The ground came up fast. I didn't even have the energy to flinch, just the stupid, hazy thought that the moss was probably going to be damp and smell weird. But I never hit it. A strong arm wrapped around my waist, hooking me against a solid wall of muscle and overheated skin. He'd caught me.
The demon king didn't put me down. He held me, one arm banded across my back, my feet dangling an inch above the ground. He smelled of pine and something else, something clean and sharp, like a winter morning after a lightning storm. My head lolled against his shoulder.
"Your incompetence has reached new and impressive heights," he said, the words a low murmur against my ear. His breath was warm. "Even for you."
"Maybe...if you'd stopped...for a break..." I managed, my voice a thin reed. The world was starting to tilt and spin at the edges, the green forest blurring into a smear of color.
"A king does not indulge the whims of the exhausted." He adjusted his grip, his other hand coming up to grip my chin, forcing my head up. His thumb brushed against my lower lip, a touch that was both clinical and intimate. "If you were one of my subjects I would execute you for your uselessness."
I did the only thing my dignity would allow in response to this.
I licked his thumb. On purpose.
He froze. He just...stopped moving. His whole body went rigid, a statue of carved muscle and profound offense. The air around us crackled with a sudden, dangerous tension. He looked down at me, and for the first time since I'd met him, I saw something other than bored contempt in his eyes. It was a raw, furious disbelief.
[You... you... you LICKED him?!?!? (°□°)] Angus's text box appeared, the little angel icon looking like its circuitry had just been fried.
I would have spit at him, but I was too tired for that.
And I was afraid for my teeth if I bit him.
"Disgusting." I say, before the man can manage to say...
Whatever. "You taste like pine. And bitterness."
"Insolent wretch." He finally managed to get out, the words a low, dangerous growl. He dropped me. I landed in a heap on the mossy ground, the impact knocking what little wind I had left out of my lungs.
He stood over me, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, his whole body thrumming with a fury so potent it was a physical presence.
"I can see up your-" I manage to say, but he cuts me off.
"Do not finish that sentence if you wish to draw breath." He said, though he stepped away from me - no longer straddling me. "And get your lecherous eyes away from me."
...I can't decide if it's cute or just spitefully amusing that he's that offended by being ogled.
Probably the latter.
Angus zipped down from the treetops, landing between us with a fluster of feathers and a panicked look. "Violet! Are you okay? You have to rest!"
"Don't think I have much choice..." I say, pushing myself up onto my elbows. The world was still spinning.
"She can't keep walking," Angus said, turning to face the demon king. "We need to rest! For real! She's only human. She gets tired you know!"
"Even for a human she's pathetic. What human cannot handle walking a single day?"
"ANY human?" I grumble. "I was a shut in. In another world. Do the math."
"...I have no idea what that means." The Demon King said. "Do not attempt to educate me with the nonsense of your previous life. I have no interest."
"A king should be interested in the people he rules." I mumble, because that was my one defense. My only defense.
"Don't presume to be considered one of my people." He waved a hand. "You are far unworthy." He then gestured in the vague direction of the forest floor. "We will rest here. I have grown weary of your stumbling."
It wasn't as if I could get up anyway, so his imperious declaration meant little.
I was already lying on the ground, the damp moss cool against my cheek. The forest canopy above was a dense, interlaced net of leaves, filtering the afternoon light into a soft, green-gold haze. I could hear Angus fluttering nervously nearby, a frantic, worried hum that was almost as irritating as the demon king's constant scorn.
The demon king moved with that unnerving silence he possessed. He didn't walk away; he simply became a part of the shadows, a lean, muscular shape leaning against the trunk of a massive oak tree a few feet away. He watched me, a silent, brooding presence, his purple eyes tracking my every move.
I really couldn't tell if it was curiosity, guard duty, or some kind of silent pressure that I rest faster. Maybe it was all three.
"Okay, okay, resting! Resting is happening!" Angus chirped, finally landing beside me. He patted my shoulder with a hand that was surprisingly warm. [You need food! And water! And probably a week of sleep! But let's start with food! I'll go find some berries! (｀・ω・´) ♡]
I couldn't imagine being awake by the time he made it back but...
I was too tired to try to stop him. And if he had food when I woke up...
That wouldn't be too bad. I might even get it without the demon king making complaints about basic biology.
Maybe.
Probably not.
The angel-boy flew off into the woods, leaving me alone with the murderous, half-naked demon king. The silence that settled between us was heavy, thick with unspoken threats and the lingering scent of pine and fury. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the soft sounds of the forest, the chirping of birds, the rustle of leaves. Anything but the sound of my own heartbeat, or the memory of the way his arm had felt around my waist.
...That last one...
Especially.