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this blog: 

       The club was packed with ever-moving people, the air thick with body heat. Music pumped through the large room through means he couldn’t see, while the beats playing were reflected by the many lights changing with the rhythm. Sounds and smells pressed against him with an almost physical presence to match the mass of people standing so close. On any other day, such an excess of everything might have overwhelmed him, but on this occasion the glow of excitement insulated him and lit him from within.

       Humans and their celebrations never ceased to amaze him. They had so many too. And this one…this ‘New Year’s Eve’, well, it seemed to have them all especially vibrant.

       He didn’t need his magic to know people all around were brimming with hope and ambition, dreams and drive for the future. Though he was careful not to allow said magic to influence ( and was equally careful not to be influenced himself ), he revelled in the thrill of it all.

       He couldn’t keep his eyes off the strangers all around, an odd sense of pride warming him as he silently wished them all the best.

       But then he blinked, usual smile slipping away.

       People everywhere seemed to partner up, and he became aware that a voice above the music was beginning a countdown. The crowd joined in, many voices forming to one.

       Confused, he looked to Jackie, but her attention was elsewhere. He glanced around as the final number was called.

       And he saw kissing. Lots of kissing.

       Some sort of tradition?

       Pairs nearby split apart after a moment and gave a happy cheer, causing him to turn once more to Jackie.

       No one had kissed her.

       Grinning at his chance to participate in the human fun, he moved his hands to cup her face, ensuring he would not miss the opportunity.

       He lightly tilted her face up as he brought his own down, unaware of the way his heart skipped at the proximity. His lips met hers in an electric heat, flashing through his body in a way he would grow curious about later. And despite how she could have pushed away the gentle hold of his hands, his mouth commanded hers. Soft but insistent, moving with unexpected surety and what could almost be a claim.

       He took her lower lip with a suckling kiss he’d seen others do, but released it after a brief graze of his tongue as a surge of heat came through him again. Something in the back of his mind sounded a low warning. But still, he kissed her again. And again for good measure. Enthusiasm unbound in a grin as he pulled back, his only focus was on welcoming a positive future for the woman in front of him.

       “Happy New Year, Jackie!”

       Affection needing an outlet, he pulled her in for a tight hug.

       “I’m gonna go make sure everyone’s happy, but I’ll be right back,” he told her, letting her go.

       Despite the way he tended to overcomplicate things for the fun of it, and how he often hid beneath teasing and mischievousness, Chesh was a straightforward guy really. At heart, both he and his feline side were quite easily pleased, and it was often the simpler things in life that appealed to them. Any affection from those they cared for, or just closeness with them, would definitely make the list of things that brought them happiness.

       So to have Jackie cuddled up and clinging to him was certainly a delight ( even if it had come about due to her little incident ). Such contact almost had him purring. And in fact, just being able to help her, just being able to be of use in some way, was cause enough for his smile to never cease. He would gladly carry her for however long she needed.

       It was all well and good, yes…but there was just one little problem.

       He was overheating. Burning up. It wasn’t due to any exertion, no. Jackie hardly weighed a thing, and the position they were in wasn’t uncomfortable.

       But it did bring her pretty face oh-so-close to his neck. And, try as he might, he couldn’t keep his thoughts innocent. Heated images flashed in his mind, bringing with them a slight flush to his skin.

         Her body heat further added to his own, giving the pleasant feeling of sunlight against his back and making his leopard side want to roll around and purr. Yet, at the same time, the intermittent warmth from between her lips trailed across his neck and put the feline and his own senses on high alert.

       For many of his kind, the neck was a very guarded spot, and it was a high intimacy or privilege to allow someone so close to the vulnerable area. Typically, he wouldn’t stand for anyone getting in such proximity, his instincts would shift him away from any contact, but now? With Jackie?

       He could only think of getting her closer. Of having her lips on his skin. Her tongue. Her teeth. Her mark.

       Heat flooded his body again, further warming him with a quickened pounding of his heart. As if in contrast, the absolute need for her caused a slight shiver to run through him, his hands tightening their hold on her a fraction.

       It’s easy, he thought in response to her comment, I just think about you kissing me and suddenly I could melt a blizzard.

       While he couldn’t let that slip, he did laugh a little at her minor complaint and think about the other reason for his cold-resistance.

       There was a common belief that a therianthrope’s naturally high temperature was due to the fact the animal and human shared the same body, and their respective body heats merged together. The old tale was also said to explain why their pulse rate was faster than that of a human too. It was on the tip of his tongue to share that tidbit with her, but he had to hold back. She still had no idea about what he really was, after all.

       He often wondered how she would react to finding out about him ( more specifically, he worried what would happen if she were to learn he was the leopard that had been living with her this whole time… )

       But there was no time for such thoughts.  

       He took a moment to force his mind clear before he could finally speak, a smile and tease forming.

       “Well, what can I say? I’m hot in many ways.”

       Birthdays. An absolutely wonderful occasion! Cakes and gifts, with family and friends around, a celebration of life lived and of the future. Kyrin had barely been able to contain himself since the moment he’d learnt Jackie’s birthday was approaching, and now that the day was finally upon them, he fairly glowed with delight. And while he didn’t know enough to be able to arrange a gathering with her friends and family, he aimed to provide the rest of the ‘perfect birthday recipe.’

       Her cake ( along with an assortment of perhaps far too many sweet treats ) waited for her inside her kitchen, but he stood outside her bedroom door and knocked lightly to alert her to his presence.

       “Birthday, Jackie!” he blurted with an excited grin, “I mean, good morning and happy birthday! It’s your birthday! I have a present for you!”

       He didn’t have a giftbox to hide it in, or paper to wrap it, so the necklace was concealed behind his back as it hung from his fingers. It had taken a fair amount of work ( and a little magic ) to make, but the result was as he’d hoped for. A silver chain with a few small, purple stones ( polished and smoothed into beads ) from which a short feather of the purest white dangled down. Of course the feather was one of his very own, and as such it would offer a measure of protection from darkness, absorbing and dispelling any evil magic to spare her if it should come her way.

       Lightly bouncing on his heels, he couldn’t keep the bright smile from his face.

Break time~

With his ever-present smile and a bounce in his step, Chesh headed inside the house to seek Jackie’s company. His phone, snugly in the back pocket of his jeans, gave a little chirp as if to compete for his attention. He idly pulled it out as he walked into the room Jackie was in, unlocking and swiping through the notifications. Oh, was it that time already? He tapped his thumb to the digital banner at the top of the screen, opening the astrology app that had signalled him with its daily update.

He skipped down the list that appeared and had a quick read. A slight frown touched his lips and looked over to her. “Jackie, your horoscope says you might be feeling down lately, but if you open yourself up to others and accept surprise affection, your energy might return to you.”

How do you best like to be loved?

stay with me while the storm is strong

we all need someone sometimes, and you often don't feel like you are worth someone remaining. you are, though. i know that you crave for someone to be there and rest their hand against your back during the bad times. for a loving voice to lull you to sleep with a cadence of compassion and a desire to remain. you just want someone to remain. through and past the bad parts when you know it is difficult. you want to fall asleep to their voice and wake up to them still there in the morning. you want them to know the way that you take your tea and keep a box of your favorite flavor in their pantry in case you have a bad night and need to come over. you want to trust someone enough to give them a key to your house. and you deserve it, love. you deserve for someone to linger. you deserve to place your trust in another and know that they'll help you brush your hair if you're just too tired. you deserve for someone to remain.

‘I’ll be back before you know it,’ she says. A most reassuring statement most definitely, if only Jackie was capable of actually keeping track.

In truth, she’s not entirely sure at what moment Mags even leaves.

For even before the door has slipped closed behind her, has the female’s thoughts already drifted. Onto a higher realm of sorts, where she wasn’t quite so anxious, wasn’t quite so faced with the possibility of an immediate failure. Where she wasn’t quite so tethered to the trembling threads of reality that churned within her something awful, as she’d endeavored instead to shift her focus and attention to the mangled body under her care; lithe fingertips cradling along blood soaked limbs, an attempt to gradually shift the hulk of a man into a far more comfortable position – whilst actively trying not to think of the realistic mortality rate of him bleeding to death on her living room couch.

And though she may not know the exact moment that Mags leaves, she’s definitely not about to spend her precious next few moments counting down the seconds and the minutes to wait for her return, on the vague chance that she might pull up with some kind of godforsaken miracle. No, no, no, she had to pull her own weight here, she had to pull her own weight now – and even though she was no healer by any means, she had to presume she was capable of doing something helpful at the very least, right?

Ah, well — that was the dearest hope, in any case.

And it’s what prompts her into moving before she can stand to think otherwise, what prompts her into doing at the very least whatever she could with whatever resources she had available – to overall just doing whatever she thought would be best.

And her crimson tipped digits would remain gentle, even as they go to brush softly along his chest - a whispered hush between her lips as he’d twitched, a soundless apology as she went to find exactly which was the absolute worst of his wounds. A somewhat difficult task to be sure, considering his whole chest was a mangled mess even worse than anything she could have ever imagined, but someone had to do it.

—- and she’d thought she’d seen the worst of these things, once upon a time.

How very wrong she was.

And pert brows narrow at she comes upon what seems to be the largest gash bleeding most severely - from where it’d looked like a whole claw had been gouged into his gut - stray hand shifting towards a moist towelette, now dabbing at the blood; attempting to ignore how quickly it stained red, how little the fabric seemed capable to adequately clean. And how quickly does her hand turn to the water bowl, to wring out the worst of the liquid, only to return to dab at the largest of the gashes once more - to repeat the process. Again, and again,

And again.

The ruddy surface of the water reflects her strained visage in a way that makes her chest squeeze if she so much as chances a stray glance downwards.

It makes something inside her catch, her vision tunneling in a way that terrifies her —

But she can’t linger on the thought. 

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Mags crouched and set the bag of supplies down, beginning to pull out what she had gathered. Small jars clinked; little bags rustled. Her focus stayed on Kav all the while, assessing her next steps, and knowing she had to be quick about it. Which meant that the outburst from the other woman and the glare from her only gave Mags pause for a moment before she resumed her work.

She laughed in that moment; it bubbled out so genuinely and unexpectedly that there was no chance of stopping it.

This dire situation was absolutely not funny…

And yet, she continued to laugh a little to herself as she opened small containers and jars and put them down. She grinned and gave a slight shake of her head in bemusement.

“That’s Kavi for ya…”

Of course, the idiot tried to get up. She could imagine it all so clearly, even predict the grumble that would have come from his currently busted lips.

But she could not have predicted the irritated reaction his effort had gotten from the human. Although, perhaps she should have, she thought.

Again, it crossed her mind that Kav would like this woman; this human with her slight frame holding such a strong personality. Oh, he might not ever admit it or even notice it, but it would be the truth. This little human had claws in her own right, and that was something the Alpha would respect, even if she pushed his buttons ( or perhaps especially so ).

And what wouldn’t Mags give to see the two riling each other up…. Of course, there was a chance it would backfire horribly, ( it would be like putting two bombs in a room and waiting to see which would go off first and how big the explosion would be ) but that could be fun too.

Only…he had to live in order for that to happen. They had to save him.

…Or maybe not ‘they’ exactly.

Oh yes, what an idea. With someone like Kav, the pull of the life-debt would be near impossible to resist…Maybe it’s ancient binding had already started when the human had made the decision to haul the Alpha’s ass to her home.

Might as well make it a sure thing…

Mags kept her head turned down, dark curls shifting in front of her face and concealing the devious smile she could not stop.

She withdrew a small plastic bowl and spoon from the bag, and with efficient movements, she tipped an assortment of herbs and liquids into it, along with a jar of rich soil. She mixed it into a paste and adjusted herself towards Jackie.

“Here, I know it looks gross and seems wrong, but put this in a thick layer on the worst wounds. It’ll stop the bleeding and start the healing better than anything.”

It would do the trick alright; the natural elements would always come to the aid of a creature of nature, such as Kav was.

Mags appeared to lose her balance in the next moment, one hand going forward to brace lightly on Jackie’s shoulder. As she gave a quick apology and moved back, she took a loose strand of purple hair with her, tucked discreetly in her hand as planned.

“I’ll work on something for the poison now, gimme a minute.”

She shifted back to her array of ingredients and pulled a second bowl from the bag. The hair was subtly placed in the bowl, along with a few leaves from various plants. She plucked a small, leather bag from the pocket of her jacket and tipped the crystals inside onto the floor beside her. Black, red, clear, turquoise, purple, their vibrant colours caught the light.

The obsidian stone became her choice, it quickly warmed in her hand she flowed an invisible trickle of magic through it and used its rough edges to grind up the leaves.

Putting the crystal down once satisfied, she reached over to the red tinged water Jackie had been using. She grabbed the bowl with care and tipped a good measure of its contents into her own bowl before returning it to Jackie’s side.

Perfect. But what else…what else…

Her eyes ran over what she had available and she chose the hunk of amethyst, a wry smile touching her lips for a moment. She tossed the crystal up lightly and caught it again before using it to swirl the mixture inside the bowl. Allowing her eyes close, she sunk into herself once more as she continued to stir.

Magic swelled in her chest with a familiar warmth. With a thought, she channelled the energy through her body to the hand grasping the amethyst, lips beginning to mutter beneath her breath in an ancient language.

After several moments, she stopped and opened her eyes, a faint glow fading from them as the touch of magic receded.

“Done,” she said, grin jumping to her lips as she looked to Jackie.

She rose and held the bowl out for her to take, knowing full well what her actions might do, “He needs to drink this. It’s going to reverse the poison.”