heat burst in him and landed all over the mutt's bandaged chest. And still Jian didn't stop, the mutt continued to pull and squeeze Cry's wilting dick, as though intent on milking the Postman dry.

Sighing contentedly, Cry draped himself all over Jian as the mutt licked him clean and tucked him back into his pants.

The door was suddenly opened and the slave girl from earlier slipped in. Cry frowned and was about to shoo the girl away when she shushed him into silence. Her voice was low and panicked as she spoke.

"You need to leave!"


||||||||TBC||||||||

Comments for..

The Silent Rose: Thanks for the review, I admit guilty to my errors and am glad you've pointed them out to me. Please don't hesitate to tell me if ever you find something else that needs correction.

To everyone else who gave me reviews: I love you guys! This story started out as a spinoff to my drawings and cuz I'm still waiting for either a zombie apocalypse or a nuclear one to happen. It was supposed to be a one-shot during one of my abuse-my-OCs-mood but it actually turned to a multi-chapter. If you find yourself confused or if you have any questions about Eden, don't hesitate to drop me a line, I'll do my best to get back to you asap. I look forward to your various comments, reviews and over-all support. Please continue to guide me. *Bow*

Apologies:
for the short chapter
for the late updates
the inconsistencies
the somewhat off-track plotline [Gosh! Do I even have one?!]
and the various grammar errors that will doubtlessly pop up.