Issue 1 Downtime

Regan was sleeping.

It was weird having a physical body. When Regan had just been a ghost, her needs were mostly psychological or emotional. Now she had actual physical needs and desires. Like getting hungry or tired or, well, you get the picture. It was weird.

It was nice to dream again though.

Regan dreamt she was back in Limbo, burning under a sun set against a vividly purple sky. The Tortured Plain was Belasco's territory. Technically, she was safe here, but that didn't make it any more tolerable. The heat was downright oppressive and in the distance Regan could see a group of hellhounds tearing something apart.

It wasn't a nice memory, but it was the closest thing there had been in Limbo to a relaxing moment.

What the hell is going on? Alex looked around, more than a little nervous at the situation at hand. He focused on the steel ring on his hand, and... nothing happened. Shit. He touched one of the other metal rings he kept on him... the aluminum one, the lead one, even the silver one he'd made the day before. Aaaand... nothing. Shit.

So as the hellhounds finally turned their attention to him from the thing they'd just finished picking clean, he only had one ring left to try. And as he synced with the Promethium ring, Regan would more than likely feel it.

In a second, Regan was beside Alex with the soul blade drawn. One of the hellhounds charged and she cut it down brutally and without a word.

This was an odd sensation for Alex. The metal behaved like any other, but he could feel an inate power in every punch he threw, every move he made. And a... glee in it... he couldn't help reveling in the feel of it as he drove his fingers into the hellhound, literally tearing it open in a stream of brimstone and ichor.

As the last of the hellhounds fell, Regan dismissed the soul blade. She wiped some blood off her face, glancing warily at Alex.

Alex looked around at the surroundings, then focused on Regan. He didn't know what was going on, he didn't know what to do. All he could do was go with instinct.

And so he lunged at her, starting a fight just as vicious as they'd just been engaged in with the Hellhounds.

Regan grabs him as he lunges at her, falling to the ground as she's thrown off balance.

Which naturally pulled him with her...

And as he fell, he was jerked awake, finding himself (flesh again) in his bed, the reality that that had all been a dream sinking in.

Only he quickly realized that not all of it had been a dream. "What the..." he blinked, looking down at the girl pinned underneath him.

Regan groans, blinking her eyes sleepily.

"Hrrnn?"

Alex hurriedly moved off of her. "Um... how'd you get in here?"

Regan's eyes widen, "Okay, what the fuck..."

Sitting up, she looks suspiciously at Alex, "What is going on?"

"I don't know! First I'm having a cracked-up dream, then all of a sudden you're here!"

"A likely story," Regan says, putting things together, "What was the dream?"

"Well, I was in... hell, and there were these demon dog things that we totally kicked the shit out of, and..." he sighed, "We're... going to have to get used to this, aren't we."

"Yes, you'll have to get used to me waking up in your bed," Regan says, "I'm sure it will be a real burden."

And he couldn't help his eyes drifting down as she said that, even if the sheets blocked most anything from view. "Well, I never said that," he admitted, cracking a smile.

Whether it was demonic instincts or just having a physical body, Regan caught herself staring at Alex. She turned a bit red, her cheeks burning as she looked away.

"Well, then you might want to invest in some pajamas or something,"

"I'd... say the same, but I'm really not minding."

"Damn it," Regan says, pulling more sheets around her, "I hate this body."

"I wonder if I can kill myself."

"Oh come on. Why?" he asked, settling down and no longer trying to ogle her. When he thought about it for a moment, it seemed weired, but it didn't feel odd to be in this... rather compromising position with her and talking like nothing was wrong.

"I liked the way I looked, I know it's weird to actually have a good body image these days but whatever. I liked being short and skinny," Regan says, "Now I look like a girly girl who wears dresses and is nice. I don't want to be nice."

"Um... I think your idea of 'nice' and the rest of the world's idea of 'nice' are kind of... polar opposites."

"You know what I mean. No one's gonna care about the horns and the rest," Regan says, "You weren't staring at the horns were you?"

Regan found herself thinking that she really didn't mind Alex staring at her. In fact, there was some things she'd like to do that went beyond staring...

What the fuck is wrong with me?

"Ah... well, yeah, but I can see the horns any time," he admitted. "And I can't get a good look at the tail." Which, he reflected, might have interesting possibiliti- shit, what was he thinking? ...Well, what any red-blooded male would, he had to admit. Oh god, if Brigid finds out about this, she'll kill me...

Regan turns a dark red, "Do you want to see it?"

"My tail, I mean."

A dark voice was begin to stir inside the back of Regan's mind. Whispering all sorts of awful things she could do with Alex.

After all, it said, No one loves you. You're a monster. So, why not just give in and start making yourself happy for once.

Alex himself turned a different sort of red. "Well, yeah but... Not if you don't want to. I mean, not like I wasn't just listening to you." He was briefly recalled to the fact that there was a hot girl in his bed with him, and then tried to force himself to behave. The last thing Regan probably wanted was some guy ogling her, after all...

Regan considers for a moment and then straightens up a little, dropping the sheets on one side so he can see her tail. It uncoiled from around her waist and swayed in the air idly.

"God. You don't have to freak out so much," Regan says, still blushing, "It's not a big deal."

And look at it Alex did. "I wasn't freaking out," he chuckled. "Just, y'know, don't want to be a dick." And honestly without thinking much he reached out to feel it, since... well, come on, who knew what a tail like that felt like?

"Hey...," Regan says, without much force. It surprised her but didn't bother her too much. Honestly, it just felt a little like someone putting their hand on your leg, "Does it feel weird?"

The tail twitched and coiled around Alex's hand playfully in response.

"Softer than I expected," he said. "Warmer. Not sure exactly what I expected," he admitted, chuckling and giving it a little squeeze as it curled around his hand.

Regan closed her eyes and leaned back a little, "Yeah?"

Honestly, while there was definitely some sexual desires, it also just felt good to be touched again. Regan had gone for a long time without human contact. Just having a hand on her was a powerful experience.

Regan was so caught up in it she didn't realize that the sheet had fallen away as she leaned back.

A fact that Alex noticed, enthusiastically, which (though he would never admit it) sort of freaked out his relatively sheltered little self. So he focused more on what his hand was doing (which admittedly wasn't much). And as it only seemed natural somehow, he settled back down, his hand resting on her waist since he couldn't just hold it up forever.

Regan opened her eyes, finally noticing how exposed she was. She groaned, "So embarrassing."

It was telling that she didn't make an effort to cover herself. Or stop Alex from putting his hand on her waist.

"Umm...So, have you ever...done anything before?" Regan asks, "Not that I'm - I'm just curious."

Oh god. What's wrong with me? I should stop being so weak and just do it. I'm sure he'd like it. Bodies pressed together, the smell of sweat and sex in the air, cries for what the hell am I thinking?

He has nice eyes.

"I... not a lot," he admitted. He usually blushed and told people to mind their own business, but there didn't seem to be any reason to be like that just now. "Kissed, but... well, everything above clothes, y'know?" Actually, this might be the farthest I've been, just... maybe I should... oh quit it, Alex.

Alex's hands felt warm and gentle. Regan liked that.

I'd like them better on my...

"You..." Regan take a deep breath. Her heart was pounding for some reason, "You can move the sheet. If you want to. I don't mind if you look."

Alex swallowed, and then did what any red-blooded man would do. He moved the sheet. "Have you ever... anything?" he managed, his mouth for some reason extremely dry at the moment as he tried to figure out what to do with his hand. It wanted to either move up or down, but he was rather too afraid to, and ended up instead sliding along her stomach.

Regan took a shuddering breath. It was too embarrassing to make eye contact, so she watched his hand move along her stomach.

"Not...all the way," Regan says, "I did some over the clothes stuff with a girl once. And...I...god...."

Regan shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts, "I dated a guy briefly after that as this whole thing...I did some stuff with my hands. And my mouth...briefly..."

"He didn't have a condom," Regan says, as if that explained everything.

It didn't explain anything, and at the same time it did, whether he was just extremely (and uncharacteristically) insightful for once, or if it was just blatantly obvious. He saw her following his hand with her eyes, and himself started following it as it slid up her stomach.

And then something seemed to snap in his head and he kissed her, reaching the point of 'fuck the nervousness'.

Regan kissed him back, driven by a hungry need that snapped the moment he kissed her.

See? Being a monster isn't so bad.

Running her hands along his chest, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Thank god," Regan said when she finally broke away from the kiss.

Alex, meanwhile was idly studying the way her wings came out of her back with his fingers when her legs fairly pulled him on top of her. Not that he was complaining. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked, his voice low and quiet.