vatheon | How to Train Your Cyborg Dog [Open]

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How to Train Your Cyborg Dog [Open]

Who: Rinoa, Sacra (said cyborg dog) and YOU! Yes, you.
Where: In a clearing near the forest
When: Today
Style: Prose, but will match!
Status: Open~~

With her powers returned, and being able to wield her normal weapon again, Rinoa decided it was a good time to get Sacra out and do a bit of training. He was a smart dog and already well trained, but she wanted to see what else he was capable of. Without breaking him or hurting him, of course.

Said training today involved shooting projectiles out of her Blaster Edge mount (not the proper way to use it but shhh) and having him take off after them. Call it Fetch v2.0. The projectiles were a rubber material; tough enough to survive the mount but not so hard as to hurt Sacra's teeth.

The two are going at it with gusto near the forest, with Sacra tearing off after the projectiles. Once it's warmer, she plans to do this on the island, where there's more room and less protective barrier to break.

However, they will need to take a break eventually, so feel free to come say hi and chat.

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"Well, um... Barry was here. I was just playing with Sacra and he approached me."

It had started out okay, but once she realized who he was...

There was a growing pool of dread in his stomach that only doubled in size when she mentioned the demon's name. Really, he wished it had been anyone else. He didn't panic, she didn't smell injured, but he still stood and enveloped her in a protective hug.

"Are you okay? What did he say to you?" After all, Barry was just as good at screwing with people's minds as he was at ripping their bodies apart.

"I'm fine. He didn't hurt me." Rinoa hugged him backing, guilty for how worried she was making him. But it was better than hiding it, right? Especially if he found out...

"He kept saying he knows you better than anyone, and that you were both monsters and belonged together." The hand on his back tightens into a balled fist of anger at the memory.

He stroked her back in an attempt to soothe that tension. "As long as he didn't provoke you too much; he loves nothing more than to get into people's heads."

Of course, that was likely what Barry had been trying to do in his own way. He'd been hoping to say something to taint Rinoa's opinion of him. There wouldn't be a need to worry about Johnny's friends getting in Barry's way if all of his friends left him.

"He certainly tried. I was a little rattled, but if he was trying to turn me against you, he failed."

The incubus was lucky she didn't smack him, or sic Sacra on him. She was damn close, but she knew it likely would mean more injury on her or the dog's part.

"Now I know where you get all that 'I'm a monster' crap from. He's a jerk."

He chose not to comment on the monster bit. Thanks to the events of last night, he wasn't feeling very human, but he didn't want to upset her by saying something wrong.

He pulled back a bit and brought a hand around and up to tilt her chin so he could kiss her forehead.

"He is...please try to stay away from him now that you've met him, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll try to. At least I know who he is now? I'll have to talk to Selphie about it, though, so she doesn't let him in."

Which would mean Sacra having to sniff out every single person that came to the house, but it was better than letting Barry in their home.

"He did... bring up a point, though. How have you been feeding? I know you have the blood packs, but from what I remember, they kinda suck."

He looked down and away from her. "You're right, they do." They got the job done up to a point, but it was that point that caused problems, especially now that he was 'back on' human blood.

"When I first got here, I'd been on stale blood-the bloodpacks- for centuries, consequently they had made me sick and weak. I collapsed a couple months after arriving here and Jacob found me. He convinced me to feed from him...but I lost control for a moment and hurt him." That had made him feel like a monster, but even he could admit it was over a year ago now.

"It healed me, but I didn't drink from him or anyone anymore until I left and returned injured, that was when Otoha started feeding me. It wasn't a whole lot, but it was enough to sustain me." Then Otoha had left.

"Beyond that, I've drunk from one other person-a stranger-and-" He paused, wishing he could just lie, but part of him didn't want to. "Last night I was weak and drank from Barry."

He mentally winced as he realized the demon's plan too late. This was always how it went, Barry pulled just the right strings and Johnny would do exactly what he wanted. "That's probably why he mentioned it to you, he wanted you to know what I've done."

A cunning move on Barry's part for sure. Or it would have been if Rinoa was bothered by that sort of thing. After being adopted by cannibals and becoming pals with a vampire, she's learned to look at that sort of thing a lot differently.

Maybe it was just because she was naive, but so be it.

Without warning, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"If he thinks I am gonna think less of you over drinking a little blood from someone, he has a whole other thing coming to him. If you need help, if it becomes a problem, then we will figure something out. He won't turn me against you." She looked up at him, hoping he would believe her. "Family sticks together."

He was surprised by the sudden hug and even more surprised by her words, but he believed her.

Perhaps only a few months ago he wouldn't have, but that had changed and she was partly to blame for it. After a moment's pause, he wrapped his arms around her again, stronger than before.

Right in that moment he felt he could have taken Barry down just from his sheer will to protect this from him. He'd thought of his friends as his family before, but it felt almost like it was confirmed now.

"Thank you." He had a lot to thank Rinoa for, not just for calling him family, but for supporting him and being his friend and changing his mind on a lot of things. Hell, just last night he'd told Barry he wasn't a monster and meant it, he never would have believed something like that to be true if it weren't for the girl in his arms.

"Thank you, too. For being you and for being there." To her, she had only pointed out what she and so many others saw so clearly. She sort of pitied Barry for it, that he couldn't see past "what" they were and not who they were. Was it willful ignorance, or a deeply ingrained belief? She couldn't tell. And perhaps it didn't matter. Someone could only change if they wanted to. Johnny had, and that's what confirmed Rinoa's belief in him, in his humanity and as a good person.

"Don't be afraid to voice any concerns in the future to me. Remember, I got adopted by a bunch of cannibals. I'm pretty non-judgmental in the unique diets department."

That made him laugh. "You have a point there, I suppose it could be worse." He pulled back from the hug again, this time to catch her eyes so she would know he was absolutely serious about what he was about to say. "Just promise me one thing, okay? No matter what concerns I might have or how bad it is, don't try and offer your own blood. Please."

He was tired of always hurting the people he cared about and it only served as a painful reminder of how easy a thing it was to do to them if or when someone offered to feed him. He appreciated the sentiment, but that was as far as it went.

"But... I can't not do that if you're in trouble." Rinoa remembered the cravings, and how awful it could be. It had only been a week, but that had been long enough for her.

He reached up to brush some of her hair out of her face in a gentle show of affection. "I know you know what I'm capable of, physically. I don't want to hurt you...besides, your blood keeps you alive and that is far more important to me."

"You also know I can knock you back with a spell if it came down to it." She puts her hands on her hips, not liking where this might be going. "Bodies can produce more blood."

"Mmm" His tone was...an odd mixture of being less than impressed and amused. "you mean the same kind of spell you used to knock in my apartment's door?" She did have a point, that would be effective, at least.

Still.

"Even if you did offer, I'll say no, and I'll always so no. I'd rather starve." Dramatic deceleration? Maybe, but it was honest.

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How to Train Your Cyborg Dog [Open]

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