War and MG Chap 5

Life as a prisoner wasn't as terrible as Casey imagined it would be. They were confined to a small set of rooms and only allowed out when escorted, but otherwise they were not overworked, beaten, or starved. The men worked on various labor projects at the base and around the area, though it was often only for a few hours a day rather than morning to night. Meals were taken at the same time as the soldiers and in the same facilities. The interrogations most surprised Casey, however. Rather than being asked about troop deployments, command structure, estimated fighting strength and other such details, he was mostly asked about the world. Most questions focused on culture with a few on technology. They also tended to needle him especially on the relationships between men and women as well as their roles in society.

 

Now, after a month had passed, Casey began to think life here not much different from the life a soldier would normally experience on the field.

 

"Hey, you, get up," came a familiar voice.

 

Casey had been staring at the ceiling, laying on his bunk. He turned his head in the direction of the voice. There was Emrald, wearing her usual long white coat over her drab military overalls. His eyes flicked to a clock on a wall, then back to her.

 

"Aren't you rather early today?"

 

"Yes, well, I have a special assignment for you," said Emrald, walking over to him.

 

"And what might that be?" Casey raised an eyebrow.

 

"Well, starting today you will no longer be moving boxes around or building barriers. I've requested you to be my assistant." Emrald began to smile, tails cavorting joyfully behind her.

 

"What? I don't have any medical knowledge or training. What could I do?" said Casey, moving to situp.

 

"It's okay, it's okay. You'll just watch and learn! The basics don't take any time to figure out, you see," placing a hand on her hip and nodding.

 

Casey scowled. "Why not have one of the people here who are already trained as a medic be your assistant?"

 

Giving him a slightly malicious smile, "Special project. Very secret." Her ears twitched and her tails calmed from their rhythmic dance.

 

"Fine, whatever, what do you need me to do?"

 

"Come with me."

 

Emrald pivoted and began to walk towards the door. Groaning, Casey stood and chased after her. The other men that had been in the room were watching him keenly. More than any of the others, Casey often had special treatment, usually at the hands of Emrald. Most seemed to give him a pitying look and a knowing nod, but a few seemed to be envious.

 

Outside the room, Emrald walked wordlessly to the medical area. She never once looked behind her, though he figured his footsteps gave her all the confirmation she needed that he was in tow. Entering the infirmary where he was brought to when he first arrived at the base, he saw that there were several women laid up.

 

Finally turning to him, "You listen well. Don't even have to check that you're there." Emrald flashed him a wicked grin.

 

"What choice do I have?," sighed Casey.

 

Emrald giggled, then walked over to a woman that Casey came to identify as a 'dragon' type. Her feet were large, lizard-like claws, and scales ran up past her knee. Her abdomen was human as far as he could tell, excepting for the rather large set of wings emerging from her back and long tail. The scales resumed on her arms just below the elbow. Her hands were kind of a hybrid between reptilian and human. Her face was mostly human, though her eyes had the vertical slits of a lizard rather than the round-type found on a person. Lastly, she had a pair of large horns and long, pointed ears adorning the sides of her head. He had seen her around here before, though had never spoken with her.

 

As Casey walked over to join Emrald, the dragon-woman gave him a toothy smile. She seemed to be perfectly healthy as far as he could see.

 

"So ah, what's going on here?," inquired Casey.

 

Emrald's smile broadened, giving Casey some worry. "Molting," she said, her tails dancing about again.

 

"What? Molting?"

 

"Yes, surely you know that reptiles shed their skins?," said Emrald, a mocking tone leaking into her voice.

 

"Well, yes..." Casey looked over at the dragon, who simply continued to smile. Seems like she was enjoying this, he thought.

 

"But what does that have to do with me?"

 

This time the dragon spoke up. Casey was surprised by the girlish quality of the voice coming from this large, well-muscled woman.

 

"I can take care of my arms and legs, but my tail and wings can be difficult. When I asked for assistance, Emrald said that this would be good practice for her new assistant."

 

Casey glared at Emrald. She had planned this before even asking him. Emrald backed away some, continuing to grin at Casey.

 

"Well, have at it," she said in a chipper voice.

 

The dragon-woman nodded, and only now did Casey realize the only things covering her were some damp towels.

 

"Do be gentle, first-timer, newly exposed scales are ticklish." Still smiling, she rolled over onto her chest, exposing her tail and wings.

 

Casey saw that the scales here were much more cloudy and matte than the shiny scales that were on her arms and legs. He glanced at Emrald.

 

"So what should I, uh, do?"

 

"Start at the base and work your way to the tip. If you're good you'll get it in one piece," came the muffled answer from the dragon.

 

"Start what?"

 

"Rub the area to break the skin loose, then carefully peel up," replied the dragon.

 

Casey looked down at her - she was entirely nude. He instantly began to feel uncomfortable. He shot another glare at the cruel fox, now leaning against the wall. Her grin remained unchanged, though her tails ceased their waving due to being pressed against the wall. Picking a spot at the very top, he began to massage the area. The dragon twitched a bit, causing him to stop.

 

"Is uh, something, wrong?"

 

"Oh no no," said the dragon with a slight quiver to her voice, "Like I said, new scales tend to be ticklish, especially when removing the molt."

 

Casey clenched his teeth and resumed. Thanks to the damp towels, the skin separated off fairly quickly and easily. He proceeded around the radius of her tail, stopping for a moment when the dragon jumped or snickered underneath his touch. Reaching the lowest part of the base, Casey stopped himself. The most southern part on the base of her tail was extremely close to certain areas. He had already started to run and massage her very humanly-soft rump, causing him to blush furiously. He again looked at the demon fox, who was ever grinning like a malicious specter.

 

"Can, I, ah, get... some help here?" Casey pleaded.

 

Tilting her head, "With what?"

 

"You should know... should know by now this is... highly unusual for someone like me to be... doing... this...' his reply small and quiet.

 

"So what? If you're going to be my assistant you'll have to get over your bashfulness, you see." Emrald made an exaggerated sigh. "Good help is so hard to find."

 

Picking up on their conversation and his hesitation, the dragon seemed to take the opportunity to make it worse.

 

"Well, why have you stopped? Come on now, this should take less than five minutes." She started flexing her glutes while saying so, as if attempting to highlight where he should be working.

 

"Demons," Casey whispered.

 

Finally completing the task of loosening the skin the entire way around the base of her tail, he began to carefully roll it up - a process made that much more difficult by the dragon who would not stay still. Her wings were rather easier as she was apparently much less ticklish there, however. His process finished, he turned himself away when she stood up to don her clothes.

 

Her uniform back on, the dragon walked over to the kitsune.

 

"My, he's a shy one," she giggled, then turned to leave.

 

"Well maybe we can break him of that," responded Emrald, closing one eye.  

 

Casey was still blushing heavily, even turning his ears a shade of red. Coming up behind him, Emrald hooked an arm over his neck, then poked him in the side.

 

"Not bad, you got the skin off her tail in one piece. Though you were rather slow."

 

Sighing, "What would you do if it was life-threatening?"

 

Casey turned in her grasp. "That's different. This was... something that could have been done by another woman."

 

"Ho? What's wrong with a man doing it?"

 

"Haven't you listened to anything I've told you? You damn well know why."

 

"Sure, you've told me. But what's the harm? It isn't like you were... getting... excited or anything, was it?" Emrald's grin was truly demonic now. Her ears appeared to be flicking in Casey's direction.

 

"N-no, it's just..." Casey nervously whispered

 

"Just what?" Emrald stood up on her toes, then blew behind Casey's ear.

 

Leaping back as his head whipped around, "Aw~ you're soooo cuuute," she said in a lilting voice.

 

Casey didn't manage a response, instead simply glared at the kitsune.

 

Shrugging her shoulders, "Well that's enough fun and games. There's still work to be done!" She began walking back towards the entrance. "Come along now."

 

Casey followed her with his eyes and head for a time before begrudgingly following. As he walked out, he looked at the other residents here. Several looked away quickly when they realized he was looking back at them, and a few others were visibly stifling laughter.

 

Hanging his head dejectedly, Casey once against muttered "Demons."

 

Outside the infirmary, Casey's face was beginning to return to its usual color. Emrald had stopped, waiting for him to show.

 

"Where are we going now?," asked Casey with a sigh.

 

"Are you a virgin?" Emrald asked flatly.

 

Casey completely froze, save for looking directly at the demonic fox. "What?! No! No. No."

 

"Then why do you seem to have such an issue with being around a woman's body?"

 

"A man should not be putting his hands on women he doesn't know, that's all." Casey's blush returned.

 

"What about prostitutes and the like, then?" Emrald cupped her chin with her hand, her tails waving side to side at a slow pace.

 

"I.. I wouldn't know. I've never... sought their... services." Though still blushing, Casey did not look away from Emrald's stare.

 

"Hmmm, I see..." Emrald closed her eyes for a moment, then partially opened them, starting to grin. Casey instantly felt uneasy.

 

"Look, why are we talking about this anyways?"

 

"Curiosity, you see. You always dodge the topic of sex whenever we talk." Emrald shifted to cross her arms in front of her chest.

 

"That's because an unrelated man and woman shouldn't be discussing... such things." Casey was uneasy. She had inquired about sexual relations before, but this was the most direct she had ever been.

 

"Fine fine, I'll give you a break for now. There's still work to be done." Nodding to herself, she began to walk off, wordlessly signaling Casey to follow.

 

 

 

---

 

Entering Colonel Serlov's office, Emrald threw her a salute and approached her desk holding a stack of documents. Sighing, Serlov signaled to set them down wherever on her desk.

 

"How are things proceeding with the men?," asked Serlov, removing her glasses.

 

"Fairly well. Most are still rather distant, but some are starting to show signs of interest." Emrald slumped down into a chair in front of the desk.

 

"I was hoping things would be proceeding more quickly. Was our initial information wrong?"

 

Emrald massaged the back of her neck a few times before responding.

 

"I don't believe so. I think it's just the environment, you see."

 

"And what about your favorite, Casey Smith?"

 

Emrald frowned slightly, then smiled. "I'm making progress. He's too shy for his own good, so I've enacted a plan to fix that. Though if things don't improve soon I'll have to resort to drastic measures." Her smile faded into a sigh.

 

"Just remember, it has to be natural. It's no good if we have to coerce or threaten them."

 

Emrald began to stand.

 

"Aye aye. I think when we've succeeded with one the others will follow suit rather quickly," ruffling her hair and scratching herself behind an ear.

 

"Well then, good night, sir."

 

Emrald snapped a quick salute, which Serlov returned, then walked out of the room.

 

As the door shut, Emrald thought to herself that she may have to slightly disobey Serlov. With a grin she walked back to her quarters.