Aliana hummed to herself as she used a small bowl to water the herbs and plants in her garden. Chimera had been gone for a couple of days again, no doubt doing some important work for the pack as he was relied upon a great deal by the Abraxas Empress, which left her with plenty of time to relax once her chores were done and tend to her garden. The plants were growing nicely, and soon they would have an abundance of all the medical supplies they could need between herself and Siren. Finished with that, the mottled gray and white fae glanced around the island to enjoy some of the cool autumn air and watch the deciduous trees change colors, many having already lost their leaves in preparation for the coming winter.

After watching a flock of birds start heading south for the winter, Ali slipped back inside the den and settled onto a fur in the common space to take a nap. She hadn't been napping for long before she heard heavy footsteps getting closer, and when her eyes opened she caught sight of familiar black and white in the doorway. Chimera had returned home. Aliana was swift to rise to her paws, smiling brightly and dipping her head to greet him home—when she noticed he was limping. Her expression fell, wide eyes looking him over more closely. He looked to be in excruciating pain and his breathing was labored. Panic gripped her heart. What had happened to him?!

Ali wasted no time in rushing to meet her master as he approached the den slowly. "Sir, what happened? By the gods... Come, let's get you in bed." Despite the obvious size and weight difference, and Chimera's capability to crush her should he topple over, Aliana walked alongside the giant brute, offering him what little support she could while she helped guide him back to his bedchamber. "Have you seen Lady Siren yet?" If he hadn't, she would call for his sister to come provide medical aid along with her. If he had, then she could just do her best to make him comfortable. She didn't know of the concoction of herbs Siren had already given him.

"Aliana"

Siren had saved him. His sister had brought life saving medicine to him and had helped him to eat the bitter herbs. She had stayed with him until the pain lessened and he was able to move. Then she walked him to the door of the den, insisting that he sleep. She would check on him in the morning. Had Aliana not seen her? As Chimera neared the grey woman and she questioned him, Chi looked back over his shoulder to where Siren stood. Well... where she had stood. She wasn't there now, but she used to be there. His brow knit together and he opened his mouth, though it was terribly dry. "She was there." Hopefully that let the woman know that he had indeed seen his sister.

Leaning on Aliana a bit more heavily than he anticipated, Chimera pushed into the den and staggered to his sleeping chamber. His ribs throbbed and were on fire, but somehow the pain was a lot less... painful. The room was also soft and fuzzy. It looked how a rabbit felt and one wide paw lifted as though he was trying to pet the fur of the room. He couldn't feel it, so he surmised that it must be ghost fur. Wouldn't be the first time that he'd seen ghost, so he believed it.

Into the chamber he went, gently laying on his non-broken side so that his snapped ribs were facing upward. Was he supposed to feel his heartbeat? He could hear it too. The man's eyes widened for a moment and he looked to Aliana. Aliana's. As his vision swam, there were a few of her. Technicolor shades engulfed the woman and Chimera snorted back a giggle. Fucking hell... what had Siren given him? He didn't feel any pain at the moment but everything was... uh... juicy.

"Speech"

Chimera confirmed that he had seen Siren, alleviating some of Ali's worry. Siren was a much more talented healer than she was; Chimera had been in good paws. As she led her master to his bed, having to support more of his weight than she'd expected, Ali noticed how he staggered about, then lifted a paw towards the den walls as if trying to support himself or touch something there. The slave girl raised a confused brow above one aqua eye, but didn't say anything. She did her duty and helped her master into bed, helping ease him down onto the pile of furs in whatever way felt comfortable to him. She noted how he was avoiding moving or straining one side, and realized he must have broken a rib to be in this much pain.

"I'll be right back, Sir," she spoke softly, excusing herself to go grab a small bowl and fill it with cool water from the basin in the common area. Carrying it between careful teeth back into the bedchamber, Ali saw Chimera look at her with eyes wide with wonder. She cast a befuddled look his way; was he having some sort of reaction to the medication Siren had given him? She briefly contemplated calling for Siren, but decided that whatever the Lady of the island had given him, she would know best. Ali set the bowl of water down next to him and almost jumped when she heard Chimera snort and giggle. She watched her master for a few moments, completely confounded by what was going on right now. Hesitation paused her movements, but when she did, she slowly withdrew from Chimera, lingering at his side.

"Uh... is there anything I can get you, Sir?" she asked as she stood before him, head bowed with demure eyes watching him in case he went catatonic or had a stroke or something. He was acting so bizarre and so distinctly un-Chimera. She knew a broken rib would simply take time and stability to heal, so she would do what she could to ease his suffering. "Something I can do to make you more comfortable?"

"Aliana"

The slave woman walked him to the sleeping chamber like he was some old man, but he let her do it because she was so shiny. So colorful. Once he sat down on the squishy furs, the woman spoke to him. He held his eyes wide so that he could try to see her clearly, but he was having trouble seeing out of his right eye. The brute blinked a few times, then remembered that he couldn't see out of his right eye. Not the way that other people could see, anyway. It brought a sudden giggle from the man before he realized what he was doing and coughed to brush it off. Must appear manly.

When the woman returned with water, Chimera looked down at the wiggling liquid. He watched the ripples until they subsided, then lowered his mouth to the dish. Underestimating the depth of the bowl, Chimera submerged his entire nose and sputtered, blowing bubbles and sending water all over the sleeping furs. "The water's broken," he said aloud, still coughing a bit. He hadn't managed to get any water down his throat.

"Did you know that I used to see dead wolves?" His brow furrowed for a moment as he thought hard. "Used to. Still do. Not as much." He hadn't seen a Silent One in a long while. Perhaps they finally realized that he was ignoring them. Or maybe he just wasn't as open to that sort of thing as he used to be. Either way, he looked to the grey fae, a serious expression on his face. "Do you have dead people? People you know that are dead?"

"Speech"

Although Chimera didn't resist her, she could feel the tension in his body, though whether it was from her or whatever pain he was in, she couldn't tell. She got her master settled into bed, and when she returned with his water, she noted the wide-eyed expression he wore as if he were seeing the world for the first time. Why was he behaving in such an odd manner? Surely it wasn't anything serious though, right? If it was, there was no way Siren would have let him come back on his own. She watched him quietly for a few moments while he just looked around the den, blinking, then turning his head and blinking again, repeating these motions for a while. It was like his brain wasn't registering what he was seeing or something. Then, out of nowhere, Chimera giggled. It was such a sudden and unexpected sound that Aliana jumped, watching the two-toned brute with nervous eyes, wondering if he was about to attack her again. The healing bites on the back of her neck ached as a reminder of what he was capable of. If he was losing his mind, he could become very dangerous very fast.

Chimera cleared his throat and seemed to return to normal, but Ali continued to keep some safe space between them. He noticed the water then, and decided to shove his whole muzzle into the bowl. Granted, it wasn't very deep, but it did leave the brute frothing and bubbling in the shallow drink. Ali's eyes widened in stunned disbelief while her master extricated himself from the obstacle and coughed a few times, declaring the water to be "broken". "I'll... be sure to fix it for you, Sir," she said after a moment, each word spoken in slow measure to make sure her shock didn't come through. She carefully removed the bowl and set it off to the side, realizing she would need to change out the soaked bedding.

What took her by the most surprise, however, was when Chimera stated that he could see dead wolves completely unprompted. Ali glanced up at the behemoth of a wolf, trying to scrutinize his face to see if he was fucking with her or being serious. The grave expression on his face told the petite fae that this was no joke. Chimera truly believed he saw dead wolves. He asked if she had any deceased wolves in her life, and oh boy, did she not know how to answer that! The fae's mouth hung open, but no words came out, her jaw moving as if trying to form a sentence but producing silence instead. "I... I'm not sure, Sir," she answered after a moment, her aquamarine eyes turning down to her dainty paws and ears folding to her head. "I never had anyone in my life before you and Lady Siren. My parents, they sold me as soon as I was weaned, and my siblings... I don't know them, or know what happened to them. I suppose any of them could be dead and I'd never know."

Ali had never spent a lot of time dwelling on the thoughts of the family she'd never know. The only other wolves she'd ever seen were the slavers and the other slaves, but they were nameless faces, background characters in a scene that never gave her the time of day or even approached her. Except for the matriarch slave that had raised her, but she was still alive as far as Ali knew.

"Aliana"

Chimera fought to get comfortable. The furs were damp beneath him and there was pressure in his ribs, but he couldn't quite call it pain. He wiggled a bit, trying to find the position of optimum comfort. In time he ended up on his side with one of the plush cushions beneath his head, his back to the wall of the chamber. The man gave another little wiggle, testing out his comfort before nodding in approval.

The slave woman didn't seem to know if her family was alive or dead. Too bad. At the moment, he couldn't see anyone around her anyway. Just colored and fuzziness. He wanted to pet it. "Come here," he ordered, a bit of the normal forcefulness back in his tones. When she was close enough, Chimera wasted no time in pulling her down into the furs with him. He wasn't concerned about her own comfort as his muscular forelegs wrapped around her slender frame. He just wanted her close, so he would get her close.

With the soft, colorful fae pressed chest to chest with him, Chimera gave another little giggle. "You're a very warm slave. Very soft." Was that a compliment? Who knows... The brute squeezed her as tightly to him as his ribs would allow before loosening his hold, but not loose enough to let her free. Aliana would be trapped there for as long as Chimera wanted her to be.

Curling his neck, Chimera looked down at the grey and white fae. "You're pretty." He blinked away the woman's multiple heads, holding his eyes open wide for a moment as he stared down at her. "Prettier than Dalila," he admitted aloud, his nose wrinkling. "I had her once. On the beach out there," he motioned with one paw. "But she was weak. She whined and cried to Siren until my sweet, kind, perfect little sister asked if she could be the sole owner of Dalila." The brute scoffed aloud, his brow furrowing. "I liked Dalila until then. I liked claiming her. I still would if it wouldn't make Siren upset." Again Chimera gave overexaggerated blinks, willing the rippling world to cease. "You're a good one." One paw raised and he patted Aliana between her ears like some kind of pet.

A yawn brought Chimera's maw opening wide, the rows of serrated fangs very visible to the trapped woman. With a groan and a stretch, he squeezed her to his chest again. "Might have to sleep," he said, though his eyes were already closed. Both forelegs were wrapped around her again and he even slid one knee up to trap her lower body as well. "Night night," he said in a very childish manner before promptly careening over the precipice into sleep.

"Speech"

She watched her master shift and squirm on top of the damp bedding, trying to get comfortable between his injured side and the wet furs. Finally he settled, and after staring at her for a few minutes like she were some mythical creature, he ordered her to his side, his rough voice returning to the commanding manner it usually was. Her ears folded to her head, wondering if this was where whatever he was tripping on would cause him to be violent. That didn't happen. Instead, as soon as Ali slowly crept close enough to him, she felt the massive brute pull her down to the furs until she was collapsed on her side and her body was tucked up against his with both powerful forelegs wrapped around her midsection, holding her svelte form in an inescapable embrace.

Ali gasped quietly, eyes wide while she tried to peer up at him, though it was difficult with her back pressed snug to his chest and belly. He giggled again, and something about the sound both amused and terrified her. "T-Thank you, Sir," she replied when he commented on her warmth and softness. Most slaves wouldn't have put a lot of effort into their appearance and presentation for their masters, but Aliana had been trained by her slavers to be a breeding bitch, to maintain her fur and body for optimal pleasure when they used her. It had just been a twist of fate that Siren had saved her before she could hit her first heat season. Now Chimera alone got to enjoy all of those traits of her. He squeezed her tight, squeezing some of the air out of her lungs in a soft gasp before relaxing and letting her draw in a deep breath. Gods, he was so powerful! The threat that Chimera could snap her in half if he wished wasn't just tough talk; the brute actually could crush her to death if he wished.

His head curled, aqua eyes met mismatched white and pink, and he continued to speak. He called her pretty, prettier than Dalila, then told her how he had also had his way with Siren's servant on the beach. Ali didn't respond, taking in the story of Chimera raping Dalila, how Dalila had cried to Siren until Siren took her away to protect her. That certainly explained their bizarre relationship. Chimera seemed to be struggling more and more to focus. The medicine was kicking in full swing now. He said he liked Dalila and liked claiming her, and something inside Ali's chest sank. She pursed her lips together, glancing away from Chimera while he called her a "good one" and began to pet her head with large, rough paw pads. He wouldn't remember this conversation, of that she was sure. He was far too high. "Thank you, Sir," she said again, though quieter this time, still trying to calm her panicking heart. The last time she'd been this close to Chimera, he'd nearly broken her neck as he ravaged her like never before. Was that how he'd had Dalila? Was that why Siren took her away and warned Ali about her brother on the first day?

Aliana heard Chimera yawn, and glancing back up she saw those deadly serrated fangs clear as day. Just the sight of them made her heart skip beats, her pulse racing through her veins while her breathing shallowed. The humongous brute squeezed the dainty fae to his chest like a stuffed toy and commented he needed to sleep. Not even a minute later, he was fast asleep, both forelegs wound tight around her chest and taut belly, and one strong knee and thigh hooked around her hind leg. He had her fully in an inescapable hold, and Ali could only lie there in the quiet, listening to the heavy breathing of Chi in her ears while he surrounded her in his body, his touch, and his scent. Ali glanced around the den, half worried about what Viper would do when she came home and saw them like this, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

In the stillness of the night, Aliana leaned her head back against Chimera's chest and listened to the strong, steady beating of his heart for a few moments before sleep finally took consciousness from her as well. She just prayed that in the morning she wouldn't be woken by the feeling of teeth in her neck.

"Aliana"

-The Morning After-

Chimera slept deeply. More deeply than he could ever remember sleeping. The behemoth didn't move the entire night and well into day. The woman grasped firmly in his arms didn't even cross his mind because he didn't know that she was there. As Aliana had surmised, Chimera didn't remember much of the previous night. He remembered Siren giving him herbs to help with the pain in his ribs. He remembered his sister dropping him off at the door to his den. And then he woke up.

The warmth of a body pressed against him wasn't unwelcome, but he hadn't been expecting it to be the slave woman. Mismatched ears were held erect as the chimeric brutes neck curled so that he could look down upon the woman. He had been expecting Viper, but the black and russet fae was quite a bit bonier than the slave woman. He couldn't sat that he minded having her pressed against him, but how had she gotten there? Had she weaseled her way into his grasp while he was asleep? Was she that desperate for attention?

The man's body shifted and he winced in pain, air hissing through his clenched teeth. Chimera's head fell back to the cushions and he shook the woman with one paw. "Wake up," he commanded. His body felt stiff and any time that he moved, pain flared through him. It was nothing like yesterday's pain had been after the long journey, but he still wouldn't be going far from the den today. Once the woman was awake, he motioned towards the door. "I need something for the pain. Ask Siren if you're unsure." And with that, she was dismissed. There was no trace of the affection or silliness that had clung to him the night before. He was back to being Chimera. All business.

"Chimera"

Aliana slept peacefully through the night, partly because she had been forced to by Chimera’s unyielding hold on her body. Unable to move or squirm or slip away, the clouded fae merely relaxed into the dominant brute’s hold, allowing herself to be enveloped by his warm, muscular body. Chimera was still such a conundrum to her. One moment he was biting into her neck like he wanted her dead while screwing the living daylights out of her, the next he was cuddling her and petting her and telling her she was pretty. Life with Chi was an emotional whiplash day after day, and Ali didn’t know how to deal with it—or how long she’d be able to keep her sanity with it.

When morning came, it wasn’t the sunlight that woke her up, it was Chimera jostling her awake. Bleary aquamarine eyes flicked open from behind gray lids as he urged her away and told her to get something for his pain. The expression on his face was different from the one he'd fallen asleep with, a walled off distance in his eye. This was the Chimera she knew; the touchy-feely Chimera had been put back in his cage. Without a word, Aliana slid away from Chimera and dipped her head obediently as she took her leave. She slipped out of the den to grab some food from their stores for his breakfast, then went over to her herb garden, gathering a good amount of meadowsweet she'd been cultivating for Viper, but the woman had staunchly refused. At least now the painkillers would go to good use.

As she was gathering the medicinal plants for her owner, a wicked thought flitted through her mind for a brief moment. Chimera knew nothing about herbs and medicines. He relied entirely on the expertise of Siren and herself. It would be so easy to slip something in with his medicine, another hallucinogenic, or aphrodisiac... or something more sinister. Ali took a stuttering breath, stunned by her own dark thought and quickly smothered it down. No! No, how could she even think of doing something like that? It was so... unethical! Shaking her head, Ali took the plants back into the den and proceeded to fill a bowl with water for Chimera. She brought the medicine, food, and water back into bed for him, setting both down at his paws and stepping back, keeping her head low and ears flat while her silky tail wrapped around her hips and paws. "Was there any other ways I could make you comfortable, Sir?" she asked, waiting to either be given her next directive or be dismissed to go about her daily chores.

"Aliana"

He was sore and he was stiff. All the grumpy man wanted were some damn herbs to help with the pain so that he could go about existing. Aliana took her sweet time in getting back to him and as the grey fae pushed herbs and water towards him, he snatched them away, consuming the greenery without looking at it first. The sooner he got it into his system, the quicker it would work.

Ali asked if she could do anything else for him and Chimera wrinkled his nose. He had woken up on the wrong side of the furs. Everything irritated him, including the clouded fae. "Go away." It was a master to slave order. He wanted the herbs to kick in so that he could make it outside to take a piss, then he wanted to go back to sleep until his ribs didn't feel like they were stabbing holes through his lungs. Having the woman fretting over him would just make things worse. With another grumble, he turned away from her, placing his head back down on the furs. He would wait for the herbs to work and then he'd painstakingly make his way outside. He didn't care what Aliana went to do, as long as she did it somewhere else.

"Chimera"

It didn't surprise Aliana too much when Chimera snatched the herbs away, but it did still make her recoil a bit away from him in case he decided to snap at her. She hovered just long enough to watch him chew down the plants with a grimace, and waiting to see if he required anything else from her. Once his medicine was taken her monochromatic master growled out the order for her to leave him alone, Ali bowed her head submissively and stepped away from his bedside. She didn't meet his gaze, too afraid of the repercussions pissing him off further would mean for her. Chimera was a whiplash she could never get used to. One moment he was holding her like she were the most precious treasure in the world, the next he looked ready to bite her head off. Ali retreated from his glower, slipping wordlessly back out of his bedchamber to begin her morning tasks.

- exit -

"Aliana"