It's the Post-Apocalypse , baby

[Chocolate Kittens]

Status: Closed
Warning: there's dicks and fags ahead.

[Chocolate Kittens]

Zane sat in the corner of the Rusty Shack, drinking booze that tasted more like gasoline. He didn't care, his stomach could take it if the barman had decided to poison him. He looked around the shitty little piss hole and inspected the people sitting at the tables around him--all sad sods, hookers, and mercenaries. The wastelands didn't offer much people-wise. He wondered which one his next job was coming from.

The next man who walked into the bar would probably be categorized under the 'sad sod' area. He sat beside Zane, ordering up a drink, and immediatly regretting it after the first sip.
He glanced at the man beside him, cracked glasses sliding off of his nose. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. 'Hullo,' he said, turning even more towards Zane. 'What brings you to this... er, wonderful bar?'

"Pfft. Wonderful? You've got a funny idea of wonderful," Zane said, turning to the new arrival. He inspected him, smirking. Worth my time, he decided.
He said, "I haven't seen you around here before. You're cute.... Surprised the mutants haven't eaten you yet."

'Maybe I do.' West shifted just slightly towards Zane. He leaned against the counter, brushing his horrible tasting alcohol off to the side.
Zane's next compliment made him frown a bit, 'Uh... Thanks? I'm not exactly sure how to take that, sir.' He laughed a bit, nervously.

Zane smiled, happy with his new prey. He said, sipping his drink, "Take it as a freakin' compliment. And, please, call me Zane."
He extended a hand to shake. "And you are...?"

'Will do, Zane.' West took the man's hand, and shook it pretty firmly. As a child he was told a weak handshake gave a man away as a liar, and he really didn't need to be thought of that way.
'I'm West- and no I am not from out west.' One too many jokes were cracked about his name.

Zane laughed at West's joke. He was beginning to like him more and more. "Where are you from then?" He asked. Exchanging intimate information was always a way to win someone's trust.

'Up north, actually.' He smiled a bit, happy to know he had gotten Zane to laugh. 'Things got a bit crazy up there, so I left.'
He shrugged, leaeving his hometown was no big decision. 'What about you?'

"Oh, I'm from the east. One of the bomb-shelter settlements." He said, leaning against the bar and inclining toward West. "I've just been wandering around since I left. Looking for the perfect someone. Y'know."
He grinned toothily.

'Ah, I've never been to. Sounds like a nice place.' Not really, but West wanted to keep this conversation going.
'Ah,' he returned Zane's smile, though his was a bit softer. He leaned in even closer to the other man before continuing. 'Have you found that someone yet?'

Zane winked. "Not quite yet, but I think I'm pretty close."
He let one of his hands drift to West's knee. He ran his finger up his thigh to his hip. "Hey, I know this is forward, but do you want to go somewhere with me?"

West did his best to suppress any noises, but a sqeak still rose from his throat. He wasn't exactly expecting for touch him so far up on his leg.
'Uh, sure? Where to?'

Zane grinned wickedly. He had him in the palm of his hand.
"I'm staying with a friend in the repair shop two doors over. Do you want to join me?" He gently tapped his fingers against West's thigh. "We could have some fun..."

A place to sleep, and some possible fun? That was an offer West couldn't refuse.
'I-I'd love to join you!' His face flushed, seeing where Zane's hand was currently positioned. 'A-and fun would sure be... fun.'

"It definitely would be," he said chuckling. After paying for their drinks, he took West's hand and stood up. "Shall we?" he said, gesturing toward the door.

'Oh, of course!' West got out of his seat, maybe a bit too quickly. He just wanted to get out of the bar, it smelled funny and the drinks sucked.
'A-And thanks...' He mumbled, reffering to Zane buying his pretty much full drink.

Zane shrugged. "Any time."
He rubbed his thumb along the back of West's hand and led him out the door. They walked down the rows of make-shift houses until they came to the one labeled "Repairs." Zane led his guest up the creaky stairs and into the room he was staying in. He let West walk in ahead of him.
Silently, he closed the door behind him without switching on the lights. It didn't matter--he could see in the dim light well enough.
Zane stepped forward and wrapped his arm around West's neck, squeezing it gently in the crook of his elbow. His other hand planted itself over West's mouth.
"If you don't scream," he said into his ear, "this can be a lot easier."

'Mph!' was the only response West could offer, seeing as his mouth was covered. This wasn't fun at all! In hindsight, trusting Zane so soon probably wasn't the best of ideas.
West grabbed onto the arm that was wrapped around his neck, and attempted to twist out of Zane's grasp.

Zane had to readjust his grip to keep West from escaping, having trouble holding onto him. Growling, he took his hand off of West's mouth and punched the man in the kidney. He hissed, "Don't struggle either."

'Oof-' West would have doubled over if Zane wasn't holding him up. He whimpered, looking back at the man who was holding him.
'Wh-What do you...?' He managed, not exactly wanting to get punched again.

Zane grinned. "Just do what I tell you to and this can be fairly painless. So, are you going to do what I tell you? I do have a few knives on my belt..."

West whimpered again, but nodded all the same. 'Yessir.'
He really, really did not want to even hear about the knives Zane has on his person. So long as he listened to the man, nothing could go wrong, right? Right.

"Good," Zane said. He loosened his choke hold on West's neck and continued, "Now, see that mattress right there? Lie down on it and don't move or try to run away or I'll do terrible terrible things to your person." He let go and patted West's shoulder, waiting for him to follow his instructions.

West went to the mattress at a painfully slow pace. He looked behind him every few seconds, wanting to keep an eye on Zane.
He lowered himself onto the mattress, painfully tense. Once laying down, he looked at Zane. 'Is this good?'

"Yes," Zane said. He grinned and walked over to his bag at the end of the mattress. "Remember, don't move."
He pulled out a few lengths of rope. He looked at the terrified man on his bed, and couldn't help but chuckle.
"I'm going to tie you up now. So, don't scream or struggle, or.... well, you get the picture."

'M-mnnn...' West squirmed on the mattress, and proceeded to go wide-eyed when he saw the rope.
'Tie me up?' West squeeked, slightly sitting up. 'What- what are you going to do?'

"Remember, I told you not to move," Zane said eying him like a cat. He ignored West's question as he knelt down beside him. He pulled him into a full sitting position and said, "Give me your hands."

West stayed stock still, only moving to hold out his hands towards Zane. Being tied up was not what he wanted to do with his day.
'Y-You didn't answer my question...' He muttered, shuddering the slightest bit.

Zane quickly tied West's wrists together, and then wrapped another length of rope around his torso and arms, and then finally one around his ankles. He readjusted himself so he was sitting on the edge of the mattress beside West.
"Repeat the question," he said absentmindedly.

West turned on his side so he was facing Zane. He shifted his wrists a little, testing the rope. The most he could find out was that the rope was much stronger than him.
'Er, what are you planning to do with me?'

Zane smirked and propped his arms up on his knees. "I'm not sure yet," he said. He started counting off on his fingers, "I could sell you, I could kill you, I could have my way with you... I could eat you... Hmm. Plenty of things. I just haven't decided yet."
He laughed darkly at West's expression.

West expression was, indeed, laughable. All of those options sounded horrible! He tried to reply to all of them at once.
'Sell me? To who? Don't kill me! Have your- what? EAT ME?' It came out as a pretty large jumble of words.

Zane laughed again. This kid was too amusing.
"So you see, I could do anything I wanted with you. It's a tough choice."
He let one of his thin, black tentacles slide out from under his shirt and moved it up West's, if only to see him squirm.

'Wh-' West squirmed back, away from Zane and whatever that was coming out from under his shirt. 'What the hell is that?!' He yelled, eyeing the tentacle.

Zane lashed out and wrapped his hand around West's mouth. "Shh! Don't you remember what I said about screaming?" He let his free hand drift to the knife at his belt.

'Mmn-' West only replied once Zane took away his hand. 'Sorry, sorry. Don't get out your knives.' His response still came out a bit stuttered.
Squirming back a bit more, he stared at the tentacle once again. 'S-So, you're a mutant or something?'

Zane took his hand away from his belt and relaxed again. "Mhm. Been one all of my life." He lifted up his shirt to show West the six tentacles protruding from his back, three on each side of his spine.
"Neat, huh?" He said, grinning. One of the tentacles sneaked over again and slithered along West's hip.

'Uh.' West didn't find them neat at all. They were pretty damn horrifying to him- someone who was not a mutant at all.
But that didn't really matter, as Zane was pretty much in control of this situation. By pretty much, he meant completely. It was best not to anger him. 'They're, er, okay I guess?'

Zane snorted. He moved his tentacle from West's side to his face, letting it run down his cheek and under his chin.
He laughed. "Freaked out?"
He decided that, yes, he was going to keep this one.

'Ve-very.' West craned his face away from Zane's tentacle. It felt way too strange against his face.
He had to venture into what Zane was planning for his future. Not knowing was slowly killing him inside. 'S-So, have you decided what you're going to do to me?'

"Sort of," Zane said. He readjusted so that he was leaning over his captive, each arm on either side of him. "I know I'm going to keep you... So you're safe from being sold or murdered for now. I might keep you as a pet. who knows."

Well, that was a sort of relief. At least he wasn't being sold off to god knows who. Instead he was being kept by a seemingly insane mutant. West frowned, that sure as hell didn't sound too much better.
'P-Pet? I am a person you know.' He squirmed as the man all but climbed on top of him.

Zane shrugged. "Whatever."
He moved onto his side and lay beside West. He studied him, wondering what he wanted to do first. There honestly wasn't much he could do that was productive until Smith got back. But he could have his fun.
"You know," he said, his tentacles drifting over and brushing against West. "You seemed pretty into it before when we were going to have 'fun.' This isn't much different, is it? I mean with the exception of a few threats here, a little bondage there, it's not like there's a huge jump between the two."

At first, the only reponse that West could think of was a sputtered mishmash of words. Once he calmed down a bit he frowned over at Zane.
'You know, bein threatened,tied up, then finding out the person you were thinking of having fun with is a mutant sort of really kills the mood. No offense.'

Zane laughed. "If we'd been playing a game of pretend, I bet you would have gone along with it."
He reached out and smacked West's cheek, only hard enough to make it sting. "And that's for making being a mutant sound like a bad thing."

'It would have been a very realistic game of pr- Ow!' The slap cut West off. Not that it hurt too much, it just came as more of a shock than anything.
'I said no offense.' He mumbled, knowing that when someone said "no offense" the usually meant a lot of offense.

Zane sat up, rolling his eyes. "You thirsty? It feels like that liquor burned a layer of tissue from my throat." He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of water.

West noticed the eye-roll, and found it very rude, but didn't say anything about it. Especially since he was, indeed, very thirsty.
'Yes- I am.' He said, eyeing the water bottle with the utmost hope in his eyes.

Zane smiled at him, and gestured to the bottle. "This shit is pretty much radiation free. You'll love it." He poured them each a glass. "Sit up so you can drink."
He handed the glass to West's bound hands.

West took the water, smiling a bit. At least he wouldn't be thirsty.
Once he was sitting up as well as he could, West took a hearty sip of the water. A bit of the water dribbled down his chin as he placed the glass aside, now empty. The water didn't taste too bad, considering.
'I'd say thanks, but I'm not sure if that'd be the right phrase.' Seeing as the same person who gave West the water had also kidnapped him.

Zane reached over and wiped the loose drip of water away from West's face with his thumb.
"Whatever works. I'm not going to let you dehydrate or starve to death." he said. "So what do you want to eat? You should have something before my partner gets back."

West couldn't help but to frown when Zane wiped his face, it made him feel like quite the child. 'Er... I'm good with anything but cat.' West had a soft spot for cats, and couldn't dream to eat one like some other people did.
'Partner?' He asked, not too excited to meet someone who worked with Zane.

"Mm, we mostly only have roots and shit right now." he said, rummaging through the cabinet again.
"Yeah, partner. It's suicide to wander around the wastelands alone. I think Smith's gonna come back with some meat, but here's some sweet root for now." He pulled out a lumpy, bluish root and broke it into a few parts. He sat back down beside West. "Say 'aah.'" He hovered the root piece near West's lips.

'Mh- okay.' West had briefly wandered the wastelands alone. Probably the second worst decision of his life (it lost him a section on one of his ring fingers). The worst decision in his life was pretty obvious at htis point in time.
'Sweet root is good.' He stated, opening his mouth for Zane.

"Yup," Zane said, popping the sweet root into West's mouth. He waited for him to chew and swallow it before giving him another piece. "Taste good?"

West shrugged, 'It's okay, for roots anyways.' He took the other piece of root gratefully.
'So what haunted this Smith guy to hang out with you?' he asked, not seeing how any sane person could hang ut with Zane.

Zane laughed. "Oh, little West made a funny!"
He nibbled on a piece of root, giving another to West. "Me and Smith met when I saved his ass from a bunch of mercenaries. Dunno why they were after him, don't plan to ask. Since then, we've just sort of been traveling together."
There was a chuckle from the doorway, "More like, revealed my hiding place to them and then got caught up in the fight." A tall, dark skinned man walked in, dropping a bag of cans and food onto the floor beside the mattress.

'I am not little.' West slightly pouted, but his expression changed once Smith walked in the door. He had sort of listened to Zane's story, but it was nice to meet the guy.
'Uh, hi?' He said. There wans't much of a greeting he could give other than that. West felt a wee bit awkward being all tied up like that.

"Hey," said Smith. He looked West over thoughtfully before looking at Zane, "So, what's the plan with this guy?"
"I think we should keep him. He could be useful, and you have to admit, he's pretty cute." Zane said, grinning.
Smith shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."
His friend smacked his leg. "Aw, c'mon, don't tell me you don't want to fuck his brains out!"

'Huh. WHAT?!' West yelled, not caring much for Zane's not yelling rule at the moment. That was a crude way to put it- even if they said he was cute.
'Not cool at all guys!'

Zane laughed giddily. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. It's not like you'd have a choice anyways."
Smith nudged Zane with his boot. "Say, you know what this reminds me of?" He said, "La Silk."
A grin spread across Zane's face. "Fuck. Yes." Anticipating West's question, he looked at him and said, "It's the remains of a sex shop we found a few months back. It's in pretty good shape and has all the merchandise in tact."

Hearing that he wouldn't have a choice otherwise didn't improve West's mood at all. He continued to listen to the two men with growing horror.
'Sex shop? Like prostitutes?' It was the first thing he could think of (though he may be wrong. 'I thought you said you were going to keep me!' He wailed, squirming quite a bit in his bonds.

Zane rolled his eyes. "No prostitutes. We're not gonna sell you to the sex trade. It's a shop where they would sell items for sex. Y'know, pretty underwear. Things like that."
Smith reached over and ruffled West's messy hair. "We'll see if we are actually going to bring you there or not. We need to find a use for you." he said.
Zane clapped his hands together. "Oh, slaves are so much fun."

That wasn't any better. In fact, it was probably worse. Okay, so nothing was worse than being sold off to the sex trade, but Zane and Smith with sex toys must be a close second.
'Oh, ew. Gross, those thing must have been laying out there forever. In the radiation. That's- Don't do that!' West did not like hair ruffles one bit. Nor did he like being called a slave, and so he scowled up at Zane.

Smith laughed, "Maybe you've got a point there. But Zane and I know how to sterilize things and we've used them before."
Zane cackled, "Yup. You're not getting out of this one." He touched West's hair, just to make him squirm again.

'Oh shit- You've used them?' That fit well under the "too much information" area.
'I said don't do that!' West squirmed away from Zane, then spat at him. Probably not the best of ideas, but he was more than a little pissed at the moment.

Zane was momentarily taken aback by West's spitting, but quickly recovered. He slapped him, harder than before. He wanted to hit him again, but Smith grabbed his hand before he could.
"Alright, that's enough," he said. "Come on, Zaney, we need to figure out what to do with your new little captive."

West continued to scowl up at Zane and Smith, his face stinging from being slapped again. Feeling a sudden boost of courage, ha contunued to annoy Zane. 'Yeah, go talk to your friend Zaney- and for chrissakes I am not little.'

Zane decided to be pissy right back. He pinched West's cheek, "What? You sure are little. Lookityouuu d'awww."
Smith glared at him until he stopped. He said, "If he's gonna be a distraction, I think we better knock him out."
Zane shrugged, "Yeah, we're gonna have to before we leave anyways..."

West flinched, breaking eye contact with Zane. Cheek pinches hurt- at least the way Zane was doing it did.
'Whuh- No you don't!' He gave Smith a pleading look, since he seemed to be the nicer of the two. 'I promise I'll be quiet or whatever, don't knock me out!'

Smith narrowed an eye, "You'll be quiet? We'll be carrying you around in a sack for a while--are you sure you don't want to be unconscious during that?"

That was a tough question to answer. 'Well I'll have to man through it then. I don't want to risk being unconscious around you two, no offense.' It'd probably be uncomfortable, but it would be worth it.

Zane laughed, "What? Don't you trust us? That's weird, you seem to trust people pretty easily after all." He grunted when Smith kicked him gently.
Smith said, "Alright. Well, just lie down for now. We'll warn you when we're ready to go."

'Not exactly...' West muttered, his pride wounded. He sulkily stared at the men before sliding down into a laying position.
'Fine, night or whatever.'

"Night," said Smith absently, going to pack up their provisions. Zane did too, but he was reluctant to leave West alone. He was having so much fun with him. He let one of tentacles tickle West's tummy before he actually got to work.

West let out a small groan in his sleep. He turned away from Zane, not waking up at all.
Instead he mumbled about some nonsense including tuna and mutants.

Soon enough Zane and Smith were finished putting their things together. Smith looked over at the sleeping West, and said, "Should we wake him up now?"
"Nah," said Zane, "let's just stick him in the bag and get on with it. I want to see his reaction."
"He'll probably make a commotion." Smith warned.
Zane looked at their semi-automatics leaning against the wall, "I think we can handle it."

Continuing the stay deep in his sleep, West turned and fell off the mattress. He landed with a small 'oof' but did not wake up.
If anything he continued to babble on about nothing particular.

Zane snorted. "I think we're safe from him waking up."
They got out their 'human transport' bag and tucked West inside, curling his knees up to his chest. They closed the bag and collected their things. Zane took all their other supplies, while Smith carried West. After a double check that they had everything, they headed out.
It was easy to get out of town, but they knew they had a long trek across the wasteland until they got to La Silk, or anything else for that matter.

West woke up a few hours later. When he did wake up, he saw absolutely nothing. The blackness worried him immensly, so he did the only thing he could think of, yell.
'Zane? Smith?!' West kicked at whatever he was in, letting out another yell.

Smith was forced to put the bag down containing West. He looked at Zane, eyes narrowed, "We should have gagged him."
Zane shrugged and knelt down beside the bag. He opened it up and waved at West. "Good morning."
They were standing in the middle of the wasteland, beside what must have been a highway long ago.

'I thought you said you were going to warn me before we left.' He sat up, glaring at Zane. It was probably best to blame him, as he was the worst of the two in West's eyes/
'Can I walk?' Being carried in a bag the rest of the way would suck.

Zane merely shrugged, "Must have slipped my mind."
At West's request, he grinned wickedly. "Only if you wear a leash."

'Fine.' He immediatly answered, not wanting to let Zane change his mind. The leash wouldn't be too nice to wear, but it'd be much better than the bag, no doubt.

Zane was a bit startled by West's sudden submission, but he went along with it. He pulled another length of rope from one of his bags and tied it loosely around West's neck.
"There we go." He looked at Smith, "One less thing to carry."
He stood up and gave the rope a tug, "c'mon then."

West gagged at the tugging of the rope, but followed without complaint. He held up his hands to his face, surprized that his glasses were still on his face.
'Hey- Guys?' He spoke up, 'How close is this place you want to go to?'

"Maybe a day. Maybe less if we don't stop to rest," said Smith. He draped one of the bags' straps over West's shoulders. "Sorry, but could you carry this?" It was a heavy bag and he didn't feel like carrying it along with everything else.
Zane was having too much fun with the leash. When West didn't walk fast enough, he could just tug it and make him nearly stumble.

West didn't respond to Smith, as he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. The bag was heavy, but nothing he couldn't handle.
Eventually Zane's leash pulling had gotten to him, and he stumbled. West probably would have been able to balence himself, but the weight of the bad prooved to put a bit of a hinder on that. He fell over, landing heavily on his arm.

Zane laughed at his fall, but immediately felt kind of bad about it. "Ah shit, you okay?" He knelt down beside West to help him up.

'Fine.' West said, though it came out as more of a squeak. He picked up his glasses, and immediatly frowned once they were back in their place on his face. A large crack ran down the left lense, which wouldn't help his line of sight at all.
'Well, that's just great,' he muttered, shakily getting back to his feet.

Smith raised an eyebrow. "Broke your glasses?" He inquired. He gave Zane a sharp look.
Zane shrugged and took West's glasses off of his face to inspect them.

'Yeah, They- Hey!' West reached out with his still bound hands towards Zane. 'I need those!'
He gave Smith a pleading look, expecting him to tell off Zane.

Zane looked over the cracked glasses. "We might be able to get you a replacement. There's a guy somewhere that makes functioning glasses somewhere not too far from here." he said, turning them over in his hands.
Smith nodded, feeling uncomfortable under West's pleading gaze. Zane put West's glasses back on the little guy's face--upside down.

'O-Oh.' West righted his glasses, holding back a comment on Zane's lack of intelligence (putting on the glasses on upside-down oop). 'Thanks? I guess?' Since Zane was also the one who broke the glasses in the first place.

"You better be thankful," Zane said. He tugged on the leash again, though a little more gently than before, and kept on walking. Smith walked up beside West and took the heavy bag off of him, giving him an awkward smile for reassurance.

'Yessir.' West muttered, stumbling yet again as Zane pulled on the leash. He made sure to keep a protective hold on his glasses. Of all the things he needed, another crack in his glasses was not among them.
'Th-Thanks.' He gave Smith a small smile. At least one thing went right!

Zane and Smith lead West across the wasteland until it was near dark.
"Shit," said Smith, "we better set up camp soon before it gets too cold."
"Yeah," Zane agreed. He looked at West, "you see any place that looks secure? We can't just camp out in the open."

West glared at Zane for a few seconds. 'No, I can't really see a place. In case you can't remember some jerk cracked my glasses.'
Still, he glanced around, his head tilted to one side.

Zane glared right back, "Well some jerk must have done it to build character. Jeez."
He looked around again, and saw what looked like a small cave under a pile of rocks. He pointed it out to Smith who nodded. Zane handed Smith the leash and dashed off to the cave, peering inside with his gun at the ready. When he found nothing, he turned and gave Smith the thumbs-up.

'That doesn't even make sense...' West muttered. How could breaking someone's glasses build character? Isn't that what school bullies thought?
He walked beside Smith, trying to adjust his glasses, and failing due to his arms being tied together. 'How exactly do you stand him?'

Smith laughed. "Years of practice, my friend." He adjusted West's glasses for him after seeing him struggle over it. What could he say? the kid was growing on him...
As they approached, Zane was already setting up camp by rolling out blankets and things like that.

Friend? West trailed a bit behind Smith so he could smile and blush without being mocked. The friend comment probably didn't mean much, but it still made West feel all warmand fuzzy.
He ducked into the cave, shrugging his shoulders a bit. 'So, where am I sleeping?'

"Same place we are," answered Zane, grinning. He winked. "Right between me and mister Smith."
Smith laughed. "We'll keep warmer that way."
The wind was already starting up, making the interior of the cave cold. Zane shivered, his tentacles coiling spazmatically. He said, "Let's hurry up before my tenties get frostbite."
Smith snorted.

'Warmer that way- right.' That's exactly what is was for, West tried to convince himslef, nothing more than that. 'I'm not going to have to wear this leash to sleep am I? It's not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon.' He said, trying not to laugh at Zane's petname for his tenticles.

"Nah, you'd probably manage to choke yourself to death on it. I'll just tie you to me so that I'll wake up if you try to get away." said Zane. He laughed at West's expression. "What, don't you like me?"
Smith tried to ignore the two as he set up the rest of the bed and got started on a fire.

'Not in the least.' West chided, walking towards Zane. Smith was setting up the fire, so it'd have to be the mutant to take off his leash. 'Does that mean you'll untie my hands too?' He had a slightly excited look on his face, it'd be nice to feel his fingertips again!

Zane thought about it. He pulled the leash off over West's head. He twirled it in his hands while he thought. He shrugged, "Fine. But I really am going to tie you to me, you know."
He undid the knot around West's wrists and pulled the rope away. He then pulled the man to him and tied the two lengths of rope around West's torso and arms, and underneath his own arms. He grinned in his face, "There."
"Cozy?" Smith teased from beside the fire.

West scowled at Zane, this was a bit too close for comfort. He put as much space between him and the other man as possible.
'So very.' He answered.

Zane laughed at West's squirming and tickled his sides with his tentacles. "C'mon," he said, "we need to get into bed."
He maneuvered around so that he and West were lying down in the layers of blankets, pulling some over top of them. He grinned in West's face. "Mm, snuggly, isn't it?"

'Nngh, stop touching me with your... tenties, , please.' West cuddled up beside Zane, not exactly realizing he was doing so. To be fair, not cuddling with Zane would have been pretty difficult.
'Mh,' was the only response Zane would get, as West was West took offf his glasses and placed them beside the makeshift bed.

Smith said, "Do you guys want some dried beef? I mean, you should eat something before tomorrow."
"Sure," Zane said, reaching over and taking the strips of meat from his friend. He took a bite of one and made yummy sounds. He waved a piece in West's face and said, "If you want some you have to kiss me." He put the meat in his mouth and let a bit of it stick out between his lips, taunting West.
Smith rolled his eyes.

West also rolled his eyes. It didn't seem to be too hard of a request, so he decided to comply!
'Just a kiss right?' He asked, leaning in towards Zane. Of all the things he wanted tonight, a make out with his captor was not among them.

"Mhm," Zane said through the food. He waited until West's face was almost touching him, then he lunged forward, pressing their mouths together. He put a hand on the back of his head to keep him from pulling away.

West immediatly pressed his hands against Zane's shoulders. He balled his hands into fists, grabbing Zane's shirt. With as much strength as he could muster, he attempted to push Zane away.
He mande a small noise in his throat, closely resembling somehting like, 'Mhhn!' This really didn't seem worth the piece of beef.

Zane tried his best to stay attached to West by the mouth, but was pushed off. He laughed. "What didn't get any beef? Lemme try again." He went in for another kiss.

'Nonono.' West pressed a hand firmly against Zane's face. His face was currently set to permafrown. 'You said if I kissed you, you'd give me beef. Now fill in your part of the deal.'

[Chocolate Kittens]

Zane sighed. "Fine, sourpuss." He held up a stick of beef for him to take. "Happy now?"
He let two of his tentacles worm their way to West's bum. He just wanted the kid to squirm already.

West took the stick out of Zanes's hand and stuck it in his mouth before Zane could pull anything.
Once Zane's tenticle's touched him, he did, indeed, squirm. 'Zabe get away from my ass!' He went to swat away the tenticles, enjoying the new freedom to use his hands.

Zane laughed and moved his own hands to West's bottom, giving him a squeeze. "Oh come on, you like it. Don't tell me that's not your dick against my leg."
Smith tried to block out what they were talking about.

"it-I-' West sputtered, 'I can't help it! It's just... you- Your hands-'
West continued to sputter, completely giving up on pulling away Zane's hands. Instead he prseed his face against Zane's chest, and grabbed his upper arms. 'P-Please, nnn, stop.' He managed, his voice raised a few pitches.

Zane felt a swell of triumph and of shame. He thought about it for a moment, then took his hands away from West's bum. He patted the guy's head awkardly, "Uh yeah, okay, whatever." he then whispered to him, just to make up for his sudden bout of niceness, "want me to help you with that down there?"

'Er, I-' West squeaked, still keeping his face against Zane's chest. A very small part of him wanted to say yes, but the much larger part of his morals said a resounding no.
'N-No Thanks.' He mumbled into Zane's shirt, his face a bright red.

"Mmn, too bad." Zane said, reaching down a hand toward the hem of West's pants. He slid his hand into the front of them and wrapped his hand around his shaft. "Hm. Bigger than I thought you'd be."
Smith stood and walked to the outside of the cave. He decided to go for a little walk.

West made a small choked noise in his throat. All of his muscles seized up, and he pushed at Zane's face.
'Smith- don't leh- leave!' He cried, watching his only chance of salvation walking out the door.

Smith hesitated at the mouth of the cave. He looked at West with a grimace. "Zane..." he said.
"What?" asked Zane, trying to release his face from West's pushing.
"Give him a break, alright? You can have your fun when we get to La Silk." He stepped outside to have a smoke.
Zane rolled his eyes, and called, "But that's no fun!" Still, he relinquished West from his grip. He muttered, "You win this time, but you're still gonna have to deal with it." He nudged his knee against the poor guy's crotch.

'Ghnn.' West whimpered into Zane's chest. He'd have to remember to thaank Smith at some point for saving him.
Right now, though, he had another thing in mind. He moved up a bit, and looked Zane in the eye, his face still a bit reddened. With a frown, he raised his hand and slapped Zane as hard as he could, considering the laying position they were in.

Zane stared at him, wide-eyed with shock. "Wh-What?" he spluttered, holding his cheek as it began to sting. He couldn't decide whether he should strike back at him or not. Instead he found himself laughing.
Still, he grabbed West by the back of the hair, "I think you're forgetting your position here." he said through his laughter. He probably sounded hysterically insane.

West's eyes were equally wide, but his with fear. That was not the best of things to do. He though he was safe when Zane started laughing, but the hair grabbing told him differently.
'S-Sorry?' He said, hoping that'd make Zane feel better, or whatever.

He sighed and let go of his hair. "Dammit, kid, you're making me feel like a fucking psychopath." He untied the knots and pulled the rope from around them. He sat up, free of West and tucked his knees up to his chest.

West just stared at Zane for a few seconds, feeling somewhat bad for something he just wasn't quite sure about. Still, damage control with Zane was not what he was going to do right now.
He got up onto his knees, and then his feet. With one last glance at Zane, he grabbed his glasses, put them on, and tore towards the cave entrance.

"Smith, stop him!" Zane barked, jumping to his feet.
Smith startled when West came running out from the cave. He immediately went into his old soldier's instincts and stuck out his arm in front of the fleeing man. West's throat caught on his forearm, and he fell. He was on him in seconds, pinning him down by the shoulders.

West went down hard, his glasses flew off his face as soon as he made contact with Smith's arm. As he went down, he heard the most heartbreaking sound ever- his glasses breaking.
He coughed, unable to focus on anything due to the pain he was currently in.

Zane scrambled out of the cave and stopped beside the two on the ground. He knelt beside West and grabbed hold of his hair. "Don't you ever try to run away again."
Smith got off of West and sighed. "Zane, give him a break. I don't think he can even breathe."
Zane checked his pulse, just in case, and the guy was still alive. He pulled him up the hair, "Alright you just lost your movement privileges."

'Ow-!' West coughed out, reaching out towards Zane's arm and grabbing it. He did not appriciate the hair grabbing whatsoever.
He coughed again, this one sounding more like a sob. 'Y-You untied me. I thought that meant I could go...' He mumbled, digging his nails into Zane's arms. As an afterthought, he weakly added, 'My glasses...'

Zane dragged him back to the cave, calling over his shoulder, "Smith, grab his fucking glasses." then he grumbled, "not that he'll be needing them for a while."
He threw West onto the floor of the cave and grabbed the ropes from the bed. Using his tentacles to hold him down, he tied him into a hogtie. He knotted the ropes tight enough to nearly cut off West's circulation. "Well if you think that being untied means you can leave, I don't think I'm going to untie you for a long time."

'A-Ah.' West struggled against his bonds. They were less then comfortable, at the least. He stared at Zane, his eyes tearing up the slightest bit that they had a watery gleam to them.
'This is completely unfair! How was I supposed to know what you meant?' He twisted his wrists, and the only thing he achieved by doing that was slightly cutting open his wrists. 'You seriously expected me to stay?'

Zane glared at him. "It was stupid of me, sure, but it was stupider of you to think we'd just let you leave." He knelt down in front of him, a hand on his belt buckle. "I should fuck you senseless..."

West couldn't look Zane in the eye, so he glanced off to the left of the man. He bit on his lower lip, trying not to pay attention to the pain in his limbs.
'You ju- What!?' He yelled, jerking around in his bonds even more. 'Nononono!' He continued to yell, looking up at Zane in fear.

Zane grabbed the back of West's hair and pulled his head back, undoing his belt with the other hand. He adjusted himself so that West had ample access.
"I swear to god, West, if you bite me, I'll kill you." he growled.

'Y-' West spent a moment just staring at what Zane had put in front of him. Instead of doing what Zane obviously wanted, he went back to chewing on his lower lip.
'You can't be serious.' He said, still staring at Zane.

"Oh shut the fuck up and suck it already," Zane shoved himself into West's mouth. He laughed, sounding maybe just a little crazy. "Remember, I wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't forced me to." He said it just to make himself feel better about doing it.

West gagged, moving his head back the slightest to recuperate from the sudden presence of Zane's cock in his mouth.
He glanced up at the man's face, his eyes sufficiently more teary than before. Still, he complied, and started sucking, knowing that the consiquenses of not doing so would probably be much worse.

Zane moaned, trying to suppress how guilty he suddenly felt. He looked away from West to avoid his watery eyes.
Smith stared in horror at what Zane was doing. He stormed over and grabbed his friend by the face and shoved him backward, away from West. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
Zane was shocked to find himself a foot away from West, on his back. He stared up at Smith, shocked.

West gasped, grateful for the sudden access to air he had. He breathed out, a short sob following. This was really not his day.
'Smith?' He hadn't really expected the darker man to save his ass yet again, but wasn't going to complain anytime soon.

Smith grabbed Zane by the collar, "What's wrong with you? Rape is... is... it's...!" He swore and shook his head.
Zane narrowed his eyes. "So what? You were just gonna sit around and jack off while I fucked him once we got to La Silk! Since when were you so caring? What's changed? You got a crush on him? Christ, Smith, you're married!"
Smith punched Zane in the face.

'Oh god!' West cried, struggling to get some sort of a standing position.
'Don't fight- Please don't fight.' He yelled at the two, knowing it could be anything but good for the group if the two started to duke it out.

Zane clutched his hurting cheek. "What the fuck has gotten into you?" he demanded, scrambling to his feet.
Smith glared at him for a long time before he let his shoulders slump. He'd forgotten how much he hated fighting. He sighed, "It's just that..." he looked at West for a brief moment, "he's not like the usual crack-heads you take an interest in... He's a good kid. We should let him go or treat him better."
Zane folded his arms across his chest, "So this means we're not going to La Silk?"
Smith snorted, "Whatever you feel like. But still, give the kid a break. Get to know him before you fuck him."
Grumbling, Zane shrugged. "Fine." He glared over at West.

West just stared fearfully back at the two men. It looked like their argument had come to an end, or something like it.
'I-I...' He started, wanting to answer Zane's glare. No answer came to mind, so he just stayed where he was, crumbling under the man's gaze.

Zane sighed and did up his pants. He walked over to West and slackened the ropes a bit, so he was little more comfortable but not able to run away again. He walked over to their makeshift bed and curled up under the blankets, flipping his two companions off before putting his head down and going to sleep.
Smith sighed and looked guiltily at West, "Sorry about that."

West watched Zane go to sleep quietly. He only answered once he was slightly sure that the man was asleep.
'Are you sorry enough to untie my legs? You can keep my arms tied up if you want.' Despite having his bonds loosened, the hogtie was uncomfortable as hell.

Smith laughed weakly, "Yeah, but if your legs are untied, you can run away." He walked over to West and knelt down beside him. He undid the ropes attaching his legs to his wrists. "There. At least your back won't break from bending like that."

'O-Oh, good point.' West frowned a wee bit, but was feeling slightly more at ease. There was one more thing he wanted to ask of Smith. 'C-Can I sleep in the bed with you guys?'
As an afterthought, he added, 'But not next to Zane.'

Smith laughed again. When his fit of giggles was over, he ruffled West's hair and said, "Sure. Though I might have to shove you out before Zane wakes up. I bet he'll be pissy if he sees you at all comfortable."
He wrapped his arms around West's waist and hoisted him up. He carried him, bridal style, to the bed and tucked him in on the far side from Zane. "There," he said. "Better?"

West smiled up at Smith, feeling much, much better despite his situation. He cuddled up against Smith, wanting to steal the man's body warmth.
'Thanks. Y-You're much better than...' He trailed off, his face pale. He was terrified of Zane hearing, and getting more pissed off than he already was.

Smith smiled awkwardly and gave West a reassuring pat. "Uh... thanks? I guess..." He looked over at Zane, who was sleeping soundly. That guy could sleep through anything.
Smith said, looking back at West, "Don't worry, he's usually not this bad. Sometimes..." He sighed, "I don't know. He's very erratic. I honestly think he likes you, though."

'He has a shit way of showing it then.' West mumbled, burying his face against the ground. 'Plus, I'm not interested in the douchey I'm going to rape your face and not care kind of guy.' Sure, Zane was attractive, but the poor attitude just killed any sort of romance.

Smith shrugged and massaged the back of West's neck. "I bet he does care. I mean, he's never raped anyone's face before..." He looked down at West, "Hmm. We're definitly going to need to get you a new pair of glasses..."

West moaned in delight at the neck massage. After having his spine bent every which way from the hogtie, the massage felt damn good.
'Well, don't I feel special.' He chided, there was no way he could ever take that as a compliment. 'A-And thanks...'

"No problem." said Smith, "Out here in the wasteland, you've got to take care of each other... Sometimes, I think Zane forgets that, but he's a good guy.... Really, he is."
He pulled the covers up and lay down between his companions, continuing to massage West's neck once he was settled. He felt Zane cuddle up to his back, and smiled, knowing that Zane probably hadn't been sleeping at all...

'Mh... Whatever.' West murmured, his eyelids feeling much too heavy to carry on a conversation. He cuddled up a bit closer to Smith, and slowly drifted to sleep.
Somewhere withing his process of falling asleep, West pulled a good three fourths of the blankets over himself.

Zane woke up the next morning, feeling cold from the chilly night. The blankets were gone and Smith had rolled away from him. Growling and grumpy, he sat up and looked at his two companions. West was a bundle of blankets, while Smith was snuggled up close to him, trying to keep some of the warmth. Shaking his head, Zane stood up and wandered over to the entrance of the cave, needing a bathroom. Once he was finished with that, he came back and surveyed his friends again. He took hold of West's hair and tugged gently, looking him over. He wondered why he was so damned angry with him.

West, reluctant to wake up from his warm cave of blankets, groaned. In his pretty much still sleeping state, he mumbled something close to, 'Whaaaaat?' at Zane.
His eyelids half closed, and his mouth agape, he had no idea that it was Zane, not Smith, that he was talking to.

Zane narrowed his eyes and was tempted to shake West around by the hair. But he stopped himself. Looking over at Smith to make sure he was asleep still, he leaned in and gave West a quick kiss. He let go of him immediately after and walked away to rummage for some breakfast.

West woke up when Zane kissed him. Kissed him, not hit him, or face rape, but kiss. Was it actually possible for the mutant to show a nice side rather than his douchey, harsh side.
'Zane? You-?' He sputtered, sitting up and looking after the man.

"What?" Zane snapped back, hoping his face wasn't going red. He hadn't expected West to be so alert. He looked away, pulling out a few pieces of sweet root and a bottle of water from one of their bags. "Spit it out man, don't just
gawk like a moron."

West sat up even more, his face a deep red. he opened and closed his mouth a few times, not sure of what to say.
'I-I- Look.' He stated, placing his hands in his lap. 'I don't really like you... l-like that. Right now.' He bit his lower lip, unsure of where he was going with it. 'But. Ah. M-Maybe give it some time?' Did he just give Zane a second chance? He continued to chew on his lower lip.

Zane glared. He hated talking about stuff like that.... or feelings in general. "Whatever. I don't know what you're talking about."
He turned his back long enough to blush and take a swig of warm water.

West frowned at Zane. It was a pretty sure thing that Zane knew what he meant, but he wasn't going to push it. He knew all to well getting Zane angry was a bad idea.
'Sure. Can I have some water?' His mouth was feeling dry, and watching Zane drink wasn't helping.

Zane looked at him and grinned. "You've got to kiss me if you want some."
He wondered why he kept playing games like that--but hell, it was fun.

West smiled a bit, a soft laugh passing through his lips. This old game again?
'Depends, promise not to grope me against my will this time?' He propped himself against the sleeping Smith.

Zane snorted, "Fine. But it's so damn funny when you squirm."
He walked over and knelt down in front of him, bringing his face close and pressing the bottle against West's chest. "So, you gonna kiss me or what?"

'Mhm!' West gave Zane a quick peck on the lips, then grabbed the water bottle with his bound hands.
There was no way he'd let Zane just pull it away from him.

Zane laughed and kissed him again, letting him take the bottle. He took hold of West on either side of his face and pressed their lips together. No way he was letting West get his way that easily...

West made a noise of frustration in his throat. He was shocked, but he was more thirsty than that. Due to that, he made sure not to drop the water bottle.
He worked his lips against Zane. He may as well let the baby have his bottle. That, and there was no way Zane could complain after this.

After a moment Zane pulled away and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He patted West's head and moved away a bit. He sat down fully and began nibbling on a piece of sweet root, grinning.
Smith sat up and looked at the two, "what the hell are you two up to?" he grumbled groggily.

West took a long drink of water before answearing, 'Zane's being a dick, I'm listening to him for some stupid reason. The usual.'
He was finally warming up to the two men, despite their less than great attitudes.

Smith laughed, "Same old, same old." He got up and stretched, taking the bottle of water for a quick gulp before handing it back to West. "So I guess we should get going?"
"Yup," said Zane, though he didn't take his eyes off of West.

'Oh, so you're untying my feet?' West brightened up, there was nothing more he wanted to do than stretch out his legs. Well, being back on his own was a close second, but you win some, you lose some.
Noticing that the blur that was Zane was doing something that looked like staring at him, West squinted at the man. 'What?'

"Yup," said Smith. He got out a few pieces of dried meat and gave some to West. "We'll be walking all day again."
Zane ignored West's question and said, "And if you're a good little boy, we might even untie your hands for a bit."

'Thanks.' West took the meat, and practically inhaled it. He downed it with a bit more water. His expression was vergining on a frown, walking all day didn't sound to appealing.
But having his hands untied did! He smiled at the two, 'Oh, that's cool!'

Zane snorted, "You're such a dork."
They began to pack their things up, wanting to get on the move as soon as possible. They left West alone while they worked, then finally, Zane walked over. He made another makeshift leash and put it loosely around West's neck. He untied his feet and patted his head, "Alright. Off we go, Wessy." He tugged him roughly to his feet, ignoring Smith's warning look.

'How am I a dork?' West asked, getting up to his feet. He was more than a bit wobbly on his legs, sleep still seemed to have a small hold on them.
Zane's pulling on the rope wasn't helping at all, and as such, he stumbled forwards.

"You're just a dork," he said shrugging.
When West stumbled, Zane sighed, but helped him up, "Do you have frikkin balance problems or something?" He put one of the bags around West's shoulders once he was upright. "Here, carry this. And don't trip this time."

'Well you're just a douche then.' West shot back, lightly grabbing the leash. He huffed under the weight of the bag, but grew used to it.
'Sooo, where're we headed to?' He asked, shifting his shoulders a bit.

"To fix your glasses," Zane said, looking at him as if he were stupid.
Smith was surprised--he'd thought that Zane was still angry. He gave the mutant a nudge, and a ruffle of the hair. Zane scowled at him.
Zane looked back at West as they walked across the rocky terrain. The sun was just coming over the horizon, illuminating West from the back. "Jeez, you're slow," he growled, but refrained from pulling on the leash.

That was surprising, as West had expected Zane would want to go to that 'La Silk' place. Not that he minded in the least.
At Zane's complaining, West quickly made his way to Zane's side. He squinted, trying to see what was ahead of them. There was no luck in that.
'Well, Smith do you have a boyfriend or something?' He asked, looking up at the bigger man.

Zane had to stop for a minute because he was laughing too hard. Smith stared at West, wide-eyed. He was caught off guard to say the least.
"Pffffft. I think Sunday would castrate you if she heard that!" cried Zane through his giggles. Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes.
Smith cleared his throat, ignoring Zane, "I, uh, have a wife."

Sunday? Wife? West was shocked, and his expression showed it. He stared at the two men in front of him mouth agape.
'Then why are you hanging out with him?' West pointed at Zane, almost jabbing his finger into the mutant's chest. 'Shouldn't you be with your wife or something?'

Smith laughed, and Zane smacked West's hands away, scowling.
"It's a long story, but basically, I can't see my wife until I get some bounties off my tail." Smith said with shrug. He looked at his dusty boots. "Damn... haven't really thought about it recently, but I miss her."
Zane patted his friend's shoulder, and left it at that.

'Oh...' West gave Smith an apologetic look. 'Sorry to hear that.' He couldn't empathize with Smith, as he didn't have anyone to miss, but it still probably felt like shit.
'I'm assuming you don't have anyone.' He looked over at Zane.

Zane glared at him, fists clenching. "Shut your mouth before I fuck it," he growled, taking a few steps closer to West.

'You already tried that.' West muttered under his breath, not wanting to push Zane. Although Zane didn't seem to be a man of his word, that would be a promise he'd be likely to keep.
There was one just thing he needed to know, and then he'd shut up. 'Hey, have you two ever...' He pointed to both of them, then touched the tips of his fingers together. 'You know?'

Smith snorted, pulled out of thoughts of wife. He looked at Zane and laughed. Zane rolled his eyes and shook his head, though he couldn't help a smile.
"What, have we had sex?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at West.
"Yup," Smith said. He shrugged, "Before my engagement, of course."
"What do you think we meant when we'd said we'd used the stuff from La Silk?" Zane nudged West playfully in the ribs.

'Whaaat?' He wasn't really expecting that answer, to be completely honest. The only thing he could think of to say about it was, 'Ew.'
At the La Silk comment, he added another 'Eeeww.'

Zane cackled and slung an arm around West's shoulders, pulling his face close. He licked the tip of his nose, "Aw, c'mon, you know thinking about it gets you hot."
Smith kept a watchful eye on them.

'No, not in the least.' West grimaced, though the two were attractive on their own the thought of them together was just plain gross.
He crained his face away from Zane's, not liking where that tongue was headed. He didn't exactly mind the arm around the shoulders. The contact was nice, and from the look on Smith;s face, nothing would go too far.

Zane nuzzled West's cheek, "Aw c'mooon."
The sexual harassment seemed to cease shortly after that, Zane concentrating on where they were going rather than how to torment West. As the hours wore on, they untied West's wrists and let him walk mostly on his own, besides the leash. Eventually, they came to what they were looking for.
"You sure this is the right town?" Zane asked. "I don't remember all the red paint..."
Smith shrugged, "Towns change, you know."

'The paint's red?' West squinted around him, without his glasses, he was screwed. The houses just blended into their surroundings, becoming pretty much lost to him.
'Anyways, where's this glasses place?'

"Somewhere on the main street," Smith said. They lead him down through the main streets, avoiding dirty looks and trying to ignore the hushed whispers. "Ah," said Smith after a moment. He pointed down the street, "There it is."
A man in a long coat stepped onto their path. "'Scuse me, but we don't appreciate slave owners around here."
Zane frowned, "We're not slave owners."

West glared at Zane for a second. With a half glance at the man in the coat, he cleared his throat.
This was either going to free him, or land him in a lot of shit. 'I'd like to argue with that. These two kidnapped me.'

Zane's face fell. "You little shit." He glared at West. Smith did a facepalm, snorting and shaking his head.
The man in front of them pulled a gun out from his belt and waved it between Smith and Zane, "Alright you two, I'm turning you over to the sheriff then."
"Not a chance," Zane snarled, lunging forward and kicking the man in the chest. Smith darted forward as well, pulling the gun from the man's hand.

West was in deep shit. He watched the three- fight his eyes wide. If Zane and Smith won, which they probably would- the things they'd do to him...
West's train of thought was cut of by another man joining the fray. He was a slim asian man, with pointed features, and the skin around his right eye was black, and almost looked mutated.
'Hey, hey!' He grabbed the back of the town's man's shirt. 'They're cool! Old business partners of the town! Now knock this fighting shit off, all of you.'

The towns man shook out of the grip of the newcomer, dusting himself off. He glared, and said, "Business partners? You got a fucked up choice of friends."
Zane grinned, rubbing his cheek where he'd been punched during the fray, "Nice to see you again."
Smith was eying West, making sure he didn't run off.

'Oi. They're er... Bounty hunters. This guy must've done something to be tied up like this.' He said quickly, trying to cover for Smith and Zane.
With a grimace at Zane, he ushered the three men towards a near-by house. 'Is it your full time job to stir shit up?' He hissed, glancing at Zane.

Smith laughed, "Something like that."
Zane rolled his eyes, "Oh please, I'm not that bad."
Once they were inside and safe from public view, Zane wheeled on West. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close enough for their noses to touch. "What. The. Fuck. Was that?"

'You are that bad- and oh look you are getting in a fight with your fucktoy.' The man shook his head, and patted the head of the dog that had walked over to the door.
West shook like a leaf, unable to keep eye-contact with Zane. 'I was jus-justifiably trying to gain back my freedom.'

[Chocolate Kittens]

Zane gave him a good shake and snarled, "You could have gotten us arrested, you little puke. You sure seem to be acting out for someone who could be killed at any given moment. And after we went all this way to get you some new glasses!"
Smith gave the dog a scratch behind the ears, not taking his eyes of Zane and West. He said to their friend, "So, Dillian, how's life been treating you?"

'I wouldn't need new glasses if you didn't kidnap me!' West cried, swatting at Zane's arms. He did not like being shaken one bit.
Totaly ignoring the arguement going on in the same room, Dillan answered Smith. 'Eh, it's been okay. Me and boss fairng well with the village people nowadays. I assume you're here for glasses?' He motioned towards Zane and West.

"Yep," said Smith. He shrugged, "Sorry for the trouble, man."
Suddenly dizzy with anger, Zane slapped West hard enough to leave a bruise. He drew his hand back to hit him again, but Smith caught him by the wrist.
"Let go, Smith," Zane growled.
"Stop treating him like a bag of shit," Smith warned in return, tightening his grip enough to make Zane wince. They stared one another down.

'Oh for shit's-' Dillain smacked both Smith and Zane upside the head. His face was drawn into a small frown. 'Do not start fights in here.'
West had run off to the corner of the room, he clutched his face, tears glistening in his eyes. It was fair to say he was horrified.

Zane glared at Dillian, but didn't argue. He folded his arms across his chest, coming close to pouting.
Smith merely sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He said, "Sorry." He then looked toward West where he was cowering in the corner. "You alright?"

West shook his head in a sharp 'no.' He was not okay in the least, his face was tender as hell, and Zane still looked mad.
'Christ, look at that.' Dillain looked Zane in the eye. 'This is why you don't hit your fucktoys Zane, they don't like it.'

"Well what else am I supposed to do? Apparently I can't fuck him." Zane glared at Smith from the corner of his eye. Smith glared back sternly.
The black man looked at Dillain, "Mind if we have something to help our friend with his sore face? Ice if you have any."

'There's this wonderful thing you can do with your left hand to remedy that pent up sexual frustration.' Dillian smirked at Zane before turning to Smith.
'Uh, yeah I do, I'll go get some.' He shuffled off to a back room to get the ice.

"Fuck you, too!" Zane called after him as he left. He turned and glared at West, daring him to say anything.
Smith ruffled Zane's hair, "Calm down already. I'm mad at him too, but you can't blame him for wanting to escape. We're going to have to let him go eventually, anyways."
Zane sighed and folded his arms across his chest, wandering off to find somewhere he could sit down and sulk.

Dillian soon came back with a towel wrapped around some ice. He handed it to West, his face void of expression. 'Press this to your face, okay?'
West nodded sulkily and followed Dillian's instructions. While he did that, Dillian walked over too Smith and sighed. 'What's up with Zane? I know he gets sulky sometimes, but this is just ridiculous.'

Smith shrugged, "I don't know. I suspect he's either getting some sort of mutant pms, or he's finally gotten a crush. Or you know, this is his way of trying to make friends." He stole a glance over at West.

West grumbled something about 'Shit job of it,' overhearing the two's conversation.
'Mhm, he'll hopefully get over himself soon.' the half-mutant crossed his arms. He looked over at West. 'Hey, kid, what's your perscription?'
West told him, his voice still hurt. Dillian looked up at Smith and smiled, 'Give me a sec and I'll get the fucktoy his glasses, okay?'

"Sure thing," said Smith. He looked at West and beckoned him over, "Come on, let's go sit down or something while we wait."

West slowly got up and walked over to Smith. He looked almost too much like a puppy who had been kicked.
'You guys are really mad, aren't you?' He asked, still pressing the ice to his face.

Smith nodded, "Well, Zane's more angry than I am, but yes. People like us can get shot if we're put into jail--we're not exactly innocent folk." He led West over to a few chairs and took a seat, gesturing for West to sit too. He sighed, "So I get the whole wanting to escape thing. But really, I'd recommend just being good until Zane gets bored with you. He'll hunt you down otherwise."

'... Sorry?' West really didn't feel like it was right for him to apologize, but still, he did land Zane and Smith in a bit of shit.
Dillian walked back to the two, a pair of glasses with dark red frames in his hand. 'These should solve your problem!' he said, handing them to West.
Taking them, and putting them on, West smiled. 'Wow, I can see!'

"Don't apologize," Smith said smiling. He couldn't hide the way his smile widened at West's delight when he put the glasses on. It was cute, he thought. He looked at Dillian, "So, how much do we owe you?"

'Hm.' Dillian tapped a finger against his forehead. Money was peretty usess, and he was pretty sure Zane and Smith didn't have anything he wanted. However, something did eventually come to him. 'Oh! I got it. You guys are going off somewhere right? Let me come with you. I'm sick of getting glares all around town, because I look like a Mutant. They could use a break from me and I sure as hell could use one from them.'

Smith laughed, "Of course. We could use your help too," he glanced at West. "This one's a handful to hold on to."
Zane wandered over, "You're coming with us? We're going to that La Silk place we told you about, y'know."

'I wouldn't be so much trouble if you guys weren't so mean to me.' West pouted, and crossed his legs.
Dillian laughed ad took a seat next to Smith. 'Alright, that's good. Hope you don't mind I bring Boss.' The dog lifted its head drowsily at the mention of its name.
'What'd you do to the fucktoy anyways? He seems pretty scared of the two of you.' Dillian asked, not paying attention to West telling him that his name was not fucktoy.

"Nah, Boss is always welcome," said Smith, patting the dog's head.
Zane shrugged, grinning at West's new nickname, "I beat him up a bit....and raped him." When he got a dark look from Smith, he said, "But it was only to teach him a lesson...."
Smith sighed, "If you don't recall, Dillian, Zane likes to make friends by kidnapping them and taking away their diginity."

'Good, good.' Dillian smiled at Smith, beconing his dog over. At hearing of Zane's endeavours at making friends, he rolled his eyes.
'Yes, I do remember how good old Zane makes friends.'
'Really shittily?' West shot, cleaning his new glasses.
'Pret-ty much.'

"You know what? You guys fucking suck," Zane grumbled.
"We're only pointing out the obvious, Zane," Smith said with a friendly grin. He nudged his friend's shoulder, but Zane only nudged him back, harder.
"If you're so against my habits, then why don't you stop me?" he growled. He felt the urge to hit Smith or take West's glasses and snap them, but held it all back with a clench of his fists. He sighed huffily, "Could we just get going or something? I hate this hick town."

'Becuase you are impossible to change.' Dillian answered, getting up. 'And sure, just let me grab my shit.'
Dillian walked into the back of his house, grabbing whatever he thought would be good for the trip. He huffed at Zane from the room over, 'I live in this hick town, remember? Anyways, like the company around La Silk'll be any better.'

"You have a point there..." Zane mused. "It's all addicts and mutants around there, but at least they're welcoming!"
Smith took a moment to make sure they had all their gear still. He looked over at West, "How's your cheek feeling?"

'So very welcoming.' Coming back into the room with a bag strapped around his shoulders, and one of Boss' back, Dillian looked ready to go.
'Better. Still hurts.' West said, standing. He was ready to get back on the road, where Zane didn't hit him half as much.

Zane grabbed West's leash and gave it a good yank to make himself feel better. "Come on, let's go," he grumbled, leading West out the door.
Smith sighed and beckoned Dillian along, "See what I have to deal with?"
They made it to the edge of town without incident, luckily. Smith consulted a map quickly before they began walking back out into the wasteland.

West grumbled back angrily at Zane, but followed. He was in enough trouble for the day, it seemed. He stayed moreso near Smith and Dillian rather than Zane.
'Yessir I do. I feel bad that you have to stick with this bag of mutant bones rather than your wife.' He laughed, giving Smith a pat on the back. 'How is Sundae anyways? I haven't seen her in a coon's age.'

Zane called over his shoulder, "You're a mutant too, dickwad!"
Smith laughed. He scratched the back of his neck, sighing, "She was doing well the last time I saw her. She was talking about having kids once this whole bounty mess is finsihed."

'Oi, call me that to my face!' Dillian growled. If there was one thing he was defensive about, it was his sketchy heritage. He'd rather not have anyone know who, or what, his parents were.
'Anyways- you're going to have kids? That's great!' He leaned over, pretending to hide the next thing he said from Zane. In all reality, he wanted the mutant to hear. 'If you need a godfather, I know the perfect candidate.'

Smith smiled, "Please don't say Zane. I wouldn't trust him in a mile of my kid."
"Is it We Hate Zane Day or soemthing?" Zane called from ahead of them. He wanted to punch Dillian's smarmy face in.

'Naw, naw. I was thinking more about some charming korean man, with good looks to boot.' He grinned at Zane, brushing some hair out of his face. 'Naw Zane, old friend. I just know you well enough to be a complete dick to you and get away with it.'
West walked forwards a bit, towards Zane. He nearly tripped over boss, who was also making his way to Zane for pets(which he had already mooched off the other men in the group).

Smith gave Dillian a friendly nudge, "Good looks? Can't be you, then."
Zane glared at the asian man over his shoulder, "Does that mean I know you well enough to bend you over a table and-" He stopped when Boss nuzzled at him. He patted the dog's head, distracted from his prior threat.

'Aw.' Dillian faked a frown at Smith, 'Such a party pooper.'
West sidled up beside Zane. He laughed under his breathe, muttering, 'No, I'm sure you know him too well for that.'
Dillian on the other hand, didn't bother answering Zane. He was done with the bickering for the moment, though he was definitely going to start it up sometime again.

Smith smiled at Dillian, and put an arm around his shoulders, "Here, I'll tell you what, if--if--me and Sundae decide to have kids, I'll put in a good word for you about being the godparent."
Zane glared at West. He reached over to slap him or something equally mean, but instead he opted to ruffling the guy's hair.

'Heyy, stoppit!' West swatted at Zane's hands. He tried to keep his hair in at least a small bit of order (not that it worked well), and Zane was just messing it up. Still, he was smiling a bit. 'Zaaane.'
'Awesome!' The asian man patted Smith on the back, grinning. 'So long as I don't piss of Sundae somehow, everything'll be okay!'

"What?" Zane grumbled at West. He was having trouble staying mad, but dammit, he was gonna. "Stop smiling like that!"
Smith laughed, "Pretty much. Though I don't know what you'd be able to do to piss her off too badly. I mean, she can put up with Zane after all."
"You two can go shove it!" Zane called back at them.

Continuing to smile, now just to annoy Zane, West replied, 'Aaand what if I don't?'
Dillian laughed, and yelled, 'Don't worry Zaney, we already have.' He glanced at Smith, then raised his eyebrows a bit. Maybe he shouldn't have said that. Oh well.

Smith stared at Dillian, surprised more than anything else. He whispered, "Well, uh, mentioning that is one way to get Sundae mad with you." He laughed, but it was a bit nervous. He didn't really want Zane delving into his personal life.
Zane gave Dillian a weird look over his shoulder, "The fuck are you going on about?"

'U-Uh, nothing!' Dillian quickly blurted out. He bit on his lower lip, and smiled innocently at Zane. This may work, so long as Zane didn't remember that he never smiled innocently.
'Sorry, sorry, it's a reflex.' Dillian hissed to Smith, keeping an eye on Zane.

"It's alright," Smith patted his friend's shoulder, a bit awkwardly. He looked at Zane, waiting for his reaction.
Zane made a face, "Look, girlies, if you're gonna be weird........ just don't." He grumbled.

West glanced at the two as well. He had a small guess as to what Dillian was talking about, but he didn't speak up. That'd just make things awkward.
'Okey doke Zaney, we'll be sure to do that~' Dillian smirked, running a hand through his hair.

Zane rolled his eyes, "Just shut up and walk faster!"
Smith shared a smile with Dillian, before patting him on the back and walking ahead a bit.
A few hours later, the only thing Zane could say was, "Where the fuck are we?"

'You're lost?!' Dillian yelled, balling his hands into fists. 'Zane, you've been there enough! How could've you gotten us lost?'
West, feeling somewhat defensive, responded, 'H-He's trying.'
The response wasn't supposed to reach Dillian, but it did. 'Fucking trying? Well he's doing a good job of it then.'

Zane grinned, "What's wrong Dilly? Losing your shit over a little bit of trouble?"
He was surprised to hear that West was sticking up for him, but he dismissed it. The kid must be suffering from heat stroke or something.
Smith stepped in between his bickering friends, "Alright now. We just need to figure out where we are. It'll be fine."

'No, this is not a little bit of trouble Zane. We are lost. In the wastelands of all places.' Dillian threw his hands up in the air and stalked off a few paces. He wanted to keep within the hearing range of the three other men.
'Shouldn't we find a place to sleep for the night?' The blonde haired man interjected. 'It's, uh, getting dark soon isn't it?'

Zane said to Dillian, "Look, village boy, we're used to being lost in the wastelands. It may not be cozy like the city, but it's not hopeless." He turned his attention to West, "Uh, sure, I guess we could set up camp."
Smith nodded, "Yeah, I don't think we'll be coming up on any settlements for a while." He scanned the horizon just to make sure.

Dillian glared harshly at Zane, 'Oi, fuck off. I know wasteland life, almost as well as you two.' He hadn't always lived in his little village, after all.
'You see a place where we could camp?' West asked anyone in general. He ran his hand over Boss' head, as the dog had chosen to hang around him for the time being.

Smith pointed to what could only be described as a hole in the ground. It sat a few meters away, and was a few meters wide. "Looks like a cave type of thing," he said, "there might be enough room in there to sleep."
Zane shrugged, "I'll go check it out." He darted over, dropping his packs, and peered into the dark hole. After a moment, he turned and gave the thumbs up, "it's not very far underground. We'd probably be pretty cozy."

'And well hidden to boot!' Dillian felt a small bit better about their situation now. At least they'd be safe, and slightly warm. He threw his bags down into the hole, and jumped in. From inside, he beckoned his dog to follow.
Boss did not seem too enthusiastic about going into the hole, he only stood my the entrance, wagged his tail, and whined. Dillian sighed from inside the hole, 'Hey Zane, Smith, fucktoy, could you get him to get inside?'

"C'mon, you dumb mutt," sighed Zane. He tried to shove the dog into the hole, without much luck. He gave up quickly, and went into the hole to set up the beds, grumbling the whole way. Smith patted the dog on the head and gave him a scritch behind the ears.
"Let's go inside, Boss. Come on." he said softly, petting the dog's fur.

Boss wagged his tail even more, and happily followed Smith into the cave. The first thing he did was flop down on the beds that Zane was in the middle of making.
'Seems he's helping Zane,' West joked, smiling when Dillian laughed softly.

Zane frowned at Dillian, "Your dog sucks."
Smith coaxed Boss off of the beds and kept the silly thing occupied while Zane fixed them up and got everything ready.

'I call not sleeping next to Zane.' Dillian piped up. He usually made nothing of Zane's rape threats, but found it best not let the man have a chance to get that close to him. In any case, he moved and lay down on the edge of one side of the make-shift bed.
'Where am I sleeping tonight?' West asked, figuring the choice wasn't up to him.

Zane kicked out at Dillian, but missed. He looked over at West and grumbled, "You're sleeping with me. I'm not going anywhere near that." He gestured at Dillian. He was too angry to sleep anywhere near him.
Smith shrugged, "I guess I'm bunking with you, Dill." He remembered the last time he had said that, and blushed. He sort of wished that Dillian hadn't brought up their sexual encounter. It was making him think about it too much, and it was making him much too uncomfortable.

'Oi, I can hear you.' Dillian said, getting up for a second to ruffle Zane's hair. He blushed as well, hearing Smith. It wasn't something he exactly wanted to think about before going bed next to the guy. 'N-Not like we haven't before... hah...' He joked, tensing up.
'Okay, okay.' West huddled under the blankets, waiting for Zane to join him.

Smith smiled awkwardly, looking away. He hoped that Zane didn't pick up on that. Luckily, he didn't. Smith walked over and sat down on the bed next to Dillian, calling Boss over to give him a good pet before bedtime.
Zane squatted down next to West and said, "Am I going to have to tie you up again? You're being mighty obedient."

Dillian turned away from Smith, for fear of mid-night cuddling. 'Night guys...' He mumbled, feeling Boss flop down near his and Smith's feet.
West held out his hands for Zane, and shrugged. 'I dunno, I've just figured going against you guys is pointless. The thing in the village was just a last attempt I guess...'

Smith tucked himself under the covers and tried to fall asleep, despite his tense muscles. He was trying his best not to touch Dillian, but there wasn't much room not to.
Zane narrowed his eyes and tied up Wests' hands again. "I still don't trust you." He moved underneath the covers and put an arm around West's waist, telling himself it was just to keep track of him.

'Whatever.' West cuddled up against Zane, mainly to steal his warmth.
A few hours later, the men were all pretty sound in their sleep. West had already stolen a good portion of the blankets, and Dillian had accidently backed up against Smith.
Their silent sleep was soon disrupted by the low rumbling that could only be boss growling. He was standing, seemingly staring at something near the men's bags.
Dillian stirred, knocking an elbow against Smith's back. '... Boss? What're you?'

Zane sat up abruptly, following Boss's gaze. He wished that he could see in the dark. He rubbed his eyes, groggily, trying to see what was causing the dog so much distress. "Who's there?" He thought he could make out the outline of someone.
It took Smith a moment to regain his senses. Awaking with Dillian so close had sent him reeling, surprised, but he quickly realized something was wrong. His soldier's instincts kicked in and he was up, a pistol in his hands. He aimed his gun toward where the intruder was.

There was a figure crouched over the men's bags. It made a disgruntled nice, glancing from Smith to the dog. From the looks of it, it didn't have the clearest way to the entrance of the cave, but it might be able to get out.
The figure bolted towards the entrance, just hearing one of the men order the dog after it. 'Sh-shit!'
West shot awake at the new voice, and put on his glasses. 'What's happening?'

Zane shot out a tentacle and wrapped it around the intruder's legs, pulling him to the ground. In seconds, Smith was on top of him, trapping an arm behind his back and putting the gun against his head. "Someone get a light," he said, keeping the intruder from struggling.

Dillian quickly grabbed a flashlight from his bag, and turned it on. He turned it towards the figure trapped under Smith. 'Oh shit... It's a kid.'
The figure, now revealed to be a teen, struggled under Smith's weight. He made a snarling like noise, then tried to throw Smith's weight again.

Smith pressed the kid's face into the dirt, "I don't care if he's a kid. He was robbing us."
Zane crouched down in front of the boy's face, letting his tentacles brush his cheek for effect. "Now, tell me, kid, what's your name and why shouldn't we shoot you?"

'M-Mmmn-!!' The kid's eyes widened at the tenticles. Had he ran into a mutant nest? The man on top of him seemed human, but the one holding the flashlight had a bit of mutation.
'Kle-Klemens.' He managed, his voice a high pitch. He was obviously trying to put on a brave face, and failing. As for the why shouldn't they shoot him, he drew a blank. He was trying to rob them, and being young was no exuse.
West watched in silence, feeling bad for Klemens. Not too long ago, he had gone through a similar experience with Zane after all.

Zane tapped Klemens' forehead and grinned, "Alright, Klemens, while you think about that shooting question, why don't you tell me what you were planning to do with our stuff you've stolen?"
Smith twisted the kid's arm, shifting his weight to hold him down more securely.

'I-I was jus-Ah!' He cried out at Smith twisting his arm. This must have been his first time actually being caught in the act. 'Just getting food- nothing else, I swear!'
Dillian frowned. He wasn't sure of what to think. The kid had to steal from them, but the kid was also a... kid. He decided it was best to leave it to Zane and Smith.

"And if I search your pockets, that's all I'll find?" Zane asked. He reached over into the boy's pocket, rummaging through its contents.
Smith didn't loosen his grip. "If you needed something to eat, kid, you could have just asked us. However, stealing is a crime. Even in the wastelands." He looked over at Dillian and West. "Check our bags to make sure he hasn't taken anything valuable."

West gave Smith a look and held up his bound hands. He wasn't going to be doing anything anytime soon. Dillian, on the other hand, checked the other men's bags first, then checked his. He frowned, and looked through it a second time. Then through the other men's. '... My pocket watch is missing. Same with some of your weapons.' This didn't look too good for the kid.
'Nnn-' Shit. He was in trouble. Big, big trouble. Klemens struggled under Smith even more, not wanting to be shot or hurt.

Smith twisted his arm hard, trying not to be bucked off. Zane grabbed Klemens by the face and forced him to look at him, "Boy, you are totally fucked." he looked at Smith, smiling, "I say we rape him."
Smith sighed, "God, no. We should just take our shit back and let him go."
"Oh please," said Zane, "There's no way we can let him go. How could he learn his fucking lesson? I mean, would little West have realized not to go home with strangers if we hadn't kidnapped him? I say we bring this kid to La Silk--show him a thing or two about a thing or two."

'I-I-! No!' Klemens stared fearfully into Zane's eyes, feeling all the blood drain from his face. This was not the best of groups to steal from, it seemed.
'No Zane, he's too young for that.' Dillian stood up, and placed a hand on the mutant's shoulder. 'Even you should know better.'
'R-Really, don't...' West said, staying in his spot. 'Y-You already kidnapped me for that, remember?'

Zane growled, "Well what are we supposed to do? It doesn't sit right with me to just let him go. He'll stir up trouble somewhere else and probably get killed for it."
Smith sighed, "He has a point you know." He looked down at the boy. "It's not as if we can guarantee he'll stop stealing after this." He looked between Dillian and West, "What do you two think we should do?"

'Hm.' Dillian looked the boy over, seeing if there was anything they could do with him. He seemed pretty fit, probably from being in the wastelands for a long time. That's something they could use. 'We could use him as a packmule. He tries to run, or pull shit, then you can shoot.' He said the last part with a deadpan look on his face, stealing was a non-excusable thing.
'That could work...' West said, shrugging back his shoulders. 'I mean, you seem to able to keep me tied up fine.'
Klemens listened in silence, not wanting to ruin the odds of him keeping his life (and virginity).

"Sure, that could work," said Zane, grinning. "West, c'mere, I'm gonna use some of that rope." He beckoned West over and untied his hands, using it then to tie Klemens' behind his back. Smith got off of the boy, but kept his gun at the ready, while Zane finished tying Klemens into a position he couldn't easily get out of. He said, "There, you can sleep like that tonight."

West flexed his wrists, happy to have them free. He glanced at the entrance of the cave, thinking about running for a spilt second. Then he shook his head, he was actually starting to like hanging out with Smith, Zane, and Dillian. Running was almost out of the question now, anyways.
'A-Alright...' Klemens said, his long hair falling in his face. At least he was still alive, and the first chance he could get to run, he'd be gone. It didn't look like these guys could keep too well of an eye on him.

Zane gave Klemens a swift kick in the ribs, "There, that's for trying to fuck with us."
Smith gave him a dark look, but Zane seemed to ignore it. He said, "So, who's gonna keep an eye on him for the rest of the night?"

'Ah!' Klemens cried out, and coughed afterwards. He gave Zane a pained glare, some tears rimming his eyes. Holding himself back from saying a few choice words to his captors, Klemens shifted around to be a bit more comfortable.
'No need to be a dick Zane.' Dillian said, patting the man on the back. 'And I'll watch him. If I think I'm falling asleep, I'll wake one of you up to watch over him, okay?'

"Alright, good," Zane said. He got back into bed, giving Klemens a warning glare. He pointed a finger at him, "If I wake up to you causing trouble, your ass is mine, you got it?"
Smith gave Dillian a pat on the back and handed him his gun, "Thanks, bro. Wake me up in an hour or two and I can do a shift for you."

'Yeah, yeah.' Klemens said, showing the sheer amount of flare only a boy his age could.
'Okay Smith.' Dillian took the gun, and smiled at the man. 'I'll be sure to do that.'

Smith gave Dillian's shoulder another pat before getting back into bed. He doubted he'd sleep very well with Klemens so near by. He wasn't off to a good start with the kid.
Zane sat up and grabbed West around the waist, pulling him down onto his lap. "Get into bed, idiot," he grumbled. "Don't forget you're a prisoner too."

Dillian stared after Smith with a look of longing. Maybe going on the journey with the two wasn't the best of ideas. He sat beside Klemens, passing the gun from hand to hand.
'I know. No need to be mean.' West got in bed, and rested his face against Zane's chest.

Zane curled his arms around West and held him close. He mumbled, "You better not steal my blankets." Despite himself, he was enjoying the cuddling.

The next morning started slowly. Dillian was asleep, having woken up Smith after a few hours of watching Klemens.
Strangely enough, Klemens had also drifted into an uncomfortable sleep, or at least one he'd regret waking from.
West was awake, but seeing as he was cuddled up to Zane, and had all the blankets, found no need to move.

Zane woke up and in his grogginess, nuzzled West's hair and cuddle him. It took him a minute to realized what he was doing. "Nnng, the fuck...?" He stared at West for a moment before rolling his eyes and slumping down in bed again. "What time is it?"
Smith stretched and yawned, tired from his shift watching Klemens. The kid had fallen asleep in the night, making the watch boring. He looked over at Zane and West, "Morning, you two."

West smiled up at Zane, his expression verging on a smirk. He caught those cuddles, and probably wouldn't let Zane down about them.
'Mornin'.' He muttered to Smith, weakly waving one of his hands.
Klemens groaned, and opened his eyes. Right, he had been caught in the act, and was now stuck with these guys. 'Fuuuck me.' He whined, hitting his forehead against the ground, and regretting it. 'Fuck! Ow.'

"Sure, I'll fuck you," grinned Zane. He made menacing gestures with his tentacles, but didn't advance on him. He got up and began packing up.
Smith checked to make sure that the ropes weren't cutting off Klemens' circulation anywhere then went to wake up Dillian. He shook the asian man softly. "Wake up, Dill."

'Not what I meant dickface.' Klemens grumbled, glaring at Smith as his bonds were checked. They were in no way comfortable.
Even at being shaken, Dillian clung to his sleep. He swatted at Smith, grumbling, 'Gooooo away, I'm sleeping.'

Zane gave Klemens' ass a quick pat as he walked past, shoving their things into various bags. He checked the boy's pockets for all of the things he had stolen and returned them to their proper places.
Smith smiled and kept shaking him, a little bit harder. "Come on, Dill, get up. We need to get going."

Klemens tried to kick out at Zane, and all out scowl on his face. 'Don't touch me, fuckin' mutant. God next thing you'll be eating everyone.'
Dillian sat up, his eyes bleary with sleep. 'You suck.' He told Smth, After being so used to setting his own sleeping times for so long, this was not welcomed.
West put on his glasses, rising to a standing position. He stretched, his mouth opening in a wide yawn. 'So, how're we going to find this La Silk place now?'

"You and I both know that, Dill," Smith chuckled, and ruffled Dillian's hair, knowing it would probably annoy him. He then looked toward West, "My estimate would be that it's another day or so to the East. Maybe less." He had been given lots of time to figure out where they were during the night while Klemens had been sleeping.
Zane grabbed the back of Klemen's hair and yanked his head back, "Not all mutants eat people, you little shit. And if I ever hear you talking like that again, I'll castrate you."

Dillian took that in the exact wrong context, and blushed. He really didn't need to be reminded of that first thing in the morning. He pushed at Smith's chest, grumbling, 'Don't do that, dick.'
'Ah!' Klemens cried out. He grit his teeth staring up at Zane, dirt caked hair in his face. 'Well most fucking do!'

Smith laughed and got up. He started packing up the bed and checking the bags. He looked at West, "You know, I'm surprised you haven't run away yet. Zane's been giving the new kid so much attention, I thought you'd book it out of here."
Zane gave Klemens' hair another yank, "You say that one more time, I'll fucking rape your face. I mean it. I mean it, don't I Smith?"
Smith hadn't been listening, "Sure do, Zane."

West shrugged, 'I don't want to be stuck in the middle of the wastlelands alone. Plus, Zane'd probably bury me if he caught me if I tried to run.' He looked at the man, who seemed to be torturing the new boy.
Dillian, who had been listening to Zane, hit Smith in the shoulder. He then turned to Zane. 'No Zane, we've gone over this. You can't do that, he's too young, and it's just... Ew.'
'Fucking. Mutant.' Klemens spat defiantly, his glare unwavering. He wasn't afraid of Zane, no matter what he said. Plus, it looked like his friends wouldn't let him get away with the rape.

Zane looked over at his friends, scowling, "He's insulting not only me, but my race, too! Don't tell me you wouldn't punch someone in the face if they talked shit about you and your family."
Upon hearing Klemens' remark, he hissed. He flipped him over and grabbed hold of the boy's neck.

'Your kind doesn't have the best of-' Dillian's snarky, and equally hypocritical comment was cut off by Zane grabbing Klemens' neck. The boy made a small choking noise, and was just slightly starting to regret talking back to Zane.
West was there in an instant. Doing something that seemed much too out of character, he showed some bravery. He placed his hand on Zane's shoulder, his face unreadable, and shook his head.

Zane stared at West's hand as if it were something gross and slimy. He stared defiantly up at the man for a moment before sighing and letting go of Klemens. He stood up and walked to the other side of the small space. He growled, "You guys take care of him. I don't want to accidentally take off a limb of his." He gestured toward the boy tied up on the floor.
Smith sighed and ran a hand over the stubbly dome of his head. "Well, this is a great way to start the day..."

'Yessir!' Dillian said, and pulled on Smith's sleeve. 'C'mon, help me retie him, you did those knots after all, right?'
West followed Zane, looking somewhat ashamed. 'A-Are you okay?'

"Sure," said Smith. He helped Dillian retie Klemens so that he could walk when they wanted him to. They gave him a matching leash to West's.
Zane glared at West, crossing his arms across his chest, "I'm fine." Though, he sounded more angry that he wanted to be.

[Chocolate Kittens]

Klemens glared at the two men throughout the process. Somewhere in the middle of the night the goggles that were usually perched on the top of his head had fallen around his neck. 'You won't keep me for long.' He spat.
'Hey...' West wrapped his arms around Zane, feeling sort of bad for the guy. 'I'm sorry...'

Smith snorted, "You don't know us very well, kid." He pushed Klemens' goggles up so they were back on his forehead--didn't want the guy accidentally choking.
"Sorry for what?" Zane grumbled. Still, he nonchalantly put an arm around West's waist.

'Well you all seem like idiots, so I think I'm close.' he muttered, shakily getting to his feet. Dillian watched with mild disinterest, then turned his attention towards Zane and West. Who were hugging? He nudged Smith, to turn his attention in that direction.
'I dunno. For him calling you those names, I guess?' West pressed his face against Zane's chest.

Smith looked over at Zane and smiled, shaking his head. He put his hand on Dillian's cheek and turned the man's head away from their friends. "Let's leave them alone for a bit." He tightened one of the ropes on Klemens, just to give him a small reminder of who was in charge.
Zane shrugged. "I've been called worse, West. Hell, I've been attacked before. It's no big deal." He patted the man's head.

'O-Okay.' Dillian huffed, his face red. Smith's hand was warm and rough, and god he wanted to feel it all over him. 'Le-let's go out then, bring the kid too.' He quickly made his way out of the cave, trying to stop blushing.
'It, ah... stilll doesn't make it okay.' West said, looking up at Zane. He coud imagine the man had gone through a fair amount of fights.

"Mhm," Smith said. He led Klemens outside, following Dillian. He kept a hand on the thief's back to keep him from running away.
Zane shrugged again. "Whatever." He rested his face against West's head, sighing. "It's not like it's gonna change anytime soon, so I shouldn't get so worked up about it."

As soon as trhey got outside, Klemens laughed. 'God, are all of you fags? That was fucking gross in there.'
Dillian rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored the boy. Indstead, he focused his attention on Smith. 'Ah, um... How long has it been since you've seen Sundae?'
West hugged Zane a bit closer. 'Well if wasn't for the rape, I'd think you were a pretty okay guy.'

Smith gave Klemens a warning look, but mostly ignored him. He thought about Dillian's question. "Maybe four months now." he said. His eyes drifted to the ground. "God, it's been a while..."
Zane laughed. "I'm not that enthusiastic about rape. I just like sex." He rubbed West's back. "Uum. Sorry for raping your mouth I guess. I got kind of mad..." It wasn't much of an excuse, but it was all he had.

'M-Mhm.' Dillian muttered, leaning noncalentley against Smith's side. That couldn't do too much damage. It wasn't like he was strying to make out with the guy or anything.
Klemens, who was sick of even looking at the two men, groaned. 'The fuck are we even going, you fags?'
'I-It's, er, okay...' He cuddled against Zane. 'Just please don't do it again?'

Smith put an arm around Dillian's shoulder, giving his arm a pat. He had little idea of Dillian's feelings for him, but he knew there was some tension between them. He wanted to keep them friendly even after that little incident had happened way back when...
He gave Klemens a dry look, "We're headed to an old sex shop, named La Silk. I have a feeling Zane will have his way with you once we get there--it's the kind of thing he's into." He was just trying to give the kid a scare. "Or we might just leave you there, tied up. Tons of mutants and drug addicts tend to hang around there..."
Zane gave an over dramatic sigh, "Fiiiiine. I won't rape you." He gave West a little squeeze of a hug.

Dillian's face turned a deep red, and he looked down at his shoes. He scuffed them against the ground, to make it look like he was actually doing something.
'Y-What? You can't be serious!' Klemens yelled, balling his hands into fists. 'A fucking sex shop? That's what you're out here for?' He stalked up to Smith and Dillian, obviously quite pissed. 'And if that mutant son of a bitch lays a hand on me again, I'll fucking kill him and that pussy of his.'
'Heh, okay...' West gave Zane a quick peck on the lips, and ducked out of his grasp. 'Shall we go join the others? I can hear Klemens yelling from in here.'

Smith put a hand on Klemens' shoulder and pushed him back, warning him to back off a bit. "Don't you dare insult my friends again, kid. I've been nice to you so far, but I can be nasty too. And yeah, we're going to a sex shop, so what? You steal people's shit for a living instead of working hard to get it yourself."
Zane was flustered by West's kiss. He was used to fucking people not.... cute little kisses. It was weird. "Guh... buh... Y-Yeah, let's go."

Almost falling over just pissed off Klemens more. Once he balance was caught, he stalked right back up to Smith. 'And what if I do darky? You going to rape me too, along with your two mutant buddies? I'd say the pussy too, but I doubt he even has a dick to do it with.' He raged on, 'And oh, stealing, wah. At least I've never killed anyone, which I bet you have, and I don't threaten to rape someone, hell even an underage person!'
West got out of the hole to see a yelling Klemens, an angered looking Smith, and an appalled looking Dillian. 'It seems we've been missing something Zane.'

Smith kept himself in check while Klemens blew off his steam, until he mentioned the killing. Smith threw his arm out and punched Klemens in the face hard enough to make his knuckles hurt. Before the boy could hit the ground, he grabbed him by the shirt collar and yanked him up, pulling his face close enough that their noses were almost touching, "You have no idea what the fuck you're talking about. Leave my friends alone, and keep your mouth shut or I'll make you rue the day you were born. Understand?" He growled.
Zane's face darkened, and he mumbled, "Yeah.." He called to Smith, "Let the kid go! He doesn't know what he's saying."

Klemen's whole face stung, that wasn't the right word. It felt like the bone had been crushed then put back together, but really shittily so everything sucked. That's what it felt like. He opened his mouth, to say something more, but closed it. For once, he realized talking back probably wasn't the best of actions.
Dillian placed a hand on Smith's back. He wasn't sure what had set Smith off, but seeing him this violent was horrifying. 'Smith, calm down. You've fucked him up enough, just drop him.' He cast a glance at Zane, it said, You are explaining this as soon as I catch you alone.
'Oh god...' West stayed behind Zane, not sure if he wanted to approach Smith, Dillian and Klemens.

Smith let go of Klemens' shirt and straightened it out for him, being more rough than he should have. He sighed and walked back toward the cave, rubbing his face. He felt ashamed of himself for letting his temper get ahead of him. "Come on, let's get moving." He muttered, shaking his head.
Zane tried to catch his friend by the arm, but Smith shook him off and ducked inside the cave.

Klemens glared after Smith, watching him walk back into the cave. 'Fucking bitch...' He muttered, only to by hit over the head by Dillian.
'Shut your mouth for now kid. You've gotten Smith mad, and Smith doesn't get mad.' He then went to follow Smith into the cave, perhaps to do some damage control.

Zane sighed and looked at West, "Sorry 'bout that. Just... yeah. Just give 'em some space for now." He patted West's shoulder and then made his way over to Klemens, trusting West wouldn't run away unsupervised but the other guy might.
Smith finished packing, trying to ignore Dillian's hovering. He didn't want to talk about it, but he didn't want to hurt his friend by snapping at him or the like.

'Smith... Uh...' Dillian nervously ruffled up his own hair. 'What happened there? You don't usually, ah, um blow up like that man.'
West followed Zane, smiling a bit. Not the happy kind, but moreso the unsure kind. 'Yeah, I'm sure...'
'The fuck d'you want mutant?' Klemens spat, deciding he hadn't pissed off enough people that day.

Smith rubbed his eyes, sighing. "Sorry you had to see that. Just struck a nerve, y'know?" He sat down and put his face in his hands for a second. "Shit." He rocked back and forth slightly. "I'm really fucked up." He gave a funny laugh, a bit too high pitched.
Zane sighed, "You know what, kid?" he said to Klemens. "I'm going to take the high road and not hit you. You know why? Because you're too stupid to get it and shut your fuckable little mouth anyways."

'Aw...' Dillian hugged Smith around the shoulders. He was extremely attempted to kiss the man, but reminded himself that Smith was married now. That would not fly well with anyone. 'We're all a little messed up man.'
Klemens scowled. 'Like you'd ever get a fuck unless you forced it out of some poor unwilling kid. That's the only way you mutants could ever get a lay.'
West tensed up, unsure of how Klemens could keep saying shit like that. He was sure that he didn't like it, though.

Smith leaned into his friend, groaning. "Christ, Dillian, I know, but..." He looked up at the asian man, swallowing hard. His voice grew very quiet. "Have you ever killed anyone?"
Zane had to force himself to keep his cool. He gritted his teeth, "At least I've gotten laid, you fucking toddler." He didn't like having to deal with the racist insults, especially in front of West. It felt... emasculating.

'Personally?' Dillian asked, slightly winded at the closeness of Smith. 'No... But, ah, the dog I had before Boss, er, Gin? This guy tried to pull some shit, and, er... I gave Gin the order to kill him, and... Yeah.' He looked down, ashamed. The death was entirely his fault, even though he barely touched the man.
West patted the Zane on the back. 'Don't pay attention to him... You know how kids are...'

Smith readjusted and wrapped his arms around Dillian. "Shit, I'm sorry." He rested his head against his friend's shoulder, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Maybe it's best if we don't talk about this..." Even though he had started it, he was starting to regret mentioning the killing thing. God, if he got thinking about it, he'd have another break down and he wanted anything but that. Not to mention he had just caused Dillian to think about something he doubted he like to dwell on.
Zane looked at West before sighing and putting an arm around the man's waist, without really thinking about it.
He grinned, "Kids sure are immature." He gave Klemens a smirk.

'Yeah.' Dillian paused, and looked at Smith. He leaned in much further than he should have. He got more closer than she should have.
Then he did something he definitely shouldn't have done. Grabbing Smith's face, he pulled the man down into a kiss.
West rolled his eyes at Zane. Ignoring the stream of curses and racial slurs coming from Klemens, he leaned against Zane. 'Wonder what's taking Smith and Dillian so long?'

Smith wasn't sure what to do. He had been pulled out of his dark thoughts with a.... a kiss? It took him a moment to register that Dillian was pressing their lips together, and for that brief moment he leaned into it. The sensation was a relief after all.
As realization struck, he pulled away, but only his face. He didn't jerk away hard enough to separate any more than their lips. He stared, pale-faced, at his friend, unsure of what to say.
Zane shrugged, "Dunno." he scoffed, "I bet they're making out." he joked. He was happy to feel West's body so close but wasn't about to say anything about that...

'U-Uh...' Dillian's face was completely red. From the look on Smith's face, that was not a smart move to pull. He bit his lower lip, speechless. In no way was he sorry though.
'Should we check on them?' West asked, resting his head against Zane's shoulder.

Smith swallowed hard. He stood up abruptly and looked anywhere except at Dillian, "I-I told you I'm married, didn't I?" He said, a bit too gruffly.
"Maybe," Zane said. He rubbed West's side gently, staring over at the cave's mouth. "Yeah, maybe we should."

'I know!' Dillian hugged himself closer to Smith. Tears rimmed his eyes, but he grit his teeth. He needed to say this. 'But- I love you Smith! I fucking... Love you...'
West froze near the cave entrance. '... Did you hear that?'

Smith stared, wide eyed. His body tensed and he kept his hands planted firmly on Dillian's shoulders, keeping him a short distance away. He tried to breathe deeply to keep his head clear, but he kept finding himself holding his breath.
His throat ached with the words, "Ch-christ... why didn't you have the guts to say this years ago? when.... when it would have worked..."
Zane froze too, shocked, "Uh... I don't know." He was tempted to walk into the cave, but his instincts were telling him not to.

'I didn't know!' He cried. He hung his head, hair covering his expression. 'But fuck Smith, I want you. Fuck Sundae, fuck being a godfather. I want to be with you.'
West shook his head. 'Let's just stay out here. Keep an eye on Klemens and all...'

Smith felt his throat get tight. He looked away, "You can't just expect me to walk away from everything, Dillian. I love Sundae, I can't give her up just because you've realized you have feelings for me..." It tore him up inside to say it, but he knew it was worse for Dillian.
Zane nodded. "Yeah... If it starts to get bad in there, I'm going to check on them, though."

'F-Fuck...' A tear dripped down from the tip of Dillian's nose. He began to shake in Smith's grasp.
'Fuck you Smith. I love you, fuck Zane, fuck fucktoy, fuck Klemens, fuck fucking Sundae, you should be mine.'
West shook his head. '... Did you know?'

Smith wanted to pull him close and hold him, just to make him stop shaking. It was hard to bare. He could forgive his friend's anger, but he doubted Dillian would ever forgive him. Smith let his arms fall to his sides and he said simply, "I'm sorry."
Zane shrugged and shook his head, "No, I had no fucking clue it was like that. Jeez, I hope they'll be alright..."

Dillian got up, gave Smith an unreadable look, wiped away his tears, and grabbed his bag. 'No, I'm sorry.' He stalked out of the cave, and with passing Zane and West, he asked, 'We going?'

Smith mentally kicked himself while picking up his bags. He was tempted to just curl up and proceed with that break down that felt so promising right then. But instead he sighed and walked out of the cave, handing West and Zane thier things without a word.
Zane stared dumbfoundedly at Dillian, not sure what to say. Smith's behavior was unnerving as well--things obviously hadn't gone too well. "Uh, sure, let's get going." he mumbled.

Dillian grabbed Klemen's leash rather roughly. 'Let's get going.' He snapped, not making eye-contact. 'Don't give me shit, or I will live up to the so called mutant name and kill your ass.'
For once, Klemens thought it would be best to keep his mouth shut.
West sniffed, hanging back with Zane and Smith. 'Shit... That can't be good...'

Zane sighed, "Don't worry, I'll keep him from killing our little prisoner. Or doing something just as stupid..." He gave smith a questioning look, but didn't press about it. Smith had his eyes focused on the ground just ahead of his feet, face blank of expression.

West pulled Zane back a bit, with a concerned look on his face. 'You should probably talk to Dillian, and I'll talk to Smith?' He didn't really want to talk to Dillian, since the man didn't even know his name.

"Yeah, okay," said Zane. He would have preferred to talk to Smith, but he wasn't sure he wanted West to be at Dillian's mercy when he was being so violent.
He walked up to match paces with Dillian, and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Hey, what happened back there?" He said quietly.

West smiled at Zane, then slowed back to Smith's side. 'Smith? What just happened with you and Dillian?' It was a rather blunt way to put it, but he'd rather not beat around the bush.
Dillian glared ahead, not looking at Zane in the slightest. He scowled, shrugging back his shoulders. 'Abso-fucking-lutely nothing. Go away.' It was rather evident he was not excited at talking to Zane about this.

Smith sighed and looked away, not able to bring himself to look ahead, but rather at his feet instead. "He's angry with me. I don't think he'd want me talking about it." he said, keeping his voice low.
Zane rolled his eyes, "Tell me right now. Or I'll make your life a living hell. You know I can do it, you bastard."

'Zane and I heard him. So if you're trying to hide that, it's sorta a moot point.' He patted Smith on the back. Despite his nervousness when first meeting the two, he was now ready to be a complete hardass to them if needed.
With a sigh, Dillian looked towards Zane. He knew the man well enough that he was aware that Zane would live up to his word. Still, he didn't want to say more than he had to. 'Well you heard me, didn't you? What the hell more do you want to know?'

Smith gave West a sad little smile. "Alright. Well, there isn't much more to tell then. He said... that, and I told him I couldn't return his... feelings." His chest hurt. All he wanted to do was see Sundae again and hold her, he realized. And that made him feel even worse.
"How about how you and Smith are going to act around each other now? Or maybe what I can do to make you stop acting like such a dick?" Zane said, shrugging.

'Mhm, well you are married or whatever to Sundae... but, ah...' West looked up towards where Zane and Smith were talking, 'Man he's pissed.'
Dillian groaned. 'We just won't talk. Just don't fucking bring it up around me, and everything'll be fucking dandy.' Flustered, and frustrated, he glanced around them, 'Where the fuck is Boss?'

"Yes," said Smith, glancing over at Dillian. "I feel bad about it all, but what am I supposed to do?"
Zane frowned, "You can't just give up on a friendship like that, man--I don't know keep track of your own damn dog." Still, he looked around to see if maybe Boss had simply wandered a little ways off.

West was about to say something, but a figure in the distance distracted him. It was Boss, who seemed to be attracted back to the group by just the mention of his name. The dog barreled towards Dillian, something in his mouth.
Completely ignoring Zane, Dillian beckoned Boss towards them with a hand signal. 'The hell does he have?' He asked no one in general.

Zane frowned, "I dunno. Looks like.... is that a fucking candy bar?"
Ekmund followed the dog as best as he could, but he had never been all that great at running. He called to it, as if that would bring it back, "Please come back, Mr Doggy! Th-that's my last bit of food!"

Dillian's face curled even more into a frown. 'Another kid? For fuck's sake, this is getting ridiculous.' If they took in the kid, which knowing Smith, fucktoy, and Zane, they would, that'd bring their group number up to six.
Boss reached Dillian, dropping the bar at his feet and wagging his tail.
West brought a hand to his mouth. There seemed to be red marks all over the newcomer. He turned to Smith, 'Does he look okay to you?'

Smith grimaced, "He looks like he's been abused, if that's what you mean."
Ekmund stopped a few meters away from the group of strangers. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to fight the urge to bolt. Dammit he was so hungry... He licked his lips, "Can..." His voice was stuck in his throat from the panic, "Please, c-can I have that b-back?"

Dillian stooped and grabbed the bar. He glanced up at the kid, his face blank. It seemed like a trap to him, with just one kid who barely looked like he could make it an hour in the wastelands all alone.
He held up the bar, 'Fine. Come and get it if you want it.'
Klemens, who didn't bother saying anything for the sake of laying low, groaned. This kid looked annoying, which would suck like hell if the fag patrol decided to take him in.

Ekmund flinched and started shaking. He wasn't even comfortable standing a three feet away from them, why would he want to get closer? His stomach growled, telling him he had to.
"P-Please," he whimpered, but still started making his way cautiously toward the group.
Zane watched the kid carefully. He looked too helpless to be out in the wasteland. Something was up, and he knew that Dillian and Smith probably saw it too.

'Hey, I'm holding it out for you.' That was enough in his books. If he saw anything suspicious, he was more than willing to use the kid as a hostage.
West made a noise in his throat, then looked up to Smith. 'Why don't we just give it back to him. This is unnecessary.'

"This seems like a trap, West," Smith said quietly, not taking his eyes of the newcomer. "Don't want to take the risk of letting him get the upper hand."
Ekmund stopped within arms reach of Dillian, shaking terribly. At this distance, they could capture or kill him in the blink of an eye. He tentatively held out a hand to take the candy bar back. He was too scared to try and take it, his fingers hesitating only an inch away.

As soon as Ekmund got to close, Dillian took a small step back. With the boy's hand just out of reach, he sniffed. 'You don't look like someone who'd live around here. Are you with anyone?' He'd like to know if there was an ambush waiting over the next hill.
West whined, 'O-oh... But he looks so... Helpless.'

Ekmund pulled his hand back and held it to his chest as soon as Dillian moved. He shook his head, "N-no, I'm alone... Please, I-I just need that back." He pointed to the candy bar, but kept his eyes on the ground.
Smith shrugged, "It could be an act."
Zane kept watch on the area around them--no signs of anyone else yet...

'Really now?' Dillian lowered his arm, cocking his head to one side. He frowned, 'You aren't an escaped slave or some shit, are you? Because I do not want to deal with some angry owner right now.' Or ever, but especially right now.
Klemens was starting to get annoyed by the way they were treating the boy. It wasn't right, the kid looked helpless. Nonetheless, he just gritted his teeth and glared at Dillian.

Ekmund's heart nearly stopped. They could tell he was a slave? He had hoped to cover that up with the new clothes he'd gotten, but it seemed that his scars really were a dead give-away. And then his eyes fell on Klemens, being led on a leash--these people were owners.
His flight instincts were telling him to leave. He took a step backward, "I-I'm sorry, I'll go. Y-You can keep the food..."
"Wait," Zane said, "are you a slave?"
Ekmund kept backing away.

West's eyes widened. That couldn't be good, escaped slaves usually brought trouble with them.
Unsure of what Zane was going to do, Klemens panicked for the boy's sake. He ran towards Zane and clocked him in the face as hard as he could with his bound hands. He looked at the presumed slave for a second, and yelled, 'For shit's sakes kid, fucking run!'
Dillian tightened his grip on the rope that was attached to Klemens. Zane was not going to be happy about being hit.

Ekmund's face flushed and turned on his heel and started running. He was surprised that that boy had stood up for him, no one had ever done that for him before.
"Ah shit," said Smith. "West, here's your shining moment: should we help that kid or should we let him fend for himself in the wasteland?"
Zane held his hurting cheek after having nearly been knocked over. He looked at Klemens like he was crazy and punched him back, "The fuck was that?"

West gave Smith an incredulous look for a second, speechless. Knowing it was a guilt trip didn't help him much, for now he had to go after the kid. 'Fuck you.' He told Smith, then took after Ekmund. 'Hey! Kid! Wait, we're no harm!'
Klemens cried out and grabbed his face. 'I was trying to help the kid, fucking bastard!' He pulled his hand away from his face, and saw it was covered in blood. That, plus the pain, could only mean one thing. 'You broke my nose, fuck!'

Ekmund didn't stop, despite West's reassurances. Unfortunately, he tripped and went sprawling. He coughed, the wind knocked out of him, and tried to scramble to his feet. He flipped onto his back and whimpered, "Please leave me alone! I won't c-cause you any trouble. Please!"
Zane smirked, "Serves you right! And what the fuck makes you think we were gonna hurt him?" He smacked Klemens upside the head and then started running after West. "I'll deal with later!" He called to the teenager over his shoulder.

'Hey, hey.' West cooed, holding out a hand to Ekmund. 'We're not going to hurt you, okay? If they try, then I'll bitch them to death.' That was a promise he could keep. 'Now, you need some help up?'
Dillian sighed angrily, looking at the vehemently cursing Klemens. Except for the teenager, he was stuck with Smith. This was just great.

Ekmund shook his head, "N-No, I-I can't... can't..." He wanted to believe what West was saying, but he was too scared.
Zane approached them. He said to Ekmund, "Jeez kid, calm down. We're not gonna hurt you."
Zane's arrival did not make Ekmund feel any better, in fact, it made him much more uneasy.

'Shh,' West knelt down to Ekmund's level. That'd probably make the kid feel at least a bit more comfortable, 'If it makes you feel any better, we only have that one kid tied up because he's sort of a douchebag and tried to steal our stuff. All of us are pretty okay guys, except for Zane who is also sort of a douchebag, but he gets better with time.'

"Thanks, asshole," Zane said, refraining himself from giving West a kick as to not scare the new kid.
Ekmund blinked away the tears that had formed at the edges of his eyes, and looked toward Klemens, "H-He's a thief?" He knew that it was something that people didn't take very well, to be stolen from, but tying him up like that? It was degrading and way too close to being a slave for his liking. Still... He mumbled, looking for excuses, "But... I don't want to be a burden."

'Yeah, we can't exactly trust him. He likes to pick fights, so... yeah.' West smiled reassuredly at Ekmund. The kid reminded him of a few of his younger 'sisters' back home. 'Hey, don't worry. You won't be a burden so long as you can carry a bag, right Zane?' He looked back at the mutant, a glint in his eye that said don't disagree with me.

Zane raised an eyebrow, but shrugged, "Yeah, sure, whatever."
Ekmund bit his lip and looked at the ground, thinking it over. Finally he mumbled, "Okay. P-Promise you won't hurt me?" It was sort of a joke, but not really.

'I promise none of them will hurt you. Just, ah... Avoid Dillian, the asian guy, for a while. He got his feelings hurt and he's a bit grumpy because of that.' To put it in simple terms. West raised to his feet, and held out a hand for Ekmund to grab on.

Shakily, Ekmund took West's hand. He made sure to put West in between him and Zane, seeing as the man was rather scary looking. He followed them back toward the other men.
Zane laughed, "Looks like we've got another playmate for La Silk."
Smith rolled his eyes.

West reached behind Ekmund to give Zane a smack on the shoulder. 'No.' He said curtly, as if scolding a dog. He sure as hell didn't want Zane doing anything to the poor boy at La Silk.
'Fffffuck.' Klemens groaned as the three men joined to group. He glared at Zane, one hand over his nose. 'You! You fucking broke my nose you dickfuck!'

Ekmund flinched and at the mention of a broken nose, he covered his face with his hands, whimpering.
Zane grinned, "C'mere then, let me make it up to you and put it back into place." He walked toward Klemens, tauntingly making grabby hands. He grabbed the kid by the shoulder and said, "Now hold still."

'Shh, it's okay.' West rubbed Ekmund's back. 'Klemens just got in a fight and hurt himself is all. We're going to fix him right up.' He didn't mention that the fight happened to be with Zane. That'd probably just put a damper on Ekmund's perception of the guy.
'You are going to fucking enjoy this too much, you mutant fuck.' He wanted to slap away Zane's stupid hands, but he couldn't. If his nose stayed like this, it'd be very fucked up rather than a little fucked up. 'Fucking be careful, fuck.'

[Chocolate Kittens]

Ekmund unconsciously moved into the crook of West's arm, pressing against his side. He watched Zane and Klemens warily.
Zane grinned, "Of course I'm gonna enjoy it, baby-cakes." He pushed Klemens hands out of the way and grabbed hold of the teenager's nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Now, this is gonna hurt like a bitch, so brace yourself or something." He cackled.

'Nnn, fuck you.' Klemens grimaced, already in pain, even though Zane hadn't done anything right. He moved into a more sturdy position, knowing that he'd need to.
'You're a fucking dickshit, you know that?' He asked, which as close to a go-ahead that he was going to give.

"I sure am," Zane said, smiling. With a quick jerk of his wrist he cracked Klemens' nose into place. He kept hold of the boy's nose for a second longer and gave it a quick sneeze just get him swearing harder before pulling away.
Ekmund flinched and hid his eyes against West's shoulder.

'Ah- Shitfuckfuckowfuckyousomuchfu-' Klemens crumpled to the ground, continuing his stream of swearing. He clutched his now set nose, not feeling any gratitude towards Zane.
'Man, I thought kids learnt that swearing doesn't make you sound cooler, or more imposing by this age. It seems I was wrong.' Dillian chided, grabbing back onto Klemens' leash. He had dropped it when Zane went to fix the kid's nose, seeing as Klemens probably wouldn't run away.
West looked down at Ekmund and reassured him that he'd be okay because West.

"You forget he's got the mentality of, like, a five year old." said Zane. He patted Klemens' head, smiling triumphantly. He felt kind of bad, but he let it pass.
Smith sighed, "Well, now that that is over, shall we keep going?"

'Fuckin' hate you.' Klemens whined, still holding his face. He sure as hell didn't want to keep moving on, being in so much pain. He just stayed on the ground.
'Uh, sure. Not sure if Klemens is in ship-shape though.' West stepped back a bit and ruffled Ekmund's hair, 'Hey kiddo, we're going to get going soon. You okay with that?'

Ekmund sniffled and nodded, "Y-yeah."
Zane sighed and poked Klemens with the toe of his boot, "C'mon. Just walk it off and quit whining. I've lost tentacles and cried less."
"Just give him a minute," Smith said, putting a hand on Zane's shoulder. He knelt down beside Klemens and pulled the boy's hands away from his face. "Let me take a look." He looked over the injury carefully.

'Mmmnn-' Klemens had his hands away from his face, still groaning. He noticed it was Smith who was checking his face, and rolled his eyes. 'Fuuck I'm still angry at you.'
West smiled, and removed his hand from Ekmund's head. He frowned as soon as he saw Dillian eying them.
'Hey, scarboy.' The asian man walked up to the two, holding an extra bag. 'If you're going to be travelling with us, you've got to carry at least a small bag.' He held it out to Ekmund, still looking as mad as he did that morning.

Smith sighed, "I don't really care right now, kid." He inspected the injury, then rifled through one of his bags. He pulled out a tiny brace and some disinfectant cream. He applied them, ignoring Klemens' protests. "There. There isn't much we can do about your nose except wait for it to heal now. Just don't wack it off anyone's fist anymore okay?" He patted Klemens firmly on the shoulder before standing up.
Ekmund nodded shakily, "Y-Yes, sir." He took the bag with only a moments hesitation, carefully avoiding touching Dillian's hand. 'Cause Dillian was scary...

Klemens continued to glare at Smith. He was thankful to the man for patching up the damage that Klemens had caused, but was still too pissed off about the adjacent damage that Smith had caused to voice his thanks. That, and his pride just would not allow it. 'Fuck you then. Control you and your mutant friend's temper then, damn it.' He spat, shakily rising to his feet.
Dillian ignored Ekmund's fear, and West's subsequent matronly look that he wasn't sure how someone of their gender could muster. He shouldered his bag, and called Boss to his side rather sternly. 'Let's get a move on then, we're losing daylight.'

"Good idea," said Zane, following Dillian. He was tempted to grab Klemens' leash as he passed, but decided to leave it to Smith. A fight was a bit less likely to break out that way, and they'd been having way too many of those for one morning.
Smith took hold of Klemens' leash, sighing. "As long as you behave yourself, kid, we will too."
Ekmund followed behind the men, staying as close to West as possible without actually touching him.

Once Smith passed him, Klemens made a face and made a rather obscene hand gesture at Smith. Getting captured by these men wasn't exactly his plan. As such, he was not planning to give them any respect at all.
West scooted up to Zane's side, expecting Ekmund to follow. The boy seemed attached to his side. He laughed, 'Man our group just keeps getting bigger, hm?'

"Yeah," mumbled Zane. Now that he thought about it, he found it sort of irritating. It was like being at home again--always crowded. "Jeez, anymore people and I won't be able to get away with raping you." He looked at West and grinned, waiting for the funny reaction.
At the rape comment, Ekmund flinched and stumbled backward, bumping into Klemens. He squeaked, scrabbling away, "I-I'm sorry!"

West gave Zane an exasperated look. One would think they'd have made enough progress to get past the rape threats, but apparently not. 'Aw man, look! You scared him.' West scolded, giving Zane a look.
'Fucking wa- er.' Usually being bumped into would be enough to set Klemens off, but the kid seemed too helpless to be mad at. The teen's expression softened. 'It's, er, okay. Just watch where you're going okay?'

Zane sighed, "Sorry. Jeez. Just joking around." He looked toward the horizon where they were headed, frowning to himself.
Ekmund nodded shakily, "Y-Yes, sir." He wasn't sure what to do, so he kept his eyes on the ground, cheeks burning.
Smith and Zane shared a surprised look--wasn't the kid usually angrier than a butt-hurt girl? Smith supposed it was because the new-comer was so little and timid.

Klemens noticed the shared look between Zane and Smith, and was not going to let it pass. 'Hey, you two. I know what you two are thinking , and don't. Fucking gross.' He could only assume it was something sexual, seeing that was all that seemed to be on Zanes mind. Other than kicking the shit out of him, but he'd rather not acknowledge that happened.
'It's, uh, okay.' West muttered, pulling the collar of his sweater up. Still, he put a bit more space between him and Zane. He had to make the mutant feel at least a bit bad about what he said.

Zane squinted at Klemens. "What the fuck are you going on about?" He was a little confused. As were Smith and Ekmund. The little mutant scooted in close to West's side just to be safe.
Zane's confusion was quickly replaced with irritation. Why was West being all cuddly to the new guy all of a sudden?

'Nothing.' Klemens quickly said, blushing quite a bit. Luckily, being in the wastes for so long had given him a layer of grime on his face, so the blush wasn't visible at all.
'So, uh.' West looked down at the kid beside him. 'How long have you been in the wastes?'

Ekmund shrugged. "I don't know..." He gave it some thought before saying quietly, "Ever since my town got raided..."
Zane's anger quelled a little--the poor kid was a slave? Well, that still didn't give West the right to have his hands all over the guy, so there.

'... Man that sucks.' West mumbled, putting an arm worund Ekmund's shoulders. He didn't notice that this was annoying Zane, probably because he was ignoring the mutant altogether. 'Don't worry bud, we'll take care of you.'

Ekmund wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to squirm out of West's grasp actually--the last time someone had been this nice to him, they'd punched him in the face and taken his bags a few minutes later.

'Yo!' Kelmens yelled back at Zane. 'Obvious mutant who is not in a fight with angry black guy, do you know where we're going and when we'll get there?' Names were not really his thing.

Smith snorted. Zane raised an eyebrow, "Was that directed at me, ya little dip?"

'Yeah it was fag.' Klemens glared back at Zane, but made sure to keep his distance. Another punch to his face would be one too many. 'Actually it'd just be great if you guys just, you know, let me fucking go.'

"Ha ha, that's funny. How 'bout no?" Zane said with a sarcastic grin. It disappeared into a frown, "For your information, we're going to this place called La Silk. You'll figure it out when we get there..."

"Aaand what when we get there?' Klemens asked, his eyes. 'I mean, wah I tried to rob you. Oh well, finders keepers losers fucked. I happened to be the loser, and by the fact half of my fucking face is black and blue I think I have been sufficiently fucked. There's not much more to do with me other then letting me the fuck go. God.'
Dillian, whose silence had pretty much made him invisible to the others, snorted. 'You're not truly, or sufficiently fucked until you get locked in a room with Zane, or if you decide to sleep with Smith. Then you just get fucked over.' He mumbled the last part, but was pretty sure the man had heard him.

Smith glared back at the Dillian's head, though it was more of a sulk.
Zane looked briefly at Smith--he'd have to ask him later about that "sleep with Smith" comment. He turned his attention away and grinned over at Klemens, giving him a tug on his leash. "That's right. You'll get to spend lots of time with me before we even think of letting you go. How else will you learn your lesson?"

'What lesson? There is no damn lesson for me to learn!' Stealing was just a way for him to get by, and there was nothing wrong with that in his mind. Plus hanging out with Zane would do absolutely nothing to help him be a better member of their not-really society.
West slunk in back beside Zane, releasing Ekmund from his friendly grasp. 'What are you planning to do with the kid anyways? You aren't going to, uh...' He left out the last part, sure that Zane could fill in the blanks.

"You'll never get outta here with that mindset," Zane called over to Klemens before looking at West. He shrugged. "Maybe... I actually have no idea. I'll figure out what we're gonna do with him when we get there."

'You'll never get willingly fucked by someone with that mindset.' He shot back, no longer feeling the need to censor himself. The distance between him and Zane seemed to be enough to protect him from getting punched in the face again.
'Alright. You're not going to kill him, right? i mean, he's a kid...' West ignored the nagging thoughts in the back of his head, that reminded him of how mch of a hypocrite was for saying that. By Klemens' age he had already had a few kids.

"Yeah yeah," Zane muttered. "Naw, I wouldn't kill him... Maybe mess him up a bit, but not kill him. Just not my style." He gave West a little wink and put his arm around the guy's waist. He wondered if it was a bit possessive, but then he remembered that he didn't care.

'Oh, okay.' West blushed at Zane getting closer to him. He shrugged his shoulders, and looked over at the mutant. 'C'mon, not right now with the cuddling or whatever stuff, okay? I gotta look over Ek. The kid's afraid...' He smiled at Zane, hoping that'd be enough to get the mutant to let go.

Zane sighed and gave West a long look before letting go. He folded his arms across his chest and looked away. "Yeah whatever."
Ekmund watched West and Zane carefully. Oh no, the mean one was going to be angry with him...

'Sorry Zane, I'll make it up to you later. Maybe.' Probably not. He wasn't one to go through with what he said, most of the time. Still, he didn't want to deal with a grumpy mutant for the rest of the walk.
He turned his attention to Ekmund, and frowned. 'Hey, you okay?' He asked, 'You're walking funny, did you hurt yourself when you tripped?'

Zane made a little huffing noise and watched the two out of the corner of his eye.
Ekmund stared at West wide-eyed for a moment before looking down at the ground. "N-No." he muttered. He hated the way his feet didn't quite face frontwards or that one of them had to strain a bit to plant flat on the ground. His shins hurt, too. He said glumly, "It's how I walk."

'Oh.' West said, embarrassed. He didn't mean to bring up anything uncomfortable to the boy, which this seemingliy was. 'Sorry kid.'
Pulling a bit on his leash, Klemens snorted. 'Looks like Someone got traded in for a better model.' He may or may not be talking about Zane.

"You wanna get punched in the nose?" Zane snapped in Klemens' direction. He yanked hard on the leash.
Ekmund shrugged, "It's fine." He kept his eyes on the ground.

'What? No I- hck!' Klemens stumbled backwards, having his ever-loved leash pulled. He landed on his ass, and let out a stream of curses in Zane's general direction, which ended something like, 'As soon as I get some fucking slack I am killing your ass!'
'Oh, if you say so...' West looked down at the boy, 'If you ever need to talk or whatever I'm, uh, right here.'
He could really do nothing more than pinch the bridge of his nose at Zane and Klemens' newly forming spat.

[Chocolate Kittens]

Zane rolled his eyes at Klemens and yanked him up by the leash when he didn't get to his feet in time. "Come on, let's just get a fucking move on. And hopefully we won't pick up anymore strays on the way." he fumed.

Soon enough the sun began to set, setting the sky ablaze with nuclear yellows and blood reds. Smith sighed, looking over at Zane, "We should stop and set up camp for the night."
"Yeah," Zane muttered back. He called up to Dillian, "Yo, mutant, we're gonna stop for the day!"

On one of the bluffs, not too far from where the group was setting up camp, sat two figures. The mutant turned to the mercenary, "Hm, this could be interesting."
"I guess," his companion muttered. She put a round into her pistol and stuffed it in her belt. "Let's take them once they're asleep."

[Catprio]

Dillian glared at Zane, and walked up to him. He punched the actual mutant in the face, still not the calmest of moods. After punching Zane, he grabbed the man by the front of his shirt. 'Call me that again, and I swear to fucking god I'll make sure you won't be able to carry out any of those rape threats you so fucking love to shell out.'
West backed up, pulling Ekmund with him. He gave Smith a look, eyebrows raised. He was completely unsure of what to do.

[Chocolate Kittens]

"Holy fuck, what crawled up your ass and died?" Zane snarled, regaining his balance and pulling away from Dillian. His cheekbone ached where it had been hit, but he resisted the urge to touch it. He clenched his fists and glared at his friend. He was ready to take a swing.
Ekmund whimpered and curled against West without thinking. Smith took a step forward. He put a firm hand on Dillian's shoulder. "That's enough."

[Catprio]

West cooed a shush to Ekmund, keeping an arm around the boy. He frowned at Zane and Dillian, shame on them for scaring the kid.
Dillian had his fist raised to hit Zane again, but then Smith touched him. An immediate shiver of disgust ran down his spine. He spun on his heal, to face the taller man. 'Don't touch me.' He said, roughly brushing Smith's hand off his shoulder.
Klemens just watched this whole ordeal, happy that he wasn't the one being punched at the moment.

[Chocolate Kittens]

Smith gave Dillian a cold glare. "Look, I understand you're upset, but this isn't the way to handle it."
"Oh fuck off, Smith. Just let me kick his ass." Zane snarled.
"Same goes to you," Smith snapped back at the mutant. "Go set up camp." he turned back to Dillian. "You come with me. We need to talk."
Once the violence was over, Ekmund came back to his senses. He jumped and took a step away from West. "I'm sorry!" he squeaked. "I-I just..."

[Catprio]

Dillian paused, clenching and unclenching his fists a few times. He exhaled for an inappropriately long amount of time, possibly to calm himself, or maybe to just piss off Smith. 'Fine.' He said, looking up at Smith. 'But make whatever you have to say quick.'
'Hey, hey.' West said, letting go of Ekmund. 'It's okay, you were scared. I understand.'
The moment Klemens noticed that Zane's attention was off of Smith, he smirked at the mutant. He is the sassiest of all the bitches.

[Chocolate Kittens]

Smith led Dillian a ways off from the group. He turned to him and folded his arms across his chest, giving him a hard look. "Alright, Dillian, as shitty as this situation is, you need to get over it. Stop taking your anger out on everyone. I know it's hard... but grow up and stop acting like a little bitch." _{(oh god, let the horrible dialogue end!)}
Ekmund looked down at his feet, fidgeting. He didn't know how to react to this. He decided to change the subject. He said, "I-I'll help set up camp." Maybe if he was helpful, things would feel less strange.
Zane glared at Klemens. "What the fuck are you looking at?"

[Catprio]

'Y--' Dillian glared at Smith, teeth gritted. He couldn't think of a proper response to Smith, or any response at all. Instead, he just turned and walked away, hating how idiotic Smith made him look at points.
'Alright.' West said, giving a reassuring smile to Ekmund. 'Don't strain yourself or anything okay? We've probably still got a long walk ahead of us.'
The shit eating grin on Klemen's face remained, 'Oooh, just some bitch who always bends over to his good bud's commands.'

[Chocolate Kittens]

Smith sighed. Would Dillian ever grow up? God, he knew he was going to feel guilty for a very long time.
Ekmund nodded. "Yes sir," he said.
"C'mere, I'll break your nose again," said Zane, face pulled into a grimace.

[Catprio]

Dillian roughly grabbed the tent from Zane, giving him a look that just dared the mutant to try to pick a fight with him. He stalked further, throwing the bag down and getting to setting that shit up yeah!!!
West is boring let's just ignore him.
Klemens continued to grin at Zane, rocking back and forth on his feet.

[Chocolate Kittens]

"Okay, I'm going to break your nose then," Zane said with a grin. He was so delighted that he didn't give Dillian any more than a quick dark look. He confidently walked toward Klemens and punched him in the face. Hard.

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