Chapter 2
It had only been a couple days, and already, Fang and I were making great progress, which was only furthered by the additional helping hands from our friend group whenever they decided to show up, though it was mostly the work of just the two of us. Fortunately, the rest of the gang would occasionally swing by and drop off some much needed supplies that we'd keep in the chest freezer and the fridge in the garage. Clearing the last of the junk from the cupboards and drawers, I dumped it all into a large garbage bag and tossed it into the every growing pile we had built up in the front yard, to the ire of the HOA. Fuck the HOA by the way. Along with the occasional helping hand, I was always under the watchful gaze of the hulking male ptero that was Fang's dad, as there never seemed to be a point he wasn't standing at a window or in the door way, watching me like a hawk. To my detriment, Fang liked to tease me by doing whatever she could to get her father to hate me more, such as bending over in an overt fashion to emphasize her ass sticking out towards me, getting me to stare, which earned a piercing glare at me every time it happened. Not only that, but it seemed like she just couldn't keep her hands off me, ESPECIALLY when we were out in the open, as she greeted me with passing touches and squeezes to various parts of my body, even pinning me to the side of the van and the camper to give me a kiss as if she was about drop her pants right on the spot. Thankfully, it never went beyond that, so I was able to continue living my life with both of my kidneys still inside my body. Though I don't think her dad had the same plans. Brushing my hands off of my jeans, I then got to work on dusting every fucking inch of that camper. Fuck, they may look small, but there's just so much shit to clean in those things. It's kinda tiring. At least Fang was thinking the same thing.
"Alright, dweeb. Let's take a break. I'm gonna get us some water. BRB." She said, stretching her arms over her head then giving me a rub to the top of my skull.
Thank fuck, it was fucking baking in there. Stepping out of the camper I got some fresh, meth-free air in my lungs and a cooler breeze on my skin. It was still fucking hot as balls out. But it felt so much nicer to have air circulation. A shame I couldn't enjoy it longer on account of hearing a screaming match in Fang's house. God fucking damn it. Why now? I just wanna have a nice time with her. Is that too much to ask for, Raptor Jesus? Peeking in the living room window, it was a shouting match between Fang and her father (of course it was), the window pane causing some of their words to be muffled, but otherwise it was easy to make out.
"Why can't you just learn to like him? He's good to me! You have no idea how much he has helped me! Fucking mom likes him!"
Oh fuck, I shoulda figured this was about me. Maybe I shouldn't be listening in on this. Feels kinda wrong. Then again, I snooped through Fang's phone that one time in music class. Fuck, I'm still regretting doing that.
"I don't fucking trust these skinnies! Especially not ones that have their eyes on my daughter!"
"How do you not trust him? He was there for me when I was being gaslit by Trish of all people! Reed was barely any help too!"
"Don't even mention that carfentanyl-addicted reject around me, you're lucky I even let him stand on the sidewalk near the house!"
"This is why I can't fucking stand being around you! You never let me have friends over, you never let me have my own life, you're so fucking controlling! Don't bother calling me while I'm away unless it's a fucking apology! I don't ever wanna fucking see you again! I. HATE. YOU."
That look in her eyes. It was like she just spoke with the fury of a thousand suns going super nova. And the patriarch felt the heat. I had never seen a face like that on such a grizzled old man. Not even old war vets recalling their stories usually get that look in their eyes. As Fang stomped off into the kitchen, her dad was left in the living room, head sagged and eyes welling up slightly with an increased dampness, then trudging upstairs. Fucking hell, there was something about seeing a hulking old man be broken like that. The door leading to the garage began to creak open and I darted back to the camper. She'd be super fucking pissed if she caught me eavesdropping on her like that.
"Ugh, sorry I took so long. Naser was being a bitch like always. I got us some water and a speaker though!" She said, back to her normal chipper attitude when she was around me. Though I did notice her eyeliner was running a little bit, which she was quick to pick up on. "Oh, don't worry, Anon. Just sweat making my makeup run. It's hot as tits out." She added, tossing an icy bottle of water at me then turning on her bluetooth speaker. "Got any songs you wanna hear?"
I gave a thought for a moment, but resigned to letting Fang play what she wanted. "Can't think of anything off the top of my head. Just play what you want."
"Deal. You're gonna love my Snootify playlist. I got some of the best shit to listen to. Especially on the road trip."
Kicking things off was some surprisingly good indie rock. Never really was a fan of that genre but hey, there's a first time for everything.
"Fuuuuuuuuck I love The Black Keys. I got to see them in concert last year. Sucks I didn't get an autograph from them though. I hope we manage to catch them while they're on tour."
At least Fang was quickly beginning to cheer up. To the beat of the song she'd whap her tail about, along with swinging her hips as she danced and cleaned at the same time. Hell, even my foot was tapping and my head was bobbing as I dusted the counters and fridge, working even quicker thanks to the tempo the music provided. I even got a bit of a show as she started to sing and put more movement into her dancing which made the movements of her cleaning more exaggerated.
"There comes a time, two hearts of gooooold~..."
Fuck, her voice is so beautiful. I want her to sing me a lullaby every night while I lay my head in her lap. Her voice carries this almost angelic tone to it, the way it rings in my head like a church bell on wedding day. It's so much different from the usual belting she does when she plays in her band. The her voice on stage is perfectly fine but... holy shit, does she not realize what she sounds like?
"Leave together, run forever on the open roooooooad~..." Oh god here comes the drop, I can feel it in my bones.
"They gotta gooooo oooh-ooh-ohoh! Gooooo ohoh-oooooh-ohoh-ohooooh~!"
Suddenly she's coming towards me, taking my hands as I still hold a rag while she jumps around in circles. This cleaning really isn't going to be getting done any time soon, but that's not my biggest concern at the moment. I joined her in the jumping and dancing, even laughing as she continued to more or less serenade me with her beautiful voice, her amber eyes glowing whenever she opened them, the constant twirling causing the glimmer in her eyes to dance around and shine. But just as quickly as she took my hands in dance, she went back to cleaning the front end of the camper, still dancing and singing while she did, which I was sure to capture with a pic on my phone before returning to the dusting I still needed to do. Once the dusting was finished, we busted out the bleach and sprays and were deep cleaning everything in site, her Snootify playlist still rolling through tracks that consisted of some Indie shit with spots of legitimate heavy metal and then random surges of the most quintessential early-2000s pop. It was hard to put into words just what that meant, but everyone knew it when they heard it. As the day dragged on and the temperature started to fall, we managed to power through the rest of the cleaning, the only thing that needed to be done was replacing the mattresses, both the main and the foldouts.
"Alright, Anon. I think we can stop here for now. We can pick up the mattresses tomorrow. I'm fuckin' starving. I'm thinkiiiiiiiiing... Chinese food. What say you?"
The thought of getting some heart stopping, MSG-riddled food gets my stomach rumbling up a storm. It really does sound good as fuck right now. Shit, thinking about it now, I hadn't eaten all day
"Honestly, I could go for some Chinese. Whatcha thinking of? Ptero Express? Buffet?"
"DEFINITELY buffet. I could eat a whole cow right about now."
Honestly that would be a pretty cool thing to see.
"I'm down. Where we going?"
Fang threw her dirty cleaning rag into the sink, snatching mine from my hand and doing the same.
"Lil Troo. It's close to where we had our first date."
"You considered that our first date?" I asked, genuinely shocked she had said such a thing. I mean, her Uncle Moe called it a date and I was kinda thinking the same way, but I never thought she considered it as such.
"Yeah. Why, don't you?" She asked, taking me by the wrist and guiding me out of the camper to start our walk.
"I mean, sure. I just didn't think YOU did. I thought you just intended it to be a hunt for a venue for your band."
"I did, but when I went for a smoke I started thinking about breaking off from Naser and his bitch to spend time with you... Ya know, while we looked for a venue."
"Clever girl..."
Fang beamed at me. "I know I am." She said, sticking her tongue out at me, giving a playful elbow to my ribcage. I'm almost certain by now that I will have a permanent bruise on my ribcage. The things I do for love.
"So have you made any plans yet on what you wanna see during the trip?" I asked, resting an arm across her shoulder, an arm from Fang slipping around my hip as we walk.
"Honestly, not really. I was thinking we just go with the flow and see where the road takes us, though..." She stops talking, her voice trailing off as she gave a short thought at my question. "There's a couple places I think I'd definitely wanna see. I was thinking maybe Las Vegas? NYC? San Fran and LA? Ya know, all those touristy places."
I wanted to vomit at the mentioning of California. But I put on a brave face and pretend like the idea of setting foot in that cesspit of a state.
"Alright, and what are you hoping to see otherwise?" I asked, guiding us around a corning, bringing us to the very entrance of Lil Troo in all its glitz and ostentatious glamour before letting Fang take the lead.
"Maybe some mountain ranges? Peep the Mojave, go camping a couple times. Visit a couple concerts. The sky's the limit!"
The word 'Mojave' reminded me of one of my favorite games. Fallout: Snoot Vegas. Shit, I love that game. It would be a perfect opportunity to see all the landmarks and shit they used for the game. Fuck yeah, I'm down for Vegas.
"Fucking send it, bro. I like the sound of that."
It was only a matter of time before we came across the Chinese place, the smell emanating from the grease-lined walls enough to where I could find the place by sense of smell alone. Shoving the door open, we went inside and were promptly seated, only for use to get right back up and start stacking our plates high with some of the world's unhealthiest food imaginable, a mixture of noodles, various beef and chicken dishes, and an ungoldy amount of egg rolls. Fuck, I love egg rolls. Even with chopsticks, Fang was powering through her mountain of food, while I had barely even made a dent in mine. Bitch really could pack away the food. Guess I shoulda known by now when we were at Dino-Moe's.
I slurped up some of my noodles. "So when do you expect us to be hitting the road?" I took a sip of my drink.
Fang wiped her mouth with a napkin. "2? 3 days maybe? Gives us a bit more time to have the gang round up their shit and get it packed away. After that, we leave this this dump and we start our adventure." She leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. "Fuck, I can't wait to leave. I've been wanting to get out since freshman year. I could use a break from all this stress."
"What about after this road trip is done? What then?"
Fang kicked my shin, causing me to nearly leap out of my seat. "I got 3 months before I even need to start planning for that shit. Don't spoil the moment."
I suppose she's right. I just can't help but think it's a bit reckless not to at least make a plan. Sure, I'm not the best person to consult for career advice, but even I know it's important to make a plan. But I'd really rather not stress her out more than she already is. After that screaming match she had with her dad, I can only imagine she's in a bad spot and doesn't want her evening with me to end on a downer.
I drop it and change the subject, taking a couple more bites of heart-clogging goodness, noticing Fang has nearly finished her plate. "So you think the gang is looking forward to this as much as you?"
"I mean, if they said yes, I'd fucking hope so. Reed and Trish I knew would wanna come, and when Rosa and Stella said yes I was kinda surprised. I didn't think they'd want to. Unfortunately, the universe decided to curse me and now my brother and his bimbo girlfriend are coming with us." She said, sounding a bit despondent. Fuck, even I wasn't really looking forward to that. I'm fine with Naser but fucking Naomi? Fucking hell, I'm gonna need to pack some extra Tylenol.
"Wait, why are THEY coming?" I asked, referring to Naser and Naomi.
"Mom said it would be nice of me to invite them. I invited Naser, hoping if I made it sound like it would be a drag he wouldn't come. But here we are, trying to fit him and his bitch in while we try to have fun. Hopefully it won't be too bad." She said going for another plate of food, taking mine with her.
Debatable.
A minute or two later, she was back with another mountain of food on each of the plates, which we immediately start scarfing down like it was our last meal. And you best believe we're taking home food too. Fuck, it's been ages since I had Chinese food, I forgot how good it was.
Spending the next couple minutes in relative silence, we polished off the rest of our food, grabbed takeout, and bounced, enjoying the evening with a nice little walk back to Fang's house, eventually bring her to her front door and giving a parting kiss to her snoot, that same little blush on her face forming. As I turned away, my free wrist was seized in the delicate grip of the Ptero, keeping me in place before looking back at her.
"Where you going, Anon?"
"Back to my apartment, why?"
Fang gave me a rather coquettish grin as she tugged my arm, pulling me back towards her as my feet followed behind. "How about you stay the night? You've had me at your place, so why not let you stay over at mine?"
Spaghetti began dribbling out of my pockets. Somehow, after dating her for a few months, she would still do these little things that would make me lose my shit and become the same Anon I was when I had only first met her. "What uh... What about your dad? He'll kill me i-"
"Fuck 'im. He's not gonna kill you if you're with me. I'll fucking make sure of that."
Her grip on my wrist tightened as she pulled me closer once again, stacking her Styrofoam takeout box on top of mine and then grabbing her house keys to delicately open the door, bringing me inside and locking it behind us. She snatched the takeout and stuffed them into her already packed fridge, then hurriedly guided me up to her room, the gentle thumps of our feet sounding like bricks being dropped while we tried to stay quite. Once in the relative safety of her room, we began to drop our guard. Fang grabbed a nearby remote and leapt onto her bed, turning on the nearby TV then patting the spot next to her which I happily joined, if only with a little bit of anxiety on account of me being where I'm not supposed to be. Fang scrolled through all the shows and movies on Netstix until she came across Love, Death, and Robots. She peeked over her shoulder at me with a raised brow, gauging my interest at her choice. I had heard good things about LDR, and someone of the things that were told to me sounded pretty interesting to say the least. With a nod I signaled my approval and the show was started.
Not gonna lie, there were some legitimately good episodes. Some of them were just plain awful, but overall, it was something I enjoyed. Maybe because I had my lovely ptero girlfriend in my arms but that's besides the point. There were legitimate gems in there, and any shitty episodes were mocked ruthlessly. ESPECIALLY when it came to the episode where an artist was obsessed with a shade of blue and it turns our he was a pool-cleaning robot before he became an artist. THAT earned our mutual derision.
Eventually, torpor started to take over, as it naturally does when given the time. The haze of exhaustion from a day of hard work in the sweltering summer sun was beginning to catch up with me. I should have noticed it earlier when I was yawning every couple of minutes or so, but spending time with Fang made me forget all of that. Weird how being with someone you love makes you forget about your primal needs. There was a stir coming from Fang, and soon one of her hands found mine, her fingers becoming interlaced before she looked over her shoulder at me, her expression cloaked in a mire of longing, and her body following, now facing me. Before I could register her plans, she sealed her lips to mine, relinquishing my hand and replacing hers on my cheek. The moment our lips met, it was like a jolt of electricity woke me, snapping me to my senses and finally registering what was happening. When I was more alert, I was wholeheartedly enthused and joined in, pursing my lips, taking the initiative and allowing my tongue to advance against hers. With flits against her own tongue, it elicited pleased gasp, her fingers clenching against my cheek and my shoulder as she was overcome with intense yearning, desperate for more. Additionally, her own tongue leapt into the fray. One of my hands was raking furrows down her back, causing her to arch and press into me, her fingers growing tighter. The brushing of legs was also a frequent action as the soft grinding of denim against denim made for yet another instrument in our symphony of desire. Periodically, my lip was bitten, tugged, and suckled on by the feathered female. I don't know how I haven't botched the whole thing by saying something inveritably retarded, but I keep the train rolling. No pressure, Anon.
To my own shock, Fang rolls over on me, settling herself on my waist, making her look like some kind of giantess in the otherwise dark room. Her hair is a bit of a mess on account of the stroking and caressing of each other, but it makes her look so, SO damn beautiful. With half-lidded eyes, she dives right back down, clutching my shirt as she dots my face with affectionate pecks, a nice, passionate kiss to my lips, before proceeding lower. She kissed each of my cheeks, then my chin, and then my throat, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip to stifle a groan which caught the attentive ear of my lover. A devious grin flashed across her face as she exploited my weakness, repeatedly kissing, nipping, even lapping at my throat. I don't know what it is about this that I love. Maybe it has something to do with the fact she could just lock her jaws around my throat and snap my neck, yet she chooses not to. While continuing her assault on my thoat with her affections, her hands began to slip under my shirt and tank top, gliding across my stomach and chest as her delicate fingers more or less traced sigils on my flesh. Her painted nails began raking along my bare flesh, surely leaving scratch marks in their wake as she carved me up like some kind of morsel. It stings. A lot. But my lust-addled mind keeps me under her spell, letting her have her way with me however she so desired.
The entire time, I had no clue what to do with my hands. I was so transfixed by the ptero-turned-temptress that I merely had my hands on her hips. And before I could even begin to return a modicum of the love she showed me, she gave me a final kiss on the lips, her body now releasing me from her grasp as she loosened up and laid half on me, her head resting on my chest as my hitched breathing began to return to normal.
"You'll get your chance one day, Anon." She cooed, the TV barely audible in the background as the show continued to play. "But now, it's time for bed. Sleep tight, dear." She murmured, her hand on my chest gently scratching me, soothing me from the delightful sensations as I began to drift unconscious, head practically spinning at what just happened to me.