Lines Blur Between Beast and Men

[Dust]

Dust’s sights were square on the man who’d interrogated him before, with a bit more defiance in his eyes than last time. It might have been the weakness that did it to him, the feverish nightmares, the internal struggled in the massive man’s heart that shouldn’t exist. Whatever the reason, he was ready more than ever to fight. Yet, still able to keep a leash on his actions enough not to outright attack. For one, there were hundreds if not millions of soldiers to stop him before he could attack the seemingly defenseless doctor. But also because he couldn’t see what benefit it would gain him to attack when this just seemed to be interrogation part two.

The doctor made a show of going through some files he’d had tucked away in some corner of his perfectly organized desk. Dust looked them over but he didn’t have the vision needed to read any of the fine print from this distance. He did make note of several files that stacked to one side and a single one on the edge beside his own which was open where they’d left off. A stack of apparent fan made stories and a few pictures of him as he had taken on Centurion.

Wolf knew that these files must have been The Avengers he’d been helping this whole time. He guessed the thickest ones were those with real promising power or stuffed full of additions to their permanent records. He tried to measure his own up with the stacks, but his angel left him without a good enough view.

Dr. Thomas picked up the coffee mug as he stood upright, moving around the desk and into Hokori’s line of attack. Wolf noticed he was relaxed, though he looked as if he had a lot on his mind to say he didn’t speak. Instead, he stirred the steaming liquid around with a silver spoon.

Dust’s heart still pounded in his chest from the abrupt actions that had him planted here, his whole body rose and fall as he took deep breaths. The chains clattered loosely before tightening again with every exhale and inhale. Still, the good doctor didn’t say anything.

There was a knock on the door, and then Dr. Thomas excused himself by placing the mug down and going outside. On his return a few moments later he had a guest. Crimson eyes went from Thomas to the stranger in a blink and bore into him as if he was a threat. He narrowed his eyes down on the stranger, his instincts pushed fire through his chest and every muscle in the werewolf prime’s body tensed up defensively.

The quick reaction must have made the new guest uneasy, Dust could see the hesitation in Mr. Lynch as the lean figure takes the invitation to take a seat. The mastermind of this plan offered a metal chair just as Volk sat in but with fewer straps, chains, and cuffs. It was a bit too close to the intimidating prime that was The Dying Star for Koal’s apparent comfort but he took it with a couple side glances.

Dust has already proven these percussions were a sham, but other than the observing parties and the doctor the binding methods should look sturdy. Either the younger male thought better just by his sheer mass, or he had didn’t trust his roommate anymore than Wolf did.

“Now.” Thomas started, picking up his cup and sipping his hot drink. “I hope you are comfortable gentlemen.”

“Not really.” The other male said, the Contractor beside him noted the strain in his voice despite the sarcasm coming through his lips.

“Good.” The doctor addressed or rather ignored their complaints. “Onto our business.” He said walking over to sit back down on his desk. It was still in the corner, apparently as far away from Dust as he could get while remaining in the room. It didn’t give Mr. Lynch any comfort about who he was sitting next to. “Hokori Hoshi, meet Koal Lynch. Koal, this is Dust.” He introduced them, waving the pleasantries off. He looked down into the files open on his desk. “Koal is guilty of almost every crime in the book. His favorite flavor of chaos seems to be murder. However, we have a list of things he’s done in his spare time and the Empire is not happy about it.”

“You’re one to talk.” Koal spat out, apparently something the doctor said rubbing him the wrong way.

Thomas’ eyes flick over the edges of his glasses before flipping to another file. “Dust. Your crimes are indeed mild compared to this criminals. However, we have proof that while the initial fight had more to do with your friend Cade, you were the catalyst in the following disturbance. By attacking Cade first you’ve doomed the entire Avengers’ Team to containment here at this facility for an undetermined time.”

It has been a long time since Hoshi-Kun has felt anything quite like the ego-deflating, body-numbing, bone-chilling guilt that he felt at that point. In fact, had he been emotionally conscious at the time of his experience with Shock the night Drake fell, he may be able to compare this mountain of chest pain to that night. It would seem the more people that were involved in his decisions the heavier his heartfelt when he was forced to face the consequences.

On the outside, he remained porcelain stone with his eyes digging deeper into the doctor’s throat, but inside a storm of desperation began to brew and swirl. He had to do something about this… In his mind, he was certain the head doctor in front of them had his own solutions to this problem, especially because he finally looked up with a mockery of a smile on his face. Because he reminded DA-389 of the same type of snake that his formal commanders were, he bet it would be unpleasant and only barely took care of the surface problem.

Thomas took his apparent silence of the matter as a reason to go on. He knitted his fingers together and sat his chin down on the hammock of phalanges. “Luckily I have a way for us all to be happy.” He paused, trying to still gauge the reaction of a stone-faced Lycan. When Dust gave him nothing again, he continued. “Hokori Owari Hoshi, I purpose a deal. If you agree to a special program where you willingly participate in the testing of weapons, drugs, and other equipment experiments I, Doctor Thomas, have the authority to release and discharge every member of the Avengers that had been involved in the disturbance related to your incarceration.”

Ookami’s immediate agreement caught firmly in his throat, it was a physical lump he could barely swallow back down like the pill it was. He would reflect later how eager his body had been to condemn itself for the sake of his friends. This was new to the contractor, mostly because of how little friends he had in general life. When did he become so selfless?

He lowered his head as it spun with the possibilities of what this could all entail. He had to consider the wording, carefully. Though he didn’t need a fine tooth comb to remember there had been exactly two people involved that didn’t quite fall under that net. “I will agree.” He said firmly. The doctor smiled greedily, but before he could say anything else, Dust continued. “But only if you agree to let Angel and Cade go as well. They, after all, are Avengers now, too.”

There stood two powers. Pillars against the storm grey walls of the interrogation rooms.

“I can arrange that, as long as you agree to the terms.” The doctor said, his jaw stiff.

“I’m all yours.” Dust said, as bravely as he could while feeling frightened for the others.

As if to finalize the deal right then and there, the wild card in this hand flung his metal chair back into the wall, leaving the back two legs slightly dent. Koal had his hands on his temples, squeezing his head as he struggled to breathe. This brought the attention straight to him and after a moment of hyperventilating Dust watched him raise his own eyes to the larger prime.

“You are a fool!” He spat. “You can convince the big guy here, but I-!!”

“You, Koal, don’t have a choice in the matter,” Thomas said, dryly. “You either agree to do the same, or you are dragged there..”

[Koal]

Koal wasn't exactly sure what happened after that moment. In that single, horrid, blood-haze of a moment, all Koal could feel was panic. With panic came Koal's instinct to fight back. He could vaguely call the memory forth, like a half-forgotten dream that you couldn't quite place once you woke up. 

A snarl and his powers resurfacing for a moment.

A demonic screech and a lash of his claws, and a cry of pain.

Stun batons burning even more scars into his already marked and mutilated skin.

"...Damn kid, Doc was right, you got a thing for murder." Koal found the voice of the Stormtrooper to be just like the rest of them: hidden behind a layer of electronic white noise and very, very, annoying.

Koal could do little but glare at him. If looks could kill, the man would be dead before you could say "Oh no". When he had awoken from his pain-induced stupor, Koal had found his mouth bound with a muzzle, a reinforced straitjacket holding his arms at a painful angle across his chest, and a large, red-haired man sitting across from his, eyeing him with an unreadable gaze. The Infernal Swordsman would have made a sarcastic comment if he could talk, maybe even joked a bit with the monstrous Prime.

With nothing else to do, Koal ran his eyes over his companion's body, analyzing the prime for weakness. Lean, coiled muscles wrapped around his frame. And even though he was sitting down now, Koal recalled his immense height, towering over everyone else who had been in that interrogation room. A veritable powerhouse of a person, of that Koal had no doubt. And yet, he also sensed a definite sense of goodness that surrounded him. Eyes moving up his body, Koal then took in the man's facial features. Sharp lines and high cheekbones gave a distinctly... wolfish look to the man. That was when he locked eyes with his once more, blood-red meeting a warm crimson, and Koal found he couldn't tear his gaze away. That continued for a while, Koal wasn't really aware of the passing of time at this point, until the other prime shifted and sat a little bit straighter.

"I'd like to take that muzzle off, but I was told I wasn't allowed to." 

Letting his eyes focus once more on his face, Koal attempted to shrug. Keyword being attempted. As he hiked his shoulders up, Koal felt the chains and bindings dig painfully into his fresh wounds. Dropping them quickly, Koal forced back any sort of noise, his eyes flashing with pain and anger as he looked at the solider in the corner of the room. 

"Estimated time of arrival is five minutes out. Prep the prisoner and the test subject for departure." A distinctly female voice rang out over the ship's intercom, and the Stormtrooper moved almost instantly after the order was given, walking forward to throw another set of manacles onto Koal's wrists and ankles before unchaining him from the wall. Koal was dragged to his feet, his muffled growls of pain and protest promptly ignored as we was marched to the bay doors. AT this point, Koal could feel the noticeable shift in the body as the airship decelerated. Somewhere is his head, he heard the air-pressure door that led to the containment room open and close.

"Orders currently stand to transport the Prisoner to the Lab immediately to meet the Headmistress. The Big Prime here... Dust, was it? Is to follow me after landing to be escorted to holding and be processed and prepped for experimentation." The voice was pleasant enough, with smooth articulation and a bit more inflection on certain words than he was used to. Again, Koal was sure something about that voice was familiar, but as he furrowed his brows and his thoughts began to race, he couldn't place it.

"Understood." He heard a sharp noise, most likely a salute, and a small bit of shuffling cloth.

"If you would follow me, Dust, and I'll take you to where you and I will be departing from this particular group."

Koal heard the hiss of pressurized air twice more, and then nothing. 

Nothing and no one, save for himself, the Stormtrooper, and the tension that hung in the air.

[Dust]

The woman, whoever she was, addressed him by his name and with respect versus that savagery and cold tone they all used on the prisoner named Koal Lynch. Dust didn’t think this simple observation would go unnoticed by the muzzled kid either, but he wasn’t concerned about that so much as interested in the difference in treatment between captive and volunteer.

It started with the doctor striking deals with the werewolf, he was just interested to see where and when they stopped treating him with niceties that he wasn’t at all used to.

In full unadulterated honesty, Dust was much more used to being treated the way they treated the boy, which might be why he stopped where he did to look back at them with a sympathetic saturated stare. He desired that neither of them suffered more than necessary, but could see the pure delight in the hearts of those around him, these monsters craved to be let off their leash. They would do immoral things to Koal, he knew deep in his heart.

That’s not to say the morality of this place and the future promised anything different for him. It could just be that they will be more polite about it to the compassionate prime.

“This way, Mr. Star.” The woman said, gently nudging him out of his fantasies.

Dust turned to face her, a friendly smile taking place instead of the worried look he’d been displaying earlier. “Sorry. Lead the way.” He radiated kindness. Maybe enough to make her reconsider where she was about to take him because she hesitated for a moment before clearing her throat and leading him along with another path.

There were no cuffs to bound his thick wrists, leaving his hands free to run along the featureless metallic walls down a spacious hallway. He felt the tips of his fingers drag along smooth material as he thought about how strange it was there were no seams or rivets like they built the place with perfect measurements or internal locking mechanism, maybe even magnets…

“Please do not touch the walls like that, Dust.”

His thoughts cut short by the woman’s eerily clear voice. Volk jumped and brought his hands to his sides quickly, blushing as he looked away from embarrassment.

He muttered an apology.

There was a long silence that was only filled with the metal clacks of her pristine and polished heels as well as the muffled voices of others in lab coats. He glanced over the heads of several people, taking up a good portion of the allowed height even as he slumped. He could make out some talk of progress in a drug, or a machine, or a weapon. Colleagues talking about their work, nothing more despite the exotic topics.

From another group he caught whispered excitement of having a real Prime to test on, then they looked in his direction and he instinctively lowered his eyes to the floor.

His feet were bare still, slapping across the steel-like floor which was as cold to the touch as the walls had been. He must look so much like a primitive creature, a real caveman. He wondered what kind of judgment they laid upon him at that moment, but did not have the voice to ask.

“This way, Dust.” The woman instructed, showing him through a large opening in one of the walls, they all looked the same.

The large prime turned the corner he saw a relatively empty mess hall. There were a few stragglers from whatever was the last meal served. He saw only one group larger than two and more loners than anything.

His confusion must have been plastered over his face because she spoke up again. “I imagine the food in prison was rather pathetic, but if you are not hungry we can continue on to the decontamination portion…”

Wolf felt his face heat up from further embarrassment. “I just didn’t expect to eat with the same people that are going to be using me as a lab rat.”

“Rest assure, Dust. We appreciate that you volunteered for this program, we would like to start on good terms. A bit of personal freedom before your subjection. There will be attempts at this same positive experience whenever it is available due to the nature of the experimentations, but given the undetermined time frame of which you will be worked on my superiors have authorized some down time prior to that. If you feel uncomfortable, we can set something up in the kitchen where you may request whatever your heart desires to eat.”

It was more than he’d heard her say in a long time. He flashed a nervous smile. “No-no. That won’t be necessary, I can eat whatever’s on the menu.”

“That is on the menu.” She explained dryly and moved into the cafeteria as a way to lead him inside. “From our notes, you exhibit a healthy appetite that seemed only quenchable by a buffet.”

He laughed tentatively at her joke. “I hadn’t seen food in a while.”

“As a prime, it has been observed that you can just create food.”

“I can?” He asked, not a hint of sarcasm and saturated with surprise.

The woman stopped, turning her head just slightly before righted herself and continued to lead him to the ends of tables which stretched out across the room’s length. “Yes. We ask that you don’t while in our facility on the account it may affect the results of our tests. As well, some of the things we’d like to test are the effect of poisons which may be given to you through the food.” She turned to him after motioning one of the seats, Dust took it as commanded. “If you die during any of this that does not void your contract. Expect that if you do not return in a timely fashion, we will extract you violently if we must. Is that clear?”

This was probably the most he’s heard from the woman since being in her presence. She had the dry tone of a professional who’s not about to take any shit from him. He was yet again reminded of Shock. Except for his freshest memory of Shock had been her compassionate pleas for him to join her side. “Yes, ma’am.” He said, his Russian slipping from his lips a bit thicker.

“Good.” The name tag on her lapel said ‘Jennifer’. “Now take a seat. Enjoy yourself. Have a drink if you’d like.”

Dust laughed nervously at her suggestion and waved it away. “Thanks, but no thank you.”

“Hm?” Jennifer stopped. “Are you a recovering alcoholic?” Her tone suggested that might have consequences…

“No. Nothing like that.” Hokori was quick to defend himself. Not wanting them to go back on their deal. “I.. Just don’t feel like drinking. Something happened last time is all.”

For a long moment, he thought she would ask him to explain, her stiff face never looking away. Finally, she spoke. “Bad hangover?”

Another nervous chuckle. “Y-Yeah.”

She nodded. “Well then I will leave you to your meal, please don’t think it’s polite to decline more food if you are hungry.” She then turned sharply and went into the kitchen. Dust could make out some voices, at least a bit, and then she left the mess hall altogether.

-

Later Ookami was brought to what he could best describe as a laboratory. Clean the stainless steel walls and floors continue into a room with large holographic computer screens with a variety of statistics and readings hanging in the air. What they all meant was lost on his curious eyes taking in as much of the information as he could before one of the occupants spoke up.

“Who’s this Jennifer?” A man with a tired look on his face and a curious twinkle in his eye. He had long brown shaggy hair that feathered out naturally, thick brows, and dark stubble on his face.

“One of the two new test subjects,” Jennifer said, cryptically.

There was a second tall-lean man. He had black hair combed to perfect Asian standards and fashionable rounded glasses. “The volunteer, presumably.” His breathing came off as snobbish, but so did his point to push up the glasses so the light would reflect off them and hide his eyes.

“Of course. Another examination team is receiving the prisoner. This one seems obedient and will sit still for blood work.” Jennifer assumed, looking back at Dust for him to confirm.

He smiled sheepishly at her. “I’m not afraid of needles if that’s what you mean.”

“Good.” Jennifer turned her attention to the others. “He needs a full physical, a psychological analysis, and anything else you three can think of that would be vital to the testing procedures.”

The third, a slightly overweight man with a bowl cut chimed in with the other two as they spoke in unison. “Yes, ma’am.”

Lycan was then left to the trio’s mercy as Jennifer excused herself from the room. He heard the hissing and clattering of the door as it closed him off from the rest of the world. Well, what little of the world he’d been able to stay in contact with.

“What’s your name, buddy?” The feathered hair man asked none of them made any approach towards their new plaything yet.

“Hokori.” Explained awkwardly.

The man he was talking to turned to the guy with the glasses. It must have been a cue that they all were very familiar with. Their test subject went to add more, but the man with the combed hair sat up straight and spoke first. “You are correct in assuming it is Japanese, Allen. It means Dust. Like the stuff that covers your language books.”

Allen’s stubbled face grinned. “Or like your social skills.” he teased his co-worker and then turned back to their test subject. “Okay then, Hokori. Mind if we start with the blood work?” The hulking man just shrugged his large shoulders. “Excellent, just take a seat, he pointed to his own desk, the chair was already out and ready to be offered while he stood on the opposite end to discuss whatever it was they were speaking about prior to this.

Dust nodded and lowered himself into the tiny chair, it sank under his weight but didn’t complain otherwise. He watched as the scruffy man, Allen, walked over to some cabinets build into the walls and rummage through several of them. When he came back he had a few plastic covered objects and some labels for the tubes he carried. Using his foot he pulled along a spare chair so he could sit next to his patient.

Without permission, he grabbed Dust’s arms and looked for the proper vein. While lifting just the prime’s arm, however, he felt strained and his face frowned. “Christ, you are a big man.” He said, letting his bare fingers prodded. He didn’t need to. He could see the blue engorged blue lines under his pale skin. “I bet you are all muscle, how much do you weigh?”

“Don’t know.” Dust responded, watching him as he took out a disinfectant wipe and ran it over the inner corner of his elbow, it felt cold and the hairs on his body prickled as he shivered involuntarily. Everything in this place was cold to him. The air, the floors, the walls, the people.

“We’ll find out before we're done,” Allen replied, unwrapping a needle from its packaging. Someone more knowledgeable in the medical field might notice there’d been no hand washing and there were no gloves involved. The only sanitation happening was the bare minimum. To the animal that they were sticking with the collection needle, this was worlds apart from the treatment he’d received back at the recruiting camp in Russia.

“How tall are you?” The guy with the glasses asked he was already recording something on his screen.

“Roughly two-hundred and ten centimeters.” The Prime answered, turning his head away from the needle impaled in his arm and Allen who was collecting the necessary samples.

“I would have guessed that.” The guy with the glasses said as he imputed the data. “Do you know your bloodline?”

“My father is Japanese, my mother from a place called Denmark. I cannot speak her language though.” Dust replied.

“Denmark, that’s a German-based country.” He looked up from his screen to add, “But you have a hint of Russian in your tone.”

“I was captured in Russia at a young age. I had to learn.”

“Young age?” the man sounded a bit in disbelief. “How old are you?”

Dust had to take a moment to do some math. “Twenty… Two or so..”

“You look like you’d be around that age, so how old were you upon ‘capture’.”

“I think I had just turned sixteen.” Dust said, turning his face back to look at the needle in his arm.

The man adjusted his glasses. “What on Earth would Russians need for a teenage boy?”

It occurred to Hokori at that moment that he was talking to someone who at least had some knowledge of his world and how it functioned. That was rare in his experience in the omniverse. “I come from an alternate reality where the sky is filled with fake stars. One day after a mysterious gate opened up people started developing powers of the supernatural kind. Around adolescence, these people would die on the inside and no longer feel emotions as they’d been intended. They called us Contractors. We are often captured and used as living pawns on a chess board that no one else can see but the large powers of the world. I was captured after a trip out of my own country turned sour. The Russians dug me out of the snow and I’ve only cared about survival since then.”

“That sounds fantastic and morbid.” The man said from behind his screen, then typed in a few things. “What supernatural power do you possess?”

“Lycanthropy.”

“Would there be any precautions we would need to take upon dealing with you? Silver bullets?”

“Negative… I am not a traditional werewolf. I borrow the form and the power, but the weaknesses in fairy tales aren’t going to work.” Wolf explained as he watched the need being pulled out. He turned back up at Allen with a friendly smile. The scruffy man smiled back and couldn’t help the urge to ruffle Dust’s hair before gathering the samples and walking into the back room with the bowl-cut. “One thing that I do require before I can achieve this form is my payment.”

“Payment? Like a tribute to a god?”

“No. Yes. Kinda. All contractors have a price they must pay. Mine is…” Volk had thought he was ready to explain, but he hesitated. Telling them of the price will make things go smoother. Something inside him, however, argued that it would be bad for him as well.

“Yes?”

Hokori looked away in his shame, but couldn’t leave the conversation at that. “I am to kiss someone. Every time I borrow even a bit of the power of the inner wolf, I must kiss someone.”

“Someone? Does it matter the gender?”

“Not to my power, no.”

“And to you?” The professional asked taking off his glasses.

“Pardon?”


There was a sound of the chair moving on the other side of the space. A shadow came over him and the taller male looked up in time to see the scientist leaning over him. Embarrassment flooded Dust’s face as the doctor placed his hands on the broad shoulders of the werewolf. “What about you? What gender do you prefer?” The cold voice had been replaced, now it sounded sympathetic and soft. Beckoning…

Naturally, men wanted to kiss women. Right? Yet Dust couldn’t bring himself to say that, or else he’d already had. Either the sudden heat of the rushing blood into his face was frying his brain, or the other man's face radiated enough to melt his thought process because Hokori was unable to even speak at this point. He felt his jaw moving but couldn’t form thoughts let alone words.

Ookami became aware of his heartbeat suddenly, pounding against his ears. It thundered loud in his ears as the opposing man leaned closer. His eyes dart to the other man’s mouth on instinct. Acknowledging it seemed to make the scientist stop. Dust looked lower as he flattened his back against the chair, catching the name tag on his lapel.

Yoi reached up and pressed his fingers against the bold eight branded into the side of Hokori’s neck, pressing into his vein. His fingers were cold, but out of habit, the volunteer didn’t move away. After a moment he realized the man was taking his pulse. His face burned hotter when he realized this and told himself it was all a plan to get him worked up. Dust just lowered his eyes from the darker haired man when Yoi spoke. “Did you think I was going to kiss you?”

SW-808’s whole body stiffened up at the question before he looked away sharply, brushing the man’s hand off of him casually. But he couldn’t say honestly he hadn't…

“You never answered my other question.” The man stated before pulling away and finding another set of instruments in his desk. It was a simple stethoscope. “What gender do you prefer to kiss?” His voice has returned to its dry tone, leaving Lycan to wonder if he got lost in a dream or something…

“I don’t care.” He managed, still looking away. “The more experienced the better but their gender doesn’t matter.”

“Interesting,” Yoi commented as he polished the silver round piece against his coat, trying to warm it up for Dust’s naked chest. “Does it affect you if they are a bad kisser?”

“No… It’s just less overwhelming to the other person when I have to kiss them much more... Passionately.”

“What does that have to do with things?” Yoi asked, pressing the instrument into his test subject’s heart. It hearty beats provided him with the fact that the man had a good heart. He placed it against his large back, his attention breaking momentarily to finger the carved through flesh. The indentions came in a crisscross pattern over his back. They were deep for cuts, and they were old. Old enough to be there permanently.

“To achieve more power, the kiss has to be… Well, heated.”

Yoi noticed how hard the subject was for him. “Deep breaths.” He said, changing the subject after confirming his lungs were good, too. “Any sudden and abrupt deaths in the family?”

The memory of a woman’s head in his snow-covered lap fluttered across his mind. “No.” He lied.

“Any history of the usual? Blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems?”

“No, sir.”

“Any inherited disablements?”

“No, sir.”

“Anything you feel like you need to inform us of your personal health?” Yoi asked, looping the stethoscope over his shoulders and pulls out a small flashlight from his pocket. With a rough touch, he grabbed Dust by the jaw and flashed the light over his eyes.

Soldier 389’s nose wrinkled in pain at the light but followed the silent order when he tugged his attention to the light. “Not that I can think of.”

“If anything comes up in the blood, we will inform you. It will make things difficult if you have any special needs detrimental to the experiments.” The cold man squeezed the boy’s jaw where he knew to open it. After inspecting his mouth and throat he pulled away and went back to his desk. The glasses went back on before he began typing away. “What do you know about your other half then?”

“Other…?” Hoshi-san questioned before realizing what Yoi meant. “Oh. The inner beast.” He looked down at his hands and fiddled his thumbs. “Nothing comes to mind. I don’t lose my mind or knowledge of my actions. It’s me, just a different body.”

“Are you able to speak?”

“I’ve never tried.”

“I assume the power you gain is significantly more than your already apparent strength?”

“I… Don’t know.” Dust said, still looking at his nails. “It feels plenty amplified.”

“Is there a way we can test that?” Yoi asked from over top his glasses.

“Wouldn’t you be the one to know that?”

“Excuse me?”

“If you want me to do tests in my wolf form I can. I just need…” He trailed off as heat slowly consumed his face. He actively stared down at his hands.

“We can find someone who is willing to make out with a handsome male, I am sure.” Dust thought he sounded mad. Maybe because he assumed the man didn’t already think of it. “It will be a matter of some small interviews. Until then, I’ll just give you a form to also fill out.” A few moments later the computer in front of the werewolf turns on. The screen nearly blinds Volk before fading to a more manageable brightness. “By the time you are done with that stuff they should be back. I will go find a volunteer for our volunteer…” He then pulled himself back up onto his feet and excused himself.

From his borrowed seat, Dust watched him left. His perfect posture suffered for a moment as he sighed. Already he felt like a burden…

-

Leeanna had a reputation that lead Yoi to think she would be the best bet for this. She had amber red hair and brilliant green eyes, and a body the male thought would please the standards of the caveman he’d left in the care of his co-workers. She had only asked a minimum of three questions about his request and quickly agreed.

To the curious, the questions were:
“Is this a private kissing lesson request?”
“Who are you asking me to kiss?”
“Is he cute?”

They arrived in front of a massive man tearing through the conveyor belt of a treadmill, sweat pouring off his body. The overweight scientist was barking orders at him as he snapped his belt across a chair. Allen was working over the paperwork Yoi left.

“There you ar- Ms Leeanna?”

“She’s here to assist in the second half of the tests,” Yoi announced.

“Second half?” Allen repeated, confused.

“Yes. I want to do the tests twice.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit overkill?” Allen questioned the ethics.

“Not really. Especially based off of what Hokori has told me.”

“Whatever. Not really going to stop ya.” He waved a fan at him though. “But next time you go find a girl you’ll tell me about it, damn it.”

It was at that point that Dust had been allowed a break. The heart monitor angrily warned the doctors their subject’s heart rate was up, though no one was surprised in the least. He trotted to a stop and then finally flopped against the machinery that controlled the belt.

Yoi pointed at him, and Leeanna smiled as she walked over. “Poor thing… You’ve tired him out already.” She cooed.

The voice sounded similar to Shock’s, making Lycan look over quickly. His eyes found a different woman entirely instead. One moment he was exhausted, the next he stood tall and obediently. “Ma’am.”

A smirk crossed her painted mouth. “Sweetheart. You don’t have to call me ma’am”

“Um... What should I call you, then?”

“Leeanna’s my name, Hokori.”

Dust blinked. “Y-Yes, Leeanna.”

“Yoi here tells me I can be of some service to you. Something about how you need a good kisser.” Leeanna layered the charm, leaning over so he could look down her top.

The younger male looked away, however, and tried to avoid eye contact. “I said I prefer a person with more experience, yes.”

“You animal.” She purred, then giggled when Dust blushed hard.

“Take a break, Dust. Get some water.” Allen instructed the volunteer was more than happy to oblige. When he had downed several cups of water, he poured the last cup over his head and let it run over him. His muscles and lungs were of fire, but that was the point of the stress test they had him do. Or at least in theory. Allen spoke again, this time to Yoi. “Now that you are back, mind explaining yourself?”

“No, I think it will be better if you find out alongside with me.” Yoi sounded arrogant, but he always did to Allen.

“What do you mean?” Allen asked, taking a seat on Yoi’s desk.

“After speaking with Hokori a bit, I found someone to assist in an early experimentation,” Yoi replied, still vague.

“Fine,” Allen said, folding his arms around his chest. “I guess I’ll just find out when it happens.” He finally admitted his defeat.

After a few moments of idle chit-chat between the three doctors, Dust returned to their side. While still avoiding eye contact with anyone who wasn’t Allen he spoke. “Okay, on to the next test.” He said, trying not to anticipate what he’d be asked to do next.

“Good. On to phase two then.” Yoi said, then motioned to Leeanna.

Dust felt his face warm up again as he was given his orders and nodded slowly. It wasn’t a punishment, but it always felt like one. Forcing a kiss on someone, even if they volunteer. He remembered his Dante’s Abyss kisses the most. Even now his cheek ached from where Dawn smashed in his face. Or when he kissed Tamsin without warning…

It was definitely awkward. His first natural kiss was with Tamsin, and even then he left that block with a burning desire to kill himself. Then again, that was the first time he kissed someone he liked. It was always as if the Russian’s put him with the most dislikable person on purpose. The way they treated him? He wouldn’t be surprised if they admitted to that.

He turned to the woman they’d found. Yoi said she volunteered, and she seemed to know what she was expected to do, but it still made him hesitated.

“Did you want me to start, big man?” Leeanna teased, but Dust found himself nodding just slightly. She giggled at him, forcing the shy prime further into his embarrassment. “Come here, then.”

Leeanna was the opposite of the male subject. She grabbed him by the wrists and pulled him closer, his bare feet smacked the naked metal floors on either side of her as she forced him to wrap his arms around her. She let them go to bring her arms around the back of his neck, which was more like interlocking fingers across his spinal cord with the size differences. She was all but hanging off of him.

Dust’s hands naturally fell to where she’d last left off, two solid hands crashed against her butt cheeks. A second later his body tensed up into steel-like material, rigid and unmoving. The fear was very real in his widened eyes, but the woman just laughed gently.

“Is that where your hands have to be?”

Blood flooded his face and he struggled to speak through tight lips and a clenched jaw. “N-No. N-Not at all. I-”

“You should have just said, ‘yes’.” She taunted as she pulled her body against his.

Natural his hands slid down the curves of her butt area and landed so he was cupping them under her. This only caused his body to tighten and clench with fear again.

“S-So-”

“Don’t be sorry, hun.” Her voice whispered directly into his ear. “Just give it a squeeze.”

Dust couldn’t feel his entire body at this point. He wasn’t quite numb. More like he no longer had control over his limbs. He felt the heat in his face flare like a thousand sons, maybe it fried his brain finally. Then as if to take advantage of his lack of control over himself, he felt his inner beast dig into the grey matter of his brain and felt his fingers curl into the crease of her ass. He felt the weight of embarrassment and pure shame smack him in the chest.

“You animal…” Leeanna purred and then pulled him down into a raw kiss.

Dust felt their lips collide. Physically it was a simple kiss, but to the beast inside the kiss meant much more. He stared blankly toward the wall, but her head tilted just slightly into his view and invited him into a much more passionate kiss than he’d expected. She bent herself backward, and naturally, his arms moved to catch her, to hold her, cling to her. His mouth began pressing harder into the kiss, controlled by another force that demanded he not stop. As if the inner wolf had become self-aware and now used his body.

There was a point where Dust eventually closed his eyes and let his body react naturally. Power rose into him in a warm and inviting fashion, as if to tempt him to use it. He withheld from using it immediately, knowing it would be better to take advantage of her participation to store as much of the contract payment as possible.

Already he felt his muscles twitch.

He dared to slip his tongue into her mouth, expecting it to be the end of that, only for her to accept his attempts without question.

The patience on the woman was worth her weight in gold. She remained attentive as he struggled with his dignity and needs. His tongue was messy and passionate but lacked any experience just instinct. Slowly she guided him through his first French session. All the while he let out soft animal-like grunts or pain and surprise.

Within the kiss, he lost all sense of balance and placement. They hung in the air one moment, and the next he was on top of her, his thick arms curled around her protectively. His fingers played with her golden colored hair. He didn’t know what he was doing, just that with every flick of his fingers it pleased the creature within and the creature under him.

There was a point where he remembered her bliss being directed right into his ears, he remembered it only feeding his contract more, and finally, he remembered being pulled on from behind. He remembered flashbacks of the Russians forcing him to transform without proper payment, only to offer tribute after several hours had passed. Like then, he can’t remember what happened beyond the point of them tearing him off of his partner.

-

Wolf woke up on the couch in the office. Nothing specifically woke him up but when he did come back to consciousness it was his sense of sound that was tingled first, then his sense of smell. He heard typing noises as well as musical beeps echoing off metallic walls. He could smell coffee, heavy on the creamer. Honestly, he could taste it, but out of reaction to knowing what that tasted like. He never had a preference for coffee.

He rolled over, at the last second his senses failing to alert him that the couch was only so big. His whole body slammed against the floor with a low thud. His whole body screamed apparently every muscle was suddenly so sensitive. He groaned a long boring moan of pain.

“Oh, you’re awake.” He heard the bored tones from Yoi.

“Can I go back to sleep?” Dust asked, facing against the floor.

“Nearly all the tests are done, so we just need to do a vision and hearing.” The sound of ruffling papers. “I believe after that you will be allowed to relax, Ookami.”

“Wolf.”

“It only felt appropriate.”

“How’s Leeanna?” Dust asked, remembering only a little of what happened.

“She had a good time. She left you the message that if you ever need her help again, she’d be happy to come to your aid.” Yoi explained, then stepped around him. Dust listened to each step.

“So she’s okay. Good to know…”

“How often do you have sexual intercourse, Hokori?” Yoi asked bluntly.

The question brought on the possibilities of what had happened after he blacked out. His face felt like fire exploded under the skin and his only relief was the coldness of the floor. While the aspect of standing up was so hard a moment ago, Volk found it easy to leap to his knees and hands. “N-Never!” He blurted out and then felt another strong layer of embarrassment wash over him like a waterfall. “Wh-What I mean is it has never happened. As a contractor, I didn’t have any… Desire. Hey, wait a minute…” He could feel the red-hot fires of shame and guilt run through his shoulders and chest, leaving a blush so powerful it turned his skin. “I- Leeanna and… We didn’t- Did we?”

Yoi was staring at him past glared out glasses, his face flat and neutral. There was a long silence as if he intentionally wanted Dust to think of the worse possible cases. “Have sex? No.”

Relief was not a strong enough word to express how Dust felt. He fell back to the floor, another muffled thud.

“After that kiss, she probably wanted to though,” Yoi added, enjoying the pained groan that escaped him. “I ask only because there is a theory out there that athletes perform best when they deprive themselves of any sexual activity before games and tests. The levels of passion in the kiss and the results may have some correspondence to that. But if you’re a virgin…”

He rolled his head so that the locks of maroon fell away from his face. “More passionate the kiss the more power I gain. I must have missed that in my explanation. I’m afraid I have no idea how heated the kiss ended up being because I blacked out. I don’t even remember the tests.”

“Well after you took a bite out of my desk, which I guess we can assume was reactional instead of conscious hate, you excelled in the tests to the point of breaking every last bit of equipment.” Yoi chose this time to step aside to let him see the damage he’d done.

Allen was hovering over a man who was trying to do an analysis on one of the computers of the machine. Probably to see if it was salvageable. He had a wide grin on his scruffy face when he came over and leaned down. “You did just fine, buddy. Don’t let Yoi intimidate you.”

“Correct. If there’s any consolation to all this destruction, it's that you were fairly obedient.” Yoi announced, but with some subtle salt.

Allen grinned harder. “He’s just mad that you would only do as I said.”

“Subconsciously you could see him as the alpha.” Yoi offered.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Dust said, then flushed a little in the face, looking away. “If I had to guess its because I spent more time with Allen, that’s probably all.” He didn’t admit it, but the werewolf prime was sure they understood Yoi was probably more dominant than Allen.

“I’m sure whoever is in charge of your experiments will want to explore that as well,” Yoi responded, coldly. Then turned back to his work.

“Did I really take a bite out of his desk?” Dust asked, quietly.

Allen nodded. “It let us at least see how strong your bite was. Which if you can take out a chunk of the desk means a lot. Specifically that I don’t want to be on the wrong end of it.”

“I didn’t hurt anyone, did I?” Dust asked, concerned.

This made the other male pause for a bit, but then looked around. “Other than the mechanic’s feelings? No. The tests only lasted half as long because you broke all expected results by a shit ton.”

“Is that a scientific term?” Dust asked with a bit of a smile.

“I used it, didn’t I?” Allen teased back.

-

None of them were eye doctors, but they were able to do the most basic types of tests, including a color blindness test. “What number do you see here?” Allen held up a card.

Dust looked at the presented card. The question wasn’t odd in any way. He’s been nursing a cup of green tea for the past few minutes just answering similar questions. So far it has been numbers and letters of different sizes, which he had to answer from the distance between both desks. About six foot. He could get most of what people would be expected to get, and lucky on a few guesses for the smallest print. But when Allen raised this one, Dust was at a loss.

“What? Like the number of dots?” He asked as he looked up at Allen.

The long-haired scruffy guy flipped the card over to make sure he had the right one. Then turned it to face Volk once more. “You can’t see that?”

“See what?”

“The twenty-seven?”

“Where?”

“In the middle here.” He rolled his finger over it, circling it to better help narrow it down.

Pecs shook his head. “Nothing.”

Allen paused to look over the back. It explained that someone who could not visualize the number twenty-seven had a high probability of being red-green color blind. So he put it down and tried another card from that section. “This one?”

He couldn’t tell what colors they were, but the number stood out. “Three. Zero and three, to be exact.

He was correct. Allen put it down and pulled out another. Dust stared at if for a long time but then shook his head. “I can’t see that one.”

“It appears that you have red-green color blindness. You generally have trouble between greens and reds, and browns and orange.” Allen said, reading off the information from their small discovery. “Which I wouldn’t get too beat up about, orange and brown is hard to normal people. In my opinion.”

“Will this be a problem for the tests?” Dust asked.

“I don’t know. The likelihood of us working on your case is probably zip to none. We’ll put it in the file and make the commander aware of it. If they need to adjust anything I am sure it will be minor.”

“I hope so…”

“What made you volunteer anyways?” Yoi asked, sipping at his coffee.

“Um...” He looked away. “Well, I was given the choice. Either I volunteer or every one of my teammates and myself stay in prison for an undetermined time. So… I didn’t want them to suffer needlessly.” He lowered a little, his perfect posture failing for the first time in a while. “I’m used to cages, I’ll be fine.”

“Noble.” Allen said, putting down the cards and picking up his own tea. “Loyal.”

“Stupid.” Yoi replied harshly.

Dust only nodded.  That’s him, loyal and stupid.

With the physical done and the exams, Jennifer was summoned once more. They handed over the findings to her and her volunteer. She nodded respectfully to them as she thanked the trio, and then lead Dust away from the group.

“Two more stops then.” She announced as plainly as ever, and then guided him through hallway after hall.

Between the physical exams and the psychological tests, Hoshi Owari Hokori was given a clean bill of health and the stamp of ‘mentally sound’. The head doctor would see him regularly to keep him sane, but for the sake of the tests, the visit was brief. After all, she only wanted to know if his decision as a volunteer was perfectly valid. And according to the man who returned him, he was conscious of his actions.

Pleased she guided him to the last stop before he was given his assigned cell.

“A bath? Why?” Dust asked, but then could only guess…

“I imagine even primes sleep better after a good hot shower.” She didn’t look at him. “It will sufficiently relax you, and you will need your rest. We will hose Koal down, no telling what he might do if we give him the same courtesy. But you have been nothing but cooperative and I wanted to offer you the ability to bath in closed off bathroom where you can enjoy some privacy.”

Dust wasn’t sure how to react to that. “You don’t have to go to those lengths… I have used public bathhouses before.”

“Is that your preference?” She turned over her shoulder to look at him. Her brown eyes were ice cold. “Do you consider yourself a social person?”

Lycan felt his walk slow to a stop at that question. No. As a contractor, any social gathering was for the sole purpose to gain something. Not that he’d been let off his leash at all for things like that. He’s never learned to dance to gather information from a spy. He’s never faked friendships with anyone for trust just to double cross them. He couldn’t flirt with a woman just to have access to the top floor at a party… And yet, since the omniverse he couldn’t stand the idea of being alone anymore. “Not until this point…” He answered honestly.

“If you would like instead you can use the public bath with staff, though it is a bit late.” She offered.

Dust took a long moment to himself. He eventually shook his head. “Thank you… But whatever is easier for you is fine.”

She didn’t even hesitate, she nodded and began to lead him to the private bathroom. It was attached to someone’s living space, an empty one. At least, it looked empty. From the front door to the shower curtain it looked inhabited. But Dust found soaps behind the flimsy curtain and towels across the rod on the wall. He tested the towel by rubbing it between his fingers before he turned to the shower.

-

When everything was said and done, Dust laid on the bed provided for him in the single cell he’d be sharing with Koal. He’d been picked clean of any stray fleas, ran through tests all day, and fed. He’d been treated more or less like a volunteer. They even provided warm grey sweatpants and a loose cotton black T-shirt to wear. He’d been afraid of the room’s temperature, but the cool air was just comfortable enough for the thicker trouser’s material.

The large prime laid there recalling certain parts of his day, reflecting and re-reacting. Blushing at the idea of Yoi leaning down and kissing him, like your typical girl with a crush. He immediately shook his head free of the image and tried to think about something else. Specifically, would the person in charge of his and Koal’s experiments cater to this need of a kiss, or if they expected him to get that from Koal?

The idea of kissing Koal also made him blush. This time less so as a fantasy catching him off guard. More because it meant he’d have to explain to yet another person the awkward position his power puts him in. That or just do it.

It occurred to Hokori at that point that he hasn’t seen his cellmate since the ride over here. He had no clock to sign the time, so what felt like hours could be but a few minutes. Still, he’d been there in that bed for an awfully long time… Long enough for his hair to be mostly dry. He wondered if he understood them incorrectly if Koal would have his own cage instead.

Then as if on cue, the door opened up abruptly. Dust flung himself upright and around so his bare feet touched the floor. As he did, none other than the demon of pride was shoved through by too larger guards. They sneered and patted their hands clean before closing the door quickly and leaving the two amongst themselves. Not ready to upset his new companion, Wolf just sat there, bewildered and holding back a frustrated whine as he struggled with what to do. It might be presumptuous to greet him in a friendly way or crush him in a hug of pure relief. Either way, he was happy to see the other prime, even if wasn’t sure how to proceed.