Fun and Games

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Lana's grown bored of Jory, and so cast him away. With the admittedly slow busker just travelling around making music, he's unaware that there's another interested in him, for different reasons to the demon. What trouble will he get himself into this time?

Oh he was exaggerating he wasn't that hungry he was being fed regular meals after all they were just slightly smaller to make him want to behave and learn so he'd get treats. "I'm going to lift it off, you are to wait until i give you the cue to eat, move before that and the lid goes back on" she explained quite calmly, it'd take him a while to pick it up like she knew it was going to take him a while to pick up how to stay when told but she had her means of teaching him and theyd' been workng well so far. It'd been nearly a year, and so far he'd learned quite a few cues for one of his intelligence, with maybe one or two more years he'd have them all down hopefully. Once she'd gotten affirmation from the dog that he understood she lifted the cover off of the bowl immediately slamming it back down if he moved towards it at all

Whining, he sat and tried to wait, watching her closely until she moved the cover off the bowl. Trying to stay where he was, he was trembling with the effort to obey the cue like he'd learned, but the food ended up being too tempting. He shot for the food, wanting it so badly, and grumbled when he found the lid back down over the bowl. Pawing at it, he tried again to get the cover off. He was so hungry, and he hated being teased with food that he couldn't get. Pushing at the tough plastic with his nose, he tried to flip it off, sniffing around the edges in vain to find a weakness. He'd been good, she'd even said so. And somehow he was picking up the cues fast enough to make her happy with him. Eventually giving up again, he looked up at her pleadingly, whining softly. He wasn't quite sure why she was expecting him to be able to wait, he'd always had a lack of food and that meant that he had to take every opportunity to eat when he could. Who knew when the next meal was coming, after all. Still, she was his mistress, and he knew that he had to do what he was told. Trying, he managed to sit again, shuffling his paws unknowingly in anticipation.

Studying him as she watched him desperately try to get to the food, she decided that she'd try teach him a different way, she gave him the cue to eat and then lifted the plastic lid she'd begin doing that every feed time and for treats as well. Itd been a long day she'd been away for most of it with the man again, David, ugh, at the very thought of him her features creased and she moved away from the dog who was inhaling his food. Ice had given her orders to move the relationship along and that unfortunately meant inviting him around, wandering into her room and pushing open the closet she studied her various clothing items figuring out what would work. Her favourite jacket and archery gloves were well hidden away from prying eyes, they were not something she'd wear around him he'd wreck them with his greasy hands. Instead she chose something that flattered her figure and would draw him in a little, moving to stand by the fire she stared across the room at her chess board. None of the pieces had been moved in months her game frozen while she worked for ice.

Nearly inhaling the food when she finally let him, he barely noticed the quiet cue that meant he could eat. He’d learn it eventually, though it would take a while before he actually obeyed it. Food was important to him. Quickly finished, he made sure the bowl was completely clean of food before trotting to find her, sitting beside her in front of the fire to lean heavily against her. She was dressed up again, and he sighed, knowing that it would mean he’d be left alone again while she went out. You’re going out again, he said quietly, pushing his head under her hand in an attempt to have some pats before she left. Watching the fire quietly for a while, he soon looked up at her, placing a paw quietly on her foot as he leaned more on her. When will you be back?

She didn't answer, instead she rubbed his head when it was pushed under her hand and sighed softly at his question looking down at him as she felt the paw on her foot "He's coming here" she finally said after watching the flames lick the wood warmly. She rubbed his head once more and moved away from him flicking on lights, changing the position of several items within the living room. coming to her chess board on the kitchen table her features went a little colder before she swept the pieces into their box and set the old wooden board away somewhere it wouldn't be noticed easily. rearranging the rest of the house to how it would be if she really was the person she'd tricked the man into thinking she was. Brushing her blonde hair out of her face, Dani settled down infront of the fire, sitting on her knees with her legs underneath her. Reaching out she gently flicked her hands through the flames too quick for them to burn her the soft brush with danger giving her the adrenaline needed to give her energy for the night to come

Grumbling at her answer, he leaned into her pats happily half closing his eyes. Nearly falling over when she moved, he stayed where he was, watching her. He settled down to sprawl in front of the fire, resigned to being a dog until she decided to allow him back to human, and scratched absently at the collar. It was itchier than normal, and so he scratched harder, not realising the slight damage he was doing to himself. Giving a sigh, he rested his head on his paws when she finally came back, leaning against her. Does he have to come over? he asked, whining only slightly. Shuffling his position, he wriggled his way so that he could rest his head in her lap, nudging his muzzle under her hand in hope for more pats. Don’t like him. And you don’t either. He’d been able to pick up on her dislike early on, but it wasn’t like he could do anything to help chase the man away. Giving a quiet sigh, he snuggled closer to her, happy in front of the fire.

It wasn't often she allowed the dog to half get into her lap, however tonight she lifted her arm when he nestled his head into her lap. Once he was half up in her lap she stroked him quietly "I dont have any choice I belong to Ice remember?" her voice was quiet before she closed her eyes and just sat there "You can pretend to tolerate him at least, i'd prefer to have you with me when he's around than have to put you in a crate" she was talking softly, bluntly, so tired from being worked most of the time with barely any time for rest or eating let alone teaching which wa spart of the reason why he was still in his training. She gently lifted the dog up so she could wrap her arms around him and lean her face into his fur in a rare almost vulnerable moment which only showcased how much she hated the greasy male. If she was choosing ot manipulate him because she wanted to she would not be like this it all she hated being controlled and forced

Nestling close to her, he grumbled at her words. He didn’t want to pretend to tolerate the man, he wanted to scare him off so that he wouldn’t ever come back. Pushing close to her, he gave a quiet sigh, knowing that he had no real choice either. He leaned into her hug, his tail thumping lightly on the floor as he did so. She needed some time to herself to sleep and eat and rest, but he knew that he couldn’t do anything about it. eventually hiding his head under her hand, he sighed again, unsure what to do. Deciding to drop the topic of the annoyance, he chose something else to complain about. Collar’s itchy, he grumbled, moving away to scratch at his neck again. Can’t you do anything, Dani?

When he moved away she let her hands drop into her lap and sighed, glancing at the time she got up onto her feet and flicked him a quiet look the stress of days without sleep, hours without food, and months without real time to herself was taking its toll upon the female. She didn't want to throw up a facade, she wanted to curl up in bed with her dog and sleep for a while, yet she couldn't and so she slowly rose to her feet and began carefully putting together her facade visibly shutting herself away and becoming somene else entirely. A smile plastered itself onto her face and her features gentled and became a little demure as if she was a good innocent girl not the creature she was. The innocent type was the mans preferred choice after all and that was what she presented him

Grumbling softly when she didn’t answer him, he got up when she did, sticking close to her side. Pushing his head under her hand, he sighed softly, resigned to pretending for her. Maybe if he did, the man would go away faster, and he could get Dani to rest. Hoping that that would be the case, he nuzzled into her a little, wagging his tail gently before perking his ears at the firm knock on the door. A soft deep woof escaped him before he glanced up at Dani cautiously, unsure if it was allowed. But his instincts were saying to protect her, so he barked again, ready to defend her from the man that she so obviously detested.

She didn't respond to the deep bark that sounded from the dog, she didn't exactly care as long as he didn't savage the man. She spoke to him differently too "Now be good Jory, its just a friend okay, frieeend" her tone was different an the way she held herself too, walking over to the door she opened it and peeped out before smiling at the older man who clearly liked his girls about twenty years younger than himself ''thats a big dog you've got there" "yeah hes my best friend, he keeps me safe we're still working on the training but thats okay, they were going to put him down at the shelter if i didn't take him" moving bak to jory she petted his head "hes still a little wary with male strangers so probably best not to pat him" the man with silvery grey hair shook his head "no need to worry im great with dogs" he moved over to Jory and went to pat him although he stopped at the first sign that the dog showed of wanting to bite to his credit

Grumbling, he stuck close to her side, disliking the older man on the spot. The dog’s hackles lifted, a soft growl coming from the dog. Still, he managed to stop when she came back to him and patted him again. Leaning into the pat, he put his paw back on her foot and growled at the man again when he went to pat him. No pats. His teeth bared, the dog made it very clear that he wasn’t going to tolerate being touched, and planted himself firmly in front of Dani. I'll bite him if he touches me. Only his mistress was allowed to pat him. Keeping an eye on him warily, he stuck close to Dani wherever she moved, unwilling to let her out of touching reach. He didn’t like the older man whatsoever, and he stayed on edge, making a partial nuisance of himself. He wasn’t sure how much Dani would put up with before she didn’t lock him in the crate, but he liked the man even less than he liked the crate.

She didn't tell him off the entire time, internally too shut down to really care if he bit David or not, finally the man left and she had a shower before climbing into bed and curling up a little. Remembering the dog she pulled the covers back and once he'd leap up onto the bed pulled them up and cuddled into him, very tempted to let him turn human as she wanted comfort for once she cuddled as close as she could get to him. Falling asleep with him there she was conked out for a couple of days straight, the next few months included her seeing David more and more s well as her focusing on getting Jory trained when it came to food. Ice was giving her time for sleeping resting which had made things so much easier for her, although she despised david still, finally after nearly three years of training him she removed the copper collar from around his neck and spoke "You can shift human whenever you wish now" checking the time on her watch she huffed "I have to go, its date night" with that she turned and left him there, she'd refused to move in with david telling him that her dog had issues and as he was very important to her she was reluctant to overly stress him out

He'd been as good as he could whenever David was around, still intensely disliking the man. Though at least he never tried to touch him, which was the main thing. And with Dani being able to sleep more, the dog settled down slightly, not quite as clingy. By the time she removed his collar, he’d got nearly all of the cues down, still having trouble with the waiting to eat, staying, and weirdly enough rolling over for her, but he supposed that what he did have was enough for her. He could nail them most of the time, though, and he was fairly certain that she’d keep working on them with him when she could. Watching her go silently, he scratched at the thin welt that the copper had left, wondering what to do with himself now. His decision was made for him when his stomach growled. Clumsily shifting, he made for the shower first, wanting to get rid of the slight dog smell before wandering over to the kitchen and raiding the fridge. He was so hungry. With something to eat, he went and found Tui, picking up his guitar in the process. He’d missed playing, and now that he was allowed to, he wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity. “Hungry, feathers?”

Tui had been perching near the guitar protecting it just incase something turned up to try and break it. Half asleep she perked up seeing him human again and flew to sit on his shoulder, affectionately tweaking his earlobe gently she folded her wings to her sides and responded "Starved, good to see you with two feet again Jory" accepting the food that was shared with her she grumbled "She's spending the weekend with that slimeball again" she had a particular dislike of David as well and had been the one responsible for several things going wrong in his presence that she wa sfairly sure Dani knew it was her as the culprit but she hadn't been punished for it.Then again dani wasn't really into punishing shadows in the first place, hoping that dani would return home sooner than expected as the bird believed it was good for her to be around Jory she continued to eat until she was full. Burping lightly she spoke again 'Play music its been too long' Tui asked Jory hopefully

Heading into the backyard to eat, he shared his meal with Tui happily, stroking her feathers gently. He had a definite soft spot for the bird now, and it was nice to be able to be human again. Giving a sigh, he shut his eyes. “I really want to bite him,” he admitted, running his fingers lightly over the strings of his guitar and wincing. It was so badly out of tune it hurt. Humming softly, he tuned the guitar expertly and ran his fingers over the strings again, nodding. That was much better. “Sing with me then, bird?” Finding a song he wanted to play, he started it, content to sit in the sun and play like he loved doing.

Making a happy noise as she was patted the female settled down 'I want you to' she replied quietly turning her head to watch him as he brushed his fingers over the strings of the guitar. Black feathers fluffed out as the out of tune guitar sounded horrifically, happier when he tuned it and it made the correct sound she let her feathers lie back and sang along to the song when he began playing. It'd been far too long since they'd been able to do this together and she was very intent on enjoying every single last moment of it. she was fond of the man, despite his lack of wits he was kind to her and together they made music. Occasionally throwing in some of the sounds she'd learned to mimic over the years she balanced easily on his shoulder content to sing with him until dani finally returned home.

He grinned at her. "Maybe next time I will then. But she'd be pretty pissed with me if I did." He sighed, picking at the strings before singing along with the bird quietly, not really paying attention to what he as doing. He was more preoccupied with how his mistress was acting, and trying to figure out why she'd released him from being a dog before he'd nailed all of the cues. Reminded, he rubbed at his neck a little, the remnants of the copper still making him itchy, and changed songs, letting Tui sing along to this one. It was a peaceful couple of days, with him pretty much cleaning out the fridge to try and not be so thin, sharing his food as always with the songbird. He'd got the fire going and was sitting on the floor leaning against the couch with the guitar when Dani finally turned up, picking out the song absently while he watched the flames. Resting his head against the arm of the couch, he was half asleep while he played, humming along. Not hearing the door open, he sang along quietly, barely thinking about the words, and just singing the half remembered song.

The weekend had been long and dead boring, finally returning home late sunday night the first thing she did was shower and pull on her favourite things to wear that she naturally refused to wear around david. Doing up the coat she pulled on the leather arm guards that doubled as fingerless gloves, heading into the kitchen she put together a rather deadly cocktail privately rewarding herself on getting through the weekend. Wandering into the lounge she sat and took along gulp of her drink not really caring it was strong enough to make her eyes water and burn her throat as it made its descent. Her spare hand found its way into Jorys hair brushing through it, the gesture soothing her nearly as much as it soothed him. "you're human for a month to get some jobs done for me, after that you're a dog again until you're nailing all of your commands" she took another mouthful of the powerful beverage and swallowed hard "He wants the self i've put together to move in with him" Dani admitted softly before skulling the rest of the drink as quickly as she could, setting the glass on a side table next to the couch she lay on her side. Half curled up on the old but comfortable couch continung to brush her fingers through his hair, she was tired and thus was likely to have a short temper, mostly used to having the dog there to snuggle into while she slept she made do with him as a human by finger combing his hair. "you'll be rewarded for jobs well done like always" Dani added managing to sound aloof despite what was actually going through her head.

Only noticing her when she sat on the couch, he let the song trail off and looked up at her quietly. Shifting a little, he moved so that he could rest his head on her knee and resumed his playing, content to stay where he was. Watching the fire quietly, he considered what she’d said, giving a soft grumble. “Do I have to?” Looking up at her again, he studied her. “Are you going to move in with him then? You’ll have to eventually, right? Even despite the dog issues?” Not happy about the prospect, he cheered up a little when he remembered that it’d be easy to irritate the man if he was around more. Striking a new tune, he hummed along to it, stretching out to settle more comfortably. He was almost asleep as she combed through his hair, the movements reminding him of her rewards when he’d been a dog. Soon softly singing along, he grew bored after finishing that song, and set the guitar aside, leaning his head in her hand quietly. He was debating insisting upon snuggles, but she only drank when she was irritated or stressed, and he didn’t want the bad temper turned on him.

About to reply a little coldly at his grumble she paused when he asked about moving in with the slimeball, for once instead of hiding her thoughts away the tired and stressed woman allowed her shield to drop and revealed her dissatisfaction at the prospect "Yes, unfortunately, however the bright side is it wont last much longer, Ice has him where she wants him" quietly finger combing his hair she almost fell asleep to the sound of guitar and voice her pale blue eyes flickering open again when he ceased playing and set the instrument to the side. Feeling his head lean more into her hand she paused and lifted her head to study him figuring out why he had stopped "Alright" she murmured, moving as less as possible she wriggled off of the couch and yawned, sitting next to him she shamelessly leaned into him and tucked her head against him. Despite not wanting to let herself even consider it, a part of her had missed human him, even though he was more annoying, although perhaps in a way that was part of it. She wasn't sure, even now of what she felt, she had no idea what it felt like to really care for someone in a way that wasn't family. Slipping an arm around him she prodded him with her spare hand "Dont get used to this" she couldn't help the defensive words it was who she was there was some instinct that always kicked out to defend herself just incase. The idea that she even trusted him was scary, no one could be trusted apart from her father, closing her eyes she turned her face away from the fire and the thoughts, tired and with enough alcohol running through her system to allow her to seek comfort from the man.

He sighed, grumbling about moving in, although he ceased when she mentioned that it wouldn’t be for very long. Happy just resting his head against her hand, he was quietly startled when she slid off to lean against him. He looked at her silently, scared to move, and ended up just leaning against her as well, watching the fire. Squirming when she poked him, he whined a little, slightly ticklish. “Don’t tickle.” Giving a yawn, he nuzzled into her, settling closer and more comfortably, slowly falling asleep. Absently patting Tui, he yawned again and shut his eyes, happy to fall asleep on the floor. It wasn’t anything new, after all, and he really didn’t want to move. Especially with Dani being quiet and gentle with him. He was going to take advantage of that as long as he could, since he could definitely guess that she’d be getting irritated with him once they moved in with the slimeball.

Yawning, he nestled closer to her, drifting off to sleep quite comfortably. However, he was woken abruptly by the stinging in his wrist. Twitching, he managed to stop himself pulling away, guessing that she was just reminding him that he was hers, and looked down sleepily to see that she’d remarked him. Giving a quiet hum, he nodded, leaning against her again. “I know,” he murmured, yawning halfway through the sentence. “All yours forever.” too tired to think much more, he yawned again and shut his eyes, content with snuggling with her in front of the fire. He was enjoying her quiet mood, and he didn’t want to ruin it by spurting something out to annoy her, so he kept quiet, soon falling asleep on her comfortably.

"Good" she responded closing her eyes and settling herself down for sleep, surprisingly comfortable on the floor leaning into him she soon fell asleep with him and didn't wake up for quite some time happy to have him back as a person at least for a litlte while. The first one awake as usual she woke to find that the shadows had restocked the fire and a couple had tucked a blanket around them, sometime during the night they'd moved to lie properly against the floor. Tucked up against him she smiled faintly to herself, this was far nicer than what david had to offer, still in her strangely gentle mood she snuggled into him and pulled the blanket up around her shoulders rather contentedly.