Dashing Devil Omnibus 2: Books 4-6, page 154
Boyd was puzzled to see a number of single roses spread across the massive couch. It took him a minute to piece together why they were there. Several of his loves had just finished watching some reality drama series they were all into where a bunch of ladies competed for the right to date a guy. Boyd didn’t understand the draw, but he was likely biased due to the fact that the women in his life teamed up with each other instead of competing against one another for his attention. He’d never give only a few of his ladies a rose.
They’d all earn roses.
Tinker sat off to one side, perched cross-legged on a raised stack of pillows. She bounced a little on her heels as she tapped on a tablet until a holographic poster for the movie Dune rotated in the air above her. A wide smile split her lips.
She looked like a grade-school-kid about to unveil her first science fair volcano.
“Okay, okay, I know most people think the remake is better, but I think everyone should have to see the original first,” she announced, voice bright with the raw, jittery excitement of someone who’d skipped lunch in favor of caffeinated beverages. “The production design is amazing. Pay attention to the costuming! And the soundtrack is next-level.”
Laura, who was closest to Tinker, nodded with an indulgent smile before sipping from her mug of tea. “Isn’t this the one with the guy who looks like a discount space elf?”
“That is an incredibly unfair!” Tinker protested, not quite hiding her grin. She rotated the hologram and stabbed at it with a fingertip. “Besides, Paul Atreides is a space noble, not a space elf. Plus, the sandworms in this one are entirely non-digital special-fx, which is one of the lost arts of Old Earth cinema.”
Silvie, wearing powder-blue shorts and a matching tank top, snuggled into her spot near the center of the couch-bed. She tucked her feet under Hope, who lounged beside her, wings fanned out behind them like a downy gold-and-white blanket.
“Come on, Sweetie… you said that about the last movie you picked,” Silvie said, eyebrows arching in gentle mockery. “The Dark Crystal showcased the 'lost art'..." She added air quotes. "...of puppetry. If I had a credit for every time you described something as ‘a lost art’—”
“Hey, Tink wasn’t wrong,” Raev cut in, stretching all six of her tails out behind her before settling into a dramatic sprawl across one side of the couch-bed. “Those cute Gelflings and creepy Skexies were wild. Tink just appreciates the old stuff.”
The foxy redhead leaned back to grin up at Boyd as he and Mindy approached. “About time you two showed up.”
The big demon let out a half-chuckle, half-grunt. “Had to convince Mindy I was ready for the unfiltered Tinker commentary track.”
At this, Tinker beamed, cheeks glowing a warm pink. “Let me share my notes!” She opened a document on her tablet and showed Mindy a densely annotated viewing guide. Mindy took the tablet, flipping through the first few pages with an upward curve at the corners of her lips.
Boyd surveyed the arrangement on the couch-bed, silently tallying the members of his odd little family. Daisy fluttered around the couch, picking up rose petals and stems and arranging the blankets and cushions for easy access. The fairy's wings buzzed in agitation every time she noticed an empty snack bowl.
As everyone jostled for space, Hope’s wing tip brushed Raev’s tails. A minor skirmish erupted: “Your feathers are super soft, angel face, but your wings take up the space of, like, three people,” Raev complained.
Hope gave a slow, innocent blink. “Says the woman whose tails tickle anyone who gets in range,” she countered. There was a hint of sass in her angelic tone. “I’m just providing insulation.”
“But that’s my job, Honey Buns!” Silvie interjected, flinging a throw blanket over Hope’s lap and then worming her way between the angel’s side and the nearest pillow. She looked up at Boyd with a wink. “See? It’s all about maximizing resource allocation.”
“Wouldn’t it maximize efficiency to wait for Boyd to settle in before you get comfortable?” Mindy asked. The hint of amusement ended in a Kuh-he! Giggle as she climbed up onto the massive couch-bed to join the others. “You know you’re all just going to move the moment he settles in anyway.”
Boyd took his usual spot: right in the center of the massive piece of furniture. Almost everyone shifted immediately. Sure enough, four of the ladies immediately adjusted their positions. Raev shifted so she was sprawled over his legs, resting her chin on his knee. Silvie wasted no time sliding in on his left, worming her way under his arm like it was her birthright. Hope settled in on Silvie’s other side, resting her head on the arm that draped over Silvie’s shoulder. Tinker scooted closer and snuggled in on the big demon’s left side.
Mindy settled in behind him, laying out on the cushions so her face was a few inches from his ear. Laura came up behind Boyd opposite Mindy. She settled in so close that the pillow her head was on pushed against his hair and his shoulder.
When she took a deep breath, Raev let out a velvet chuckle from further down Boyd. Everyone knew this was the Authority’s newest Hero getting a nose full of her man’s scent. Laura pressed a kiss to Boyd’s ear as she nuzzled the side of his head.
Daisy, returning with a teetering pyramid of snacks, eyed the scene with exasperation. “You are all going to make a royal mess if you try to eat anything like that.”
The group partially disassembled for people to collect whatever snack they had started craving since Daisy’s last run to the kitchen. Once everyone had settled back into their place, Tinker started the movie.
For the first several minutes, the only sounds were the gentle crinkling of wrappers, the muffled crunch of popcorn, and Tinker’s stage-whispered trivia like, “Did you know the worms were all puppets, just like The Dark Crystal?”
Laura, who had been skeptical at Tinker’s insistence of Dune being a classic, quickly became invested. Whenever the plot veered into something surreal, she pulled back to arch an eyebrow at Boyd. It was almost as if she was looking for confirmation that, yes, he was seeing what she was seeing.
About half an hour in, Silvie draped her legs over Hope’s lap, which led to a chain reaction of almost everyone repositioning. Raev, ever the agent of chaos, used the opportunity to sneak a tail up to tickle the underside of Hope’s wing. This, in turn, made the angel snap both wings out as she gasped. The domino effect was that Silvie ended up pinned against Boyd’s chest and Laura’s popcorn bucket tipped over.
This sparked a minor avalanche of pillows, a high-pitched shriek from Silvie, and a low, appreciative growl from Raev when Mindy’s crotch somehow ended up landing on her face.
“Order in the couch,” Boyd rumbled, not bothering to hide his grin. “Let’s survive at least the first act of the movie before anarchy rears its head.”
“Oh, let them play,” Mindy murmured as she extracted herself to return to his side as Silvie and Hope buried Raev in a mountain of pillows.
Boyd felt a psychic ripple of amusement spread across the room as she nudged everyone’s mood a little closer to mirth. The tension from the last few days ebbed away, replaced with something light and almost sparkling.
As Paul and his mother fled into the desert after losing almost everyone they knew and loved to the Harkonnen’s cowardly surprise attack on their home, Daisy announced a snack break. “Intermission!” she declared. “The spice must flow, but so, too, must the popcorn.”
She held up her empty bowl, tipping it to the side to show it was empty. “And this vessel is dry.”
“But we’re just about to get to the good part,” Tinker complained from where she hid behind Boyd from the horseplay.
Silvie kicked free of the tangle of pillows and tails to hover over the couch. “Did someone say snack run?” she asked.
“That’s the plan.” Daisy nodded, her waitress persona firmly into place. “What can I get for everyone?”
“I would love some more popcorn, extra butter with some of that cheese flavoring, please,” Hope called out from under Raev, who had pounced on the angel after Silvie slipped away, voice bright as crystal.
“I got you, Angel-Cakes,” Daisy replied with a blithe smile. Even the spitfire of a fairy was feeling a little cheeky.
Hope’s request triggered a flurry of additional orders.
“Make lots of popcorn. The Big Guy and I will steal plenty,” Raev offered.
“Gummy bears?” This came from Laura, who sounded unsure if that was what she was craving. "No… make that gummy worms."
“Dark chocolate pretzels,” Mindy ordered. Unlike everyone else, she sounded like she had decided what she wanted an hour ago.
“Sour ribbons!” Tinker requested one of her favorites.
“What does everyone want to drink?” Silvie asked.
The gravity-defying Hero repeated a listing of what beverage everyone wanted before zipping off to collect the drinks. She came back a moment later, floating slowly as she balanced a tray of cups, cans, and bottles.
“Anyone else want a refill before I risk the landing?” she asked, grinning.
“Just bring it down here and we’ll manage redistribution,” Mindy said, dark amusement in her voice. “You always spill at least one when you try to hand them out yourself.”
“Rude… but accurate, I suppose,” Silvie replied.
She floated down and passed the tray to Mindy, who began passing the drinks out. The others reached out to help, and in seconds the beverages had disappeared into a sea of hands.
Daisy’s return was marked by the smell of salty, buttery goodness and the faint sizzling sound of fresh cheese dust on hot popcorn. She deposited a bowl into Raev’s waiting hands before moving down the line. She delivered each snack with a little quip or inside joke.
“Sugar-coated sugar ribbons for the sugar-addicted genius,” she said, passing Tinker a colorful package. “Dark pretzels for the dark lady,” she added for Mindy, with a sly wink.
As the group rearranged itself for the second half of the movie, the seating became more intimate. Hope stretched her wings in a crescent behind the main cluster, and Silvie wriggled between Hope and Boyd, her head pillowed on his shoulder. Raev, with a mouth full of cheese-dusted popcorn, sprawled higher on Boyd’s lap, her tails fanned out in all directions. Mindy pressed herself against Boyd’s shoulder opposite Silvie, leaving a gap big enough for Tinker to tuck herself into. The little genius was soon enjoying her sugary treat. Laura perched to the side of the vixen, using Raev’s tails as a pillow as she pressed her shoulder against Boyd’s knee. She watched the screen with quiet intent.
It was a small thing, this quiet moment: the team all bunched together, eating and drinking and laughing as the drama played out on screen. The easy contact—tails brushing ankles, wings draping over shoulders, hands reaching out to steal snacks—was a comfort.
Boyd took it for a signal that, even in this world of constant danger, there were moments of peace and happiness. The big demon paid less attention to the second half of the movie than it was worth. He caught the basic story beats, but it was easier and more rewarding to watch the faces of his team—his family—as the plot played out.
Tinker, true to form, kept up a near-constant whisper commentary from her perch beside him, her excitement increasing with every new special effect, every shot of the clunky sandworm puppets, every appearance of a character with eyebrow prosthetics. She had a running tally of movie mistakes—or rather, inconsistencies from the original books.
“That’s not the right planet,” he heard her murmur. This was shortly followed by, “They got the geology totally wrong!”
His little genius had a separate tally of favorite moments that grew by the minute. Whenever a special effect really blew her mind, she’d grab his forearm and squeeze, eyes wide. Inevitably, this would be followed by those wide eyes tracking to his face, as if seeking confirmation that he, too, thought it was cool.
He always did.
Laura was quieter but no less invested in the movie. Her saw her mouth moving with questions she didn’t voice, sometimes shooting Tinker a look as if to confirm a plot point or clarify a bit of worldbuilding. His newest love had a clinical way of viewing things. But every so often she’d get caught up in an emotional moment. When that happened, her face softened, eyes shining in the dim light.
Hope spent the first half of the film in a giggly debate with Silvie about whether or not the Bene Gesserit’s ‘Voice’ counted as a Power. After their intermission and pillow fight, she fell into a trance. His angel’s wings draped over everyone within reach and her halo pulsed a bright gold whenever the soundtrack hit a dramatic chord. Silvie alternated between cuddling up to Hope and launching popcorn kernels at Raev, who retaliated in kind.
Raev, as ever, was the wild card.
At first, she sprawled across Boyd’s lower legs with the lazy, predatory grace befitting her vulpine nature. But after the break, as the movie got weirder and more violent, she edged closer to Boyd. By the final act, the redhead was contentedly draped across his lap, her tails pillowing Laura’s head and as she lazily watched the film’s final scenes.
Mindy remained glued to Boyd’s side, but her attention often drifted. He caught her, now and again, glancing over the group with a faraway look, lips twitching in a smile as if she were listening to a radio broadcast that only she could hear. He assumed she was checking on someone’s reaction, stealing glimpses of their thoughts.
At one point, the Mind Powered sent him a telepathic nudge. ‘They’re all happy, and none of them are thinking about future struggles. Isn’t it wonderful?’
He agreed, squeezing her hand.
When it became clear they were approaching the end of the story, Raev shifted her weight, to his left side and sliding her hand across Boyd’s thigh. At first, the movement seemed casual—the way someone might steady themselves during turbulence. But the pressure lingered, and then her fingers started tracing a small spiral pattern.
The big demon stayed perfectly still. He’d learned long ago that, with Raev, showing weakness was an invitation to escalate things. He didn’t want to ruin the movie’s climax for everyone else.
Hope noticed what the vixen was doing. Her eyes tracked Raev’s hand, the gold of her halo picking up a soft pink tinge. She did not look away when Raev’s fingers began moving north. Instead, his angel shifted closer herself, wings now almost fully wrapping around Boyd, Mindy, and Silvie, who was beginning to doze on his right shoulder.
Tinker, who had moved to behind Mindy, was lost in the film and had no clue that the temperature on the couch had ticked up several degrees. Laura noticed—she missed nothing—but she gave the woman whose tails she lay against an almost imperceptible nod of support. The brunette burrowed into Raev’s tails, luxuriating in the feel, before nudging Tinker to share a sour ribbon.
Boyd’s lack of a reaction did not dissuade his vixen this time, and her hand continued to creep up his thigh. Each brush and stroke was a little bolder. Hope played her own game, halo now pulsing with a color that had no real name—somewhere between temptation and invitation. Mindy, having noticed what was happening, rested her chin on Boyd’s shoulder. Her breath danced across his ear while her hand migrated to the inside of his elbow, where it traced patterns up the sensitive skin with her nails.
It would have been easier for Boyd to ignore the growing distraction if it weren’t for Hope’s reaction. Every time Raev’s fingers inched north, the angel’s wings would shiver slightly, and her halo dipped a deeper shade of pink. If anyone noticed the color change, they didn’t remark on it.
Hope gave Raev a demure little smile that said “I see what you’re doing” before focusing once more on the screen. All the while, though, she inched closer until not only her wing, but now her hip, pressed into the demon’s side. This did not go unnoticed by Mindy, who abandoned any attempt at subtlety and started dragging her nails in slow-motion lightning bolts along Boyd’s forearm—a tactile dare to see if he’d flinch.
He did not.
Instead, Boyd opened his hand, inviting Mindy to link with it, which she did. Her palm warm, the touch almost electric. It grounded him, but also turned the heat up on the couch a few degrees hotter.
The movie, meanwhile, hit its climax, with the hero marching into the desert to face destiny. Onscreen, things blew up in a wash of blue light and sand. But the real storm was happening on the couch.
Raev, taking advantage of everyone’s attention being on the screen, flattened her palm over Boyd’s crotch and gave a slow, deliberate squeeze that was anything but subtle. He looked down, arching a brow at her.
She answered with a smug little shrug, tails curling around Laura like a banner.
Hope looked from Raev’s hand to Boyd’s face. Her eyes were wide and her halo flared a vibrant pink. She licked her lips, then looked down at the vixen demurely, as if asking permission to join in the vixen’s escalation.
Boyd had a lifetime of training in controlling his reactions, but the combination of Hope’s proximity, Raev’s flagrant grope, and Mindy’s psychic fanning of the flames made it hard for him to maintain his composure. The air was thick with unspoken intent, when Tinker—who had up to this point been focused entirely on the film—suddenly picked her head up and said, “Whoa... Is anyone else feeling a little… um… warm in here?”
Silvie blinked owlishly, waking from where she’d fallen asleep. She looked from Boyd’s frozen grin to Hope’s blushing halo to Mindy’s suddenly predatory smile, before noticing Raev’s hand on Boyd’s crotch.
“Did I miss something?” she asked.
“Only the fact that some of us have a serious exhibitionist streak,” Mindy purred, her eyes locked on Raev. “And that some of us are bad—so very bad—at waiting our turn.”
Raev, unfazed, shot Mindy a lazy grin and curled her fingers around the big demon’s girth. Shifting her grip, she made Boyd catch his breath. “I waited through three hours of movie night,” the redhead purred, voice all velvet and smoke. “That’s being more than patient… by almost anyone’s standards.”
