Monsters

Ishka - Age 14: Anime

She tried to control her breathing when Kirg sat down beside her, tried to slow her heart; at least Bram wasn't with them today, giving her weird looks when her heart tripped every time she met Kirg's eyes, saw him lick salt off his lips. 

"So," he asked her, sitting down with the traditional bowl of white cheddar popcorn, "what are we watching today? My Hero Academia? Haikyuu?"  

"Hero," she said decisively. "It's just starting to get good." 

She clicked play and they started watching and munching on the popcorn. 

Great. Fan service, Ishka rolled her eyes, glancing at Kirg in time to see him miss his mouth with the popcorn and hit himself in the nose. 

She snorted, "Serves you right, pervert." 

"They do that on purpose," he pouted, rubbing his nose. 

"Want me to kiss it better?" she teased without thinking.

They both tensed, the air suddenly awkward. 

It didn't matter that she'd said the same thing for years. Somehow something had changed between them in the last few months. She wasn't sure where the line was anymore, and so she inevitably kept crossing it. 

Wordlessly she turned back to the show, but she saw him looking at her from the corner of her eye. 

Please just watch the show. Please watch the show.

Her tail twitched behind her nervously, and she saw him glance at it before he turned his attention back to the TV. 

She might have to stop watching stuff alone with him. As much as she loved having him to herself, without Bram and Asher there they didn't have a buffer when things got weird. 

Annnnnd more fan service. 

She glanced at Kirg again, seeing him paused and staring at the image on the screen. 

Her eyes traveled down his throat to where his Adam's apple bobbed, down his polo shirt to his shorts--

He shifted, pulling a pillow into his lap and leaning forward, muttering, "Stop looking at me. It's creepy." 

Anger and hurt flashed through her, equally powerful, but apparently anger won out. 

Her tail started shaking threateningly as she glared at him, heart thundering. 

His eyes went wide as his gaze jumped to her tail, "Hey, I didn't mean it like that." 

"No, of course not!" she shouted, standing with her hands fisted at her sides. "But I bet it wouldn't be so creepy if I looked like her." 

"Ishka... I didn't--"

A new voice came from the TV, and they both glanced at the screen in time to see a new character. A woman with a white leotard under very suggestive clothing.

She heard Kirg gasp and turned to give him a piece of her mind, but when her eyes met his, she realized they weren't wide with lust. 

His skin paled, and his wide eyes held old terror.  

"Kirg?" 

The sound of a whip echoed from the TV, and he flinched, eyes glued to the TV, hands in a death grip on the pillow. 

Ishka turned to the TV again and felt anger boiling below the surface. 

A dominatrix character, really?! 

Her tail lashed out, pressing the power button on the TV.

Almost as if he were coming out of a trance, Kirg seemed to collapse in on himself, shaking, sweating.