Up in a puff of Smoke [Closed to Ani]

“Ahh!” Zoe yelped as Sam dangled her and seemed to be enjoying himself, “Evil brit!”
Her heart was fluttering from the excitement as well as fun and Sam looked like he was about to break out into a happy dance at winning the game. Zoe pushed her dark brown hair out of her face and looked around, before Sam instructed her to close her eyes.

“How about… No?” Zoe arched a dark eyebrow before Sam gave her puppy dog eyes. “Fine! Just don’t give me that look again.”

Obediently she closed her eyes and was kissed, Zoe couldn’t help but smile. Opening her eyes again, Zoe smelled the blood and scowled. Sam had gone and done it again with the teleporting, Zoe did not like that this ability hurt him regularly.

“Sam,” She stated disapprovingly and he just dashed off to clean off his face. Rolling her eyes at his yelling, Zoe leaned against the wall as he went through the fridge. She reached into her pocket and chucked a package of gum at his head good-naturedly.

“Oh why? Because I got all handsy with you last time?” Zoe teased him before wandering over and closing the fridge. “Also, I recall you complaining the first time I kissed you. I recall it very vividly. Cop avoidance and a ribcage mauling, kinda hard to forget.”

Amber trotted past carrying a chocolate bar in her mouth and looking pleased with herself.

Sam closed his eyes but did not attempt to dodge the pack of gum flying at his head, it slapped him on the forehead and flew off in a separate direction. He twisted the lid off of his water and drank some of it, trying his best not to smile too much at Zoe’s comments otherwise he would have spelt it all down himself, “It’s true that all of that did happen” he said as he put the lid back onto his bottle, “But that wasn’t why it was so memorable, I used to be a boring guy that would sleep during most of the day and spend the night helping people from criminals, then I met you and got into a huge fight at a bar, ran away from the police and kissed someone who I knew for a day or so in an alleyway, it was probably the craziest thing I’d ever done, and I never forget it, certainly changed my outlook on life that’s for sure.” Sam watched in wonder as Amber was trying her best to tear the wrapper off of the chocolate bar she was carrying. “I also recall providing you with the means to deal with that mauling because I was incapable of doing it myself, I don’t even think you ever told me why you had that wound anyway, is there some kind of story behind that scar you have there?” he asked as he poked where the scar would be on her side, Sam wouldn’t be surprised though if it was gone completely due to some kind of advanced healing Zoe possessed, being part demon seemed to have its perks.

Sam pulled out a chair and spun it round, sitting on it back to front, he then had a flash memory of Zoe poking fun at him for doing it so much, this caused him to sit on it regularly to avoid any attention. He listened intently whilst sipping on his refreshing water.

Zoe looked amused before commenting, “Didn’t you get mad about the fact I dropped more bad guys than you did or something along those lines. I dunno, my brain was foggy from blood loss.”
She danced out of reach of Sam’s fingers, avoiding the prodding before smiling slightly, “I had just gotten back from a hunt and I didn’t kill all the demons. He surprised me but… not for long.” Zoe smiled, showing fangs before retracting them. She rolled up her shirt slightly so Sam could see the jagged white lines of claw and fang marks.
Amber was successfully mauling the candy bar now that she had managed to get it open. She chomped on it successfully with a satisfying crunch. “She should probably not be eating that…”

Sam took a swig of his drink whilst darting his eyes all around the room, “I have no idea what you are talking about, I’m fairly certain I took out more guys that night, but that’s besides the point” he said as Zoe dashed away from him, he was shocked to see Zoe flash her fangs at him, a constant reminder not to get onto her bad side too much, otherwise he would be finding those teeth lodged into his neck. Sam leaned slightly closer to Zoe to inspect the scars on her side, funny how scars on the body can hold so many memories. Zoe pulled her shirt back down as she turned Sam’s attention to Amber who had managed to tear into the chocolate bar on the kitchen table, Amber began to nom on the chocolaty treat she had finally managed to get to, however it was not a healthy thing to eat in her feline form. Sam placed his finger on it and dragged it towards him, away from Amber’s mouth, “If you want to eat this, eat it in your human form little one” he said as Amber glared at him before leaving the table.

“So do you still do that kind of stuff? Fighting demons and the like? Have you ever thought of err… hiring someone to help you with it all?” Sam gestured casually towards himself to let Zoe know that it is in fact him who he was talking about, he had all the training and equipment to handle himself in a fight, Zoe could get her job done a lot easier with Sam by his side, but he knew she would probably have an issue with him being in constant danger, she seemed to be pretty protective over him.

Zoe rolled her eyes while Amber slunk off with her treat to who knows where. Then Sam asked Zoe if she still did her bounty hunter thing. She sighed and wandered over to stand behind the chair and slip her arms around his neck. After pressing her lips to the back of his neck she muttered playfully, “I’m going to have to bite you if keep on asking personal questions like that.”

Zoe leaned against him, breath hot on the back of his neck just to check his reaction before pulling away and chuckling to herself. “Personally I think you have gotten a little squishy from meditating with monks so I’d have to keep an eye on you. Talk to me again in a few weeks when you’re not as pudgy.”

Moving away, Zoe picked up a few of the shredded wrappers and put them in the proper waste receptacle, thinking about what Sam had said. He wanted to help her hunt… that would involve taking him to the underworld possibly. A bad idea as there was a strong dislike for Zoe’s kind as well as Titans… not to mention if anyone figured out that anything was going on between them. That was a spell for disaster.

Sam was feeling quite comfortable as Zoe wrapped her arms around him, however when she was close to his neck and playfully said she would bite him if he continued with the questions, a chill ran down his spine and he shuddered slightly. Sam rose his shoulders very slowly as if he was flinching over a long space of time, this was due to Zoe’s breath meeting the back of his neck, he relaxed again after Zoe moved away. “Squishy? Podgy?” he thought as Zoe poked some fun at him, he had not been able to work out at all whilst he had been away and he was eating any food he could find, not being picky, this probably caused him to lose a little bit of his muscle, but he certainly was not podgy, to reassure himself of this, he poked himself in the stomach, it was certainly a lot softer than it used to be, luckily Zoe hadn’t thrown out his punching bag so he could hang that up somewhere and get back to work. “If you keep eating all of that chocolate under my bed, you’re going to be pretty squishy yourself missy” he said as he leaned back slightly on his chair with a grin.

“You know pretty much all about me, I let you into my personal life, but you still hold some secrets from me, open up, let me help you do what you do, and hey, if it all gets too much for you, you can always bite me in the neck with those sharp teeth of yours, you like to tell me how much you want to do that all the time” Sam was trying to call her bluff with a little game of his own, he stood up and leaned his neck to the right, showing his skin, waiting to be bitten, but Sam knew that Zoe would never do that to him… right?...

“OK, I am not an addict and it’s just for emergencies like anxiety or not being able to sleep,” Zoe poked him in the stomach, emphasizing the squish before Sam stood and bared the side of his neck. She struggled not to look amused and she took a few steps forward, standing on tiptoe. Placing her mouth gently on the side of his neck, Zoe watched Sam’s reaction.

Her eyes twinkled evilly before she bit down on his neck, with no fangs of course. It was a gentle bite but a bite none the less.

“Don’t tempt me next time,” Zoe murmured quietly, looking at the red mark on the side of his neck.

“Looks like you have a hicky,” She chuckled to herself before grinning naughtily and stepping away with her hands behind her back, suddenly looking like a little kid.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” Zoe looked down at the woodfloor.

Sam was looking away from Zoe "Sure, you keep telling yourself that", his eyes pointed at the ceiling as he waited for Zoe to inevitably step away and refuse to do it as he thought she would. Sam was amused by the fact that she had to tiptoe to be in reach of him, he was almost tempted to offer her a chair to stand on. She placed her lips on his neck, “Well, ok, she’s going a little bit far now…” he thought, “Is she?... Is she actually going to do it?” she stood still, building suspense, it came to the point of no return now, Sam could not pull away, he had to either win or suffer a rather deadly bite. Sam clenched his fist as Zoe’s grip was getting stronger, then she suddenly clamped down, Sam was relieved that it was only a regular bite, he chalked it down as a personal victory, although the battle scar was obvious, a red mark left on the side of his neck. Sam pulled out his phone to get a better angle of the red mark, he burst into laughter as he noticed it, it was far worse than he had thought. “You are a mean little woman aren’t you?” he asked as he rubbed the mark in an attempt to make it leave his body, he looked back to Zoe who had now looked to the floor in shame. “Ah, it’s ok, it’ll go eventually, I just need to find a scarf i can wear...” he said as he took a quick picture of it so he could tweet about it later.

He slid the phone back in his pocket before returning his attention to Zoe, “See? I’m not scared of you and you are the scariest and prettiest thing I have ever seen, so you can throw whatever scary demons you like at me and I will slice them all down without a second thought… just think about it, we could wear matching outfits, like spandex or… leather… that’s what I meant, leather jackets with manly logo on the back of a skull and a dragon” Sam laughed nervously as he turned away for a second “Stop reading comic books!” he thought to himself.

A small breath of air escaped Zoe’s lungs, “I’ve been called worse.” She looked at the red mark on Sam’s neck before smiling slightly. “I don’t think a scarf is going to help your situation. Just fabric… really thin- what are you doing?”

Sam was taking a picture of his bite? It looked like a hickey-“Why?” She just asked, her face scrunching up trying to understand Sam’s sudden desire to take pictures. Darcy sat there and watched, looking smug with his nose peeping over the couch. Zoe did not understand the concept of social media and it was completely alien to her as well as leaving her totally paranoid. “Easier to track” as she would say.

“Spandex and leather…. Hngg… I’ll keep that in mind that you like form fitting uniforms to show off you man curves.” Zoe teased and the dog looked at Sam with his eyebrows raised.

“Why did I take a picture of it?” he asked to reassure himself of the topic, “Because it’s funny and now I have a constant reminder of the destructive damage that you can cause me… And I’ll flash it to you every now and then to make you feel guilty sometimes.” Sam noticed Darcy’s head pop over the couch beside him, he scoffed as he pulled out his camera once more to catch a quick picture of the dog’s shenanigans before putting it back in his pocket for good this time.

“Hey, enough with the insults ok? Look at you with your stupid… and those silly… and that… I got nothing…” he said defeatedly, he had been away for six months and has recently returned, he didn’t feel like insulting the woman who he was staying with, he also tried his hardest to even think of something to make fun of, but he simply couldn’t find anything.

“But seriously now, will you let me help you with all of this demon stuff? I wouldn’t feel ok sitting around here with nothing to do whilst you’re away fighting god knows what. You get overprotective of me when I leave the house to do something and I feel the very same about you, now will you please let me stab something?” he asked jokingly. “This is the hardest interview I have ever been a part of and yet it’s with the woman that I am most comfortable around!... Is that dog chewing on me?...” Sam looked down behind him to see Darcy chewing on the end of his jeans, Sam’s leg was being tugged slightly, but he set his foot down strong and waited for Darcy to lose his grip, the hound then ran away as if being defeated by the dreaded jeans.

“Oh, so it’s a guilt tripping weapon, hnngg.” Zoe mused while Sam failed to insult her drawing out a laugh, leaning against the table. Darcy had jumped off the couch and was now eyeing Sam’s jeans while he was trying to convince her to let him join he in a hunt.

“It’’s not that simple Sam,” Zoe sighed and massaged her forehead as she sat down at the table in front of Sam. “I have to make runs to the underworld on a regular basis, not to mention juggle clients up here, and then there is always the risk that they will find out about you…”

Zoe trialed off and closed her eyes while thinking about it, then she let out a drawn out sigh. Sam was so determined to do this then so be it. She wouldn’t be able to stop him as she had seen Sam’s stubbornness at work before. “Fine, convince me.”

Her eyebrow arched as she waited for a few minutes before standing, glancing at her watch. It was almost three and now she had a glorified secretary. Darcy padded over, wiggling his stump of a tail all over the place.

“Guess I bit you harder than I thought, you’re getting bruising…” Zoe moved closer to him and running a cool finger over the mark.

“Of course it’s not simple, I’m a Titan and you hunt demons Zoe… Do you think any part of our relationship is simple? We are far from simple, but we make it work because we want it to” Sam was determined to get his way now, he could handle himself in a fight and he didn’t care what anyone thought of him, “If I was worried about people knowing about me, I wouldn’t have used these powers to help people to begin with, take me to underworld right now, I will climb the tallest rock in that place and shout down to everyone that I love you, they can do whatever they please but it isn’t going to change what I think. This way I will always be by you and you will always be by me, I won’t suddenly disappear with no trace for 6 months because I will always be beside you, and I won’t have to worry about you getting slashed in the ribs again because you will always be beside me. We’ll have each other’s backs, we’ll get the job done… the fact that I am volunteering to help your cause should be more than enough for your superiors to let me do it, Titan or not” Sam thought he made his case quite clear, and it was a fairly decent one, but Zoe’s protectiveness could prove to be the deciding factor once again, choosing to say no and leave Sam behind so he won’t be in the line of danger, but how boring would that be?


All this time, Sam was trying to maintain eye contact with Zoe, but with Darcy trotting all around out of the corner of his eye, he had to pull away for just a moment to see him wagging his tail between the both of them, clearly craving some kind of attention. Zoe drew closer and put her finger onto the mark that she had given him, he rose his hand and brushed it way with the back of it before placing his palm onto her cheek, “Hey… It’s fine, I have been shot before ok? I think I can handle a red mark on my neck.”

Zoe tilted her head to the side and sighed, allowing Sam’s fingers to rove over her skin. Allowing her eyes to close, Zoe forced herself to relax. When was the last time she relaxed? Zoe honestly couldn’t remember.

“You’ve been shot?” She asked quietly as Amber slunk up behind Darcy in cat form and pounced on him. Darcy barked softly and together they began to tussle without much notice. “I didn’t know that.”
Zoe was much like a cat herself, prod her in the wrong place and she gets pissed. But pet her in the right place and she becomes queen cuddles. Titans and Arae where much like cats and dogs themselves now that she thought about it, she pointed this out to Sam.

“So what does that make you? The catnip?” Zoe peered at him through her eyelashes. “Or the awkward catdog thing?”

Sam could feel Zoe relax in his hand, it was still quite strange to him, staring into the eyes of a brunette that he knows is actually a redhead, it took this long for Sam to realize that her freckles had gone too, he hadn’t noticed until he had a closer inspection, it was a shame as this was one of the standout features on Zoe’s face.

“Yes I have been shot in the shoulder by a woman in a robot suit, that made me angry which is why I left for- You know what, that’s not even the point” Sam couldn’t really be bothered to explain the whole story right now, but he did know that this story would end with him leaving for 6 months, and he doubted Zoe wanted to hear all about that. Sam heard a commotion behind him, he looked to the ground to see both pets in a vicious fight to the death, or maybe it was more of a friendly fight until one of them was fed up…

“I guess you’re right, you’re certainly the more graceful of the both of us, I already slammed into one wall today… And I would certainly say I was the larger of the two of us” he said as he slowly rose on his toes to look down on the woman beside him, she poked him in the gut once more to make him drop back down to Earth. “It would make sense for me to be the catnip I suppose, you have already shown a likeness to biting me” he said playfully as he rubbed his red mark. “I guess it really depends on one thing, would you say you were addicted to me?”

“You’re staring at my face,” Zoe reminded him gently. “What is it that you miss?”
Upon hearing his answer, Zoe let her freckles fade back in and she flashed one of her brief smiles while Sam decided on if he was catnip or an awkward DogCat thing.

“You? Addicting? Hng…” Zoe mused, sliding he arms around his neck. “I can’t quite remember. You see my usual brand of Sam vanished for six months, highly addictive from what I remember. This version of Sam however, we will have to wait and see.”

She was baiting him, like dangling a treat in front of his nose. The cat and the dog had stopped wrestling and were watching the two.

“I am staring at your face aren’t I...” he said, he hadn’t realized he was staring until Zoe had pointed it out. “You just… You don’t have your little freckles anymore” in a matter of seconds, her freckles reappeared on her face, Sam grinned as they returned onto her cheeks. Zoe moved in closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, he smiled as Zoe playfully explained that he still hadn’t done enough for Zoe to forgive him, but he could see what she was trying to do.

“Oh really? That Sam sounds like a really cool guy, I hope to aspire to be like him one day” Sam leaned in and kissed Zoe lightly on the lips, she had been tempting him for the past few minutes and it wasn’t until Zoe had gotten this close before he decided to do it. His heart rate began to rise, as it usually did whenever he kissed Zoe. He moved his hands to Zoe’s waist as they continued kissing, he didn’t realize how much he would miss Zoe until he left, and now he was back in her arms, it became even clearer what he had been missing.

Sam pulled away slightly with a smile on his face, “I’m not sure about you, but I get the strangest suspicion that we are being watched…” Sam slowly looked over his shoulder to the two pets on the floor, staring upwards at him, he nudged his head to the door subtly and Amber understood, she darted out of the room and Darcy followed, assuming that it was probably some kind of new game that he could play. “There, that’s better” he said as he looked back to the woman in front of him.