Thicket of Secrets The Pleasure is All Mine

Confusion filtered through Nina's gaze as Skittles spoke. What in the high heavens was he talking about? His meal? She didn't need his meal, if anything he needed it. Then it dawned on her. . .he was repaying her. . .something she didn't need. She hadn't even finished the payment she was just giving him a small break. Opening her mouth a rough voice escaped it, "I don't need to be repayed. As long as your healthy I am being paid enough. I am giving you a break so you can withdraw from the pain. . .slightly." She knew she still had about three needles left in the boy's muzzle, but they could wait.

Soft emerald eyes watched the man in front of her. She waited though. . .was he ready for her to start pulling his muzzle out again? The thing was already starting to swell like a bristling procipine. . .oh, the irony. She tilted her head slightly, a small smile on her face as she watched Skittles. It wasn't a cruel smile, but more of a comforting smile. She wasn't going to let him down.

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

He may be moving slow Nina's smile seemed to light up the day, but her words were soothing, like mama tucking him in after a hard day's play, rinsing all of his scratches and bruises with her plush tongue. His den days seemed closer than ever lately with the realization about how much he missed her. And Mim. And perhaps even his old pack, however mean and cruel the alpha's daughter always was, never a polite word or even greeting. And yet here he was, his wounds splayed out for a stranger to tend. "But Nina is a pretty stranger...", he said aloud, not realizing he had spoken, almost trying to justify his own thoughts of discomfort and fear. "I'm ready, Nina.", he whispered, adjusting his head and focusing his vision into the background. Incapable of waiting, he knew he had to busy himself with a substitute task. His thoughts began to asperse once more into the fertile ground of his imagination, impregnating his thoughts once more into otherworldly and half-comprehensible thoughts. The world seemed to fade into black and white and at last into a still picture, the tips of Nina's fur bordering his vision with the serene darkness ahead. How could it be that he had traveled so far and that now he was here? How could this be, all of the misery and pain, and the fact that he had jumped from one fire to the next, as if a lobster trying to crawl out of this vat of boiling water and into a neighboring one that hadn't reached that temperature. What if all these things were related instead of being random events? What if he simply needed a reason and purpose behind it all and was thus trying to self-medicate? The complicated world, a sticky, silky spiderweb, himself a fly dancing on the threads. That don't mean he's going nowhere... THANK YOU JACCY

The brown confused male seemed to be thinking about something. She wasn't even sure if it had anything to even do with what she just said considering how this male processed things. After awhile he spoke, and it seemed as though he hadn't realized he had actually said them. But the words that come out of the boy's mouth made a small blush creep up her back. Pretty? She hadn't heard that from anyone here, but then again, this male, he was slightly, . .well completely dilerious.

He was ready for her to start tearing out the needles in his muzzle though, so with a sharp nod of her head she tugged on another needle, this one not as deep as the others. Almost instantly the thing popped out. Satisfied with getting another out she took yet another needle and pulled. This one came out after awhile of pulling and she spat it out next to the others. Now the next one. . .well, let's just say that when you looked at it, you could barely see the tip of the needle, that was how far in it was. Bracing herself for the pull she grasped it in her muzzle and gave a mighty pull. She felt the needle pull out some but many more pulls were going to be needed if she were going to pull this off. After several more tugs the needle finally came out and Nina twitched her ears.

Tilting her head at Skittles she spoke in a calm voice,"I am going to get you some medicine, alright? You stay here, understand?".

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

He may be moving slow Nina felt hamish, her soothing tones and way of speech and the careful precision of her yanking. The area felt inflamed and generally sore to him, but luckily for him, he could barely feel it. Having dazed off the first half of the hell-needle extractions, the second half felt like a breeze. Each pull did hurt, but the general hurting of the area overwhelmed individual tugs and caused them to feel like stings in an open flesh wound that already hurt like the dickens. He didn't realize that he was not afraid anymore, but he had long since ceased whimpering and the action didn't reach his mind again. He stared straight ahead as Nina worked away at his wounds, his thoughts once more starting blank but ending in a full slate. But this time the chalkboard of his mind ended up covered in figures and formulas and incoherent words and phrases and numbers that he didn't know how to count. It felt as if he knew no math but his brain was trying to process the contents of the last chapter of rocket propulsion and orbiting calculations. He heard her speaking, but he felt too tired to process the words, she might have been speaking Latin for all he knew. "Okay, Nina.", he mumbled back, his tongue feeling thick in his mouth. He didn't realize when she had left. But as the minutes ticked by, he became aware that he was alone. Very alone. And in pain. Rubbing his paw against his cheek, he discovered how much it hurt, but a fleeting thought told him that something even more hurty once was there but now was gone. Bewildered, he straightened himself into a sitting position, blinking profusely. This certainly was a strange place. He began to cock his head and peer at individual things as if they were aliens. The strange angle of a particular blade of grass. The darkness that swirled into a tree trunk. The hanging vines of eerie drooping qualities. "I don't feel good, Nina....", he breathed aloud. He didn't remember who Nina was, only that she was good and helpful. The world began to swim and dance around him, and his stomach twisted in response. Tail between his legs, he began to gag and retch from nausea. That don't mean he's going nowhere... THANK YOU JACCY

 As soon as Skittles agreed to stay where he was the golden beauty darted off. Her emerald eyes sparkled in delight as she sniffed the air. Willow and poppy. She needed willow and poppy. The sweet scent of willow filled her nostrils and she once again took off. Her small brown paws darted beneath the undergrowth as she ran her eyes shining. As she ran towards the willow tree she grasped a piece of loose bark from the tree and yanked hard. Soon, after many hauls on her part, she had a strip of willow. Satisfied with her job well done she sniffed the air again. Where was the poppy! She knew she had some back in her territory but she was too far away from home to find it at the moment. 

Darting around like a crazy fool she scented the air furiously and finally found it. An evil grin sprouted across her face as she hoped towards the scent, much like a rabbit. Soon the poppy plant came into sight and the bitter scent enveloped her. Picking some of the flowers from the plant, the seeds still in the flower, she took off towards where she had left the brown male. As soon as she arrived in the mall of thickets she gasped. Skittles was laying on the floor in pain. 

Dashing over to the male, the herbs secure in her mouth. She wasn't shocked that this had happened after she had thought about it. He did have needles stuck in his muzzle. Licking her paw she quickly smoothed it over her face before turning her attention back to her patient. Opening her mouth she knew she had to confront him. 

"Skittles, I need you to eat these seeds while I chew on some bark for your wounds. The seeds with help numb the pain." 

Before setting out to chew on the bark she picked a flower near her and plucked out the seeds with her claw laying them in front of Skittles. The juice caused a slight numbness to form on one of her toes but she got over the fact of it quickly. Grabbing the bark she grasped pieces into her mouth, making the bark into a smooth pulp. She only hoped this would be enough to coop the older man's pain. 

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

He may be moving slow It wasn't often that reality and fantasy felt divulsed, but the ground felt as if it had become a whirlpool. He tried to steady himself and it seemed like all eternity had passed him by as the wave finally passed. His head felt fuzzy and numb and he couldn't think as he stared blankly down at the ground. A few moments later, Nina had returned. He watched her brush the fur out of her face before getting back to business. Her voice echoed a sweet song in his ear, as if he were dead and she was summoning him back to the land of the living. In fact, it wasn't one Nina but two. He managed an apologetic smile at the twin Ninas. "Two Ninas are better than one.", he commented lethargically. He didn't really comprehend what she had said but seemed to follow the orders nonetheless, figuring the seeds placed in front of him were for eating. He took them into his mouth with this tongue and ground them into a pulp with his back teeth. Strangely, they made his mouth feel dry. Quizically, he began to wonder if his snout was even there anymore. "Nina my face fell off. Have you seen it?", he whirled around, the action causing his stomach to churn, but couldn't seem to sight anything that looked like a wolf nose and snout. He began to survey the surroundings worriedly. Where had his nose gone to? He couldn't feel it. That don't mean he's going nowhere... THANK YOU JACCY

A month ago, I got a cavity filled. It's no fun and you tend to drool. The anethesia is really miserable, it's like having your leg fall asleep, only it's your whole face and you have to keep checking that it's still there.
Two weeks ago I ate a giant jawbreaker and didn't realize that the sparkles on it were tearing the top of my tongue all up. I couldn't taste or feel anything and it was just as miserable, the whole top of my tongue was red and bleeding.

It seemed as though Skittles was having eye difficulties. Poor boy. . . He was seeing two of her, which there obviously wasn't two of her, she wouldn't really imagine having a twin version of herself, that would just end up being weird in the end. The numbing affect had obviously been taking its effect faster than she thought it would, but she was overly all pleased with it all. The male had nothing to worry about now. All he needed to do was rest. 

In a soft, soothing voice, she spoke, "Skittles, you need to rest now. I will be here, watching over you the whole time. But you need to sleep."

Nina palmed herself down right next to where Skittles was. She was going to keep her word and stick with him through the whole thing. If she didn't, what type of healer would she be? There would have been no point in helping him if she didn't wait out to see how he was doing. So she waited, hoping that soon sleep would overtake him. 

I think we should end this thread soon. What do you think? That just have been a pain in the butt though.

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

Sure, here's an ending.

He may be moving slow The voice of Nina seemed to be a feeling more than a sound for the boy who felt as though he had no face. A great many things had gone wrong today, yesterday, and all the days before that, but the ravelments of the past seemed to fade away. His brain began to feel as numb as his face, his ears seemed as foreign and detached to him as an earthworm. His nerves felt like they were on fire, and he felt antsy, restless, nervous. He wanted to gnaw his face off just to fix the problem. But even then, he could hardly think well enough to execute the task correctly. "Okay. I'll stay with you Nina...", his voice drifted off sleepily as he jumbled up words, meaning just to confirm that he'd heard her. A moment later, his eyes fluttered open again with the realization that reality was still happening, a reality that excluded his face and included a strange, foreign feeling, as if his veins were full of mercury and he was a computer instead of a wolf. He grit his teeth and tried again to sleep, but his thoughts continued to buzz around for a good five minutes. The internal battle made his tail twitch with angst now and then, but at last he found himself in a pleasant dreamworld where reality could not invade. There weren't many certain things in this world, but three things had begun to manifest in his head. One, that he was lonely. Two, that he was starving. And three that he could no longer continue to eat porcupines . This event was too traumatic, too painful, and too weakening for him. When he woke up, he'd be hungry again with one less staple to eat. Something had to change. -- fade out -- That don't mean he's going nowhere... THANK YOU JACCY