He tensed so I tensed like I always do when someone tightens up around me. I mean, sure, he had a valid reason to do so; I guess I was looking at him a little funny, my eyes wide and wondering with shit he couldn’t see. Kinda hypocritical of me, let’s be honest. I knew good and hell well I couldn’t stand someone eyeballing me the way I had been eyeballing him--like his was a face I was supposed to recognize, or he was a guy I was sizing up for a brawl that was cookin’ up.

But my attention was pulled when I felt a thrum between our bond; I turned my gaze on you from where I stood soaking wet in the freezing shallows, watching as the thrum got stronger in you, the urge in you that had been growing for some weeks now. I was prepared for it this time, though (well…as prepared as I could ever get, I was still weirded out--) so I watched from start-to-finish as the spark combusted around you, engulfing you in a second’s blink of light—

--and you were large when you emerged, large and scruffy and big-pawed and huge-chested, and I saw that you had steel-grey fur and your gums were black and so was your nose and on your shoulder there was a pattern I couldn’t quite see cuz you were turned away from me—

--but I saw your muscular ass wag back and forth under the force of a tail that was flinging to and fro out of control, a puppy’s tail going nuts with the triumph of your mimicry—

--and I saw it was mimicry because you stood there and I saw the tops of three heads and one of them was barking a small sound (cuz I guess you were a puppy?) and the other was growling a playful thing and the third was glancing back at me with laughing golden eyes that said look what I can do--

--but that was the only second you spared for me cuz you were just so fucking excited you could die and you bounded forward to wrestle with that Cerberus lady who beguiled you into a game.

And I was still standing there, shaking my head at it all; it was settling slowly but it was having a super hard time doing so, Tetris pieces trying to fit in all the wrong holes. It wasn’t until the stranger spoke to me when I found my voice again.

“…uh,” I stammered, hearing his name and the name of the brown, tri-headed dog that was seducing you in the most innocent of ways, “Ros…and Chico.” I always hated giving my name to anyone—but I guess it was the polite thing to do at the time, I dunno.

His name didn’t answer my question (who the fuck is a Vadim?). Okay, well, maybe it did in a superficial sense. It just didn’t curb the weird feeling I got from him—a persistent sense of déjà vu.

Whatever. Whatever. Even though it wasn’t gonna work I tried to forget about it for the time being. I focused back on the puppies playing in the water, finally getting it in my head to step out of the line of fire of splashing water waves. “It’s, uh….it’s the first time I’ve seen him do shit like that,” I sorta stammered—not really sure why I was explaining myself like that, I dunno, it just felt right.









"talk"
@[Vadim]