[b][u][center]Perks of Desperation
Part 5
For a-lycotonum
By Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]








The Cinna’s house ended up being…tolerable. It was not a complimentary word, but it was probably the best and most appropriate one for the place, considering that everyone in his pack had some issue or other with it. Except Orlov, perhaps, but that woman was playing everything so close to the chest that he honestly didn’t know if she had a problem or not. She was always quiet unless there was something important that he needed to know, and only then pushed to be heard. 

Piers was startled by Buck as soon as he saw the massive hound, and rather than being reassured by the fact that the dog was a former familiar, he was all the more incensed by it. He acted so offended that it was a miracle that they were tossed right out on their ears, and Vitus knew that he’d be paying the price for that later. He made a note to talk to Piers properly, and soon. 

Robin was better, but still didn’t take to the house as well as anyone would have hoped. She had that glint in her eye that he remembered from Absalom, when she had been staring down the various shipments that Brundir had ordered back to his mansion. It was the same determined look to uncover mysteries that he knew would get them in trouble, and he made a note to keep an eye on her, too. 

And then…

Then there was the other issue, the one that he hadn’t expected but should have. 

“You’re rooming with us tonight,” Marco said as soon as the other three had been shown to their rooms. 

Vitus blinked. He stuttered. He stammered. He shook his head. 

“That will be part of the terms. After everything else, you understand.”

“I - you - what?”

“Not my decision. Pollius wanted it. Demanded it. Annoyed me, too, but that’s the way it goes.”

“But -”

“We’ll see you in the bedchamber tonight.”

And before he could argue further, Marco was gone, leaving him alone in his rented room. He sat down with a thump on the bed, staring at the closed door, hardly believing what had just happened. 

What [i]had[/i] just happened? And why?

He had barely managed to get his head back on straight when the fire in the fireplace soared upward, filling the room with new heat. He looked at the orange flames as they streaked with black, and he growled deep in his throat. The darkness stepped out of the fire, and the hound form of Melchiresa looked down at him. She was as ephemeral as ever, though with greater layers of darkness about her this time around. Vitus did his best to maintain his illusion as their eyes met.

“Mistress,” he growled. 

“Hound.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Remember who is pack-mistress, and who is her hound.”

He bit off another growl, but lowered his head. He could already feel the pressure of her power pushing down on his shoulders, a warning that came before the reminder. No, no, he would obey, for now. As much as he could without making things that much worse for himself, at least. 

“What is your bidding?” he muttered. 

“That’s better.”

She stood in front of him and shoved him back. Before he could respond, he was flat on his back on the bed, and she straddled him. Her cunt, dark and puffy and heated beyond imagining, pressed flat against his sheath through his illusory clothes. The touch was enough to shatter his concentration, and he gasped as she leaned over him, looking him right in the eyes. Her gaze was fire, and her touch ice. She chuckled to herself, grinding back slowly, almost as if she’d take him. 

But she didn’t. 

“I want you to take them.”

“What - the Cinnas?”

“They are offering themselves.”

“But -”

“You will take them.” She held a clawed finger to his forehead. “You have held back. The people here do not fear demons as they should. They will learn their place, and your pack will grow.”

“They’re…they’re giving us what we need without being turned,” he said, shaking his head. “If I take them -”

“When you take them.”

“Mistress. They’re established. What if -”

“You. Will. Take them,” Melchiresa growled. 

He didn’t know how, but she’d gone from merely straddling him to pressed against him, her smoky body pressed firm against his chest and her mouth against his neck. Her growls were so much closer that it felt like she could bite through him and right to his soul, and he was so sure she would that he stiffened up, holding still. She growled in his ear, the illusion melting right off him as her power overwhelmed his, forcing him back to his hellhound form. Her claws gripped him tight.

“You think that you can do as you like…and I will allow some of that. A pack must be allowed some lead, or they will die if the pack-mistress misses something. But they must learn to obey, and you are too free. You believe that you know better than I…and that, I can’t allow.”

“Mistress - Ah!”

She had him by the balls, literally. Her fingers squeezed his furry sac, and he hissed, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. 

“You will serve. Show me that you can obey, and I will let you have some other freedoms. Disobey, and I will show you what it means to defy the Mistress of the Hunt. Understand me?”

“...Yes, Mistress…”

“Good.”

And with that, she disappeared as quickly as she’d come, disappearing into the chimney and leaving him alone. Vitus sat up, feeling the fur spreading further along his body, and growled under his breath as he knew that he’d be forced to spend the next few minutes forcing it down into his skin again. The transformation always struck hard, and always took so long to get rid of again. 

[i]Damn it…[/i]

How was he going to make this work? Did he dare actually defy her? Did he…could he?

#

Robin was back to staying with her husband, and she had to admit, it wasn’t a pleasant proposition. She had known that he’d be in a bad mood staying with magicians, but this was a new low, even for him. The once-Watchwoman sat on their bed, watching her one-armed husband pace back and forth across the fancy rug in the middle of the room, flailing and gesticulating wildly. 

“This would never stand in Absalom.”

“The gay part, or the magical part?” she asked. 

“The magical - what do you think I am, a bigot?”

“...”

“Nevermind,” he muttered, shaking his head. “But it’s wrong. How - this has to be hidden from the authorities if they’re getting away with this. The hound’s bad enough, but that other one -”

“The one that has a name?” Robin prompted.

“Ugh. Yes. Pollius,” Piers said, shaking his head. “That one. The one that moves like a slug.”

“That…is disturbing, I’ll grant you, but -”

“He’s a complete and total hedonist. You can smell the magical infestations pouring off him.”

Robin had to admit that she hadn’t noticed it herself, but Piers had always been more, ahem, sensitive to the disruptions of the ‘natural order’ than she was. He had always pushed harder for punishments for those that broke magical laws than she did, never really getting the fact that sometimes people weren’t breaking the law for pleasure. Sometimes, they did it out of necessity. 

That said, he wasn’t alone in feeling that Pollius was a bit disturbing, but still. The fact that he was so vehement about reporting them rather than finding a way to work through it was a problem. 

“Piers…Can’t you just accept it for a few days?”

“You mean like I accept [i]your[/i] infidelity?”

“...You were all but begging for him to take me that time you were there,” she muttered. 

He stopped in his tracks, whipping his head around. She didn’t know what it was in his eyes. It could have been anything, with the way that he had been staring at her lately. Rage. Sadness. Jealousy. Judgment. Any and all were possible as he glared at her, and she sighed. 

“You did, Piers.”

“He cheated. He forced it.”

“You weren’t enchanted to like it.”

“I [i]didn’t[/i] like it.”

“Who’s the one lying now?”

“I -”

“What’s it going to take for you to admit what you are?” she asked. “You’ve been fighting me on everything, ever since we left Absalom. What will it take for you to work with me again?”

“...”

“I just…I don’t know what I want, Piers, but I know that we can’t keep doing this. It’s killing whatever we have left. Can’t you…can’t you find it in your heart to understand?”

“Understand what?”

“That maybe, just maybe, not everything in the world works the way you think it should.”

“...Then that’s all the more reason that I should change it, isn’t it?”

“Piers -”

“No, this time, you listen to me.”

It was the first time that he had been so pushy since before Vitus had come into their lives and upended it. Much as she wanted to snarl at him for it, it was better than him slipping into another depressed rant. She waved at him to continue, and oh, continue he did. 

“I don’t know what you feel anymore, Robin, but I’m still a Watchman. I’m still a Commander. I had responsibilities -”

“Had, Piers, had.”

“Shut up. Just…shut the hell up.”

She did. He continued. 

“I had responsibilities. I saw the world and I couldn’t just see it the way it was. I couldn’t see it the way that I wanted it to be. I had to see it the way that it could be. A place where the law mattered, where we had a code that meant that, rich or poor, weak or powerful, there was one thing that they all had in common. They would all be judged the same way, with the same court of law.”

He was breaking down, she realized. His eyes were wet, his face dragging at the corners of his mouth. Her husband shook, his shoulders trembling as he kept going. 

“And we came close. We were making it better. The streets were no longer dangerous at night. The guards were more fair. We were getting rid of the corruption. And now, because one man cheated the system, you’re throwing it all away. Everyone’s throwing it away. The law says that this must be punished.” 

Robin kept her mouth shut, stifling the things she wanted to say. Her husband walked to the window, looking out at the back garden of thorns, of desert sand, and of the two oases that had been planted to break up the desert dryness. Even with that outside, the house was chilled. It wasn’t as bad as the entry hall, not by some way, but it was still chilling, freezing without a fire. 

He leaned on the windowsill, shaking his head. 

“He has to be punished. The law can’t be flouted like this. I still believe it can work. I can’t give up, and I wish you wouldn’t give up on it. Or on me.”

“...I haven’t given up on you.”

“You’ve given up on the system that I protect. The one that I made the city better with.”

“...”

“I’m going for a walk.”

“I’ll -”

“Stay here.”

“...Are you seriously going to tell me that it’s more dangerous for me to wander around than you right now? Now, when you’re the one missing an arm and I’m able to transform?”

“Can you control the transformation?”

“...No, but -”

“Then you’re staying here. I can’t trust…I just can’t, and you need to stay here.”

He grabbed his boots, barely giving her the chance to say goodbye before he was already on the move. The door slammed shut behind him, and she was alone in their room. She glanced at the fire, slowly shaking her head. 

She knew what he had barely stopped himself from saying. She was a beast, and beasts couldn’t be trusted. Not without a collar. 

Robin rubbed her forehead, crossing her legs tighter as she felt the odd surge that always came when she compared Piers to Vitus. There were still good things about her husband, though the list of good things about him felt like it was constantly shrinking of late. She tried to remember that he had been under more stress than the rest of them, but…well, was that even true anymore?

[i]Vitus was transformed, forcibly, from human to Hellhound, after all.[/i]

And he had been looking after them, giving her space, doing what he could to make things better despite the fact that he’d made a deal with a demon to make sure that they stayed safe. The fact that he was doing that much, and had even given her credit for her good idea, meant a lot. 

And he was doing it without making anyone else feel bad about what they were, or who they were. Even Piers got a fair shake, even though he seemed bound and determined to piss off their few allies remaining. She sighed. 

[i]It’s not his fault…[/i]

Or was it? 

No, no, she shouldn’t…but it was impossible not to make comparisons. Piers had hated her since her transformation, while Vitus had still been kind. Piers looked at her like a monster, while Vitus at least tried to give her some humanity. Piers had kicked her to the curb the moment she no longer conformed to the ideal that he had in mind for the world, and Vitus just appreciated her. 

Not her doing anything, just…her. 

[i]Ugh…this is a bad time for this…[/i]

Her pussy was getting wet under her meager clothes, her ripped trousers feeling more than a little damp in the crotch. She knew that it was just due to her bond with him, that she was feeling some of the lust that he probably felt for someone or something else. That was part of the pack, she assumed, that those in it would know when those at the top felt a need. She wondered if Piers felt that. Heh. That would have been almost amusing, knowing that her husband was drawn in for that.

But it wasn’t helping her. She could already feel the transformation trying to spread through her, and she fought it, keeping the tail from growing, keeping her throbbing feet from expanding. 

She managed it relatively well…until Katya opened her door. 

“Robin.”

The older woman yanked her eyes off the floor with that tone of voice, both authoritative and yet a little sultry at the same time. Her eyes opened a bit wider as she realized that the other woman was looking at her [i]that[/i] way. She shook her head. 

“Not interested,” she said. 

“That doesn’t matter.”

“I’m not interested!”

“You will be.” The older woman smiled, and with a twist of her hand, the robes she wore disappeared. Furred legs and a pussy that was more visible for the damp hair around it than its own shape popped into view. The mage stepped closer, her scent growing stronger. “It’s time you learned.”

“L-learned what?”

“What it means to be part of the pack.”

“You -”

“But first, a change. A beast learns better than a person. And you have much to learn.”

“You -”

“Change.”

The word ripped through her, and she stopped thinking for a while. 

#

Vitus groaned as the sunlit hours slowly ticked by. Melchiresa’s visit had left him drained, to say the least, and he still had the visit in the evening to get through. The fact that he was expected to be part of the Cinnas’ fun didn’t fill him with joy, particularly since either way, he would still be the one getting fucked rather than the one doing it. 

And more to the point, Melchiresa’s…request…was still sending shivers down his spine. 

[i]I can’t…I can’t just…[/i]

No, he could. He could very easily take them, and that was what scared him. He could take them into the pack without even trying, but would it be a good thing if he did? Would he be able to live with himself?

But then again, would he be allowed to live [i]as[/i] himself if he didn’t? Melchiresa said that he would pay the price if he didn’t do as he was told. He could only imagine that meant that he’d be forced to obey next time, and the next time might involve something far worse than just converting a pair of homeowners. 

“Ugh…”

He could feel the pressure of the transformation behind the illusion. It was getting harder and harder to hold the hellhound back; it didn’t like being caged, as it described the illusion. It wanted to be free, roaming around, finding other things to ‘play’ with and enjoy. It craved being able to convert others, to show its power and pride, and for all that he didn’t want to convert either of the Cinnas to be mere slaves, dogs in the pack, Vitus couldn’t deny that he wanted to feel that power again. 

More to the point, Pollius knew something. He knew the Leontinas, and that meant that other questions, things that Vitus had wanted to know for years, could be brought up. All he had to do was find a way to ask safely. And what would be safer than asking two obedient pack-mates?

“Ugh…I hate…I hate this…”

Knock, knock. 

He forced the growing fur on the back of his hands back into the flesh, looking up. 

“Come in.”

Marco poked his head around the door. He still wore the same pink robe, but now that he was alone, Vitus had a moment to look at him more fully. 

He was slightly on the chubby side, but not in a bad way. More the sort of stocky, solid shoulders kind of build with a bit of a gut that pressed over a very firm core. He might have had dwarf blood in him, were it not for the fact that his face was meticulously shaved, as seemed to be the case with all the other parts of his body, for that matter. His arms were smooth, as was the part of his chest that was just barely in view. Well-groomed if short hair glimmered in the firelight, too.

Vitus sighed. 

“It’s time?”

“Are you that disinterested?”

“I’m just…”

“Yes?”

“...Nevermind.”

Much as he wanted to say that he wasn’t interested in other males, that wasn’t [i]entirely[/i] true. Brundir had done many things to him, from hoof worship to simple play with his ass, and he knew that he’d cum from that. It had to be something devilish, something corrupt, as far as he was concerned, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t enjoy it again. And if nothing else, he might be able to convince himself that it was all just Brundir’s interference, and nothing more. 

At least, if he went through with this. He sighed. 

“Lead on.”

“You can leave your clothes here, if you like.”

“...”

“Or you can walk clothed. Your choice. Always a choice.”

“You’d be surprised,” he muttered. “But, um…there’s something -”

“Come on. You can tell me and Pollius together when we get to the bedroom.”

Bedroom. Right. Further on, further in, probably on the second floor. He sighed, falling in step behind Marco.

The more he saw of the Cinna house, the more he was convinced that they moved in with some random bits of magic and were just barely keeping it all put together. The cracks in the walls and the chinks in the floor, the various bits that showed that the old manor was just barely holding together and hadn’t seen any maintenance since gods knew when just screamed that they didn’t have the funds and material to take care of it. The fact that nobody wanted to take it from them meant that either they were scary enough that nobody wanted to challenge them in court or they just were smart enough to have someone higher-up on their side. So, what kept them so poor?

It was hard to get any answer without asking, and he didn’t feel safe enough to do that. 

[i]You would if they were part of the pack,[/i] Vitus thought, only to grimace at himself. 

They went upstairs, and the chill in the air that permeated the lower floors disappeared. He shook his head. 

“You couldn’t have offered us the nice spots upstairs?” 

“It is for our protection.”

“Is it?”

“...And to keep Pollius from doing more than he should.”

“What is going on with him? Why does he move like that?” Vitus asked. 

“He will explain. It is…fun, but he’s definitely taken it too far.”

“Then why don’t you -”

“Can we not do questions right now?”

“...If you say so.”

They went down a hall and then around a secondary staircase, through a crawlspace, and then up into a room that might have been an attic at one point. They followed it to the far end of the house, dropped down a ladder, went through two secret passageways, and then finally stepped out of a secondary fireplace into a bedroom. The fireplace kept swinging behind them, bringing the roaring flames back to the room at large, and with it, enough light to see what was going on. 

“Did we have to go through such…oh, my god…”

Vitus’s complaint stopped dead in the air as he stared at the [i]thing[/i] on the bed. Pollius, from the face, but the man had become something completely different. Rather than pale flesh, he had a strange ooze for his form. It tightened here and there, becoming something different. At times, it was scaly, at other times furred, and still other times, feathered. He would loom, he would leer, he would recline and pose. It was slimy, oozing, and altogether disturbing, and yet for all that, there was a sensuality there that brought a distinct tingle between the legs the longer one looked. 

Vitus felt it, too, and he shivered as he felt his cock pushing up against the boundaries of the illusion. Marco shook his head, doffing his robe. He, at least, was normal, or at least, as normal as one might have imagined in this place. He had a low-hanging sac with a shorter cock, and a thick ass that looked like it got used more often than one might have expected for someone his size.

But it was the constantly-changing Pollius that had his attention, and the way that he was so casual about it. Vitus shook his head. 

“What…what are you?” he asked. 

“Oh, a little bit of everything,” Pollius said with a dismissive air. “Would you mind joining me? Oh, in the metaphysical sense, at least. Total top, you understand, I’m ever so sure, yes?”

“...”

“I told you that he wouldn’t get it,” Marco muttered. 

“Oh, dear, dear. Did I misjudge another’s intelligence again?”

“You might have. Look. My husband…he’s a bit of an amalgamation at this point.”

“...Clearly,” Vitus said. “How -”

“Oh, a series of different sins, according to the church. I much prefer to see it as various pleasures come home to roost. A memory here, a memory there, all such fun.”

“One. We’re in Cheliax. We don’t refer to anything but the devils as churchlike, remember?” Marco said. 

“Oh, yes, dear. You are quite correct.”

“Two. You are an unholy abomination that gets less and less physical every time that you [i]take[/i] a donation. That’s why we needed someone better versed in magic than us, remember?”

“Ah, yes, yes, I do recall something like that.”

“So, before we start…let’s at least see if he’s got something in mind, huh? Before you get even oozier.”

Of all the things that Vitus could have imagined seeing when Pollius took the robe off, he’d never expected this. He had thought that, perhaps, the more molesting of the two Cinnas would have had some bestial secret, sure enough, but something like this? Where he was little more than an oozing creature that could shift from one species to another beneath that robe, as best suited him? That was something that had been more suited to a horror story, something acted on stage, not real life. It actually stunned him to such an extent that he couldn’t find his words. 

And then, he did. And they shocked him. 

“I have a revelation for the pair of you, too.”

“Oh? What is that?” Marco asked. 

“The thing that Buck smelled.”

He barely realized that he was dropping his disguise until he did. The fur spread across his arms and legs, and he smelled the thick musk that came with the heat and sweat under it. He held up his hand to forestall any of their reactions, hoping that they’d at least give him the chance to go through his transformation and explain before getting too shocked, or getting violent. 

So far, they were. His feet cracked as he lurched up on his paws, and his hands cricked and snapped as his claws popped in. His face ground outwards, teeth pushing past his lips for a moment before the full size of his muzzle allowed for his fangs to fit where they were meant to. 

The more that the transformation continued, the more that he felt himself again. The illusion had protected him, but the hellhound within drastically preferred being out, and Vitus had to admit that he felt the same. He groaned as he felt the fur running down his neck, the sheath swallowing his shaft, and the rutting urges of the hellhound started to come through even stronger than before. 

“Ah…ah…”

“Oh, my,” Pollius muttered. “I don’t think we’ve had that before.”

“Buck wasn’t enough?” Marco muttered. 

“Oh, dear, no. This is better than an incubus.”

“Insatiable.”

“It’s why you love me, dear. Now, hush and enjoy the show.”

The show, as it was, didn’t have long to go. The burning power of his hellhound side coursed through him, finally pushing all the fur out, delivering him back to his more bestial shape. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but at least it fit him. He shook himself out, rolling his head from side to side to crack his neck. It felt a bit better after that, though, of course, not quite natural. 

He looked up to see the Cinnas staring at him and Pollius still licking his lips. Vitus shook his head. 

“I’m…a hellhound. Partially, at least.”

“Clearly,” the more gooey of the pair said. “And what does this revelation mean to us? Besides the obvious possibilities for fun.”

“I’m not just a hellhound. I’m…tied…to Melchiresa.”

“...Now that does present possibilities,” Pollius said. “Now, now, the power of chaos, of course, but with fire and structure, the linkage of pack ideals behind that, how things stay properly -”

Marco pulled him to the side, and the gooey mess that was Pollius started to pace, sliming up the floor much like a snail moving from one side of a rock to another. It seemed that this was almost standard for the pair of them. Vitus watched until Marco leaned in and whispered to him. 

“I doubt this will end anytime soon,” he whispered. “My husband is of two minds: perverted and experimental. You’ve grabbed both.”

“Yeah…I can see that.”

“I would prefer not to be affected by the magics, but if it is the only way that we can solidify my husband again, I wouldn’t decline.”

It was…somewhat going the way that he’d hoped, he had to admit. As soon as he realized what they were asking of him, he’d realized that there was something that he could offer. Melchiresa’s power might be just what they needed to bring Pollius back to a quasi-solid state, and considering that Vitus needed to ‘infect’ them with her pack control anyway, doing it more openly might actually be what they needed. The fact that they weren’t surprised or opposed probably meant that they were used to making deals with devils, at least, though they probably hadn’t done many demon ones. 

But whether he [i]needed[/i] to do it with Marco…

“I…may need to do you,” he said, half-lying. “If nothing else, it gives a connection to her while I’m not here, so you can keep donating to him.”

“That is sound,” Marco said. 

“Shall we -”

“We’ll wait for him to figure it out on his own,” he said, shaking his head. “My husband likes to feel brilliant. I like to let him.”

“...You knew something odd was going on this whole time, didn’t you?”

“I had my feelings.”

“...You’re smarter than you look.”

“And so are you.” 










[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]

Summary: Vitus and the team make it to Cinna manor, at which point several things start to go wrong.

Tags: M/M, F/solo, F/F, Human, Hellhound, Nudity, Corruption, Ooze, Offers, M/F, Demon, Commands, Series, Magic, Transformation, TF, Domination, Dubcon,