It All Started With That Smile

Bloodied as their embrace was, Lurid would have it no other way. Her alabaster tail waved in the air as the simple contact sent electricity zinging through her bloodstream. Her heart quickened and there was a girlish part of her that wanted to giggle and chatter incessantly about how she had missed him. A million questions coursed through the labyrinth of the pale ghoul's mind, but one stuck out with glaring clarity. 'Why didn't he stay with them?' It was all she could do not to scream it at him. To lose decorum now would be counterproductive anyway, she would not let him see her temper tantrum. In the past, she would have stomped her paws, demanded he answer, then punish him. She was too overjoyed at not being alone anymore, too happy to see her old friend - even if he had left her pack members unprotected. When they embraced, Lurid had to refrain from biting him even then. His scent was intoxicating - especially given the season - sandalwood and larkspur combined to make a heady concoction, not unlike a vanilla pound cake. He made her hungry and she could not see a reason to delay his inevitable punishment any further. Pulling back to look at him fully, Lurid wanted to make sure he understood, to ensure he would accept what came and not fight her back. She was still the boss here, after all.

Of all the things to admire about her dearest and longest friend, it was the incapability to feel fear. She knew she would not intimidate him or make him cower and relished in it. He was pure, unadulterated strength with an explosive force equivalent to a nuclear bomb behind it. Lurid also knew that when it counted he took what he was owed without question. As long as she remained fair with her punishments, he would accept them - publically, at least. It did not phase her motion that he did not cower or bow to her, though the impact with his form was jarring. Her jaws wrapped themselves within the jet black of his ruff, teeth delving into his flesh with punishing brutality, and she took his transgression out on his hide. When the first yelp bubbled from him, she wanted to release him, not realizing she had actually struck a nerve. He spoke that name, poking at an already infuriated beast. The sadist in her only shook him harder, even pulling on his neck to convey that she wanted him on his side in a unique submission that only he was afforded. Lurid would not ask him to reveal his belly to her, to do so would demean him, it would take something from him that she would never dare require. Alastor was a man of pride, strength, and maybe a bit of an ego; to turn him belly up would be to spit in his face. Once she had him on his side, provided she got him there, Lurid pulled savagely at his scruff. How dare he use that name where others could hear!? The words and the tone in which they were spoken, both pained and full of foolishness, stoked the desire for carnage and all its delights. "Lulu..." his mouth ran with that hated, yet treasured title, a childhood nickname. If she let loose on him now, would she push him into fighting back? Sparkling intent gleamed in her holographic lavender gaze, another shift in her demeanor was coming.

As children, they both had nicknames they hated, and they used them with frivolous abandon simply to goad the other into violence when boredom struck. Though she didn't want to release her hold on him, the mere position she wanted him in required her to, it was a simple fix. Adjusting her aim to position her mouth a scant couple of inches from his crimson tipped ear, possibly tickling the fur lining the inside of the shell, the demonic empress growled her own admission. His had been delivered as if to a deified lover, howled through pain, and a desire for more. Well, it was Lurid's turn to anger him. "Oh, Alleycat.." she practically purred into that sensitive ebony appendage. "You should have stayed home..." A trigger phrase, she was sure of it, the same as 'leave me alone,' was for her. A direct result of life in Mirovian culture while her father ruled, it left her with a rather odd group to lead. After these words and his own moniker was set, Lurid knew the game would be set and if she wanted to pin him it would be more akin to riding a bull who had been shocked repetitively with cattle prods. He wanted to play, they could play. With a smile she snapped at his face, delivering a swift antagonizing lick right after. Would he dare go against his newly found empress? Would he test her as she knew many of her new followers would? She certainly hoped so, she wouldn't hold it against him. Hell, Lurid was the one who had kept them waiting, wondering, and probably thinking she had abandoned them. She deserved something for it too, if he was feeling bold.