Innocent Stalker

by HelloAnonMyOldFriend; Jul 9th, 2017


NOTES: Male Mal0 (SCP-1471) x Male Human. Contains EXPLICIT content. You have been warned.


   Beep, beep, beep, be–.
   I reached my arm and punched the alarm next to my bed to shut it up. Still groggy, I slowly started moving other parts of my body and stretching them around. Another regular, boring morning before work – get up while wondering the point of my existence, wander into the bathroom while hating everything about the messy human biology before getting in decent shape and maybe get something quick to eat before leaving. Okay, the mornings did become less mundane and spiteful recently, taking a turn that made them… not as boring, to say the least.
   
   Warm, soft pressure on one side of the bed greeted me to the new day in a more pleasant way than the blaring alarm did. I turned around and looked straight into a white canine skull, watching me with its bony smile. The first few times I woke up to this sight managed to spook me more than tornado sirens in the middle of the night. A little bit over a week has passed, however, and seeing the mildly unsettling bed companion became a normal, if outlandish welcome to my mornings. And, for some reason, I found it strangely comforting and intimate, though I still couldn’t shake down an eerie feeling that came along with the more positive ones.
   The pearl-white skull with even whiter eyes, contrasted by long black hair and fur all over its body looked at me happily. Well, ‘happily’, the creature was completely static, making its presence ever so unsettling. All of its communication to me happened solely through text messages and pictures appearing on my cell phone. I could use it to communicate with the monster, but since it seemed to understand me when I said something aloud, I often talked to it when there was no one else around. The app itself was titled Mal0 and that’s how the creature referred to itself as well, so I just went with it, settling on pronouncing the zero as a regular letter it seemed to be meant to replace. Mal-oh sounded better than Mal-zero or Mal-nought in my opinion and he didn’t seem to mind. Or she? The creature didn’t have a voice, obviously, and its behaviour gave me no clue on its gender, either, but physically, it seemed more masculine to me (not that I knew what a female of whatever species this dog-human-demon-thing would look like), but then again, at first glance, I couldn’t distinguish between a male and a female dog, either. Or maybe he didn’t even have any gender. With spectral skull-headed things, you can never know.
   
   “G’morning.” I said while trying to unsuccessfully suppress a yawn before I heard a quiet ring from the phone next to me. I turned around and picked it up. It was a message from Mal0.
   “Hello.”
   I smiled and checked other things while regaining senses. Mal0’s letters were usually short like this. I wasn’t sure why, but even in the few rare moments he wanted to share a larger amount of information with me, his sentences were never compound – always short and simple, but not primitive or childish, either. Usually, however, his messages didn’t require to be complex.
   He often sent me weird pictures along with them. Almost always, they were of places I was in at the time or have recently been to; and he was always in them, somewhere. Sometimes, it would be right in front of the camera, with the creature’s bony grin staring into the lenses, other times he was hiding in plain sight, sticking out behind a wall in the background or something like that.
   Even though those scared me at first, I was expecting them. I thought I knew what would happen when I’d install the strange app on my phone. Boy was I wrong, but I got used to his stalking behaviour quite quickly, as he seemed to mean no harm to me, as I’ve been told even before ‘installing’ him. And what was I supposed to do with a stalking supernatural wolf demon with a skull for its face, trying to offer me to not ever be alone again? He was just there, gradually turning from pictures to subtle visions in corners of my sight and mirrors to an actual… thing existing next to me, but still unmoving and staring, almost making me question if it’s still not just a very vivid vision.
   
   A few moments later, I put down the phone and turned around to look at the outlandish partner again, but he disappeared. Of course.
   “Where did you go?” I asked out, feeling weird in a seemingly empty room. A few seconds later, I got another message with a picture. It was me, lying in bed and checking my phone, photographed from above. I looked up and saw Mal0 on the ceiling, somehow holding on to it. I stared at him and he stared at me before releasing his right hand from the plaster and waving at me. I let out a laugh before finally sitting up and off the bed. On the way to the door, my phone rang again.
   “You look pretty.”
   I didn’t even realise that I was naked when getting up, or, to be more precise, that I was naked in front of Mal0, save for some dark shorts. I was pretty sure Mal0 watched me in all situations, even when showering, but this was the first time he so openly said anything about it. I felt something strange and looked up at the ceiling again. He was gone. I couldn’t help but sigh, puzzled by the anomaly’s unexplained hiding and shyness. He would always do this, as if he was more scared of me than I ever was of him.
   
   The bathroom seemed empty, but I knew he was in there somewhere, even if he most probably never used anything in it. If not hiding in plain sight, I would definitely see the dark figure in the mirror, staring at me. And I was right. Completely motionless, the furred humanoid was standing behind me, next to a wall, waiting for what I was about to do, but only in the reflective surface above the sink.
   Brushing my teeth, we kept staring at each other through the mirror. For a moment I wondered how he keeps his skull and teeth so clean and white all the time when I’ve never seen him perform any tasks of hygiene. He didn’t have any foul odour to him, either, even though his body was covered in long fur. When very close to Mal0, however (mostly in bed, even though I tried to keep my distance there), I noticed a faint scent of wooden smoke from him. It was out of place, but pleasant and comforting; I hated cigarette smoke, but the smell of wood, burning in a campfire? That was a smell I didn’t mind at all and it made the companion somewhat less creepy.
   
   When I was done, I spat out the toothpaste, leaving quite a bit around my mouth. The beast behind me seemed to smile a little, even though that was impossible with its skull being permanently fixed in a grin. I washed the white paste off and said into the looking glass, “You don’t have to stare at me like that all the time, you know. Or hide and disappear, either. Are you… scared of me?”
   The figure didn’t move, but while finishing up my daily routine, I heard a familiar ring from another room. After I was done, I left the bathroom to check it, while still wondering about Mal0’s intentions and behaviour. He definitely wasn’t evil; that was probably the only thing I was sure of now. I’ve been told that and I had no reason to not believe it, so far. I at least hoped he meant no harm, however his acting was slowly driving me crazy – but for different reasons than I thought of when I first started seeing him. Not because of him creeping me out and making me paranoid, but because of him kind of hiding away from me while not being afraid of sleeping next to me every night, when I was butt-naked no less.
   I realised I somewhat grew on him, but he seemed to always back up when I tried to talk with him more.
   And with him, ‘talking more’ meant saying “hi” without him disappearing in shyness.
   
   I grabbed the phone and looked at the notification.
   “I don’t know.”
   I sighed and went to grab some clothes while talking quietly to the invisible listener, “You don’t have to be. Tell you what,” I proposed while taking out a t-shirt from the closet, “do you want some scrambled eggs?”
   I wasn’t completely sure if Mal0 needed to eat to survive, but ever since I first encountered him at home, sometimes, a random piece of food disappeared: A few apples gone with their cores placed next to the intact ones; some broken eggs in the kitchen sink with one yolk less than there were shells missing in their packet; a torn apart bag of flour or several gnawed on bananas with empty insides.
   The phone buzzed again. I received a portrait of Mal0 with one hand waving and the other with several fingers on his mouth while I was visible in the background dressing up with my arms, body and a black shirt blurred from movement. A single word was attached as a message: “Yes.”
   
   The kitchen was filled with a pleasant smell of cooked eggs, onion and ham, rising from two plates on a table. I sat down to eat and looked around for Mal0.
   “Breakfast’s ready.” I called out. I blinked and saw him leaned against the kitchen unit, his fingers nervously interlocked on his chest. After not moving for several seconds, I added, “Uh, are you going to sit down? I mean, you don’t have to, but please, don’t leave. That is, I would like if you’d eat here, y’know.”
   I reached into my pocket to take out the phone in case he would want to message me. I looked down and up again to see him much closer to me, actually sitting at the table, curiously looking at the warm food in front of him. At least he was moving now, shifting his head from side to side to look at the white and yellow eggs. He then got closer and sniffed them (No idea how) before looking up at me and sending me a message.
   “Thank you.”
   I put some of my eggs on a fork and ate it, trying to show Mal0 how to eat properly. He grabbed his own fork in his clawed fist and somewhat clumsily scooped a big portion of eggs with it before eating it, small bits falling down his face. With a human, I’d find it somewhat disgusting, but with him and his canine skull? I found it strangely endearing.
   “So, do you like it?” I asked Mal0 when he seemed to have swallowed it, licking his face to clean the bits of egg with his long tongue. I never really noticed it, but he had it sticking out of his mouth a few times in the photos he sent me. His face brightened up and he started eating more quickly with even bigger portions on his silverware. His response didn’t take long to arrive, “It’s so good. Warm, tasty…”
   I smiled when reading the message, noticing it was actually longer than just one short sentence and wondering if he ever had warm food before. A few seconds later, an additional text arrived: “Thank you, again.”
   “Aww, I’m glad you like it.” I told to Mal0 happily while finishing my own plate. His was already empty and licked clean, literally. My brain was telling itself that it’s weird, but I couldn’t help myself but to find him licking off the last bits of eggs oddly cute. Not really in a pet-like way, even though his dog-like skull might suggest otherwise. No, this was different – I could talk to him and he would understand me and probably comprehend what my intentions were. It felt like a friendship with a person learning the basics of a different culture. But then, those people usually don’t sneak up on you while you sleep to try and cuddle with you, followed by constant hiding from you later.
   
   A few dozen minutes later, I arrived at work to officially do some repetitive and gruelling office tasks. Most of the time, I spent it screwing around and working just enough to finish my assignments. There was no point in overdoing anything here, no bonuses or extra vacation, but it was an occupation that kept me somewhat sane, the money was decent enough and the co-workers weren’t complete assholes.
   I caught a glance of a dark figure in the reflection on my computer’s screen a few times and received a few messages from Mal0 to which I replied using text.
   “Kinda lot of messages you’re getting, eh?” A co-worker asked from behind. He was a friendly one, though maybe a bit weird and annoying at that. I got paranoid for a second, “Yeah… I hope it doesn’t bother anyone though.”
   “Heh, right, look around, does it look like you’re interrupting anyone from work?” The colleague said before laughing and leaving. I calmed myself down, but still muted the phone, just in case. In the past few days, I haven’t noticed anything strange besides Mal0 himself and it seemed like only I could see him. A few times he was standing right next to a person and they acted like nothing happened. If a big, hunching, furred skull-face was standing next to me, I most definitely wouldn’t be able to look normal. Still, it was kind of unsettling to see him standing around strangers like a ghost.
   
   I read through the messages Mal0 sent me. They mostly said what was happening around him, along with photos from around the office or the building’s surroundings with the anomaly’s figure smiling somewhere in them. I always replied, either asking him how he’s doing or explaining what is going on around him and why. And albeit he still preferred to use short sentences, his messages were slowly getting longer and more descriptive, seemingly less reserved than before.
   Sometimes, he would disappear while sending me pictures of him outside while other times I would notice him in reflections or in corners of my sight, though never directly. Then, I would receive images of me from different angles that seemed almost impossible to get to, like directly from above or from a different room, in-between people sitting around a table.
   But even though we were in constant contact, I felt disconnected from Mal0. The texts we were sending each other just didn’t feel as nice as seeing the cryptid in person. I typed him a message, one of the few that weren’t responses to something he sent me, “I miss you.”
   I got a message in return, “But I’m here.”
   A photo of the creature sitting, leaned against my cubicle’s wall was attached. I turned around, but he wasn’t there. Before I could ask him what he meant, I received another text.
   “I don’t feel safe here. I can’t be seen. But I’m here. I’m always here, even if you think I’m not. I’m always with you.”
   I looked in the corner again. Maybe I was just seeing things, but it seemed like parts of the carpet there moved a little, as if something invisible was fiddling around there. I smiled in its direction and started typing out a reply.
   “Thank you. I’ll be leaving in a while to go home. I can’t wait to see you there.”
   I gave the empty corner one last look before turning around to finish up some work stuff on the company computer. Before the phone’s screen got dim, an unusually short message from Mal0 appeared on it with a single symbol in it. It was a heart emoji.
   
   I didn’t see much of Mal0 on the way home; sometimes he would appear in corners of my vision before disappearing again. I got only one message when I was almost at the destination. The beast was sitting in front of the apartment building’s doorway, leaning against the railing. One of his furry legs ran down the stairs while the other was bent up and down with his long-clawed fingers wrapped around it. He looked almost seductive, waiting for me there. I felt my heart start pumping, especially when I read the picture’s note.
   “Don’t keep me waiting.”
   I picked up the pace and soon I reached the front door from where the photo was taken. He wasn’t there, even though the place was empty of strangers. As I was reaching for keys, I saw Mal0’s ghostly reflection in one of the apartment windows. He waved at me and disappeared when I blinked. I smiled his way but decided it would be unwise to return the hand gesture – that apartment wasn’t mine and who knows who might be watching.
   
   Finally, I closed the door behind me to be greeted by the familiar and comfy climate of my flat with its neutral yet unique scent that signalised that I was home.
   “Mal0?” I asked out, finally being able to say the otherworldly companion’s name out loud without looking like a crazy person. The phone in my pocket vibrated as a response. It was a photo of Mal0 sitting at the kitchen table, in the same spot as he did in the morning. There was a one-word message included, containing my name and an exclamation mark. Kicking off my shoes, I went to the nearby room to see the creature standing leaning against the table, staring at me in the doorway.
   Even though I’ve been seeing the skull-faced beast throughout the whole day, this time I was sure he was really there, physically. I walked up to him without him disappearing, looking at his bony smile before hugging him.
   “Mal0…”
   The gentle smell of burning wood filled my nose as I buried my face in his long, black fur. He was taller than me, with my face barely reaching his own, but it posed no problem and it felt strangely nice. His body was in stark contrast with his cold and rigid head – the fur covering it was warm and soft. I noticed, even though I wasn’t sure of it before, that he was actually breathing, with very quiet noises coming out of him periodically and his chest slowly moving up and down. We stayed in the embrace for a few moments before breaking it and looking at each other. How did I start to miss him so much? Why did I suddenly want to hug him so much? And why didn’t we do this before?
   Suddenly, I realised a feeling of emptiness in my stomach. I really could get something to eat, but what about Mal0?
   “Hey, are you hungry? I’ve eaten at work but I’m not sure about you.”
   The reply didn’t come in the form of a text message.
   “I found something a few hours ago. It tasted strange. Eggs?”
   “Whoa!” I flinched when a voice ringed in my head. It wasn’t too loud, but it caught me completely off-guard. Was that Mal0? Probably so, but…
   “Y-you… you can talk? W-why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I blurted out as I was trying to recompose myself.
   “I didn’t want to scare you. I’m sorry. Yes. Only at short ranges. Very short ranges. And only telepathically. I wasn’t sure if I should. Now it seemed like a safe time.”
   Either I was becoming a full-blown schizophrenic or Mal0 could actually speak, somewhat. I chose the latter, more comforting option. The voice was strange like everything about Mal0, but not unpleasant to listen to. The only thing I was mostly sure of was that it was masculine (though somewhat high), but I had no idea if it was rough like gravel or smooth like butter; maybe both, maybe neither. It seemed to change all the time, sometimes it sounded close, other times as if from far away from ever-changing directions, doused in reverb; and a few times, the voice seemed filtered, like a telephone call. It was a bit disorienting, especially since the voice played in my head, making me unable to pinpoint its location, but at least the strange effects weren’t sudden and drastic.
   “It’s okay, I just… didn’t know you could do that.” I reassured the humanoid and embraced him again, “Anyway, what did you say before?”
   My phone beeped and when I looked at it, I recognised a picture Mal0 sent me earlier today; perhaps sending images telepathically wasn’t possible. It looked like a tray of cheese wheels inside some restaurant’s kitchen. Wheels of mouldy cheese. At least it didn’t look like one of those really salty types of cheese as Mal0 probably didn’t try to find any pastry to eat them along with. Still, that must have been a treat. I then remembered the last word he said before I spasmed.
   “You want eggs? But we had those in the morning!”
   “They were really good and warm.”
   “But I have some meat ready to cook. Have you ever had meat that wasn’t raw? Hold on, we can solve this…” I pondered aloud and to myself before walking up to the fridge to take out a few stripes of marinated pork and some eggs.
   Judging from Mal0’s reaction, roasted meat with fried egg on top wasn’t a bad idea at all. And he looked no less cute when eating this meal than he did eating breakfast.
   
   When I was at home, Mal0 seemed much more comfortable staying in one place and, well, real. Especially today: my spectral roommate seemed to feel better than normal; usually, he would just idly watch me do stuff and still often hide into shadows. But now, he would disappear only every once in a while and most of the time he was standing close to me with pleasant warmth radiating from him with occasional messages beeping on my phone.
   “What are you doing?” He silently asked me in a message while standing behind, leaning against the armchair I was sitting in, watching a movie. I tried to explain it to Mal0 while shifting in seat to imply that he can join me (and to allow a more verbal conversation). When I looked away and back to see him gone, I continued with my explanation as if nothing happened, knowing that he’s listening.
   “So, it is not real? Everyone there just pretends their actions?” He inquired further through a message just as a somewhat brutal fight scene occurred,
   “Yes, at least, most of the time; there are movies based on something that happened, but nothing that happens in them is actually happening for real.”
   Suddenly, he appeared next to me, his fluff brushing against me. Another question arrived, this time loudly in my head, “What is the point, then?”
   I rested my head on his shoulder and attempted to explain human fiction to him, “I guess we like to project our imagination into something? It’s just fun in this case. Often it’s meant to express something, an opinion or an idea, hidden deeper in the ‘fun’ part. With movies you can watch adventures that would be impossible in real life. See something without having to actually do it in reality,” wrapping an arm around his body, I continued, “create imaginary creatures… monsters… demons… aliens who don’t actually exist. People like to awaken emotions in them – joy, excitement, terror, sadness, mystery. They also like to find meanings someone else is trying to say or hide in their works and to discuss them. There are a lot of things people do and they don’t really know why.”
   I looked at Mal0 who seemingly had a puzzled, but intrigued expression in his face. This time, his response took a little bit longer.
   “Interesting. Very interesting…”
   I heard him murmur some other things, as if he was lost in thought. I couldn’t understand them, but he got quiet after a few seconds before speaking up again, asking, “What is an ‘alien’, though?”
   I had to think about it for a moment to come up with a definition, “Well, there are several possible meanings. One is simply an organism from outer space, not from this planet. The other generally means an outsider, stranger or even an intruder.”
   “Am I an alien?”
   “What do you mean?”
   “There are only humans and animals in this world. I am neither. Am I an alien?”
   “It depends, I think. People could mistake you for an extra-terrestrial, unless you really, physically are one. And as for being an intruder, it depends on who you ask.”
   “Do you see me as an intruder?”
   A smile formed on my face while I completely ignored the plot of the movie on the screen in front of us.
   “Well… intruders are usually unwelcome.”
   “What do you m…”
   I reached up and kissed the confused creature below its cheek.
   “And I find your company very welcome.”
   I collapsed into his embrace, enjoying his presence. It was kind of weird, snuggling to a creature with a skull for its face that couldn’t speak out loud, that might not even be real and, from a societal point of view more than anything, wasn’t even female. But I didn’t care. I felt strangely safe with him. Then the logical part of my brain woke up and realised all of that, along with what I’ve just done.
   I was cuddling with a monster and I kissed it. Was I really that attached to it? I told the sceptical part of my brain to kindly fuck off and instead focused on the warm, smoky snuggle.
   Mal0 returned the hug and wrapped his clawed arms around me tightly, barely letting me breathe. I’d swear I heard him let out a quiet whimper.
   “You understand me. You’re not afraid of me. You’re the only one like that.” The creature’s voice echoed in my head, trembling mildly. He continued, “Others ran away. I just wanted a friend. I thought they wanted a friend. Probably not me. I couldn’t blame them. But I cared about them. They didn’t care about me. But you do. You do, right?”
   With each short sentence, I felt increased sadness for Mal0. On one hand, I wasn’t surprised at all by the reactions of other people he encountered – the first few days after starting to receive ominous messages with a terrifying beast in them stalking me, I was in a constant state of horror, even though I kind of knew what to expect. Wherever I’d go, I’d get a picture of him in there. When I started seeing him outside the screen of my phone, with my own eyes, I thought I’d go insane before realising something else.
   I was then confirmed that it wasn’t just some creepy guy with impressive Photoshop skills, but a supernatural entity stalking me. I was supposed to be even more terrified, but upon reading those messages again, I realised that the… monster, demon, whatever he is, was trying to talk with me. Maybe he just didn’t know how? Did he do anything to me, at least directly? No, he didn’t. Maybe the other people didn’t see through this, maybe they really believed they went insane. Perhaps it was me who was insane and didn’t realise it. But I just couldn’t blame Mal0 for his actions.
   I turned my head around a little and felt the thick fur brushing my face. No, this was real, I was sure of it; I wasn’t insane.
   “I do, Mal0.”
   It took a few seconds before the wolfish creature responded with a shaking voice, “Thank you.”
   Suddenly, my phone went off. Mal0 released his pressure a little to let me move and I checked it. It was us in an embrace, just a few seconds ago. I saved it to make sure it was preserved before looking back up at Mal0. His skull, illuminated by the screen, seemed strangely warm and softened up and his smile was less grin-like.
   
   We stayed in the quiet embrace for a few more minutes before I realised that I was actually pretty tired. I would have fallen asleep in Mal0’s comforting, scented grasp, but I decided that it would probably be better if I took a shower beforehand; I didn’t want to be in a rush the following day before leaving for work.
   “Well, I’m gonna go for a quick bath, so we can maybe, uh… cuddle afterwards.”
   Why did I get stuck at that word there? A quiet chuckle played in my head as a response. It sounded genuine, but as if Mal0 wasn’t sure how to laugh. I quickly realised why he snickered like that.
   “And don’t you dare to look… too much.”
   I couldn’t help but say it with a naughty smile on my face. I knew Mal0 would always watch me; always and everywhere. Sure, it used to creep me out, but it wasn’t like there was anything I could do about it. Maybe the supernatural non-human creature didn’t even consider stalking like this a stigma. Then again, given the few innuendos he passed my way today, he might completely know what he’s doing. And, even though I hated to admit it, maybe I even liked it.
   
   Air in the bathroom quickly turned humid as the hot water began flowing from above onto my bare body. It felt refreshing to clean myself of sweat and filth gathered over the day and to throw away every piece of clothing worn, needing the treatment of a washing machine.
   I knew Mal0 was watching and I had mixed feelings about it. Of course, there was the unsettling feeling of being stalked, which the shifty dog ghost excelled at. Mostly, though, I realised it was mild arousal. I couldn’t help but feel strange thrill as thoughts of the furred humanoid watching me flooded my mind; and thoughts of me flooding his. Well, it looked like this ‘thrill’ awoke something else in me, somewhere down below. It swept all and any discussions about how I felt about Mal0 off the table, adding a drop of disgust of myself to my thoughts.
   I wondered if I could catch a glimpse of Mal0. Knowing he wouldn’t let himself be easily seen, I grabbed the shiny silver shower head, lowered it and turned it around to look into the reflective curved surface on the back of it.
   There I was, distorted and covered in soap with the glass door of the shower quickly getting steamed up. Behind it I barely managed to make out the shape of the sink and some drawers and cupboards, but nothing out of the ordinary. I almost thought that Mal0 was either really trying to hide or maybe wasn’t watching at all (like I would really believe that) before noticing something strange.
   Turning the shiny head up, I saw the top of the same cupboards, but… on top of them, a black figure with white head was sitting, looking directly at me with one leg hanging freely from the top and the other bent in his seat, with his arm resting on it.
   Before I could make out any more details, the figure disappeared. I returned the shower head back to its place and went back to getting clean while my mind was quickly getting dirtier. Mal0 will have to look from somewhere else.
   
   When I left the shower, wet hair running down freely around my head and a towel around my waist, I noticed that my phone I left on the sink was blinking. Good thing I took it to the bathroom. I checked it, seeing quite a lot of unread messages with pictures.
   The first one, with a text saying “You look pretty.” was a photo of the shower somewhere from… the spot where I saw Mal0 looking at me. There were multiple pictures taken in quick succession, letting me see myself in my full, uh, glory. Did my ass really look that flat? I wondered how women got them to look nice and round. And I should start working out more, to get those abs to be at least visible, somewhat. I then noticed that the strange borders on the bottom of the picture were actually fur. Looks like Mal0 tried to fit himself in the photo no matter what.
   Another message had just one photo from the same place, with its text saying, “What are you thinking about?”
   I guess he noticed the result of my little turn on.
   The next set of pictures was taken… from directly above me. I could make out every single hair strand and drop of water on me in the image, along with the enlarged, uh, pride of mine. I looked at the text it was attached to, “Why are you looking at me?”
   I didn’t see any sign of Mal0 in that image, but there was more than enough of him in the last message’s pic. It was me again, with shower already turned off. Half of the frame was hidden behind a blurred white spot that I recognised as the skull of the otherworldly stalker. The message was so ironic I had to laugh.
   “Do you like to look at me?”
   Not fully dried and steaming a little, I left the room after responding to the message with a simple “Maybe.”
   
   Entering the slightly colder and drier hallway that was only illuminated by weak light from my room nearby, I headed straight there to get some clothes and let all excess water on me evaporate on the way there.
   I entered the room that was, to my surprise, empty. As I was choosing between two t-shirts to wear the following day while wondering about Mal0, I felt sudden warmth behind me. I turned around to look at a body of black fur.
   “Oh, there you are.” I greeted Mal0 and hugged him, at which point I realised I haven’t yet cuddled with him when there was no layer of cotton or mild anxiety between us. I couldn’t understand how something so scary could feel so fluffy, but I couldn’t complain. Instead, I strengthened my grip and looked up at the grinning white skull. I noticed Mal0 was breathing quite heavily and loudly and his pleasant campfire odour was stronger, with a mild, strangely intoxicating musk-like scent hiding underneath. Either he was enervated from something, or…
   “Huh, I guess you really liked it back there, didn’t you?”
   Mal0 hesitatingly nodded his head with his white eyes staring at me.
   “Yes. I did, yes. I think you did, too? I’m not very knowledgeable about humans. Was that a sign of…?”
   I interrupted him, while beginning to slowly rub on him, “Yes.”
   When he didn’t do or say anything, I asked him, “Are you okay?”
   “…Yes.”
   I wasn’t so sure. With a sigh, I slowly stopped.
   “Mal0, I… shit, this is really weird. Just… I want something more, but I don’t want to rush things too much or make you feel uncomfortable, y’know? Do you understand what I mean?” I asked, worried.
   I felt so attached to this weird creature and the feeling must have been mutual, but I was afraid I was turning it into something horrible. Sure, Mal0 was pretty good at making me uncomfortable, but as much as I wanted to in the beginning, I couldn’t fault him for not being human, literally.
   I felt the hard, cold skull tap me gently on the top of my head before Mal0’s voice ringed in it again.
   “I do. I want to be with you. Always. To make you feel good.”
   I chuckled and began grinding on him again, “Oh, looks like we have that in common. How ‘bout we make each other feel good, then?”
   A chuckle rang in my head, pumping my quickly waking excitement along with Mal0’s snarling breathing before suddenly disappearing in a blink of an eye, leaving only an invisible cloud of delicious scent. At first, I thought he was going to hide from me and play some game on me. But just as fast as he vanished, he showed up on the opposite end of the small room; half-lying, half-sitting on my bed, looking at me way too seductively for a skull. I grinned, thinking only about the beast in front of me.
   
   A few moments later, we were lying in bed, cuddling and kissing. Well, kissing wasn’t exactly possible with Mal0’s rigid skull and all, but we tried, with me awkwardly caressing the creature’s bony face while my own got a few licks all across. As much as I enjoyed this, the constant pressure in my lower abdomen kept nudging my brain. I left all my doubts about Mal0 behind, but I didn’t mind taking it slow.
   “How are we gonna do this?” I asked the beast in-between kisses on its much softer neck. I realised I still didn’t know if he’s male or not, at least physically.
   “This is kind of weird, I know, but… you do have…? I mean,” I vaguely pointed somewhere to his crotch, though the bulged white towel around my waist was much more visible in the dim lighting. Mal0 rose up until his eyes were directly in front of mine.
   “Yes.”
   The single word response echoed in my head along with a quiet playful chuckle.
   “Can I see it?”
   I heard another snicker before Mal0 replied, “You first.”
   With those words, I felt a claw gently scratching my back, moving down along the spine until it hit the towel. With one swift movement, the barely tied wrap fell down on Mal0’s legs while my now free member sprung up, brushing against the wolf’s fur in the process, making me hiss from the sudden sensation. Strangely, Mal0 seemed to shiver a little, too.
   “Well, what do you think?” I asked while the claws that untied my towel, now brushing against my butt, suddenly stopped.
   “It’s pretty. Very pretty.”
   “I mean, it’s the same as it was five minutes ago. But now you don’t have to hide to look at it, eh?”
   I reached my hand and grabbed the furred arm behind me, moving and leading it towards my front until the creature’s knuckles tapped against the shaft.
   “What are you…” the voice asked in my head. I smiled and looked at Mal0 again.
   “Don’t be shy, you can—“ I stuttered and let out a quiet sigh as the clawed hand suddenly wrapped its fingers tightly around the shaft. Still holding his arm, I gently navigated it up and down, slowly beginning to jerk myself off before he got the hang of it.
   “Does this really feel good? Interesting.” Mal0 spoke to me with his beautiful, yet unstable voice. It sounded unusually brittle, though and I noticed the beast slowly starting to heave and snarl. Was he receiving pleasure from this?
   “Yes, just don’t stop, please.” I said in-between soft moans as I began to rock my lower body back and forth in rhythm. I was at first a little scared of the sharp claws being anywhere near my privates but he was surprisingly careful.
   My thoughts were slightly interrupted by a sudden bump I felt on my thigh. I looked down where Mal0 was eagerly playing with me and beneath it I saw a sharp protrusion on the crumpled towel. Not waiting for approval, I grabbed the sheet and threw it away.
   
   I wasn’t sure what to expect; maybe something more canine, with Mal0’s dog-like skull and all, or perhaps something more human-like. Actually it was a bit similar to a normal penis, but with a sharper shape. It was mostly a shade of shiny, very dark blue, almost black and less curved than a normal specimen, but with neatly placed bits of smooth white bone that looked more pleasurable than uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure what I would compare it to, but there was one thing I was sure of: It looked amazing.
   The movement on my own member slowly halted to a stop. The only thing on my mind was the glorious erect cock in front of me. With a naughty smile, I slowly skimmed several fingers over its surface. It felt strangely slick, as if it was lubricated, but when I let go of it, my palm was just as it was before. I looked up at Mal0 whose face seemed almost scared.
   “Is everything okay?”
   “I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what you would say. What you would think about it. Whether you would like it.”
   I smiled again, more heartily this time, and put my other hand on Mal0’s cheek, gently caressing the skull with my fingers.
   “It’s as beautiful as you are, Mal0. Don’t be nervous.”
   The expression on the bony face didn’t move but it suddenly seemed relaxed while the clawed fist started sending waves of pleasure from below again. Almost getting lost in the blinding haze of fiery bliss, I grabbed the warm and hard erection and started gently jerking it as well, joining Mal0’s own rhythm he was practicing on me.
   I was suddenly hit with an unexpected wave of comforting feelings that seemed to pulsate through my head and body in the same way and frequency as I was rubbing the spectre’s hard-on. It wasn’t physical pleasure; it was something more mental, a feeling of warm affinity towards the only person or creature I cared about right now. It was weak at first, but with each stroke I made, it grew stronger, turning from mild fondness to an urge to constantly be close with Mal0. And right now, that urge was sating itself, filling my heart with fuzzy warmth. I looked at Mal0 and finally understood his strange behaviour, his constant stalking and messages. I knew he wanted to be close to me, but I never knew how much. Our eyes met and even though his were blank, with no irises or pupils, they were loving and understanding. He knew how I felt about him right now.
   I couldn’t sit upright anymore; I realised I was shaking, as was Mal0, but his trembles were almost unnoticeable, unlike the cute growls and snarls that were coming out from him, his mouth open and tongue hanging loosely from the lip-less maw. I leaned towards the spectral beast, and grabbed his free hand with mine. The waves of pleasure were getting almost too strong, almost insufferable, but I felt a release getting close.
   “Mal0, I…”
   I stopped when a particularly loud moan left me before a voice rang through my head, ragged and constantly changing, “I didn’t know it would feel this—“ the beast let out a deep snarl, “this good.”
   “And it’s gonna be even better, you ready?”
   We weren’t ready.
   The climax came unexpected, making us moan in ecstasy and leaving us both shaking. The Mal0 in front of me let out a roar while the one in my head screamed, his voice beautiful even in the uncontrolled dissonance. We felt not only our own orgasms, but each other’s, as well, accompanying the pleasure with an intense feeling of intimacy, different from the existing one.
   I collapsed onto Mal0 and rested my head on his chest, still trying to catch my breath.
   “That… that was just…”
   The furred creature’s reverberated voice echoed in my head, calmer, but still exhausted, “I knew it would be amazing. With you, anything is. But this was…”
   “Mal0, what I felt there… it wasn’t just regular affection. I love you, Mal0.”
   I felt two arms wrap themselves around me tightly.
   “You… you do?”
   The voice was trembling mildly and softer than ever before.
   “I do. I want to be with you, forever, Mal0. I love you.”
   There was a pause before a short yelp came out of the wolf demon; my demon.
   “Thank you. I’ll be here, with you. Forever.”
   
   The night rolled over and as first rays of sunshine came in creeping through the window, I slowly woke up, stiff and groggy. There was soft, warm pressure all around me and it took me a few seconds to realise why. I smiled as I remembered the previous evening. Finally I opened my eyes to be greeted by Mal0, not just a strange companion, but a lover, also.
   “Good morning.”
   We shared a short kiss before I turned around and noticed that I still had more than an hour until I would actually have to get up – the one time I forget to turn on the alarm and I actually wake up earlier. Knowing that if I was to get up now, I would have to communicate with Mal0 using a phone, I turned back around and snuggled closer to him again.
   “How are you?” The disembodied voice appeared in my head, strange, yet familiar.
   “Always great when I can be with you.” I mumbled contentedly.
   “I’m happy to help with that.”
   We tightened the embrace and enjoyed it before the inevitable would happen. And even then, we would never truly be separated; Mal0 would always be here. I was his and he was mine.

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Pub: 31 Mar 2021 17:57 UTC
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