tofi's trail

The monster's touch is scorching, as it grips Toijvo by the face and presses its face to his. It has no eyes, and moves by sound and scent. It should have been easy to avoid it, to lead it along the deserted road into an alley they could corner it in. It wasn't. It moved fast as lightning, darting up to Toijvo and pressing up against him.

It sniffs him, his hair, tousled from the short scuffle, succking into its large nostrils. It holds him tight, and when he presses the soles of his boots against it to try to push away he hears a sizzling sound and smells burnt rubber.

The monster, walking on two legs, with four arms that it crawls on, snuffles, snorts. It sounds like a horse, though it looks nothing like one. Toijvo cringes as the hands not on his face cradles him, fingers digging into his skin. Holes have already been burnt in his clothes, and they serve no protecting. Rather, the fabric makes the burn sting worse on his back and tears prickle and dry in his eyes as the monster's breath blows hot air in his face.

It draws him closer yet, somehow. His clothes burn, his body protests, and Toijvo whimpers. He thinks he's sufficiently distracting the beast, but at the same time he knows that even if the other agents move in quickly, he hadn't manage to lead the monster to the sniper point, and then he has no idea at what point the others will aim and shoot. He has no idea how long he has to hold out, and withstand the burning of his flesh.

When he feels the fingers on him loosen, through a twisting, false smile Toijvo croaks out a pained, "Good beastie, easy," to keep it occupied and from clenching him in its grip too tightly. It snorts, a little startled, and he feels its nose press against his. A tongue laps out over wide lips, and Toijvo feels the heat of its saliva sizzle on his skin. He presses his lips together, grits his teeth, to not cry out as the acidic fluid burrows into his cheek. He sobs a shaky sob. The palms of his gloves have been burnt off, and he lets his legs and arms fall limp to not get injured further.

When he's dropped on the ground, he lets out a groan. The monster had turned away, perhaps bored, or thinking he had died, but stops when he calls for it. It turns back, glowing, lava-like skin shining up the street as it hovers over Toijvo. It goes against his every instinct to reach out and stroke the back of his hand, still slightly protected by the ruined glove, against the beast's cheek. "Come here, beastie," he murmurs, while trying to stop his teeth from chattering in pain. "I'm still fun."

The creature looked sceptical, but Toijvo kept stroking the beast while he silently prayed the snipers would find him soon. He wasn't sure how long he could keep the monster's attention. He desperately didn't want to go as far as his superiors had told him to go. He didn't want to seduce it. Definitely not this thing, not when its touch was so painful. "Wanna play, beasetie?" he still murmured, as he stroked its chest.

It wasn't easy to keep from crying when the monster flipped him over. Its hands pressed against him, held him by the upper arms and pressed into his back. Its snout ruffled his hair and he could smell the poisonous air.

When it fell, it fell on top of him. Its arms gave out beneath it, and its knees buckled. Finally, Toijvo allowed curses to pass his lips, though he was careful not to raise his voice. He didn't want civilians to be alerted to something being up, but it was difficult, as he felt the creature's skin burn against his own. His hands gripped the gravel under him, and he gritted his teeth as the street was filled with other agents. They had to pull him out from under the beast, Toijvo unable to help at all at this point. He was in too much pain, much of his skin covered in burns.

The others praised Toijvo for ensuring there were no more casualties, as they carried him to one of their vehicles. Toijvo knew he wouldn't be driven to any hospital with experts on burns. He knew that he wouldn't be given any skin grafts to cover up the wounds he had gained in the service of the Corp. He also knew that as soon as he was deemed ''healthy'' he would be back in the field. There was no use in hoping that he'd be spared his new ways of distraction; they didn't have enough research to say that it was a bad idea yet, even though Toijvo was sure of it.

Monster Corp. 2