"Forest Sirens"
Void smacks the bramble and branches out his way, leaves and twigs crunching under his feet. The green canopy filtering sunlight into dappled patterns on the forest floor. The air is thick with the earthy scent of damp soil and the distant trill of unseen, fluttering imps. It has been six months since he last visited the central city of Burrowgatory. He’s not made it to the dense part of the city yet, but just the forest outcrop that circles the area.
Void recognizes the species of trees and ivy here, tame, calm, boring. Samey, this portion of the forest repeats itself with its biodiversity. He’s used to progressively unhinged plants the farther out from succubun civilization. Makes him regret not taking the scenic route.
Shafts of light peek through gaps in the ring of trees ahead of Void, guiding him toward an inviting opening ahead, where the trees thin out, revealing a glimpse of open sky.
As he approached the clearing, Void noticed an odd contraption: a bright, colorful box on wheels, adorned with swirling patterns and strange symbols. It’s stationed in the clearing like a curious forest creature. Near it, two women sit on a plaid blanket, surrounded by baskets and dishes. Their chattering voices soft and swept up by the wind, words nothing but wind chimes from his distance.
He stays close to the treeline as he stares at the… Thing. It genuinely takes him a moment to figure it out. Must be a car. Void recalls the name, though he’s never seen one that big before or those colors. He growls lowly before groaning in preemptive annoyance, fingers dragging down natured-laced bark in frustration.
Maybe he should just sneak around. Been four months since he’s spoken to another person, he likes it that way. As Void considers his next move, the scent of food wafts toward him, mingling with the earthy forest aroma. He flinches at first, startled by how strong, strange, and inviting the stink is. His stomach growls; which pisses him off.
Fuck sakes.
The picnic’s contents are too far for him to see from here and the women seem absorbed in their peaceful moment, still oblivious to his presence. He takes a moment if he actually wants to bother with some puddle-brain city bunnies and ask for a piece of whatever the Hell they’re eating.
They’d have that sweet, complicated, fanciful food urbanized succubuns cook up. Always so tempting… Void shakes his head, trying to ignore his hunger. That food is never worth it, he’ll become addicted to its damn ridiculous deliciousness. He begins to carefully edge around the clearing, stepping lightly over roots and rocks.
One of the women looks up, squinting toward the treeline.
“Johanna, look! There’s strange, purple manoovfmpf…” Meadow points, unintentionally interrupting herself as she shovels a rainbow brownie into her mouth. Oops! Her eyes roll to the back of her head briefly as she chews, “Mmm… yummfmy.”
Johanna lay flat against the picnic blanket, one leg draped over the other, admiring the golden flicker of light filtering through the leaves above her. Her head rested on her arms behind her head, using it as a pillow. “A purple manoov?” she mused, eyes tracing the shifting patterns above, “What’s that, hun? A new imp?” Jo snorts. Not paying attention to Meadow’s pointing and silliness.
“Noooo…” Meadow pouts in annoyance, crawling over to Johanna and blocking her view of the tree’s canopy, “There’s a weird purple man over there!” She points again, “Should we say hi?” Meadow beams down at her, making Johanna smile too.
Johanna sits up slowly, her expression shifting from amusement to curiosity. She follows Meadow’s pointing finger and finally spots Void lurking near the treeline.
Void, caught in the women’s gaze, stiffens. They’ve seen him. No turning back now, he’ll have to speak to somebody. Void sighs, cursing his luck, and decides to step forward, emerging from the shadows of the trees and into the clearing.
“Yoohoooooo!” Meadow yells, waving an arm back and forth, “C’mon over, stinky! We have some snackies and stuff!”
…Did she just call him stinky? As a name? The fuck is a ‘snackie’ ?
Void debates turning around and bolting, but then the yellow-haired doe speaks up.
“C’mon, sugar, we got plenty of food to share,” Her voice is more mature, more relaxed, inviting. Void chuffs and continues marching forward, admittedly curious about the food and the strangers. “Hi there!” Meadow chirps, extending a platter filled with a variety of colorful muffins towards Void. “Try these, they’re super yummy!”
“Uh–” He takes the plate, not wanting to drop it, “Sit down!” Meadow tugs on his cape and Void follows so he’s sat criss-cross on the picnic blanket, unsure why. He blinks, a little lost at being bossed around.
“I’m Johanna,” Jo introduces herself, scooting closer so she can pull Meadow away from the big fella and give him some space, “This spitfire is Meadow,” Johanna giggles softly, leaning closer to pluck a muffin for herself, “Who are you?”
Void hesitated for a moment, staring at the women who were smiling at him with a disarming warmth that made him uncomfortable. He isn’t used to this kind of casual friendliness.
“I’m Void,” he grumbled, his voice low and rough as he fumbled with the platter of muffins. They were brightly colored, some with little specks of sugar on top, others with swirls of chocolate or fruit. He picked up one cautiously, eyeing it like it might explode. “And I don’t usually eat… things like this.”
“Well so then you gotta eat ‘em!” Meadow points out, beaming at Void. Void is lost in the cute lady’s colorful eyes, green with a fade of pink… “-- Mmphpp??” He jolts as a muffin is shoved in his mouth by the pride doe, he groans and slacks his jaw for her, making it easier for the two of them. What the Hell did he get himself into?
…
His demeanor shifts as his chewing slows, appreciating the taste now. Raspberry with a hint of cinnamon, sweetness that's subtle in a pastry to where it's not drowning out the natural taste of the muffin bread. Johanna giggles in amusement, stationing herself besides Void to pick up a muffin and feed it to him with a notable amount of more elegance. Void lets it happen, pink flush dusting his cheeks as it really begins to process he’s being fed food by two beautiful women.
“You just love to pout, don’t you?” Jo says, though it's not mocking, just tickled by how Void’s face always seems so tense. She runs her thumb under Void’s lower lip to wipe off some icing, which she cleans by eating it.
Void’s eyes boggles at the gesture, Johanna’s laughter gets heartier.
“You’re funny.”
“ Thanks?” Void says once he swallows, though he doesn’t think he’s done something yet worth being called funny. He grunts as Meadow picks up one of Johanna’s iconic rainbow brownies and waggles it in front of Void’s face. He sighs and relents, opening his mouth for her again. Doesn’t look like a muffin… Oh wow– that’s a lot of cocoa. Void’s shoulders relax as he closes his eyes to chew the brownie, lost in it. Mmm… Delicious. He’s been eating celery, carrots, and wild broccoli during his travels, as well as any other fruit he happened to stumble upon.
“See? Delicious, right!” Meadow chirps, her voice brimming with excitement. “You looked like you needed some good food. Where have you been, anyway? Out in the wilds or something?”
Void swallows the last of the brownie, the rich taste lingering on his tongue. He glances around the clearing, the openness making him feel strangely exposed. “Yeah,” he mutters, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Been wanderin’. Away from... all this.” He gestures vaguely to the colorful car, the picnic, the cheerful women.
Johanna’s eyes soften, her gaze turning more empathetic. “Sounds like you’ve been roughing it for a while,” she says, leaning a little closer. “Must be tough being out there alone...”
Void shrugs, his eyes darting to the edge of the clearing. “I’m used to it,” he says, trying to sound nonchalant because he is used to it. “Prefer it that way. No one bothers me.”
“But now you have us to bother you!!” Meadow exclaims, clapping her hands together. “And isn’t that just wonderful?” Void can’t help but smirk at her enthusiasm, Meadow has a charming smile. “I wouldn’t go that far,” he grumbles, though there’s a hint of amusement in his voice. He looks down at the platter of muffins he’s still holding, finally setting them down. He really should stop eating all this delicious trash.
Right when he turns his head to speak to the tall blonde, a brownie slips into his mouth with a soft, spindly palm caressing his jaw, “Ahhh…” Johanna coos, looking into his eyes. Void stares back, finding it easy to let her do whatever as his face burns red. His tail flicks side to side in interest as he chews. Seeing he seems interested in being touched, Meadow moves closer and wraps her arms around one of Void’s in a hug, amazed at how muscly and dense it is!
As he chews the brownie he feels a slight pressure on his arm. Regrettably having to look away from Johanna’s pretty brown eyes, he sees Meadow wrapping her arms around him, her face filled with awe. Meadow’s eyes shine with curiosity, and her fingers trace the contours of his muscles. He continues to get increasingly flustered with all this damn attention he’s getting.
“Wow, you’re really strong!” Meadow chirps, her voice full of wonder. “What do you do out there, lift boulders? Punch trees??”
“Wh– well I just do sorta.. Whatever I gotta do, sometimes that's liftin’ boulders and punchin’ trees…” He clears his throat, flinching when he feels Johanna wrap her arms around his free one. His head spins around to look at her.
“Well, wanna bang us in my RV, pinkie?” Johanna very graciously offers out of the blue, leaving Void speechless as she pinches one of his blushy cheeks, “Or out here works, so we can snack midway through…” Jo adds thoughtfully. Meadow goes ‘ooooo!’ and nods, thinking that's a wonderful idea.
Void stares, debating if he should take the offer, or if he ran into forest-sirens trying to tempt him to his doom.
“I think you broke him, Jojo–”
“Yeah,” He interrupts Meadow as he clears his throat, “I’d love to.”
