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phan3145 · 5 months ago

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Title: Slippery Slope. Fandom: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Rating: M ( Cursing, blood, minor character death, mature themes) Pairing: Eventual Noa x Human!Reader.

***Notes: I am so sorry this is so late, you don’t understand how this chapter nearly ended me. I also had no intention of making it this long. Broken record, right? Want to say a big THANK YOU to @sttudnobright for commenting on my poll, because it was their comment that made me finally realize how to frame this chapter. Tagging @imaginarydreams since they asked to be kept updated. Also, reminder to check the rating for this chapter.

Chapter 6: Jumbled

You

When you opened your eyes again you were in your bed, fire going steadily across from you, lighting up the entirety of the cave. You didn’t remember leaving that much kindling on it, but decided you must have. At least it was warm. You let out a whining groan as you attempted to stretch your body. Your arms went above your head, your back arching, toes extending before curling a few times. Your body hurt so much.

Your left shoulder blade felt as if someone had clubbed you, your thighs not faring much better. They felt tight, vice-like. You swayed your hips slightly, hearing a pop in your right joint that relieved a fraction of the tension. You brought your arms back down from where they had been resting above your head, seeing your wrapped hands. Thankfully, you hadn’t bled through the cloth, but the skin underneath felt hot. You didn’t want to think about what it looked like.

Memory flooded back to you then; the library, the boar, the leap of faith off of the horse, and then falling asleep on the way back. This caused you to bolt upright, realizing you were in fact in your bed and not riding on a horse. As you did, the large figure that had been silently sitting next to you, watching your every move, sprung to their feet. You jerked away from them, a scream dying in the back of your throat when you realized who it was.

“Noa.” You gasped, hand coming up to clutch at your too dry throat. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

Noa appraised you a moment, eyes trailing up and down your form so methodically you felt naked. You fought the urge to bring your blanket up, knowing you were still wearing the same clothes you had on before. Speaking of which, your bed was dirty now that your outside clothes had touched it. That was probably the least of your worries though, remembering how your jacket had completely lost its backing. Though summer was approaching, spring was holding on with a vengeance at night when the sun went down.

Noa, apparently done with his study of you, handed you your canteen. You took it gratefully, saying a quick thank you as you drank. He chose to speak then, “Watching over you…could not wake you when we arrived…had to have Anaya…help move your rock.”

That frightened you, turning towards your entry way to see the rock moved to its normal open position. You swallowed thickly, “You two were able to open it?”

“Was not easy.” Noa replied, walking towards where your fire was going, and bringing something back wrapped in a large leaf. “Took much time…difficult to open…but not impossible.”

You noticed as he carefully handed you the leaf, that Noa’s eyes went distant, as if he was remembering something from a long time ago. Distracted by the new object in your hand, you unwrapped it to find fresh salmon. That explained the extra kindling, he must have just finished cooking it…you could still see steam rising from the ends. You were surprised how well the leaf insulated against the heat. Leaning over, you reached for the dagger under your pillow, slicing slits into the cooked fish to release the heat. You tore and picked at the edges of it, only then realizing how hungry you really were.

Noa eyed you warily, watching as you used the dagger to cut into the meat. You were too hungry to act shy about the weapon, shoving a huge chunk of meat into your mouth using the blade as a type of spoon. You swallowed quickly, waving the dagger in the air before explaining, “In case something else ever gets in. Last line of defense. It’s better to be safe than sorry, but I’ve never had to use it before.”

Noa grunted, apparently willing to leave it there. You took another bite, eyes trailing back over to your entry. The day you met the trio, Noa was able to budge the rock slightly, just by himself. You had marveled at his power, never fearing he would ever be able to break in from the outside, regardless of his strength. A part of you was grateful that they were able to get it open, giving your body time to rest in bed and wake up comfortably. Still, you felt uneasy at the thought that only two apes had been enough to pry open your sense of safety.

As if hearing your thoughts, Noa added, “Almost gave up…several times…in the beginning could barely…find it…then together could barley…move it at all….Soona suggested taking you back…to village for the night.”

The hairs on the back of your neck stood up, eyes widening, and stomach dropping. You shook your head, “No. No, that would have been a very bad decision.”

Noa scoffed, “Anaya said…same thing…do not see why…would have been there with you…as I am now.”

Before you could say anything else, Noa was in front of you again, handing you an apple. The oddness of him feeding you struck you then, taking it from him but setting it down next to you. You weren’t done with your fish, but your appetite had suddenly vanished. You carefully moved the leaf and its contents off to the side, freeing up your lap so you could swing your legs over the side of your bed. You braced your hands on the edge, leaning forward slightly, attempting to take inconspicuous deep breaths.

Of course, Noa noticed something was wrong. He crouched to be eye level with you, something you noticed he always seemed to be doing. Anaya and Soona would move freely, but if Noa was speaking to you he would be sure to be on your level, or at least mirror your body language. You tried to avoid his gaze, that feeling of being exposed returning as he commented, “You should…eat more…no food since sunrise.”

You shook your head, “I’m not that hungry anymore.”

“Rest then?” Noa asked. “Can sleep…will stand watch.”

“Maybe later,” you mumbled.

Noa’s eyes scanned your face, fighting to catch your gaze. That in itself must have been telling, as he said slowly, “You…are…upset?”

You were suddenly hot, pulling your arms a little too roughly out of the sleeves of your ruined jacket. You held it in your hand, thumb rubbing at the shredded ends of the back. You didn’t think there was any chance of mending it, wondering if there was a way to repurpose it. For now, it did keep your arms covered at least.

You looked up then, seeing Noa’s expression shift from concerned to sorrowful. You weren’t sure if it was due to your silence or your tattered jacket. You tried to put some life into your voice, softly but kindly explaining, “You don’t have to stay, Noa. I’ll be alright.”

“Want to…stay.” Noa replied, shaking his head.

“Why?” You asked, a self deprecating chuckle leaving you as you ran a hand through your hair.

Noa didn’t hesitate, “Worried…about you.”

You didn’t say anything to that. He probably had good reason to worry about you…at times like this you worried about yourself too. Usually you were fine, but then there were days where you would feel the reality of your life crash into you and panic over the situation you found yourself in. It happened the day after meeting Noa, all the ways things could have gone wrong if he was a different ape, how things could still go wrong. God…just the thought of waking up, not knowing where you were, potentially surrounded by other apes, had your stomach turning.

So lost in your own thoughts, you didn’t notice Noa raise his hand up, his thumb attempting to brush over the mark he had placed on your forehead. You flinched back out of instinct. He did the same, snatching his hand away and tilting his head at you. You forced your muscles to relax, mumbling, “Sorry, didn’t mean to do that.”

“You..do not like…being touched.” Noa paused, it wasn’t a question. “Then…sometimes you do…why?”

That was one of the questions you didn’t want to answer, knowing there were things you would have to explain that Noa might not understand. There were also things that he wouldn’t like if you explained them to him. Today had been an eventful day, you were not only emotionally exhausted, but physically as well. You wanted to trust Noa, tell him everything you kept trapped and secret in your mind, but you didn’t know if you could trust yourself. It was all too heavy, it would crush you under its weight. He didn’t push though, patiently waiting for your response. You almost smiled, knowing he would probably wait all night for you if he needed to.

Not thinking too much on the action itself, you pushed yourself from your bed, lowering your body onto the ground to be closer to…well, Noa. As much as you hated to admit it, there was something about him that brought you comfort. If you were in your normal mindset you might question that further, but for now, you wanted the comfort of his closeness. His eyes widened a fraction, letting out a small hum as he shifted from his haunches to a seated position on the floor as well. His legs were spread out in front of him, yours were bent at the knee, feet feeling the cool stone beneath you as you rested your hands on your knees. If your foot moved an inch or two to the right it would be touching Noa’s, and you had to shake that thought from your head.

Your fingers tapped out a rhythm, trying to distract yourself as you admitted, “I mainly flinch out of fear. I don’t really mean to, but I’ve been alone for so long now that…usually if something is touching me, it’s not a good thing.”

“Fear…” Noa repeated, mulling over you or answer. “Why…are you afraid…of apes?”

“Apes can be dangerous,” you replied honestly.

“When?” He asked.

Your brows furred, “What do you mean?”

“When did it…happen,” Noa clarified. “When…were apes dangerous…to you?”

“I -I didn’t say-” you started, but Noa cut you off.

“Fear does not happen…for no reason,” he huffed. “When did apes…make you afraid?”

You hesitated, throat feeling tight again “ Years ago.”

Noa leaned in closer, tone softening, “What happened?”

Well, this was it. The thing you swore you would never speak about again for as long as you lived. You didn’t have to answer, but you had come this far, and not explaining this to Noa meant that he would never understand your fear. It might even drive a wedge further between you two at some point in the future. Today already took an emotional toll on you, so how much worse could this be?

“I…I told you I lived in a vault once, right?” You stammered.

Noa hummed.

You took a deep breath then, “There was a virus- which I’m not sure if you know about. It took away the ability for humans to speak, made us really sick. Sometimes…it even killed us.”

Noa nodded, “Know…about it.”

You swallowed, “It didn’t effect most of us in the vault….I think before I was born the ones in there were immune to it. I was-was tested when I was born, and I was allowed to go outside with my parents whenever I wanted. For m-most of my life everyone came and went as they pleased, living in nature, even farming. This…apocalyptic world our scientists were always talking about, didn’t seem so bad at the t-time. I had freedom, a family, and f-friends. I lived a happy life.”

“How old…were you?” Noa clarified, “When…it happened.”

“S…seventeen.” You mumbled, pinching your eyes closed for a moment and running a hand through your hair. It had only gotten longer, and you reminded yourself then that you should cut it soon. “I wasn’t…wasn’t even considered an adult yet. I never in my wildest nightmares imagined that I could lose everyone I…it happened so fast.”

“Where are family…friends…now?” Noa asked.

You took in a breath, “Hopefully, they’re all dead.”

Noa visibly reacted to this, “Why…would you hope…for that?”

“Because the humans the gorillas didn’t kill outright,” you gritted through your teeth. “Are the ones they decided to keep as pets.”

“Gorillas…killed?” Noa didn’t seem shocked, but it still seemed like a hard concept for him to understand.

You felt a shiver run up your spine, and you forced your body not to show it as memories assaulted your mind in response to the question. You couldn’t speak, choosing instead to jerk your head once in a single nod.

“What is…pet?” Noa asked, raising his left hand in a closed fist, before making a back and forth motion with his right hand over top of it. “Not pet like…this?”

“No,” you shook your head, teeth clenching. “Not like that at all.”

You had to take a moment to swallow the anger, knowing this was a genuine question. Noa was not the one you were angry with, he was the one who was here after you got hurt. He was the one who made sure you didn’t fall off the horse. He was the one that never harmed you no matter how easy it would have been to do so. He was the one listening to you, the one who was worried about you. He cared about you.

With your emotions in check, you explained, “A pet is an animal humans would domest- tame…an animal humans would tame to keep with them. We would give them names, and put collars around their necks so others knew who they belonged to. We fed them, and gave them shelter in exchange for their loyalty and companionship.”

Noa was hesitant, but admitted, “Does not sound…bad…we raise Eagles…very similar…we wear their feathers and…have names for them to…tell apart.”

You shook your head, “It’s not the same. The clan and the eagles are the same, equal. I’ve even heard Anaya refer to Eagle Sun as your older brother.”

Noa huffed at that, looking away a moment before asking, “How is it…different then?”

“First of all,” you started. “For humans, a pet was treated as something under us. We cared for them, loved them, but they were not our equals. We chose them, cared for them instead of letting them fend for themselves in the wilderness. Secondly, the gorillas did not share the same amount of care for their pets that humans did theirs. They treated them brutally.”

“How do you…know?” Noa challenged.

You looked him the eye then, refusing to so much as blink as you confessed, “Because I was trapped in a cage as a pet for over a year.”

You’d never seen an ape be sick before, but Noa looked awfully close. His face was incredibly scrunched, and unless it was a trick of the fire, he looked two shades paler. His body seemed more hunched in, as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He breathed out the only word he seemed to be able to form, “What?”

Your hand covered your own mouth for a moment after the confession. Now that you said it out loud, it was real again. Nausea crept up on you at the epiphany, the fish in your gut souring the back of your throat. You turned away from Noa then, your other hand moving to your stomach and legs falling to the ground as you fought the overwhelming feeling. You already started, you couldn’t let yourself stop now. No one on this planet knew what happened now that your mother was gone. Someone else besides you should know. You took very deep breaths, hearing Noa start to make those humming noises again. They reminded you of the day you two had met, and that thought grounded you.

You turned back to Noa then, “My friends and I left the vault, three males and two females. We were traveling along a river, one we were very familiar with, when a group of gorillas and a few chimps approached us. We weren’t sure what to do, we had never seen apes before. The males simply stood in front of my friend and I. They had weapons, for hunting, but my friend and I had nothing.”

You saw the look in Noa’s eyes, the despair he held for you. You shifted again, bringing your knees up to tuck into your chest. You wrapped your arms around them, turning your head to face Noa as you rested your cheek on your knees. You tried to smile, “My friends were so brave, and if it weren’t for them, I might not be here now.”

“Do you…” Noa started. He opened his mouth as if to gulp the air, canines visible for a moment before he continued, “Do you…want silence?”

You shook your head, “I need to tell you, I need to say it. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say it again if I stop now.”

Noa nodded, grunting as he stamped a closed fist against the ground a few times. You weren’t sure what it meant, but it might have been involuntary as he sighed through his nose, “Will not…speak…until you are…finished.”

“Okay.” You sighed, closing your eyes and letting the memories overtake you.

…

Kieran and Erik were at it again, trying to prove who was stronger. Somehow you and Eden got dragged into it, both of you being picked up and thrown over one of the boys shoulders as they ran down stream. Eden was absolutely losing it, snorting as she screamed in glee. You on the other hand, were just trying to make sure Kieran didn’t drop you. Even you had to admit though, it was pretty funny, a few giggles escaping as Kieran tried to trip Erik.

“I will strangle you if you trip me Kieran, I swear to God!” Erik shouted, stumbling slightly as Eden continued to squeal.

You slapped Kieran on the shoulder, “Fight fair! If you make Erik drop Eden he’ll have to get in line to strangle you.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Kieran called, picking up the pace, as you imagined the river’s edge was close.

You raised your head to see Micheal bringing up the rear, multiple bows and packs of arrows slung across his back as he attempted to keep up with his two younger brothers. Your eyes locked and you smiled at him, who in turn blushed and looked away. You enjoyed flustering him, not sure when he started acting differently around you, only that ever since, he had trouble keeping eye contact with you.

You would probably marry him one day. He was two years older than you, and while looks had never been something you were a particularly good judge on, you supposed he was decent enough. He was about your height, with dark auburn hair and brown eyes the color of a rich wood. More than his looks though, he was smart, smarter than Kieran and Erik for sure. He was the main hunter, knew how to be patient and find solutions to problems most wouldn’t think of. You admired that in him, how he never pretended to be something he wasn’t, never boasted or bragged that he was strong. He let his actions speak for themselves. While Eden might appreciate Kieran or Erik for their playfulness and macho displays, Micheal was the one who had your full attention.

Just as you thought that, Kieran jerked to a stop, and you felt your body go forward as he let you down, hollering his victory over Erik. Eden was still laughing, giving Erik a quick peck on the cheek in an attempt to comfort him.

“Hey, I won,” Kieran protested. “Shouldn’t I be the one to get a kiss?”

“You tried to cheat,” Eden accused, finger pointing at him.

Kieran smiled, “Key word being tried. I didn’t actually trip Erik.”

Eden rolled her eyes, turning to Micheal who was just now catching up, “I think he should be disqualified. What about you?”

Without missing a beat, Micheal said, “Absolutely. Erik wins by default, congratulations you two.”

Eden cheered, giving Erik a high-five as Kieran sulked. I patted his shoulder, “Better luck next time. Hey, I appreciate that you didn’t drop me.”

“Do I get a kiss for that?” He asked.

I snorted, “Yeah, sure.”

I leaned forward to kiss his cheek when Kieran suddenly turned his head, kissing me on the lips. I pulled back immediately as he grinned, looking so proud of himself. Of course, never one to boast when he actually does something outrageous. I practically growled at him, raising a leg to take my shoe off.

“Oh, shit!” Kieran cursed as he attempted to run.

“Get back here you ass!” You called as you chased after him, “Come take your beating like a man!”

Eden pulled Erik back playfully as he made to grab him, but Micheal was suddenly there, lunging forward and grabbing Kieran around the neck in a type of chokehold. This surprised you, but you just chuckled evilly, ready to get your revenge. Micheal saying your name however, stopped you in your tracks. That’s when you noticed his eyes locked on to something up ahead of you. Even Kieran stopped struggling as he caught site of what Micheal had.

Eden, Erik, and you all turned at the same time to find out what the other two were staring at. That’s when you saw it, apes on horseback. You had never seen an ape in person before, and you had to wonder what they were doing here. The five of you had frequented this river since you could walk, this wasn’t claimed territory. You were too scared to look away or make a sound now, feeling like something was terribly wrong. Running didn’t seem like a good idea though.

You heard Micheal call your name again, “Put your shoe back on and get behind me. Eden, you too. Erik, back up to me with Eden slowly.”

We all did as he instructed as the caravan of apes got closer. There were five gorillas and three chimpanzees. Two of the chimps were walking alongside the group instead of riding. That must mean there was a settlement nearby. A new ape settlement.

You felt Eden wrap her arm around yours, attempting to pull you back further. You didn’t want to move, afraid to look weak, and Micheal was right in front of you. He hadn’t reached for his bow yet, but his hands were ready. Erik and Kieran on the other hand weren’t willing to wait, arrows strung and pointed towards the ground.

The apes stopped then, probably 20 feet away from you, making a few noises that you assumed was their way of communication. You noticed them scanning your group, the biggest gorilla locking eyes with you for a brief moment before turning his attention to Erik. He was shifting from foot to foot, arrow pointed slightly off the ground now, as if he sensed danger.

“We mean you no harm,” Micheal’s booming voice called out. “As long as you mean us no harm. We understand if this is your territory, we did not know. We will respectfully leave and return to our homes and not come back.”

The larger gorilla huffed at one of the chimps on the ground, who paced to the back of his horse. He then turned to the smaller gorilla on his left, pointing to Micheal. You felt your stomach drop, not understanding what that meant, but having a feeling it wasn’t good. You felt Micheal’s hand on your stomach then, pushing you back as he whispered, “Start backing up, but don’t run unless I say.”

You hummed, too afraid to speak as the group slowly started inching backwards.

The large gorilla spoke then, the deep scratchy voice sending chills down your spine. “Human who can speak…comes with us.”

Ice flooded your veins then, looking to Micheal who seemed to be assessing the situation. Erik, upon hearing that, raised his bow in the air, aiming for the gorilla who spoke. No sooner had he done that, you heard a Thunk noise, and a gasp be ripped from Erik’s mouth. You turned, watching in slow motion as Erik took a step back, allowing you to see the spear lodged in his chest.

You watched the realization hit him at the same time as the rest of you, a final glance to Micheal before he collapsed. You couldn’t react, shock gripping your being as you saw Eden cover her mouth to smother the scream she wanted to let out, visibly shaking now as she clung to you. Kieran was smart enough not to raise his bow further, but he and Micheal shared a devastated look before facing the apes again.

“Run.” Micheal hissed, and time seemed to not only resume, but speed up.

The gorillas all practically leapt off their horses. The two chimps on the ground hurling spears, not trying to hit you but trying to keep you all in one place. Eden took off alongside you, and for once, you were thankful she was smaller than you, it allowed her to be faster. You heard Micheal and Kieran behind you, turning your head over your shoulder once to see the apes gaining. Micheal did the same, and you saw the calculating look in his eye as he turned back around.

He called out then, “Kieran you’re with me, you two don’t stop running for anything! I mean it!”

You heard Eden whimper ahead of you as a sort of confirmation, and you stumbled a moment, wanting to stop but knowing if you did, whatever Micheal intended to do would be in vain. Two sets of footsteps stopped echoing behind you, so you kept running, dodging over limbs and bushes as you both strayed from the rivers edge in search of cover.

You heard arrows flying alongside apes screeching and roaring in tandem. You couldn’t look, couldn’t see who was winning. You had to keep going…..but then you heard Kieran scream. You turned then to see one of the chimps dead on the ground, and a Gorilla struggling to breathe next to the corpse, half dead himself. He had more than seven arrows lodged in his chest. There were two more gorillas though, one restraining Micheal and the other…

Kieran was on the ground, body twisted in an unnatural position, with the second gorilla above him. You saw dark arms raise before fists came down over his body. Micheal struggled in a net next to him, screaming and cursing at the apes. You looked away, hearing the pain in Kieran’s voice each time the Thump of fists came down on him. You heard a wet, cracking sound following the next blow that echoed in the forest. Then, there was no more screaming. No more hits to the ground. No more sound. You knew Kieran was dead.

You heard the pound of running steps behind you then, and you knew what was about to happen. You gasped in air, forcing your body to go faster, run harder. Eden was so far ahead of you…you knew she would probably get away if she just kept going. You willed your voice to be steady as you screamed, “Don’t stop, Eden! Run faster, give it everything you have! Don’t stop until you’re home! Don’t look back, just run!”

You didn’t hear a response, but you saw her shift slightly, running more on the balls of her feet and picking her legs up higher, arms jerking back and forth harder than they were before. You saw her duck behind a tree and then she was out of your line of sight. Part of you was comforted by that, but that relief was quickly extinguished when something smacked into your back and you quickly hit the ground. You scraped your chin when you landed, letting out a small cry of pain as you wriggled in the net you found yourself trapped in.

There was a tug, and you were being dragged back towards Micheal and the other apes. The Gorilla above you huffed and snarled as you continued to struggle, raising a leg and kicking you in the stomach. You groaned, curing in on yourself as another gorilla on a horse approached.

The gorilla holding you pointed towards where Eden had been, “Find the human and their nest, take the ones who speak…kill the rest.”

Eden was going to lead them home, and there was nothing you could do about it. You felt tears start streaming down your face, as the ape holding you sniffed loudly, throwing you next to Micheal, another ape gripping the closure of the net. The larger ape growled, “Weak human…bleeding…stinks.”

The ape above you seemed to huff in agreement, and as awful as this was, you were relieved that Micheal had escaped the slaughter. You were happy he was here with you. You actively avoided looking at his brother laying on the ground next to you as you thought this.

…

The two of you were thrown across a horse, a chimp walking alongside it as you tried to track where you were and where they were taking the two of you. You were separated from Micheal when you arrived to the ape settlement. It was built on the side of a cliff, apes working on a large wooden fence around the front. As you rode in you noticed they were taking you off to the left, but taking Micheal all the way to the back. Neither of you said anything, knowing that if one of you had the chance to escape you would do so, and maybe send help for the other.

There was a crude room made from a small stone alcove in the rocks. You were taken out of the net and thrown in, rolling on the ground from the unexpected force. You didn’t try to run, the colony of gorillas overflowing, it would only be a few steps before you were caught. A makeshift door of bamboo was shut behind you, leaving you in the small space to explore alone. You decided to bide your time and look around for anything that could be useful to you. A large nest of leaves and furs was off to the side, some baskets filled with fruits, and other random odds and ends were scattered around the room. Nothing you could use at present. You tried to not look too closely at the bones that were scattered on the floor, deciding it didn’t matter if they were human or not as long as they weren’t yours.

The larger gorilla from earlier slammed open the door then, ground shaking as he made his way towards you. There was nowhere for you to go, but still you tried to back up as far away as you could from him. In seconds, your back was against the stone of the cave as the gorilla closed the distance between the two of you. You refused to cower, but you did freeze in place. His height was staggering, standing on all fours but his eyes were level with yours. Only then did you realize that looking him in the eye was a mistake, watching as he yanked you by your ankle.

You hit the ground hard, attempting to catch yourself on your elbows before he dragged you half under him. You tried not to cry or scream, thinking it would only aggravate the ape further. He jerked on your limbs, pulling you this way and that, then grabbing you by the neck. He pulled you close, taking a deep whiff before throwing you back to the ground. Your skull practically bounced off the stone below you and you whimpered, clutching at the back of your head.

This seemed to catch the gorilla’s attention, seizing you now by the hair and using it to pull you into a standing position. He chose to stand on two legs now, raising you up with him, and you barley dangled on your tip toes in order not to have all of your weight hanging my your head.

“You can make noise,” the gorilla snarled. “No point in having you if you don’t. Understand human?”

You whined, still struggling against his hold, “Yes! Please let go, it hurts!”

The gorilla made a satisfied noise, yanking up once very hard before dropping you entirely. You couldn’t help it, you collapsed onto your hands and knees while tears fell from your eyes. The pain was overwhelming, feeling like your skull was on fire, and you sobbed in fear as the gravity of your situation finally set in. Your body began to shake, the air you gasped into your lungs getting more and more shallow no matter how deep a breath you took. The ape circled you the entire time, intently watching your reaction.

“You are young,” he commented. “Will get much use out of you if you do as you are told.”

You tried to quiet your noises, tried to focus on his words. He made a fist as he raised his arm, and you yelped, wrapping your arms around your head. The ape hooted in delight, “You are smart…that is good. You will refer to me as Gol. Understood?”

“Y-yes.” You stuttered, slowly dropping your arms.

Gol reached for you again, grabbing you by the neck and hauling you up. You dangled in the air once more, feet kicking as you felt his grip close around your throat. Both hands scratched across his arm for any sort of purchase, attempting to hold yourself up to pull any amount of air you could get into your lungs. He watched you struggle before explaining, “You will come when I call, you will stay where I put you, and you will eat when I give you food. You will do what I say without question or hesitation. Do you understand?”

You nodded, gasping, “Yes!”

“Yes, what?” He huffed.

“Yes, Gol!” You practically spat in an effort to get the words out.

He dropped you to your feet then, not giving you a chance to catch your breath as he grabbed your hair, leading you by it like it was a leash. You were marched through the settlement by his unrelenting grasp until you reached the human cages. A door was opened for Gol by a chimp, then you were thrown in. You scrambled on your hands and feet before the door was promptly slammed in your face. You sniffled, watching as the apes hooted and chuffed before leaving you alone.

Not entirely alone

You heard a deep sigh behind you and saw Micheal crouching in the back of the cage. Though your body was sore and you were pretty sure your chin was still bleeding, you ran to him. He opened his arms and allowed you to collapse in them, sinking to the ground with you as you remained wrapped in each other. He tried to soothe you as you cried, but there was nothing he could tell you that would fix this. His brothers were dead, and Eden was leading the other apes to your home.

Home…you wanted to go home

As if hearing your thoughts Micheal squeezed you tighter, whispering, “I know…but we have to be smart. We will not be here forever. We will not die here. We just have to bide our time. Trust me, I promise you’ll get to go home.”

You wiped the tears from your eyes, burying your face in the warmth of his chest and the comfort of his smell. You trusted him, as long as he survived you would too. You would live for each other in hopes of making it out of here alive. Who knows, there were a few mechanical weapons in the vault, maybe Eden made it before the apes could stop her. Maybe your parents were planning a rescue mission as you sat here.

Micheal called your name then, forcing you to look up. He kissed the top of your head, holding you closer, “As fucked up as this is…and as much as I wish you weren’t, I’m really happy you’re here with me.”

You nodded, tucking your head back into his chest. Your fingers dug into his shirt, swallowing hard before you started, “I’m sorry about-”

“Don’t.” He interrupted you, “Just…don’t. Not yet. Have your breakdown now, I’ll have mine later.”

You hiccuped then, “I’ll be there for you when you do.”

He smiled then, genuinely, smoothing his fingers through your hair as you clung to each other, “Thank you.”

….

You had lost track of time, how long you had been here…but now you remembered with painful clarity. There were two things that you were sure of. The first, your home was either never found, or everyone there was killed. You woke up anxious every morning for days, weeks, but you never saw anyone from your vault brought to the settlement. The second, is that you were a year older. You had been taken in the early summer, and summer was once again upon you.

You had been here for over a year. You and Micheal had saved each others lives more times than you could count; sharing food and water, keeping each other warm during the freezing days of winter, sharing pain when punishment was inflicted…and in your case, it was inflicted a lot. You were more aware now of how tired you were, how wrong your body felt compared to how it had been. Even Micheal was not unaffected, he could no longer string a bow, even if he was ordered to. Both of you it seemed could barely carry more than your body weight.

Gol had stopped by your cage today, yanking you out while another gorilla gathered Micheal. For the first time since the two of you arrived, you were separated. You couldn’t do anything about that though, worrying for your own safety when Gol brought you back into his room. There was a large basket in the center of the room, steam billowing out of it. You thought it was food for a moment, disappointed as you approached it to find only water.

Gol grabbed your hair, as he was accustomed to, forcing you to your knees as you cried out in pain. Nowadays the pain blended into itself, to the point you were almost numb, almost couldn’t feel it. The rub was, if you didn’t reassure him that you were hurt by his actions, he would be sure to be rougher with you until he got the reaction he wanted. He grabbed a ragged piece of cloth nearby, dunking it into the water before ringing it out above your head. The water was too hot, causing you to hiss, lurching forward and away from him, your fingers running through your hair to try to alleviate the burning feeling. You didn’t mean to do it, but your scrambling away from Gol and the hot water was a mistake you hadn’t rectified quick enough.

This angered Gol, who let out a roar before grabbing you by the ankle and yanking you back to him. His hand came down and hit you hard across the head, dazing you for a moment as you tasted blood. He had split your lip. At the faintest smell of blood the Gorilla growled his irritation, “Stinking human. Even more vile with that smell on you now. You should be grateful the water is warm. I should throw you in the river like last time.”

The memory caused your body to be wracked by chills, recalling late last winter, just before spring, when you had gotten your monthly. Gol usually ignored it or ignored you until it was done, but something about this one set him on edge. He had opened your cage and dragged you from the settlement, Micheal following after you but too weak to do much about it. Gol had thrown you, clothes and all, into the river to “purge himself of your smell.” You had nearly just stayed underwater, the cold getting to you and the will for air nowhere in sight as you imagined what you had to go back to.

A moment later Micheal had dove in after you. Stark naked, he pulled you out of the river, both of you shaking. Gol had sniffed once and deemed you acceptable enough to return. Micheal quickly stripped you of your clothes, as if you were a child, while you both followed Gol back. He wore his pants, but as he carried your wet clothes he forced you to put on his dry, warm shirt. It barely kept your modesty, but it wasn’t wet or cold. It was enough. Neither of you spoke about you staying under for that long; Micheal didn’t want to believe you would leave him, and you were too ashamed to admit that for a moment you were ready to.

The shame of the memory flooded you, forcing you to find your voice, “Tell me what you want and I’ll do it.”

Gol threw the rag at you, stepping overtop and away from you then before sitting in his nest. He huffed as he studied his most recent trinket he had found on a scouting mission, ordering, “Strip and wash yourself. Do not put your old clothes back on.”

You swallowed and did as he said, mumbling, “Yes, Gol.”

Though you were two different species you still turned your back to him then, every nerve ending in your body becoming a live wire as you sensed the danger behind you. You did enjoy the warmth of the water once it had time to cool, but you did not languish in its comforts, wanting to be done as soon as possible so you could put on fresh clothes.

When you finished, you stood, trying not to hold yourself in a way that showed that you were uncomfortable. Gol glanced at you before rising from his nest, ordering you to follow him. You felt shame well up inside of you as he paraded you back to your cage, jaw clenched as you imagined how many ways you could kill the ape if you only had a weapon. Micheal was already there, also missing his clothes. You both took one look at each other, before quickly glancing away, and pieced together exactly what it was the apes were plotting. Gol shut the door behind you and walked away. Oddly enough, the apes had been avoiding the human enclosures completely today, and now you knew why.

It was early summer, warm enough that there was no chill, but still you felt your skin pebble. Micheal called you then. His back was plastered to the wall of your enclosure, legs and arms spread as he looked away. His eyes were closed for good measure, motioning for you to come sit. He held the only blanket in one hand and you moved without hesitation to sit between his legs, trying to avoid looking at him too out of courtesy. He wrapped the blanket around both of you then, using your back pressed close to his chest to pin a corner in place, doing the same with his back and the wall.

For once, he seemed just as nervous as you. You could feel his heart beat ricocheting against his chest. He blew out a ragged breath, leaning his head back as you curled in to make yourself as small as possible. You felt him swallow, his heart rate slowly lowering until it was back to its normal rhythm. Then there was just silence.

After what felt like an eternity, both of you sitting there, waiting for something to happen, you felt Micheal shift closer to you. He leaned in to whisper discreetly in your ear, “We have a choice to make. Their way, or our way. One way or the other, I need you to trust me.”

You looked up at him then, his mouth set in a harsh line and his eyes stone cold. You reached for his hand under the blanket, squeezing once before admitting, “You know I do.”

“Good. Try to sleep for now,” he whispered. “You’ll need your rest.”

What he was asking wasn’t difficult, no sooner had you closed your eyes did you feel yourself being nudged awake for dinner. In some cosmic joke, both of you were given fresh fruit and fish for dinner. Clean water too. You were shocked, but Micheal was not. He made sure you both ate your fill, hiding an apple and an orange in the folds of his blanket. When the apes returned to take your trough away they leered at the two of you before hooting to each other.

You sneered at the retreating apes, “Apparently, it doesn’t matter what species, all men are pigs.”

“Hey,” Micheal chuckled. “I’ve been nothing but a gentlemen this entire time.”

You scoffed, “You’re the exception, not the rule.”

“That’s more like it.” He teased before becoming serious once more, “Are you ready? We’re moving in about five minutes.”

“Shouldn’t we wait a bit longer?” You asked. “That seems so soon after they just gave us food and water.”

Micheal shook his head, “They left us alone all day with the exception of our baths. They think the privacy will help, so I say we use it against them. It’s already dark, they’re all at the bonfire. No one will come to check on us until sunrise, and we need to use every second we have.”

You nodded, “Alright.”

And true to his word, Micheal was slowly easing two bamboo bars away from where they were spiked into the ground. You were surprised he was able to do it, but he showed you where he had been secretly bending them for weeks to make it weaker. He held it open while you slipped through, then he slipped out backwards himself. He held it as long as he could before slowly releasing it. It snapped back into place and you marveled at his strength, noticing how winded he was from the effort.

“I thought…” you began to say but stopped yourself. “Have you always been this strong?”

Micheal sighed, “More or less, it depends on the day. I couldn’t show the apes that or they would have worked me to death. Can’t say the lie didn’t weaken me still.”

He turned to you then, wrapping the blanket around you. He tied the material in strategic places, ripping and tearing where he needed to so you were covered, but still had full mobility. He used the excess at the bottom to craft a makeshift carrier to hold the apple and orange from earlier. He tied it around your wrist, and just as you wondered why you couldn’t hold it he explained, “We’re going to be climbing, you’ll need both hands.”

You blanched, eyes huge as you hissed, “You intend to scale down the mountain in the dark, barefoot, and naked?”

“Yes,” he said with confidence. “It’s our best chance. I’ll go first and you’ll follow my footholds.”

As you two made it to the edge you glared at him, “You are actively insane.”

He swallowed, “I hope so, because if I wasn’t I don’t think this would work.”

There was just enough moonlight for you to see Micheal, watching carefully as he began to descend. Once he was down a few feet he stopped, holding himself up and motioning for you to follow. The strain on your arms was nearly unbearable, but the idea of freedom forced you to keep your limbs locked and straight. One foot after the other, hand over hand, just don’t look down. You repeated it like a mantra, stopping when he told you to and continuing when he told you to.

After what felt like an eternity, you heard Micheal hit solid ground. You felt your heart kick up and butterflies surge in your stomach. Just as you reached the bottom you felt Micheal’s hands brace you. You let go and allowed him to catch the rest of you. You could have screamed with joy, looking up at the cliff for a moment before turning your attention to Micheal. His brown eyes were shining with happy tears, both of you letting out a few breathy laughs. You embraced then, only for a moment, before Micheal grabbed your hand and set off in a dash to the surrounding woods.

You weren’t sure where you were going, or if he knew where he was leading you two until you came to the river. That was perfect! You could cross and follow it back home, even though you were downstream you knew this river and its path home like the back of your hand. Micheal was a genius!

You turned to tell him as much, when you noticed him picking up a rock from the ground. He examined it closely before rinsing it in the river.

“What are you doing?” You asked, tilting your head in confusion as you stared at the rock in his hand.

He looked at you then, eyes sorrowful, whispering, “I made a promise.”

He dug the rock into the palm of his left hand then sliced it, letting blood run down his wrist and into the grass at your feet. He hissed, dropping the rock and clutching his closed palm.

“What are you doing?” You nearly screamed, remembering to keep your voice low.

He smiled sadly, “Making sure you get home. Why do you think I made sure you were the one covered, and had food?”

You looked down now at yourself then to him, tears prickling your eyes, “You promised we wouldn’t die here, you promised we’d go home together.”

“I have no intention of dying,” he smirked. “But sometimes things are out of our control. It’s almost dawn, I need you to cross the river while I lead the blood trail as far downstream as I can. If I can evade them until noon then I’ll cross and backtrack. If all goes well I’ll get home a day or two after you.”

Tears were streaming down your face now, Micheal pulling you in for a hug, making sure to avoid getting blood on your blanket. You reached up then, grabbing his face in your hands and looking at him. It may be the last time you would be able to do so. With that thought spurring you on, your brought your mouths together in a clash of lips and teeth. It wasn’t perfect, but it was hungry and full of promise. Truthfully, it was a first for you both.

You felt his uninjured hand cup the back of your head, pulling you in closer as the two of you breathed each other in. You broke apart for air, taking a few real breaths before he leaned forward again. It was softer this time, his lips melting into yours as he brought your bodies together. Your hands wrapped around his neck and you felt heat pool in your stomach, mouth falling open as he deepened the kiss.

He groaned in the back of his throat, as if sensing your excitement, but ultimately pulled away. You both were panting, and he had to stop you from leaning in again, tears drying against your cheeks. His pupils were so dark they nearly suffocated the brown, and when he leaned down you thought he would kiss you again. Hell, by the way he grasped onto you, you thought he would take you right here. Instead, he surprised you, choosing to rest his head against yours. His body swayed into yours a moment, and rocked back with you as you pressed firmly into him. You felt the nails and heat of his right hand biting into the flesh of your hip through the blanket, his hold firm but not painful. When had it moved to your hip?

He let out an aggravated groan then, harshly kissing the top of your head, before gently pushing you away, “You need to go. I’ll see you at home in a day or two.”

You took a deep breath, swallowing your heartache as you took a step back. He was still breathing raggedly, nails now biting into his crossed arms. He was holding himself back by the barest of threads. You couldn’t ignore that, respecting his restraint as you slowly made your way into the water. You saw Micheal bend down and wipe his bleeding hand along the ground, away from the edge of the water. He straightened, pushing out more blood before wiping the red streak across his chest.

He noticed your hesitation, a cocky smile taking over his features, which would have seemed more natural on Erik or Kieran as he admitted, “Just so you know, in different circumstances, no one else around, I wouldn’t have hesitated. Even now, you still drive me crazy.”

You felt a blush tint your cheeks, confessing, “Just so you know…I love you. I would have married you in different circumstances.”

True fire lit up his eyes then, a joyous noise coming out in a rush as he pointed his injured hand at you, “You remember in two days that you said that! I’ll come home to you if it’s the last thing I do. If some beast manages to get me before then, I’ll find you in our next life.”

A watery laugh escaped you then, “You still believe in reincarnation?”

“I have to now, don’t I?” He countered, “It’s the only way I’ll be able to marry you more than once.”

You giggled, feeling a chill run up your spine as silence engulfed the two of you. You swallowed, whispering, “I have to go now.”

Micheal hummed, “You do, before dawn breaks. Please, be safe. I love you.”

You nodded dumbly, turning then and diving into the water. The current was strong, but you didn’t fight it, allowing it to carry you as you crossed. When you made it to the bank on the opposite side you crawled until you hit stable ground. It took effort to lift your body from the mud, but you managed. Once you were standing again, you turned to look for Micheal. He had followed you along the edge of the bank on the opposite side, giving a small wave before continuing down stream. You waved back weakly, tears flowing again as a sob threatened to escape your mouth. You choked it down, smothering any noise as you turned towards the woods. You walked in the opposite direction, just as he told you to do, hoping that home was still where you had left it. And, if it wasn’t, you hoped that it would find you in two days.

….

You wiped a tear from your face, scrubbing at your cheek slightly before turning your attention back to Noa. His mouth was slightly open, lips pursed, fingers fidgeting with each other. He looked as sad as you felt. He was true to his word, staying silent through your retelling. He also didn’t rush to say anything after, which you appreciated. You needed this reprieve now that you re-opened that wound. Could you bleed out from emotional pain? At the moment, burying your head into your arms, it felt like it was possible.

Noa moved his arm, as if he was going to comfort you, but thought better of it, pulling it back to his side.

You gasped in a breath, “When I started to recognize where I was on the river, I took off and didn’t stop until I reached home. I had never run so fast in my life…except for maybe the day we met. I found out the gorillas did attack the vault, trying to take people, but were ultimately killed. No survivors were able to report back where the vault was. We lost a lot of people though….my friend, she didn’t make it. I left with my mother a week later. We travelled for months until we settled here. That was about four years ago. She mainly built this place. I helped, but she was the one who thought of everything.”

“Where is…mother?” Noa asked, hand raising under his chin to correspond the sign with the word.

You felt the tears spring forward again, and you looked up to try to stop them from falling. You let out a shaky breath, “One step at a time…I’ll tell you about her some other day, I don’t have it in me right now. She meant...she means so much to me.”

Noa looked down then, something you said striking a nerve in him. He fiddled with the band on his arm, avoiding your eyes. A long sigh came from his nose, his hand coming up in a very human way to rub and hold his brow. His voice was rough as he spoke, “The Echo male…why is he…not here?”

You paused, wishing the words you were about to say were different. “He never came home.”

Noa kept his gaze from you still as he whispered, “I am sorry.”

You hummed in return. What else could you say? You waited for him as long as you could, but ultimately you couldn’t stay there. Your mother knew it too, which is why you both made the selfish decision to leave, sneaking away during the cover of night. You sat up then, pulling your jacket back to you from where it rested on the bed. It had been your mother’s, which she gave to you during the cooler nights of your journey. She never seemed to get cold, though in hindsight she had probably just put your needs before hers, hiding any cold or discomfort from you. You weren’t exactly present during the first half of your journey, just a shell at that point. Living as if life was a dream and nothing mattered. You wished now you could remember those earlier days, showed more appreciation for your mother while she was alive. She had given up everything for you.

Noa sniffed, pointing to the jacket in your hand, “Clothes are…important to Echo?”

You had to smirk, Noa thought it was a safe question to ask. You nodded, “Mhm. They keep us warm, and safe from the outside elements. This belonged to my mother, but now that she’s gone, it belongs to me.”

“Why were your…clothes taken?” Noa asked, lips curling up slightly in what you supposed was confusion or irritation. “After so long…sounded like…there was a purpose…do not understand.”

You bit the inside of your mouth, trying to think how best to respond. Of course Noa wouldn’t understand shame or modesty, it was inherently human after all. You decided to just spit out the ugly truth of the situation, not having a good way to sugar coat it, “The gorillas were trying to get us to reproduce…for whatever reason. Obviously, humans don’t have fur like apes, so clothes not only cover our bodies but our sexes too. Usually, if we remove that barrier in front of someone of the opposite sex, it’s a signal that we want to…mate, I suppose is the word you would use?”

Noa’s gaze finally returned, eyes piercing into yours as he asked, “What word…would you use?”

You shrugged, “We have a few words, I guess it depends on the intent. If it’s for reproduction, which in this case it would have been, then it would be called sex. If it’s with a partner, someone you care about and just want to be with, it’s called love making.”

“Partner…” Noa hesitated. “Is mate?”

“Not necessarily,” you responded. You were grateful for the brief interlude into human customs, even though the subject would have been considered wildly inappropriate with anyone else. “A wife, or in my case, a husband would be the term for a partner that I’d be with for life. A partner in general, can be anyone.”

Noa thought for a moment, “Partner can be…someone who is courting you? Not ma- husband…not husband?”

“Right,” you chuckled. The old English term was rather endearing, though humans preferred the more modern term of dating. Noa didn’t need to know that part, you liked courting better.

Noa looked to the fire then, gaze distant as he allowed his mind to wander with everything you said. You took that moment to enjoy the silence once more. Your next breath was deep, and the air felt cleaner, lighter. The weight of your past had been lifted, even if it didn’t last until morning. Just telling Noa, having him listen and show empathy as you shared your pain, momentarily healed some fractured piece inside of you. In a strange twist, you found yourself wanting to reach out to him now. The sudden pull was undeniable.

“Noa?” You called, getting his attention.

He turned to you then, grunting in response. You reached your hand out then, stopping just an inch or so away from his hand, looking for permission. Surprise was clear in his gaze, looking between your eyes and your hands, so close together but not quite touching. He hooted softly, raising his slightly closed hand, knuckles brushing against yours before you turned your palm, sliding it under his to gently grasp his wrist. His fingers twitched against your skin before you felt him mimic your hold.

For the first time, you noticed his eyes were not focused on yours, trained instead on your joined hands. He tilted his head, turning his arm slightly too in order to get a closer look at what he was holding. He had probably never seen a human up close like this before, his other hand rising to trace the details of your fingers. Your slightly crooked pinky was a moment of interest to him, then the webbing of skin between your fingers, before he moved on to the small scar on the top of your middle knuckle.

While he was focused on exploring your skin, you took the time to study his face unencumbered. You noticed all the muscles there that shifted under the weight of each new thought and emotion. How could one ape be so expressive? Mouth, jaw, and brow just seemed to be an extension of his gaze. He was an open book now that you could see close enough. Confusion, intrigue, and the desire to learn more, all written there, burning within his eyes. Now, it was reflected in his touch as well. You had to fight the urge to laugh as he brushed against the small hairs on your arm, seeming to take interest in the fact you did have hair that was not on your head. You let him continue, wanting the moment to last a bit longer.

You realized this was the first time you had voluntarily let him touch you, and sought out to touch him in return, since the river. This strange truth took you by surprise. That couldn’t be right, thinking back to all of your interactions, but coming up with nothing. Riding together would have been the closest you could think of, but even then it wasn’t necessarily voluntary. It had been out of forced proximity. Maybe that’s where it had started? You couldn’t deny the warmth of his hand, the strange feel of his skin compared to yours was like a balm. It soothed something deep inside of you. Or, maybe that was just Noa. Even that first day you met, when you had invited him back to your shelter, you sensed there was something different about him. It’s like you recognized it subconsciously, some strange likeness in him that called out to you.

Whatever it was, you were grateful for it now. You couldn’t bring your voice above a whisper as you admitted, “I’m glad you’re here with me. It was nice not to wake up alone…even if it did startle me at first. Thank you for bringing me back, and thank you for listening to me. It strangely felt…good, to say it all out loud.”

Noa’s mouth pressed in a thin line, eyes traveling from your hands, up your arm to your shoulder. They paused briefly at your neck before jerking to your face. You felt his thumb twitch against your wrist, next to your pulse, before he said, “You saved me…after your history with apes…means more now…than before…thank you…will always be here…if you need me.”

You couldn’t lie, throat tight as you confessed, “You shouldn’t think so highly of me because of that. I had no plans to save you. The truth is I don’t know or understand why I did it. I saw you fighting for your life and I just…reacted.”

Noa’s grip tightened a fraction, his gaze reflecting something similar to clarity. It was if a great weight had been lifted from his mind. That’s when his eyes lowered, his free hand smoothing over the top of yours, trailing up to your forearm before sliding back down. You watched in rapt fascination, the graceful movement of his hand as he did it again. You thought he would say something, but he didn’t, seemingly too focused on the moment. Too focused on his hand going up your arm, then back down. He didn’t seem angry or upset about your telling him the truth, so you took comfort in that. That’s when you felt your thumb, clasped loosely around his wrist, start to mimic his hand, sweeping up and down in that same soothing manner. The hair there tickled your skin as you moved it.

His eyes were never wary of yours, but you noticed a flitting back and forth between your stare and your stroking hands. It was contemplative, but soft at the same time. You both continued to just watch your hands move, easing into the actions of the other. He continued his hypnotic back and forth movement, causing a contented sigh to be released from you. The next time he caught your now drowsy stare, the right side of his lips curved upwards. Your mouth parted slightly, breath caught in the back of your throat as your heart skipped a beat. It all fell apart for you then; suddenly feeling too intimate as you continued to sit, touching Noa, in silence. You broke eye contact, looking down as you stopped moving, very slowly and gently pulling your arm from his grip. He noticed your discomfort immediately, releasing you just as gently.

Always so careful with you. Always allowing you to decide when to pull away.

He brought his hands slowly back to his lap, and you brought yours to your chest. You felt your heart pounding against your palms, and you wondered when that had started. You felt the tension in the space rise, your eyes sliding back up trepidatiously to meet Noa’s. There was that intensity again…and you wished you knew what he was thinking

“Jumbled.” Noa finally said.

You saw his mouth move, but didn’t quite hear the word over the sound of your pulse in your ears, “What?”

Noa made that same gesture he had at the library, hand to his chest, “Inside…jumbled spirit.”

You scoffed, trying to lighten the mood, “I killed a boar today, and I’ll give you the fact I hit the pavement like a rag doll, but I’m not jumbled, Noa.”

“Yesterday,” he corrected, smiling now. You rolled your eyes playfully before he continued, “You feel alone…even when you are not…do not want to be touched…but enjoy when you receive affection…scared of apes…but care about Anaya and Soona.”

“And you,” you added unintentionally. The way it rolled so naturally off your tongue surprised you.

Noa chuffed, grinning triumphantly, “See?…How can you be scared…and care at the same time?”

You leaned back against the stone ledge, shrugging, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because humans are complicated and capable of complex thoughts and feelings?”

Noa turned his head away from you, making a gesture you didn’t understand as he blew out air from his mouth. It felt like a natural response to you being cheeky though. When he turned back he pointed at your chest, “I fix jumble…you teach to read odd sounding…book.”

You tilted your head then, “Are you trying to make a deal with me?”

“No,” Noa huffed, arms crossing. “You have no say…this is what I have…decided.”

“You do realize I was going to teach you to read anyway?” You laughed.

Noa hummed, “Yes…but now I…give back.”

He was always giving back

“Ah,” you said. “And how exactly do you plan to fix the jumble?”

He moved from his sitting position then, standing in a crouch to offer you both of his hands, “Will let you know…when I figure it out…one step…at a time Echo.”

You chuckled in the back of your throat, hesitating only a moment before taking his hands. At first, you expected a swift jerk or a harsh pull upwards, but instead you felt his grip shift. He was carful of your palms, holding the backs of your hands and your wrists now as he carefully pulled you towards him. You were able to keep both feet under you, and Noa merely braced your weight as you pushed yourself to stand, making sure you were stable before releasing you all together. At times like these, you appreciated the intense focus he seemed to have around you, for it allowed him to notice the smaller details you wouldn’t normally think of yourself.

Noa looked down towards the ground for a moment, brows furrowed, then at his still open hands in front of him, before mentioning, “You have never denied…an offer…to touch you.”

“What?” The suddenness of the statement confused you.

Noa stretched out his hand then, as if to demonstrate, “When I offer…you take…when I ask… you agree…you are not afraid when I touch you…when you know I will.”

You shrugged, “I suppose, but that only makes sense. I’m expecting it.”

Noa shook his head then, arms mirroring the motion, a strange look in his eye as he tried to explain, “Ape touch…my touch…not bad.”

“Noa.” You tried to follow, to understand what he was saying, but he was either too excited or he didn’t fully comprehend what he was trying to say either. “I know you have no intentions to hurt me. I know that, but I can’t help my reactions sometimes when-”

“You do not dislike…when I touch you.” Noa interrupted, and it somehow sounded both like a question and a statement.

You licked your lips then, finally understanding what he meant. Your eyes darted to his palms before returning to his face. You shook your head, “I don’t dislike it.”

The admission made heat rush to your cheeks, even though it was an innocent statement. Noa hummed then, swaying slightly as he took a step away from you. You felt your next breath come in a bit easier. He picked up your spear from the ground, where he had been sitting earlier, leaning it against the rock of the cave before saying, “We will start there…build on that.”

The heat did not dissipate from your cheeks from his words, your mind adding fuel to the fire as you imagined multiple ways “building on that” could go. You choked down the heat enough to steady your voice as you asked, “Are you leaving?”

Noa turned then, smirk playing on his lips and brow raising, “Want me…to stay?”

How in the hell were you meant to answer that?! You were sure for a moment your brain stopped working as you attempted to process his words. As if sensing your turmoil, Noa shuffled in place, huffing, “Must return…time approaches for…Great Climb of the season...as Master of Birds I have…much to do.”

You nodded, not quite understanding, but appreciating that he saved you from further embarrassment. You cleared your throat then, legs stiff as you took a few steps towards him, “I’ll walk you out.”

Noa waited for you to be next to him before he took another step towards the exit. You walked out first, watching comically as he had to bend at the waist to get out. He eyed your entrance, wondering, “You will…be able to move rock…now and later?”

You sighed, “Probably not, I’m going to close it half way, nothing should be able to get in that way and I can still slip out if I need to.”

“Sore?” He asked.

“Very,” you half laughed. “It was an…eventful day. Not sure if I can say that it was a good or bad one though. When you aren’t so busy with preparations, we’ll start your reading lessons. So, let me know, okay?”

“Tomorrow,” Noa said confidently, swaying slightly closer to you. “After midday.”

His eagerness did not surprise you, smiling, “Alright. Tomorrow, midday. The three of you can meet me by the creek. Same place as usual.”

He nodded, glancing over to his horse, whose tail was swishing back and forth in irritation at being tied up for so long. Noa returned his attention to you then, sighing, “Be safe…will see you…tomorrow.”

“You be safe as well, it’s dark.” You stated the obvious, internally kicking yourself before giving a small wave. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

#planet of the apes #pota #kingdom of the planet of the apes #kotpota #noa #noa x reader #noa pota #fanfiction #slippery slope series #kotpota anaya #anaya pota #kotpota soona #soona #soona pota #kotpota noa #noa x human reader #noa kotpota

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shadow0214 · 6 months ago

Text

I've been reading some fanfics with Noa and I love them, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's my first time writing so...don't judge me to hard.

Noa × human OC

Belonging

Always the same thing around the 'bunker', no one told you the things that were happening, you hated that. You felt like they still treated you like a little child even though you were in your twenties already.

"Yes, didn't you know? We're going on an excursion." Samantha said to me while I was drying the dishes after dinner.

"Of course, I didn't, nobody tells me anything around here. It's annoying" You muttered

You were the best tracker they had, you loved being outside, learning the ways of nature, and still nobody ever took you into account when expeditions like this happened.

"Hey, that's enough Sam." A voice said entering the kitchen. "Don't listen to her, she's just trying to get on your nerves"

You looked back and smiled at the comment. Lila always knew how to calm things down.

"Why don't you speak with Anna? Maybe she'll let you go this time." Lila said

"Yes, like every other time I asked her" You scoffed and shook your head.

"C'mon, I'll go with you." Lila pushed

"I don't even own a horse yet." You said

"Well...that's your own fault, Envy could've been yours, you just gave her away to Kiara". Lila reminded you.

Kiara, the daughter of a couple that was part of the council, the leaders of your group. She was like a little sister to you ever since you met her. You had no family, your dad died on an expedition, most say apes killed him, and your mother died soon after she gave birth to you. Medicine was scarce and trying to make it from scratch was hard, not impossible since you had a lab in the facility but still, sometimes the main components were just to available.

Most expeditions could last for months, trying to find more humans, more medicine, or even mark places where apes had their homes so no one would go near. You had the firearms, but not the manpower to fight them alone.

You never understood the hate your kind had towards the apes, yes, they were now more and had claimed a lot of the land humans once ruled, but they had also healed the land. No humans meant trees and animals were free to repossess what was once theirs, and apes were not using human machines that harm the earth, so everything had regained its balance in a way. Since you were little, you went out of the bunker with a horse, you learned how to fish, how to hunt, how to track and look for things outside, you never understood why you felt more connected to nature than to your own people. 'They never understood' you'd think. ‘They will never see the world as I see it'.

Anyway, all of that wasn't going to change, so you had to take what was given to you and make the most out of it. Lila and you went to Ana, she was distracted with the preparations for the expedition. This time, from what Lila had told you, they were going to look for more survivors and other bunkers to see if those had more medicine.

"Ana, mind if we talk to you for a moment?" Lila asked

"What? Yeah, sure. What's up?" Ana said absent-mindedly while she tripled checked the supplies. It looked like they were going for some months at least.

Lila looked at you and pushed you softly, and nodded at you when you looked back. You took a deep breath and spoke.

"So...Ana, I heard about the expedition and I wanted to know why you hadn’t called for me? You know I'm one of the best people to take in things like that. I can survive pretty well on my own while I'm outside."

Ana sighed and stopped what she was doing.

"Y/N, you know the reason, I need you here, protecting everyone else" She said while putting her hands on your shoulders

"No one ever comes close to this place since we put the electric fence around! Let me go!"

"Y/N" Lila spat at me. "Careful with your words!"

I just stared at her with anger.

"You have absolutely no good reason to not let me go. Please, I can really help if something goes wrong!"

Ana didn't have a comeback for that, she knew what you were saying was right, she knew how helpfull you could be, and still the promise she had made to your mother drilled into her head could not allow you to go with them. You were already in your twenties, now there was no good excuse to tell you to stay and Ana knew this. She sighed again and with a very sad tone agreed to your request. You were going with them, and that was that.

----------‐-----------------

-The next morning-

Ana and Aaron, parents of Kiara, were the ones in charge of this expedition. Samantha, Lila, Carlos, Seth (Samantha's uncle), and you were the rest of the group.

You went to get your stuff ready on Envy, the mare that was meant to be yours, but for some reason you had decided to give her to Kiara, still, she thought of Envy as a shared horse more than her own. Kiar knew how much you loved her, and she didn't mind giving her to you in times like this.

"Take care of each other, ride safely." Kiara said with a smile on her face while petting the side of the mare.

"We will, sis, we'll be back before you know it. Anything special you want me to look for?"

Kiara shook her head. " I just need you to come back to me, that's it."

"Aaww dear, of course I will." You said hugging little Kiara.

You loved her, she was the only one that understood you and never judged you. One day you were going to take her exploring with you, so you could show her everything you loved.

Two weeks passed. Everyone was a little on edge since the news of contact had gotten to you. Apparently, a week ago the satellites started working again and your walkie-talkies that you carried mostly just to feel like you were connected somehow started working again. The people on the bunker told Ana and Aaron that a girl, similar age to you and Lila, had found the missing piece to get satellite connection back on. We knew about the bunker on the east but we had little contact with them and the nomads that were looking for ways to communicate with each other had been murder by a big group of apes, but apparently one of the girls of the nomad group had survived and, with the help of some apes, was able to get to where the main computers where locked and retrieve de disc.

This news had everyone in our group freaked out, it had been a long time since we had been able to communicate over long distances. Some were happy about it, they were thinking that this way we were going to able to rebuilt what was ours, but others were weary of what other humans wanted. 'Humans are selfish and will do anything to get power' Others thought.

Our group tried to maintain calm during all this, we still had to find supplies and medicine that was not going to arrive even if we had connection with other humans. More people meant more food, more space needed and more medicine that we did not have to spare.

At night everyone was silently eating what you had hunted for the day. You were pretty good at using different weapons, but your favorite was the bow and arrow, you almost never missed unless you wanted to. The others had guns, and some knives with them, but most of them knew that using guns out hear meant that everything in a 1km radius or more could hear and pinpoint our location.

"We could've been eating earlier if we had used my gun, I never miss" Samantha spoke showing a cocky grin to you.

You just rolled your eyes at her.

"If we had done your way, every single ape around here would've come looking for us." Seth said calmingly.

Samantha hated it when he agreed with your methods, and you knew it; in a way, it made you proud when he did. He would always be om Samantha's side and agree with her, he never liked agreeing with you, but sometimes he just had to.

"You should be thanking Y/N for her quick thinking. Otherwise, we would've had to eat the dried-up food we brought, and I don't think anybody wanted more of that" Ana said laughing at the end. The rest of the group followed making faces of disgust and laughing at the comment of our leader.

"How long until we get to the big buildings?" Lila asked when everyone had calmed down

"Sadly, I think we'll have to go back. Ana and I have been thinking about it and it's better to be with everyone else at the moment." Aaron answered

"Uncertain times call for unity." Ana added

Seth nodded and kept eating.

You were thinking. The group needed medicine, and other things...maybe a tiny group could keep pushing forward while the adults went back.

"And what if some of us stayed? You said it yourself Aaron, we are a week away from the buildings and we need everything we can find over there. A small group will not be noticed as easily as all of us" you said.

You had a point, and they knew it. After some discussion, the leaders agreed, Lila and you could keep going, the rest was to go back with them. Samantha was going to disagree, but she knew better than to stay with you two. Lila and you were inseparable, and Samantha would only be outnumbered in any decision you made.

The next morning everyone gave you half of their rations for food since you two were going to need them more than them, and then they set off for the bunker.

Lila and you waved at them, and then kept going.

For some time, it was quiet between you two, but Lila was not going to let that be.

"Sooo, wanna race?" Lila said with a sparkle in her eyes.

You knew what that meant. The idea was in her mind, now you could only accept the challenge.

"I mean...It's kind of unfair. Char is not meant for sprinting" you said with a grin.

"And Envy is?" Lila replied

"Oh, I know she's faster that Char." You said, knowing full well that she was fast in short distances and Lila was thinking more of a long-distance race.

"Well, then start! See you at the end!" Lila said kicking softly the side of her mare that sprinted away.

"Hey no fair!" You yelled doing the same with Envy.

You passed trees and creeks so fast you felt like you were going to fall off the horse. Impressively you were just behind Lila and Char, who was galloping with all her might.

You were so enthralled by how fast Char was going that you barely missed a branch that could've hit you down.

Eventually Lila made Char stop. You kept going, but Lila screamed at you to stop.

"What? I thought we were going to end?" You said out of breath riding back to where they were.

"Look up" She said, almost like a whisper.

You did and saw tall buildings in front of you all covered in vines and trees. The trees had broken some of the sediments of the building but were also holding them up. Most of them were broken, and some had collapsed, probably by the sheer size of them.

"Wow, they are amazing" Lila said.

There were rows of them, all conquered back by nature itself. It was beautiful to see how two completely opposite things could come together to create art. All green and grey together forming structures that you had never seen before.

You were both still gawking at the immensity of the buildings when you heard a noise up in the sky. Eagles, huge and magnificent eagles. You had seen some flying around on your own little excursions, but now they were closer than ever.

"Should we follow them?" Lila whispered, this was unknown territory to her, this was more your area of interest.

"Mmm maybe for a while just to see where they take us." You said firmly. " We can also walk and get in some of these buildings to see if we find something" You added.

Lila nodded and dismounted Char, you followed suit. Both of you took the reins of each mare and pulled gently so they kept up with the pace you set.

Three days you walked and searched for supplies with no luck. You tried entering every building you could, but some of them where to destroy to even walk on the floor. Others had entrances that were too high for either of you to climb, and if you did climb the hard part later was going down.

"Thank goodness you came prepared, Y/N." Lila said, struggling while climbing down a rope.

"Don't mention it, just keep going we're almost at the bottom" You said short of breath. You were no stranger to climbing but doing it almost every day for 3 days was taking its toll on you.

Lila let go of the rope and landed on the ground huffing.

"We can't keep doing this, Y/N. It's too tiring. We aren't apes to be climbing around without a care in the world!"

"I know I know, but we've found some good stuff nonetheless" You said as you stretched out after jumping off the rope, you went back and pulled the rope 2 times so it could fall off the makeshift hook you had made to tie it up.

"Some expired painkillers and a bunch of gardening tools is NOT good stuff!"

Lila sighed, even though you’d a nice time sharing this little adventure together you were starting to feel hopeless. Maybe it was time to go back, maybe the others had gotten supplies from the other camp, and you were doing nothing out here but waste time.

"Lila…you can go you know?" You said softly cleaning some arrows that you had used to hunt rabbits earlier.

"What? And leave you here?? Are you insane?!"

"No… I just feel like my time here is not over yet. Yours though…"

"Nu uh, I'm not leaving you alone, we don't even know where exactly we are."

"It's my decision Lila"

"Bullshit! I know you love nature and such, but everyone is waiting for us!"

"Everyone?" You said lowering your head.

Lila didn't answer, she knew that most of the people treated you like an outsider. No one ever told her why, the only reason she could think of wad that you had no family left alive, but that was a cruel way of treating your own kind.

"Fine, I'll take what we found back. What do you expect me to say to the rest when you don't arrive with me huh?" Lila asked

"You tell them half the truth, that I simply didn't want to come back"

"That's the 'half-truth' to you?"

"Ok ok," you said rolling your eyes. " Tell them you begged me to go back, and I said I would keep looking for stuff for a couple more days, then you never met again with me"

"Mmm, alright. So, you got killed?"

"What?! No! Idiot" You said pushing her playfully. Lila just chuckled.

"I'm gonna miss you (Y/nickname)." Lila sniffled while hugging you.

You hugged her back with some tears in your eyes.

"I'll be back before you know it, I promise"

Lila waved goodbye to you while riding Char out of the jungle of buildings, you waved back until you couldn't see her anymore.

After that you kept searching for anything really for a couple of days, until one day the promises you had made to Lila and Kiara were going to be broken.

–----------------------------------------

One day while you were scavenging around in a building you heard noises, noises you hadn't heard before. You took Envy and hid her next to some bushes at the side of a building and tried to keep her relaxed.

As the noise came closer it became clearer: apes.

You never really had contact with them since you were always cradled inside the bunker. The only experience you had was the stories people would tell you, but once you started growing up you stopped believing everything the adults told you.

You were a little apprehensive about the situation at hand but as long as Envy obeyed you, you were sure the apes would pass as quickly as they came.

"You only try to show off when climbing, the other things you just avoid!" A female voice said

"Not true! Anaya never avoids challenges, right Noa?" A male voiced reply

'Anaya and Noa' you made a mental note of the names, not sure why. You heard them walking away so you went out of your hiding place little by little, looking around you just in case you needed to hide from them.

From where you were you could see 3 apes; one had an armband different than the other two. You felt bad spying on them, but your curiosity got the best of you. You kept listening in the conversation, but you also noticed they would sign sometimes and that got lost in translation. The only signs you knew were tactical warfare signs that Aaron had thaught you when you were learning about weapons with Lila and Samantha.

"Soona is right, Anaya always showing off then running away when something goes wrong" The third one spoke, another male. After that the three started making a noise that you could only compare to laugh.

"I'll show you, climb to top to see sunset. First one wins!" The other male said running in all fours and starting to climb the building in front of you with ease.

"Anaya wait!" The female voice shouted but followed right behind him.

The other male chuckled and followed his friends up the building.

You were mesmerized by how athletic and big they were, but something inside you also wanted to follow them so you could see at least one sunset. The past days you've had missed all of them because of the tall canopy, but not today. The renewed strength gave you confidence that you could climb to the top of the building you were hiding behind.

You took your trusty rope and, your bow and some arrows just in case they attacked you and started climbing up. The building that you had chosen was in pretty good state, it still had most of its stairs and you didn't have to jump too far from one part of some broken stairs to another, which would also be handy when climbing down.

About 3 floors from getting to the top, you encountered the biggest problem: no more stairs. They were all broken or looked very unstable, your best option to climb up was the outside of the building. The design made it look like a stair, and if you went a little bit over the edge that was keeping you from falling you could see a metal hook thingy in which you could tie a rope to climb down.

First you made a knot at the end of the rope with just enough space to insert it in the hook, after that you threw that end of the rope with just enough strength to get it to where you needed it. It took you 3 attempts, but eventually you made it and started climbing the rope. Your hands were already tired from days before, but the view would make it all worth it.

Eventually when you were halfway through something made a weird noise. At first you didn't pay much attention to it but then y sounded again and this time you felt the rope moving. The hook couldn't withstand your weight anymore, and you could feel it just pulling down.

You tried to keep taking deep breaths but that was not working, they were faster than before.

*crack*

You looked up and saw the rope sliding off the hook even farther than before, that was when you started panicking. Your breathing wasn't steady anymore and now you were seconds away from falling from the almost top of the building.

A piece of the building where the hook was gave up and you let go of the rope for milliseconds and eventually grabbed the rope but it burned because of the friction, and you screamed in pain.

Noa and his friends, who were happily watching the sunset, looked at each other when you screamed. The three of them looked around for the thing that had made such a horrible sound but couldn't see anything.

You tried climbing up again, but now your hands were bloody from the fall, and you were slipping from the rope. You were in agony.

"Please, not like this, I can't die like this" You said to yourself trying to reassure yourself that you were not going to die.

That's when Noa heard you and looked over the building, he signaled his friends to jump to the other building.

"She will die if we don't help," Soona said with worry.

" What do we do?" Anaya asked Noa.

Noa went to were the rope was tied.

"Please don't kill me!" You shouted, looking up seeing one of the apes.

Noa frowned his face but kept trying to pull you up.

You understood then he was trying to help, but you knew the extra weight on the now unstable floor was not going to help.

"No, let go! You'll make it worse!" You tried to explain with tears rolling down your face. You couldn't stand the pain anymore.

Eventually the rope itself started tearing up, you were about 15 meters from the ground, you knew it was unlikely to survive that fall, your only hope was now with the 3 apes that were trying to help.

You saw the male ape trying, again, to pull you up, but it was useless with the rope tearing, and that's when it happened.

The rope tore apart, and you started to fall, your only hope for surviving was the trees below you would cushion your fall enough for you not to die. The only thing you were able to come up with was using your left arm to cover your neck as best you could.

Silence. Silence followed after your fall. Anaya was the first one to get to you and he poked you with a stick.

Soona quickly took the stick from him and went to check if you were still alive. She saw that you were still breathing thankfully. But your left forearm was completely broken.

"What happens now?" Soona asked Noa.

Noa was not sure what to do, his instincts told him to leave you there to die, after all, you were Echo. You would only mean problems to the clan, but there was another part of him that felt responsible for you and wanted to help you out.

"We take her home, help her wounds. After that, she has to leave." Noa said to Soona.

Soona nodded and took your frail body, and the three friends started their journey back home, back to Eagle Clan.

#noa x human reader #noa x reader #soona #the planet of the apes #noa planet of the apes #noa #planet of the apes #kingdom of the apes #soona pota #anaya

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phan3145 · 5 months ago

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Me wanting to incorporate this into my story but having no place for it right now. Someone PLEASE write this 😭❤️

A minor inconvinience happens

"I'm going to go into the woods and let the wolves eat me GOD"

The apes: 😦

Caesar gets that it's technically a joke but also don't say that

Bet you have an ape going with you each time you go into the woods from this day on, just in case 😂

Also, with Noa:

One thing you fail to do for the umpteenth time (despite many explanations to help you get it right)

You: GOD somebody HITS ME Noa: N-No? *explains that one thing ONCE AGAIN, showering you with praises to give you confidence* Soona: Here, look! *shows you how to do it one more time, slowly so you can observe each steps* Anaya: ... *slaps the back of your head* GASP *everyone is shocked even you* Noa: ANAYA NO!

Do not tell me Anaya would not take it literally 😂

#planet of the apes #planet of the apes x reader #kingdom of the planet of the apes #noa x reader #noa x human reader #pota #kotpota soona #kotpota noa #kotpota anaya #noa kotpota #kotpota #anaya #anaya pota

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maarslovesmonkees · 6 months ago

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Love your writing already and excited for your future works :)

Would you be able to do a nsfw piece for possessive/jealous Noa x female reader with some marking/claiming?

\The Bite On Your Neck\

Hii thank you, that means so much😭🙏 Ouuu I love myself some jealousy from my ape men <3 I Hope you enjoy,:D 💞

Notes and warnings: Gender-neutral terms, Noa x Human!reader, Oneshot, NSFW, 1.2K words.

Noa wouldn't say he's a jealous man. He isn't the most confident in himself, sure but he does acknowledge his high status. No other ape would dare interfere with the bond you too share, s he never really had any thoughts to worry. Youve been part of the Eagle clan for more than a year now, or that's what you think. You don't really keep track of what day it is. Early winter is just settling in, and you were struggling as any other winter you've faced. Suddenly being insanely envious of the thick coat of fur the rest of the apes had. Over the past year, all the apes have warmed up to you, and have a good idea of echo customs; like freezing your ass off during winter.

You hang out with the sunset trio most days, specifically Noa, him being your mate and all. It was a surprising relationship blossom to say the least. Many were quite uncertain of how the relationship will turn out, but Anaya, Soona and Darr has always been supportive from the start and thats all that mattered to Noa.

You both try and spend as much time with eachother as possible whether is eating, sleeping, annoying him while he works with his owls etc. He loved spending quality time with you, just one on one.

—

“Help… with cold”, Anaya reached out a thick wool blanket for you to take. You took it gratefully wondering how he even got a hold of it. You quickly wrapped yourself around it, feeling bliss of the warmth it gave. You huddled close to the fire, as Anaya sat next to you. “Found when hunting”, He spoke as he chewed an apple, one of his favorite fruits. “Washed already…so not dirty”

“Thanks so much”, You smiled brightly at him. You then stretched your body, feeling the tension on your joints release as you’ve been huddled by the fire for a while. “I wish I had your fur so badly right night”, You whined.

You didn't notice Anaya not answering, as you felt hypnotized from the waves of the fire. You then felt a presence right behind you, then big furry arms go around your shoulders. You turned to see Anaya looking away, chewing his last piece of apple, seemingly nervous. Huffing a smile, you nuzzled up against your best friend.

“What it could feel…to have fur”, Anaya sat behind you, pressing his body against your back.

“You cuddle people for warmth a lot?”, I giggled and looked back to the mesmerizing fireplace.

“Not for warmth…Anaya likes cuddles”.

You felt your heart melt at your friends confession. You knew Anaya doesn't like being alone, and you felt a sort of pride being able to give him comfort. You were proud of the growth with your friendship with him, as he was very hesitant at the start, seeing his first echo and all. You became close friends with the goofball, seeing him as a brother.

A large thump of the ground, snap you out of your thoughts. On your left you saw Noa, staring at the fire irritaded, as Soona sat down right next to him, smiling at you.

Anaya let go of you, and proceeds to go and sit next to Soona. As the two talked, you shimmy your way next to your beloved boyfriend, snuggling close to him, resting your head on his broad shoulders. He put his arm around you, resting his head on to your, but you can tell he still seemed tense.

“Had a bad day?”, You sympathize with him as he's been doing quite a lot of errands for the elders. After his fathers passing, he has been held up doing a ton of eagle work.

He didn't answer, holding your body closer to him. Feeling the closeness gave you butterflies, then a great idea popped in your head.

You picked yourself up a little bit, then plopped down on his lap, resting your head on his chest. He took a second to react, but instantly put his arms around you, holding you nice and tight. He put his head down, nuzzling in your neck, deeply inhaling your scent. You shivered from the tickling sensation, giggling again.

“Noaaa that tickles”, You chuckled at him but you gasped as your body froze when you felt his teeth on your skin. It wasn't a bite, more like a nibble.

Your heart was thumping out of your chest as you looked to your side. Anaya and Soona still seemed to be distracted on whatever conversation they were having. You felt Noa sink his teeth gently in your neck, then licking the teeth mark that lightly showed.

Noa can already smell your arousal and stopped, trying to avoid the others getting suspicious. Noa nodded to the direction of your nest and you quickly understood.

—

“Oh fuck”, your voice muffled from the pillow your face was buried in.

Noa hips clashing into yours, his thick hands on your waist keeping you steady. Feeling your walls moving tightly around his cock, Noa couldnt conceal his groans of pleasure. You gripped the ground under you, then try to prop yourself up, feeling your back aching from the pose.

As you lift you head up, Noas hand covered your mouth, and you didnt have enough time to react as he bite down hard between our neck and shoulder blade, drawing blood. You scream into his hand, tearing up as Noa took his mouth off, licking the blood clean off your shoulder.

“You...are mine”, He grunted, his throbbing cock still thrusting into your puffy hole. “Noa's mate only”, you can feel him kissing the bloody mark, then sucking your neck.

Your tears falling down your face, as you felt your pleasure building up in your stomach, as you felt youself squeeze around him. He groaned from the sudden tightness, sweat falling off his forehead, he pulled you up and he finally climaxed inside you.

You felt his warm pool of cum get burried deep inside you, causing you to reach your high. Noa wrapped his arms around your body, slowly thrusting to ride out his orgasm. You shook in his arms, trying to regulate your breathing as you felt your entire body feel fuzzy and warm.

You rested your head behind you on Noas shoulder, finally able to catch your breath, as Noa slow thrusting came to a stop. You both kept kneeling in that position for a minute until Noa carefully layed you down next to him. He pulled you close, been cautious of the big bite mark, not wanting to cause you anymore pain. You buried your face in his chest and finally exhaling. You felt your mate caressing your hair gently, and exhaled a smile. You closed your eyes, feeling yourself drift off to sleep.

Noa looked at the artwork he made on your shoulder, feeling a sort of guilty pleasure forming around his stomach. He doesn't like hurting you, in fact he hastes it, but you were his and his alone. He knew it was irrational, but he couldn't help the feeling of possessiveness when anyone holds you close. Their face so close to your neck they seemed like they were about to mark you filled him with raging jealousy. Its time for everyone in the clan, including his best friend, to realize you're off limits. Youve been marked by Noa now, and your marked for life.

#planet of the apes #dawn of the planet of the apes #pota #rise of the planet of the apes #war of the planet of the apes #planet of the apes x reader #kotpota noa #pota noa #noa x reader #noa #kotpota #kingdom of the planet of the apes

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teojira · 6 months ago

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POOKIE! I’m so happy that you’re doing planet of the apes stuff.

Please can you write a what happens when you get hurt badly like you got into a fight with a another human and we got are shit rocked. but we end up surviving how would Caesar acted, and proximus maybe noa?

Thank you! Can you make us human please? As well

[Bleed it out] [Caesar|Noa|Koba| Proximus x reader headcanons]

Summary: How do the Apes handle it when you're attacked unprompted by another human? Not well tbh!

Warnings: Reader gets hurt in this one so TW for choking, blunt force trauma, blood, murder, Proximus' being a little unhinged, general stuff you can imagine with a prompt like this. Possibly out of character.

A/N: WOOOOO I am so fucking sorry this took ages anon, I struggled with this prompt for a good while bc I wanted it to be well thought out. I am SO sorry for the wait! I hope you're still around 😭

I also threw in Koba because he came to mind first and his drabble got done with ease. Idk what that was about but welcome back Koba.

Caesar:

- Caesar immediately goes to attack the human, hooting and screeching for some other ape to come to him, it doesn't take long for Rocket to come barreling towards him with Blue eyes not far behind.

-He damn near barks at Blue eyes to go to you, who's laid out on the ground choking for air, hands around your throat as you try and take in oxygen. Blue eyes gingerly pulling you towards him, hooting softly to get your attention on him.

- Returning his gaze to the human man in front of him, it takes every ounce of composure Caesar has to not rip him into shreds, his mind flashing with images of you being choked out against a tree.

- Whether this was Dawn! Caesar or War! Caesar, will decide the outcome of if he kills the man or not.

- Younger Caesar wouldn't, at most roughing up the man, letting Rocket handle dragging the man off to do whatever he deems fit after the Ape king gives him his permission. He doesn't ask what Rocket does, trusting that Rocket followed his words in not killing.

- Older Caesar isn't as merciful, the man is dying. After all he's been through, he is just not willing to take a chance, there is no way he will put you at risk again, nor will he let the other apes possibly be harmed. It's a no brainer.

- Once he finds you being tended to, curled in on yourself with the boys by your side, does he finally sigh a breath of relief.

- Cornelius is hugging you, latched onto your chest as Blue eyes sits by your side, protective of both you and his baby brother.

- Caesar settles himself beside you, a hand running through your hair as you sleep off all the pain and adrenaline that you've suffered through.

- Gets even more protective than thought possible, if you thought it was overkill before that Caesar wouldn't let you be alone without any other ape present, he himself personally will follow you around like a shadow now, to the best of his abilities.

Noa:

- Noa goes to you first, swooping you up into his arms to make sure you're still alive, cradling you against him as he bares his sharp teeth at the human.

- Noa doesn't like killing in general, hes never agreed with taking a life unless necessary. but he considers it when he hears you whimper from the pain, eyes scrunched shut as you bury your face into his chest.

- Anaya and Soona have the the human pinned down, squirming against their hold but it's to no avail, there is no way for them to escape their grasp.

- He has to make a decision on what to do, and eventually calls for Anaya to come and grab you and take you back to the clan, it takes everything in him to let you go, ignoring that you keep whining for him to not leave. But he has to, so Anaya carries you as fast as he can back to the clearing where the horses are, trying to comfort you and crack jokes as best as he can.

- He nods at Soona to let him take over, now looming over the man who put his disgusting hands on you and the growl that escapes him is spine chilling.

- Soona won't tell you what Noa did, nor will He himself. Your questions go unanswered and you realize it's not worth it. Do you really need to know? Noa handled it, he saved you, that's good enough.

- Takes care of you himself, fetching you whatever you want without any hesitation, his duties on hold temporarily until he's seen improvement. Humans are just, so fragile and he's terrified that your injuries will cause permanent issues.

- Noa lets you cling onto him as much as you want, usually one to tease you about you being so physical with him but after the scare you both had, he's the one who wraps himself around you, tucking you into himself so tightly as if to protect you from any threat once so ever.

- Never let's you out of his sight, and while he may not hate humans as a whole, he definitely doesn't the thought of more being out there, you're the only good one, and he has to protect you at any cost.

Koba:

- Koba is immediately killing the human, there is no other way he's gonna go about it.

- Despite what the Bonobo may feel about you, no matter how much he said he'd let you rot and die because the only good human there is a dead one, you're apart of the colony.

-He justifies the overwhelming pit in his stomach from worrying about what Caesar would go through if you were killed, no it isn't due to him secretly enjoying the affection you still bestow him, no, he doesn't care.

- The reality that the other human is dead, covered in warm sticky blood doesn't set in until he turns to make his way to where you lay eerily still on the forest floor.

- He hears other apes coming towards you both, he can hear his heartbeat in his ears and he hears screeching.

- It's coming from himself, his chest rapidly rising up and down as he panics.

- For the first time, Koba is afraid to touch you, scared that if he does, there will be no pulse, and he's yelling for Caesar to do something, his hands moving to painfully grab at his own fur, almost tearing clumps out.

- Koba won't carry you back to the colony, but Luca does. The gorilla trying his best to ignore the tweaking Bonobo following him.

- Doesn't visit you while you're recovering, ignoring everyone's attempts to convince him to, the fear he felt when he thought you were gone was too much, unexpected emotions filling his mind.

- Old man is stressed the fuck out over you, save him.

Proximus:

- You're off with Sylva on am excursion, permitted by Proximus. It's a common occurrence at this point, so there isn't any cause for alarm.

- The Silverback has to leave you just for a moment, and that's when you get attacked, and he feels his heart drop.

- Has to make a choice to either hunt down the human who attacked you, or bring you back to Proximus and have medical treatment.

- He scoops you up as carefully as he can, taking you home, dreading what the leader will say when he sees that Sylva had failed ro protect you.

- When Proximus sees you knocked out, blood pooling at your temple, he fucking loses it.

- Snarling and snapping orders for apes to come and help you now, his fur standing on end, his eyes feral as he looks down at you on your cot, growling.

- Sends a search party out for the human that attacked you, he doesn't care how long it takes, he's gonna exhaust every ape if he has to.

- He himself doesn't leave your side, fingers busy with brushing your hair from your forehead, only moving when another ape who's in charge of treating you comes by.

- When whoever attacked you gets inevitably caught, he doesn't get his own hands dirty though. He's not above it, but gives you the choice in killing the person, or Sylva himself doing it.

- He won't judge you on either one you choose, but he does force you to watch. He's kinda fucked up for that but it proves to everyone just how important you are to him, so no one ever thinks they can get away with bringing you harm again.

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cas-writes-stuff-ig · 11 months ago

Text

Part 2 of Cheering Her Up (A Party)

f!/nb! reader x regina george

CONTENT:

Word Count: 3094

Reader is working on performing for the Winter Talent Show

singing for Regina

secret relationship

Jealous Regina

Jealous Reader

smut (shower sex) (drunk sex) (jealousy)

kinda will get angsty after this

(those band geeks/people who play music in the background in the new Mean Girls movie? yeah that's who the reader is friends with)

Part 1 of Cheering Her Up

Part 3 of Cheering Her Up

a/n:

this was supposed to be a one-shot but idk I had an idea because i get inspired by songs and then make up scenarios in my head. its gonna get a little sadder soon so sorry DW they'll end up together <3

Soona is a person who was apologized to, who plays music in the background for the songs (plays guitar and drums)

("Soona, I'm sorry I said you were dragging during 'Revenge Party' There was just like, so much pressure on us to move the story forward through the montage. Like you know how it is" (1:22:24 in the movie))

I made Soona date the girl in the beanie (plays bass and drums)

I heavily based this off the 2024 version, but I switched around some of the events back to 2004

(2004: October Party/Aaron and Regina get back together -> Talent Show -> Aaron and Regina break up -> "You can't sit with us" -> Burn Book scene)

(2024: October Party/Aaron and Regina get back together -> Aaron and Regina break up -> Talent Show -> "You can't sit with us" -> Burn Book scene)

Regina finished her brownie and you scarfed yours down unceremoniously. You covered your mouth and spoke while you chewed “Shit sorry, I’ve been smelling brownies for an hour and I was starving” she just rolled her eyes at you. “Want another?”

Regina paused a pained expression painted her face for a moment, then she put her wall back up “I’m fine thanks”

You decided to let it go and then the front door opened, “Regina?” her mom walked in “You having a party in here?” you grabbed your phone and turned down the music.

Regina's little sister Kylie ran inside after her mom and waved at you excitedly. Kylie liked it when you were around because you'd scold Regina if she was being mean to her. Kylie just ran up to her room to change.

“Hey mom” Regina greeted but she was dismissive as most kids are with their parents

“Hi Mrs. George,” her mom liked you, but she was naive to the true nature of your relationship with her daughter. You grinned “I made brownies, sorry it’s a mess. I’ll clean it up”

“Oh! That’s so nice of you. Thank you, hun, don’t worry about the dishes, darling” She put her bag down walked toward the sink, and started washing them. “I’ve got it, I know you guys have homework. Regina be nice yeah?”

Her mom said that every time you were over because the first time you were at her house, you worked with Regina at the kitchen table, and she heard her daughter call you “…a fucking nerd”

“Yeah, whatever Mom,” she stood up and started walking toward the stairs. You thanked her mom, rushed to take off the apron, hung it up, and dashed up the stairs. She walked into her room, and you soon followed inside and shut the door.

She just slipped back into her bed and went on her phone. You sat on the bed and kicked off your shoes, and were worried “Hey ‘Gina?”

“Mm?” She looked up at you briefly, and then back down at her phone.

You paused and didn’t say anything for a moment “…Gina, do you wanna talk about what happened earlier?” That same pained expression panned over her face. You just touched her knee and rubbed soothing circles into it. "It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it."

She sighed, "It's just me, don't worry about it, kay?" you gave her a look.

She then pulled you to lay next to her and lifted your arm to lay on your shoulder, head resting at the crook of your neck. "I won't push it" you added after she got comfortable.

She pulled out her phone and rested it on your stomach scrolling through her apps. You took your own phone out and checked your grades on there. Regina opened her camera roll, the most recent item was a short video of you, you immediately recognized your own voice and she had this shit-eating grin on her face.

It was you just fifteen minutes ago, you watched yourself wearing the rather girly apron, singing, and pulling brownies out of the oven. "Regina! Oh my God, delete that, please. That's actually so embarrassing" you face palmed.

She laughed and said "Absolutely not," and sat up "Don't worry, it's for my eyes only" She told the truth because she couldn't show the video to anyone else or else they'd ask what you're doing in her house baking brownies for.

"You're so mean to me," you said with no real bite in your voice. "Your mom said to be nice to me Regina" You didn't ask her again to delete it, because once she made a decision she usually stuck by it, she always got her way with you.

She scoffed and said "I am being nice" and leaned back toward you, kissing your collarbone. It made you stop breathing for a moment, your body got stiff as she kept kissing your neck.

"God Regina, I have homework" you mustered out, she left a dark red hickey that peaked out just a little bit from your shirt, then she licked your neck "Shit" she was getting you worked up.

"It's fucking Friday tomorrow loser, chill out, it can wait an hour" She whispered seductively in your ear. Regina was right though so you submitted to her whims

——————————————————————————————

"Duck, stay the night" She leaned against the bed sheets.

"Okay princess," you rolled your eyes "Anything for you," you said sarcastically, but you meant it. Regina pointed towards her closet and you found some of her more comfortable loose shirts to wear to bed. "Can I grab my guitar to practice for maybe thirty minutes though? Me and my group are practicing some songs for the Winter Talent show"

"Are you singing?" Regina asked smiling.

"If you make fun of me, I'll sleep in my fucking car, Regina" You made an empty threat. "I'm playing guitar, and doing background vocals. I'm the main singer for the last song only. I just wanna practice with the music in the back"

Your band for the Talent Show consisted of people from the Band Geeks (though you weren't part of the school band yourself). The four of you were versatile in your music skills, also being able to sing lead and backup interchangeably.

You only practiced one of your songs and opted to play ones you knew well for Regina. "I thought it was only one song?" Regina asked you.

"Thought I'd show off a little bit" you looked down at the fret board, she watched your fingers move.

"You serenading me Duck?"

——————————————————————————————

You cozied into her arms too easily, over the summer, spending nights with her had conditioned you to never get up before 10AM. So you couldn't rely on your body clock to wake you up.

You set an alarm for 7AM so she could do her makeup and choose an outfit. You had left a small amount of clothes in her wardrobe that was neatly hidden away, for the nights you slept over.

In the morning you brushed her hair back and pressed a kiss to her forehead "Gina babe, you gotta get up" I brought you the brownies I made.

She sat up and smiled at you "Thanks Ducky" Shit, that smile could send you to the stars.

"Of course Gina"

——————————————————————————————

That day, at the cafeteria. You slipped off your backpack and sat down across the table from Janis, and Damian. It was the third week of your Junior year.

You never stayed for the entire duration of lunch, just to eat and run to a study room where you could get some actual silence or hang out with the Soona and band you were friends with. And you never knew that Janis and Damian were using Cady to take Regina down.

Damian gasped dramatically, it surprised you. "What's that on your neck!?" Shit, your backpack moved your shirt down revealing part of the hickey Regina gave you. Some heads turned toward your table.

Janis looked "Who you hook up with?" They both leaned in.

You were bright red "No one" You and Regina actually hid your secret pretty well, which you both greatly appreciated. But you hung out with a few people, which is why they pushed harder for an answer.

Damian leaned forward "Who?"

"No one, leave it," You said, it came out a little mean since you were stressed. "Sorry" you decided to tell part of the truth and you softened up "They're not out yet, I can't say" they yielded and switched gears.

"Is that why you've been all glow-y this semester? Your face has gay painted all fucking over it." Damian gestured with his hands pointing at you.

"Please stop talking" You pressed your temples

"Fine" They changed the topic.

"Oh Cady told us of a party happening tonight," Janis said, but you didn't really pay attention

You said "Okay" and then just looked down at your phone and texted Regina. Her contact on your phone was discreet enough, it was just her initials backward. The only thing that hinted that it could be Regina was the picture of a Jeep from the internet.

You knew your contact name, but of course, you had a rubber ducky as a profile picture on her phone.

Duck: "G, they saw the mark you left yesterday"

GR: "so what? you didn't say anything right?"

Duck: "no of course not"

GR: "then we're fine"

You could see Regina looking down at her phone too where she sat with the Plastics and Cady.

You kept observing Regina, Gretchen was next to her and leaned over. "Who's 'Duck'? New guy?"

"Jesus Gretchen, haven't you heard of privacy?" Regina scolded her.

——————————————————————————————

After school, you drove home and Facetimed Regina "Party tonight right?" you asked.

"Mmhm, you gonna go?" Regina was also rummaging through her clothes

"Yeah," you said and put on just a black T-shirt, jeans, and a brown jacket. "How do I look?" You propped your phone up to show her.

"Lame, but fine" Regina responded

"That was mean Gina" It stung a little but you were fine. "Oh remind me to send you the set list we're practicing," You asked her.

"Shit, gotta go Duck. Karen, Gretchen, and Cady are coming to my house to get ready" She looked at the messages on her phone "I'll see you later" she quickly hung up. You changed your shirt to a loose tank top, which revealed your toned arms and the hickey, you wanted to exact a little revenge on Regina and make her a little jealous.

——————————————————————————————

Soona and the gang brought you to the party. You've been at this guy's house party three times over the summer. You grabbed a red solo cup and took it to the dance floor, and your friends joined you.

You normally didn't get this drunk unless you were with only a few people, because you lost your inhibitions a little too much. The only thing on your mind was Regina. Regina. Regina. Regina.

Your head buzzed and you looked for the familiar blonde, she was in the middle of the dance floor grinding up against some jock, which happened to be Shane Oman.

You got jealous, and when you were drunk you didn't think thoroughly. Regina didn't fuck anyone else besides you for a while, you understood 'friends with benefits' implied you were not obligated to monogamy.

You had decided to mess with Regina a little more, you joined a girl who was known for queer baiting, you didn't kiss her, but you definitely got touchy, she was lifting your shirt a little. You felt Regina staring daggers at you.

After a while, you excused yourself to the upstairs bathroom where there were far fewer people here. You wondered if that was enough to get a rise out of Regina. Then a knock at the door. "Occupied" you yelled out.

"Let me in, bitch" It was Regina's voice.

'Oh shit' You thought. You wanted to anger her enough that she texted you to come over to her house, but she broke your unspoken rule to not approach each other at parties or school. You opened the door "Shit Regina. No one saw you come in here ri-"

She slammed the door shut and shoved you against the wall, her left hand snaked around your neck, not enough to restrict air, but enough to show you how mad she was. "You're stupid," she said angrily. You looked up at her, your head still buzzed.

"Gina I-" You tried speak, but her hand squeezed a little tighter for a moment, before loosening her grip to grab your jaw.

"I'm gonna leave this party, and you're gonna meet me down this fucking block. We're going home" Regina's voice was full of venom. "Do you understand?" you could smell the alcohol on her breath, and the smell of her perfume.

You let out a faint "Yes"

——————————————————————————————

She called an Uber and you stood behind her like a kicked puppy. You were in deep shit. It was already 2AM when you left the party so everyone in Regina's house was asleep.

When you got to her house she practically dragged you up the stairs and pushed you onto the bed roughly "The fuck you think you were doing at that party?" She's never been so angry at you before.

"Regina, I'm sorry I-" you stuttered, she was mad at you and it scared you. But the alcohol in your blood and the way she towered over you, making you feel helpless, made your core ache with need.

She stripped off her shirt and straddled your hips, Regina took your arms and held them above your head. "You're a fucking tease" You were both still incredibly drunk.

"Regina, I'm sorry let me make it up to you" You pleaded with her.

She wore a mean smile "And how do you plan on doing that baby" You tried to wriggle yourself out of her grip, but she used her entire body to keep you down.

The more you tried to escape, the more pathetic you looked. Face flushed, pinned under the prettiest girl you've ever seen. "Shit, I'll do whatever you ask Gina, just say the word"

"Yeah baby?" she smiled "Whatever I ask?"

"Yes," you said breathily, though it was hot, you were scared of losing her favor. You wanted to be in her life as much as possible, you were obsessed. Anything to please her.

"Strip, get in the shower" She let go of your arms, climbed off you, and rid herself of the rest of her clothes. She turned her back towards you and walked toward the bathroom, then without turning, she crooked her finger, telling you to come follow her.

She didn't need to turn around to know you were watching her every movement. She turned the shower on and walked inside "Kneel" You did, she looked at your mouth and then down between her legs. Water beat down your back. "You know what to do baby" You nodded and started to gently kiss her clit, "Don't tease, just get on with it" Your slow kisses to her pussy turned into you sucking on it hard.

You looked up at her, and you made eye contact. She moaned then said "Keep that up baby, and I might forgive you" she gripped the back of your hair and it made you whine into her pussy. "Fuck- use your fingers too babe" Coating your fingers in her slick before slipping two fingers inside of her.

"God you feel so good," she said as you started rhythmically curling your fingers inside her cunt, you took your free hand and held her up. "Oh fuck" she arched her back and pushed her hips hard into your face. You kept your pace while she rode out her orgasm. She pulled your head away, and when she let go you just kissed her thighs.

"You satisfied, Gina?" you still were on your knees she brought you up and kissed you

"No, nerd. I wanna break you" Regina knelt now and saw her there you ached for her to just get on with it. Eating her out pulled obscene sounds out of her and made you wet, and she swiped a finger through your slit. "You're so wet," Then she slid two fingers inside. "If I let you finish, you gonna promise to be good for me, baby?"

Her thumb started to circle your clit "Sh-shit, yes Gina"

"Look at me" you looked down and she pressed your clit hard.

"Fuck Regina, I'll be good" you swore.

"Promise me?"

"Promise" You gasped out as she increased her pace.

Heat gathered in your stomach and your skin felt hot. You closed your eyes and tilted your head back, moaning Regina's name like a prayer. "Gina- fuck, I-"

"Words baby" Regina cooed.

You panted trying to speak, you finally gasped out "Gina, can I finish, please? please?"

She smirked "Only because you're so cute when you beg" She sped up "Come for me, come for your owner baby"

You covered your mouth in fear of waking up everyone in the house. Your body felt like a firework, and Regina knew how to play you like a violin.

She stood and kissed you, and her anger had dissolved. Just as you regained your breath, there she was to steal it away from you again.

You knew Regina was a bitch, but you couldn't help but melt into her touch when she washed your hair or kissed your shoulder. Her attention was intoxicating.

——————————————————————————————

You lay in bed with Regina and brushed her hair behind her ear. "Gina, about you kissing Shane tonight." you paused to really think about your words. "I know we aren't together like that, but you know me, if you start dating someone else, whatever we have has to stop"

She hesitated for a second "Of course Duck" she paused again "I only did it to keep up my reputation" Regina said. It was partially true if you wanted to keep up the secret. Regina had to play her part, she had to conform, it was comphet but you didn't bring up your thoughts to her.

"Gina, I'm sorry I was acting like that at the party" You apologized for making her jealous. You knew why you were jealous, but not why she was. Did she like you? Did she just want to fuck you? You never would expect anything beyond sex and friendship from her even if it broke you inside.

But she read you easily "Hey babe, did you get jealous?" she was smug about it, and you crossed your arms. "You did huh?" She provoked you but she held your face so gently and rubbed your cheek with her thumb, that you felt your attraction to her fall far deeper than you could control.

She gave you butterflies whenever she was around. You just responded with "I'm sorry"

"It's cute, Duck, you're fine. But don't do that again yeah?" She kept holding your face "At least not with that bitch you were dancing with, she’s such a loser babe"

"Yeah, fine fine. But anyone who isn’t you or your gang is a loser to you” you teased.

"Whatever. Now come here and hold me, baby" She had you wrapped around her little finger, more so than anyone else. You felt your feelings for Regina grow, but you didn't dare to confess. You didn't want to lose what you had.

You lay on your back and Regina laid her head on your chest, then you were stroking her back and held her close to you. You kissed her forehead sweetly and lovingly, earning an adorable 'Mm', and you were getting slowly coaxed into sleep by her gentle steady breathing.

Part 3 of Cheering Her Up

#regina george x reader #fluff #smut #renee rapp #regina george #mean girls #renee rapp x reader #mean girls 2024

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inkmonster21 · 4 months ago

Text

Hearts Across the Divide

9.) Raging Storms

Noa x Fem!Human!Reader

Series Masterlist

Alright… it gets a little steamy at the end!

~oOo~

Noa's gaze scans the woods, his eyes searching through the foliage for any sign of you. The sun is just starting to creep over the horizon, the early morning cool still lingering in the air. He's eager to see you, to begin the journey to the old remains together. Every rustle of leaves or bird call has him hoping it's you, but nothing yet.

Anaya and Soona stand behind him, their eyes darting around the edge of the woods as they wait for your appearance. The anticipation in their expressions mirrors his own, both sharing his eagerness to have you by his side once more. The minutes seem to stretch forever under the weight of their shared anticipation.

They can't help but notice the change in Noa. The way his face lights up at the slightest mention of you, the way his body relaxes when you're near. They'd never seen him like this before, this mixture of eagerness and contentment. They share secret smiles, knowing glances, as they watch their friend fall deeper in love. It's a joy to see Noa this happy, and they quietly cherish the sight of their friend in love.

Noa spots your figure in the distance, standing amidst the trees like a vision in the early morning sun. The sight of you pulls a smile to his face, wide and sincere. He can't resist the urge to go to you, and a moment later he's running to you, on all fours, closing the distance between you in swift, purposeful strides.

Noa stands to his full height and pulls you into his arms, enveloping you in a tight, comforting embrace. His head nuzzles into your hair, breathing in the scent of you, as a contented hum rumbles in his chest. "I am happy you came." He murmurs, his voice a low rumble against your ear. His hold on you is firm, almost like he's afraid you'll disappear if he lets go.

As you pull away from Noa's embrace, your eyes find Soona and Anaya standing behind him, their own grins mirroring his. You greet them with a wave and a warm smile, happy to see the familiar faces. Soona and Anaya return the greeting enthusiastically, their own voices echoing with fond greetings.

Anaya steps forward, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. "Ready to go, Echo?" He asks, his voice filled with eagerness. You nod, still curious. You had been to the old remains a handful of times, but always alone. Having company would be nice for a change. “What are we going to?”

Noa steps in to explain, his voice steady and confident. "There's something… I want to show you." It's clear that whatever it is is important, a sense of mystery and purpose hanging in the air like a question waiting to be answered.

Soona and Anaya effortlessly mount their horses, settling into their saddles with practiced ease. Watching them, you suddenly realize that you've never ridden a horse before. The thought causes a flicker of trepidation, nervousness replacing some of your excitement.

Noa's voice murmurs in your ear, a soothing presence in the midst of your budding anxiety. "Don't be scared," he reassures you, his breath warm against your skin. The strength and confidence in his tone are reassuring, helping to ease some of the tension in your shoulders.

Noa's hands glide down your sides, coming to rest on your hips. His touch is gentle, yet firm, a grounding presence that anchors you, and stops you from being pulled too far into your own worries. His fingers press into your skin through the fabric of your clothes, a silent promise of support.

With a strength that belies his size, Noa lifts you effortlessly, settling you onto the back of the horse. You grip the saddle, your heart thudding erratically in your chest as you feel the massive animal beneath you. You feel unbalanced, the ground suddenly seeming far below.

With grace, Noa leaps up behind you, his body pressing against your back. You feel the heat of his fur even through your clothes, his presence surrounding you. There's no space between you, your bodies fitted together like puzzle pieces. You can feel the strength in his muscles as he adjusts his position, his chest rising and falling in steady breaths against your back.

You can feel the ripple and shift of his muscles with every movement he makes, the friction between your bodies sending heat spiraling through you. A moan threatens to escape your lips, but you bite it back, trying to maintain some semblance of composure. The closeness, the strength of his body against yours, is both arousing and frustratingly overwhelming.

Noa's voice murmurs in your ear, a quiet command to "move with me". His hips move forward, following the rhythm of the horse's gait, and in doing so, pressing against your backside. The motion of the horse combined with the press of Noa's body against yours is an unexpected assault on your senses. Despite knowing it's innocent, your mind seems to have other ideas, straying to less innocent thoughts as his hips grind against you.

You focus on following the command, moving your body as much as possible in time with the horse's movement. Though it should be simple enough, the feeling of Noa pressed up against you is all too distracting. Every shift of your hips, every brush of your back against his chest, sends another wave of heat through you and makes your heart beat a little faster.

The wave of feelings rocking through you are confusing, a swirl of nerves, excitement, and a strange sense of frustration. The proximity to Noa, the press of his body against yours, ignites something in you that you can't quite understand. It's an unfamiliar sensation, both exhilarating and slightly frustrating in its intensity.

You lean back against his chest, tilting your head back to look at him. His chin rests almost on your shoulder, his breath hot against your exposed skin. You take in the sight of him, the sharp line of his jaw, the intense look in his eyes, and the intimate space you share. He looks down at you, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lip.

In this moment, the proximity, the shared heat, the intimate position you find yourselves in, you desperately want to turn and kiss him. You want to feel his lips against yours, to lose yourself in the fire that burns between you. But he's needed to guide the horse, keeping you both balanced and on the correct path. So you stay as you are, silently cursing the fact that he's so responsible and diligent.

“It is not much further.” His words, spoken softly in your ear, are almost lost against the rush in your ears, the pounding of your heart. You feel his lips brush against your neck, a light, accidental touch that makes you shiver. You try to bite back the moan that threatens to escape, but a small, involuntary sound still slips past, leaving you feeling both embarrassed and even more turned on.

Nodding silently, you can only hope that the journey will end soon and that you'll be able to find some relief from the desperate heat coiled in your body. Every movement of the horse, every press of your body against Noa's, only adds to the torture, an aching need that you can't ignore. You can feel the desperate urge to clench your thighs together, to find some sort of relief from the overwhelming sensations. But you remain still, trying to maintain some dignity, silently praying for the ride to end.

As the horse slows its gait and the trees begin to thin, you catch glimpses of the overgrown structures lurking beyond. The ancient, decaying buildings rise from among the trees like relics from a forgotten past. The sight of them, ominous yet intriguing, sends a thrill through you, stirring a sense of curiosity about whatever secrets they may hold.

Noa dismounts from the horse, his muscular form agile and graceful. He then turns to you, his eyes never leaving yours, as he extends a hand to help you down. With a strong grip, he guides your descent, his fingers wrapping around your hand to support your weight as you slide off the horse and into his arms.

You look up at him, a soft smile playing on your lips, but there's also an undeniable heat in your core. Being in his arms, seeing his lips almost temptingly close, ignites a mixture of desire and confusion within you. It's a struggle to maintain composure, to keep the growing feelings in check.

Anaya, never one to hold back the comments, speaks up with a knowing smile, "Looks like Noa really likes… Echo." His tone is full of playful teasing, his brow arching as he looks between you and Noa. You feel the heat of a blush rise to your cheeks. To compose yourself, you step away from Noa, turning to face Soona and Anaya instead. Their knowing grins and amused expressions only make your blush deepen further.

Noa leads you through the overgrown landscape, the hulking structures looming around you like silent sentinels. He stops at the base of a massive structure, its walls crumbling and faded. He looks up at the towering climb ahead and turns to you with a questioning glance. "Ready for the climb?" he asks, his eyes studying your expression.

You gaze up at the imposing structure before you, the height and crumbling state of it daunting. Your experience in climbing trees suddenly seems quaint and insignificant before this enormous challenge. You turn to Noa, your voice laced with disbelief, "And how am I supposed to get up there?"

Noa turns to face you again, his expression resolute. "I will carry you," he replies, a look of determination in his eyes. Before you can protest, he crouches down low, presenting his broad, muscular back to you, inviting you to climb on.

With a mixture of trust and trepidation, you step forward, wrapping your arms around his broad shoulders. The feel of his back against your chest, solid and steady, is both reassuring and exciting at once.

Noa's voice is a comforting low rumble, “Hold on tight.” You tighten your grip on his shoulders, feeling the muscles in his back tense and flex as he grips onto the building's crumbling facade. And with ease, he begins the ascent, scaling the towering structure as if it's nothing more than a simple tree trunk.

Soona and Anaya, equally skilled and athletic, follow alongside Noa, moving up the building with practiced ease. They cling to the walls and overhangs as if they were born with the ability to climb. Their bodies move with effortless grace, each muscle working in perfect harmony as they scale the tall building with you clinging to Noa.

Floor after floor, Noa continues climbing, his body a powerful machine propelling you both relentlessly upward. Your heart is in your throat, each glance down causing a wave of vertigo to wash over you. Your fingers, desperately gripping Noa's fur, tug subconsciously as adrenaline and fear mix in your veins.

Noa lets out a low, guttural groan as your fingers grip tighter into his fur. The pain mingles with something unidentifiable, a strange mix of sensations. He has to force himself to close his eyes, to concentrate on the task at hand, though your touch ignites something primal in him.

Noa nods, his voice a strained whisper as he continues his climb. "I'm fine," he reassures you, though there's an undertone of something unspoken in his tone. His grip on the building's edges remains secure, his muscles tensing with each upward movement. Trying to focus back on the journey rather than the pleasurable ache in his core.

Noa climbs through a window, his powerful body flowing through the opening like water. He then sets you down gently, your feet landing on firm, steady ground. His eyes meet yours, full of an intensity that matches the adrenaline surging through you, a mix of effort and an unexplored feeling.

Your gaze moves to the piles of junk and debris, haphazardly pushed against one wall. There's a strange, melancholic feeling as you take in the objects, items that once belonged to people now long dead. Clothes, once vibrant and full of life, now faded and threadbare. Pots and pans, their metallic shine dulled by time and dust. Books, their pages brittle and torn, hold secrets from another era.

You head toward the stacked boxes, your eyes drawn to the small books within. Carefully, you pick up one of the fragile tomes, turning the pages with gentle fingers. The old paper is delicate, the words written on it faded yet still legible, holding the secrets of another time.

Soona and Anaya take advantage of the opportunity, immediately beginning to explore and scavenge. Anaya moves with a determined silence, her hands deftly moving through piles of debris.

Anaya, full of excitement, runs over, a wide grin on his face. "Echo, look!" he exclaims, holding up his own find. It's an old piece of fabric, its color barely discernible under its thick layer of dust.

Anaya grins, his eyes lighting up with excitement. He moves the old piece of fabric toward you and says, "Matches your eyes," a hint of mischief in his voice. As you look at the colored fabric, it is clear that it does share the same hue as your own eyes.

You continue your own exploration, your eyes searching the room for any useful items. As you move among the piles, you find some salvageable pants, a long shirt with sleeves, and a thick sweater with minimal holes. A grin spreads across your face as you pack the clothes into your bag, their worn fabric and faded colors bearing a certain rugged charm.

You nod in agreement, the thought of the upcoming winter lingering in your mind. The clothes you've found, albeit worn and faded, would certainly be helpful in providing protection from the cold. The thick sweater in particular looks sturdy and warm.

Noa sits on the ground, surrounded by a small pile of books. His face is set in a scowl as his fingers carefully turn the pages of each tome.

He looks up from the book he's holding, his expression lightening slightly at your approach. “Raka said Ceaser… could read… like you.”, holding the old tome out to you. Its pages are delicate and yellowed with age, the edges bent and frayed.

Your eyes rake over the books spread out before you. There are some old textbooks, business guides, and nonfiction tomes, but the ones that stand out the most are the fantasy novels. Their colorful, often fantastical covers a stark contrast to the more pragmatic texts.

“Will… you teach me?”

You look at Noa, his question catching you slightly off guard. "Teach you...? Teach you what?" you ask, your tone curious and puzzled.

Noa looked down, almost embarrassed. “Do you think I… could learn to read?” You realize then what he's asking, and a small smile forms on your lips. You nod gently at him, reassuring and kind. "Yes, Noa," you confirm. "It's not easy, and it takes time," you add, wanting to be truthful, "but yes."

Noa looks to the book in your hands. A romantic novel to replace the one you’d read a hundred times.

“Would you… read to me? Sometime?”

Your heart softens at Noa's request. The simple, straightforward tone in which he asked, coupled with the slight vulnerability evident in his expression, stirs something within you. "Of course, I can read to you," you respond, your voice warm and eager. "I'd be happy to."

You shake the book in your hand, “though not sure if you’d like this book.” You chuckle slightly at his comment. You explain, still holding the book gently in your hands. "Full of love and romance and... happily ever afters."

Noa smiles softly. His hand grazing over yours. “Like you and me.” His words take you by surprise, a rosy blush flushing your cheeks. You hadn't expected the conversation to take this turn, and the comparison between the story within the book and your own relationship with Noa makes your heart flutter.

"I... suppose so," you reply, your voice soft and bashful. "Though our story is far from over."

Your gaze lingers on Noa, your thoughts swirling with a mix of conflicting emotions. The fear of rejection, of having to forget him, feels like a heavy weight on your chest, threatening to crush your heart. As you look at him, his expression giving away no thoughts or feelings, the silence feels deafening.

As the day continues, you realize that you've never spent so much time outside the village before. The feeling of freedom and joy is overwhelming, as if you've been untethered and can finally spread your wings. The adrenaline and happiness coursing through you feels intoxicating, and you can't help but laugh softly to yourself, marvelling at how amazing you feel.

As the sun begins to descend, bathing the horizon in a soft, warm glow, you pause to marvel at the view before you. It's a different kind of sunset than you're used to, the backdrop of crumbling buildings and overgrown trees adding a new layer of beauty to the scene before you. You can't help but smile at the sight, feeling oddly calm and hopeful.

Noa stands beside you, his eyes fixed on the colorful sky as well. "It's beautiful," you murmur, the word falling from your lips involuntarily. His gaze is unwavering as his eyes drink you in, his expression intense yet soft. "Beautiful," he repeats, his voice quiet and laced with emotion. But his gaze doesn't waver from you, his eyes fixed on your form, as if you embodied the very definition of beauty itself.

As the sky continued to turn darker, the day giving way to twilight, you realize with a sinking feeling that you had to get back before night fully enveloped the sky. Noa gestured for Anaya and Soona to step aside, his eyes flickering towards you before he spoke. "You two, go home," he said quietly. "I have to show... Echo... something." There was a note of anticipation and excitement in his tone, a hint that he wanted to be alone with you.

Anaya smirks at Noa, sensing his eagerness. "Sure Noa," he replies, a teasing lilt to his tone. Soona, however, gives Noa a serious look, her eyes narrowed. "Behave yourself," she says with a firmness that borders on a warning. Noa's smile widens slightly as he says farewell to his friends, unable to hide the anticipation in his eyes. His demeanor remains polite, but there's an undeniable thrill in his expression at the thought of being alone with you.

Soona embraces you tightly, her forehead touching yours gently. "Goodbye, Echo," she says, her voice filled with fondness. Her smile is warm and friendly, a reminder of the friendship that has blossomed between you; an ape and echo.

You watch as Anaya and Soona mount their horses, their backs disappearing into the distance as they head back to the clan. Anaya turns to wave one last time before they disappear from sight, the night swallowing them whole.

You turn to Noa, your curiosity piqued as you ask, "Are we going back too?" Your voice is soft, filled with anticipation and a hint of curiosity. Noa looks at you, a small smile playing on his lips. Noa meets your gaze, his eyes holding your attention as he replies, "I want to show you something... then we will leave." His voice is steady, his words laced with a mixture of determination and excitement.

You follow Noa, your eyes wide with wonder as you take in the surroundings. As the two of you near the large observatory, the massive telescope stands out like a giant silver pillar in the dim light. You have never seen a telescope in person, and its sheer size and presence fill you with both awe and curiosity.

Noa walks closer to the telescope, his fingers gently brushing over the rusted surface. "This tunnel... it swallows light," he says, a soft awe in his voice. He looks into the telescope again, peering into the night sky, before turning back to you. "I see many... tiny dots," he continues, his tone filled with a mixture of wonder and fascination. "They shine." Noa rises up from his crouching position, his gaze locking with yours. He offers you his hand, a silent invitation to come closer.

Noa gently guides you to the telescope, his hand still wrapped around yours. "Look," he whispers, his voice low and filled with excitement. He positions you in front of the eyepiece of the telescope, his body close to yours, his breath warm against your cheek.

You look through the eyepiece of the telescope, your breath catching in your throat as you focus on the distant stars. The view is breathtaking, the night sky seemingly within reach, the stars sparkling brightly against the black canvas of space. You can't help but let out a small gasp at the stunning view before you. "Stars," you murmur, your voice filled with wonder and recognition. The sight of the stars, so bright and close through the telescope, is nothing short of magical.

Noa's question breaks the silence, his voice soft and curious. "What do you call them?" he asks, gesturing towards the tiny dots of light you can see through the telescope, "The ones that shine so bright?"

You straighten up, meeting Noa's gaze as you respond, "Stars," your voice soft and filled with wonder. It's such a simple word, but it feels like the most appropriate description for the tiny lights that dance across the night sky. You point to the brightest star in the sky, your eyes fixed on its steady light. "That one," you say, "Father used it to navigate when he traveled. He says if we ever get lost, just follow that star. It will always lead us home."

Your father was a wise and intelligent ape, even before you came into his life. With a long lineage of warriors behind him, he was a firm and stern patriarch, but also deeply caring in his own way.

As you think of your father, a pang of worry shoots through you. You wonder what he would think of Noa, and the connection that has grown between you.

Your gaze turns to Noa, your voice soft and hopeful. "I'd like you to meet him," you say, a small smile playing on your lips. The idea of introducing Noa to your father is both exciting and nerve-wracking, the possibility of his disapproval and anger hanging in the air like a dark cloud.

Deep down, Noa knew that this moment would come eventually. As much as he dreaded it, he also anticipated it with a mixture of fear and hope. Would your father approve of him? Would he consider Noa a suitable match for his daughter? The thought of your father's possible disapproval sent a shiver down Noa's spine.

Noa clenched his fists at his side, a silent determination passing over his face. If he wanted to make you his mate, he knew that having your father's blessing was non-negotiable. The thought of facing your father and securing his approval filled Noa with a mix of trepidation and resolve.

Noa's mind raced with thoughts as he contemplated the upcoming meeting with your father. He knew that as Clan Leader to Clan Leader, it should be a relatively smooth conversation. But something in his gut told him that convincing your father to accept him as your mate would be far from easy.

The sudden clap of thunder pierces the night air, the loud booms echoing through the sky. Noa jumps at the sound, his heart rate quickening slightly as the unexpected thunder interrupts the quiet moment. As the thunder rumbles again, Noa instinctively draws you closer to him, his protective instincts kicking in. He looks up at the sky, seeing the dark clouds gathering in the distance, and knows that a storm is approaching. "We need to go," he repeats, his voice firm and urgent.

The storm withheld its fury until the final legs of the journey back to the waterfall, as if waiting to strike for maximum effect. The rain poured down in a relentless onslaught, rendering visibility impossible. Noa swore aloud as the rain lashed against the two of you, soaking you to the bone in mere moments.

Another streak of lightning illuminated the sky, its bright flash causing his horse to jump in fear, nearly bucking both of you off. Noa gripped the reigns tightly, trying to soothe the trembling animal. "Easy, easy," he muttered, his voice barely audible over the rain and wind.

Despite the waterfall being in sight, Noa's horse refused to go any further, its eyes wide and nostrils flared with fear. Every time Noa tried to coax the horse forward, it would dance backwards, its hooves slipping on the wet ground. "Come on... just a little bit further," Noa muttered through gritted teeth, frustrated yet understanding of the animal's terror.

Noa looked at the path leading to your village, his expression unreadable. He knew that allowing you to travel back alone in this storm was out of the question, yet he was equally cautious about endangering you further. In the end, Noa made his choice. "You won't make it back to the village in this," he said, his voice a low growl. "We have to shelter here for the night."

You quickly duck into the cave behind the waterfall, grateful for the makeshift shelter from the rain. You watch as Noa expertly calms his mount, the animal shaking off the excess water and finding a spot to rest. Noa soon appears in the opening to the cave, his fur clinging to his frame from the rain.

Noa stood just outside the cave, watching you as you built a small fire. His gaze lingered on you, taking in the sight of your dress clinging to your frame, the water still dripping from your hair and body. Noa slowly inches closer, closing the distance between you. His strong arms wrap around you, pulling you closer to his chest, his body heat emanating from his strong frame. As he holds you against him, you can feel the steady thump of his heart against your back, a steady rhythm that provides comfort and reassurance.

You lean back against Noa, letting out a weary sigh as you relax into his arms. The storm continues to rage outside, the rain and wind howling angrily, but inside the safety of the cave, you feel protected, cocooned in Noa's warm embrace.

Despite the raging storm outside, you feel a deep sense of peace and safety in Noa's embrace. The fire crackles and pops next to you, casting a warm glow that envelops the cave in a warm, cozy light. You realize that you and Noa are completely isolated here, alone and safe from the outside world, at least for the moment.

A soft chuckle escapes your lips, a hint of irony in your tone as you speak.

"This certainly isn't how I imagined our first night together," you admit, a touch of amusement in your voice. "I always thought it would be in a quiet setting, after all the ceremonies and traditions were over. A moment of peace and acceptance."

You pause, taking in your current situation, trapped in the cave with Noa in secret, the storm raging outside, the fire crackling beside you. The intimacy of the situation is not lost on you. This unplanned, unconventional setting brings a certain thrill and excitement. Your body is pressed against Noa's, his strong arms encircle you, holding you close. The fire casts dancing shadows on the cave walls, the storm outside a constant reminder of the world just beyond your secluded sanctuary.

Noa's voice is soft and deep as he murmurs against your damp hair, the words sending shivers down your spine.

"I imagine you... only you... It doesn't matter where," he repeats, his voice a low growl filled with quiet longing.

You feel a wave of desire wash over you as you listen to Noa's words. Everything within you tightens, and a desperate need to be close to him, to become one with him, takes hold. With a soft sigh, you press yourself back against Noa, molding your body to his. He feels your surrender to him, your body pressing against his, and his response is immediate. He tightens his arms around you, a low growl of appreciation leaving his lips. His breath is warm against your skin, his lips brushing against the sensitive area of your neck.

Noa is keenly aware of the boundaries that he's crossing, but the desire and primal need he feels for you are too strong to deny. His lips continue their exploration of your neck, while his hands slowly move from around your waist to your hips, pulling you impossibly closer to him.

Despite his knowledge in other areas, Noa is a complete novice when it comes to your body. His mind is filled with conflicting thoughts and sensations, a mixture of want and uncertainty. The desire to learn every inch of you is overwhelming, but he also worries about making a mistake, about crossing a line that he can not undo.

Noa's senses are hyper-alert, your every reaction feeding the flames of his desire. As you tilt your head back, giving him greater access to your neck, he lets out a low growl. He takes the implicit invitation, his lips and tongue trailing kisses and gentle nips along your exposed skin.

Noa's lips travel lower, exploring the exposed skin of your chest. His kisses are gentle yet fervent, as if he's trying to commit every inch of you to memory. His hands still grip your hips tightly, holding you firmly against him.

You slowly turn yourself to face him, your body now kneeling between his legs. The change in position brings your faces even closer together, the firelight casting a soft glow over your features. Noa's gaze meets yours, filled with desire and a hint of trepidation.

Noa's eyes roam your body, taking in every curve and contour as they travel from your face, down your neck, and finally landing on your chest. His gaze is intense, his eyes darkened with lust as he looks at the way your nipples press against the cold, wet fabric.

You bring one shaky hand up to the strap, mimicking the movement from practice. Allowing it to slide off your shoulder. Your eyes watching Noa’s for reaction. Wanting to soak up every moment with him.

He watches you with a mixture of fascination and trepidation, his breath catching slightly in anticipation. The sight of the strap sliding off your shoulder is tantalizing, the promise of more to come sending a shiver down his spine. His eyes never leave your face, taking in every detail of your expression as you tease him with the slow reveal.

Noa's eyes widen slightly as you lower your second strap, the movement slow and deliberate. The fabric of your dress hangs onto your body by a thread, the slightest touch and it would fall away completely, leaving you bare before him. Noa's lips part slightly, his breaths coming faster, but he waits, watching you, giving you the control to continue at your own pace.

Your love for Noa is clear in the way you look at him, the tenderness and intensity in your eyes. The moment feels perfect, no distractions or interruptions. Just the two of you, together in this secluded cave, sheltered from the storm outside.

Noa watches intently as the fabric slowly reveals more and more of your body. His eyes drink in the sight of your bare chest, stopping at your ribs just above the dip of your waist. He can feel his breath quicken and his body tighten with desire. He restrains himself, letting you set the pace, but his hands twitch with the desire to touch, to explore the newly exposed skin.

You wordlessly nod to Noa, allowing him his desires of exploration. Noa doesn't need to be told twice. At your silent invitation, he reaches out, his hands finally coming to rest on your bare skin. His touch is gentle yet firm, his palms gliding over your ribs and waist, mapping out each contour and curve of your body. He takes his time, his calloused fingers tracing the lines of your flesh, committing every inch to memory.

As his gaze finally falls to your breast, Noa's breath hitches in his throat. There's a moment of hesitation, a moment where he seems almost in awe. Then his hand moves, the calloused palm of his hand coming to rest over the sensitive flesh, the heat of his touch sending a small shiver down your spine.

Noa's touch ignites a roaring fire deep inside you, a fire that's been burning hot ever since you first met. Your arms encircle his neck, pulling him closer, as you let out a soft moan of pleasure. Noa's ministrations continue, his hands becoming bolder, more confident in their exploration. He leans forward, his lips trailing kisses down your neck, his breath hot against your skin as both his hands come to toy with your breasts.

Your confidence grows as you crawl closer to Noa, your body now straddling him. The new position brings your lips tantalizingly close, and you can't resist the urge to capture his mouth with yours. The taste of him is intoxicating, a combination of wildness and desire that feeds your own need. One of his hands find your hip, holding you steady, as he hungrily returns the kiss, his lips moving against yours with a fervor that matches your own. The other hand continues his journey tracing your chest.

Noa's mind becomes hazy, consumed by the intense wave of lust that washes over him. His hands start roaming all over your body, unable to stay still, desperate to feel more of you. His lips leave yours, finding their way to your neck and shoulder, showering your skin with kisses and gentle bites.

He needs more. He needs all of you. His body is coiled tight, the need for release growing with each passing moment.

“Noa.” You moan tugging at the fur at his neck.

Despite the overwhelming desire that threatens to consume him, Noa manages to pull himself together. His heart is racing, his body aching for you, but he cannot let his primal instincts take over. He wants you, that's for sure, but he also knows the importance of doing this right. Of respecting you, in all aspects.

He looks up at you, his eyes filled with a mixture of lust and restraint, his voice hoarse as he tries to maintain composure.

"I have to stop..." he says, the words both a reminder to himself and a warning to you.

You shake your head, “no you don’t.”

Your defiant response catches Noa off guard. He can't help but feel a thrill of excitement run through him, his body already reacting to your words. But he tries to remain firm.

"I do," he says, his tone betraying the fact that he's fighting a losing battle against his own desires. "We can not... not yet."

Noa sighs and takes your face in his hands, his touch gentle and caressing. His lips meet yours in a soft, tender kiss, a stark contrast to the intensity that still burns within him. It's a gesture of love and affection, his way of holding onto his self-control. Despite the fire raging inside him, he takes his time with this kiss, his tongue gently caressing yours, before pulling back.

Noa's eyes are still filled with a mixture of desire and need, but he forces himself to look away from your exposed chest, allowing the fabric of your dress to cover you once more. He sighs, trying to regain control of his ragged breathing, his hands still holding you close.

He murmurs, his voice low, “I shouldn't have let it get that far… Not yet."

He can sense your frustration and desire, the same feelings coursing through his own body. He lets out a heavy sigh as well, his voice a soft whisper as he speaks. "I need to do this right... for you... for us. I will not rush or mess this up."

You and Noa spend the rest of the night cuddled together in the cave. The fire continues to crackle, casting a cozy glow over the small space. Noa's arms encompass you completely, his body pressed against yours with a comforting warmth. The storm outside continues to rage, but you both remain tucked away in the safety and solitude of the cave, simply enjoying each other's company.

#noa kotpota #pota noa #noa pota #noa #noa x human reader #noa x reader #noa planet of the apes #planet of the apes #kotpota #kingdom of the planet of the apes #owen teague #monkey man

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the-silverdew · 5 months ago

Text

What do the Apes prefer? Pt 2

Pairings: Kotpota Characters x Human! Reader

Notes and Warnings: headcanons, nsfw, afab reader

What do they prefer: breasts, ass or both?

Breasts

Soona: it's fascinating for her. Your sounds of pleasure when she caresses them or takes one nipple in her mouth make her giggle in delight.

Oda: they are so soft, so different from what he's used to with female apes. Likes to cup them, see how perfectly they fit in his hands and massage them, loving the sweet sounds you make.

Sylva: if he had a rough day, coming back to you and resting his head in your breasts will soothe instantly. Also, when it comes to matters of the bedroom, he really enjoys titty-fucking, seeing his cum all over your chest and mouth.

Ass

Lightning: he's very into anal and likes to squeeze it during the act, spanking too. Careful, because if he feels playful he'll bite until his teeth are marked.

Anaya: you skin is so smooth to the touch. Anaya loves how the roundness stands out when you wear tight clothes.

Both

Proximus: somewhat similar to Noa (proxy's probable human fetish aside), he finds both attributes appealing.

Noa: he feels so curious about your human figure, but can't really decide wich one he prefers, so he settles for adoring both.

#planet of the apes x reader #noa x human reader #proximus caesar x reader #don't like don't read

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death---dealer · 7 months ago

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Awww but wait I wouldn’t mind cute little headcanons with Anaya and Soona, just playing around, mealtimes, hunting/foraging and all around messing about. The both of them are so sweet

DO NOT TOUCH ME I AM IN MY FEELS. You know, you can totally see these as Soona x Reader and Anaya x Reader and I just realized that in my bisexual haze goodbye.

Soona teaching you how to weave.

Bless her heart for having the patience to show you how to do it. The first few times, your baskets came out absolutely horrid to the point where they really didn't look like baskets. The way that her fingers moved so intricately, how she brought the twine up to her face and narrowed her green gaze, the freckles along brow, along her cheeks and into the fur around his jaw, her face shifting with the expression of centralized focus. You found it hard to put your mind at ease, and to just watch the weaving as she spoke to you in such a gentle tone, explaining the pattern for how to weave properly, tightly knitting it together so it didn't fall apart. Now... Admittedly, your baskets... They were just an entanglement of roughly put together, thinly sliced pieces of slated wood. Soona was encouraging though - She just tells you that it comes with time and that the more you make, the better they're going to get. The smile she gives you? The light grazing of her hand against your forearm in support? Definitely leaves you buzzing a small bit and you try again. And again. And again. Until it finally comes out right and resembling a basket of sorts. A bit lopsided, it teeters back and forth searching for balance when it was placed on the ground but you're still proud. And from the hoots that Soona gave you when you pulled the basket from behind your back to present to her? The pure satisfaction that you were able to impress her leaves you reeling as she inspects the basket with happiness, giving you a brief smile. "Told you... you could do it."

Anaya trying to impress you.

Your fingers grazed along the surface of a rusted beam - beaten to disfigurement by the sun of three-hundred years and the weather to follow. Noa and Anaya were talking as Soona listened in. Despite your transfixed eyes on the ruined building next to you, you could hear them chattering about who was going to be the one to carry you up to the ladened Eagle Nests above. Noa figured himself - it was often him. He was slightly bigger than Anaya, had a bit more strength, and it was always him chosen. But, Anaya came in hot with an argument it seemed, backed up by Soona who was encouraging him. Anaya huffed slightly at Noa and muttered under his breath, only enough for you to pick up a few words. 'Want to' and 'can do it'. You blinked when your name was echoed through the hallway of the ruined buildings. You smiled at them and took your fingers away from the thought that the ruins you were standing in were somehow twisted into your own personal self- being an Echo and all. "Anaya," The Chimp said in self-declaration, his chest puffing out rather cutely, "carry Echo today." You looked between Soona and Noa, a small expression of surprise hitting your cheeks at that as you finally drew to look at Anaya who was standing bi-pedal in front of you, his eyes full of nerves as he darted his gaze between your eyes and your chest - trying to see if you were nervous about him taking you and not Noa. "You better not drop me," You whispered only to him in.a joking tone and found yourself almost entranced at the look Anaya gave you back as you flanked around him and hiked your body onto his back as you so often did with Noa. Anaya assisted, hesitance evident in how he helped you upwards, not sure where his hands were allowed to go, not sure if something was not okay. He staggered at that once you were fully against him, not used to weight but eventually the muscles in his legs became quickly adapted to the nature of your weight and he smiled to himself. "Anaya does not drop," You tucked your knees into his side and held on for what felt like dear life as the Apes began their ascent. "Only Noa does. Sometimes." Anaya looked right over at his friend with what could only be described as a smug smile before trailing ahead of both Noa and Soona with a yap, hoot and howl. All the while, with your hands grasped tightly to him and as long as you avoided looking down, you found yourself able to smile and laugh ( not out of nerves, thank goodness ) along with Anaya as he slanted along the building with ease and skill, leaving you rather breathless once you got to the top.

How about another Berry Foraging with our Sunset Trio.

It was a lot more of a strenuous process than you were willing to admit. The torment of your spine curving as you had been in a crouched position for far too long began to take a toll and you felt a deep-set burning sensation in your tailbone was not to be taken lightly as you stood up and stretched it out, placing your hands on the small of your back and pressing inwards with a small groan. Soona watched you with great interest - the position of crouching was so natural to her, to most Apes in fact, that the fact that you were unable to stay squatted for more than ten minutes at a time was somewhat funny to her. She gave you a look of affable mention and looked down at her basket of berries, "Very good Anaya is not over here," She picked a few ripe blueberries with skill as you turned to crouch next to her. The heat eradicating your face felt good as you leaned in towards her subconsciously. "Eats them all before we get home. Always.... Noa so mad, Anaya so scared from Noa being mad." The visual itself made you laugh as you could see it playing out rather vividly in front of you. Vividly, and then literally as Noa and Anaya came into view. The latter was holding a bustle of berries and was eating them, obviously mocking the Eagle Clan leader who muttered something about, 'How are you eating that many?' That only spurred Anaya to shove the entire contents of his hand into his mouth in a rather juicy display as he began chewing the berries and maintaining eye contact with Noa. Noa snapped playfully, rearing his friends chest and taking them both down, rolling further down the hill behind them with a loud clattering of howls and hoots, huffs soon followed as the two of them began laughing. Soona just looked at you, and you looked at her. Boys will be boys, is what the shared gaze said as you two grazed further to get Soona's basket full before Anaya came to pick at them.

#noa #soona #anaya #planet of the apes #planet of the apes x reader #noa x reader #soona x reader #anaya x reader #pota #kingdom of the planet of the apes #kotpota #emmy writes #fanfiction #fanfic

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reddesires · 7 months ago

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Fishing with the Sunset Trio [Headcanons]

Implied Noa x Human!Reader

Fandom: (Kingdom Of The) Planet Of The Apes

Rating: Tooth rotting fluff (if you couldn't tell, I love cute interactions)

A/N: Here is some cute Headcanons of spending a day of fishing with the trio, enjoy enjoy ❤️

Requests are welcomed!

• You and Anaya rallying up together to ambush Noa as he's concentrated on his prey traveling upstream, you two jumping upon him when he sets his sights at the right moment, he's quick to chase after you two intending to give you hell.

•Soona basking on the sidelines, enjoying watching you and Anaya annoying Noa. The shenanigans that you two conjure too funny for her to bother to intervene on Noa's behalf.

•You finally relenting and giving Noa a helping hand in fishing (totally didn't get caught by him and forced to help him as punishment, totally).

• Noa convincing you to use his spear, him watching as you struggle to even lift it beside your head, you too prideful to admit defeat but the pathetic throw and missing the fish by a long shot exposing you.

•Soona and Anaya not even holding back their amused laughs as you try to run downstream away from your embarrassing performance, Noa grabbing you, not letting you also as hoots escape him too.

•the trio expertly hooking and throwing the aquatic creatures into the woven baskets, a competitive air held between them as they tease each other on who's better at fishing.

•"Anaya is the best at catching fish! Noa struggle, Noa catch small fish!" Anaya boasts, Noa huffy as he tosses said small fish into Anaya's face, the ape falling backward into the stream

•Trying to hold back your laughs as the male apes rough house, water splashing everywhere smacking you in the face drenching you, a silence overcoming as they slowly look to you.

•Jumping up and dashing over to them. "No! Don't you try to run now!"

•When you do catch up to them, you grip their ears as you scold them. They can't really take you seriously, though. You find it pretty funny, too.

•Soona collecting pretty stones intending on making them beads for when she can braid your hair, she always looks forward to those times since she gets bored of weaving all the time.

•Noa pushing strands of wet hair out of your face as you pout, his expression one of what you would call admiration, you can't help but shyly try to hide your face from him, a smile gracing your lips.

•You and Soona trying to catch fish by hand, each of you crying out in exclamation but unsuccessful as the trawl managed to slip your grasps, Anaya trying his hand on it but also failing even going as far as diving into the shallow stream to catch the fish (unsuccessfully ofc, just a faceful of pebbles).

•Noa tossing you over his shoulder as you try to sneak away to get out of fishing duty, you try with all your might to get out of his grasps but to no avail (he's always surprised how light you are in comparison to apes).

•Soona reprimending Noa on how he should be careful with you, she gets worried that the boys are too rough with you. "Stupid Noa! Be careful with Echo!" (she's very protective of you, and she makes it known).

•Anaya convincing you to climb onto his back as he runs downstream on all fours, the water showering everywhere, not only scaring away the prey but also giving Noa a heart attack afraid that you'll slip off off Anaya's back and bonk your head somewhere, Soona more than willing to give Anaya a good smack on the head for the scare.

• Finally, getting enough fish for the clan at dusk due to all the distractions, all of you completely drenched, but all was due in a days work or so Soona says.

• The communal meal was filled with chatter and laughs, you feeling more than fulfilled by more than just your berry and fish dinner. Your gaze caught Noa's, an electric buzz filling your body, and a beaming smile overtaking your features, he's chuffs in response.

#noa x human reader #noa x reader #planet of apes x reader #planet of the apes #pota #owen teague #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #anaya #soona

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jellyfishcake · 8 months ago

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Mae x F°reader

Mae wanted to show you something she found well looking for food. As she helps you get on her horse "Your going to love what I found [Y/n]" as she starts to talk about how amazing it was when she found this but she was taking you at night time.

After she was done talking silence took over a soft silence all you can hear is the horse feet "clip-clop" it was satisfying to hear.

After a while you hear more "clip-clop" behind you guys. You turn around to see Noa, Soona, and Anaya on their horses Mae stops the horse and turns it around to them. "What are you doing?" Mae asks "We wanted to see what you found out their" Noa says back as he stops his horse making a gap between you guys. "Anaya wants to see too" as he talks while signing Soona didn't have to speak because she wanted to do the exact same thing as them.

Mae looks at you for your permission you nod.

"You can come" as she turns the horse around to continue on to their destination. Many buildings come in view some tall, big, small, and short they were all taken over by mother nature over the years as apes take over the world and humans become less seen.

"Their it is [Y/n]" she points to a building with a sign saying 'Music store' you knew what music was your dad would sing to you some small lyrics when you were feeling down. It was a beautiful thing humans made when they were dominant in the world. Mae gets off the horse as she does her hand was out for you to take when you got down so you took it. She pulls your hand gently towards her when walking soon after the trio behind you starts to follow closely. As you guys walk through the building you see vinyl on the floor some still on the shelf they look to be in good condition still.

"Stay here let me get it" as she walks away to go in another room.

Noa picks up a vinyl off the floor and inspect it with Soona on his side while Anaya looks around the room. You on the other hand look in front of you to see the middle has a widow on top the floor looks empty with nothing on it except dirt and leaves.

You jump when the lights turns on "[Y/n] you ready" as Mae comes back with a record player and plugs it in an outlet. Her left arms holds a vinyl she takes out the vinyl and puts it in the slot she places the tone arm on the spinning vinyl.

Music comes out you look her with wide eye's she has a soft smile on her face.

"Take my hand [Y/n]"

You take it and she pulls you in.

"Come on Eileen"

Her left hand goes on your waist as your hand goes on her shoulder and your extra hands intertwine together.

"Poor old Johnnie Ray"

You guys spin as she takes a step back two times well you follow her step towards her.

"Sounded sad upon the radio moved a million hearts in Mono"

You take a step backwards Mae pulls you out and pulls you right back in as she spins you around her hand.

"Our mothers cried"

Your back was to her as your left arm was stretched out with hers. Mae right arm was around your waist spinning while taking small steps as you guys go.

☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆

Noa was confused of what you guys were doing plus he had some many questions to asks.

"What do you think their doing" Soona said looking at Noa "I don't know" Noa said back. "Anaya is confused" He talked while signing "Plus what's that sound coming from" Soona looked at it with curiosity from a far Noa walked slowly towards it "They have a pretty voice" Noa heard Anaya said behind him.

All three of them surrounded the box.

Their was something spinning inside of it they hear the voice but doesn't know where it's coming from.

Umm I'll finish this tomorrow. But I'm working on some requests 😈 writing this because it been on my mind for awhile. But I'm working on requests right now I'm locked in writing them.

#Spotify #x reader #kingdom of the planet of the apes #planet of the apes #mae x reader #planet of the apes x reader

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phan3145 · 6 months ago

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Title: Slippery Slope. Fandom: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Rating: T. ( Cursing, intensity) Pairing: Eventual Noa x Human!Reader

***Note: I have no idea how this became 6.6K words, I just like writing in Noa’s POV apparently 😭

Chapter 3: Homes and Shelters

Noa

He heard what she said, but could not understand the meaning behind the words. She was too intelligent to think he would fit in the hole with her. He would rather weather the rain than try to fit both of them under that piece of wood. Surely, she would as well. Was this an empty offer in hopes of a peaceful end to their meeting? Was he meant to decline? She was watching him closely, but did not offer any assistance as to how he should respond.

Huffing, he chose the safest option, “Will not…fit.”

She looked confused for a moment before letting out a series of noises, which he assumed was her version of hooting. It certainly wasn’t a cackle, but the noise was still pleasing to his ears. Her hand covered her face then, she seemed to be thinking. Finally, she shook her head, letting her hand slide down before dropping back to her side, “Not here. Do you remember the massive rock formation before coming here? I assume you had to climb it to follow me.”

Climb it? He more or less just leapt to the top, but he supposed for a human climbing would have been necessary. She didn’t need to know that though, so he agreed, “Remember it.”

She showed her teeth, Echo’s version of smiling. She nodded her head in that direction, “Good, go there. I’ll meet you.”

She crouched on the ground then, leaving him confused once more as she dropped down into the hole. He took quick steps to approach her, watching her hands reach for the wood that would cover her. He found himself in the same position as before, his strength halting any progress she made to pull the heavy object on top of herself.

She looked up, only slightly surprised, sighing, “Not this again. What’s wrong?”

“How do we…meet there?” He wondered, “Why not…go together?…Why are you…back in the…ground?”

“I have to open the door,” she said, as if that somehow explained everything. He felt his brow furrow with frustration. Seeing this, she continued, “The entrance is blocked, you can only open it from the inside. To get in I have to go through here.”

That’s when he noticed. It wasn’t just a hole, a larger pathway underground laid behind her, so dark he hadn’t seen it before. He assumed this was a hiding place, not thinking anything of it when he had stopped her from covering herself before. This was a way into her nest, no wonder she had seemed so afraid when he stopped her.

“A…tunnel?” He offered.

“Yes,” she nodded. “I’ll meet you at the front of the rocks…Noa, let go, you’re letting water in.”

At that, he noticed the rain had picked up and water was indeed soaking into the dry dirt beneath her. The scraps of cloth she used to cover her body were already smeared in dirt, but with the rain it soaked through and clung to her legs. Her chest covering was also wet, he assumed from when she had hauled him up from the river. He hadn’t noticed before, but now he could see there wasn’t a single part of her that was dry. Even her hair had quickly taken in the rain, branching strands allowing individual drops to fall down her face, just barely missing her eyes.

It…bothered him. He knew Echo’s got cold easily, and they were frail as a species. This rain had a biting chill to it, still being too early in the season to be comfortable. He worried that without fur she would get sick from cold. She was smart, he admitted to himself, surely there would be a fire in her nest. If not…maybe he should make one for her so she could stay warm.

With that thought, he let go and took a step back. She gave him a curious look before she decided not to waste anymore time, shutting the wood over top of herself. The noise he heard once it came all the way down surprised him. It sounded almost like…metal.

He leaned forward, wanting to get a closer look at the cover to her tunnel. He saw the edges, having run his hand over it enough to know that it was wood. A second glance revealed that it was actually a trick. Rusted metal was slotted into wooden branches, and rope was hooked around notches carved into the branches. He pulled at the rope, feeling no give. His fingers traced the ridges, following it’s length to the top of the covering.

He stopped, reaching the middle to find more layers of rope, tied and crossed over one another. They held dirt and tiny sprouts of plants that would mimic the floor of the forest. He moved to the opposite end, remembering that he couldn’t pull the object off of her completely. It had been connected to the ground somehow. Brushing rocks and dirt aside, he could barely glimpse two stumps buried next to one another. Holes had been carved into each one, and more rope was threaded through and tied to the back end of the cover. He wondered how much upward give there was, attempting to raise it once more when his arm was jerked downwards.

Shock was immediate. Why could he not open it now? He paced back to the front, pulling upwards only to find a finger’s worth of space. He lowered himself to the ground, squinting his eyes to see there was rope tied to a metal protrusion on the inside. Unless he wanted to break it, which he easily could, he couldn’t get in from the outside. She blocked off her entrances after she was done using them.

His instincts warred inside of him. This Echo was similar to Mae, very careful and seemingly very mistrusting. He had practically forced her to speak, only now realizing that she had never answered his question. Why had she saved him? Why avoid the question when she seemed so honest about everything else? Perhaps, she did not know herself. In that way, she would be different from the two humans he met before, doing something good just because it was right. Not all humans were alike, just like how all apes were not alike. Would it be fair to pass judgement on her so early?

He sniffed, acknowledging how complex all of this was. While the Echo had been honest with him, from what he could tell once she did start talking, he had doubts that her claim of being alone was true. She was intelligent, but she could not have done this by herself, she must have had help.

Backing away from the cover, he began to walk in the direction of the rock ledge he had followed her from. After a few paces he stopped, looking from the cover to the stone structure, only now seeing the direct path. There were no trees or bushes, just grass and a few wild flowers. Roots would have gotten in the way of the tunnel. That seemed obvious now, but he was truly impressed by how simple it was.

He wondered how long it would take the Echo to get inside of her stone nest, imagining moving while crouched was slower for her than it was for him. Thinking back though, she hadn’t been crouched, she’d been on her hands and knees. It was unusual, not something ape would do…but then again she wasn’t ape.

Reaching the rock edge, he did not have the running start he had before, and from the back it was even steeper. The rain had picked up enough he could feel it on his skin beneath his fur, so he decided scaling up would not be in his best interest right now. He found himself scaling the side instead, which was considerably dryer. The rocks formed in a naturally slanted edge, the top keeping the side he was climbing from being water logged.

Choosing to go around instead of up would also allow him to get a better lay of the land. He would need to remember that this is where she can be found. For safety reasons. He had no intentions of coming back here unless the Echo posed a threat. If she remained true, then after this he would leave her be to live out the rest of her days…how ever long that may be.

He swung himself around the side, landing towards the front of the stone structure. He paced for a moment, wondering where her ‘entrance’ was. He still saw only stone, no opening big enough for something Echo sized to pass through. Hesitating, he wondered if she had tricked him, if this was a trap. Or, perhaps he was in the wrong place?

A noise caught his attention. Eagle Sun was overhead, alerting him with warning chirps as he descended gracefully, looking to land. He quickly raised his left arm, but to his surprise, Eagle Sun glided past him. It landed on a stone ledge to his left.

“Stubborn bird,” he grumbled.

Eagle sun took no offense to the term. The rain left his feathers oily, the water sliding mostly off of him as soon as it landed. He dared not bother the bird further, only recently getting in its good graces. Eagle Sun meant a lot to his father, and now, in a short amount of time, he had come to mean a lot to Noa. Eagle Sun preened at a wing before turning to chirp once more, pulling him from his thoughts. Seeing Noa’s gaze returned to him, Eagle Sun began to peck at the rock next to him.

He huffed, the bird probably found a tasty bug to munch…

No.

That’s when he saw it. A rock, whose layers went against the grain of the other rocks around it. It was surrounded…but not attached. Had Eagle Sun just showed him the Echo’s nest? He approached tentatively, scratching Eagle Sun under his chin as a reward. Feeling sufficiently praised, the bird then launched himself back into the sky. Odd, to leave so suddenly, but not his concern at the moment. He would return.

Over the pounding of the rain around him, through the bottom of his feet, he sensed movement. A heartbeat. He tracked it, sensing it closer to where he now stood. More sounds of movement became audible to his ears. He waited, not actually knowing what to expect. Water dripped down his face, threatening to slip into his nose. Wiping it away, he called the Echo’s name. A new muffled sound was heard from the other side of the rock.

“Just wait, I had to change.” Her voice soothed, “I’m about to move the rock, don’t stand too close.”

He heard more metal, a grunt from the echo, and then the rock was pulled aside. In front of him was an opening, it was wide enough for him to fit, but he would have to bend as he entered. The height only reached to the middle of his chest. He hoped it was bigger on the inside, otherwise he was starting to believe this Echo enjoyed being in small spaces.

He bent at the waist, allowing his head to enter first, comforted once he saw the mouth of the rocks open up. He would be able to stand with ease, even stretch if he so desired. His first few steps were hesitant, scanning his surroundings to make sure there was no ambush waiting for him in the dimly lit space.

She stood in the center, hands in front of her, as if she knew that he was scanning for potential threats. The way she read him made shame burn in the pit of his stomach. He felt it was justified at first, and perhaps it was, but the more he thought about their situation, the more he saw how unbalanced it was. She was the one putting a lot of trust in him; inviting him into her nest and saving his life. Between the two of them, he was the one who hadn’t shown her trust.

Thoughts of Proximus and the events that took place in his Kingdom weighed heavily on him…and now it was causing a chasm sized rift between him and this new Echo. He never expected to meet another one, but that was not the point. The one in front of him was watching him, eyes searching his for some sign he didn’t know how to give, confusion consuming his mind.

He wondered what she had meant by ‘change,’ but looking at her now, it made sense that she had changed the cloth covering her body. He was unsure what to call what she was wearing. Mae had worn pants, which he found this Echo wearing too, but Mae had also worn a shirt. What she wore looked similar but not quite the same. There were two layers now covering her torso. One piece of cloth covered her chest and stomach, and the second layer wrapped around her arms and sides. It was similar to his mother’s robe, but…more. He had never seen an Echo wear two. Was there a purpose?

She tilted her head and raised her brow, questioning his too long stare. He looked away then, taking a moment to shake the water off his fur. From the corner of his eye he caught her raising her arm up, shielding herself from any splashing. He thought to tease her for that, but was distracted before the words had even formed in his mind. His attention had been pulled towards the massive stone next to him. This…was what she moved?

Unconsciously he felt his hands raise, gripping the rock to test its weight. His arms opened wider, wanting a better hold as he attempted to move it. He was able to, but only just. His concern equaled his confusion, how did she move this?

“It’s easier to seal than it is to open.” She offered, taking small steps towards him. He didn’t move, allowing her to explain, “I brace my back up against the wall, and I use my arms and legs to push it in place. Moving it to where it is now, I use the chain wrapped around it. Sort of a lever and pulley system. It’s still really heavy though.”

His eyes scanned over the chain, wrapped around ledges of rock and looped over several times. The metal is rusted, much like the cover outside had been. He noticed she had wrapped cloth around the length of the end. That is probably where she grips it from….still very dangerous.

“You…can lift…by yourself?” He questions.

Her eyebrows raised in a mocking way, “I lifted you, didn’t I?”

He made a sign of annoyance with his hand, arguing, “I helped.”

“Oh, did you now?” She hoots again, that same sound from before making something inside of him sing.

“More…than rock.” He huffs in a sort of finality.

She swivels her head in a sort of half agreement, turning away from him to go deeper into her nest. He decides to follow her like a shadow, curious as to how she survives living under a rock.

He must admit, whether she carved this herself or the formation was already like this, the space was impressive for an Echo. She kept a small fire going off the ground, on a natural shelf next to a worn spot in the rock. The smoke exited from there cleanly, and behind the fire was something shiny that bounced the light of the flames off of it and around the nest. It was not as much light as a torch would give off, but it was enough to give vision in the darkness. Echos did not like the dark, he remembered this from Mae. She always huddled by the fire on their journey, choosing to look away from Noa in favor of facing the darkness.

You never know what’s out there, she had said. Usually, nothing was out there that an ape had to fear, but an Echo? Echo had to fear everything. He moved on from the fire, noticing an alcove below it with woven baskets, three of them to be precise. One was filled with peaches, another with apples, and another almost empty basket that held…

“These, are grapes.” She explained, picking up the basket and plucking a fresh one out of it. She popped it into her mouth, “It’s a shame that I have to walk so far to get them, but where they grow is amazing. I go every few weeks and bring back a basket, I’d bring more but they would turn into raisins before I could finish them.”

Strange, he had never seen these before. She noticed his curiosity, offering him the basket. He hesitated a moment before taking one. It was round, and felt like it could be easily crushed, like an egg. He knew it wasn’t poisonous since she had already had one, but he was still hesitant when he allowed it to fall into his mouth. He was careful to bite it with his canines in case it was harder on the inside than it looked.

It was not hard. Juice exploded inside of his mouth, the outer layer of skin barely tougher than the inside. He could see the appeal, sweetness coating his tongue differently than a peach or an apple would. He liked it, it was a new flavor of sweet. New and different, but not unwelcome, much like the Echo in front of him.

“It’s good, huh?” She asked, looking like she already knew the answer.

He nodded, wanting more but not daring to take what she did not offer. He still felt as if he was standing somewhere he should not be, that slight level of danger not leaving the back of his brain. Looking down at the basket in her hands, she sighed, “Why don’t you finish them for me? You’ve had a rough day, seems like you could use a treat. Besides, if I don’t start working on these, they’ll spoil.”

He took the basket from her with unsure hands, looking from side to side as if he was meant to do something with it other than hold it. She turned her back to him, grabbing an apple before making her way to the corner opposite him. It was away from the fire, but he could see raised from the ground a slab of stone. Not round like a normal nest, long and rectangular like a drying table. There was cushioned material on top of the slab, many sheets of cloth piled on top. She lowered herself onto it, crossing her legs before taking a bite out of her apple.

They stared at each other for an endless amount of time it seemed. She was waiting for him to do something, but much like before, he didn’t know what. He broke eye contact with her to look at the new fruit she had presented him with. Grapes…dictionary…cackle. He was learning quite a lot from her. He plucked a few more of the fruits from the basket and shoved them into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Noticing her lowered position, he decided to follow her example, crouching on all fours on the ground. The basket was placed in front of him so he could grab handfuls at a time. His gaze traveled to the open mouth of the cave, the rain still coming down.

After a moment, his eyes turned back to her and found her also looking towards the outside world. She took another bite of her apple, eyes distant as she seemed to be thinking on something. He understood that, turning his attention back to the rain outside. He was not always able to stop his head from thinking sometimes. He would think of how to finish a project he had started, or come up with a solution to a problem that was not directly in front of him. Sometimes he needed that, his body and heart becoming still in a way that would help him figure out what he should do. The new responsibilities weighed on him, wanting to be the best thing for his clan but not knowing how he could accomplish that. Fixing things was easier.

Then there was Caesar. Raka’s tales would keep him up at night, wondering how one ape could make such an impact that he was still known after all this time. The first elder…possibly the wisest. His laws were simple, but even the core of his clan held similar beliefs to his original laws. And there were more…more that would be lost to time in Raka’s books that no ape could read.

Fear struck him then, would the true Caesar be lost to time? Raka was the last of his followers, trying to teach Noa in his last few days of life what he knew, but it didn’t make any sense. Raka had been a follower his whole life, surely he could not have covered everything in a few short days.

What was he to do? Caesar had a vision, living in a world where apes and humans lived side by side. That vision was lost somehow. Why? What had happened? Even Mae hadn’t filled in all of the gaps, she had given him more pieces to the puzzle, but it was incomplete. He knew, if he could complete the puzzle, he would understand the vision, the answer that would bring peace among the species. The idea alone, of apes and humans living side by side, was nice.

Like this. This was nice.

The quiet was…peaceful. She did not feel the need to speak any more than he did, so they both sat eating their fruits. They were not fighting, or trying to kill each other. In fact, she had done the exact opposite as she had saved him. She had even fed him…when was the last time someone else had given him food? Probably not since he was a youngling. Of course, food was collected in large amounts, whether it be fish or fruit, but they all had to add to the collective once they were no longer younglings.

He found his eyes returning to the Echo, taking the time to look at her while she seemed entranced by the rain. Does she even realize the compassion she showed him today? The mercy in saving his life? She was more of a follower of Caesar than he was, not knowing for certain that if their roles were reversed that he would have done the same. Maybe he could teach her of Caesar? Maybe they could learn together?

Her eyes suddenly shifted, locking with his, surprising him with the quick turn from distracted to focused. “Your eyes are burning a hole into me. If you have something to say, you should say it.”

His eyes widened in shock, and his mouth decided it didn’t want to work. All he could do was continue to stare at her, trying to put all the words he wanted to say in the right order. He found he could not, and the longer the silence stretched the more he felt the courage to tell her his thoughts slipping away.

She hummed, standing to bring the core of her apple to the fire. She placed it in carefully and watched as it burned. Her arms came to wrap around herself, and the shift in her posture told him she was uncomfortable…nervous. What had he done? Was his staring that insulting? He didn’t mean to.

A deep sigh escaped her, then she swallowed, “What happens now?”

She had not turned to face him, and he found himself even more confused. How did she expect him to answer that? Did she mean in this moment or in the future? Was she thinking about the future?

“Apes are…territorial, yes?” She asked, attempting to clarify. He grunted in way of answering, picking up the basket as he pushed himself into a standing position. She swallowed again, “Am I in your territory? I knew your clan was somewhere nearby, but I have no idea where you’re actually located. If you’re on the other side of the creek…would me staying on this side be a possibility?”

This surprised him, he took a few steps towards her, “You would…leave?”

She turned to face him then, her eyes widening. She must not have heard him stand; her uneasy gaze trailing from his feet, to the basket in his hands, and then back up to his face. Whatever nerves she felt at his closeness seemed to ease once she met his eyes, sensing no immediate danger. Still, she took a step back, fingers digging into the material of the cloth around her arms, “If you tell me to. I don’t really have a choice.”

“This is..your home.” He said, though it sounded more like a question. He returned the basket to its place, eyes squinting at the Echo’s sudden change.

She huffed, “This is not my home. This is a shelter, a safe haven…but a safe haven can be as temporary as the rainy weather. I would miss it, sure, but I can’t go against an entire clan. I’m just one person, and even if I wasn’t, it’s your world Noa…I’m just trying to survive in it.”

Her words, her body language, it pulled at something within him. Though she had said she was the only human here many times, now, in her eyes, he could see that she was truly alone. For all her courage before, she saw what he had not until this very moment. He may not have harmed her, but her very existence could potentially pose a threat to his clan, meaning that this peace between them only lasted as long as he allowed it. He had the power here, she was at his mercy.

“S-Stay…” he found himself saying. It was gruff and weak sounding. He tried again, much clearer, “Stay…there is no reason…to leave.”

“There’s not?” She takes a step towards him, “Then I’ll ask again, what happens now?”

“Do not…understand,” he was able to say this time around. “There is peace between us.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “What about your clan? Surely you have to inform them of my existence, the two other apes at the river saw me. They’ll report me to your…leader? Council? Highest ranking ape?”

He chuffed, “No one higher…than me.”

Her entire face fell at that, eyes widening, “You…wait…you are the leader of the Eagle Clan?”

His chest puffed out at that, “Yes… I am the Master of Birds…there are elders…they provide council…but it is my decision whether you… stay or go…I say…you stay.”

Her breathing seemed to become more shallow by the second. She nodded her head, walking over to her nest and sitting down. His head tilted, confused by her actions. Her eyes darted left and right, not truly seeing anything as she wrapped her arms around herself even tighter. He took small steps towards her, crouching once he was close enough to push his face into her line of sight. Only then did she truly see him.

“You are…alright?” He asked.

She opened her mouth, only to close it. She shook her head, “I’m scared.”

His head tilted again, brow furrowing, “Why?…Said you could…stay…you are safe.”

She laughed humorlessly then, the sound making him want to curl his lip. That sound was awful, like eating non-ripe fruit. “Noa, you can’t possibly know what it’s like to have everyone and everything you love ripped away from you. To have a home and a family one day, and then the next day you are alone and surrounded by death. When you are alone, like I am, there is no safe. And you…you’re…”

She did not finish, shaking her head again. He was sure he knew what she was thinking despite her hesitation to say it. He was ape. A very powerful one at that. She was human. Vastly different, and yet not so different that he did not understand her fear.

His hand nudged her knee, “Understand…more than you…think.”

Her eyes searched his then, “If our roles were reversed, how would you feel? What would you want me to do to show you that you could trust nothing but my words?”

He thought about it, only coming to one conclusion. He stood, towering over her at his full height. Her head craned to look at him, not afraid but curious about his sudden movement. He extended his arm then, waiting for her to take it. She did, very hesitantly. He pulled her up, a small gasp of surprise as his other hand came around to grip the back of her neck. She stiffened immediately, and he allowed it as she locked her other arm against his shoulder in an attempt to keep her distance from him. He would not force her, wanting her to understand on her own that there was no danger with him. He stood still, keeping his muscles loose but firm in their hold, waiting for her to relax on her own. It took her longer than he would have liked, her breathing quick and harsh as his eyes remained focused on hers.

He tried to keep his breaths even, scenting her fear now that they were this close. If he was calm, she would be calm. He hummed slightly, a few sounds he would use when around newborns. It was meant to calm them when they were meeting new apes for the first time. It seemed to work, he felt her body relax. She let out a long breath through her mouth, the arm against his shoulder going slack, trailing down his forearm before dropping all together.

He was pleased by this, but still wary as he noticed her eyes were unable to meet his. They darted from her hand in his, to his opposite arm that snaked around her shoulder, out of her line of sight, and back to his face. He would have to continue without her eye contact for now, deciding instead to close his eyes as he began to bring their foreheads together.

He needed to bend his knees to match her height, but he didn’t rush it, slowly tilting his head downwards so she would understand what was happening. She did not fight him as they met skin to skin, her breathing even and her scent neutral. He could feel her heartbeat, slightly elevated, but not much more than it had been before. Then he felt it, on her next exhale of breath she increased the pressure, resting her forehead against his. He felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, allowing his breathing to match hers.

“Thank you,” he breathed against her, eyes opening.

Her eyes flicked open in surprise, finally meeting his. He hadn’t realized she had closed them as well. She held his gaze then, her voice a whisper as she asked, “What?”

He slowly pulled away, watching her match his movements, “You saved my… life…have not said…thank you yet…Rude of me…you have…my trust.”

“Trust?” She parroted.

He brought their heads together again, a brief touch as he reassured, “Trust.”

She nodded slightly, and he felt the up-down glide of her skin against his. It made the hairs on his neck rise, her skin so much softer than an apes. He felt her pull away, head turning towards the cave opening before she announced, “The rain stopped.”

He pulled away, taking a step or two away from her for good measure. She didn’t seem fearful anymore, which he was grateful for, but he noticed a pink tint across her face. He shrugged it off, ape ran warmer than human. Better that he warmed her quickly in this cold, wet weather. He bent down, leaning forward to see better outside.

“I should go now,” he reluctantly admitted. “Said I would…return by nightfall…Sunset has started.”

“I’ll walk you out,” she offered. His brow rose at that, watching as she returned to the fire, grabbing the basket that still contained a decent amount of grapes. He was ashamed to say he did eat at least half of them. She made her way to the exit, carrying the basket in her arms. She ducked her head and passed through the open mouth, turning and giving him an expectant look, “Whenever you’re ready, Master of Birds.”

Her teasing put him at ease, deciding this ‘walking him out’ was an Echo custom. He reached the mouth of the cave, but before he could bend she thrust the basket into his arms, something she was in the habit of doing it seemed. He chuffed, “Ate more…than enough.”

She brought a single shoulder up, “Then take them with you, share with your clan. Or, save them all for yourself. You can return the basket to me the next time we see each other.”

Next time.

He hooted, “Have no choice…but to share…if I take them now…Sunset Brother will…scent food before…I step into village...he is like…vulture.”

The response he received made him stand up straighter, proud to hear the cackle she released. She let out a contented sigh as she stepped away to make room for him to leave. He lowered himself then, ready to depart on a joyous note, but stopped short when he scented something familiar.

He straightened, scenting the air.

“Noa?” The Echo questioned, “What’s wrong?”

Anaya…and Soona…but where…SOONA!

Without realizing what he was doing, the basket was flung from his grasp, and a full open-mouthed snarl ripped from him. He heard as well as saw the Echo scream when he lunged for her, grasping her shoulders and pinning her to the ground below him. The whizzing of the weapon past his ear gave him enough time to shield the Echo’s left side as rock met stone and exploded into many shards around them.

He heard Anaya and Soona then, hooting and hollering as they made their way towards them. He sighed through his nose, Soona was a little too good with her sling. He remembered the Echo below him then, raising himself off of her to make sure she was not hurt.

The sight below him hurt worse than if Soona had struck him. When he had taken her to the ground, he had immediately framed his hands around her so he would not crush her. He could also leverage his body more to one side to protect her from any falling rock. In that time, she had brought her arms up to wrap around her head and her throat in a protective manner. Her legs were curled inward and he could see her body trembling.

To make matters worse, though it seemed such a small thing, her body was wet again from the soaked ground beneath her. He remained frozen, unsure what to do. Anaya and Soona were practically on top of them now, the sounds of their footfalls pounding against the ground.

“Noa!” Soona gasped, “You are…alright!”

Anaya added, “We saw…you go into Echo nest…but did not see…come out!”

Before they could get close enough to touch him, or the Echo, he screeched out several warning hoots, shocking both of his friends into stillness. Unfortunately, it caused the Echo to flinch and curl in closer to herself. He sighed through his nose then, leaning down to nudge her shoulder with his knuckles. She let out a high pitched whimper that made him quickly tear his hand away from her.

Shit.

Anaya grunted then, forcing his attention back to his Sunset Brother. Without making a sound, which was rare for Anaya, he signed, Echo is scared. Need to move away. Slowly. Do not touch again.

He normally wouldn’t mind being advised by Anaya or Soona, but at that moment something inside of him bared down in his gut. He wanted to ignore him, he wanted to tell them both to leave, that the Echo would be safe with him. She was scared of them, not him.

But then he saw Anaya’s expression, and he was reminded of that night his brother had admitted to being scared in Proximus’ kingdom. Whatever she was going through, Anaya would understand better than anyone else. His head also reminded him of the events that took place before he and the Echo found themselves on the ground. He had reacted, like an ape would, but with no time to explain, the Echo probably only heard his snarl and saw his canines as he lunged for her. She was scared of them right now, all of them.

He did as Anaya instructed, backing away and motioning for them to take the same amount of steps back. Soona, looking guilty, signed, Did not mean to scare her. Thought you were trapped or hurt.

He quickly signed back, Not a threat. Saved my life. Could be helpful to Eagle Clan.

Soona hesitated then, signing back, She is Echo. Could be dangerous. Helpful how?

Not sure yet. His hands slowed before he signed with vigor, Something tells me that if we trust her we will find out.

Soona huffed through her nose, Do not understand. Another Echo. Could end badly like the last one. Will trust her for now. She saved your life.

He clasped his hand on Soona’s shoulder, her hand coming up to hold his. Trust, just like he had told the Echo. This is why he trusted Soona and Anaya above all other apes, with the exception of his mother. Speaking of Anaya…

He tensed and snorted his nose at Anaya, who had snuck away during his and Soona’s silent conversation. He was in front of the Echo now, who had not moved a muscle outside of her trembling from the position she had been in. He moved towards Anaya, but Soona held him back, signing to him, Wait.

Anaya, crouched on all fours, moved to his belly in a similar way he would sleep sometimes. His face was close to the Echo’s, or at least where it would be if it was not for her arms. Anaya made small hooting and humming noises, similar to what he had done back in her nest. Anaya’s sounded far more playful than his had, where he was trying to soothe, Anaya was trying to encourage.

He was stunned when he saw her slide her arm away from her eyes, the one covering her neck soon following. Anaya hooted happily but did not move from his spot. He was sure he had never seen his Sunset Brother hold this still since they were both newborns. The Echo looked Anaya up and down in the face, and something in her eyes must have alerted Anaya that her attention was his. He saw Anaya slowly rise up into a sitting position, almost losing his balance but hooting happily when he caught himself.

Then the Echo smiled, easing her body up into a sitting position. She didn’t quite mirror Anaya, she was still guarded in her place on the ground, but she had opened up to his noises. Her eyes blinked rapidly, for what purpose he wasn’t sure. Once she was done, he saw her take in the scene around her. Her gaze swept from Anaya, to Soona, and then to him, and something in him softened when he noticed she visibly relaxed more when her eyes found him.

He nodded towards her, attempting to assure her that Anaya was fine. Said Ape noticed her new posture, looking between her and Noa before pointing to him, “That is Noa…and Soona…and Anaya.”

Anaya pointed at himself to finish off the trio, hooting happily as she seemed to follow. She swallowed, on edge before she breathed out, “Hello, Soona. Hello, Anaya.”

Soona practically fell over, looking to him as if he had been untrue with her. He supposed he had not explicitly informed her about the Echo’s ability to talk. At this point, meeting two humans already that could talk, this should not be such a surprise to her. Anaya took it in stride, raising a hand in greeting, “Hello, Echo.”

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