A scream; distinctly female and relatively young ripped through the silence that had fallen onto the once bustling city, echoing off the deserted streets in a shrill cry for help. The source, however, had succeeded in only worsening her situation.
“Shut up!” Her attacker snarled, hushed and furious as the male’s glaring green orbs met the saddened amber of the victim. The serpents’ faces were only inches apart, the male’s breath, thick with the scent of blood, was warm, burning against her tearstained face. She couldn’t move if she wanted; couldn’t struggle beneath the snake’s weight rendering her immobile and now, his tail coiled around her mouth as a means of silencing her.
“You want to get us killed? You’ll attract a whole fucking hoard!” The Dragonair, tears trickling down her face, had made Royce angry again. She could hardly remember what had set the Arbok off this time. One moment they were raiding the building for food, the next she’d been launched into the wall. Rose had cried out despite herself, the shock and pain of the attack too sudden to suppress the scream of terror. Now, she was pinned to the ground beneath the Arbok’s heavy coils, left to pay for her mistake.
“Fucking bitch,”Royce, the Arbok, alert for the dangers that the shriek may have attracted, looked hurriedly about the building. He was crushing the female’s delicate form, yet felt no guilt for the pain he would regularly cause. Heart beating rapidly in his chest, the serpent eventually gave a sigh of relief, content that for now they still had their solitude. His eyes falling back to the Dragonair he called a mate, his nostrils flared, annoyed.
“Now, what was that about?” Royce’s voice was softer now, alike to a father scolding a child as his tail slowly loosened its grip about the dragon’s face. Rose gave a gasp, lungs greedily inflated by a burst of oxygen as she found herself struggling for air. The Arbok was at least triple her own weight, her slender form threatening to break altogether with the rough treatment Royce thought she deserved.
“I didn’t hit you that hard,” He soothed, a shy smile on his lips as his tail moved to caress Rose’s ivory, exposed neck. She truly was beautiful. He was lucky to have such a girl at his side, but she just never seemed to learn.
“I… I-I’m sorry,” Pleased at the choked out apology, Royce nodded his head softly, eyes losing their earlier ferocity as he leant forward to brush against her own soft, but bruised face.
“Sshh,” Rose gulped hard at the contact, unsure why the loving, intimate gesture frightened her. Of course, she kept her composure, knowing that if she didn’t it would give the serpent more reason to distrust her, to hurt her. He already had these ridiculous ideas that she was seeing other males, laughing behind his back as she sought out relationships with the dwindling, practically non-existent survivors left in the area. She would always argue, but now wasn’t the time. Rose relished in the moment, her thoughts momentarily returning to years before; when it was simpler. There was no suspicions, no distrust, no abuse.
“I forgive you,”Rising to a more dignified position, the Arbok smiled down at his mate, his eyes roaming her body for evidence of their most recent argument. Fortunately, all he saw were the familiar marks – old bruises, faded scars. It didn’t particularly matter either way, but it always got too a stage where she looked far too battered to be seen with. He liked her to stay pretty.
“Get up, you whore,” He hissed, malice seeping back into his tone as he slithered away from her broken body. Royce had found a living Rattata scurrying about earlier, apologizing to the terrified rodent before he’d sunk his fangs deep into its trembling body. Rose’s criticism had interrupted his kill and of course, the serpent had to deal with her first. Now, he was intent on retrieving the creature, soon finding it wallowing in a pool of its own rich blood. Looking over his shoulder back to the room in which his mate remained, Royce gave a huff. He couldn’t leave her to starve.
“Hey, Rose,”Set back on her coils, the shiny flinched at the calling of her name. What did he want now? Admittedly, he sounded calmer, almost cheery, but her body was still screaming in agony. Roughly wiping her face with her tail, removing the evidence of those ever familiar tears, Rose slithered after her partner. He never did like to be kept waiting.
“Here,” As she entered, half a Rattata was chucked directly before her. Her nose scrunched in distaste, the red liquid relentlessly seeping from its mutilated form, the Dragonair struggled to find to the words to protest.
“Thank you, Royce,” It had taken years of practice to keep her voice so level following one of their ‘disputes’ but even now the fear dripped form her words. Watching him carefully, the Arbok currently in the process of swallowing his half whole, Rose licked her lips uneasily. Praying he wouldn’t overreact, her words were soft, hesitant.
“I… I’m not hungry, darling,” He turned to her.
“I’ll j-just save it for la-““What is it?” Confidence lost, Rose shrunk back, eyes averted to the ground as she felt her mate’s own burning against her face.
“Not good enough for your highness?” He was close now.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” There was the sarcasm, the mocking as he struggled to keep that infamous temper under wraps. Rose was already regretting speaking.
“It’s not like tha-”“No?! What is it like then?” Royce spat, eyes narrowed into slits as he wrapped his tail around the legless Rattata he’d provided as a peace offering.
“Not big enough? Not fresh enough? How can I win, Rose?! Nothing’s ever fucking good enough for you,”“Royce – ““No!” With a quick movement, the Rattata was launched towards the wall, a sprinkling of blood falling onto both serpents as it gave a dull thud on contact. Turning away from the female, Royce was struggling to prevent another outburst. His emotions ran wild within his mind, all manner of hideous scenarios flickering before his eyes as he contemplated how to tackle the situation. Fortunately, Rose too had her ideas.
Acting on instinct, the shiny was behind him like a shot, form pressed against her mate’s in an act of comfort as her tail wrapped about his own, bloodstained one. Whilst a smile brightened her youthful face, terror continued to plague her soul. She never knew how to act around him – constantly kept guessing to his reaction despite her attempts at easing the situation. Today, it seemed she was lucky. His body relaxed, an exasperated sigh leaving his lips as the duo were left to the silence stood in a tense embrace.
“I love you,” Rose whispered quietly, her voice thankfully composed as she rested her head lightly against the serpent’s intimidating hood. She got no answer, merely a slow nod of her mate’s head as his frustration was expelled from his body. Whilst it wasn’t affectionate, it wasn’t violent either.
“We need to get moving,” Royce had adopted a serious tone, calm as he left the embrace. Rose nodded in understanding. If her scream hadn’t been bad enough, no doubt the shouting that had followed will have given their location away to undead. They both knew well to get going after an argument.
“I’ll get the Rat-““Just leave it,” Royce didn’t bother to look at her, the fighting spirit sapped from his demeanour as he made his way back to the building’s exit. Whilst he wasn’t entirely sure on the type of building they resided within, he could only presume it was one of the human’s houses. They hadn’t been the first to raid it either – the furniture upturned, bloodstains on the dirtied walls and decaying corpses in the back. Besides, they’d found what they needed – there was no point in hanging around.
“Come on,”(( Super excited to be on the team! :D You’re welcome to find these two, but if you wouldn’t mind, can the physical violence remain a mystery? I’d rather nobody kill Royce quite yet, lol. ))
