NT Rangers - Lad 23 - Introduce Leto (Patreon)

Lad shut his eyes for a moment. 'I”m not allowed to fall for the same thing I just chastised someone else for.' He decided. Once he had calmed himself down he opened his eyes and smiled, motioning to Dri.
“Leto, this is Driana. She's a friend.” Dri was perked by the mention of her being a friend, but she did not say anything.
“Driana, this is Leto, my sister.”

“Right. You two look similar.” Dri remarked.

Leto giggled. “White hair is uncommon so we get that a lot.” She glances over at Lad curiously.

“But, you said 'friend' right?”

“Y-” Lad stopped and remembered just what they were doing around the time Leto spotted them.

“You're good 'friends', right?” She teased.

Lad blushed. “Leto...”

“Driana is it okay if I borrow you for a second?”

Dri made a face. “How am I borrowed?”

“Like this.” She curled her arm under Dri's and walked her a few paces away. Dri, confused, went along with her. In the noisy arcade what they were saying could not be heard but there were many glances back in Lad's direction.

'Leto is trying to vet her but Dri is probably going to say everything that”s on her mind without a filter.' He thought nervously.
'I”d interrupt but they”re actually conversing so nicely so far. Dri isn”t doing anything so I should let them. Come what may.' As they finished speaking Leto laughed heartily and pulled Driana back, releasing her.

“I think she's good.” Leto claimed.

“Really?” Lad was seriously surprised.

“Usually, anyone that comes around to you end up being obsessed but it's the first time I heard someone say with a straight face 'I hate his guts' and that she wants to 'kill you' as soon as she can.”

Lad cringed. “So when you heard that you thought 'great match.'”

“Well, yeah.” Leto leaned in and whispered.
“Because she's obviously just being really shy about liking you... It's way sweeter than just chasing you  out of obsession.” She leaned back.
“At least, that's what I think. Call it a woman's intuition.”

Dri furrowed her brow. “I was being serious.”

“Well-” Leto smirked.
“You also said something about 'eating him up.'” Lad planted his face in his palm as he heard that.

“So?”

“Typically that means...” She leaned in, finishing what she was saying in whispers to Dri. The girl covered her mouth. She could not blush but she definitely seemed embarrassed.

“Not... like that.” Dri muttered.

Leto chuckled. “Anyway, she's joining the team, right?”

Lad shrugged. “Honestly, I think it's up to her.”

“Never mind. I'll leave you two to your date, for now.”

Before she left Dri leaned over and asked. “I don't understand what she was saying...”

Lad exhaled deeply. “What she's essentially saying is that she approves you being close to me.”

Dri nodded slowly. She narrowed her eyes at Leto. “You approve of me... I approve of you.” Dri offered stiltedly.

“That's good.” Leto waved them off.

“Borrowing is like this?” Dri curled her arm under Lad's and began to walk with him. Her grip was so tight that he had to just be dragged along.

“Yeah, I guess.” He grumbled. As they left the Arcade he questioned.
“Why do you say you want to kill me and eat me? You don't really hate my guts...”

“I haven't seen your guts. Need to confirm.” Dri stated.

“So you know how to joke...”

“Joke?” She lifted a brow.

“You know, when you say that stuff the only take away is that you're joking or that you really hate me.”

She softened. “I do hate you..”

“Why?”

“Because I don't know why, yet.”

Lad stopped. “How does that make sense?”

“It makes sense because that's what happens. In the end I see the lies and feel betrayed. Even if I feel good right now I still hate you because of what you're going to do.”

Lad rubbed his eyes. “You don't know what I'm going to do, Dri.”

“In the end it is all the same.”

He began to think out loud. “When you met me and I protected you, you thought the same thing?” She nodded.
“But I kept defending you, right? After that, and now, too. Everytime I have a chance to make you feel betrayed I've done the opposite right? How many more times will it take before you decided to just trust me?”

Dri bit her lip uncomfortably. She held her head and sadly asked. “Why can't you just make it quick then... It's going to be worse in the end because of this.”

Lad turned her to face him. In that moment he couldn't see anything other than a sad girl. “Listen to me. I wont betray you.”

She pulled on the metal collar. “This thing... It's a license for them to do whatever they want to me. Even if it's you, can you say that while they have other ideas? While they have your sister? What about those others? You don't choose me if it's down to me or any of them. So why pretend?” She cocked her head to one side and let her finger pop out from under the collar.

“Th-they wont.” He argued.

“You sure?”

“No. I'm not completely sure.” The faces of all those people in charge flashed behind his eyes. Lacie, Kai, Kara, Yeong. Even Steph, for his faults.

Dri smirked. “Finally, the truth.”

“But... I'm sure enough to say this.” He looked at her seriously. Dri leaned back slightly as he leaned forward. His hands rested on her shoulders.
“If they're unfair to you... If you feel betrayed and hurt we run away. I'll help you and I'll go with you. Hell... Even if you're sick of being here and just don't want to stay I'll help you get out. It's not fair what happened to you. If they try anything, then that means they were different from what I thought. If Yeong and Kai think the same, it's the same. I believe in them so I know that you're safe here with us and if you aren't...”

“We leave?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Lad smiled weakly.
“But since I'm promising something so difficult, you need to try as well.”

Dri's shoulders slumped down into a defeated pose. She frowned and offered a short nod. “Okay. I'll try. B-but you have to keep your promise!” She demanded.
“If you go back on it I'll never forgive you.”

“And you shouldn't forgive me. But just like I trust them, I trust myself.”

“I trust.” Dri claimed. She leaned forward and kissed Lad.

- -

Dri pulled back from the kiss. She was straddling him in his bed. She eyed him curiously. “That face...” He was smiling cockily.

“Anyone that sees me right now would think I'm taking advantage of a vulnerable girl. But you practically dragged me here.”

“Me? Vulnerable?”

“Like glass.” He reached up and touched her cheek.

Dri sneered down at him. “Saying I'm weak?”

“It's fine to be weak sometimes.” His hands ran down her naked body. His member was guided to enter her, but her hips were still raised above it, waiting. He slid his hands down further around her hips and pressed down.
“Like now.” She gasped, closing her eyes as he entered her. Dri leaned down to kiss him again. He met her half way and wrapped his arms around her. She opened her eyes to stare at him while their faces were close.
“But it's fine to be weak in times like this.” Lad chuckled nervously.
“I like to feel strong sometimes, too, but when do I ever have the chance?” He nipped her bottom lip, causing her to flinch. She glared at him and licked over his lips in response. He planted an initial kiss on her cheek at the corner of her mouth, then trailed them down to her neck where he sucked hard. Dri moaned and clutched him as she began moving her hips.

“You're weak?” She muttered.
“Then why do you seem so big right now?”

Lad breathed evenly as he pushed up into her at just the right moment. “O-on the inside? Thanks...”

She clutched his face between both of her hands and leaned back to take a look at him while she continued to grind her hips over his.
“The outside... So big, but more like an illusion that you're so small and weak looking. Right now it's like you're ten feet tall.” She placed her mouth over his and kissed him again before adding.
“If you ever seem small... I'll kill you. I really will.”

Lad brushed dark hair out of the way of her face as she stared down at him intensely. “Go ahead.”

“Idiot... What if I'm wrong?”

He laughed. “I guess I trust you, too.”

- -

“What are you two up to?” Kai asked brightly. She noted that Dri had a firm hold on Lad's arm. It was clutched to her chest, her breasts surrounding and cushioning it.

“Borrowing.” Dri stated firmly, her grip tightened as she began pulling Lad away from them.

Yeong took hold of the other arm in the other directions. “You can't 'borrow' someone forever! You need to share.” She argued.

Lad felt the side of a hand poised at the center of his head. He turned around to see the Fox Commander, Kara, Making a chopping motion.
“I'll cut him in half down the middle so that he can be shared equally.” She claimed.

Dri gasped and let go. Yeong followed immediately, realizing how it looked. Kara rubbed her chin curiously.
“By ancient rights, the woman that let go first-”

“What about me?” Kai blustered
“Don't I get a piece?”

“How am I supposed to split this kid into thirds.” She looked lad over, drawing lines in his body with her eyes.

“It doesn't work.” Kara shrugged.

Kai raised a hand. “I'll just have the head.”

“None of this is allowed!” Dri shouted, pulling Lad away in a submission hold.

“You're confusing her...” Lad grunted.

Yeong smiled at her. “We're joking. Lad's safe. Promise.”

Dri passed a suspicious glance around all the women present before releasing him. As she did, Steph cleared his through from the door.
“We'll see about that.” He muttered, eyeing Lad harshly.
“Anyway... Can everyone take a seat so we can start?” Lacie walked in to stand beside him holding a stack of papers. The twins walked in casually and sat down without saying anything to anyone else. The dark-haired Fox pulled out one of the big chairs nearest him.
“Kai, why don't you sit next to Papa?”

Kai smiled sweetly. “I'm going to sit next to Lad, Papa.” His expression cracked. Lad tactfully sat a seat over from the one he pulled out, allowing Kai to sit between the two of them. Yeong quickly took the seat on the other side without a word. With nowhere else to go Dri sat on the conference table facing him.

Yeong leaned forward, trying to see past her. “You're not gonna tell me this is okay?”

“Let's just start, okay?” Lacie announced.
“Thanks to information kindly provided by Driana, we have a solid idea of exactly who we're dealing with. That means we have Echo's location as of the moment Driana left, and it's top members. The information somewhat coincides with Lads, so we can all but confirm the data as correct.” A few pictures popped up on the display at the head of the room.

“Where are these pictures from?” Lad asked, struggling to sit in a way that he could see around Dri.

“Echo became more active during your coma.”

Stephan added. “They got caught, so they're going to speed up their plans but we know what they're really after now...”

Kara crossed her arms. “I guess this whole time they wanted to lure me out? Something feels off about their plan, though. I don't think it's gonna work.”

Lacie smiles. “Even if it wont, they seem to think it will. That means we have an edge. The plan is simple. We send Kara out and expect them to send everything they have against us.”

“What if we're the ones that are wrong?” Lad asked.

“That's where the second plan comes into effect.” Steph began.
“See... I'm not actually a big fan of sending Kara out, no matter how confident she is. There's always a chance they know more than we think. That's why we have an alternative. We put all our resources into figuring out what is connecting the Hero to this world after he intentionally gave it all up...” Lad looked over and saw that Yeong was noticeably uncomfortable. He wondered if she still felt a bit of guilt at being the one to return at the cost of the Heroes life.

“Do we have any leads?” Lad questioned.

Lacie nodded and looked to the twins. Janna spoke. “As you all should know, we're direct descendants of that Hero. As heirs to Demonkine, even if the whole place is lost we still have access to the libraries that were transferred over. We've already brought most of this stuff here in preparation for doing research.”

“But...” Kai sighed.
“It's analogue, so all the progress is slow going.”

“That's how it is. Everyone put in your votes. You all are the ones who will be put in danger so you all have the biggest say in what we do.” Steph said sternly. Lad considered his vote, noting that both Yeong and Kai were waiting for his answer.

'Ugh... That makes a majority. So is it completely up to me?'