"Riii~iick." She spoke, licking her lips and reaching up with her paw-hands towards you. "Sex?"

You bite your lip slightly, hiding the complicated expression that would've emerged otherwise. Slowly you shake your head. "No Monica, no sex."

Pouting, the woman was about to say something else, but got startled when the lizard abruptly started trashing beneath her again.

"Saaaaaaah!" The girl squirmed, struggling with renewed energy.

It's now that you're closer that you notice something... off. Her torso had multiple scars, but they were purple, the stains of the grape's juice staining the whole of her breasts and stomach. Your eyes widen abruptly, very certain those scars had been still-bleeding cuts and scratches not ten minutes ago.

Your mind remembered the purple scars on the mouse-girl...

"No." Monica stated firmly, her paw came down against the lizard's chest and pinned her to the ground with such power the weaker one gasped and went still, struggling to breathe, her hands trying to claw at Monica's paw, but clearly not managing to do anything.

You close your eyes in concentration, you might have averted the immediate danger but the matter of fact was that you weren't out of the woods yet. In either sense. How could you fix this? She had to learn, but... what? That she shouldn't eat others? You couldn't tell her that with an honest heart. You hated the idea of eating others with every bit of your being, but at the same time understood she didn't have many alternatives if there was no other food to be had.

No alternative other than your group, that is.

No, for now... what you could hope to do was teach her not to kill this person and hope the berries could help buy time, civilization shouldn't be too far! "Monica? Sex." You declared after a second, seeing her attention shoot up with glee, but raising your hands right after. "Wait."

She pouted. "Wait? Nooooo." She whined, probably because the times you'd taught her to wait it had been for well over an hour.

You glanced towards where the others were, too aware of the kind of nerves they were under. "She's not going to die, but please don't come over." You declared, intent on fulfilling your word. Turning back towards the pouting Monica who was completely ignoring the pinned lizard girl, what you wanted was to convince Monica to consider her not-food.

And the feline only ever seemed to learn quickly when she enjoyed the experience.

Your brain was already spinning in circles, to be honest, everything just felt so surreal you weren't sure if you'd wake up any second now. "Sex her." You pointed at the lizard-girl as you began removing your shirt.

Monica glanced at the girl and shrugged, it didn't take her a second of hesitation to begin.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this." Taking a deep breath, you steeled yourself and approached. "Monica?" You called her, and when she raised her head in question you pulled her into a kiss.

Monica appeared quite clear on what she wanted and how.

"Monica, new word." It was the same thing that, as a group, everyone had agreed to use right before teaching her a new word. It was a signal that you were trying to transmit something new to her.

The woman had been quick to learn the meaning of "new word", quicker still to pay attention, but right? Her eyes practically shone as she regarded you, eager to learn.

"Bite." You took a bite from the last candy-bar, chewing and swallowing it. "Bite." You repeated, this time nibbling at the remains of the large grape though leaving it untouched. "Bite." You then leaned forwards and bit on her neck, soft and teasing.

Pulling back, you looked at her, waiting for her confirmation as to what it was she'd understood from you. "Bite?" Her eyes gleamed as she leaned forwards, taking your ear in her fangs with delicate ease and teasing you with her breath. "Bite?" She then leaned down and gently bit your shoulder, only scraping the skin and licking it the next instant. "Bite?" She then grasped the lizard's wriggling tail with her hands.

"No!" You hurriedly interrupted her.

Monica looked at you with a raised brow. "Rick?" She gasped, taking your mouth with hers. "Bite?" She then added, grabbing your tongue with her teeth, tugging it delicately and then letting go.

"Yes." You confirmed with a sigh, then offered the candy bar. "Bite?"

"Bite." She confirmed, taking all but the last corner in a single bite, chewing on it happily. "Rick!" She called your name abruptly. Leaning forward she placed her head in the nape of your neck while recovering her breath, gently licking the area and breathing hard. "Rick." She hotly whispered against your skin.

"Monica?" You called out, then pointed at the lizard. "No bite."

Your words caused her to blink slowly, as if incredulous. "No bite?" Another slow blink before she frowned, reached down for the lizard's long tail and pulled it up, glancing at it and then at you. "No bite?"

"No bite." A shake of your head.

The frown deepened, her eyes now turning to acknowledge the young girl and regarding her with the sort of look that you know would've put the fear of God in your body had it been aimed your way. Monica snorted loudly, a 'harumph' sound following as she dropped herself into a sitting position, her ass impacting against the reptilian woman's chest and causing the girl to groan, sputter, and cough for air. "No bite." She spoke with absolute contempt and dissatisfaction.

Then her expression lowered, her hand touched her knee. "Rick Bite." She declared and you had to balk at her for a moment. She was very clearly demanding compensation, wasn't she?

A heartbeat of consideration.

"Yes " You acknowledged her request after a moment, and her smile instantly grew thrice as big. Despite the expression, your biggest concern was the strength of those thighs and your skull making a bad combination.

As it turned out, she had a great deal of self-control in that regard.

Panting, you spot a heavily blushing Kat peeking at you from behind a tree and quickly hiding the instant she confirmed the cries had not been of someone being murdered.

Yes, it was precisely those kinds of noises that the feline had gotten out of you.

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"Rick." Monica kissed you one last time before standing up and languidly stretching herself. Her paws caressed the shirt she wore, nodding. Slowly, she walked towards the lizard and poked the reptile's thigh. "No bite." She called out glancing at you. With a loud snort, she then moved over towards where you figured the rest were, and after a yelp, you saw she'd snatched Alice. "Alice sex."

You can't quite see what happens next, only hearing some complaint before your sight begins to darken at the edges. You're just too exhausted, you've been burning through a lot of calories, this couldn't keep up much longer. Your eyes begin to close.

"Take your clothes off quickly if you don't want her to tear them out!" Kat's tone is fearful and urgent, not a hint of a joke in them.

You blearily groaned, trying to stand up but finding your arms failing you. Things were becoming blurred. Whether Monica went for someone else after Alice or not you couldn't tell, the emotions from having managed to save the lizard girl's life... even if temporarily... had come down crashing on you like an avalanche. You blacked out.

You really hoped this wasn't a mistake.

----------------------------------------

Waking up call came in the form of a very loud hissing sound that made your nerves tingle and your danger sense shoot through the roof. You quickly opened your eyes to the sight of Monica standing next to you and holding...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alarms rang in your mind as you looked around expecting there to be a bloodbath somewhere, especially since Monica was currently holding a still wriggling tail. But, much to your surprise, you find the source of the hissing to be the lizard girl looking quite alive and well and not bleeding to death. She was currently perched on a high branch two trees over and glaring at Monica as the feline looked back at the lizard with a smug look.

"Yes, that's her tail." Kat, bags under her eyes, spoke while taking a swing from her water.

"The others?" You asked.

She made a vague gesture, clearly looking very much exhausted.

Looking around, you noted Alice and Tomas were laying next to one another, seeming quite naked under the sheet that had been used to cover them. May was awake and next to them, seated on the ground with her knees against her chest and just gazing at Monica and the lizard-girl with a blank expression. Gabriel was leaning against a tree and sleeping deeply as well, Tessa the mouse-girl was hiding behind his body and peeking in Monica's direction, the only other one awake at this hour.

"Look, about yesterday..." Kat spoke humourlessly, her chirpiness was entirely gone underneath the utter harrowed look of exhaustion in her eyes. "I forgot what Monica is, I'm sorry for not realizing the consequences of what I should've seen coming a mile away." Her eyes regarded you for a very long second. "How do you do it?"

"Do... what?" You can't help but ask, accepting the offered water to parch your dried throat.

"...her." She gestured towards Monica. "With you she's... she's almost like a person, but when she grabs someone else? She's..." Her voice lowered, something dark showing in those tired blue eyes. "Last night... it stopped being fun pretty damn fast."

You took a long moment of consideration, not so much to choose your words but to decide whether or not it's a good idea to tell them to Katherine at all. "Kat, look at Tessa, the mouse girl." You make a gesture towards the terrified rodent-girl. "See those scars? Those broken legs? That missing ear? That was all Monica's doing." You let the words to sink in before you continue. "If I had to guess, Monica wanted someone to play with frequently, and obviously no one jumped at the opportunity, so she found her own toy to amuse her."

Katherine visibly shuddered at your words. This seems like the best moment to press further. "You also act like her prey." Your words come out smoothly but directly all the same. "Not to mention thus far all the things Monica has preyed upon happen to look like young women... with extra parts."

The young girl made a face as if she was going to be sick, but said nothing, only nodding slowly. "I... yeah, that's... fucked up."

"I don't think she's evil, just... she doesn't have the sense of right and wrong we do." You replied. "And to her, all this is just... the norm."

You're about to make a comment about letting you be the only one to handle Monica from here on out, that you only had to get her off a bit more often, that if you tried really hard whenever she got extra randy you were sure you'd be able to fully sate her and that you were absolutely sure she'd never go for anyone else.

But it was an impossible promise and you knew it.

Last night was good enough proof.

Every day you'd been walking and the hunger had been obvious, and every little bit you were slightly more tired while Monica kept her superhuman levels of... everything. But even then, even at ideal conditions, you knew that if Monica had the itch bad enough, no matter what you tried, nothing short of managing to fully restrain her would get her to stop unless she herself wanted to.

"Rick?" Monica drew your attention, having decided to stop smugly making faces at the still hissing reptile who was, somehow, clinging to the tree trunk and slightly higher up than last time you'd checked up on her. The feline raised the paw holding the tail. "Eat?"

Lizard girl seemed to understand some of the message and her eyes widened looking at Monica with a glare and then at you with a pleading gaze.

"No Monica, no eat." You proclaimed, and Monica frowned, growled, took the tail and...

THUMP

The tail smacked against the tree a couple of feet above where the lizard-girl was perched, startling everyone. Especially because the whole tree shook from the impact. Monica glared at you before crossing her arms in the exact same way you had done to her not that long ago and keeping her emerald eyes on you firm and steady.

There was a growl there, it wasn't threatening, but Monica clearly was not going to be putting up with things if you kept pushing like this.

Your brain kicked in fast. "Kat, remember this berry?" You speak softly, not looking away from Monica's even gaze, not daring to. "Tell me there were more, because it has healing juice... also step back, slowly."

"...!" Kat's eyes widened, but you see her slightly shaking her head, slowly stepping back from you. "There were bunch flowers, but only one berry."

The feline kept looking at you evenly, her tail swishing in not a playful matter, her arms firmly crossed that somehow made her seem more dangerous rather. It felt like a sign, that she wanted food, and the only reason she was putting up with your demands was that she happened to like you.

You had to grimace, taking a very deep sigh, moving to stand up and scratching the back of your head as you did, feeling awkward. You didn't have any food to give her since the only bits were accounted for, and that kind of left you with... "Monica, new word." You muttered, slowly walking under her close scrutiny and reaching the lizard tail. "Sorry." Taking the tail, you offer it to her. "Yes eat."

Monica didn't move, remaining stoic and still, she didn't stop staring into your eyes with those infinitely deep blue ones. With a nod, she took the tail from your hand before taking a bite and swallowing it. She was about to take a second bite but an idea struck you, you stopped her with a motion of your hand. "Monica, wait?" You asked, the tone more a question than anything else.

The feline looked at you, then the tail, and then at you again. Grumbling, she sat down though not without letting go of the tail. "Monica wait. Monica wait, Monica wait." She intoned, snorting loudly, not very amused by your request but allowing it, at least for now. Her eyes kept on you as she once more crossed her arms, looking less angry than earlier at least.

"Kat." You turned towards the blonde, she was clearly calmer than earlier at least. "I'm going to cook the tail." There's a strangled sound from above your head, but you ignored it. "You and the others look for food, especially more of those berries if you can."

"Uh, sure." She replied, half-uncertain, eyes flickering towards the uneaten remaining half, looking a tone greener than a second ago. "And... what about the only purple one we have?"

"For the most injured one." You make a head motion towards the mouse girl and Gabriel. The old man seemed to be stirring and slowly opening his eyes. With a nod, Kat hurried to reach her grandfather and explain things. In the meantime, you'd started grabbing some of the wood that had been gathered while walking along the stream and piled it together to start a fire. All the while Monica kept her eyes on you, seeming equal measure impatient and curious.

Her hold on the tail did not ease one bit. You were starting to suspect it was partially a 'prize' as much as a meal.

You noticed from the corner of your eye how the reptile-girl kept looking at you with misty eyes, but not coming down from her perch, not daring to get any closer to the feline. "We're heading out then." Kat told you, and it was only then that you realized she'd hurriedly worked around the clearing to wake everyone up and get them ready. "Gramps, May, and Tess are staying though."

A nod. "Be careful." Your eyes go towards Alice especially, who returned the gesture with a curt nod.

They leave, and you start your work on preparing a fire, hoping Monica's curiosity would last.