Alex curiously glances over to Jessie as she rummages through more old clothes. “What are you doing? We already have clothes, so what's the point in getting more?” The girl only rolls her eyes.
“Don't be silly Alex! Do you really think Tyson still has his clothes on? He got eaten alive and vomited out by that wolf! You think clothes could survive that?” Jessie continues to throw a bunch of clothes into a growing pile.
“Yeah but how do you know how big he is?” Alex questions, looking down at his own body body and fidgeting with the tightness of his white shirt.
“I don't. I'm just assuming that he's going to be about as big as you.” Jessie's eyes widen in delight as she victoriously holds up a large black sleeveless shirt. “Perfect!” She exclaims, showing it off to Alex, resulting in him backing away and pinching his nose.
Lifting another pair of gym shorts, her grin widens at their black color. “Matching colors!”
“How can you stand being near all these sweaty clothes? It's disgusting!” Alex yells, walking over to the door leading to the hallway.
“If you've already got clothes for Tyson then we can leave. Martin and Sam are waiting outside and they're probably getting annoyed with all the time we're wasting. I need fresh air too…” The tiger complains, desperately motioning for Jessie to follow.
“Alright, alright!” Jessie slings the black shirt and shorts over her neck and follows Alex out the door, letting out a small giggle. You and Sam turn to the pair as they step out, Alex breathing a sigh of relief as the stench from the storage is replaced by the cleanliness of the hallway.
Sam's eyes fall to the clothing Jessie had. “Spare clothes? They look more fit for a man than you, just saying.” Jessie giggles again.
“These are for Tyson, not me. Seeing as how big Alex got, I have no doubts Tyson is about his size.”
Sam gives a playful grin, winking at you and Alex. “Well, hopefully you're right. It'll be absolutely delightful to have a third boy to tease.”
However, her smile vanishes as quick as it came.
“It seems I was correct though. We're at the deepest part of the mansion.”
Everyone looks to Sam, Alex tilting his head. “Deepest? How do you know?” Sam gives him a scowl.
“Did you forget I said I've been here for two years? This mansion has a ton of rooms and floors, we just happen to be at the lowest level.”
“So… like a basement?” Sam gives a nod to Alex's question, continuing. “Easy for humans to get lost in, since all these halls look the same. I'd consider it akin to hell.”
“Each floor has a subtle difference too, can you tell, tiger?” Sam looks at Alex, awaiting a response. The white feline stands there unable to say anything.
“Um… no?”
Sam merely shrugs. “Worth a try, I suppose. Maybe it's better you don't know.” You glance at her curiously but the lizardwoman doesn't comment any further. She begins to walk into the depths of the hallway, motioning for you and the others to follow.
Taking the lead, Sam confidently struts down the hall, looking back curiously as Alex speedwalks to her side, leaving you and Jessie behind them.
“Something the matter tiger?” Alex nervously fidgets with his claws, causing the lizard to roll her eyes. “Will you just spit it out? You act as if I'm going to make fun of you.”
Alex shot a glance back at you and Jessie, giving a sigh of relief as he saw both of you trying to “talk.” Looking back to Sam, he motions for her to bring her ear to his mouth.
“Tyson has a crush on Jessie!”
Both begin to laugh slightly, attracting both yours and Jessie's attention. The teen pipes up. “What's so funny?” Alex and Sam merely grin deviously at her, flustering her more.
Your slitted eyes can only alternate between the pair and Jessie in confusion, causing the pair to chuckle more.
“Oh, don't worry about it. Me and Alex just had the bright idea to use you as bait.”
“What?!” The teen yells, a noticeable blush coming across her face. The group halts as Alex walks over to reassure Jessie.
“C'mon Jess, it won't be too hard. When Tyson sees you he'll probably ignore us because he sees you, a human, as something that needs to be… um…” He trails off and looks to Sam.
“He'll want to transform you. When he goes for you, me and Alex will jump out and hold him back while Martin uses his tools, to save his mind!” Sam shoots you a wink, causing you to blush at the obvious implications.
However, you give an unsure hiss at the thought of having to force another being to consume your essence. The thought of dominating another seemed impossible for you to ever do.
“What do you think Jessie? Are you up to the task?” Sam asks as she turns to the teenager, locking eyes.
The hallway falls silent, all eyes focus on Jessie.
“I… Um…”
Jessie seems to hesitate, taking a deep breath, she steadies herself.
“If it's to save Tyson, then I'll do it.” Her gaze falls to Alex, giving a reassuring smile that puts his fears to rest. He sheepishly scratches his head, squeaks resulting from the friction.
Sam smiles. “Good. In that case, we need to go through the ludicrous task of finding him.” Before the lizardwoman can say more, Jessie interrupts her.
“Wait! This hall actually looks very familiar!” Jessie suddenly remarks, beginning to walk down the hall. You look to the others curiously, but are left unanswered as they quickly follow the girl.
After minutes of following her, she lets out an excited gasp, reaching down to the floor and picking something up. Her joyful expression immediately turns sour.
“Damn it! My phone is broken!” She cries in frustration, lifting up a rather expensive looking smart phone crushed into halves.
“How did you know it was here?” Alex asks, walking over to comfort his friend. Her eyes close as she mourns for her phone’s lost life.
“I don't know... It's like it called for me.” A dumbfounded expression crosses Sam's face at the girls statement. You give an unsure shrug as she looks at you as if expecting you to understand.
“How quaint.” She remarks quietly.
“Did you happen to drop it when you were running?” Alex asks as he looks down at the hallway floor, pieces of the phone were scattered about.
“It looks like it… I think I felt it fall out after it ate Tyson…” Jessie continues to sulk, hopelessly putting both halves of the phone together, as if hoping they'd reattach.
Alex curiously glances around the hall, before looking back down at his friend. "Did you really recognize this place?" The teenager only shakes her head.
Your attention is snatched away from the scene as something glints from the corner of your reptilian eye.
Slowly walking over to one side of the hallway, you drop to your knees as you examine what appears to be a large puddle of brown latex. Studying it deeply, you hiss curiously as there appears to be another type of color mixed in...
A light pink...?
“Why are you over here snake boy?”
You jump as Sam comes up from behind you. Her gaze falls to the puddle as you point a claw to it. “A puddle? Interesting…” She rubs her lower jaw in thought.
“Doubt it'll do anything for us. Probably the result of an intense session between two animals. We may as well keep going.” She dismisses, beginning to walk down the hall. Jessie angrily walks past you, but not before glaring at the puddle and continuing in Sam's direction, no doubt sour over her phone.
Alex curiously comes up beside you to examine it. Giving him a low hiss, you motion for the tiger to follow as you follow the two girls.
As you walk away, Alex stays put. His eyes grow misty as they come upon the puddle's shiny surface. He hungrily licks his chops.
“Hey… That looks kind of…”
Glancing back, you eye the tiger curiously as he doesn't appear to be following you. An odd substance drips from his mouth, thick and viscous.
Saliva?
Then you hiss in surprise as Alex instantly drops to all fours and begins to lap the brown puddle up, noisily slurping it up as if it was spaghetti.
“Alex what the hell is wrong with you?” Sam yells up ahead, before instantly retracing her steps and following the loud squelching. She grimaces as she sees the feline sipping up the puddle.
“Alex what are you doing?!” Jessie cries as she peers over Sam's shoulder. She keeps her distance in fear of any goo getting on her. Sam yells again, although the tiger's wet slurping easily drowns her voice out.
“Did you enjoy licking Martin's semen off the floor earlier so much that it's your thing now?!”
Jessie looks to Sam in bewilderment.
The feline lets out a loud belch as he rises from the floor, licking his chops free of any remaining goop. “That was tasty!” He remarks in delight, rubbing his stomach, although he appears to stumble a bit, having to place his hand on the wall for support.
“Woahhh...” He whispers, his words slurred, as if lost in a trance.
“It gets you high too? You're not even old to be doing drugs! Somebody's going to go on the naughty list.” Sam playfully teases, although Alex shakes his head.
“No, it's weird. I can see two separate paths… One's brown and the other’s pink…”
Sam pauses, bringing her claw to her lower jaw once again. “So, you can trace the puddles source? What a convenient ability, and at such an opportune time!” A sly grin crosses the lizardwoman's face.
“Well, I suppose that'll make you our guide then. Lead the way, tiger!”