#eyem

You were bored. Oh, so very bored and restless. Moon was out on an errand. So it was just you, Sun, and DJ and the other spirits haunting the place. Speaking of Sun, you found him lounging in one of the sitting room chairs by the fireplace doing some kind of embroidery project. As soon as you entered the room, his eyes met yours and a wide grin stretched his face.

“Hello, sweet thing. What brings you here?”

You didn't answer right away, instead going over and leaning on the back of the chair he was sitting in. “I'm bored,” you said at length.

“Ah, I see. And you've come to me looking for entertainment, is that it?” He didn't sound bothered, setting aside his project and patting a hand on his lap, quietly inviting you to have a seat.

You smiled, stepping around and slipping into his lap, Sun smoothly pulling you close. “So how should I entertain my darling, hm? We could always go to the kitchen and I could whip up a little something. Maybe brunch with hot chocolate?”

“Are you sure you should be making that?” you asked playfully. “Maybe we should wait until Moon gets back.”

Sun reached down, casually pinching your lower jaw between his long fingers as he stared down at you with a playful smile. “Are you looking to be punished? I can't imagine why else you would antagonize me so.”

You held back a snicker. Apparently, Sun was super sensitive about his cooking skills. “It's fine, I'm not that hungry anyway.” In the background the logs in the fireplace crackled softly and the faint smell of wood smoke teased your nostrils.

“That's makes one of us, then,” he remarked, leaning down to nuzzle your neck. His breath was warm and soft, his caress was calming yet electrifying. You felt his sharp teeth lightly grazing at your neck, but... It wasn't even a bite. It was a tease. He chuckled and buried his face in the curve of your neck.

His lips lightly caressed you, his voice whispering in your ear, "Mine." He pressed a soft kiss at your neck, then another. Your pulse quickened and you were so distracted by just this. His scent was addictive, his words pure honey in your ears. And he looked so goddamn fine.

"Oh, is someone hungry?" you asked playfully, feeling his mouth teasing along your neck. Like he wanted something more. You rubbed your hands up and down his chest.

"I'm not only hungry." He looked up at you. His eyes darkened but the fire light still made them glow. He tilted his head and you felt his teeth again. "I crave you, my Star," he purred in your ear. His fingers were at your waist and he moved them up, up, up, under your clothes. His touch was electric. He was as bold and teasing as you wanted him to be.

Your eyes widened, face going red as his fingers snuck under your shirt. You quickly grab his hands, stopping him. "W-wait! I... um... this is just really fast."

His grin became wider as he felt your grip on his fingers. "Too fast?" He said with a playful smirk as his eyes twinkled. "I suppose we do have the whole day ahead of us. I'm not complaining though."

You rolled your eyes but you were smiling. "You are absolutely incorrigible." All the same, you were grateful he had the courtesy to respect your boundaries and stop when you asked.

Sun chuckled. "Well, to be fair... I'm not entirely incorrigible. My hands are right here." He teased, and his fingers went up, just under the fabric of your clothes, touching your skin but going no further.

He was trying to make the touch as teasing as possibly. His fingertips were barely grazing your body, making his intentions clear.

"Your skin is so smooth." His voice purred again, like soft velvet. "It's almost insidious how... Desirable you are."

Your face burned with both embarrassment and appreciation at his words. Your heart was beating way too fast. You almost felt light headed. Okay, well if it was games Sun wanted to play, then you'd play one of your own. You leaned forward, giving him a surprise smooch. Then, in his moment of being stunned, you scrambled out of his lap and made a run for it.

When you gave him a sudden kiss, he froze. Time seemed to slow down and his mind blanked in a good way, his eyes sparkling once again when you jumped out of his lap and ran.

You heard his laugh behind your back. "Really, little star?" He taunted you. "If you think I'm letting you go, then you're sadly mistaken. But by all means..." His voice dipped, making your heart quiver with his next words. “Run as fast as you can.”

And run you did, through twisting halls and up and down staircases of the maze-like manor. You ran so fast everything was a blur and your body was quick to burn itself out. You paused for breath, looking for a place to hide and recharge. You ducked into what appeared to be a guest room. There weren't a whole lot of places in the room you could hide. Making a split second decision, you ducked into the closet and quietly shut yourself into the dark enclose space. You covered your mouth to stifle your breathing.

Sun walked near the bedroom and stepped in, his heels clacking against the hard floor. A small smile was plastered on his face and he moved his head slowly, trying to make out any sound you might've made.

"I know you're in here, my little sweet. You're not the only one good at playing games." His voice was soft but it clearly teasing you. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," he called playfully.

You kept your hands clamped over your mouth, breathing quietly through your nose while your heart thudded loudly against your rib cage. You could hear him out there. HUNTING for you.

"I can hear your heartbeat, little Star," Sun murmured, his voice and footsteps growing closer as he wandered the room. "I can hear your breath. So quiet. So fast." His tone was playful, but you could hear a drop of excitement in it. It was easy to tell he was having the time of his life with this game the two of you were playing.

Your eyes widened. Of course, he could hear your heartbeat. If that was the case, then he already knew exactly where you were. He was just toying with you. You crept further back into the closet, searching of a dark nook to hide away in but there was none to be found.

"There you are," Sun's voice lilted. You could almost imagine him grinning, but in his usual charming way. There was no escape. You heard his fingers gripped the door of the closet. "There is no use in hiding, sweet thing." His voice dripped with a smirk. He was enjoying the chase, no doubt, but he obviously wanted you too. "I'm getting in there, sooner or later. You won't escape this hunt."

Even though you know there is little use in it, you tried to hold the door closed. If only to prolong the inevitable. You could hear the door bend under Sun's force, his grip not too strong, yet not too weak, just strong enough so the door still stood. His fingers were moving up and down it, trying to find any weak spots.

"Good, good," he whispered, his voice was slightly lower but he was still amused. The sound of it was oddly addictive, almost hypnotizing. "Resist. Don't give up the fight."

A full body shiver ran through you at his words. It was a weird sort of thrill mixed with vindication and pleasure at his praise. He liked what you were doing. He liked it when you resisted. It just made the chase more fun for him. You used all your weight to hold the door shut, fighting and resisting, just like he wanted. Just like you wanted.

"That's it. Keep resisting, my Starlight. Make me break the door to get you." His voice purred darkly, sending tingling goosebumps racing up and down your spine. You could hear the sound of wood splintering under steel nails. It was clear Sun was determined to get rid of any obstacle that would deny him your embrace.

He was like a tiger. You were like a gazelle. And the whole game was a play of cat and a mouse. He was amused and the thrill of you holding off against him made him crave you more, want you more. Wanted you in his arms where you belonged.

Would he really break the door down? Honestly, you wouldn't put hardly anything past him at this point. You held out for as long as you could, but just when you felt the door about to give you jumped back. A cacophony of breaking wood and squealing metal ensued as Sun tore the closet door clean off its hinges, sending splinters scattering to the floor.

His footsteps creaked on wood and a gentle chuckle left his lips as he tossed the door aside and stepped into the small space.

Your breath caught in your throat as your back was pressed against the closet wall as he cornered you. There was nowhere left to run as he pinned you against the wall. His gleaming eyes flickered and his fingers gripped your hips.

"Mine," he growled softly, his claws lightly brushing your skin, tickling you, yet they didn't hurt. "Mine."

He didn't even give you time to say anything, Sun kissed you passionately once again. His tongue played against yours, your bodies touching, him pressing you against the wall. Goosebumps raised on you skin where his claws brushed, and you moaned as his tongue brushed yours.

You heard his laugh once more as he saw your goosebumps, his gaze tracing over your body, his eyes shining with joy. He pulled away, holding you by your cheeks and gazing directly in your eyes. His fangs were glistening like diamonds.

"You were thinking you were going to escape me?" He chuckled. "How precious of you, my darling." He was amused, his eyes still holding a predatory gleam, yet he still managed to make you feel safe. So, so safe.

"No," you admitted. "I didn't think I could escape you. I just... wanted you to chase me. It was... fun." It felt weird admitting all of this, like you were confessing to some sort of scandalous sin. But you didn't feel he would judge you for it.

Sun leaned his head towards your and whispered, "I knew it." His eyes were sparkling with joy. "It was fun, wasn't it?" His voice was quiet but the feeling of desire was very palpable. "Catch and keep. And you, my precious little Star, are caught." His hands held you tight and he looked so happy, leaning down to once more gently press his lips to yours.

You hummed into his kiss, feeling safe and comfortable. Is this what people often refer to as aftercare? You rather liked it. "It would seem so," you murmured in agreement, hooking your arms around his neck. "So then... you don't mind if I occasionally put up a bit of a fight? Just to keep things interesting?"

He laughed, his lips brushing against your forehead tenderly. "Oh no, not at all." Sun smiled. "In fact... I'd say that the hunt is the most enjoyable. The chase, the play for power. The game. I love the game, I could play it for hours." He chuckled and kissed your neck, his teeth slightly grazing your skin once again, causing you to shiver with delight. "You're my little Star. You're always in my reach and afraid to say..." Sun whispered, his teeth lightly biting you but not piercing skin. "There's no escape for you."

Good thing you had absolutely no desire or need for escape then. "Well, then let me give just a little bit of warning," you said before moving your head and biting his shoulder playfully. "This little star bites back."

Your bite was gentle but he let out a little moan, the muscles under your teeth twitching. "Oh, a feisty one, I see." Sun snickered. "A hunt with fire and brimstone. Fascinating. I must say, as a thrall you're a bit of a handful..." He hummed, stroking his long, nimble fingers along your jaw. "And I like this."

"I can be sweet too," you told him. "I'll admit. All of this is very fast. Faster than I'm used to. It feels like... hmm... like I've been crawling for a long time and now suddenly I'm running. So, do you think you can have the patience to let me stop and catch my breath once in a while?"

In all honesty, Sun was very tempted to just throw you on the bed and do some more enjoyable things with you, but... he could be gentle. He liked what you were playing, he liked the chase.

"We'll take it slow." He murmured and leaned closer so his face was almost touching yours. There was also a very faint glimmer in his eyes, as if he was expecting just one more kiss - hoping even. "Slow and steady."

"Thank you," you told him, smiling. Taking gentle hold of his face, you leaned forward and kissed him, knowing he wanted it as much as you did. You leaned against him, suddenly feeling completely tuckered out. "I think I need a nap."

"It would seem you pushed yourself just a little too hard," Sun chuckled, leaning his chin on your head. He held you in his arms, one hand stroking your hair gently. "You can sleep as much as you want, as long as it's in my arms," he whispered, his eyes glittering with affection and his gaze full of love.

His claws lightly brushed your skin, his eyes scanning your face, studying it like it was something precious. Because, as he said, you were. You were his.

You hummed and leaned against him, closing your eyes and letting loose a yawn. "That sounds nice. "

"I've been told that I'm also a good pillow." Sun chuckled, his voice calm and steady. He picked you up and carried you to the bed, laying down with you resting on top of him. "You can sleep here, sweet thing. I won't let anything happen to you,” he promised, kissing your forehead. “Sleep, rest, feel safe. You deserve all of it, my Star."

"Thank you, Sun," you murmured, curling up on top of him.

He held you closely, his arms hugging you tightly. His fingers were playing with your hair as his eyes were filled with affection. You suddenly realized how exhausted you were. His body felt warm and comforting, perfect to catch some Zs after all of the running and hiding.

"Sweet dreams, my precious little star," he whispered, once again wishing you pleasant rest. "Rest well."

Eir eyes did not open, but other ones did. Two of them, somehow, and somehow Nickel was seeing through them, though they didn't belong to em. Instead of looking out over an expanse of stars, ey were staring up at some kind of mysterious structure, unlike anything ey had ever seen before. It was in shades of vibrant blue and red, alternating in long stripes.

Then an alien leaned over em, with a flat face the color of Saturn's rings, and a fleshy mouth that opened to reveal rows of teeth with a prominent gap near the center front. It had four limbs, two upper and two lower, and was brightly colored in bold yellow and black stripes on its upper half, and a duller grey on the lower limbs. "Azalia!" it shouted, placing its upper limbs on its sides in a clearly aggressive posture, "You ruined it!"

"Aaah!" Ey screamed, scrabbling with eir propulsors and all eir fins to flee, but the only thing that happened was more sensation of pressure on eir body, and four limbs—limbs that didn't belong to em, but that were moving as though they did—flailed wildly. One of them struck the hard surface ey suddenly realized was below em, and pain shot through it, as though it were eir own fin, burning with pain after ey had crashed right into an asteroid in eir sleep. Ey screamed again, the pain doing nothing to dampen eir confusion or fear.

Where were eir parents? Eir siblings? Eir partners? Where had the stars gone? Where had the sun gone? Ey had gone to sleep in peaceful orbit around Pluto and now—

Nickel had been abducted! Abducted by aliens! Abducted by aliens and put into some kind of alien mimicry prison made of flesh and bone instead of metal!

"Let me go!" Ey shouted through the alien mouth that had replaced eir own, horrified by the sensation of the teeth and the click of the tongue, "Aliens! Let me go!" Ey flailed again, and screamed wordlessly, desperately, unable to think of anything else to do.

"Azalia, what are you talking about?" "Stop it!" "You're gonna wake everyone up!" "Shh!!" "Shut up! Shut up!" The alien's voice had been joined by others, chorusing orders to stop making noise.

A fleshy something was clamped over the alien mouth that didn't belong to Nickel, and more fleshy things at the ends of the aliens' upper limbs grabbed em and tried to keep em still. There were three of them — the yellow, black and grey one, another one that was pink, black, and grey, and a dark blue and white one.

Ey were outnumbered, and unlike em, the aliens actually knew how to work these strange, heavy bodies. Ey were stilled and silenced, and the aliens fell silent along with em, tensely, fear radiating off of them in waves Nickel could still feel despite the cage of alien flesh crushing em.

The fear contagious, ey stopped struggling and ceased eir attempts to cry out, for the moment more afraid of whatever it was that these aliens were scared of than getting free. There would no point in getting out of this strange prison if ey were killed before ey could get back out into space.

What were these aliens so frightened of? Some kind of predator? Had they brought Nickel here to sacrifice em to it to keep themselves safe? Had eir struggles alerted the predator to this encampment before eir captors had had time to truss em up and leave em to eir fate?

Should ey keep fighting and try to draw its attention? Make eir captors go down with em?

After a moment of consideration, ey decided yes. If ey were going to die getting eaten by some alien predator, ey would make these aliens pay for feeding em to it.

Ey renewed eir struggles for freedom with renewed vigour, and sucked in as large of an alien breath as ey could to scream through the relaxing fleshy things that were no longer covering this strange mouth, "Here ali-ali-alien, come and get us! Come on and eat everyone, I bet they taste really good! Teach them not to mess with windlings!"

There was a frantic scramble from the aliens around em to silence em again, but this time ey didn't stop fighting back, and felt the fear of the aliens around em increase. Clearly, eir tactic was working.

"Stop it! Stop! You're gonna wake Uncle Scott up!" one of the aliens hissed frantically, invoking, in Nickel's mind, the legend of the evil Uncle Blot, who came visiting from beyond the solar system and was so greedy he wanted to devour the sun, but Nickel refused to stop. If they were going to sacrifice em to a monster, they were going to get eaten right along with em. Another fleshy thing was shoved over the mouth ey were currently screaming through, and in a fit of inspiration, ey bit it.

This caused the alien the hand was attached to to yowl in pain and jerk backwards, crying out even louder than ey had been, making heavy thumping noises and causing shockwaves to transmit through the surface below Nickel with the force. "She bit me! She freaking bit me! I'm telling mom!"

Now that was just insulting. "I'm not a she!" Nickel screeched, wishing this weird alien prison would let em use eir sonic pulse, "I'm an ey! At least get my pronouns right if you're gonna feed me to a monster!"

"What are you kids doing up there?" Came a new alien voice, roaring from somewhere below the hard surface, "It's 3AM! I know I told you you could stay up tonight for the holiday, but come on, I didn't think I'd have to tell you that didn't include screaming your heads off and waking me up! You're old enough to know better!"

There were thumping noises coming closer, and the voice was getting louder. The hard surface below Nickel was vibrating with every sound of something heavy hitting a solid surface.

All of the aliens who'd been trying to pin em in place had frozen, and all of them were staring in the same direction, which Nickel felt eir own gaze being dragged to instinctively, the yelling dying in the alien throat ey controlled.

The hard surface ey were pinned to continued to the other side of the alien structure, and part of it suddenly lifted upwards with a creak and the clank of metal.

An alien pushed its face through the gap that formed, larger by far than any of the ones Nickel had seen yet. Ey gasped in renewed fear. Ey could barely fight off these little ones, ey would stand no chance against a giant like that!

The head twisted to face all of them, and the two alien eyes widened, then narrowed, clearly angry. "What are you doing? Get off of Azalia this instant! All of you!" It began to climb bodily through the hole and into the structure, dwarfing everyone else by more than double. This one was brightly colored in white and red all over its body except for the face, and the very ends of the upper limbs. Some kind of dominant coloring? A different species entirely?

The smaller aliens tumbled away from Nickel immediately. Some of them backed away, others ran towards the giant, all of them speaking at once— "She started acting weird!" "She bit me!" "She said we were using the wrong pronouns!" "She started screaming for no reason!" "She started it!"

This was more than Nickel could bear. Trap them in an alien mimicry prison, feed me to some horrifying monster, but for the love of all the stars in the world, "Stop calling me a she! I'm not a she! I already told you! Just stop it!"

Ey scrambled, trying to work out how to properly control the alien limbs, and managed to get into a more upright position, though ey were forced to lean back against the surface behind em for balance.

If they were going to kill em, just please get it over with already. This torture was completely uncalled for. Ey felt like ey were being crushed, was trapped in some alien body, and was probably never going to see eir family ever again. Did these aliens really have to add the crime of misgendering to eir suffering?

The giant waved a hand at the smaller aliens, and they all fell silent. "Azalia," it said slowly, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Nickel, again with a sudden burst of inspiration, bared the alien teeth ey'd been landed with, and attempted to snarl, hoping it would sound just as scary coming out of this alien body as it did coming from a jumping asteroid-borer.

The affect (effect???) fell very flat. The growl thundered in eir throat dramatically, but the sound itself was extremely unimpressive. What ey wouldn't give to be able to fire all eir propulsors to beat all these aliens back and escape!

The giant alien didn't react except to blink both its eyes.  There was a pause, where none of the smaller aliens made any noises either.

Then the giant said, "Did you tell the others here you want to use new pronouns? Were they bullying you for that?"

This caused an uproar of protests from the smaller aliens. "She didn't say that!" "We weren't bullying her!" "That's not what happened!" "Uncle Scott! We wouldn't do that!" "She just started freaking out for no reason!"

"I didn't ask you all, I asked Azalia!" The giant thundered, and once again the smaller aliens fell quiet. The giant turned back to face Nickel, voice quieter,  and asked, "That is, if you still want to be called Azalia?"

Nickel felt like laughing, all of a sudden. That, or crying. Ey no longer felt like ey had any idea what was going on. The giant alien seemed to be trying to defend em from the smaller ones? What? But then why...?

"I just want to go home." Ey said, and felt eir voice catch in the alien voice. It suddenly seemed harder to breathe. "Just let me go back to my family! I want to go home! Let me go! Please!"

The two alien eyes ey were seeing through began to burn and blur, and sounds began coming out against eir will, hiccuping coughs as all the panic and fear washed over Nickel in a sudden, inescapable wave. Ey folded the strange and unweidly limbs around em as best ey could, instinctively trying to curl up in self-defense.

There was a shuffle, and murmered words from the smaller aliens, and the clomp of heavy feet as the giant approached. Fleshy things reached out to grab em, and ey flinched back, managing to gasp out, "Don't touch me! Leave me alone!" though the horrible choking sensation wracking through eir prison of a body.

The hands withdrew. Some of the smaller aliens started making the same hiccuping noises, and one of them was babbling almost incoherent apologies. The giant's voice spoke again. "Alright, just give them some space everyone. Lucius, will you bring me the box of chocolate? I think this is a good a time as any to open it. And get the box of tissues while you're at it. The rest of you, either go back into the house, or at least sit quietly for a bit and don't bug Azalia any more than you already have. Everyone needs some time to calm down, and then we can talk about this when everyone's feeling better. Okay?"

There were a few quiet noises of assent from the smaller aliens, and then the only sound Nickel could hear was of more thumps fading away as the alien who'd been instructed to leave did so, and the still uncontrolled noises that were stealing Nickel's breath away and making these eyes burn. But the respiratory attack seemed to be calming as the aliens stopped their physical assaults, and Nickel found, with every passing moment, that ey could breathe easier, though the unyeilding sense of pressure around em stayed the same as when ey had first awoken here.

There were thumps as the smaller alien returned to the structure, and Nickel dared to lift this prison's head and open the eyes to watch it move back through the opening in the solid surface, pushing two things in ahead of it. This was the alien that had a dark blue upper body, and a white lower half. One of the things it was carrying was a pale blue cube shape, the other was large, shiny, and red, shaped like a child's drawing of a windling.

The cube shape was passed with a, "Here, Joel," to the yellow and black alien that ey had first seen, who pulled a piece of white something out of the cube, and used it to wipe at its eyes and face, before crumbling the white thing in its fleshy upper limbs.

Then the cube was taken back, and held out towards Nickel.

Ey stared at it warily, but the smaller alien hadn't been hurt, so ey hesitantly reached out with one of the fleshy upper limbs of this prison body, and attempted to take one of the white things. But the limb was alien, and sore from hitting the hard surface multiple times, and being pinned in place, and ey had no idea how to control the weird smaller limbs at the end. Ey ended up accidentally knocking the cube out of the grip of the alien who held it.

Ey snatched the limb back, afraid of retaliation, but all that happened was the alien quietly picking the box back up, pulling out a peice of the white thing, and holding that out for em to take. Its mouth trembled, and its eyes blinked a lot. Nickel got the feeling that it was on the verge of the same kind of attack that had afflicted em.

But now ey were too nervous to try to control these weird limbs again, so after a moment of staring at eachother in silence, the alien took a few steps closer, and dropped the white thing next to Nickel before backing away, probably afraid of being bitten again. The white floated down slowly, despite the crushingly thick air, as the alien retreated back across the structure to the rest of the little aliens. The giant was closest to Nickel, its limbs folded horrifically.

Ey were still trapped in some horrible alien prison, but none of the aliens were attacking em any more, and ey was starting to realize that these aliens seemed just as confused as ey were. Maybe they hadn't brought Nickel here on purpose? Or...maybe they hadn't brought em here at all...

That thought was even more frightening than eir original assumption, because if these aliens hadn't brought em here, then that probably meant they wouldn't be able to send em back, either.

What were ey going to do?