#i keep slightly changing jaspers color palette...

[pokestudentjune]

Wahh thats so good to hear!! Cyndaquil are quite possibly my favorite starter pokemon ever (please dont tell Lotus) so if you ever need any advice or information on them, I'll be here!

heres my big grumpy guy Jasper <33 (plus Harlequin) I didn't raise him from a cyndaquil, but still is my big baby forever even if he doesnt like pictures :3

Chilli is finally getting used to me! This morning i woke up and he was asleep beside me by my legs! The absolute joy i got from seeing him actually comfortable! I'm so happy with our progress!! He's also been letting me pat his head and it's just the sweetest thing! I love this little guy too bits!!!

[tonguesanndteeth]

Tongues & Teeth Chapter: 4

Jasper waited across the street from the little coffee shop on the corner. By now it was too dark for anyone in the cafe to see his face. He was early, but Teddy was already inside, seated at a table by the window with her nose buried in a book. It wasn’t like him to keep a lady waiting, but Jasper took this opportunity to study her, if only for a moment. 

Her flaxen hair hung long and straight down the length of her back, her eyelashes casting delicate shadows across the planes of her cheekbones. Whatever she was reading must have been captivating, or perhaps confusing, as he watched her eyes dance across the pages intently. A little dimple appeared between her eyebrows when she focused. The emotions pouring out of her were unreadable.

Jasper crossed the street, the late November air frozen and still. A bell rang as he opened the door to the shop. It was a cozy, hole in the wall kind of place with old wooden walls and green subway tile. There weren’t many people here this time of night and Teddy’s head snapped up at the sound.

She smiled at him as he walked in, and it was breathtaking. Only his inhuman eyes could see it, but the light glinted off her teeth and threw a dazzling eight color rainbow.

“Sorry I’m late, ma’am,” he said, striding over to her table. Their table.

“Don’t be, cowboy. I was early.” 

Jasper tried to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Should I be offended by that?” he chuckled, taking a seat.

“Why, whatever do you mean?” she said, putting the back of her hand to her forehead and feigning a swoon, “My very own southern gentleman, I do declare.”

“Definitely offended.”

“What, you don’t like my Scarlett O’hara?” she teased.

“I suppose it could grow on me,” he smirked, no longer working to keep the natural twang out of his voice.

Teddy smiled and looked away, taking a sip of her coffee. But when she looked back at Jasper her brows knit together. He felt a wave of confusion roll off of her.

“Aren’t you cold?” she asked, eyeing him over.

He silently cursed himself, he’d forgotten to wear a jacket. His body didn’t register the arctic temperatures, but still, he needed to dress as though it did. Humans tended to notice little things like that.

“No, I’m fine,” he said, hoping she’d drop the subject.

Her eyes narrowed slightly and she reached across the table to touch his hand. Instinctively he moved to pull it away, but she caught it in her grip. Teddy inhaled sharply through her teeth and dropped it immediately as if she’d been burnt. 

“Fuck, Jasper, you’re freezing.”

“Really, it’s nothing. I have poor circulation.”

And by poor, he meant non existent.

“Bullshit. Here, drink this,” she said, pushing her cup of coffee towards him.

Jasper grimaced at the black drink in front of him. Human food was even less appealing than the herbivores, at least those had a heartbeat.

“I’m serious,” Teddy said firmly.

Jasper sighed and took the mug in his hands. If anything, holding the hot ceramic would warm his fingers to a semi-human degree, should she try to touch him again.

He looked at the soft ring of pink that her lipstick left on the rim of the cup. He wondered if he’d be able to taste her.

Bracing himself, he took a small sip.

The drink was hot and acrid on his palette, but he skimmed his tongue over her lipstick stain and his mouth was washed in her flavor. It was slightly waxy from the makeup, but round with notes of smoke and peppermint. Jasper shuddered slightly.

“Thank you,” she said with an approving nod, “now your hypothermia won’t be on my conscience.”

Jasper rolled his eyes and pushed the mug towards her.

“Nah, you keep it. If I drink anymore I’ll be up all night.”

He bit back a comment about not having slept in a century and a half, something told him she wouldn’t find it as funny as he did. Instead, he set his gaze on the book she’d put aside.

“What were you reading?” Jasper asked.

“Oh, that? Nothing, just notes.”

Her tone was too casual. Jasper could sense an evasiveness in her aura.

“What about?” he pressed, settling a blanket of calm over them. Jasper had never used his powers on Teddy before, and he wasn’t proud to do it now, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Teddy sighed and the tension melted away from her shoulders.

“It’s just where I write when my mind gets too full. Sometimes it feels like my thoughts turn into these sharp, twisting puzzles. Getting it out on paper helps though, I can rationalize the mess a bit better. I-I don’t usually tell people this.”

She shook her head as if to clear a daze.

Jasper was slightly taken aback. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it wasn’t that. He’d always known that Teddy felt things strongly, processed life differently, but hearing it in her own words was a wholly other thing. Was that what she had been experiencing the first time he’d sensed her mind? When he’d felt it lashing out with a powerful and shattering force?

“How do you endure it?” Jasper asked.

She shrugged.

“You find ways to cope. I wasn’t always a smoker, you know.”

“And that helps?”

“It helps enough. Plus it’s cheaper than knocking back a xanny every few hours.”

Jasper wasn’t entirely sure what a “xanny” was, but it sounded stronger than cigarettes.

“I’m sorry,” he said helplessly.

“Don’t be, everyone’s got shit. I’m sure you do.”

“What makes you say that?” Jasper asked, quirking an eyebrow. She was right, he did have ‘shit’. A lot of it. But he was curious as to why she thought so.

Teddy shot him a scathing look. 

“Jasper, have you looked in a mirror? You look like a goddamn Kalvin Klein model. Nobody’s that pretty and okay on the inside.”

He barked out a laugh, surprised at her choice of words, but also the weight of their accuracy.

“It’s that easy to see through me, huh?” he grinned.

“Crystal clear, unfortunately. You look like you’re ready to throw yourself off a bridge half the time.”

She wasn’t far off the mark. Being in such close proximity to humans, to her, could be torturous. If only jumping off a bridge could solve that problem.

“We’ve both got issues in the coping department, I’m afraid.”

“Well,” she grinned crookedly, “cheers to being two of a kind.”

Jasper smiled sadly in return, tracing the rim of her coffee cup with his pinkie finger. He was contemplating forcing down another sip just to taste her again.

“Tell me something,” he said after a moment.

“What?”

“Anything. I just..want to know you,” he admitted.

She flushed deliciously at his words, blood pooling in the thin, clear membrane of her cheeks. Jasper clenched his fist roughly under the table, marble skin pulled taut over his knuckles. He didn’t let himself breathe until the blush faded.

“I’m a vegetarian,” she offered after a moment of consideration.

“So am I,” Jasper said, amused.

“Really?” she laughed, “I would’ve pegged you as a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Red blooded American and all that.”

“Oh, believe me, I used to be,” he said wickedly.

“What changed?”

“My family. When they adopted me they showed me a new way of life. More humane.”

“You’re adopted?” she asked.

He nodded.

“My parents died a very long time ago. I was on my own until Carlisle, my father, found me. He gave me a home, siblings, endless patience. Everything I could have ever hoped for.”

“Wow,” she breathed, processing his words.

“What’s your family like?” Jasper asked.

Teddy’s expression turned sour.

“Dysfunctional.”

“How so?”

“I mean, I guess my childhood was pretty normal. My parents got divorced when I was seven and I stayed here with my mom. Which was, spoiler alert, a big mistake. My dad moved to Nevada, owns some shitty motels now, I think. I see him every couple of years. I don’t even know where my mom is anymore.”

“You don’t know where she is?”

“Nope, and I don’t really care to. She was in and out of rehab too much to keep track of after I moved out, it’s just better like this.”

He could sense her sadness as it rolled off her body.

“Maybe I should have asked you about your favorite color instead,” Jasper said regretfully, he shouldn’t have poked at such a sensitive topic.

Teddy rolled her eyes at him.

“I’ve never been very good at small talk anyway. But, for the record, my favorite color is white.”

“An interesting choice,” he mused.

“Hey, no judging! It’s a nice color. I’m sure yours is something stereotypical like blue.”

Jasper was torn. If you’d asked him a minute ago his favorite color would have been red, the rich iron pigment of her blood. If you’d asked him again he might have said green, the electric shade of her eyes. Or possibly rose, the hue of her lipstick smudged on the rim of a porcelain mug. But he couldn’t say any of that. Instead, he just smiled and said:

“Ya got me.”

“I knew it,” she smirked.

Jasper noticed that the already sparse coffee shop had emptied considerably, the young woman behind the counter beginning to clean up for the night.

“It’s getting late,” Teddy sighed.

He sensed something like disappointment coming from her.

“May I walk you home?” he asked tentatively.

The disappointment disappeared.

“You may,” she smiled.

The two of them exited the warm cafe, the frigid winter air soaking through to their bones immediately. Jasper felt nothing, but Teddy shivered and pulled her coat more securely around her shoulders. He frowned to himself, upset that he could offer her no warm embrace to take the chill away.

She fished around in her bag for a moment before producing a lighter and a fresh pack of Marlboro Reds. Apparently she wasn’t picky about brands. She lit one swiftly, inhaling deeply, and then let it go in a gust of smoke and frozen air.

“This way,” Teddy said, walking down a side street.

She offered the lit cigarette to Jasper, which he accepted, falling into step beside her.

He took a drag and held it in his chest, watching as the breeze whipped Teddy’s hair around her face. They walked in silence for a while, passing the cigarette back and forth.

“Do you think the stars know that they shine?” she asked absently.

It was a rare, cloudless night. The sky was an impossibly inky black and studded with stars like white diamonds. 

“Maybe,” he mused, “but they might be happier if they didn’t.”

“That’s true,” Teddy sighed, “things seem so much easier up there. No worries, no responsibilities.”

“But we get a much better view.”

“Yeah,” she smiled, meeting his eyes.

They approached an old, but well maintained apartment building, and Teddy stopped.

“Well, this is me.”

There was a beat of tension between them. Jasper felt the pull of emotion coming from her. It was small, and cautious, but it was the unmistakable feeling of desire. He had to work very hard to keep his mind in order as he realized this.

He wanted to do something reckless. He wanted to kiss her. It was a terrible, horrible idea, but it tempted him almost more than her blood. For as strong as Jasper was, he needed to be equally as gentle. He could stroke a soap bubble with his finger and leave it unharmed if he issued enough control. Teddy was just as delicate. Silk over glass. Breakable. 

She looked up at him with her wide, clear eyes, and he felt himself lean in. Her pulse quickened and his mouth pooled with hunger. He’d never been this close to a human’s without intent to kill before. The scent of her blood seared its way through his throat and dizzied his head. 

With all the pressure of butterfly flapping its wings, Jasper pressed his lips to the supple flesh of her cheek. He wanted to linger there, overcome with the sensation of her warmth, but the thirst ripping its way through him was too powerful.

“Goodnight,” he whispered as he pulled away.

He turned and began to walk back down the street.

“Goodnight, Jasper,” he heard her say quietly as he slipped into the night.