The Záchari & Nik Show - Episode 4 - This Shit is Beneath Me (Patreon)

Thanks again to Adam for collaborating with me on this side project, I'm enjoying it tremendously and I hope all of you do too!

You may have noticed that sometimes, the comic adaptation takes a bit of a departure from the original story. I simply enjoy those collabs the most when both iterations have their own identity and get to shine together as complementary pieces and I feel like that way, it's even more satisfying to enjoy them both together.

This Shit is Beneath Me

Short story by Adam Lunter

Zachari floated in the doorway watching the massive werewolf on the bed struggle against the restraints, alternating between barking in fury and howling the primal song of his canine ancestors. It had been a long night, but he couldn’t look away from any of it. He felt like he were standing guard. So tight was his focus, that he didn’t hear the front door unlock or the tiny squeak that it emitted as Alek entered. Until he spoke, Zachari had no idea he wasn’t alone with this monster in the bed.

“It’s not over yet?” Alek asked. He was wearing his coat, pajama pants, and a beat up pair of high top sneakers. His hair was still in a horsetail, but it was messy up front and a few strands of it hung on the sides of his face. Over his shoulder was a backpack full of pre-prepared meals that he had made for Nik to eat when he was finally up and about.

“I didn’t know it was going to be anything like this,” Zachari admitted.

The chains connecting the restraints to the bed rattled as the werewolf snapped at the air above him a few times.

“It was hard for me to see the first time too,” Alek said as the faerie alighted on his shoulder and folded in his wings. “It’s still hard, if the truth is to be told.”

“Why do you do it, then?”

There was a pregnant pause filled with snarls and huffs from the bed, then Alek said,

“At first I did it to care for everyone he could hurt. Now, I think I do it to care for him.”

Zachari looked at the human on whose shoulder he was perched. There was a touch of sadness on his face that was both beautiful and heartbreaking. Zachari saw it and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry I called you a snob,” he huffed.

“Oh, don’t be,” Alek said, turning to face him. “You’re not wrong.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have to be a dick about it.”

“Now, that’s true.”

On the bed, the werewolf let out a hair-curling howl. As it did, it began to get smaller. The restraints, which had been stretched to their limit, began to clink as they relaxed. The howling continued as the wolf’s fur and claws began to retract, disappearing under the skin as the protruding snout melted and the fangs shrank. The whole thing looked like a high speed film of growing grass being played in reverse. Haunches relaxed into calf and shin and pointed ears returned to their proper place on the sides of the face as they blunted. The cries were no longer those of a howling wolf but instead those of a man crying in pain. Tears were streaming from his eyes. In the sky outside, the first smears of glowing yellow light emerged from behind the purple clouds of early morning.

“Okay, it’s safe now,” Alek said.

The faerie spread his wings and drifted off of Alek’s shoulder as Alek rushed to get Nik unlocked. Nik’s sobs were hard to hear and even harder to take.

“It hur...” Nik gasped between his cries. “Oh God, it huuuuuuurts!”

“I know, love,” Alek said, undoing the locks on Nik’s left side. “We’re almost done.”

“Plea....” begged Nik who appeared to be unable to manage more around his cries. His body was now drenched in sweat.

“Right side now” Alek said as he came around the bed and knelt down.

“Ooooooow!” Nik moaned as Alek tugged on the lock at Nik’s ankle.

“Sorry,” Alek muttered.

In the doorway, the faerie watched the scene unfold feeling an unpleasant ache in his tummy. Yes, the human was an overeating nudist with a bad attitude, but seeing him like this made his heart hurt.

The shackles were removed, and Nik rolled over on his side, curling into a fetal position. The waterworks were still going strong, but it was clear he was losing energy. Alek stood up, pulled a quilt over Nik, and headed back for the door.

Zachari’s mouth fell open as Alek exited and collected his backpack. “You’re just going to leave him there like that?”

“He’ll be asleep in five minutes and out of it for at least ten hours,” Alek said as he walked into the kitchen. “You’ll see.”

“But he’s...” Zachari looked over his shoulder at the quivering hump under the blanket then back at Alek.

“It’s mostly exhaustion,” Alek said as he placed the backpack on the kitchen table, unzipped it and began to unpack its contents. “The transformation is quite painful and takes a lot out of him. He’ll be fine.”

Zachari looked back into the room. Nik was down to hitches and coughs, but was still a visible wreck. He couldn’t stand to see it anymore.

“Aww fuck,” Zachari sighed as he floated into the room.

In the kitchen, Alek put the last of the meal containers in the refrigerator and closed the door. He stretched his arms above his head with a groan and removed the hair band that held the horsetail in place. He shook his head and let his hair fly for a minute before putting the band around his wrist and zipping the backpack shut. As he slung it over his shoulders, he caught a glimpse into Nik’s bedroom and was so surprised at what he saw that he had to take a closer look.

Nik was now breathing in shuddery sighs, but clearly on his way to sleep. Tucked under his arm was Zachari, who was rubbing Nik’s forearm gently and singing quietly in an on-key but somehow tuneless voice:

Shoheen sho, oo-lo-lo,
Shoheen sho, strange baby oh...

In the doorway, Alek smiled. Zachari looked up and saw him there.

“Don’t say anything to King, okay?” he said. “Normally, I think this shit is really beneath me, and the others will never let me live it down if they found out.”

Alek nodded. “Your tough-guy reputation is safe with me.”

< Previous page  -  Back to title  -  Next page >