Engel

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Claire feared what would happen if things didn’t work out between them, even if Kate got what she seemed to want there were no guarantees. They had worked great as friends for years, so perhaps they would work just as great as a couple. What if they didn’t though? What if everything continued to fall apart after they solved this situation? Maybe they had been inevitably pushed down a slippery slope towards an end neither wanted by all of these events, but then she should try to hold onto her friend through the fall, right?

Another aspect to consider was how thoroughly inexperienced she was with any of this. Her first kiss had been in a strange shared nightmare, like half an hour earlier, so by any count it probably hadn’t even happened yet. How could it have if it was a dream? She wondered if Kate was more experienced than her, or if it would dissuade her from pursuing any relationship with Claire. Weirdly, that made her feel a bit sad and angry at the same time. She’d been led to believe men wanted to marry inexperienced women, so why would Kate think she had any right to judge her based on that?

She calmed herself down by telling herself all of those concerns were in her head. She couldn’t possibly know what Kate wanted in a partner. She thought she could have once, but clearly she must have been so wrong. Claire had teased her for being into Elijah, assuming they did things together when she was not around that would make others blush. Now she had to wonder if all they ever did of that nature was talk about what Kate wanted to do with Claire. Were they like two guys in that way? That made her blush.

Claire went to retrieve her whip after she had remained motionless in thought inside of Solomon’s cage for what felt like too long. She needed to distract herself from thinking, not think more; especially not along the lines she had been doing it. She found snakes where she would have usually stored her whips. It confused her at first, but she picked them up and threw them in a nearby barrel. Only one of her whips were still around, apparently someone had thought they were being funny when they exchanged the rest with snakes.

She returned to Solomon’s cage, where she found her friends waiting. Claire didn’t know what she was supposed to do to show she was at least accepting of Kate as she was, no matter what that meant. In the end, she went up to her side and took her hand in her own, squeezing it lightly.
“So what do we do now? Go slay the evil witch?” Claire made a bad attempt at a laugh, which sounded more false and nervous than anything else. “I don’t think Elena is any worse than any other boss normally, so maybe we should hear her out before we do anything drastic?”

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Yes, I do want to be left alone to think. Thank you for finally listening to what I’m saying, Kate. That’s so very considerate of you to do after forcing me to snap at you. She tightened her fists as she thought about screaming those words at Kate. Ugh, she was being even more insufferable than she usually was when Claire turned her down.

“That’s nice.” Claire said.

It was all she could manage without screaming at Kate that maybe finding out someone you’d known since you were children suddenly wanted to fuck you wasn’t something a normal person would react any better to than she had. She was so glad when Elijah interrupted the silence and actually answered her question.

“I don’t know. I think she may be willing to talk if she’s still around.” Claire said. “Elena never seemed like an evil person to me, even if she may be hard to deal with at times. Competition is fierce even when you’re the biggest and best like we are.”

Claire shrugged. They could always try to talk with Elena afterwards too, as long as they didn’t get caught trying to find out what the woman had been doing. They were more than her as well. Claire didn’t want to start a witch hunt, but they could probably rile up enough people from the circus that wanted answers as well. Elena would be pressed to answer them somehow then.

They reached the cages, and Claire sighed in relief to find the area undisturbed. She’d not been all that afraid that something may have happened to her kittens, but at least there were no nasty surprises waiting for her either.

“Of course this is where I feel safest.”

Claire smiled with her whole being. It was her home among home, her sanctuary where she could feel protected and be left alone when others wanted to bother her. It was where her family lived, even though she had never had a large family she had one when she had her cats.

“Cheer up, Kate.”

She sighed, but apparently it had to be this way because Kate couldn’t give her even one hour to gather her thoughts. It wasn’t like she could do anything about the confusion she felt. If Kate wanted to distance herself from Claire because of it, it would be a shame, but it would not be her fault in the end. She hoped this would just be another one of their fights years from now, assuming they had survived the events at the circus by then.

Claire entered the cage of Solomon, after making sure the rest of her big cats were well fed and alright. She sat herself with her back against his stomach where he was lying. She spent a long while trying to gather her thoughts, but she felt mostly annoyed by the way Kate had acted. Finally, she managed to gather her thoughts about the two of them together as more than friends by talking to Solomon. She kept her voice low and whispering.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

“I thought you knew by now that I like to bite as well.” She joked. “I’m a wild beast after all, not some pet.”

Avani climbed off the motorcycle to remove the sidecar, pulled it up next to Kasai’s apartment and hoped that no one would steal it if she left it there. She could get it back if they did, but she had to wonder who would be brazen enough to steal from a cop to begin with.

She got back on the motorcycle, waited for Kasai to grab onto something and pushed the gas pedal down hard when she had. She drove above the speed limit for a while, keeping to empty roads and streets, for fun and to scare Kasai, but she slowed down when she figured the woman might arrest her on the spot if she kept it up for too long.

“Oops, pressed it down too hard.”

She laughed, feeling the wind running through her hair and stretching out. Unfortunately Kasai got most of it in her face as she was sitting behind her. Avani didn’t think about it. She drove them towards the gym she usually went too. Not that she went to gyms often as she enjoyed exercising outside or at home more, but when it was bad weather she came here.

It was located close to the harbour, in a district that probably saw more criminals than she’d like to admit. She may have reconsidered brining Kasai there if she had put some more thought into it, but as it was she knew the owner of the gym. She knew her because they had been close once, very close, hopefully the woman wouldn’t be here today though.

Avani parked outside the gym, waited for Kasai to get off the motorcycle and then got off herself. There weren’t many vehicles around where she parked. Maybe business was bad or it was just one of those days.

“I guess this is where you’ll fight your superior then, Lady Sergeant. I hope you’re not too bad a loser.” Avani grinned. “I wouldn’t want our date to turn sour because you can’t handle losing.”

Maybe this had been a bad idea if one of them got angry at the other after they lost. Maybe she wouldn’t have considered this a fun activity if she had taken that into account. Oh well, now they were here. Avani was genuinely curious if Kasai had any reason to be so cocky, or if she would defeat her like she expected too.

“Let’s go inside and get ready, yeah?”

Avani smiled and locked the motorcycle. She headed inside, got changed in the locker room and stepped out into the gym before long. She headed over to the ring they used for sparring matches normally.

She was wearing shorts and a top more fit for fighting now. It was easier to move in, throwing kicks and punches. The black leather of her jacket and pants was left in the changing rooms.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

“I aim to please.” Avani grinned as Kasai choked on her tea and had to put it back down on the table. “Oh, could you now? Even though I’ve got the raunchiest topics at the table, huh, but maybe you’re into that kind of thing to start the day with.”

Avani ate as Kasai went silent, which worried her a bit. What was she thinking? She tried to enjoy her meal rather than let her thoughts bother
her too much. It didn’t matter all that much if all they became were friends with benefits, but of course that would make Avani’s feelings complicated at some point or another no matter what.

“That sounds fine.” She said. “I don’t mind being out with you on a date as long as you’re not actually wearing a uniform. Perhaps I should give you a couple of weeks though, so we could have that physical competition where I beat you up like you me wanted too.”

Avani laughed, then went back to finishing off her breakfast and tea. She was curious how Kasai would be if they didn’t speak or see each other for that amount of time. Probably she would regret anything that may have happened between them, but she liked the thought that Kasai may be left longing for her.

“I guess we better get a last quickie in, eh?” Avani smiled and moved over to Kasai, kissing and caressing her.

---

Avani spent the following weeks taking it easy until her arm had healed, at which point she returned to work at the harbour. Her regular job was a simple and boring one, where she mostly helped moving cargo in one way or another. She had contacts that could provide her with jobs that would earn her quick cast though, if she needed or wanted it.

Before the day that they had decided to go out on a date together, Avani did carry out one of these jobs so that she could take Kasai out to some fancy restaurant. It was simple enough, all she had to do was provide backup to some carrying out a robbery. She didn’t get much closer than keeping an eye out for any cops and driving one of the getaway vehicles.

The next day, she pulled up to Kasai’s apartment during the afternoon and honked the horn on her motorcycle. She had brought the sidecar with her, in case Kasai would rather ride in it than sit behind Avani on the motorcycle. She figured she could detach it and leave it at Kasai’s place if she wanted to ride behind her.

“Afternoon, Lady Sergeant.” Avani greeted Kasai when she came outside. “Ready to get your ass beat?” She laughed, but when looking Kasai over she had to wonder if the woman had dressed appropriately. “I thought it could be fun to spar some to build up an appetite, if you agree that is.”

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Claire stiffened when Kate grabbed her arm. She would have thought Kate would be smart enough to not touch her when she was behaving like this, but maybe the pervert just wanted a chance to grope her again. She did remove her hand again, and Claire felt disgusted with herself for thinking such a thought about her best friend. She had said she would be fine with it if Kate wanted to touch her when they were in the dream. Funny how reality was able to mess with her mind and confuse her feelings even more than a nightmare.

Claire listened to what Kate and Elijah had to say, with her head turned, not looking directly at them. She didn’t know if what Kate suggested she do what was she wanted to do. How could she not understand that she might need time to process everything that had happened? Maybe Claire needed to tell her to back off and give her a chance to think, because at least then she would be left alone long enough to consider the odd prospect of them being more than friends.

“I never said that’s what I wanted, Kate. Maybe you need to stop talking long enough for the rest of us to think!” She muttered. “That’s what I want to do, so leave me alone to do so.”

She wanted to walk off and leave them standing there, but then they had some good points. Someone had just been murdered brutally, and that wasn’t the only unexplainable event that had taken place lately. Claire could claim they were illusions all she wanted, but it clearly would not stop them from hurting her or possibly ending her life.

“Fine then. I suppose sticking together is best for now if you’re afraid of being alone.” Claire finally said and sighed. They needed her with them more than she needed them with her when she had her big cats. “I wouldn’t be alone either way though. I’ve got my family of kittens to protect me. Maybe they’d protect you too if you behave.”

Claire straightened her clothes, and then she headed towards the part of the circus where the animals where kept. There should be nothing to fear. She wanted to think it so badly that she would likely think it until death was staring her in the face. She could try to escape with her cats, but this was her home.

“What do you suggest we do then?” She asked, going back to the conversation they had had about how they should get to the bottom of things.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

As if Avani needed to be reminded that Kasai was the one with the handcuffs after how she had used them on her these past days, she smiled at the thought before falling asleep for a short nap until breakfast was ready. It didn’t take long before she was gently awakened out of her slumber by the smell of Kasai’s cooking filling the apartment. She could feel her mouth watering at the sense of the smell. Soon she heard Kasai’s clunky movements coming towards her and entering the bedroom. She kept her eyes shut as Kasai moved over to her and kissed her on the forehead.

“I hope it’s not as cheesy as that sentence, Kasai.” Avani joked. “I’ll be kind of disappointed if it doesn’t taste as good as you. No traces of Kasai? Aw, what a shame that would be.”

She grinned, but stopped when she had to move her body out of the bed. It still hurt. She wasn’t sure how Kasai was able to do it. Avani eventually did it by just toughening up and pushing through the pain, the numbness. She stumbled towards the other room and the table with the food, supporting herself by grabbing walls and furniture whenever she needed too.

Avani sat down at the table with a groan. She looked at the food for a while before taking anything. She was trying to size up how much she could take if she were to take half of it, then she did just that and put half of everything on her plate in a pile. She poured herself some tea as well, and drank a few sips. It was hot, but she was thirsty.

She ate in silence for a while, feeling every movement of her body twice as much as usual. It was uncomfortable. The breakfast that Kasai had made tasted great though, so it was worth suffering a bit for. It was a different kind of great taste than the woman herself.

“So what are you going to do now?” Avani asked between chews. “Did I satisfy your bi-curiosity and make you long for more, or…?”

She kept her voice calm and collected, as if it was just an ordinary question for her. It did make her a tad more nervous than usual though. She didn’t know what would happen now. They had no reason to continue seeing each other if physical attraction and curiosity was all that had been there. Avani should move on to new pastures for her own sake in that case.

“Do you still want to have dinner with me?”

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

Kasai’s laughs made her smile and feel warm on the inside. She wanted her to be happy, and she was glad she could be the source of some of her happiness. At the same time, Avani didn’t like feeling that way about someone who might not feel the same way about her.

“Oh? Is the officer offering me drugs?” Avani laughed and arched her eyebrows. “I thought that was a real crime, unlike seducing you.”

Avani was hungry though, no doubt, as she could not remember when she had eaten last. It had to have been a couple of times this weekend or she wouldn’t have been able to perform like she had.

“That sounds great, Kasai.” Avani said. “I hope you can manage without your crutches if you can’t find them. Sorry about kicking them about and what not.”

She shouldn’t have done that in the first place. She wouldn’t have had it occurred to her that she wouldn’t be there to support Kasai because her body was numb. She had carried Kasai the first day whenever they wanted to move from the sofa to the shower to the bedroom to the whatever, and the other days she had at least let her support herself on her as they moved.

Avani rolled over on her side, pulling one of the covers above her with the intention of taking a nap until Kasai had made them both breakfast.
She felt a bit selfish at the action, as if she was intruding on Kasai’s domain since it wasn’t actually her bed or bedroom. What else was she supposed to do though? She had awakened Kasai so she could hardly leave without her noticing anymore. It would be dishonest to say she wasn’t hungry, and it might be rude to turn down Kasai’s offer for breakfast.

“I guess I will pay for that dinner we were supposed to have in return, and I did walk out on you so while I didn’t lose I kind of forfeited.” Avani mumbled, smiled and pushed her head against the pillows. “I’m not all that confident in my cooking skills.”

She closed her eyes, and heard Kasai exit the room. Hopefully the woman would not fall or anything like that, Avani would do her best to come to her aid if she did, but she wasn’t confident in her moving skills either at the moment.

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Claire listened to them speak, and thankfully they changed the subject away from what had happened in the dream. Maybe Elijah hadn’t noticed how Claire had returned the kiss after all, or they just didn’t want to talk about it when she was right there. Maybe they’d prefer talking about it behind her back like everyone else.

The topic they talked about concerned Claire as well. If there were truly something sinister and evil going on at the circus, then it concerned all of them. She had to wonder if Elena had ever meant to take it this far. She didn’t particularly like her boss, but she had thought of her as competent and well-meaning up until now. After what had happened, she had to question that though if it turned out that Elena was involved in more ways than one.

Claire was surprised by Kate’s apparent selfishness. Personally, she wanted most of her circus family to survive as well, not just save her own skin and get away with it. If that was all Kate wanted to do she may as well leave and find another circus, no? She doubted this curse, or whatever it was, had struck them all.

She pushed her head against Kate’s shoulder when the woman shook her and told her that she knew she wasn’t asleep anymore. She couldn’t know that for certain, so Claire tried to convince that she was in fact still asleep. Claire kept snoring, even going so far as to make the noises louder.

“I am asleep.” She muttered, but of course that gave the fact that she wasn’t sleeping away. “Oh, bother…”

Claire opened her eyes, rolled off of Kate and raised her knees to her head in a sitting position. She wanted to hide, not talk about whatever had happened between them, assuming that was what Kate wanted to talk about. She blushed and looked down at the ground, keeping her head pressed against her knees.

“What stuff?” She asked after sitting quiet and motionless for a moment. “I thought we had talked enough for today. There’s no need to talk about anything.” Claire coughed and stood up. “I can’t talk at all. My voice is hoarse and you wouldn’t understand what I’m saying. Also, I need to go check on my chores and big cats now.” She nodded determinedly and spun around to walk away. “Yup, no need to talk about anything’s that happened. It’s all a bunch of elaborate illusions.”

She doubted Kate would take her seriously though. If anything, she might take it as dismissive and rude. As she walked away slowly she felt her cheeks turning hot and she had to stare down at the ground so no one else would notice it. She didn’t want Kate to get the wrong idea, but she had to figure out what that was to begin with.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

Avani awoke in a bed next to the slumbering Kasai, so it had to be her bed. She felt a bit dizzy and uncertain about where she was, until the memories came back to her when she saw the empty box on the floor. She had used everything inside throughout the weekend, at least once, sometimes more. Still, she would have gone on had her body been able to do so, but she was exhausted and sore beyond belief.

She looked at the sleeping Kasai next to her and ran her hand through her black hair. Avani thought she was beautiful, so much so that it was almost painful to look at her. It was a beauty that went beyond mere appearances, which she had discovered and accepted this past weekend. She had been allowed to do everything she had wanted too with her body, but now she feared that what should have been nothing more than physical was developing into something else.

Avani feared the thought of what others may think if it got out, how vulnerable and weak she would be. She didn’t particularly like the idea of having feelings for a cop either, even if it was someone as pure and good as Kasai. No, pure wasn’t the right word after what she had let Avani do the past days. She was special though, no doubt about it, and now Avani felt a growing need to distance herself from Kasai for real before she became too deeply entangled.

She would have gotten up, packed her belongings and disappeared before Kasai woke up, but as she tried to move her legs out of the bed she felt the sore pain at its greatest and doubted she would be able to get anywhere. It was a problem, because if she couldn’t move she couldn’t leave.
Instead, she did what her mind was screaming at her not to do. She leaned over to Kasai and kissed her on the lips, then shook her gently to wake her up. Avani could try to escape the grasp of what was pulling her to Kasai now, but it was unlikely she could do it without hurting herself in the process. The physical attraction was already becoming an emotional attachment that she wanted and welcomed despite her better judgement.

“Good morning, Lady Sergeant.” Avani smiled at Kasai when she saw her eyelids opening. “I would like to turn myself in for breaking the law of seducing an officer, but I am afraid that I may be put away for life as I lost count of how many times I did her.” She laughed and grinned, back to her usual self like nothing. “Maybe it’s enough of a punishment that I can’t move without some part of my body aching. I’m sore in places I didn’t know I had.” Avani joked. “How are you feeling, babe?”

She kissed Kasai again, and slid her hand over her body with the intention to caress her stomach, but her body protested, resulting in her hand lying motionless on Kasai. “Yeah… The mind is willing but the body is dead.”

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Claire blushed fiercely after she had heard the conversation between Elijah and Kate. She pressed her face against Kate’s shoulder as if to escape and hide from the consequences of the nightmare. It took her a while to realize she was pressing herself against the person who made her want to sink into the earth to begin with.

She didn’t actually want to hide from Kate, but how was she supposed to react to the two of them talking about how they had kissed in some strange shared dream. Elijah probably knew Claire had returned the kiss as well, since he’d been there watching. They probably thought it was funny. Claire had found it funnier when Kate had been so bothered about groping her in her sleep and lied about how she hadn’t done it intentionally.

The thought made her very aware of how their two bodies were touching one another. Claire lay on top of Kate, gravity pressing her body down on the other woman’s body. Their bosoms were pressed together, and their legs were intertwined. It wasn’t the first time she’d slept with Kate, but now it took on a whole other meaning. She’d never slept with Kate like a man would sleep with a woman. Women weren’t supposed to be doing such things with each other, were they?

She wondered when Kate had first realized she wanted to touch and kiss her. Had it been when they were younger? They had had more than a few sleepovers in each other’s wagons, laughing and having fun. Claire had compared her body to Kate’s, because she thought it was more attractive and she seemed to be attracting more attention from boys. She blushed when she remembered asking Kate if she thought she was attractive, as she had been wearing nothing else than her nightgown.

Maybe the rumours about the two of them being involved like that had never been Claire’s fault as she had assumed. People always talked more about her than Kate as far as she could tell, so it had been logical to assume they thought Claire was a pervert. They said she slept with her big cats after all, but maybe they had known something about Kate she had not.

A stranger thought made her feel warm inside, because someone wanted to touch and kiss her. No one had confessed to wanting to do that before. She was scared of what would happen if anyone else found out about it. She shouldn’t be having such thoughts about female friends, but now she knew Kate was and had been thinking about her like that.

Claire kept her eyes shut though, as all these thoughts rushed through her head, so she figured she could continue pretending to be asleep. She soon begun to fake her snoring, as if to make the other two believe she was fast asleep.