Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Always remember, you’re nothing but a pet cat.”

The slicing of the two blades on her white nightgown had Nadine shivering with the sound of the fabric being split. She knew what was coming next once he ran out of fabric to snip. The initial pinch and then excruciating cut into her thigh caused the angel to wince as she hissed air in between her teeth. She clenched her eyes shut as tears automatically sprung into them. Too often and too much she had already cried in front of this horrible god; the less he saw of her tears, the better. She did not want to give this sadistic man the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Nevertheless, the more Fumus kept shredding her skin with his scissors, the harder it became for her to control her whines and groans of pain slipping past her lips.

The dark haired man chuckled, seemingly amused at her stifled whimpers. “Aww, what’s wrong?” he mocked her. Nadine opened her eyes to lightly glare at the man with gleaming purple eyes; well, she supposed they seemed to gleam a bit more in this dim lighting. She hated being in his private room on his personal bed. The white sheets were now pooling with deep red blood that matched the undertones of his hair. She hated that his eyes seemed to change whenever he was causing these “sessions” to happen. Though, she supposed she wasn’t one to talk – her once golden eyes had become dull and darker over time. Even her hair and wings had become darkened, all thanks to this god’s maliciousness. She had no choice in the matter of what her body was biologically doing, yet he still blamed her for these “filthy” changes. His once pure white angel with the yellow streak in her hair had become tainted, even though he had been the root cause of these changes. Her once full, puffy wings had become thinned out and now gray; she still blamed him for the change in her wings texture – him and his damned scissors snipping at them all the time.

Nadine gasped in surprise and a bit of pain when he grabbed her chin roughly in the palm of his left hand. She was propped up on her elbows on the bed as she tried to endure his treatment of her, and now he hovered over her, his legs straddled above her waist. Holding her chin in one hand and the scissors in his other, Fumus gave her yet another disturbing smile. “I asked what was wrong, Nadine.”

Gosh; how she hated to hear her name on his lips! She despised it for many reasons, but the main one was due to him having been the one to give her that title. Creator he might be, but no respect was left in her mind or body for him. All she felt these days was numb – cold, hurt, and fearful. Nadine was a name meant for a simple, happier time – a time when such a name would have been more befitting. Alas, years of this torture and blatant abuse had left her feeling ill at such a name.

Nadine gasped in shock as she felt her face being squeezed even tighter, wincing at the pain. Tiny pinpricks of tears stuck at the corners of her eyes as he dug his nails into her skin, marking her. “Speak to me,” he hissed out, and Nadine opened her eyes only to glower at him with dull orbs. She knew if she gave too much attitude, he would only hurt her more. Then again, everything he did to her was beyond cruel at this point in time. The gleam in his eye and the treacherous grin on his face was the first hint that he was going to pursue his next “adventure” with her. The second hint was when he brought the scissors in front of her mouth.

With her eyes enlarged in fright, Fumus chuckled as he cooed out, “Apparently, the cat has your tongue. We best fix that, don’t you think, Nadine?”

Chlomaki woke abruptly, finding herself springing forward into a sitting position, as if propelled by an unknown force. A guttural and primal scream erupted from her throat, automatically scathing it as she felt tears overflowing down her cheeks.

The pain was too much to bear!

“Chlomaki!”

A firm hand clasped onto her right shoulder, and the witch quickly turned to look over her right shoulder, her long black hair flowing down behind her. Fearing the worse, she felt her hiccupped scream stop in her throat as she was met with familiar eyes…but not with the color purple. Instead, they were all black save for those yellow irises that looked at her with such concern and a certain alertness in them. As the tears began to fade into cold streaks on her cheeks, Chlomaki looked down to see the large gray hands and claws of her familiar holding onto her. Yes, these were gentle hands and not the cruel burning touch of that awful man.

He was simply a memory now.

Still, that fact alone did not bring her any comfort; she felt sickened all over again by the nightmare that still hung over her like a shadow. Instinctively, Chlomaki raised her hands to her mouth to hold back the feeling of bile creeping up her throat, curling her knees to her chest, the bed sheets still covering her lower half.

The bed creaked underneath Fungas’s movement as he now sat next up next to her, releasing her arm in order to wrap his left arm around her shaking shoulders, the claws on his right hand gingerly touching her wrists. “Chlomaki, what’s wrong? Are you ill?”

Silence filled the air between them, interrupted only by the occasional huff and sniffle from Chlomaki as she tried to calm the jitters radiating throughout her body. It was a dream; only a dream. It had no power over her, and yet it felt so real. Once more, she had to relive the pain that that man had caused her. Once more, she had felt the piercing, slicing, and burning pain. Even now, she could feel the hot blood that ran out of her body and mouth. She couldn't help but groan at such imagery and memories eating at her. Tears once more threatened to spill out as they pooled in her sore eyes.

It had been decades since she had escaped that life. She was no longer that feeble, meek angel named Nadine. She was someone new; Fungas could attest to that. After all, he had called her by her true name only a few moments ago. 

As if on cue, the crocodile familiar pulled Chlomaki tightly into his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her petite frame. His right arm kept locked around her shoulders as his left hand cradled the back of her head, her long black strands spilling over his fingers. Through his unbuttoned gray dress shirt, Chlomaki could hear his heartbeat so distinctly as her right cheek pressed into his skin and the fabric. Pressed into him, she could smell his scent, a mixture of musty yet fresh. Of course, her sense of hearing and smell were heightened thanks to her feline traits. If anything, it just made this experience that much more comforting to her. At least she could know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was safe inside someone’s arms; safe in the hands of a trusted familiar and lover.

Chlomaki did not always like to remind herself of that latter fact; after all, Fungas had a habit of teasing her for her being “the master sleeping with her familiar.” She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at such a reminder, and it almost made her feel as if things were back to normal once she could feel her that bit of stubborn poutiness returning.

Normalcy.

That was all she wanted in life. Her old life as Nadine was gone; now, she was Chlomaki, the pitch-black witch. No longer did she have to live every day in terror and fear.

....  

Her breathing a bit more steady now, Chlomaki took a deep breath, slowly exhaling onto Fungas’s chest as he kept his arms still locked around her.

The black and yellow eyes of the crocodile looked down at the top of her head, the highest point of her hair that resembled black cat ears sticking straight up at his chin. “Chlomaki,” he began, his voice calm and collected. He was always like that when he wasn’t purposefully teasing her. “Are you okay now?”

His master simply nodded, rustling his shirt with her cheek. He felt her move slightly in his grasp, sliding her hands up to push at his chest with her palms. “Y…Yeah,” she said, her voice still a bit whispery due to her strained voice, he imagined. Another light push to his chest hinted at Fungas that she wanted to be let go, as did these words that soon followed: “You can let go now.”

Fungas couldn’t help but huff out a chuckle at that statement. Of course she would react this way; it was the norm. It was few and far between for her to have nightmares these days, but each time she did, Fungas was there to console her. Every time, it wound up with her pushing or pulling away, insisting she was fine. Of course, that was an obvious trick of misdirection; he wasn’t blind to her emotions. After all, a familiar knew all about his witch, and he knew her better than any of the others, he determined. What they had was something…special.

With a grin on his lips, Fungas kept his arms around Chlomaki as he flopped backwards with her onto the pillows of the large bed they shared. The white sheets were messy and bunched around them, but that did not matter; he would make sure she would not get cold in just her simple white nightgown.

Chlomaki wiggled in his arms so she could reposition herself as she found herself lying directly atop of him. She could see the small smirk across his lips and the way his eyes almost teased her, as if to say that he was the “victor” in this…whatever this was. Chlomaki did not have the strength to figure out just what this man was doing. His messy and long strands of gray hair hung around his head and slightly in front of his proud face.

“What are you doing?” she sighed out.

“What does it look like?” Fungas replied matter-of-factly. “I’m holding you.”

Yes; she could see that. What she could not understand was why he had to be so clingy and childish at times. Though…she had to admit…she did like this side of him. Fungas was the type that had a mindset that was fairly focused. From what she had learned of him over the years, Chlomaki had only seen this side of him when around her. She could not be fully sure of such an assumption, but Fungas only displayed this side when in her presence. She was still unsure if such a thing should be something to revel in or not. 

Chlomaki sighed out, closing her black eyes. She hadn’t realized how tired and sore they were until she finally shut them. She hated to have cried like that, especially over such a silly nightmare.

Tell herself that she may, but even she knew that these nightmares were not so trifling. Any logical person would see that, and she would tell them the same if the boot had been on the other foot, so to speak. She shook her head as if to clear her mind of these nonsensical thoughts. Perhaps lying down would be the best thing right now instead of fighting with Fungas about letting her return to her side of the bed. Besides, she was too tired and drained to argue at this point in time.

“Fine,” she replied back to Fungas, now turning her head so she could rest her left cheek on his chest. She positioned her hands on either side of her head, feeling his heartbeat underneath her right palm as he now snaked his right arm around her waist. This sent a slight tingle along her back with this gentle brush against her thin nightwear. His left hand now rested on her back on top of her hair and the tiny pair of gray wings that still remained part of her. Chlomaki could now feel him mindlessly playing and fiddling with her hair. Come to think of it, she could recall he had once told her he loved that part of her....

With a slight sigh but a tiny smile on her lips, unbeknownst to Fungas, Chlomaki allowed herself to begin drifting off to sleep once more as the warmth of Fungas soaked into her as her long hair draped down her body like an extra blanket. The steady pounding of his heart, pumping of his blood, and rhythm of his fingers in her hair soon had her relaxing into this sensation. All of these motions and feelings appealed to her natural feline nature.

Perhaps being held like this wasn’t such a bad thing after such a jolting start in the middle of the night.

....

In silence, among both of them breathing and the occasional rustle of hair and fabric, the last thoughts the witch remembered thinking to herself was that even though she might be “trapped” in Fungas’s arms for the night, she had never felt more secure and free.

Soon, the comforting black bliss of sleep washed over her.   

Update as of 11/10/2021: The wonderful Nekawa was kind enough to take on a commission inspired by this fic. Everyone go give her the love she deserves! 

Link to Neka's art: https://twitter.com/Fire_Kitty_nkw/status/1458030624770564096