i'm what everybody craves (o/o) (inspired by a prompt from @SwimwithGamers)

(Perhaps maybe just,,, some more kinda-fluff with the doggos and then Angelo comes in and ruins everything? That could be fun.)

(Ou definitely)

(Okay. You post next perhaps?)

The dog, quickly revealed as Triton based off the collar around its neck, was a very gentle soul. He'd curl up around Talea protectively, or gently lick at his wrists in comfort. He covered him, kept him warm, and was extremely gentle with him. He was just extremely gentle and warm with Talea. As for Tempest, the dog was certainly… Well much like her master. She was brash, occasionally snapping at Triton if he got too comfortable. She paced back and forth before settling at the door and whining softly. She looked rather sad as she waited for her master to come back.

“Hi, uh, Tempest. Wanna come up here with Triton and I? I’ll give you belly scratches, and we can cuddle together until your master comes back. I know it’s hard when you miss someone,” like I miss my family, “but you can’t wallow and besides, it’s pretty comfy here. Not like it matters but that collar looks awfully uncomfortable on you, do you want it loosened or even off?” he said, curling up beside Triton and letting his eyes close as he fell into a soothing rest, not quite sleep but getting close.

She looked up when her name was said. The two dogs were well taken care of, were well fed, their collars simply loose threads around their necks. Triton whined softly and licked at Talea's chin before glancing at Tempest who huffed and sat up but didn't move from her spot. After a moment or two she moved quietly to the bed and once again curled up over Talea, more around his legs. She kept an eye on the door, her tail flopping back and forth impatiently.

"Good… uh, good dog?" Talea said curiously, not attempting to reach out and touch Tempest. Triton seemed to tolerate his affections well enough, but he had no idea how Tempest would react to such motions and thus Talea simply allowed her to lie by him, relaxing just a bit when he realized the two probably wouldn't hurt him so long as he did as told. He wondered what Angelo would think if he saw this, him curling up with the dogs like lion and lamb. He wondered if he'd be punished for it, violence put against him like a hailstorm. He wondered, again, if he would be burned like he had been previously, if he would be torn up and abused, if Angelo really would set the dogs on him. "Yeah, you won't hurt me will you? You're just here to keep me from getting into trouble, I know. I won't do anything bad, alright?" he said, yawning some and hugging around Triton's belly as he slowly fell asleep. "Uh huh, you're just… just tryna keep Angelo and me safe, I guess. Not too bad is it?"

Tempest slowly eased into him, at least allowing him to touch the top of her head. Her eyes were always on the door though, just waiting quietly for Angelo to come back. She huffed softly at the princes words, setting her head in her paws and waiting still. As for Triton, he was happily leaning into the affection, his tail wagging. He would occasionally lick along his neck or cheek, or nudge his chin up to gently encourage him. He'd wine if Talea stopped petting him. Their fur was almost smoky, it seemed alive almost. But the dogs were quiet for a while, eagerly awaiting their masters return.

Angelo returned after a few hours or so, a fresh cut on his cheek, his eyes narrowed slightly as he walked through the halls. He made it to where the prince was being held, he looked… A bit more tired than usual. He opened the door and whistled sharply. The two dogs woke up instantly and hurried over to their masters side, barking happily. He gives them each bits of meat before glancing at the prince. "Care to explain why the ties are gone?" His voice was seething with anger.

Talea had fallen asleep with the dogs, but quickly awoke when he heard Angelo’s voice. “Not gonna answer that… stupid, lemme sleep more, doggies were nice. Comfortable, good dogs… urgh, where am I?” he blinked and looked up, only to see it was Angelo. His sleep-addled brain tended to get rude, and it did so now. “The fuck are you doing here? I thought you were just gonna leave me here to rot or som’in?”

(Bump)

(Do you possibly have any visual references for what Angelo looks like btw? Kinda wanna make a few picrews of our characters but I can’t really visualize what Angelo looks like lol.)

(Yeah! Sorry I've been busy prepping for finals this week. I'll be done on Thursday!)

(No problem! Sorry to be a bother, take all the time you need!)

(Just bumping this so I don't lose it, take your time responding!)

(Alright! I'm back lol)

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the rude attitude of the other, shaking his head a bit in disappointment. "You didn't answer my question. How did you get the restraints off?" He tilts his head, the door shutting from behind him, anger in his voice. Triton whimpered softly, nuzzling gently into his palm. He paused at that, appearing confused for a moment. His eyes grew darker. "Sit." Triton sat and glanced at Talea. "You really would prefer that, wouldn't you." He grabbed a fistful of the prince's hair and yanked his head back so that he was looking at the ceiling. "Further more, learn to hold your tongue. My father is not as merciful as I am."

Talea was currently lying down on his front, so the angle was awkward, but not unmanageable. “Well, I’m a Forest Nymph. Figure the rest out for yourself, dummy. I swear, even those rowdy centaurs could do more in the realm of thinking than you seem to be able to. Sorry, am I being rude?” he asked, yanking his head forward and out of Angelo’s grasp, a few strands of hair escaping with the movement. “I don’t care for your answer much, I just need to know exactly how far I can go before you choose to kill me instead of deal with me. Now, I’m tired, please leave me be.”

He rolled his eyes a little bit. "Fine. A different kind of chains it is then." He raised his brow a bit before a sneer came over his face. He grabbed Talea by the back of the neck, easily picking him up by the neck and tossing him to the floor. "Your parent's taught you no manners, honestly…" He rolled his eyes. The ground was hard against Talea. "Keep him on the floor. I'll be back shortly." He hissed. As he walked pass he kicked Talea right in the ribs. The door slammed shut behind him. Triton and Tempest sat at attention for a bit until Triton moved to Talea's side, gently licking at his hand.

Talea wept as Angelo left, dark tears spilling onto the hard stone floor as he beat the ground with his fists, shoving Triton out of the way as he scrambled back onto the bed. He sat there, huddled up for a time, thoughts whirling through his head. He finally settled on a conclusion-he had to seduce Angelo. He had to make the man desire him, completely and utterly. And he had to mean it. He thought of his love back home, Pragma. Love that endures, his love’s name meant, he who loves eternal. And he did love Talea, despite everything. Talea wiped away the tears, and prepared himself to find love in Angelo, love that would endure despite everything. He hoped his other love would forgive him.

Titon yelped when he was thrown back. The poor giant dog smacked his head firmly against the ground and a pained whine left his lips. Tempest leaped over to the fellow dog, gently nudging him and pressing gentle licks to his snout and whined softly. She growled and the wispy smoke around her became agitated. She lunged towards Talea, her teeth bared but was suddenly stopped by a small yip. Titon moved in front of Talea. Tempest huffed before glancing at Talea before moving to edge of the room.

The door opened, however it wasn't Angelo. It was a small girl. She looked much like her brother, the only true difference was her hair color. It was a bright red, fiery, much like her kingdom. She was small, maybe four or five. In her hands she had a small loaf of bread. She didn't speak, simply moved quietly to the bed, offering the bread to Talea before looking over the dogs, kneeling down and petting them in assurance.

Talea knocked the bread aside. They didn’t eat bread, they couldn’t eat food at all. Not since they were very small, that is. They had to be in sunlight to feed, and this room was far too dark for that. He ignored the girl, she was too young for all this, to see him in his weakness. She was supposed to be playing outside with her friends, running through the woods and jumping into great pools and having swimming contests, not wandering around this prison. “Leave. I don’t want… I don’t want you here.” Talea said weakly, covering his naked body as best he could with soft, plush arms.

The girl glanced up at him, her eyes turning faintly sad at the sight of him throwing away the bread. It had been a small gesture of kindness… She didn't speak, as much as she wished to. She could easily read lips, and he was obvious feeling hostile, but she couldn't blame him. She grabbed a blanket from a chest tucked away in a corner, pulling out a blanket. She gently, although clumsily dragged the blanket to the bed, setting it on his lap. She didn't have friends, her home was the castle, her kingdom a home of tortured souls and pain. But that didn't seem to deter her determination. She seemed in awe of Talea really. She paused before raising her hand. It was worth a try. Her hand made slow and easy to read motions.

Talea couldn’t read signage, not even that of his home kingdom, a style drastically different to Angelo’s. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand… I don’t understand you as much as I would like to. I’m sorry for lashing out, it’s just, I don’t eat the way you people do. I need sunlight, and there’s not nearly enough in here to let me so I suppose I’ll simply starve.” he said, pulling the thick, woolly blanket up around himself, backing away from the girl. He couldn’t trust her not to hurt him too, not after all of today.

The girl huffed softly in thought before pausing and exiting the room. The dogs watched her go, before returning to their post. Triton still looked like he was in pain, but he kept quiet for the most part, allowing Tempest to take the main role in watching over Talea. That's why there was two of them. The girl returned with a small book and quill in her hands. She wrote something down quickly and offered it to him. Her handwriting was very clear, which was a bit surprising. Anastasia. Her name, most likely.

“Anastasia, hm? It’s a beautiful name. My name is Talea Keo.” he pointed to himself. “Uhm, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…” he didn’t know how to phrase this without sounding rude, or worse, scared. “What does your brother, er, want from me? He seems to hate my very breathing, and I doubt he’d want someone as unwilling as me as a consort. Oh, sorry, you’re too young for all of that.” he huffed a long sigh, and leaned back on the thin, rock-hard pillows.

She smiled when her name was complimented, before tilting her head and pausing at the question. She moved to write something, hesitating a bit before writing down one words. Sad. She showed him the word before writing again. Parents thought it would cheer him up. She watched him before pausing and writing something down. He's not all bad. Although she knew that Talea probably wouldn't believe her. Most adults didn't. I am sorry. She wrote down. She didn't like seeing people in pain. Her father… was a rough man, her mother was a bit more gentle, but still had that mean streak… and her brother. She tucked some hair from her face and settles on the edge of the bed.

“Right. Not all bad, sure. Like… threatening to have his guards rape me, not all bad at all.” Talea snorted. He turned to Anastasia so she could see his words better, speaking slowly but firmly in order to give her a good impression of what he was saying. “Listen, kid, you may appreciate Angelo and everything, but I really don’t have that good of an impression of him for obvious reasons. And I’m not going to hate you for caring about him, but I am going to be wary of everyone here because as far as I’m concerned, they’re all brainwashed into respecting that pig of a man.”

She paused at that, biting her lip harshly. She nods a little bit before crawling off the bed. She set the notebook down for a minute before pacing the room. It was obvious she was trying to think. The dogs perked a bit and she startles before moving to gently tug Talea back into the floor. Angelo was coming back, based on the dogs excitement and her gentle tugs.
"Ana. What are you doing in here." Angelo's voice spoke behind them and she tensed. "You know you're not supposed to be in here." She glanced back at Angelo and signed something quickly. There was a small flash of softness in his eyes before they hardened and he signed something back. She nods before quietly exiting the room. He glances at Talea. "I thought I told you to stay on the floor." It wasn't a question.

“Hmm. I didn’t register that through the near concussion. Anyways, I thought you’d want me to be… ready for you.” Talea said, dropping the blanket to the side and getting up, approaching Angelo. “You’ve given me time to think, I appreciate that. I think I’ll accept my fate here, you’re not too bad. Not as bad as former lovers I’ve had, anyways.” fine, not as bad as Daea. That man… well, he’d known and seen too much of him. It was more psychological manipulation than anything, but a little bit of physical violence was thrown into the relationship as well. “Although, you could do to relax some. It must be so hard, all that responsibility… but I’m here for you to relieve that stress, right? So… I was thinking…” he brushed a lock of wavy pink hair aside, “you might as well start with that process now.” what was he doing? He didn’t want this. Didn’t want Angelo to touch him, use him. But all the same, he was pretty much asking for it. He tried to seem as sincere as humanly possible, and mostly succeeded in his shy smile while his tail swished back and forth at his feet.

He glared at that, rolling his eyes a bit. "I don't appreciate your tone…" He paused when Talea stood and walked towards him bare. His mind had to do a moment of reset, a flash of confusion flashing in his eyes before it returned to it's cold appearance again. Angelo was certainly something to take in. He was broad, strong, and extremely tall. A small bit of curly hair fell into his eyes as he listened to Talea speak. He took one look over Talea before looking away. "I'll pass." And there were those walls. Sex wasn't something he was often into, he needed time, and as stressed as he was, a quick fuck only delayed the stress for the evening. Besides… he didn't really feel like showing off bruises or scars at the moment. "If you're so eager, I can call someone else. But if you are doing this simply to get on my good side, it's not going to work." He shook his head. "I'm simply here to move you to my room. I have business to attend to." He juts his chin towards the blanket. "Wrap that around yourself." He hissed, "And let's get moving." He seemed even more closed off now, shutting Talea completely out. He turned sharply on his heel and towards the door, Tempest staying behind Talea to make sure he was doing as told. Titan had followed quietly after his master.

So much for that plan. At least, in some weird way, Angelo could tell he didn’t want it, which was good… to a point. He still had to find some way to get on Angelo’s good side, he’d thought this kingdom would be nothing more than a bunch of sex crazed brutes who would use anyone weaker than them to get what they wanted but apparently that was simply not the case. At least, not with Angelo. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad after all. Maybe, Angelo wasn’t the worst in his kingdom. Talea put on a sulky look anyways and wrapped the blanket loosely around his shoulders. There was no point in not continuing to try.