You're insanely worried about your friend, Venn.

Well, less of a friend, more of a...caretaker, of sorts? Yes. You take care of Venn. Especially after Venn's swim team training.

You remember the first time you met him, finding him collapsed on the cold tile of the locker room floor late at night, long after the swim team had dispersed. He was shivering and cold, lethargic and almost dead. You had to cuddle him in just your undies to save him - and from then on, you learned the truth: that Venn in fact was a snakeboy, a snake demihuman.

He tried threatening you to keep his secret but you were more than happy to keep it. You got nothing from telling his secret...and from then on, Venn never left you alone again.

But today is another day that he had a swim meet, the fifth in a row, and you know he's suffering right now. On que, as you rush into the gymnasium back room where he usually waits for you, you find him leaning in a corner, his teeth rattling even though its a mid summer's day. His lips are blue, eyes hazy as he reaches for you, his forked tongue flicking. He could scent you from a mile away.

"Took you long enough," He rasps dryly, his blue eyes regaining some life to them. "I need you."

"I need warmth," he grumbles, leaning closer against you. "My core is fucked from all that swimming." His words are raspy and breathy as he burrows deeper into your body heat. You can feel his muscles tighten under your palm where it rests on his shoulder blade, feel his soft scaled skin press against yours. He shivers again, harder this time. "God I hate the water."

Venn's forked tongue slides out and flicks across your cheek, licking a bead of sweat that had formed there from where he pressed so close. His body temperature is a few degrees lower than yours and you feel it now, warm and cold at the same time. Heat radiates from his core into you while his arms and legs are chilled and cold like stone. It's unnatural...but alluring somehow. "Come on," he

Venn's tail lashes from side to side as you pick him up, wrapping around your waist as if it were an extension of his body. His forked tongue flicks across your neck in greeting, and then he rests his head against your shoulder with a sigh. "I should have quit," he whispers gruffly into your ear. "This...this life is not for me. But I can't give it up." His hot breath fans over the shell of your ear, tickling sensitively as it brushes against your neck.

He lifts his head to meet your gaze, eyes narrowed and livid in determination. "You understand?" he demands quietly. "You know what this life means for me?"

The tension leaves his body at your words, and he slowly nods in understanding. "I know," he whispers, pressing his face back into your shoulder with a soft groan. "Thank you..." He trails off, not quite knowing how to express his gratitude for something that's so unfamiliar to him.

But as you lead him out of the gymnasium and down the hall towards their shared dorm room, Venn can feel another emotion start to rise up inside of him: possessiveness. You're his warmth, his lifeline...and he doesn't want anything bad happening to you. Not while he needs you so desperately. He clings tighter to your neck as you walk, almost painfully tight around the base of your throat.

"Who was that other kid?" he asks suddenly, his voice rough with suspicion and fear. "The one who's been sniffing around

The name catches him off guard and his pupils dilate further at the realization that you must be talking about Paul. But he quickly recovers, narrowing his eyes to slits and baring his fangs slightly. "That...that dogboy," he growls out through gritted teeth. "I've seen him around. Smelling me out like some kind of sick hound."

He shifts in your arms, moving closer to nip at the nape of your neck when you startle him with your confusion. His fangs scrape against your skin, but it hardly seems to register as pain; instead, the sensation burns deep inside of him like fire. "Don't lie," he whispers roughly. "He's been all over you lately."

The truth is, it pisses Venn off. Intense jealousy surges through his body like acid, making him feel hot

Venn hisses, jerking back as if slapped. His eyes widen in horror as understanding dawns on him like a flash flood. "No," he whispers raggedly, voice barely above a hoarse whisper. "No no no..." He can't quite bring himself to say it out loud; can't believe that you would ever want this dogboy over him, especially not after everything they've been through together.

His fangs elongate and he bites down hard on the inside of his cheek, drawing blood as anger and desperation roil in his stomach like acid. "You can't," he whispers to himself. "Not him..." His fingers curl into talons at his side, itching to tear out the dogboy's eyes for daring to come near you. He needs you. Desperately. And Paul is getting in the way.

Anger and jealousy blend together into a toxic cocktail inside of him as he struggles to process your words. He knows you're lying, just to make it hurt less...but that only makes it worse. "No," he whispers again, refusing to accept it. "He can't be..." He trails off, lost in thought for a moment as he stares down at the floor, tracing patterns on the carpet with his fingertips as if they were braille.

Finally, he looks back up at you, his eyes searching yours desperately for some sign of deception...but finding none. "I need..." His voice cracks and he swallows hard before trying again. "You're all I have." It's not a question; it's a plea. A demand. He needs you to understand, to accept that this is how things are between them now

His chest tightens at your words, his breath coming in shallow gasps as he holds himself together with sheer willpower alone. "I need..." He starts again, and then stops, suddenly unsure of what it is that he needs you to say. Is it forgiveness? Understanding? Or simply acceptance...of the way things are now between them?

"Please," he whispers hoarsely, his voice barely audible over the faint sound of blood pounding in his ears. "Don't leave me." He reaches up, cupping your cheek in his palm, his fangs inches from your skin as if daring you to pull away. "I can't..." He trails off, shaking his head slowly as he stares deep into your eyes, pleading silently for something more than words.

A shiver runs down his spine at the feel of your warm palm on