Lion Head Mesa con[m]igo

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: heavy suggestion throughout

perhaps @Gucci?

the birth of the royal children reminded belen of her own future. she felt it was time to turn herself to other skills and the like, but was not sure where to begin. today she had found two purple crocus flowers outside and now she drifted near the wellspring, trying to tangle one in her ruff as decoration. belen hummed as she worked, pausing to feather her other paw across the surface of the newly cleaned water.

the state of his self had become unbearable. his designer sweater had become a bed of dirt and stains, reeking in a way that promised the fur it had been covering for months had a far worse scent.

he needed a change. of clothes, but within himself wouldn't be bad either. for so long the little neb refrained from asking any of his hosts for help, thinking it impolite to force these giants to cater to his needs, but that morning he saw the tail end of a long bug crawl under his sweater, and he knew the time of true despair had come.

his first thought was to throw himself into the wellspring, hopefully drowning whatever had decided to make its home under his outfit. he pranced to it, as always announced by his dogtag, but froze when he saw another present there.

the dog had only a vague idea of what each rank of akashigo did, and most of his ideas were born of an, if not innocent, then unassuming mind. the fellahin he saw as nothing more than helpful and sociable individuals, as could be seen from how often he'd catch them leaving the rooms of others, clearly winded from hard work.

this one could, perhaps, possibly, be of some help to the neb (who thought of his own rank as that of a person who couldn't meaningfully contribute to the upkeep of akashigo).

"...pardon?" he spoke, hesitant. "ah don't mean t' bother, miss, but ah, uhh, ah need some help." his head and ears he kept low, as if he were a child asking a parent's permission.

belen whirled at the drawl. the flower she had been trying to attach to her own fur fell, landing silently alongside the first. "noble one," belen murmured, delivering a bow to the admittedly small but fascinating man. he stank! the girl fought the urge to cover her nose and regarded the odd and ragged pelt-thing covering his torso. it was matted and filthy. "how may i serve you, neb?" she glanced toward the water and cleared her throat with a diplomatic air. "perhaps i might bathe you here. it is enlivening." and belen was curious.

he saw that he had disturbed her in some work, and his discomfort was made worse by her bow and her words. he wished to excuse himself, maybe claim he just remembered some fictional task he had to tend to -- but no. he would ask for help, else they'd surely remove him from the chambers for his crimes against olfactory senses.

and the poor girl, how she tried to be subtle, but gucci was already on the hunt for any traces of taken offence. he only grew more uncomfortable, but still, he thought of the metaphor of ripping off a bandaid.

"well, uhm, y'see... ah don't think the bathin' would help in full." his paw raised a bit above ground, and were he human it would likely go farther up to nervously tug at the beautiful locks he would surely sport in that form. "m'sweater's mostly t' blame for awfulness o' mah state. i-it's of good make, not that it's not, but ah was s'pposed t' change it 'fter two days most, not..." his eyes wandered off to the side. "...two months now?" he whispered in disbelief. 

he snapped his attention back to the fellahin. "point is, uhm, uuh. ah guess mah request is; could'ja, ah, help me pull this off?"

belen did not want to touch gucci, and it had nothing to do with his short and doggish frame. the source of the stink was indeed the weird fur. he revealed it was meant to come off and belen shot him a sharp and seeking look. but was she not fellahin? this was her task. her role. he was a nobleman and she was a servant. the girl nodded and approached. her teeth hesitated only a moment before gently hooking along the ragged topseam, behind his tiny skull. if he moved backward, belen would do the same, and with luck he would be parted from the overwhelmingly smelly piece of fabric. her jaws wanted to let 
go! but belen had been trained and poised by jawahir and kasmut. her face remained demure.

the little man did his part to make the removal an easier affair, bending his head and taking tiny steps backwards as the fellahin girl did the same, the crimson garment peeling off his body like a second skin.

he decided that this must be how snakes felt when shedding, or fully grown chicks when breaking free of their eggshell. 

an audible sight came out of him when he was freed from his woolen confines. there was a pause, then he shook himself, feeling the previously pressed fur shake into shape (and a lone centipede tumble out of it).

it was at first surprising, then wholly logical, when that made him feel much, much better. 

"aaah." the neb stretched, his back and each leg. in his brief bliss he was nearly capable of forgetting the stale stench that must've been unleashed. nearly.

he fixed his posture and gave a shy nod to the girl, aware that he was being a tough guest to care for. "mah apologies, miss. ahm not uhm, usually in this state." he chuckled, in that awkward way of a person trying scrounge up a modicum of humour. "now ah think submerging' mahself would have some effect."

belen recoiled harshly at the sight of the bug and kicked it right into the wall. she laughed nervously and then cleared her throat a second time, seeking whatever control she'd had over the situation before. with the encrusted thing no longer on gucci's body, his features were at once more familiar to her. he spoke with a drawling, funny accent; she had to strain to understand. but his words were clear enough. having put the sweater to one side, belen motioned to the wellspring. "i can help you." her smile was placid and inviting once more, but the girl was consumed with curiosity over whether or not gucci would allow her the same liberties she took when bathing the pharaoh.

"thank ya darlin', you n yours are such much helpful persons." he gave her a grateful smile.

gucci padded over to the edge of the water, with his quick, tiny steps. there, he dipped a paw in, and felt a frigid chill spread from it to the tip of his tail. the dog retracted it and trembled, but once again thought, "like ripping off a bandaid"...

after a second of stiffness, the chihuahua dropped himself into the wellspring, making a tiny splash.

"augh augh augh." the small dog vocalised as he swam in tight circles. "like swimmin' in ice cubes!"

"but ah guess it must'a be nice when the weather's all swelterin' n the sun's scorchin' n you can enjoy a cool bath n cold drink..." he prattled on as he circled, as if the wagging of his tongue would warm his body.

gucci swam to the edge, where the fellahin was, and placed his paws on the rocks. "ah'd appreciate some help rubbin all this grossness outta me, but ah understand if you've better business ta attend to." with his chin he gestured at the pair of flowers. "what did ah interrupt you in doin'? perfumin' yahself?"

"we are fellahin. it is our job to be useful." the water was indeed cold but gucci was correct, it would not always be like this. belen raised her paw and gently raked its claws through his nape, watching brown debris and dirt float off into the wellspring. "my role is to be in service to the pharaoh, to the guards, to the priest and priestess and nobles." she was enjoying herself, over how much stronger it felt she was next to his much smaller frame. "i was trying to get one of those flowers to stay in my fur. but maybe it will not work." belen worked dutifully along his spine next, ruffling each hair and smoothing water over his hips below the surface. "turn. lean back against these stones."

gucci let himself relax, the clawing at his fur reminiscent of the scratches he'd receive in the lap of his Ma. 

"well, ah think by that y'all are much better than nebs like mahself n good mistah crawfetha." he let out a soft sigh as the girl scratched a good spot on his neck. "this place would nat run if it weren't for y'all fe-la-heen and your hardworkingness n good manners." his eyes were lidded with pleasure as his back was cleaned, and as the claws went lower his right leg kicked.

he turned around, leaning backwards against the rocky edge of the natural pool. he observed the fellahin now. in his mind he called her a girl, but she seemed a woman, albeit one of lithe, almost adolescent build. he wondered something. 

"... say, if it ain't impolite t' ask, how'd you come ta akashigo?" (he stressed the wrong syllables in his pronunciation and softened the "i" into non-existence) "ah mean, ah don't think none o' the persons here are related, 'spect them children born to the pharaoh, so ah wonder where your family is."

he paused.

"again, if it ain't too private a thing to share."

belen had slowly become accustomed to the cadences of gucci's words, and yet she was still caught off-guard by his question. she rather studiously avoided the conversation that had been held over her head the first time she set foot inside akashingo. belen held a pawful of water over the neb's chest and slowly poured it down, working her claws over his breastbone in the same way. "i was found outside in the snow. my parents had gotten into a fight. somehow we became separated. i never saw them again, but a kind man brought me here to the palace, to serve the rey y reina." belen dipped her muzzle in the wellspring and sought to place it at the juncture of neck and shoulder, working upwards toward one of the finely shaped ears. "it has not been bad. it has been very pleasant, actually."

"oh, well that's ain't too far off from how ah got here mahself." gucci moved his head in ways that gave the woman better access to his neck, one year twitching with pleasure. ah, what he had been missing out on when he avoided the services of the fellahin! "th' pharaoh himself found me out in th' snow all alone n cold and was kindly and kingly enough t' take me here as a guest, until some day comes that mah owner returns for me." a day which he still believed would come. soon. sooner.

her wet muzzle moving up the side of his neck and to base of his batty ears coaxed a content, rumbly growl out the little man, his eyes closed as to surrender himself to the sense of touch.

"do ya miss your parents?"

"he is a great man." belen's voice was filled for a moment with enrapturement, the same she had heard from jawahir and kasmut. strange and then not so at all, to long for the pharaoh. but he had not summoned her to his rooms, nor that of he and the queen. not for such a purpose. "how can you be owned? you are a noble!" the girl chuckled gently, moving to perform the same ministrations beneath the other ear of gucci. he was responsive and relaxed, she felt. "you are a companion to crowfeather, sí?" in gucci, belen saw the opportunity to have what it was she wanted. but she must be cunning. the servant returned to his clavicles, his ribcage, claws softly scraping and separating dirt from the downy belly.

gucci too shared belen's awe towards ramesses, albeit his perception of the man was far more grounded. the pharaoh was a man of great influence and charm - but still a mere animal before the splendiferousness of humanity.

he tilted his head as his other side was massaged as well. the youthful giggle certainly added to the peace and blissfulness of this situation. 

"hm, well a dog can call itself many thangs, but a dog it remains 'fter all." he spoke matter-of-factly, for it was a matter of fact to him.

he shifted his body as the servant returned to his lower body, and again his little leg kicked with pleasure.

"mm yeah, ah keep him company whenever, n that ain't no big challenge, coz he's a great conversationin' partner n all." 

one eye, closed until then, opened to accompany his conspiratorial whisper. "though he's a bit, uhm, ob-vi-ously affected by his condition. not that anyone can blame him for that, mahself included."

"i played senet with him once." belen continued her bathing, glassblue eyes finding that of the noble. she had not dared that day to push him further. but perhaps she might find an ally in her small counterpart. the fellahin knew she must be more forward. more daring. "he is very sad. i think he might benefit from another sort of companionship." subtly her paw slipped below the water, under guise of moving the last dirt from gucci's lower abdomen. and there she hovered, smoothing softly downward as she sought to fill his gaze with her own. "bathing is not all i do, noble one." dog or not. wolf or not. it did not matter. belen had learned to be cunning.

gucci was lost in the bliss of being cleaned and massaged, and even thought that, perhaps, his weeks of misery were worth the sweet release this wonderful young fellahin bestowed upon him with her gentle paws and muzzle, freeing him of all built up tension.

he had even begun to drift off, responding to the woman with a growly "mmhm", eyes closed and only the occasional kick of his hindquarters showing he was still among the waking. but her suggestion regarding crowfeather puzzled him. one ear got more rigid than its relaxed counterpart.

"well, there was some talk of gettin' him a wife,  so that m--" 

the light, but continued contact with his privates startled gucci. his eyes shot open and found the servant's, blue-green and filled with something he did not, for a moment, recognise, as it had been some time since he was last expected to sire a litter of champions. 

but he did recognise it, eventually. 

"u-uh, young miss this, this is ey- a-ah mean." he chuckled nervously and scooted backwards, even thought the stones blocked his retreat. "a-a-ahm not, not that kind'a man, haha." he now looked everywhere expect towards the woman. girl. "ahm jus'- jus'..." his speech devolved into gibberish.

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: heavy suggestion

"but she is not here." belen's voice remained soft, though with a gentle insistence. when gucci pulled away, the young servant moved her paw back to a more fitting place upon his belly, rolling her slender shoulders in the water. "what kind of man are you then?" her tones were velveteen and teasing; belen pressed the length of her soaked frame against her own, ready to pull away if the noble continued his stuttering rejection. "i want to sleep with the prince." there it was. belen ran a single claw beneath the water once more. "he has never taken one of us to his bed before. i want to be the first." she leaned forward to kiss gucci just upon his wet chest. "and it would be my honor and my pleasure to show you, before you compel him on my behalf." surely she had him captured now. perhaps he could hear the wild beating of her heart. for this she had been trained and prepared. she had lain with the pharaoh. she had lain with the priest. holy men. divine men. surely gucci did not see himself too above what they had enjoyed in belen's embrace.

unlike many pets, gucci was never neutered. he still felt the urges which brought him to whimpering and whining in the presence of those in heat, but he thought himself self-restrained. civilised. especially as in his lived experience, with the exception of that bi-annual oestrus, the opposite sex was largely uninterested in coupling and teasing. 

so this... forwardness... caught him off-guard.

gucci swallowed. he found it within himself to look up at her, remaining wordless, layers of uncertainty showing in his expression. oh good lawd, if ah decline, she'll think me thinkin' her inadequate, or shamin' her for bein' so forward! his lips tightened with indecision. 

and then she said something that was a lifeline. 

"prince crawfetha?" in his surprise he blanked for a second, unintentionally allowing the fellahin to press a kiss to his narrow chest, which caused him to stiffen up (but not in a way belen desired).

he looked at the woman. girl. he couldn't not see her as both; an adult in body, but an adolescent in desire. perhaps it was his presumptuousness showing. perhaps things worked differently in this land beyond the blessings of humanity. perhaps he needed loosen up...

still, one needed to exercise restraint.

gently, the chihuahua put his paws to the fellahin's muzzle, lightly pushing her away.

"ahm... honoured you'd allow me, but it's crawfetha you want, nawt me." there was a sad smile on his lips. "ah'll gladly tell him there's a pretty thang like you desirin' 'im, but ya needn't persuade me first."

belen was surprised and it showed in the blink of her eyes at the resistant touch of his small paws. she moved backward in the water and it lapped against them both. "i want each of you," the girl said defiantly, with a small lift of her chin in rebellion. "i would not offer if you did not intrigue me, noble one. but you are not sad in the way that he is, and that is what i want to mend." she felt ashamed; she burned with embarrassment. belen had overplayed her hand and now it would sour between she and the neb. she tried to gather her good humour back into the glassblue of her eyes. "suppose i did want to persuade you?" long lashes brushed her cheeks as the servant turned her preening to herself, working out a nonexistent tangle from her chest as her heart raced and she waited for gucci to answer.

there was something in the defiant, youthful tilt of her chin that the former showdog found more appealing than her direct attempts to woo him, but he had begun to feel in control of the situation, the soft smile free of any mockery upon his face, and opted not to give the girl any false hopes.

"ah see you've kind reasons t' want t' pair with crawfetha, but ah ain't in need o' any such upliftin'." it was a partial lie. he was still plagued by feelings of betrayal and abandonment, but he doubted the ways in which she wished to help him would give useful results. 

she offered to, after all, persuade him, and gucci's face showed mild, poorly concealed amusement at the way she preened herself before him.

"ah wouldn't much care fo' it." the chihuahua turned around and began to pull himself out the water. "ah know girl like you wouldn't really want dog like me for anythin' but experimentin'. best stick t' ya own size."

the expression on his face made belen feel small and girlish. she watched his small frame emerge from the water and numbly followed. there was a small stack of pelts nearby and she grabbed one to offer gucci for drying. one of the worst parts about her misstep was that belen did not have anyone to which she might run. crowfeather was aware of the workings inside the mesa; he would have called for her had she been wanted. "do not tell the prince about me. please," belen added, scorched by the noble rejection. she wanted to argue with gucci and tell him that intrigue did not make him smaller in her eyes. but the servant could muster no more now.

gucci let the girl dry him with a pelt, and even though he would at a prior time consider the towel a primitive thing, now he appreciated how it made him smell of akashigo.

he padded over to his discarded sweater. the thing was never his favorite piece of clothing, much prettier and more expensive things having been stored in his, for a mere pet, sizable wardrobe. but now, with nothing else that marked him as companion of humans besides the collar still about his neck, the dog had grown sentimental.

he bent to take the thing of wool into his diminutive jaws, when the fellahin spoke.

gucci turned his head to give her a soft, almost pitiful look. 

"as ya wish." he would not embarrass the poor one.

he began to walk away from the wellspring, dragging along his sweater, thinking to clean and store it in his chambers.

he paused.

releasing the item for one more time, he gave the girl another look, he himself feeling embarrassed.

"uuh, one more thang... what's your name, miss?"

were she like kasmut, belen would regain her power. no — she would not have lost it. gucci was preparing to leave the wellspring but he turned back with a word. she swallowed and dipped her head so he could not see the consternation and shame in her gaze. "i am called belen, noble one." why would he ask after such a tight and odd time with her? surely she had placed a bad view of herself into his head. she would remain with crown bowed until gucci made his way along the stone paths, back to the prince's quarters no doubt. and then belen would turn back to her flowers, with a single angered strike of her paw throwing them into the dirtied water where they would eventually disintegrate.