The Mythology Set

Queen II

Joey moaned quietly as he felt claws lightly digging into his hip, snuggling deeper into the pillows, then let out a startled bleat and sat up when the claws dug in too hard. "Agh! Ow!" He turned, scowling, but his stern look faded when he realized that his attacker was asleep. "Seto…"

Seto purred, his other hand grasping and releasing some of the blankets while he continued to knead the blond's hip. After a moment, he let out a happy mew and blinked his eyes open slowly. His lips curved into a lazy smile as he saw his Queen looking back at him, and he rolled onto his side to better face him. "G'morning…"

"Hmm." The blond smiled wryly. "It's more like late evenin', isn't it?"

The nekomata let out a questioning 'prrr?' He turned and squinted up at the skylight to see that the sky was blood red and fading darker with every minute. Humming quietly, he rolled onto his stomach and stretched, yawning widely as his tail waved from side to side. "I suppose it is…"

Joey couldn't help a smile as he watched the brunet's long, lean muscles ripple with each languid stretch. He reached out to stroke the muscles of his arm and sighed happily. He was proud to say that not only had he grown fond of the feline creature, but he'd actually grown to love him, despite his feline tendency to be egotistical and—sometimes—incredibly rude.

It was almost enough to make him forget that his title was 'Queen.'

Seto purred quietly as he watched the blond gently brush his arm, then let out a playful growl and forced the human's legs apart so he could settle between them, despite the half-hearted protest. Hissing quietly, he slid his hard shaft into the blond's still-damp entrance, reveling in the erotic, wet 'squelch' he heard from their previous rounds of sex.

He continued to purr and growl as the younger boy yowled, ears pricking forward and back with every wet, suctioning sound as he drew out of the blond and the loud, wet slap as he thrust back in. He was so happy to have such a frisky, sexy, responsive little Queen!

"Oh! Oh! Ah! Seto-! Wait!" Joey wailed helplessly as he was rocked back and forth, bleating as the brunet continued to fuck him silly despite having done precisely that a few hours ago. "Ah! Oh! Ah! Ah!" He blushed and squealed as he was rolled over and his hips propped up so his knees were planted firmly on the bed. "Oh, Seto! Wait! I-!" He yowled again as the brunet pawed at him and dug his fingers into the blankets. "Seto!"

"Mine," Seto growled, slamming into him harder. He began to purr anew as the blond screamed his climax, always proud of breaking the record of how long it took him to make his Queen come soon after waking.

While he did enjoy prolonged sex, he also loved having his mate writhe beneath him in confused ecstasy, usually still groggy and unaware that he was really experiencing it and not still dreaming. Having him so uninhibited, so free and loud, always stroked his rather large ego, and he could honestly say that his favorite part of waking up with his Queen was seeing his eyes glazed over after a round of sex, his chest heaving with exertion as cum dribbled down his thighs.

Snarling his own roar of completion, he rolled off of the blond and purred as the human's hips shook after he fell limply to the bed. His Queen was beautiful, his hips trembling and marred with scratches and gouges from being so roughly fucked.

Still purring, Seto sat up and licked the blond's cheek, then gave his ass a hearty slap. "Good evening, then."

Joey panted weakly and leaned into the nekomata's chest. "Ooh… Nn… Seto, I…" He squeaked in complaint as the brunet kissed him roughly, then sighed and allowed the brunet to roll back on top of him and hump against his stomach lightly. He wrapped his arms around the brunet's chest and sighed. "Mm…"

"Hmm. You bring out the randy old Tom in me, Joey," the nekomata cooed, then leapt from the bed and sauntered over to the cabinet that held his human clothes (which, for some reason, Joey insisted upon, and he merely agreed because the blond could yell like no one's business when he was angry or embarrassed).

"Guh-!" The blond groaned and rubbed his back with a wince as he sat up. "I didn't know cats were such horny guys…"

"Well, I have the perfect Queen to sate. You seem to underestimate your own horniness," Seto replied, grabbing a handful of clothes and walking over to scoop the human into his arms. "Let me help you. It'll take you forever to get to the bathroom on your own."

Joey grumbled in embarrassment but allowed himself to be carried into the rather large bathroom. "I still don't get why ya have such a big bathroom if ya don't even like water."

"Hmm. My Queen likes baths, so I've learned to deal with them. And I need to make sure my Queen has the best." The brunet licked his cheek again, then smiled playfully. "Even though I'm perfectly willing to lick you clean—"

"GET OUT!" the blond roared, grabbing a bar of soap and chucking it at him. He watched the feline man scamper out and huffed, still embarrassed, then sighed and leaned his face in his hand as he turned the water on.

Living with Seto and his brother was great—fun, even, when the two brothers bickered and then squabbled and began wrestling. Sometimes he even got to wrestle with them himself. It just… never seemed as genuine with him, and that made him feel left out.

He understood why they treated him that way, though. As nekomata, both Seto and Mokuba were more muscular than he was, despite his own impressive strength as far as humans went. On top of that, even in their human forms, the pair still had very sharp nails that could cut through flesh like hot knives through butter. The scratches on his hips, though deep and sometimes painful, were fairly light compared to the damage that could really be done by the feline claws.

Sometimes they'd go on walks, but he'd feel left out then, too, because Seto and Mokuba would wander around, sniffing and pouncing. Other times, they'd climb the trees nearby and walk that way, leaving him alone on the ground. There was also no way of telling when some sort of bird or rodent would pass by that they'd chase after upon sight, and he just couldn't keep up when they were following their instincts to chase like that.

He knew that Mokuba and Seto loved him to death. They proved it often, by nuzzling and hugging and kissing him (Mokuba in a more platonic way, but felines still showed affection by rubbing against each other and licking). That didn't mean, however, that he didn't feel lonely or left out.

He couldn't say anything about it, though. While he was certain that the two nekomata would be sorry, he didn't want them to feel that way, because they were just following their instincts. He also knew they'd try to change what they did, and he didn't want that either. Then they wouldn't be themselves, and he loved them the way they were.

He just didn't want to feel left out all the time.

Joey sank down in the warm water and sighed again, slapping the top of the water idly. He was glad he wasn't as lonely as he'd been in the temple. That was always a plus, he supposed.

…He didn't like this feeling, like he was holding other people back. He knew he shouldn't feel that way, that Seto and Mokuba didn't feel they were being held back at all, but the feeling just came, and he couldn't seem to shake it.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto knew something was wrong with his Queen. He just couldn't figure out what.

He'd tried to ask what was bothering him, but the blond had firmly told him nothing was wrong and he didn't appreciate being pestered. He'd tried paying special attention to him, seeing if anything was amiss, but that proved fruitless as well. He'd asked Mokuba to pester the human in his deviously innocent way, but all the younger boy had learned was that Joey got kind of agitated when he was asked questions he didn't want to answer.

Quite frankly, neither of the nekomata had known that Joey was strong enough to throw Mokuba high enough into a tree that he got stuck. That had been an eye-opener.

Seto sighed and crossed his arms, watching the blond begin to wash some of their clothes in the river. His brows furrowed together as he took in the sad expression on the human's face. He hadn't seen him that depressed since he'd lived at the temple… So was he feeling the same discomfort and loneliness he'd felt then, now?

He felt anger begin to burn in his veins. He wanted his Queen to trust him, to come to him whenever he felt sad or lonely.

This was unacceptable.

Stomping over to the human washing their clothes, he hissed, his forked tail bristling as his ears laid flat against his skull. "Tell me what's wrong right now before I have to claw the reason out of you!"

Joey blinked up at him in surprise, then glanced around them in confusion. After a moment, he looked back up at the brunet and shrugged. "…I may need to go buy more soap soon?"

"No-! That's not what I-! GAH!" Seto roared in frustration. "I didn't mean tell me what's wrong with you at the moment! I mean tell me why you're sighing so much and frowning when you think I'm not looking!"

The blond blinked again, then sighed, glancing away from him. "…Oh."

"There! That just now! You can't tell me nothing's wrong and if you try to tell me not to ask you about it anymore and give me the evil eye again, I'm going to—" The nekomata paused, frowning. "'Oh'? Just… just 'oh'?"

Joey looked back up at him and nodded. "Yes. Just oh." He looked back down at the shirt he was washing and dunked it into the river to rinse it out. "There's nothin' you can do about it, Seto. It's not somethin' you can change."

Seto scowled. "I can try, can't I? My Queen deserves to be happy!"

The blond grumbled a little at being called a queen again but decided not to start an argument about it. Instead, he threw the rinsed, soaking wet shirt over his shoulder and into the nekomata's face. "Yeah, I hear that a lot," he mumbled, grabbing a pair of pants to begin scrubbing them as well.

"Blargh! Wet! Wet on my head aaaauuugh!" The brunet flailed wildly, then tore the shirt off his head and flung it back at the human, scrambling up a tree as his tail bristled in offense. He hissed in agitation. "Dirty trick…"

Joey narrowed his eyes sourly as he pursed his lips and picked the shirt up from the dirt, throwing it back into the pile of clothes he had yet to wash. "Dirty trick my ass. I wanted ya t' hang it on the clothesline for me!"

Seto turned his head to look at the nylon cord that other clothes were already pinned up on. "…Oh."

"Idiot!" the blond snorted, scowling, then sighed again, his angry expression smoothing into a frown. "…I… I just… Sometimes I feel kinda… left out," he stated after a moment. He closed his eyes for a moment, then turned and looked up at the nekomata staring at him in confusion. "…You and Mokuba hafta treat me special, 'cause I'm not as strong or tough as you guys are, and I just… feel like I'm holdin' ya back."

The brunet leapt from his position in the tree, frowning, and came to sit beside his mate. "…You shouldn't feel that way. We don't mind holding back for you. I… I'm sorry you feel left out. Should we take our completely human forms, and—"

"No!" Joey exclaimed quickly, horrified.

He'd already mentioned to Mokuba how embarrassing it was to be seen with 'demons' or to be followed around by cats when he had to go into town to buy things, and had been told about their completely human forms. The only problem was that their completely human forms were difficult to shift out of; sometimes nekomata couldn't shift back and were trapped in that form. He did not want that to happen to either his… Tom or his little brother.

They were perfect the way they were.

"…Okay," Seto agreed after a moment, raising an eyebrow. "…I know of a way to get you the same powers. Of course, you'd still never be as powerful as a natural nekomata, but at least we'd be on an even keel."

Joey frowned and brought a hand to his chest, brows furrowing together at the thought. "…I'd… be a nekomata too?"

"To an extent. You'd never be fully nekomata—you wouldn't have a fully feline form—but you'd have feline ears and a tail and you'd be able to rough house with us without us having to hold back." The brunet scratched behind one of his ears. "I'd have to take you to Ishizu. She's the only witch I know capable of something like that." He gave the younger boy a scowl. "But you wouldn't be able to get mad at me for calling you my Queen anymore. Because then you'd really be my feline Queen."

The human sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. "Jeez. Well…" He frowned again and nibbled his bottom lip anxiously, then began a slow nod. "Yeah. Okay. I mean, I love you and your brother t' death, but… bein' able to wrestle with you guys without ya havin' t' hold back would be nice…"

Seto growled quietly. How was he supposed to not want his Queen when he was being so fucking cute! Letting out a loud yowl, he lunged at the blond and began tearing at his pants.

Joey squealed. "Seto, wait-! Don't rip m' pants! Set-! OH!"

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ishizu asked softly. "Once we do this, you won't be able to change back. You won't be able to undo the decision."

Joey bit his bottom lip nervously and nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure."

She sighed quietly, then nodded as well and lifted her hands. "I'll make it painless. You won't even know you've changed except for the surge of magic."

The blond frowned. "…Would ya have made it painful if I hadn't said I was sure?"

Ishizu shrugged. "Only if you'd waited too long to answer. I wanted you to be sure."

The younger boy sighed and nodded, tugging anxiously at the hem of the long shirt he'd been given, so the growth of his new tail wasn't impeded by his pants. "Okay, I'm ready. I think."

"Good. Here I go."

Joey shuddered as he felt warmth flow through him, beginning at his toes and flowing upward in slow waves. He moaned quietly as the heat gently forced his tense muscles to relax, almost to the point where his legs could buckle if he wasn't aware that he was standing. Sinking to his knees, he shuddered again as the magic paused at the base of his spine, seeming to elongate it and twist it about—forming, he assumed, his new tail.

Once his spine had finished twisting and stretching, he shivered as the warmth traveled up his body, pausing briefly at his jaw. He felt the muscles strengthening—he supposed so he could have a stronger bite—and his eyeteeth lengthening into fangs. It paused again at his nose, and he couldn't help a giggle as the magic tickled it, making him crinkle it up cutely. Then the heat continued up to the sides of his head, and he felt a light tingle as his human ears disappeared, quickly replaced by oscillating, fur-covered ones. He squeaked in surprise as the warmth spread to even his scalp, and he felt the prickling sensation of his hair thickening and growing longer.

Funny, he hadn't known his hair would be affected like this… Perhaps he would have been a long-haired cat if he'd been born a nekomata?

Feeling the warmth begin to fade, Joey smiled; while the change hadn't been painful (or even unpleasant, for that matter), he had always been leery of magic, because even the most practiced magicians or witches could accidentally lose control of their magic for a split-second long enough to do some major damage. His tail started to wag at the knowledge that he was finished, that he was as close to a nekomata as he'd ever be and everything had happened correctly—

The blond paused, then began to pale. Cats' tails didn't wag when they were happy.

His worry was only confirmed when Ishizu covered her mouth in surprise. "Oh dear."

Joey let out a frightened whine and scampered over to the mirror, tugging the shirt out of the way to examine his new, floppy golden tail. He tried to twist it about, like he'd seen Seto and Mokuba do, but could not. It only waved back and forth.

Ishizu frowned. "I… I guess my magic decided that you weren't cut out to be a feline, then…"

"Nngh! I'd rather be called a queen than a bitch!" The blond whimpered quietly and slumped against the mirror before jumping as they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Joey? Ishizu? Is everything alright in there?"

Joey gasped and spun around quickly, staring at the door in terror. "Ishizu, don't let him come in here! If he sees me like this—"

"Right. I'll try to explain it to him before he can come in here," she answered quickly, rushing to the door and stepping outside.

The blond turned back to the mirror and bit his bottom lip. Seto wouldn't like him like this. He was… he was a dog. And how many times had Mokuba and Seto ranted about dogs?

How they slobbered, and panted and drooled everywhere. How they would stand by their masters no matter what that master did to them, like beat them. How they were… how they were stupid and a real pain in the ass to deal with. How Seto and Mokuba were glad that they didn't have to deal with stupid dogs.

Joey sobbed and covered his mouth. Seto wasn't going to want him anymore!

He turned sharply as he heard the door crash open, ears standing up straight in shock as he found the brunet standing a few feet inside the room. His eyes were wide, and he watched the nekomata's tail bristle before his eyes as his ears laid flat against his head.

Seto let out a hiss, clawed the air in his direction, then bolted from the room. "Shit!"

Joey bit into his bottom lip as hard as he could and sank to the floor, forcing his tears back. He wasn't going to cry yet. He knew he'd have plenty of time for that later, because he'd need to find shelter and food for himself. He hugged himself and ducked his head, eyes squeezing shut as he tried to pull himself together.

He couldn't help the quiet mewl of emotional agony that escaped his lips, however, when Ishizu came in, gently placed her hands on his shoulders, and whispered an apology.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Shit!"

It had been something that Seto had been repeating ever since he'd fled Ishizu's house in terror. Something had gone wrong. Joey wasn't supposed to be a dog! He was supposed to be a cat—his beautiful Queen! He'd expected to find his mate as some kind of too-good-for-you Persian, with the way Ishizu had been prattling on, and what had he found? Dog!

…It had been instinct that had driven him to run away. He'd wanted to stay, wanted to cuddle his Queen because of the frightened, confused expression on his face. But his body had reacted at the sight of canine appendages—he'd run before he could even form the thought that it wasn't Joey's fault. It hadn't been Joey's magic that caused him to turn into a dog.

He'd run from his mate and hurt his Queen. Just because Joey had dog appendages didn't mean he'd changed. And Joey had always reminded him of a dog, with his loyalty and endless devotion…

"Shit!" He dug his claws into a tree and ripped the bark off of it angrily. "Damn it! Gah!" He was usually proud of being feline. Now, he just felt like scum.

Seto's ears flew up as he heard a quiet whimper. He paused, nails still partially dug into the tree, before carefully pulling himself free and slinking silently toward the source of the sound. When he found it, he nearly yowled in shame. His poor little Queen!

Joey was curled up in front of a little fire, knees hugged tightly to his chest. His eyes were red and swollen, eyelids sagging in exhaustion as the silence was occasionally broken by a hiccup or a whimper. He felt his tail bristle a little when he saw the golden ears that were larger and a little floppier than his own, but when he saw that they were wilting to the sides instead of standing up straight to listen for attackers, he felt his heart break a little and the weight of his guilt increase. Searching for the blond's new tail, he felt any fear or anger toward the now-canine boy fade.

His tail was curled up against his stomach. He was alone, tired, afraid. He was trembling, though whether from heartache or cold, Seto couldn't tell. He'd been rejected by his Tom, after all, so what reason did he have to do anything but… look pathetically cute and absolutely nonthreatening.

Seto's tail twitched. His feline instincts were telling him that his Queen was no longer a threat. That was good news; he didn't have to worry about fighting his instincts (which he would have done, because he'd promised his Queen that he'd take care of him, and he wasn't going to break that promise). In fact, his instincts were now telling him that the pup was no threat to him at all, because he was the submissive sort that only attacked when it felt threatened.

He was a miserable Tom, that was certain.

Prowling over to the blond, he leaned down to take in his scent. It wasn't much different from before. He just smelled a little spicier. He liked spicy. And he liked that his Queen was still covered in his scent.

Seto let out a quiet purr as he sat down behind him, gently pulling the blond onto his lap. Joey whimpered again, squirmed, but didn't put up much of a fight. When he saw who his attacker was, however, he let out a long howl of misery and buried his face in his chest. "Seto! I'm sorry!"

The brunet's purr grew louder as he began to knead the boy's sides—delicately at first, but harder when he remembered that the magic had made his body more resilient. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Neither of us knew that could have happened. I'm the one that should be sorry. I just ran away like a coward."

Joey sniffled and sobbed. "But-! But I'm not a queen anymore! I'm just an ugly little bitch-!" He yelped as the brunet bit down on his neck sharply. "Seto-!"

"You are far from an ugly little bitch. You may be a bitch, but you're not an ugly bitch." Seto sniffed in affront. "I can't have my Queen calling himself ugly. You're still as beautiful as you were before you changed. So stop calling yourself 'ugly' before I'm forced to spank it out of you."

The blond whined quietly and hid his face in the nekomata's chest. "But… but I'm not a cat, Seto! How can ya still want me when I'm not a cat like you!"

"You weren't a cat like me when you were a human," the older boy pointed out quietly. He wrapped his forked tail around the pup's waist. "I wanted you then. I still want you now. We can wrestle around and chase each other…" He cupped the blond's chin and managed a playful smirk. "And if we tried doggy style now, it could be fun."

Joey blushed and sniffled again, laying his head on the brunet's shoulder. "Yer such a pervert. I shoulda known ya just wanted me for sex again." Despite his words, though, his tail began to wag a little. "…Ya don't mind havin' a bitch for your Queen then?"

"Bitches are what dogs call their submissive partners. I am not a dog. You are my Queen. You will always be my Queen, no matter what you become," Seto stated firmly. He hugged the blond tighter and 'grrrrow'ed, then begin licking one of his ears. His new appendages didn't have his scent on them, and he needed to fix that.

But he'd leave the tail until tomorrow. Right now, he was content to just hold his Queen and lick the blond's cute ears.