| Unbecoming rumbles and gurgling were filling the bland room with noise as Haxx frowned and patted his belly. The day had been a long and boring one, as Badrap sat trying to hatch more plans to rule the world - an effort even Haxx thought was fruitless. Another rumble sounded from his belly, and he stood from his table, forgetting the book about dictators that Badrap insisted he read.

| Leaving his room, he entered the main chamber of the old abandoned office building that Badrap had managed to procure for them all. Spitter was off in the far corner, busy trying to get one of his new spray nozzles working the way he wanted. Badrap, in all his irritable glory, was pacing back and forth, muttering ideas aloud, not that anyone was listening.

| "Ah… Badrap, master, sir… you’re worship…" Haxx tried to think of some more appropriate titles for their ill-tempered leader, but was cut off.

| "What! And stop blithering out that nonsense - can’t you see I’m hatching a plan that CAN’T fail?" He shook his clawed hand menacingly at Haxx.

| Haxx nodded quickly and begrudgingly asked his question. "I was ah… wondering if I could get a few pizzas for us."

| The foul look on Babrap’s face worsened. "A Pizza. You interrupt my plans of conquest for a pizza!? Fine… fine… order one, and this time SPITTER…" Badrap’s gaze shifted to Spitter, who dropped his tools at the sound of his name being suddenly barked out. "…This time, don’t kill the human delivering the pizza HERE. You KNOW what we had to go through the last time you did that!"

| Spitter nodded vigorously and donned his most innocent look. ‘Me? I wouldn’t think of it… much."

| The thought of the last pizza delivery made Haxx sick to his stomach. Spitter had decided that the human had served his usefulness once the pizza was in their claws, so he drove the claws of his hand straight through the human’s frail chest! Badrap, at first, thought it was hilarious, and then the police came. The old factory had been their place of solitude from humanity for years - where his room and his things were, and that night they had to run for their lives. Soon after, the factory was demolished, and this tiny old office was the only home they now had.

| Humans were odd and often annoying, but Haxx didn’t mind them as much as the others - in fact, they often seemed like they could be a lot of fun. They had fantastic imaginations, just like him, and liked the idea of just relaxing and enjoying themselves sometimes, also like him. Badrap and Spitter were always so preoccupied with things they never seemed to care about anything but their self-made missions. Badrap’s continuous lecturing brought Haxx back from his state of reminiscing.

| "… and make sure to meet the delivery human somewhere OTHER than here so no one finds out about this place! Is that clear!?" Badrap shot gazes back and forth to Spitter and Haxx.

| Both raptors nodded, though Spitter didn’t look pleased that he had somehow been weaseled into going with Haxx again. Haxx grinned and dashed off to the phone, toe claws clicking on the ceramic tiles as he went. He found the number of a place that looked good, called, and ordered 5 large meat-lovers pizzas, then gave the address of a shop just around the corner from them. "…err; yeah… use the side door in the alley… okay, thank you." Perfect! It’s coming! "Hey Spitter, the lady human said it would be ready in 30 minutes, K?"

| A clawed hand came crashing down on Haxx’s head, sending him staggering forward. Haxx gasped and looked back, seeing Spitter standing there with a scowl. "Why is it that I have to be the one to end up babysitting you all the time?"

| Haxx frowned and rubbed his head "I didn’t ask Badrap to make you come… he just did! Just go back to what you were doing and I’ll get you when it’s time… jeez."

| Spitter huffed and went back into the main room with Badrap, returning to work on his spray nozzles while Haxx sat back on his bed and growled. Why am I always the one getting the blame? He looked down the length of his body at his feet, and smiled. The shiny steel anklets paired with his deep red scales made for a menacing look, but also accented his feet rather nicely. He prided himself on taking care of his scales from head to toe and to the tip of his shiny metal tail; although he thought his toes were nicest. He wiggled them for his own delight, and sighed. He was lucky too - he had a hallux claw on the inside of each foot, two thirds of the way back to his heel, where he had another. Ha… Spitter doesn’t have that! Badrap was luckiest of them all when it came to feet. He didn’t much care for them like Haxx, but he had a hallux on BOTH sides of his foot as well as the back. Bah… doesn’t matter I guess - no one but me seems to care anyway. He closed his eyes and relaxed, waiting for the half hour to inch its way by.

| It wasn’t long before Haxx was rushing out, nearly dragging Spitter, to get to the alley before the pizza delivery human made it. They arrived only a few minutes before the human came, and waited back in the shadows with cloaks about them to conceal their very inhuman forms.

***

| Shirley looked up at the alley, then back down to the scribbled address on her pad. Yep… this is the place. Nice… an alley… great. She wasn’t in the most festive of spirits that night. It had been over three months since graduating from University with a degree in zoology, yet the ONE interview she had managed to land today didn’t look promising. She wondered if her life would revolve around delivering pizzas until she retired. She walked to the door at the side of the store, almost completely hidden by the shadows of the dark alley.

| "Ah… those would be for us." Haxx’s voice caused human to jump, and nearly lose hold of the pizzas. The two raptors stepped forward into the dim light, and the human’s face turned white with fear. On sighting them, the human began to scream in a spine-chilling manor; Spitter acted swiftly. "Spitter NO!" Haxx yelled.

| In a swift movement, Spitter brought his clenched hand down across the human’s back, and it fell like a wet rag to the ground. Spitter caught the pizza boxes and held them neatly in this other clawed hand. "Ha… stupid human - did you think your screaming would scare us?"

| "Spitter! You killed it! I can’t believe you did that after what Badrap said… no wait, yes I can… stupid!" Haxx dashed over to the human and knelt by its side. He carefully turned it over, and gasped. "It’s a female human." He leaned down to her face, placing his small reptile ear to her lips. "Hey… she’s still breathing."

| Sarcastically, Spitter put on a concerned look "Oh, I do feel so much better knowing she’ll be well." The look faded and was replaced by the usual bitter one. "Can we go now? It’s bad enough I get dragged along to baby-sit, and now you lecture me on handling ‘a situation.’"

| Haxx huffed and looked back down at the female. She was very pretty, for a human, and he felt oddly sorry for her since she was just reacting naturally. He was hoping it wasn’t going to be such an incident. An idea suddenly flared in his mind. Perhaps a human companion would be fun to have around. What better chance than now to have one! He leaned down and scooped up the female in his arms and grinned broadly.

| "What exactly are you doing you moron?" Spitter’s look cut into Haxx as he saw him pick up the injured human.

| "She’s hurt - what if she dies, or says something; Badrap will kill us himself! Maybe if we bring her back, she could help us somehow… you know, like a servant, or… or a cook! She can make pizzas!"

| "You are an idiot. I can’t even put into words how much of an idiot you are. Why don’t we just kill her, go, and say everything was fine - what does it matter!?" Spitter hissed in return.

| Looking down at his toe claws a moment, then back up to Spitter. "He’ll find out… he always does. If he’s that angry, then… then he’ll just get rid of her himself. What do we have to lose?"

| Growling and trying hard to resist the urge to throw the pizzas at Haxx, Spitter roared "FINE… fine… you bring her, YOU tell him, YOU deal with it." He turned and stomped back toward their makeshift home.

| Their arrival back at the home was anything but happy. Spitter had arrived moments before Haxx, and a moment was all he needed to blabber off to the foul tempered leader about what Haxx had done. Badrap hammered into him the moment he rounded the corner. "HAXX! What in damnation were you thinking this time!? First it’s Spitter causing problems, now it’s you. Does EVERYTHING either of you do have to end in disaster EVERY time you do it!?"

| Haxx looked down at the human, still unconscious and very pale. "Umm… ah… well, I thought you didn’t want the human to get hurt, and umm… she… could be useful, if she lives, that is."

| Badrap’s metal jaws were grinding noisily as he tried to contain his anger. "And just how did she GET hurt, hmm? You felt the need to pommel the little human to death instead of just taking the pizza AND GOING!" He let out a growl. "No… no…not you Haxx… you couldn’t do that, could you?" His burning look landed on Spitter. "YOU… I send you along to make sure Haxx does nothing stupid, so you then choose to do it for him!?" Spitter tried to answer but was quickly cut off. "GET OUT!!! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND TAKE THAT… THING WITH YOU!"

| Spitter and Haxx both hurried off to their rooms, quite happy to get away from Badrap. Haxx took the human to his room, and laid her down on his bed. He wondered how long it would take for her to come around again. He took one of the pizza boxes, and started munching, sitting back at his table and watching the human, hoping she would soon stir, and feeling guilty that he knew not how to do anything more for her.

| After finishing the pizza and his hunger forgotten, Haxx went to the washroom to wash the grease away from his claws, as well pour a bowl of hot water to soak his feet in. Hey… water… I could get a cool cloth for the human - that might help! He finished filling the bowl with soap and water for his feet, then ran cold water over a cloth. He returned to his room with the cloth, a towel, and the nice warm foot bath. Before concerning himself with his own needs, and went to the human’s side, and carefully laid the cool cloth along her forehead. "Come on… please be alright." The human female didn’t move. Quietly, he set the bowl of warm soapy water down at the base of his chair, sat down, and plunked his two-toed feet into it. "Ahhhh… warm…" He reclined blissfully and set his gaze on watching the human again. He loved the feel of the warm water on his scales. Warmth was ultimate goal of Badrap in a way - he was always trying to find ways to heat the world up to make himself more comfortable when all he really had to do was give himself a nice long foot soak. Haxx sniggered to himself Ha… and they think I’M the stupid one.

| Moments later, the human moved and let out a painful groan. Haxx actually jumped, startled by the sudden movement and broken silence. "Oh… umm… are you feeling better now… human… female…I mean?" Haxx sat, feet still soaking.

| Shirley opened her eyes and tried hard to focus on her surroundings. Slowly it came to her - it was some sort of room, but really run down. She turned her head to the side, wincing at the pounding going on inside as it moved. Before her was a dinosaur of some sort! It was deep red, in colour, and though dinosaur like in appearance, it also bore a human-like stature. It wore studded shorts and had a metal tail as well as metal anklets about its feet, which it was busy soaking in something! "Wha… What the hell happened - what are you!? Where AM I!?"

| Hastily, Haxx took his feet from the water and dried them off with the towel, trying to calm the human as he did. "Uhh… shhhh… it’s okay, I won’t hurt you. You weren’t supposed to get hurt when we…"

| The words from the creature slammed into Shirley’s ears like thunder because of the horrible headache which throbbed rhythmically. "I was… I was attacked, by… something." She strained to remember the blur that seemed to be her mind. "Y… you helped me? What are you?"

| Haxx approached the bedside slowly. "I didn’t want you to get hurt, or even know - it was Spitter, that moron. I’m Haxx - I’m a specially evolved raptor, or that’s what Badrap says anyway."

| Painfully, Shirley sat up and held her head in one hand. "A raptor? How can that be… you don’t quite look like one, then again, I suppose a little tinkering with genetics could…" she trailed off. Shit… what am I doing!? I have to get out of here! "I have to go… I… I can’t be here."

| Haxx shook his head. "But… but you can’t. If you try to leave, Badrap will probably have you killed because you know about us. You… sorta have to stay. I’m sorry."

| As if queued by an invisible force, Badrap came down the hall and burst into Haxx’s room. "HAXX! There’s something I need… Oh my my, the human thing is awake, how heart-warming." He sneered down at the human female and clanked his metal jaws together threateningly.

| Whatever these raptors were, this one was not to be trifled with. Shirley scrambled back to the far corner of the bed instinctively. The raptor that had just come in was even bigger than Haxx - something around seven feet tall, she guessed. He starred at her with hatred in his eyes, almost as if he wanted to tear her apart for the shear enjoyment of it.

| Letting out a low growl at the human, Badrap turned to Haxx again. "Since you thought it so morally right to bring this thing here, YOU are responsible for it, and it better do a lot more than eat our food or I swear to you it will be dead before morning, is that clear!?"

| Haxx nodded vigorously. "Yes your royalness, sir… ahh… I’m sure she can help, in, errr… something, sir." Badrap turned and left the room with a huff, and there was a long moment of silence while the human sat shivering on the bed top. "Umm… that was Badrap, see what I mean?"

| Shirley nodded faintly, tears forming in her eyes. "What am I supposed to do now? He’ll kill me if I leave, he’ll kill me if I don’t do something… what do I do?"

| The terrified human wrenched at Haxx’s heart. "Well… you could find something to do that’s useful to one of us, then he’d see you’re helpful and be okay. M…maybe you could make pizzas?"

| Despite the sudden horror of the situation, Shirley couldn’t help but laugh through a sob at the suggestion. "Pizza? I only deliver it Haxx - I don’t even know where to start in making it! Oh god… maybe clean, or help build things... maybe..." her voice trailed off amidst sobbing.

| Shocked and unsure what to do, Haxx felt a horrible sense of guilt creeping into him for having ever brought her to their hideaway. He didn't know enough about humans to know what he should say, or do, or how to even approach her! He knew she was scared - Badrap was hard enough to take even when you were used to him, but she had to have been horrified at his words. "Ummm... I'm sorry... I didn't want to have this happen... I... I just was worried that Spitter had really hurt you." Haxx honestly didn't know what else to say.

| Looking through her tear-filled eyes at the deep red raptor creature, Shirley couldn't help but feel bad for her outburst. Haxx, as he called himself, had an almost child-like innocence to his thoughts. Who knows... maybe he IS a child in whatever species or whatever this is. She tried to gather her composure to speak. "It's... it's okay... you meant well Haxx... *sniff*, I just... I just feel empty, and scared. I... just finished school and thought I'd have a career and... and... well, I just didn't think this would be how things ended up." She wiped at her eyes, and stared blankly ahead at nothing.

| The human's reassuring words did little to lift Haxx's spirit. He wished he hadn't ever ordered that pizza. The human had finished her schooling - could have had a god job and normal life. Oh... what have I done?! He sunk down in his chair, and hung his head in his clawed hands, putting on the same sorrowful display as the human. "I'm so sorry human."

| Moments passed, and Haxx sat with his head held low in his hands. He lived a life of solitude, forced to stay with his only kind and forced to do the bidding of his master. He hated it, and now he had brought another into the same life without even having thought of how horrible an alternative it would be. A sudden gentle touch on his clawed hand made him look up. The human was standing before him.

| "Please don't be like this. I... I don't want to be here, not like this, but you did do what you thought was right. Who knows, if you left me in that alley, unconscious, I could have been raped, beaten, or killed... I mean, it's maybe better that you did what you did." Shirley looked at the sad creature before her. Strangely enough, despite the menacing metal armour and tail that adorned his body, his sadness made it seem gentle. "M... my name is Shirley, by the way."

| Haxx blinked in surprise. He felt a little better, knowing at least that she didn't hate him. "Shirley? That's... that's a neat name." He looked down by his feet, and saw the steaming bowl of water he had been soaking them in just moments before. He smiled a little and pointed with his claw. "I know something that might make you feel better... I think. I always soak my feet in hot water. It makes me feel warmer, and keeps them nice looking."

| Shirley couldn't help but laugh - a raptor concerned with personal hygiene! She looked at his feet, as she did. They were quite large compared to hers, but then so was he. They had two neat white claws that capped each dark red toe, and then two other white claws... one on the inside of each foot, and one at the rear of the heal. She thought a moment Darn... what's the one on the inside called again... and thought about the dinosaur part of her studies. Most of it had been based around modern animals, but then the past always makes an impression on the present, so they had taken some time to study dinosaurs as well. Hallux! That's it. Well, they are nice looking, for a dino I guess. "I see. They’re very nice Haxx. It sounds inviting, but what if Badrap comes back in… I don’t think he’d be very happy if he saw me relaxing." She sighed, and leaned on the table just before Haxx. "So what can I do where he’d think I was helping?"

| The question made Haxx think for a bit. Shirley was right - if she was seen doing anything that wasn’t productive for them, he would surely kill her, still, he wanted her to relax and feel better. "I know… K… this will sound weird, but I think it might work. If you sit at the foot of my bed, you can put the bowl of nice hot water by your feet and soak them there, then I’ll lie on the bed and you can act like you’re rubbing my feet or something if Badrap or Spitter comes by. That way they’ll think you’re doing something!"

| The plan was almost child-like in its simplicity, but then so was Haxx for as much as Shirley knew him. She still wanted to get out of it all as much as possible, but until the chance came, what else could she do. "That sounds fine, I guess."

| Haxx grinned wide and brought the steaming bowl of water to the foot of his bed, as well as a chair for Shirley, then plunked himself on the bed top. Shirley slowly went over to him and sat down. She reached down and popped off her sandals, looking at her feet. She had always believed in keeping them nice too… that much she could at least understand about Haxx, though she wasn’t quite sure why a dinosaur hybrid would be so concerned with his own. She slipped her toes into the steamy soapy water, then the rest of her foot. It was nice, that’s for sure, although she wasn’t sure she could really appreciate it much, given the circumstances. When she looked up, Haxx’s soles were pointed at her and he was looking along his length to her, smiling.

| "See… it’s really nice, isn’t it?" Haxx grinned down at her, and wiggled his toes a bit.

| "Yes… um… very soothing." Shirley slowly reached up and placed her thumbs at the base of the heel on Haxx’s left foot. "I’ll umm… start rubbing them, I guess."

| A sudden feeling of guilt raced along Haxx again. "Oh, well, that’s okay Shirley - you only have to if Badrap or Spitter come in… you know, just so they think you’re doing something."

| Shirley smiled and started circling her thumbs around on Haxx’s heel - just about the hallux. "Nah… it’s okay Haxx - I don’t mind. I thought about becoming a masseuse for a while, but zoology won out over it. I’m still pretty good at it though."

| The raptor let out a soft groan. Never in his life had anyone even looked at his feet, let alone rubbed them! The feeling was incredible, and he closed his eyes to enjoy it. "Ooooooo wow… that feels really good!" He let out a long sigh, then continued. "So what’s zoology?"

| "The study of animals and their environment." Shirley continued rubbing, moving her thumbs slowly upward as she went along the scaly sole. Looking at Haxx’s tranquil reaction she let out a snicker "Sheesh… you don’t get this kind of pampering often, do you?" He shook his head and let out another blissful moan. "I guess not. Anyway, I study animals, their characteristics and their environment, or did anyway." She looked sadly down at the scaly sole before her, then back up at Haxx, who’s eyes were half closed. "I thought I would have a career in it - mostly on research… but… I guess it’s not going to happen now. Not that I was having much luck as it was."

| Much as he did honest want to listen to what Shirley was saying, the words were getting hard to concentrate on as her massage reached the top of his foot. She rubbed along the ball of his scaly sole, then arched outward to each of his toes. "Ooommmm… I…I’m sorry Shirley, it’s hard to concentrate with you rubbing my foot like that. I never knew it could feel so good!" He wiggled his toes back and forth happily.

| Despite her ill situation, Shirley laughed and poked his scaly sole, watching with a grin as his toes wiggled for her. It was overwhelmingly odd to her that so much had happened in the span of less than an hour, and she had landed herself amongst violent mutations of a species long since gone… except for Haxx. There he sat, lulled by a foot massage… happy that someone was paying attention to his feet, which for some reason he cared for very much. As the wiggles of the giant toes finished, she returned to her rubbing, admiring the flowing pattern of his scales. "Wow… how come I never had this much luck with friends?"

| Haxx tried to picture the same experience with a human. "Maybe they take didn’t take care of their feet and claws properly. Mine stay pretty soft ‘cause I take care of the scales."

| "Ha ha… we don’t have claws Haxx, just nails.’ He was right about caring for his a lot though, Shirley thought. His scales were nearly picture perfect. She wondered if the soaps he used had a hydrating agent that worked particularly well for reptile skin. Almost as second nature, she started to think about the chemical combinations that would accomplish it. After a moment she shook her head as if to return to the task at hand. "Well they certainly are nice - you’re very fastidious about your body, it seems."

| "Fasssstiide… what?" Haxx suddenly bore a very confused look.

| Shirley giggled, now seeming more at ease with her new surroundings. "It means that you are very concerned about it… choosy… fussy… you know? I’m like that too actually. The way I figure it, you only have one body to live life with, so it needs to be taken care of, right?"

| The human shifted to Haxx’s other foot, and he wiggled his toes for her as if to encourage her efforts. He grinned happily because it seemed like someone finally understood how he felt about taking care of himself… even if it was a human. "I know! That’s sorta what I say all the time, but no one cares here ‘xcept me. Badrap is always too busy with his plans to bother with his body let alone his feet, and then there’s Spitter, who rarely even bothers to take his boots off. At least the boots protect the scales of his feet, since he doesn’t soak them or anything."

| It was hard not to snicker. Shirley couldn’t believe how, in amidst the chaotic situation, Haxx had such a wonderfully pure mind. She nodded in agreement to what he had said, and kept up her rubbing. It was only a moment before his eyes were only half open again. She found herself thinking back to the ally, and what had happened. A bit of it was coming back to her now. She remembered turning around and seeing Haxx and Spitter standing there. Haxx was the one that spoke, she was sure of that. In a way she felt bad because he had spoken softly… not threateningly, but she had overreacted. She also remembered the look of horror on his face as Spitter rushed her… it was the last image in her memory of the ally. "Haxx?" The eyes of the raptor, nearly closed now, opened a little as he tried to focus on her. "I was thinking… maybe I could do this. I mean, be the one that takes care of you, and this place. I don’t exactly like house work, but, at least I would look like I’m doing something, and it would give me a reason to come back with you when I was done. I… I don’t want to have to answer to the others unless I have to."

| Nodding in his groggy state, Haxx agreed. "Yeah… they’re too mean all the time. I’d worry if you did." Suddenly Haxx shook off his grogginess and regarded her. "Hey wait… you’d take care of me? Why?"

| Sadly, Shirley sat back and looked in Haxx’s eyes. "I can’t go anywhere… that Badrap would kill me… and probably enjoy doing it. I don’t really want to be here Haxx, but I am, and you saved my life instead of leaving me for dead in that ally. If all I have to do is look after your handsome body and its home, I think I can at least live with that."

| The crimson raptor blinked in surprise. "You… you think I’m handsome?"

| For a moment, Shirley was at a loss of words. Handsome? Why did I…well… he sort of is I guess… in a powerful sort of way. "Umm… well, yeah… you are. Your feet are cute too… I mean, umm… well you take such good care of them." For reasons she didn’t know, she turned red and looked away from Haxx.

| Now Haxx was truly baffled. Cute? Me? She likes the way I look??? Wow… neat… it took a human to appreciate all that effort! Ha… take that Badrap - she thinks MY toes and claws are cute! He flayed his toes for her and then scrunched them against his soles. "Errr, thanks. Umm… anyway, I think that would work… as long as you’re not in the way, and doing something, Badrap won’t freak out."

| Later that first night, Haxx proudly told Badrap of Shirley’s plans. For the most part, he really didn’t seem to care, but he did mention that he would be watching her, and that he failed to see why she needed to spend time caring for Haxx. He did allow in the end though, only because he though it was demeaning work befitting of a lowly human.

***

| As the days wore into weeks, Shirley adjusted well to the new environment. She still wished that she could leave and live a normal life, but already she considered Haxx a friend whom she would miss very much if they parted company. The crimson coloured raptor had a thirst for knowledge. Badrap never thought so but she realized it was because Haxx wasn’t interested in the ridiculous schemes that the dino-lord… or whatever he was, was always trying to think up. Haxx wanted useful and interesting knowledge, so she did her best to share hers with him. Several times a day, they would sit down and talk about things - nearly every subject she could name, though he liked the study of his ancestors the best.

| "So the Utahraptor could beat anything - even a Tyrannosaurus, right!?" Haxx lay on his stomach, looking at a picture Shirley had drawn of both Dinosaurs.

| Lying beside him, Shirley shook her head. "Nope and nope. Remember, Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for over 160 million years, BUT, not all at the same time! Utahraptors were around in the Jurassic era, Tyranno’s in the Cretaceous. Even if they were, the Tyrannosaurus was a MUCH bigger beast… he would almost be able to eat poor Utahraptor in one gulp!"

| "Whoa… lucky for the raptor he didn’t ever meet up with one!" Haxx grinned, tracing Shirley’s drawing with the tip of his finger-claw. He was really beginning to enjoy having Shirley around, though part of him was still filled with guilt over the responsibility of confining her with them. At least she tried to make the best of it, as did he. One night, he even tried to give her a massage back, but had trouble with his clawed hands and her tiny human feet and toes. Even though it didn’t work out very well, Shirley said the thoughtfulness of it was heart-warming enough. Haxx stared at his claw, thinking back to his attempts the other night. I just need practice. Ooooo… hey, maybe she’d be up to giving me one of those neat foot rubs now! "Hey Shirley… when we’re done, can I have another foot rub… please?!"

| "Another one!? Jeez Haxx… that’s the third one today. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that likes them so much!" Shirley picked up the book and closed it, setting on Haxx’s little table. "Well, there’s not much point in trying to continue if you’re thinking of your feet again. I already know what THAT does to your mind."

| "Soooooooo? I can’t help it!" Haxx sat up a bit and spun around, which caused his metal tail to make a creak along the ceramic tile. He laid back, tale to one side, and hips twisted to make his feet as easy to get at for Shirley as possible. "Besides, you seem to like it as much as I do - YOU asked the last time!"

| Oddly enough, he was right. Earlier that afternoon, Shirley had a burning urge to see Haxx’s feet again up close… especially his perfect scaly soles. It had been that way since the second day. For some reason, they were just… neat, or at least that’s what she thought at first, but they were definitely becoming more than that. The night before, she had actually been quite fixed on them. Nothing in any of her education seemed to be able to classify why and how she was feeling that way… at least not yet. Still, she couldn’t help herself… she just wanted to see them again. She smiled down at him, and he flayed his toes in response. "Ha… yeah, I suppose… I DID ask. I don’t know Haxx… I just like them… they’re… ahh… neat, I guess." Oh blah… that sounded like a two year old giving a speech. "Arg… that sounded stupid, I mean I enjoy massaging them AND admiring them Haxx… I’m not sure why, but I really do."

| The big raptor was stunned again. He wasn’t any more sure of why than she was, but he was definitely excited that she did! "It didn’t sound stupid… it was nice. It’s also nice to have someone appreciate them besides myself."

| Pointing to a spot just in front of Haxx, Shirley prepared to seat herself. Haxx lifted his feet back momentarily, then plunked them back in her lap, wiggling his toes for her, making the big white claws of each dance back and forth in the air. Shirley laughed and watched, quite absorbed by the motion. As he did, she could see the scaly skin stretch and contract between his toes, making for quite the show. There was definitely something about them… something beautiful… something arousing. Oh my god… that’s what it is! The realization hit Shirley like the shock wave of a bomb - she liked them because they were a turn on, in a strange and unexplainable way! Suddenly, a lot of thoughts started filling her head - why she was so fascinated with Dinosaurs… why she stared so much at the cheesy American Godzilla film. What the hell…reptile feet??? She started thinking why on Earth she hadn’t come to the realization earlier… and wondered if it had just been the oddity of the result that had prevented its appraisal. She looked down again at his feet, now sitting still and waiting for her. She smiled slightly, and leaned closer, asking Haxx "Umm… would you flay your toes for me up close… please."

| Not exactly sure why, but glad to be admired so, Haxx nodded and slowly gave his two great toes a long flaying. For some reason, Shirley let out a short gasp of breath, and didn’t take her eyes from his toes. "You okay?"

| "Y... yeah… though I think I just realized something I should really tell you." Shirley looked up at him bashfully, and wondered how she could hope to word it for him.

| The door to Haxx’s room banged open, and in the door frame stood Spitter, bearing a new nozzle machine. "Hey idiot… check this out…" He tapped a button by his wrist, and the nozzle by his mouth fired off green ooze that spattered along the wall. At first, it seemed like it just absorbed into the plaster, but after another moment, the plaster fell away like jelly and splattered on the floor, leaving the naked brick wall that had been behind it. "Now, imagine getting a human with that, hmmm?" He turned his eyes wickedly to Shirley and grinned.

| Haxx growled "If you ever tried Spitter, I swear I’d…"

| "Cry, I’m sure. Oh relax, I’m just joking - I wouldn’t want give her such a quick way out this place. Besides, she seems to make a good little foot slave… whatever good that is." Spitter walked casually over to Haxx’s bed and flopped down on it. Looking over to them he laughed "What’s it like? Nice?"

| "Never mind… you wouldn’t care… get out of my room." Haxx rose and made motion to head to the bed when Spitter laughed again and spoke.

| "Ah ah ah… lord Badrap ASKED me to come in here and check on things… see if there’s anything I or he needs from the human thing." He looked down the length of his body to his feet and back at Haxx. "And I think I need a foot rub… you can always go ask Badrap if you disagree…"

| Growling deeply, Haxx clenched his fists, and stood motionless for a moment. Shirley looked up at him and placed her arm about him softly. "It’s okay Haxx… I’m supposed to, remember? It’ll be okay."

| Begrudgingly, Haxx stepped aside and let Shirley go to the foot of the bed. She looked at Spitter’s feet, which were much like Haxx’s minus the hallux on the inner side, and asked him to take off his boots. Boot really wasn’t the correct term either… they were more like a thick covering of some sort that wrapped tightly about his feet, but had holes for his claws to poke through. He grunted and sat up to take them off for her. He laid them next the bed and reclined again, holding up a foot for her. Shirley winced slightly, noting that, unlike the light sweet musty scent that Haxx’s had, these were a little more powerful; actually, a lot more powerful. The strange thing was, part of her thought it was as nice as the other part of her thought it was unbearable! She wondered if her mind would ever sort through her feelings about her newfound views. She reached up, and began at his heel, just about the hallux. His scales were clammy because of the boots, but she did her best to ignore it, and continued.

| Spitter sighed and reclined, trying to relax. It felt good, though he wasn’t sure how Haxx found the patience to have it done so often. He watched from his reclined position as the human rhythmically moved her thumbs along his sole. She seemed to be very fixed on her work, though she bore a winced look upon her face. He smiled, realizing that from his view point, she looked like a little bug to step on. Laughing, he lifted his foot and pressed it against her face, then held it there with the word "Stomp!"

| "Spitter! You’re supposed to just lay there!" Haxx cursed from behind Shirley, where he had seated himself.

| To Shirley, it was as if the world suddenly existed in the tiny area of her head. The cool scaly sole nearly completely covered her face. Her nose was wedged between his two toes, and was taking in the repulsive yet alluring odour in full force. Not yet quite sure she liked it, she winced, and grunted something intangible. Haxx huffed and reached out, pulling Spitter’s foot off. "If you just going to be stupid, go do it in your own room Spitter."

| Spitter flayed his toes slightly and huffed back, acting like quite the child. "Fine fine… I have other things I need to do anyway." He sat up and slid his boots (or whatever they were) back on, and got off the bed. "Not bad human, perhaps Badrap might like that at some point, if he doesn’t trample you to death for fun, anyway."

| "Spitter!" Haxx roared, and Spitter dashed out of the room with a snicker. Haxx turned to Shirley and growled. "I hate him. He’s worse than Badrap sometimes."

| Shirley rose to her feet, the scent of Spitter’s scaly soles still lingering in her nostrils. "Why do you put up with them then?"

| That was a question that Haxx had asked himself many times, only, the answers were all too clear. "I don’t think I have a choice. There aren’t any others like me, and Badrap is a lot bigger and stronger than either of us. If we don’t listen, we get punished." He walked over to his bed and flopped down on his side. "Besides, where would I go? Besides you, there’s not a human out there that would like me, right?"

| Looking down at his feet, resting peacefully at the base of the bed, Shirley smiled. Like him…oh shoot… I didn’t get to tell him. "Ummm… Haxx, that reminds me. Before Spitter came in I was going to tell you that… well, you know how I like giving you the foot massages and all? And how I think your feet are sorta cute?" Haxx nodded, bearing a puzzled look. "Well… I really like them… I mean, I think they’re… oh god I can’t say it!"

| Raising a brow, Haxx leaned up on one arm. "Why not? I’m glad you like them… I do too!"

| "Ohhh… well, I don’t think it’s in the same way Haxx." Shirley was turning a gleaming red. "I mean, I find them… well, kind of a turn on." Shirley’s eyes dropped to her own feet in embarrassment and the next words from her flowed quickly. "Oh god Haxx, I’m sorry I said that but I do - I don’t why I do, but they’re so… so… shit… I don’t even know why I like them so much! I first thought it was just the stress of everything, then it got worse, and now they… they make me… oh god I can’t believe I’m sitting her and…"

| Haxx placed a clawed finger over her lips. "Shhhhhh. The others will think something’s wrong with you talking all freaky-like!" He lay back again and smiled. "So you like them about as much as anyone could! I don’t mind… it’s actually kind of flattering that someone likes my feet even more than I do!" He flayed his toes for her with a wry grin.

| In answer to the flaying, Shirley grinned and relaxed a bit. "I don’t know what’s wrong with me Haxx… I don’t know why I do, I just do."

| "Bah… who says there’s anything wrong. I wish others thought that way." Haxx plopped his head back on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling, then shifted his eyes down to Shirley. "So… did you like Spitter’s too?"

| Suddenly the memories of that smell were back again. "Blah… not as much. For some reason, the thoughts of any of them are nice, but his weren’t anything like yours. They were clammy and, well, really smelled." She shivered. "Besides, he didn’t even like my massage!"

| Feeling more secure than ever Haxx grinned broadly. "Yeah… they sure did… yuck. That’s what he gets for never taking care of them! He doesn’t have a nice inner hallux on his foot either… ha!" Haxx lifted one foot for Shirley to show off the inner hallux.

| Laughing softly, she reached up and grabbed the inner hallux as well as the one at his heel. "Yeah… yours are WAY cuter. She leaned forward and touched her nose to the scaly sole. She slid it slowly up along his sole until it rested lightly between his toes, sniffing steadily all the while. She pulled back and nodded with a bashful, but factual look "Yours smell nice too."

| Now Haxx was truly flattered. He had loved the way his feet looked from the time he was old enough to remember, but to now have another like them even more... even the scent - it was the biggest fluke in a companion he could have ever hoped for! "Err... wow... glad you like them!"

| The fading light of that day gave quickly to night, and after a round of some chores, Shirley returned to Haxx's room, and gave him a very long, very lovely, foot rub - sniffing included. Haxx had fallen asleep even before she could finish, though it didn't deter Shirley from her task - in fact, in his restfulness, it even gave her the idea to lick along one of the toes, gently and with haste, just because she couldn't help herself!

***

| As more days followed, Shirley discovered yet another place amongst the odd raptor bunch. Her knowledge of animals, brought to Badrap's attention by Haxx (after quite a few prodding attempts) was being put to good use finding ways to make the cold-blooded raptor hybrids more comfortable. She pointed out ways of heating their bodies, and controlling their environments in ways they had never thought of. Mean while, between chores, she also kept up with Haxx's lessons. Haxx was an avid learner, and was packing away knowledge as quickly as Shirley could bestow it upon him. His child-like pleasantness never faded though, nor his desire for scale-care. Though most of that was spent on his feet, Shirley also took careful care of his body, washing and scrubbing and always keeping it looking its best. The thing she found most humorous was using soap and herbs with things like chrome polish for his metal parts.

| Oddly enough, Shirley’s emerging talent bothered Spitter immensely. He suddenly felt his place as the tinkerer had been offset by some human thing that he kept cursing himself for not killing. He waited until Shirley was cleaning away the remnants of the morning's meal from Badrap's main table, and subtly began a conversation about getting a nice long pampering... and how nice it would be. Naturally, Shirley’s name was thrown into the suggestions within moments, and the seed was planted. Soon after, Badrap stopped Shirley’s usual chores and pointed to his feet. "So, human, it seems you have a lot of uses. Spitter tells me you're a good pamperer - I could use something like that once and a while. Get over here and do whatever it is you do... NOW!"

| Caught off guard, Shirley blinked in a surprise a moment, then looked up at Haxx, who bore the same look of astonishment. He quickly nodded to her as if to say not to delay, and she begrudgingly went to the big chair of the disgruntled raptor leader.

| Badrap kicked his feet up onto a chair before her and flexed his toes. "Well, hurry it up human!" He fixed his irritated gaze on Shirley as she knelt before the chair, and positioned his first foot with her hands.

| The pair of feet before her were larger than Haxx’s, and had a hallux on the heel and both sides of the foot. Shirley ran her eyes over them from top to bottom and everywhere in between - they were spectacular! Only two things subtracted from what would have made them perfect - they were very dirty and really didn’t look very well cared for… obviously Badrap didn’t see anything in them, just like Spitter. She began as she always had, pressing her thumbs against the big heel of Baprap’s foot, and began rotating them about, pressing down fairly hard against the tough scales. Slowly she started working her way up, trying her best not to do a poor job of it, considering her client.

| The bitter raptor leader reclined a little and sighed. "Ahh… this is a nice feeling, isn’t it Spitter?"

| Spitter was surprised… part of him was hoping that Badrap would find it less interesting than he did, and punish the human for wasting his time. Instead, the crazed leader seemed to enjoy it. "Umm… right sir, very nice."

| The slow circles upwards with her thumbs was coming close to hurting Shirley’s hands because she had to press harder than usual against the touch, uncared for, scales. Slowly upwards her thumbs travelled, until they had reached the ball of his foot, where she started to spread them out in each direction. Unlike Haxx’s feet, she could barely see the skin flex along his foot and by this claws, but it was still quite the sight to behold. As her hands finished the ball of the giant clawed foot, she moved her hands to work on Badrap’s toes. She gripped each and started to use her thumb and fingers in an alternating squeeze pattern to massage the length of them. As she did, she subtly moved them apart more, watching the golden brown skin between Badrap’s toes flex slightly. She hid her smile, and continued.

| Trying not to worry, Haxx looked on, nervously hoping that Shirley wouldn’t have to do this for much longer. He knew that she would like what she saw, and for that he was happy, but also knew the consequences of Badrap’s mood swings. He wished that it had been like any other night, where Shirley would have come back to his room with him, and taught him some more cool things after a nice long foot rub. Oh man… please don’t do anything Badrap.

| The pampering, whatever it was called, was relaxing, though Badrap couldn’t help his mind from wandering to dozen other concerns. He looked down at Shirley, watching her with a wicked grin. This is how I wish I could see ALL humans before me….ha… much more fitting. He laughed in a low tone, holding his wicked gaze on Shirley. "The other one now, come on!"

| Caught off guard again, and in mid stare at the scaly toes, Shirley nodded quickly and moved her efforts to the other foot. She started again from the bottom, and began working slowly up the golden brown scales. This time, she stopped midway to rub her hands out along the two side halluxes. Her efforts produced another happy sigh from the bitter raptor leader, and she felt a little more at ease again. Back to the centre her thumbs came, moving slowly up again, until they reached the ball of his foot, and they branched out as before, circling again and again along the rough scales. Little by little, they worked along the scaly sole, while Shirley watched them happily. Again she came to the toes, and gripped each as before. Back and forth her fingers and thumb pulsed, moving the toes in a synchronous rhythm, causing the wonderful scales between his toes to move ever so slightly. Hiding her smile was becoming more difficult by the second.

| Unfortunately, her smile had not gone unnoticed this time. Badrap frowned, wondering what could be so amusing to the human. With one quick motion, he raised the foot she had finished, and gripped the top of her head with his big toes, and pulled her face down hard into the other foot, wedging her nose tightly between his toe toes. "Perhaps you won’t find suffocation quite as enjoyable, hmmm?"

| Haxx gasped in surprise while Spitter dawned a devilish grin. No one was more shocked than Shirley, who went absolutely still, held firmly by the powerful grip of Badrap’s feet. As she tried to take in a breath, she could only manage a tiny wisp of air from her nose, which bore the heavy scent of the raptor’s toes. Part of her became suddenly aroused, but not as much as she was becoming scared. The wisps of air were barely more than enough to smell the scaly skin beneath her nose, and her lungs were already burning for oxygen. She squirmed and tried to yell for Haxx, but she could do neither with the tight grip of Badrap’s feet on her.

| "I wonder how long a human can hold its breath." Spitter chuckled. "I suppose we’ll know shortly."

| "Badrap! You… you can’t… she helped us!" Haxx cried out desperately. He kept shooting his eyes back and forth from Shirley to Badrap… frozen in place and unsure what to do about it. Spitter, meanwhile, only looked on with a curious grin.

| Looking down the length of his legs at the helpless human, Badrap sighed. "I suppose she is helpful to have about." He lifted one foot from her head, and flung her back with the other. Shirley landed several paces away, choking for breath. "But I do still think she needs to learn to keep focused on a task instead of letting her mind drift to whatever happy thoughts she was having. What to do, what to do…" Badrap clanked his metal jaws together menacingly as he thought. "Come back to my feet human, and kneel there." Still gasping for breath, Shirley didn’t hesitate, and knelt before the massive feet. "Good… now clean them."

| With a meek look up at the raptor, Shirley spoke in a broken voice. "But… I’ll need to get some water, and a…"

| "Water!? Hahaha!" Badrap laughed deeply and grinned back down at the human. "You can use your tongue, human."

| Again Haxx gasped. He looked down at Badrap’s soles. They were filthy - covered in grime, dust, and whatever else had gathered about their makeshift home. He rarely washed them, and Shirley had just finished teaching him about hygiene and germs the other day. "Umm… master… sir…."

| "WHAT!?" Badrap roared.

| "I don’t think that would be very good for her, considering how dirty your toe claws are sir. I mean, it would teach her a lesson I’m sure, but she could get sick, and then we would need to care for her." Haxx pointed at a particularly dirty spot on Badrap’s sole, while Spitter let out an audible groan.

| Badrap looked at Shirley then back to Haxx "Care for her? RAHHHH! Never!" He looked back to Shirley and kicked out again, sending her on her butt with a push from his scaly sole. "Fine… if you think mine are unclean, then she can do it to yours instead - you’re obsessed with keeping yourself all sparkling. HUMAN, go to Haxx and you had better do as good a job as if it were me before you, understand?"

| Shirley did her best to look horrified and frightened, when in reality she was stifling a grateful laugh. She went slowly over to Haxx, trying to look like she was hesitating, and didn’t smile until she completely faced him, and the others couldn’t see her face. Haxx himself flashed a quick wink to her, without the others noticing, and did his best not to smile happily. He sat down on one of the chairs, and Shirley knelt down before him. He lifted a crimson-scaled foot to her, and she reached out, holding it gently before her. Haxx tried a to put on a wicked grin and said "Well come on, lets have it" and wiggled his toes before her.

| Smiling as subtly as she could, Shirley watched the perfect scales flex and stretch before her as the two toes with their great white claws wiggled back and forth. She lowered her lips to his heel, and as carefully as she could, hoping the others wouldn’t notice, she kissed his heel, then began to lick along the scaly heel from the bottom, working her way slowly up in a wavy pattern.

| The kiss was something of a surprise to Haxx, but a very nice one. He felt a shiver traverse his body from end to end as Shirley’s tongue started sweeping its wavy pattern upwards. He couldn’t help but let out a blissful moan, and recline completely at the sensational feeling of Shirley’s tongue on his soft scales. He did his best not to look as if he were happy for her - glad that she had been told to do it to him rather than to Badrap. After a few moments, he put on his best stern look and spoke out in a gruff voice "Good… very good - I trust we’re enjoying it, hmm?"

| Trying not to grin ear to ear at Haxx’s playful acting was almost impossible, still, Shirley put on a look of horror and shook her head. All the while though, her eyes didn’t leave the crimson coloured scales before her. Haxx’s heel glistened with moisture half way up his beautiful foot. The taste was even something that Shirley found she liked! The sweet musty sort of odour that they had produced a taste that was a strange blend of sweetness and a bitter saltiness.

| Uproarish laughter sounded from Badrap, who found the human’s punishment thoroughly entertaining. "Don’t like it eh? That’s terrible… so very horrid, isn’t it Haxx?" Again Haxx tried to look stern and nodded. Badrap grinned wickedly "Much to your dismay human, you are only half done one of two feet - I would keep going and stop complaining, if I were you."

| Oh god… like he has to encourage me! Shirley looked from Badrap back to the scaly foot in front of her. Haxx let out a playful growl (although the others thought it unpleasant encouragement), and flayed his toes for Shirley. She let out a tiny gasp and lowered her lips to his foot again, starting her tongue midway up, using the same gradual wavy pattern to creep up along his clawed foot. As she approached the ball of his foot, and his wonderful toes and claws, she could really feel her arousal rising. She still hadn’t a clue why should found the scaly feet so incredible, but there was certainly no denying it was so. As she reached his toes, she swept her tongue along their base, then gently between them amongst the soft and flexible scales. The taste and smell were at their best here, she noticed, and she closed her eyes to enjoy it without distraction. She couldn’t help but let out a tiny moan, and the others laughed - mistaking it for a pitiful moan of displeasure (not having had any experience with humans).

| As she reached the top of one toe, Shirley pulled it towards her slightly, pointing the claw at her mouth, and slowly slid it in, all the way down to where the scales of Haxx’s toe met the base of the claw. Here, she closed her lips about it, and tapped the tip of her tongue along the base scales, much to Haxx’s pleasure. The same treatment was visited upon the other toe, and then she moved onto the second foot, after a quick dramatic pause to pretend to hope for them to say it was enough. Luckily, no one did, so she began at the heel of the second foot. Although she did her best to look disgusted at her task, her body ached with arousal, and it was everything she could do just to hide it from the others.

| Even Haxx was having a hard time now showing his pleasure. Shirley’s pampering was beyond words, and he did his best to try and look stern instead of bursting into a dopey grin. He hoped that Badrap and Spitter would remain convinced that Shirley was horrified at her task, for if they knew she were enjoying it… he didn’t even want to think what Badrap would do. The thought of the consequences was sobering enough to keep his mind on making himself look stern and half amused.

| In a short time, Shirley had worked her way up along Haxx’s second foot, stopping only momentarily to wet her tongue, and catch a wonderful view of the glistening scales before her. As she reached the ball of his foot, Haxx decided to play up his role all the more, and clenched her face with the foot she was busy with. He wedged her nose perfectly between his toes, placing her nostrils on the soft scales in between them, while he used his other foot to clasp the back of her head and pull it forward into the foot on her face. He strained, making it look as if he were using a lot of pressure to perform the action, when in reality he was doing his best to be gentle with her. "Don’t pause so long! Do you forget your task?"

| The move came as a surprise to Shirley, but a wonderful one at that. As Haxx’s foot came up, and her nose was pressed between his toes, Shirley’s arousal soared. The wonderful scent was so strong, and the soft scales that boar it rested gently at the base of her nostrils. She closed her eyes, and took a long breath in just to sample it. As she slowly opened them, she heard Haxx’s words, and shook her head as his toes flayed slightly on her face. It was too much to bear - too wonderful! She let out a waling moan as her body went into an orgasm, and fell forward as Haxx moved his foot, catching herself on one arm in a sea of shivers and convulsions.

| Badrap and Spitter looked out with amused interest. Badrap laughed wickedly and pointed, mistaking Shirley’s moans of pleasure for moans of torture "Look at how much she loathes it! HA! Most amusing - I shall have to remember how humbling this is for the human, and use it often." He laughed again and waved his hand at Haxx and Shirley. "I need to stretch my limbs on the roof top for a while. When she is finished, make sure she still does her other chores - and Haxx… perhaps this human wasn’t as bad an idea as I had first thought." With that, he left for the upper levels, heading towards a small obstacle course they had created on the roof for exercise.

| Shirley had ever intension of finishing, after she had regained her composure, that is. She finished the second wonderful foot, and returned with Haxx to his room afterwards. The door shut quietly behind him, and as Haxx turned, Shirley leapt up and hugged him tight. "Arg… what was that for?"

| "For everything, I guess. For saving me from having to lick that crud off of Badrap’s feet, and… well… for letting me do it to yours. My god Haxx… it was amazing… I don’t know why but I thought the whole time that…"

| Haxx laughed and placed a finger on her lips. "I know… you weren’t the only one enjoying it, you know. Umm… though I think you enjoyed it a bit more than I in the end."

| The remark made Shirley turn red with embarrassment. "Yeah... ah… I’m sorry Haxx… I couldn’t help it! I didn’t think you’d just put your toes up on me like that…"

| Smiling gently, Haxx hugged her tight, feeling luckier than ever to have such a wonderful human companion. He felt a great many things for her that he wasn’t sure about - feelings he’d never felt before, but feelings that felt wonderful. One thing bothered him though - Spitter had purposely instigated the events that morning, or at least he thought so. "Shirley… do you think Spitter was trying to get you in trouble this morning?"

| "Well duh… I think he wants nothing more than to see me torn to pieces by Badrap. I think he knows about you and I too. Moreover, since I started giving suggestions about warming and stuff to Badrap, he really started to get nasty." Shirley walked over and flopped down on Haxx’s bed with a sad look. "I think he’ll end up trying anything to get rid of me."

| Haxx let out a soft growl, enraged by the idea that Spitter was acting like a scorned child - and especially enraged at his intent to hurt Shirley. "No he won’t." Haxx turned and left, closing the door behind him. He marched straight down the hall to Spitter’s room, and barged in through the open door. "Spitter!"

| Looking up from some contraption he was tinkering with, Spitter smiled back with a wry grin. "Oh look, it’s the idiot. What do you want, or did you lose you way to your room or something?"

| With lightning agility, Haxx rushed forward and grabbed Spitter by the throat, slamming him against the wall. He held him firmly in place, speaking in a low voice "I don’t care what you do or say to me but if you ever threaten Shirley’s life again, it will be the end of yours!" He let go and Spitter slumped to the floor with a growl.

| "Who do you think you are threatening ME! I should take that frail human of yours and see how many times I can rip my claws along her before she…"

| *TWANG* Spitter flew back hard against the wall as Haxx’s metal tail spun around and caught him along the side of his head, gashing it deeply. Haxx stood over the stunned raptor and growled "Go ahead and try Spitter."

| Looking up with shock in his eyes, Spitter clutched the gash in his face, then stormed out of the room, heading for Badrap. Haxx turned and slowly walked back to his room - back to his friend.

| The door to the roof entrance burst open and Spitter dashed out, holding the side of his face. "Badrap! Haxx just…"

| "WHAT!?" growled the bitter leader. "I swear I cannot get a single HOUR of time without hearing of something from someone! What happened to your face?"

| Spitter took his clawed hand away, covered in blood now, to show Badrap the wound. "It was Haxx - he hit me after telling me that…"

| "Haxx hit you?" Badrap interrupted. "HAHAHA! Good! I was hoping he’d one day realize his potential. And what are you whining about!? You can’t take a little cut on the cheek without coming to cry to me? GET OUT OF MY SITE!!"

| Shocked and dismayed, Spitter slunk back down to his room to tend his cut, ultimately having been defeated by his own doings.

| In Haxx’s room, the two friends had shifted places, and Haxx’s feet hung over the bed for Shirley. Rather than massage them, she was just sitting and staring happily at them. "You know, as much as I thought I’d hate being here, I couldn’t imagine not knowing you now."

| The crimson coloured raptor grinned and nodded subtly. "Me neither. My life seemed so empty before, but now I feel… I don’t know - I feel really good!" He flayed his toes, watching her eyes widen slightly in response. "At least we know that we’re going to enjoy our times now, heh, especially if you get punished again." Haxx grinned down at her wryly.

| Answering back with an equally devious grin, Shirley leaned down and kissed the toe of one of Haxx’s feet. "Why wait..."