title: Sheltered aliases: [] tags: [FA] author: [AegisOfAges] id: [34646101] date: 星期五, 八月 26日 2022, 10:48:43 上午 modified: 星期五, 八月 26日 2022, 5:34:16 下午

[TOC]

Sheltered

Author: AegisOfAges Source: Sheltered

“Human, are you sure you do not feel a chill?”

It has been... quite a while since you and Puro had parted ways with the mysterious scientist. Without any way to keep track of the days, time just seemed to meld into itself as the both of you traveled, exploring ruined cities and lush forests from sunrise to sunset. Thankfully, the supplies K had given you were holding out well, especially once you and Puro took to foraging and hunting, respectively. Well, except ...

“... you are shivering again.”

... except for clothes. Vaguely, you remember a conversation you had with Puro, way back in the tower you had escaped together. Back then, you only had a single pair of shorts, the ones you woke up in. A little worn, sure, but... now, all you had was the coat of soft, white fluff coating you. At first, you thought it would be more than enough to get by, even if it needed significantly more brushing, but, lately, the days have been cooling down. The nights, more so, and it was getting harder to ignore it. Maybe it was just your size? Even with your new legs, your new wolfish self, you still only reach up to Puro’s chest... when you stand up on your tip-toes.

The feeling of Puro’s arm winding around your shoulders, a warm, half-solid squish present under its soft black fur, snaps you out of your reverie. All at once, you realize you had left the masked latex being’s question hanging. Looking up into Puro’s curiosity-tilted head, you shake your own... only for another errant breeze, rustling past the forest’s leaves, to ruffle through your fur, sending a shudder up your spine. Mildly embarrassed by your failed attempt of a fib, you murmur:

“... sorry Puro. I... might be, yes.”

The latex creature hardly seemed bothered by your façade, though. If anything, he let out a soft, bubbly giggle before shaking his head in return.

“There is no need to feel sorry, human. Here, let Puro help.”

Without losing a stride, Puro’s arm subtly tightens over your back, his paw grasping your shoulder with a comforting gentleness. Encouraging you to sidle up to his side as you both traverse the winding path ahead. A faint rustling sounds out behind you, getting a curious twitch out of your canine ears... and, with a slow swish, Puro’s big, fluffy tail curls around your upper body. Without a second thought, you hug your arms around it, pressing the fluffy bundle to your chest. So soft...

After a moment, Puro’s tail tip playfully brushes back and forth over your nose, drawing a ticklish giggle from you as you nestle your muzzle down into that living brush. After joining you with a pleased hum of his own, Puro asks:

“Do you feel better now, human?”

Looking back up into Puro’s white, cloudy eyes, you nod your head in gratitude... which earns you one of the monster’s charming smiles.

“Ah, I’m glad... Oops, sorry!”

Satisfied with a job well done, Puro’s long, bushy tail had attempted to sway all on its own... and, with you holding onto it, it very nearly caused you to stumble over your own two feet! The monster’s snug, one-armed grip tightens on you, however, keeping you steady. Pressed up to that furry side, it is hard to ignore the warmth lurking within him gladly bleeding out and into you.

“Ehhehe... Clumsy me. I’ll... try to not do that again!”

Now it was Puro’s turn to look embarrassed, his eyes squeezing shut as a subtle bead of shiny black, originating near his temple, runs down the side of his mask. Even after all this time spent together, Puro was still so shy! It was... cute, very much so. Your amused chuckle gets him to open his eyes again, and it isn’t long at all again before that bashful expression shifts back into another smile.

Turning back to the forest path ahead, the two of you continued onwards.

The sun, barely visible through the leaves overhead, is finally sinking down below the horizon. Night is approaching, yet, up ahead, you can see a rocky overhang. Sturdy boulders coupled with trees to provide cover; a perfect place to weather the night, hopefully. After all, the wind was starting to pick up again, the occasional cool gust sending waves of rustles through the forest...

Crackle, snap...

By the time you and Puro get a small fire going, the sun had finally set. Your camp, like all your past ones, was a small, humble thing. There wasn’t really much point in setting up much when wanderlust filled the both of you to bursting. Off to the side rested a few easily totable bags, filled with your various supplies and rations. Near the mouth of the small cave was where a few scavenged logs hissed and popped into the... mostly silent night sky. Despite there being only a stray cloud or three lazily drifting through the starry sea up above, there was a noticeable breeze that made the firelight dance along your shelter’s walls.

“Mhmm... nmm...”

Puro laid sprawled out near the fire, picking apart and chowing down upon a couple oblong chunks of dried rabbit meat. Drying the stuff he caught turned out to be a bit different from the fruit he had grown used to, but, thankfully, not too different. Puro appreciated the change in taste, to say the least; living off fruit and smaller white latexes must have been monotonous palate-wise. As for you, nibbling on some jerky while stargazing was a decent way to pass the time. There were still a couple black flakes here and there, but... enough traveling alongside Puro had you growing used to it.

Having finally finished his dinner, the black-furred monster slips an arm behind his head, using it as an impromptu pillow.

“Such a beautiful night! So many stars, and... the ground is so soft here...”

You nod, murmuring in agreement as you dust your hands free of any remaining jerky-bits. Puro’s cloudy eyes glinted in the firelight as he took it all in, just as awestruck now as he was the day you both escaped... yet, it seemed like tonight would be a bittersweet one. Another sudden gust of wind rushes past the cave opening... and causes your fur to bristle, your arms to clutch together. After earlier, though, you decide to be a little less shy about remedying this. It isn’t long at all before Puro notices you scooting over to his side of the fire. He turns his head over to face you.

“Oh? What is it, huma-“

Puro blinks as he cuts himself off, his ears perking up in realization. Your expression must have said it all.

“Ah! Apologies, human. I got carried away for a moment. Hmm...”

The masked creature takes a cursory look around your camp, pondering...

before he grins warmly. With his free paw, he gives his chest a pat-pat.

“Human maaayyy be a little heavy, but, how about sleeping with me tonight?”

After a pause, Puro’s smile turns a little more bashful. So expressive, even with his mask in the way...

“... it might not be the same as my old bed, but, I won’t mind. Honest!”

Well, if he put it that way... Giving Puro one of those small “if you insist” grins, you halt a moment to consider just how you were going to do this. Given where he was lying down, though... Taking care to not squish your friend, you settle down atop the monster. Your head resting against the ruff of fur at the base of his neck, your back nestled against his chest... and, with a little wriggle of your hips, you swish your snow-white tail off to the side. Wouldn’t want it to get all numb, of course!

A soft huff escapes Puro’s muzzle as he adjusts to your weight; despite being a good head or two shorter than him, you are quite dense for your size. On the flip side, lying atop him like this was... rather interesting, to say the least.

While you can’t quite remember if you ever got to sleep on a water bed before everything that had happened, this is probably as close to it you can get for the time being. Puro’s plush black fur ruffles against your white coat as you both shift, intermingling with one another. Underneath it, though, wasn’t anything solid to provide even a modicum of uncomfortable resistance; no bones, no tendons, just that half-solid, half-liquid goo. In a playful tone, the masked monster rumbles into one of your ears:

“... ah, mustn’t forget human’s blankets.”

Just like that, Puro’s arms curl around your front, gently squeezing you down against his chest. A gesture that made it all the easier to not only hear, but feel the soft, bubbly purring reverberating out from within the semi-solid creature.

Next came his own tail, Puro simply opting to lazily drape it over most of your lower body. With how much tail he had to begin with, it was practically a living blanket of sorts... and, already, you can feel yourself warming back up again. Heat, absorbed by the latex creature’s dark coloration and slow to escape his unique consistency. There was... something else, though. Another, heart-fluttering kind of warmth, deep in your chest...

“Convenient of Puro to be like this, eh, human? Just... let me know if you feel anything strange.”

There is a tinge of concern in his voice this time, yet, it didn’t seem to bother Puro too greatly... for, soon, he nuzzles his chin down between your ears, those sensitive radars flicking against the lower edge of Puro’s mask before growing used to its presence. Before the two of you laid there, wordlessly enjoying one another’s company. Puro’s gentle purring filling the cool night air as two sets of eyes, one azure and the other cloudy-white, gazed up at the countless, twinkling stars up above.

Prrrhhh...~

Time passed, minutes stretching on and on. You don’t quite know just how long you and Puro laid sprawled by the fire, drinking in the wonders of the world after dark, but, that hardly mattered. That strange feeling he warned you of never seemed to come; if anything, it felt like the time you accidentally stepped in a small pool of black latex he left behind, but, all along your back now. Significantly fluffier, too. The glowing pinpricks above were growing fuzzier, though; as your eyelids feel ever heavier, your vision blurs, darkening... and then Puro purrs into your ear:

“... thank you again, human. For everything. I’m so... so glad you chose to come with me.”

Yawning quietly, Puro’s words are enough to rouse you from the beginnings of your nap... mostly. It seems like he hadn’t noticed, but you don’t mind much.

Tilting your head back against Puro’s chest-fluff, you look up towards his mask to reply:

“I could say the same. You’ve come a long way.”

Turning your head to the side, you affectionately rub a cheek against Puro’s front, adding:

“... we’ve come a long way.”

A heartfelt chuckle would escape the masked creature, one of his paws shifting about to idly scratch over your chest with his claws. Drawing lazy trails amidst that white, curly fur coat, only to undo it all with a ruffle and repeat the process. For a time, Puro kept this up as he silently pondered something; while you couldn’t see it, his eyes had shut, closing so he could work up the resolve to say...

“... human. I’ve... been thinking about something. You remember how my kind needs a host to survive, but, only the one?”

There was a careful seriousness to Puro’s voice, as if he wanted to approach this topic slowly, deliberately. Either way, you nod your head. At some point, you had worried for Puro’s well-being; if K hadn’t donated his old bio-robot to Puro, he would have... Now, though, he was totally fine. Complete, in a way.

“Because of that, we don’t have to worry about any... accidents.”

Puro nudges down against your head with his chin to punctuate his sentence. He was right, too; before he had absorbed his host, simply tripping into him would have been catastrophic, to put it lightly. The dark latex’s ingrained instincts would have been too autonomous to hold back, even for one so intelligent.

“... and you’ve been shivering more and more lately, human. Everything we find is too worn, or too old, so...”

Again, Puro trails off, hunting for the right words he wants to say. It would have been nice to find something intact enough to take along, true, yet all of it was threadbare, burned, or both. The destruction hadn’t limited itself to just the buildings, after all, and nobody else was around yet to make more. At the same time, Puro’s indecisiveness was making you curious. Craning your head back, you look up to his mask... and, noticing this, a bead of black “sweat” rolls down his white cheek.

“... what I’m trying to say, is... What if Puro helped shelter you from the cold by... keeping you close? Just for a while?”

You furrow your brow in confusion. Wasn’t this “close” enough already? As you open your mouth to ask as much, though, Puro stammers:

“... c- closer than this, I mean. Like if I wanted to assimilate you, but, since you’ve already been transfurred and I’ve found a host, without the... changing... part.”

Maybe it was just how tired you were feeling, lazing away the rest of a long day spent traveling like this, but, was Puro...? He sounded bashful now, yet, the deliberate carefulness was still there. Would this actually work? As the gears slowly turn in your head, Puro must have assumed you were still puzzled. Not nearly as much as before, but...

“Don’t worry, human, I might have been practicing lately! Just in case. Here, let me...”

Puro reaches down to his side, out of your field of view... and, from how his other arm tenses around you, he seemed to be feeling around there, pushing.

Before a soft, wet squelch breaks the silence, the gooey creature wincing as he reaches inside of himself, right through his fur! Granted, you already knew Puro lacked much of anything in terms of internal organs, but... feeling the bump his paw made shift around underneath your lower back was odd all the same.

His eyes light up, though, as he apparently finds whatever he was looking for. Another slimy squelch signals the retreat of his paw... and then, Puro holds it up into the flickering firelight. Despite where it was rummaging around moments prior, its fur looked surprisingly dry... yet, the small object he held dripped a few droplets of viscous black goo onto your tail-blanket, soaking away out of sight.

Was that...?

“See? It is some of the rabbit meat from earlier, totally fine!”

Totally intact, yes, aside from the black ooze liberally coating it. Before you can say anything, though, Puro reaches up... and pops the morsel of jerky back into his mouth, before promptly swallowing it back down. When he finally notices you staring, the dark latex smiles sheepishly.

“... what? Why waste some of my dinner? I... promise it will be gone this time, before you...”

Puro blinks, catching himself.

“... if you want to do it. If. It is... another bold idea, I know, so...”

Puro trails off as he averts his gaze, taking a sudden interest in the way your campfire’s flames dance over the glowing logs... yet his ears remain perked up, listening for your response. If anyone else had asked you, you probably would have had second thoughts, but it was Puro offering you this. Many aspects of these semi-fluid beings were still a mystery to you, too; you had spent more time running away from them than the scientists who created and studied them. Still, if your masked friend was comfortable enough to share the idea with you, and after what you just saw... At last, you say:

“... Puro? I trust you.”

For a few moments, all that could be heard was the wind gusting away outside your makeshift shelter. The crackling of burning firewood. The rustling of fallen greenery, the chirping of stealthy crickets. Just as you suspect that Puro had somehow missed what you said, though, his arms tighten their embrace... and, when Puro looks back down to you, black “tears” are welling in his mask’s eye sockets.

“Human, I...”

In a rush, Puro tugs you up along his chest, the fluffy, black cheek underneath his mask affectionately smushing against your own! If Puro wasn’t still trying to keep his tail curled over your legs, it likely would have been wagging up a storm. As things are, its tip excitedly thumps up and down against your middle...

“... even if we’re friends, I’m still so, so... happy you can trust me like this! It means so much to this little monster...!”

Puro’s gentle, bubbly purring had faded away during his earlier spell of uncertainty, but now it had returned full-force... and then some! For a time, he simply keeps you held snugly up to him, and you happily oblige. Even if one of Puro’s joyous, viscous tears, somehow warmer than the rest of him, ends up staining your cheek his unique shade of black. Eventually, the dark latex eases up on his fond squeezing and resumes sprawling backwards.

“Now... let Puro do all the work, human. Just lie back, like I am.”

You certainly didn’t need to be told twice; it was getting late, and the living, purring “water”-bed below you wasn’t doing your drowsiness any favors... even if the removal of his hug made you acutely aware of the cool breeze once more.

Gratefully, you slump your head backwards, your arms tossed to either side...

before, after some shifting, Puro balances your arms overtop his. It wasn’t until he had done the same with your legs that you realized your hands stopped just before his elbows, your padded feet barely reaching the ends of his digitigrade thighs. A “little” monster, indeed!

“I meant... more like this. There. Now...”

Suddenly, for the first time since you had climbed onto Puro, you feel it: a slow sinking sensation, as if you just fell belly-up into a vat of sentient tar. The fur you had previously felt brushing up alongside yours now gives way to the thick, black goo filling Puro’s body, making up the latex’s very being. As the purring creature’s warm crept up along your body like a kind of physical outline, you can’t help but notice how... unhurried Puro was. In your few too-close-for-comfort brushes with the other, more hostile latexes, they had the ability to spread over something with alarming speed, and Puro was surely no different. Even now, he held himself back to help put his friend at ease...

Your hands and feet are the first parts of you to fully submerge underneath the surface of Puro’s body, sealed away in a gentle, yet possessive embrace of the latex’s own design. The way that warm, black goo seemed to stick to you made it nigh impossible to turn your head now, yet, out of the corners of your eyes, you can see how there is nothing but black fur where those ends used to be. As if they were never there in the first place... yet, reassuringly, you could still feel your hands and feet, no worse for wear. Now over halfway up your prone figure, bands and cords of sentient ooze snake up over you. One wrapping over your thigh, the next around a bicep, the next binding to your neck...

An involuntary shudder runs up and down your spine as Puro’s latex creeps far enough up your head to fully claim your ears. Already, your arms and legs have all but vanished from the outer world, yet, they hadn’t brought a sensory change such as this! All at once, the various sounds of the night grew so very muffled, almost inaudible even to your sharpened senses. It was as if you were floating on your back in a warm, serene pool, only, you were slowly but surely losing your buoyancy. All you could clearly hear now was Puro’s steady purring... and his voice, the latter coming after he leans forward to nuzzle your forehead with his chin.

“Do not worry, human. Puro will take... especially good care of you...”

Your own instincts had begun gnawing away at your mind, your heartbeat quickening along with your breathing, but, thankfully, Puro’s words had something of a soothing effect on you. That, and the dark latex’s purring sent countless gentle vibrations up and down your body, encouraging it to relax as the patch of white fur adorning Puro’s chest steadily shrank down. Moments pass, and you can finally feel that warm goo oozing up to your eyes; on impulse, you squeeze them shut...

and, not long afterwards, that thick, lukewarm liquid rises past them, stealing away the sight of the starry night sky. Nothing but inky-black darkness remains.

As the rest of your chest sinks down underneath Puro’s, his black fur reforming where yours used to be, breathing becomes a noticeably more laborious task. Not overly so, certainly far from uncomfortable, yet, now there was a constant, subtle pressure pressing in upon you. Only your muzzle remained outside of your latex-based partner now, the way it protruded from his chest ruff certainly an amusing sight... and, as that fur tickled at the corners of your mouth, you quietly stammer:

“G... Good night, Puro...”

Everything seems to freeze as your words drift up to the masked creature.

While you couldn’t see it, you had the distinct feeling that he was... smiling.

Suddenly, your arm moves all on its own, as if possessed! Having relaxed into this whole process, you had left it nice and loose, but, how could...? It all makes sense, though, when you feel Puro fondly rub over where your upper body probably was with his paw, your arm mimicking its circular motions. With how he had positioned you, you moved as he moved...

“Rest well, human...”

As the last word left Puro’s lips, he allowed the rest of you to sink away from sight, inch by inch... until, finally, the black monster was left alone in your campsite. At least, he appeared to be; while your smaller, leaner figure left almost no noticeable swells underneath Puro’s flexible surface, you were still there. Every hair, every lock of fur... and, mercifully, you could still breathe. Slow, methodical breaths, sure, but... Perhaps your nose was just buried somewhere underneath his fluffy ruff?

Everywhere else, however, is an all-encompassing layer of thick, warm goo.

Even though Puro is still lying on his back, you can’t feel the ground whatsoever.

No twigs, no pebbles... not even the spongy earth he had been complimenting earlier. Instead, you merely float in the deep, dark abyss housed within your semi-solid friend, the outside world so close yet seemingly so far away. You don’t doubt that the wind is still blowing overhead, sneaking its way between the boulders...

but you can’t feel it. At all. If anything, the latex’s inherent insulation works with your natural body heat to make things... cozier...

You lazily huff out through your nose, a kind of silent yawn. Sleep was rolling in like a heavy bank of fog; normally, you would have been dreaming long, long ago, but something special like this had called for a delay. Now, it was getting so hard to focus amidst all that purring, that sweet, soothing rumble. Just before sleep overtakes you entirely, though, your arm shifts again... before a gentle weight presses down against you. Puro crossed his arm over his lower chest... right where your heart is...

Yawning softly, Puro wakes up from a long, peaceful slumber, blinking the bleariness from his eyes. Their fire had long since burned to cold cinders, yet beams of sunshine filtering in through the trees made the mouth of their cave a perfect spot to soak in some heat. Taking a moment to simply lose himself amidst the relaxing birdsong drifting through the forest, Puro pushes up to a sitting position... a little more slowly than he would have otherwise. After all, the human still gave his body a rather... solid amount of weight, a trait he wasn’t quite used to even after a night of adjusting to it. Raising a paw up to tenderly rub where he could feel the human’s chest rhythmically rise and fall, he gave that unassuming expanse of black fur an affectionate look. Quietly giggling to himself, he whispers:

“... human is still such a sleepy head...”

Carefully rising to his feet, Puro experimentally shifts from one leg to the other. It certainly felt different, carrying the human like this... but, at the same time, it spread his weight around much more evenly than before. It made it so much easier. He... could get used to this, if the human wished to do it again.

Taking up his bag in one arm and the human’s in the other, Puro kicks some dirt over their fire’s charred logs. That done, he looks down the path ahead, peering into the distance. The human had barely stirred from his deep sleep throughout all that, something that very nearly impressed Puro. Part of him wanted to wake the human up himself, but he deserved the extra shut-eye. Plus, this morning was another cool, breezy one... and this was the perfect time for some more practice.

Nodding to himself, the dark latex strode off, his precious, sheltered charge dreaming the early hours away. Dreaming of another peaceful day spent with Puro, side-by-side...