Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

[Drobabes]

What had happened? What was happening? The only time Cora had seen Bowie act like that was when that one zombie had been overcome at the mall, so her thoughts took a similar path to Sayori's and she started looking around, trying to find the danger. She was so distracted by where it could be coming from that she didn't quite take into account the fact that the women had moved her away from Bowie, who for his part was looking just as confused. His previously orange head, now turned black from the skunk he had consumed, darted back and forth quickly between each of the group. His tongue was taking quick and nervous flicks, while his bright purple eyes looked upon each of them before landing on Cora with an expression that conveyed fear and sadness, as if he were seeking out her comfort.

"It's gone mental! We have to go before it eats someone!"

Bowie jerked his head towards Bridget when this was said, and then back to Cora. Suddenly he started to slither backwards as he ducked his head downward, like a beaten dog afraid of another blow. She could tell immediately that he was just as startled and scared of what had happened just now, and was unsure if he himself actually was a danger.

"What?" she responded, a bite in her tone as she suddenly pushed herself through the women.

"No, he isn't going to eat anyone, I know my snake. The only other time this has happened was when something was going on with another half zombies mind, and it affected him. They're mentally linked...somehow..."

She didn't quite understand it, but despite having just been hurt by Bowie, she still felt no fear in approaching him. She knew how strong he was, and knew that if he hadn't had some self control over it, she wouldn't be able to walk right now. More than likely, he would have easily cracked the bones in her arms and chest. He hadn't done that, though.

"Are you okay?"

Cora looked over at Sayori as she kept approaching Bowie, and answered as she bent down before him.

"Yea I'm alright, it just startled me more than anything. He accidentally squeezed some of the bruises that were already there, so that hurt a bit."

Bowie, upon hearing this, let out a sad little hiss and tried to back up even more, suddenly afraid that he might hurt his Precious one by accident. He didn't want to hurt her, or anyone, and the anger had come so fast. Even now, he couldn't quite keep the tip of his tail from rattling, though that was purely from shock and fear.

"Bowie come here sweety, it's okay. I know you didn't mean to, you just got startled."

The snake shook his head, back and forth, like a small child and refused to make eye contact with any of the women. Instead, he coiled himself into a tight ball and hid his head beneath his ribs.

 

[Poprockz]

Cora's claim that he simply "squeezed a few bruises," wasn't believed by Sayori. It wasn't as though she had imagined the sight of her shoulders practically buckling, and she herself had been squeezed tightly by Bowie when he wasn't in his right mind. The snake had squeezed her hard, and he hadn't even been as big as he was now. She could only imagine how much force he must have exerted on those poor shoulders.

Despite all this, she too knew that Bowie hadn't meant to, and the sight of him beating himself up over it made her heart ache. He had all these new changes in his body, and he didn't understand it all. While he was intelligent, he wasn't quite at the level of intelligence of an adult; he was like a scared kid.

Sayori approached Bowie and knelt next to Cora with her knees together, a sympathetic look on her face.

"Hey... There was this one time that I accidentally punched my bartender in the face when he startled me on Halloween night by accident. I apologized and made it right with him. Cora's totally okay, and we need you around to protect us from bad zombies." She glanced at Cora to see if she wanted to add to that argument.

The rest of the women watched. Lisa and Martsia looked confused and slightly concerned while the other two were still afraid of the snake. Bridget sputtered, "I'm going back inside! I need to eat something." The woman next to her, Ginger, glanced at them hesitantly before adding, "Um... I'll help her get back. It was nice meeting you." With that, they left toward the resort.

 

[Drobabes]

Sayori was given an appreciative look before she moved closer and placed a warm hand on his coil of smooth scales. It hurt her arms to move in such a manner but she didn't let it deter her.

"Sayori's right. How are we going to handle the bad zombies if we don't have you, Bowie?"

She let her thumb rub him gently, and after a time, he stopped his tail rattling and poked just the tip of his nose out, his tongue flicking rapidly. Cora figured he was most likely being comforted more by their reassurances that it was going to be okay, rather than the need to protect them. Perhaps, too, that the other two woman had left and there was hopefully no longer a smell of fear in the air.

It was a damn shame that that Bridget and Ginger had left. It felt a bit like failing the mission, though none of them could have predicted what would happen. Maybe they could fix things by having Bowie return to the room instead of being with them. Although on second thought, there was no way Quint would go for that.

"There's my handsome boy" she said softly, finally reaching out and scooping him up against her chest, which Bowie allowed. He even seemed to snuggle into her in a way, though much of his heavy body needed to be draped around her waist in order for her to be able to carry him; especially now. Once he was scooped, Cora stood with a bit of a pained grunt, then looked at the other two women and sighed.

"I'm sorry if he gave you a scare. Like I said, he's only done this one other time. I understand if you don't trust him, but if it helps at all to put things into perspective, his strength is quite extradinary and if he didn't have any control over himself then I would not be standing right now. Bowie here was able to quite easily carry a full grown man, and that was when he was almost half the size he is now. The infection really changed him, but it has also enhanced his calm and intelligent nature."

Cora cuddled him close for a moment, almost laying her chin down on top of his head as she looked in the direction of th resort, where the other two had fled.

"I understand if you don't want to be near him after that, though. I wouldn't take any offense. This is all still very new."

 

[Poprockz]

The other two women looked at each other to gauge each other's willingness to stay, and it seemed that they came to the consensus that they were both comfortable with it as they looked back at Cora.

Martsia shrugged. "That's okay- from what I understand, the zombie animals are a lot like children even if they are smarter. They're more sensitive and can get spooked pretty easily. It's probably the nearby hoard that's stressing him out and putting him on edge if I had to guess." There was sympathy in her tone and an understanding smile on her lips.

Lisa chimed in as well saying, "yeah. Plus, if an animal is really malicious, it wouldn't just be a one-off, you know? Like, they'd be like that more often than not..." Once again, the two of them traded a look. This time though, the look seemed to say, 'like a certain someone.'

For her part, Sayori was relieved that they were open-minded about this all. To have all the women leave them over the incident would have been a shame, especially since it meant that she and Cora wouldn't have had an excuse for being out and about without them.

There was the sound of flapping before a bird landed on a nearby post. It was a raven. A large raven. It was similar in size to Truffle, but this one was obviously the bigger of the two. It looked at them with intelligent violet eyes, scanning each one of them as though waiting for something. The arrival of the bird put nervous looks on the faces of the other two women and they turned to each other with hushed whispers.

"Did you remember to bring something?"

"No! What about you?"

"I didn't, but why don't you have anything?!"

"I forgot, same as you! Don't be an ass!"

Martsia turned to Cora and Sayori and continued in a hushed whisper, "do you have any food on you? Fruit? Nuts? Something?!" The women looked very concerned at this point, glancing anxiously at the bird before looking back at them.

"Um. No, I don't," Sayori replied, confused about what was going on. It seemed as though the women wanted to have something to give to the bird, but why did they seem so panicked about it? It gave her an uneasy feeling. The bird couldn't be dangerous, could it? Angelique wouldn't keep a bird around that attacked people, would she?

 

[Drobabes]

There was definitely a sense of relief from Cora as well. She hadn't realized she had been tensing up, almost holding her breath at the fear of losing the golden opportunity they had right now to freely be wandering the hotel. She was about to say something when the flapping caught her attention.

She had been thinking it was perhaps Truffle, come to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and perhaps walk with them. But no, instead it was another Raven. A very, big, raven.

Her wide eyes looked back at the other women as she shook her head before quickly looking back to the bird. This was the one that Nathaniel had warned her about, and although she doubted it would physically harm them, Cora still couldn't stop herself from squeezing Bowie a bit tightly to her chest.

The snake didn't mind this, but had turned to look when he too sensed another animal. He had been hoping it would be Truffle, but upon seeing the size of Eclair, he jerked his head back slightly and froze.

 

[Poprockz]

There was silence as they all looked at the bird and the bird looked back. She eventually said, "Rr... Treat?"

"I'm sorry, we don't have anything at the moment," Lisa answered nervously, "but I can get you something really good later!" Her tone was hopeful, though it didn't look like she believed that this gamble would work.

Indeed. The raven clicked its beak in a disappointed, yet also accusatory way. They should have been prepared with a treat- she deserved treats, after all. Eclair was quite annoyed at the lack of offerings, so she decided to do what any spoiled child would do in her situation: make them wish they had given her something.

The bird cleared her throat and first looked at Lisa before saying, "god, she's so fucking annoying..." It was a perfect imitation of Artemis's voice, down to the irritated tone of it. That single sentence made Lisa's face drop, likely wondering if the bird was insinuating that he had actually said that about her.

Turning its head to Martsia it next spoke in Nathaniel's voice, "you may want to clean yourself up a bit. You have vomit... all down your front, miss." This made the woman it was directed at blush furiously. It was clear she was embarrassed by what had been said, it likely having been a recounting of a memory she wanted to forget.

When the bird's violet eyes went to Sayori next, she felt herself tense with apprehension. What could the bird possibly say to make her upset? It wasn't as though the bird had spent much time with her.

"Do they?"

This made Sayori pale. She knew what the bird was referring to. Of course it was Angelique's voice it had spoken in, but it was basically referring to the discussion on whether her group needed her or not. Obviously the raven was implying, like Angelique had, that she had no place within their band of misfits. So this was why the women were afraid of the raven- it conjured up what it believed would unsettle, embarrass, or disturb someone.

Cora was the last one to receive their punishment. Eclair regarded her for a moment and clicked her beak before saying something in Damien's voice. "Please... Let me rest. Just for a little bit... please..." It was not a tone of voice Cora would have heard from him yet, a tone of pleading, of tired desperation. It sounded as though he was on the brink of exhaustion.

Sayori herself was shocked to hear such a thing from the bird as well. It didn't seem like Damien would have been the sort to ever beg for anything, and yet it perfectly sounded like him. Even though she had no love for the man, she had to admit that it was disturbing to hear him sound so pathetic.

 

[Drobabes]

As Eclair went down the line of women, Cora had little time to ponder on what each individual attack on them was referencing. She naturally paid a bit more attention to Sayori's part, but it was such a short line that she was unable to gleam any meaning behind it-especially without context. Then, it was her turn.

They locked eyes and for a moment Cora felt a familiarity in this raven. Not the sweet innocence of a child, no. It was something rotten, and foul. Corvids were already such intelligent creatures that sometimes it was hard to distinguish that they did not infact have the intelligence of humans. Except that this might have. It might be smarter than them all, and with the personality of a spoiled rotten child. The familiarity, then, was that of a narcissist.

When it spoke, the imitation was so spot on that both herself and Bowie had a momentary lapse and simultaneously perked up, as if Damien were really there. But then the message was delivered, and the color almost visibly drained from Cora's face. She felt woozy, sick in the stomach with a familiar heaviness, and she had to swallow several times so that she did not gag. Bowie, for his part and in response to Coras sudden drop of temperature in her hands, actually let out a small, closed-mouth hiss, directed towards Eclair. The bird was bad business, and even with all his childish world view, instinctively knew that Eclair was intentionally doing harm.

"Bowie" she said as calmly as she could, reaching up to put her hand in front of his face and pull his head back towards her, in fear that he may try to strike out at the bird. That was the last thing they needed right now.

Once that was dealt with, she looked back up to Eclair.

Cora took her time, finding her resolve before speaking. It immensely helped that this was the birds response to simply not receiving a treat. Completely and utterly spoiled; it fueled her disgust and anger though she was careful not to show it. After all, Eclair had just confirmed that she could not only go to places that others were not allowed, but also that she was willing to use their phrases and words against them. While inwardly she was reeling, violently shaking from disgust and fear of what was being done to her lover behind locked doors, she refused to let this creature weaponize her fear and repeat it back to Damien before they could rescue him.

Taking a small breath, she forced herself to smirk ever so slightly, even with the doll-like mask that had now plastered itself upon her usually beautiful soft skin, and spoke as calmly as she was able to.

"Well done. How talented you are. If I had a special treat, I would give you two. Tell me, what kind of treats do you like? A beautiful bird with such talent deserves only the best treats."

 

[Poprockz]

Eclair was simultaneously annoyed and placated. It was irritating that she had not gotten more of a reaction from the one with the snake, as she had at least expected a gasp. It made her feel petulant, her instinct being to try something else to make her react.

However she wasn’t wrong. She was indeed a smart, beautiful, wonderful, lovely, very talented bird. Distracted by the question, she shuffled on the post and made an eating motion with her foot before struggling to find the right word for it. “Sticky… sweet…” It was spoken in the raven’s own voice, a low, scratchy, yet feminine sound.

“Honey?” Sayori guessed.

An annoyed “Tsk,” was all Sayori got in response before the raven’s eyes went back to Cora. She then made a sound with her mouth that sounded like a bird eating something sticky, much like it had sounded like in the elevator when Truffle was happily eating the date she had been given.

Everyone else looked a bit confused, at a loss for what she could be referencing.

 

[Drobabes]

"Aah" Cora responded, the chewing sound helping to connect the dots back to Truffle.

"A date fruit then? Well that is a very good treat."

She looked at the other women for a brief moment, simultaneously trying to stall the birds anger while also thinking of the quickest way in which to placate it, so that they could all be done with this horrible interaction. If Cora had to hear even one more pleaded word from Damien's lips, mimicked back to her from the black creature, she wasn't sure if she would be able to keep herself from striking out and hitting the beast. And not only did she truly dread getting any of them into any kind of trouble, she also knew that Eclair didn't truly deserve that. No doubt it had been Angelique who had spoiled it absolutely rotten and twisted the animals nature.

"Let's see...how about, a raincheck? Hm? I can get you a date fruit; two, even" she said, holding up her fingers to show the number.

"When we go back inside. And later during dinner you can have them. How does that sound?"

Bowie didn't like all this attention that was being given to Eclair, and he did little to hide it as he stared the bird down from behind Cora's protective hand.

 

[Poprockz]

She wasn’t sure why this woman needed to check the rain, but she was able to grasp the amount of talons being held up. Two of the sweet, sticky treats? The bird seemed to consider this for a moment. Two was more than one, of that she was sure. Perhaps it would be okay to accept this, seeing as Cora was a new one. Yes, now she would know to always have a treat for Eclaire as she should.

“Two…. Each.” She made eye-contact with each of them. Everyone except for Bowie. The stupid, scaly worm didn’t have hands for dates, and likely wouldn’t understand what was going on anyway.

“Hmph.” Without even a farewell, the bird hopped up from the post and flew away, heading toward one of the higher resort windows. A man’s arm came out and she perched on it before the arm drew her inside.

Once the bird was gone, everyone visibly let out a breath, Sayori looking at Cora as if to say, “what the hell just happened?”

“How did you know it wanted dates?”

 

[Drobabes]

Both of them watched it fly away, and as soon as she felt it safe enough, Cora let her shoulders relax ever so slightly. She couldn't quite keep up the act anymore and her hands began to shake a bit as she blinked and fought off the moisture in her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was discuss anything about what the bird had imitated. With any of them.

She shook her head a bit towards Sayori, answering in a nonverbal 'I have no idea'. Or perhaps even, 'I have no fucking clue'. But when asked about knowing what the bird wanted for a treat, her eyes wandered back up towards where the masculine arm had reached out for Eclair.

"I got a bit lost earlier and Nathaniel had to guide me back. While we were riding the elevator down, he pulled out a date fruit and gave it to the other raven, Truffle. The sound that that just made was very similar to how Truffle sounded when she was eating her fruit."
Damien...

It was the only thought on her mind now. Just his name, repeating over and over.

What was being done to him?! Why did he sound so desperate, just to rest?

"I'm not feeling very well, all of a sudden. Would it bother anyone if we cut this a bit short for today?"

 

[Poprockz]

"No- yeah, no- that's understandable- I think that's- yea-" the two other women talked over each other, looking at each other and then clearing their throats uncomfortably. It looked as though they were simultaneously embarrassed and apologetic after all that had happened. They had been boasting about how great the resort was when a great big party-pooper had to disturb the newcomers.

"It was... good to meet you," Martsia said with a strained smile. "Why don't we show you back to where your rooms are if you tell us what the number is?"

With that, Sayori and the other two women coordinated and figured out where the room was, Sayori occasionally glancing over at Cora to find her deep in thought with an almost unreadable expression on her face. They were led into the resort and guided to the elevator, at which point they were given directions on how to get to their rooms, the group parting ways.

The two women now walked in silence toward their room, only pausing once they reached the door itself. Sayori hesitated and gave a soft knock, hoping that perhaps Quint was asleep and wouldn't hear, or that he was out hanging out with Sebastian and Vin.

 

[Drobabes]

As if he had been standing and waiting by the door the whole time, it swung open just as Sayori finished her last soft tap upon the wood. Quint was standing behind it, a concerned but relieved look on his face as he ushered the two women in with a swift hand motion. He had seen them leave the garden, but before that, had been trying to reach out and connect with Bowie to see if the two of them couldn't figure out what the heck that insane wave of anger had been about. But the snake had refused his requests to communicate, and it had definitely set him on edge. As soon as they were inside, he took a quick look up and down the hall before shutting and locking the door behind him.
He then turned around and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, a gently breeze from the balcony blew through the room. The curtains fluttered ever so slightly, and Quints nostrils flared as his eyes went a bit wide. Then he looked at the girls, one at a time, with a very difficult to read expression.

"Why...do you both smell like that?"

It was a simple question, but it was clear he expected a thorough answer. Try as they might have, they simply had not bathed themselves well enough to hide the distinct smell of salty cum.

 

[Poprockz]

Sayori jumped slightly when the door opened so fast, her hopes of delaying the inevitable being dashed with that swift movement. She shuffled in at his beckon, set the little suitcase she was holding down, and stood nervously, thinking to herself that maybe he still had some perfume smell-blindness from the mall or something. Maybe he was distracted and wouldn't notice-

"Why...do you both smell like that?"

She squirmed under his level gaze, feeling rather reluctant when it came to spilling her guts. Of course she could try to play dumb, but Quint wasn't going to buy that. He wasn't stupid and it would only delay things. Her chest clenched slightly, afraid of his judgement. She wasn't sure if she was more afraid of the disappointment in his eyes, or whether she was more worried that he would never let them out of his sight again.

"So um... Me and Cora both pursued different avenues for gathering information, but it didn't quite turn out the way either of us had planned." She fiddled with her shirt, avoiding his eyes as she spoke.

"I can't speak for Cora, but I happened to run into the mistress of the place, and she invited me for tea and a chat. I didn't want to be rude, so I accepted and we talked for a while about different things. Like she wanted to know if I wanted to stay here instead of moving on. She also said that I smelled like I had eggs in me at one point, and that only fully-turned zombies can consciously smell it, and she wanted to know how I got the eggs."

Sayori had always been a nervous talker, and things now weren't any different. Her word-diarrhea continued, spurned on by the look Quint was currently giving her.

"I didn't think it would sound feasible if I said Sebastian did it, so I told her you had done it and that I didn't want to talk about it. She then asked what my favorite animal was and I told her it was a bird, so she gave me a bird-mask and told me to meet her for a "girl's night." after we don't find Damien."

The woman swallowed hard and continued, her voice going just a bit higher in pitch. "Th-then she kissed me and I was dizzy and one thing led to another and we um. Well, we did some things. I'm not sure how it happened because my brain was all over the place, but I didn't say no, and in the moment I didn't not want to. I'm not sure why I didn't. She wanted to put eggs in me but I said no and she didn't, but she- well, it went on for a while, but after she left my head was clear, so I'm not sure how it happened."

There was silence after she finished, her body a bit rigid after having spilled her guts. Nervously, she lifted her gaze to see Quint's reaction.

 

[Drobabes]

Quint listened to her, remaining motionless and still with that ever difficult to read expression. There was a lot of information he was gathering between the lines, both of what Sayori told him, and what she didn't. Such as the fact that they had split up.

Cora, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by his attitude. She simply walked over to the chair in the corner and put Bowie down, giving her arms a bit of a rub seeing as he had been heavy to carry. As the seconds ticked by, though, she became less and less numb, and more and more pissed off.

"Do you think she drugged you?" was Quint's simple question once she was done; his voice neither harsh nor cold. He doubted it, however, as the way she explained sounded more like something to do with the zombies pheromones.

 

[Poprockz]

She had just opened her mouth to answer when there was a knock at the door, followed by a "hey! It's me, let me in!"

Obviously it was Sebastian, and Sayori glanced nervously at Quint before scuttling over to the door to open it for him. The now brunette zombie stepped in with Vin in tow, locking the door behind them. He had heard them coming into the other room, so he figured they would want to be there for the group meeting in case the girls had found some important info. When he entered the room he could smell it too, though his eyes merely flicked from Cora to Sayori. His eyebrows pinched in concern, but he didn't say anything yet. He was sure it would be addressed soon and he just hoped they were both okay.

Now that they were all gathered, Sayori turned back to Quint and cleared her throat again.

"Um. So, I don't think she drugged me. I did have tea with her, but I didn't start getting kind of foggy until she kissed me." Her eyes glanced at Sebastian and Vin with embarrassment before looking away.

"What happened?" Sebastian asked simply, his voice concerned but insistent.

"Angelique and I were... intimate." The smaller woman answered, fiddling with her shirt hem anxiously. "It was as though I was highly open to suggestion, but I was still me. I suppose it was similar to drugs, but... different."

Something clicked for Sebastian and he shook his head, scratching the back of his head. "That's... I think that's a zombie thing. Whenever I had to do the whole egg thing with Margaret, sometimes I would avoid it happening right away. But like... later she would come up to me and start trying to get me to do stuff with her and I didn't want to, but it was like... like my body wanted it, and my brain didn't have the willpower to say no."

 

[Drobabes]

Delvin stood by the door and leaned against the wall, placing his hands in his pockets since he didn't know what else to do with them. The nap and watching a movie had refreshed him enough to get a bit more of himself back to center, so he simply listened with concerned interest. When Sabastian described what he had had to endure with Margaret, his face took on a disgusted, but sympathetic look before his soft brown pools moved over to the little women.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his question laden with unspoken words. Had their host forced anything? Sure, the weird zombie stuff might have made Sayori more willing, but that didn't mean everything had been consensual.

Quint too, seemed to have the same concern, his eyes suddenly more focused as he glanced between them.

"If she hurt you..." the half zombie followed it up with, his muscles growing just a bit more tense.

Over near the balcony door, and behind her brother where he couldn't quite see her, Cora gave Quint a very sharp look before quickly passing her eyes back to the kitchen counter. Whether or not anyone had seen her do it, she didn't know. But she didn't exactly care either.

 

[Poprockz]

All this attention regarding her sexual encounter with Angelique was making her uncomfortable, but she appreciated that her friends were concerned about her. Quint was also more concerned about her than angry or disappointed as she had feared, so at least there was that.

She shook her head quickly. "I'm okay. She didn't hurt me at all. She was... I mean, it was fine." Her cheeks flushed slightly. It wasn't as though she could say that the woman had her cumming over and over again. Even if it wasn't consensual, it wasn't not consensual either. Unlike the General, she didn't hate Angelique with the same fierceness. Sure, she was annoyed that she wanted to get into Quint's pants, but- Wait a second! That was the other thing she had to warn him about.

Her head snapped up to Quint and her expression became concerned. "I almost forgot- Quint, Angelique isn't a woman! I mean, not completely. She has... well, she has a dick."

Sabastian's eyebrows furrowed, and he thought to himself that it would have been great if they had been able to warn the girls before they went out. As it was, only Quint had truly known before they left, and he hadn't seemed to be in the state to talk about shit, shaken as he was.

 

[Drobabes]

Quint relaxed as soon as she confirmed nothing too damaging or non consensual had been done to her. When she informed him of what was really in Angelique's pants, he didn't seem at all surprised, only giving a small nod of confirmation.

"I know. It was pretty obvious when she was grinding her ass on my lap..."

He couldn't get the whole sentence out of his mouth without a look of deep revolt and disgust crossing his features, and he lifted his hat off for a moment to sweep his hair back and readjust it. It was as if he were trying to physically wipe the memory from his brain.

"Did she get any information from you Sayori? I'm not mad, I just need to know how much she knows."

Cora had made her way over to get some tea, or water, or...well anything really, to distract her. When she heard her brother say that he already knew of this supposed 'dick', she lost her grip on her glass and dropped it into the sink, causing a loud ruckus. Instead of acknowledging any of the others though, she simply reached in quickly with an angry huff and yanked the cup up, turning the cold faucet water on full blast to get a drink.

 

[Poprockz]

It was at that point that Sebastian started paying more attention to Cora. The loud noise had drawn his attention, and upon further review, he found that Cora looked to be that quiet sort of pissed off where it looked like she was mildly annoyed, but could erupt any second. Why she was so angry, he wasn't sure, but hoped it wasn't due to what he could smell on her. Hopefully nothing violent had happened to Cora out there.

Sayori wasn't sure what Quint was looking for, her thoughts further being derailed by the fact that he already knew. He already knew about her gender and he was still willing to go through with the bet he made with her? She didn't want him to have to have sex with a woman who was going to bend him over and take him the way she wanted, even if she was seductive about it. The memory of Quint's blood-stained pants still haunted her, and she didn't want him to be triggered by having to engage in that sort of thing again.

"I- I don't know. She just thinks that you put eggs in me at some point, and that Sebastian has had eggs in him at one point. I mostly talked about myself and my hobbies, and she wanted me to consider staying here. That's really all I can think of. But..." Her eyes turned more concerned and she continued, "Quint... you can't go through with that bet... I don't want- You've already been through enough..." The woman wasn't quite sure how to word what she wanted to say, but she hoped he understood.

 

[Drobabes]

He crossed his arms and seemed very relieved as he gave a little nod. At least Angelique hadn't pulled some kind of mind altering bullshit and drawn any further details out of Sayori, using the sex like a truth serum. Although that fact disturbed him a bit. She had had the perfect opportunity to learn a lot, so why hadn't she? Was she that cocky? Already feeling as if she truly had won and they wouldn't be leaving?

"I don't want- You've already been through enough..."

"Hey, hey" he said, his voice reassuring as he reached out and gently ruffled her hair.

"It's not going to come to that, okay? We're going to get out of here, I promise."

His light eyes finally looked over to Cora, and he stepped around Sayori to go to her.

"Alright" he sighed.

"Your turn."

She scoffed before turning to face him, green fire blazing in those hazel eyes as she glared up and clutched the mug of cold water harshly.

"There isn't much to say. I tried to get information too. It didn't work out. I didn't outright fuck the guy, but we had to fake it so that the butler didn't suspect anything. So that's why I smell. And no, as far as I know, I didn't give them any information except for how much of a desperate piece of shit I am."

"Okay..." he started, his tone indicating he obviously didn't fully believe her, and also was concerned.

"Do you want to tell me what you found out?"

"Not much" she shrugged, her tone growing more pissed by the second.

"Angelique is running a drug operation in the background. Probably linked with Kuznet somehow. That's about as far as I got. What about you, Quint. You want to tell me why didn't tell us about Angelique's junk?"

"I don't see why that's importa-"

"Or why her spoiled pet mimicked Damien's voice in order to hurt me because I didn't have a fucking treat for it?"

Her hands were starting to shake a bit, and there was a creep of color flushing her cheeks. Quint took a step back.

"What?"

"You heard me Quinton. Her stupid fucking bird, the other one, Estaire or Ester or whatever the fuck it's name is, came out there" she almost shouted, pointing a finger out towards the balcony.

"And mimicked his voice. Perfectly."

Quint's face started to go a bit pale, and behind them, Delvin shifted uncomfortably, sharing a look with Sabastian. This wasn't good.

"What did it...what did it say?" he asked, almost not wanting her to answer.

 

[Poprockz]

“It was called ‘Eclair’ and it said something about needing to rest…” Sayori spoke up hesitantly, not wanting to speak the specific words even though she knew both she and Cora knew the exact phrase it had used. She shifted on her feet and avoided anyone’s gaze and added, “it was a perfect imitation of his voice and it sounded exhausted.”

Sabastian felt a shiver go down his spine as he looked at Vin and then back to Cora. It was one thing to hear matter-of-fact that Angelique was fucking him, but it was another to hear about how he might have been begging to rest. He knew only too well the sort of stamina and drive a fully-turned zombie could have, so he realized with concern the shape Damien might be in at the moment.

In addition, it sounded like there was more to Cora’s story than she was letting on. Who was she with when she was trying to get info? Why did she think they would give it to her?

 

[Drobabes]

As fatigued as he was, it didn't take long for Delvin to connect the dots. Once it clicked for him, he mouthed out 'what?' as he looked down at Sayori, his eyes growing a bit wide in concern and horror. But it was Cora who spoke up, her eyes having caught the shift in Sabastian's face, and then immediately going back to her brother.

"I thought there was something you weren't telling me when you came back in here and just wanted to get into the shower."

"Cora, I wasn't trying to-"

"Shut up!" she shouted.

She couldn't keep it in anymore. All the fear, all the pain, all the frustration. They were stuck here, useless, while Damien was being tortured and used. Everything that Rick had alluded too in that office had come racing to the front of her mind after they had headed out of the garden.

"You knew. You saw him, talked to him, and you kept it from me!"

Cora was in his face now, spit flying as her body shook with rage.

"What the fuck was I supposed to tell you, Cora?! Huh?! 'Ya, they have your boyfriend locked up in a dark room and are fucking him silly!' Like you would have taken that so well! You would have freaked out and probably ran out of this room-"

"I'm not a fucking child!"

"-and blown any chance we have of winning this bet! I couldn't risk you fucking it up!" he shouted, and it was the last straw.

The cup jerked up, and ice cold water splashed onto Quint's face so hard that he gasped and stumbled back. Cora sat the cup down, fearing if she didn't she might start beating him with it, and then spun on her heel and started to power walk towards the bed. Quint, having just got a shock of cold adrenaline straight to his brain and down the front of his shirt, immediately went after her.

"Oh hell no, fucking brat! You don't get to just do that!"

 

[Poprockz]

Sabastian stood up from the bed, wanting to be ready in case the fight needed to be broken up. Quint’s anger was being felt acutely though, so his own tentacles had come out, twitching in agitation as he watched the two closely. He could see both their points. If Delvin was being held prisoner, he knew that he would go through hell and high water to get him out, but one typically required a cool head to do so. Honestly though… in this fight he was leaning more toward Cora’s side. They needed to be honest with each other in order for things to work.

Meanwhile, the speed at which the fight had escalated had shocked Sayori, the woman flinching when Quint wad doused. While she sympathized with Cora, she thought it was rather fitting that Damien should experience what he himself had put others through. It seemed almost like karmic justice, in a way.

 

[Drobabes]

Delvin hadn't been expecting it either, standing up straight and away from the wall when the water was thrown. He wasn't going to tell them to stop fighting, they were siblings after all, but he was more concerned with who might come knocking on their door if the shouting got too loud.

He started to open his mouth to say something when he noticed two things. One, Sabastian's tentacles were out and Quints were not, meaning that as mad as Quint sounded, he wasn't actually that angry at his sister. Then, two, Cora was walking towards the bed instead of out of the room. She wasn't trying to leave the conflict, but escalating it.

"Crap" he hissed, hauling ass across the room and grabbing Sabastian's hand. As soon as he had a good grip, he started pulling him back towards the door. On the way, he put an arm and hand out, gesturing roughly for Sayori to move as well.

"Go, get out of the way" he said gruffly, looking back over his shoulder for the briefest of moments. And that was right when it happened.

Cora was just to the edge of the bed, closer to the pillows but still standing on the ground. She had chosen the side that was closest to the wall, though, where only one person could slide in at a time. It forced Quint to walk right where she wanted him-the foot of the bed.

"You said you're not a child and yet you pull little shit like this!" he shouted, gesturing at the wet spot on his shirt, and as he did this, Cora pivoted again and started walking past him, refusing to meet his heated gaze. It pissed him off, and he slammed one fist down on the bed before turning his torso towards her, raising an accusatory finger.

"And another thing! You-gah!"

Just as she reached the foot of the bed, she squatted and quickly grabbed both of Quint's ankles, and in one powerful jerk, used all the strength in her legs to completely knock him off balance and flip him through the air. He landed face first on the mattress, his hands scrambling to push the pillow out from underneath him so that he could breath.

Cora took advantage of his momentary distraction, placing her palms down on the edge of the bed and using a jump to essentially catapult herself up onto him. And in less than two seconds, she somehow managed to straddle him backwards, placing her legs in such a way that she pinned his arms up with her knees trapped beneath his elbows, her own ankles crossed on top of his neck so that he couldn't lift his torso, and her hands now laying flat against the small of his back.

"C-Cora! Don't!"

She didn't listen.

Using some intense stomach strength, she lifted herself up and began to wallop his sides with her closed fists, aiming for tender spots on his flesh where she knew she could bruise him. She didn't give a shit that the bone on his hips was hurting her knuckles, or that he was now kicking like a wild horse in an attempt to buck her off.

"Ow! Fuck! Knock it of-OW! CORA!"