Chapter 29 - Spider

Iris

+--

When he awoke, it was to darkness. There was a damp feeling around, rich and thick. Soil, earth.
Something scraping, shuffling. Chuckling.
The angel groaned, body not quite responding correctly, mind still fuzzy around the edges. He blinked, but everything was still pitch black, his eyes not quite focusing on anything. Earthy lumps, a low ceiling. Soil. Underground? Where was he??
This was happening a few too many times.
Valkyre stiffened as he felt something skim over his cheek, and suddenly he was petrified, waking up to the myriad of tiny touches all over his body, tickling and crawling, bristles and hooks on his skin, a million alive creatures walking over him, over and under his arms, inside his clothing, against his flesh. Everywhere.
He was horrified, not daring to move, flinching as a spider crawled through his hair and dangled by his ear, as if wanting to whisper secrets to him. All around him, all over him, a million sensations, creatures calmly travelling the landscape of his body.
A rustling above him, clumps of dirt falling to the ground.
Valkyre almost cried out as something suddenly dropped down in front of him, glint of golden amber eyes through a tangled mess of dark hair, leering smile on an upside-down face. Spiders fell to the ground, scuttled away.
Chuckling, bubbling laughter from the one that hung before him, hair falling back from his eyes, body dangling from something unseen on the ceiling, smear of dirt on lightly-tanned skin.
"Good morning, archangel."
Low voice, amused and taunting, slightly raspy. A different voice. Someone else, someone new.
The other dropped to the ground lightly, flipping around and landing evenly, silently in a crouch.
Light, amber-brown skin, turned to a sepia paleness in the dark. Dark hair, shaggy and uneven, tangled. The dirt-smeared face tilted slightly to one side, surprisingly young and smooth, golden-black eyes glinting. He smirked, flashing sharp white teeth.
"Well?" He asked, moving closer, still on all fours. His bare shoulders and torso were pale and smooth, a pair of ragged pants turned color of the soil low around his waist, showing bare calves and feet.
On his left shoulder, at the top of his arm. More blue-black markings. Letters. Labs, he should've known. Another escaped experiment?
A spider crawled through the nest of the dark hair, leaving a trail of fine silk just over the eyebrow.
Valkyre hissed, trying to move away as the other crawled closer, eyes laughing at him, predatory.
He couldn't move. He was in an upright position, but he wasn't backed by anything. The angel's arms were held out on either side, bound, his legs sprawled before him.
Silk.
He stared at himself in dismay, trying to move but unable to do any more than curl his fingers. The strands were almost completely invisible, but strong as cords of steel, tangled thickly around his body and impossibly powerful, clumping to his skin. Even as he watched, little spiders spun more strands around him, dangling from his arms.
A tickling on his neck and the angel stiffened, too acutely aware of the tiny touches as a spider travelled slowly up towards his cheek.
Chuckling.
Valkyre clenched his teeth, scowling as the other drew closer, movements predatory, hands brushing his legs, reaching out with black-crescent fingernails to touch his face lightly, gently stroking his skin.
"You've pretty eyes, archangel." Another flashed grin, laughing golden eyes.
Valkyre jerked his face away, scowling. "Don't touch me," he growled, doing his best to glower. The fingers had left a tickling sensation on his skin, like there were more spiders crawling there, brought forth from the palm of his hand.
Laughter, low chuckling. The taunting voice, pulling Raguel away. Distraction.
Why did he call him 'archangel'? It was bad enough being an angel- Valkyre absolutely hated it when people called him that. ...And now what was this one going on about?
The face leered before him again, head cocked to one side, grinning.
"Who the hell are you?" Valkyre demanded, trying to pull back but finding no where to fall back on. The other pressed a hand to his chest, a spider crawling down his wrist and spinning back up again. Rough fingernails, blackened with dirt. Sharp, somehow, just slightly oddly shaped.
"Who do you think I am? What am I to you?"
Valkyre blinked, frowning. Were experiments supposed to be able to speak like this, to think like this?
"...What's your name?" He managed, trying to buy some time. His eyes were beginning to adjust to the dark, and he was searching, wondering how he could possibly get out of here. Wondering where Iris was.
The other scoffed, hand drawing back, scowling.
"You think like a human. They believe names are important."
He sat back, frown looking almost like a pout, scratching behind his ear. A spider escaped and skittered across his fingers, slipping down his neck. He ignored it.
"Some of us don't have names, archangel. Look at me."
He stopped, hands on the ground again, golden eyes staring into Valkyre's, harsh and serious.
"Do I look like I'd have a name? We aren't seen. Humans don't care."
He sneaked closer again, grinning, reaching forward to touch the angel's face again, tilting up his chin.
"Would you have a name for me, Valkyre? Hm?"
"...How do you know my name??"
He laughed, hand dropping but gold black eyes still holding his gaze, rimmed faintly in red.
"See?" He chuckled, grinning, circling around him, darting out of view then back again, surprisingly quick for moving around on all fours. "You do care about names," he hissed, "Just like a human does."
Valkyre sighed, closing his eyes, trying to sort out his thoughts. Did he still mean to kill him? His actions were so random, yet so careful. He'd avoided the subject, merely darting away again.
The angel blinked his eyes back open, not surprised to see the rich gold staring back, millimeters from his face. The other breathed over his face, a breath surprisingly empty, tasteless. Like soft, moist dirt and rain.
"...What are you, then?" His voice came out calm, even. "You're not a human either."
The other turned around, gazing out somewhere through the darkness, suddenly silent.
Valkyre stared at his back, at the prominent shoulder blades under the skin and the same label at the nape of his neck. The other's hair hung loosely from his shoulders, tangled and mussed, uncared for.
He looked back, still smiling, but somehow sad and melancholy.
"I don't know what I am, archangel. You tell me."
He came towards the other again, resting against him, touching the angel's hair, picking through it thoughtfully.
"What am I to you, hm? A freak? A beast?"
He lowered his hand, showing a small spider crawling along it. It ran over his fingers, then was gently pushed up against the angel's arms, where it skittered off and ran along an invisible lifeline into darkness.
Valkyre looked back at him. The other's expression was almost warm, watching him for reactions, silent statements and questions.
"Do you understand us, Valkyre? We are no different."
His tanned hands touched the angel's face again, making him look at him, close enough to touch.
"I can see it in your eyes, archangel. You know."
The other moved away again suddenly, sitting down. He scratched underneath his eye, then picked at Valkyre's jacket, examining the pockets and stitches done into the fabric. Suddenly silent, contemplative.
The angel sighed, unable to figure out just how his mind worked. Ally or enemy? What was he getting at? What did he want?
...Iris, no doubt.
Still. His actions were unprecedented, uneven and random. Did he want something different?
After a long pause, Valkyre spoke up, voice soft.
"...Hey."
The other looked up, small hint of a pout on his lips. Valkyre held his golden eyes, trying to see into them. What kind of mind was there?
"...Corryn."
He blinked back at the angel, frowning, fingers stopping. A spider dropped to his shoulder.
"I-It's from long ago, from olden times" Valkyre muttered, immediately regretting his decision. "...It... It's a name."
The other was still for a moment, then suddenly flashed a grin, eyes alive. He loped over, bubbling chuckling to himself, leaning up against the angel, lips near his ear.
"You're giving me a name, archangel? Hm?" Voice excited, almost giddy.
He laughed again, touching Valkyre's shoulder, his throat. "Say it again," he whispered, breath tickling like spiders against the other's ear. Like a child, begging.
"Corryn."
Valkyre was startled as he felt the hot tongue suddenly run along his cheek, fingernails digging in just slightly too hard around his neck. The other's tongue left a slick, wet patch on his skin, nipping just under his eye lightly with his lips, still chuckling under his breath.
"I thank you, archangel. We are grateful."
Those lips touched his earlobe, fingernails sliding down his neck and over his chest, palm pressed down until Valkyre could feel his own heart beating, wondering if that was what the other was doing, if that was what he was looking for.
The words in his ear made him freeze, cold shivers running down his spine.
"You are kind, Valkyre. ...But did you think that would be enough to keep me from killing you?"
The angel let out a ragged breath, trying to calm his mind, knowing the other could feel his heart pounding.
He, Corryn, laughed, backing away.
"Scared now, little archangel?" Taunting, leering. Suddenly cruel again. Why was he so unpredictable??
"Are you afraid?" Fingernails coursing down his cheek, caressing. "Afraid to die?"
Valkyre lowered his eyes, not speaking back, but the other gripped his chin again, forcing him to look up. His golden black eyes were cold, amused. A spider dribbled from his hair, dangling.
"Well? Are you going to beg, archangel? Try to reason with me? Are you sad?"
Corryn grinned, reaching up and touching Valkyre again, pulling his fingers slowly over the other's face so he had to close his eyes. The fingertips rested lightly against the backs of the angel's eyelids, fluttering.
His voice was a low whisper by his ear, Valkyre's senses brought to life again by the darkness, the spiders crawling over him and the thread binding his arms and body.
"You won't die, Valkyre. Not yet."
Another sting against his neck, and darkness.

+--

AN: Yeees~! And here is Corryn! I adore him. X3
He's a bit on the stereotyped side, I feel... but I tried for originality... His name was quickly picked and woul've come later had I not gotten so pissed at saying just 'he' or 'the other' again and again... confusing too, so I threw in the name. X3
Corryn is actually Welsh... And you can probably guess what it means.
...Obviously, I luv spiders. X3 [If any of you are horribly grossed-out by this, I'm sorry, but I don't really know what else to say to you... o_O I-I just like them, so there's no problem here...? Just remind yourself it's not real~! XD]
Well, now you guys have to wait for me to lapse into another 'what happens next?' daydream, during which I will fiddle around with and eventually plot out something. XD I don't know how it's going! It's been like that for a while now... which is cool, and not at all bad. :) I'm still going strong with Iris!
...Though, I'm going to stop the catch and toss game that seems to be happening with poor Valkyre and Iris... ...They need to spin off on their own. Ehehehe.
Oh, and I've got a sickly, smutty one-shot in my head which I need to get out... So I'll be taking a short little break from Iris to work on it~!
If you're missing the smutty boy-on-boy action since Iris is only shonen-ai, go check this out as soon as I'm done it... Please? ::puppy eyes:: ....Not like I'm very good at smut, but, wtvr. :P
...I luuuuuuuuv Corryn! [she should stop saying this now] X3
So, thanks a lot for staying with, and please be patient until I've got the next chapter spun out. :) [hahaha, pun. ...Don't beat me with crowbars, normal wooden sticks will do. :P] Thank you!

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment