Challenge 7: Ten Word Challenge

[IsabellaRose]

Today's challenge is a 10-Word Challenge. In 1500 words or less, write a short story that includes the following 10 words:

1. passion
2. analysis
3. protest
4. ankle
5. dilemma
6. provoke
7. diet
8. lake
9. fur
10. expose

If it doesn't feel challenging enough, try including the words in order. 

Deadline is 09 Dec 2020 at 5:00pm EST, when this thread will be closed and voting will commence. Good writing!

[Somethingsomething]

Sophie cursed and closed the window of her ongoing analysis. Something was wrong. None of the results made sense.

She ran her hand through her silky brown hair and went through her lab notes again. Why were these results so different from the last time she had run her experiments? She had done everything exactly the same as she had done last time. She folded her arms on the table, placed her forehead onto them and emitted a long, frustrated sigh. At days like these she always wondered whether science was the right field for her and what had happened to all that passion that she used to have in the beginning of her PhD. She was in her second year now and her motivation, which right now was at the lowest point it had ever been, had been drained by results that did not make any sense and by repeating experiment over and over again without gaining any new insights.

She decided to talk a stroll through the institute. She took her transponder, shut down her computer and wandered through the empty floors with their white walls and their glass doors until she stood in front of the staircase. She walked down to the basement and to the mouse-house, in which all mice needed for the institute’s experiments were maintained. Sophie leaned her arm against the glass door and stared into the room with its seemingly endless rows of cages which stood there in the bright neon light. 16 hours of light. 8 hours of darkness. Sophie yawned. She could use 8 hours of sleep as well.

When she returned to her desk, she rubbed her eyes and went through her notes again, comparing serial numbers of all kits and enzymes that she had been using, trying to find that one detail that she seemed to miss. When she couldn’t find anything, she decided to go home. It was no use. She was simply too tired.

She was already on her way outside when she stumbled across Pete, a post doc, who seemingly had no life besides of his project either, even though he didn’t look like it. He always seemed to have a tan, god knew where from, he seemed to do sports, god knew when, and he always seemed to be in good spirits, god knew how. And there was Sophie, feeling like she had been run over by a truck, with her hair that definitely needed a thorough wash and clothes that looked rather like pyjamas than like anything else.

“Hey Pete.”, she said and nodded at him. “It's 9pm. Did they finally grant you to have your own bed in the lab?” He chuckled and took a drink from a can of diet coke. “Anyways. Please euthanize my mice and burn my notes. I’ll quit.”, she said tiredly and tightened the scarf around her neck. Pete chuckled again. “I know that dilemma. Care to go through your notes together? It’s never a good thing to go home frustrated. You’ll find no rest and you definitely look like you need it.” Sophie sighed. “I got it. I look like shit today. I just wished people would stop telling me.” She gave him a sceptical glance. “Okay. 30 minutes.”

What followed was a conversation, that must have sounded the most cryptic to everyone that was not familiar with the topic. “For how long did you expose your mice to the toxin?” “Did you shave off their fur or did you use hair removal creme?” “What diet where your mice on?” “I wouldn’t include that experiment. It would only provoke the bio ethics council.” Eventually Sophie sighed in resignation. “This is not leading us anywhere Pete.”, she mumbled and looked at him tiredly. He shrugged. “It’s probably something about your evaluation pipeline. I’d check the software if I was you. It doesn’t seem to be a problem of your experimental set up or your technique.” Sophie’s eyes widened. “..the pipeline!” She hadn’t checked the pipeline! Maybe the new batch of mice required different parameters..? She grinned at Pete. “You’re amazing! It's the first thing I'm going to do tomorrow.” She gave him a sideward glance. She had always liked Pete. They had even hooked up once, a year ago maybe, after the institute’s Christmas party. However they had both been drunk and hadn’t talked about it ever since, especially because both of them had been in relationships back then. But her and her boyfriend had split up and she had heard that Pete and his girlfriend had been through tough times as well. “Would you.. like to have a beer somewhere?”, she asked hesitantly. “I think I could use some distraction from all of this.” Pete raised an eyebrow and looked at her just as sceptical as she had looked at him earlier. “..a beer? Yeah sure.” He tucked some of his blond hair behind his ear. “..but I also do have a bottle of wine at home, if that’s what you want.” Sophie blushed and chuckled nervously. “..I guess that is what I want. ..is it what you want too?”

It was. And at the latest when the two of them had entered his apartment, there were no doubts about either of their intentions anymore. Giggling, Sophie kicked off her shoes and opened the zipper of Pete's jacket, meanwhile he was nibbled on her neck. “Wine?”, he asked her when he let go of her neck to take off his jacket and to untie his shoes. “Yes! Definitely!” Sophie took off her jacket and strolled to his couch, which stood exactly where it had stood a year ago. “Hey what happened to the swan lake poster?”, she called into the kitchen. “Threw it out. It was Mary’s.” In the next moment, Pete returned with a bottle of red wine and two cups in his hands. Sophie watched him pour their drinks, wondering why on earth it had taken her so long to ask him out. “To science.”, he said and raised his cup. “To goddamn evaluation pipelines.”, she said and raised hers as well. When they had both placed their cups back onto the coffee table, Pete gave Sophie a wide grin, took her by her hips and pulled her up onto him so she straddled his lap. Sophie returned his grin and looked at him longingly before she leaned forward and kissed him.

Kissing him felt just as good as she remembered it had. Biting his bottom lip playfully when their lips parted, she leaned back a bit, grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. She gave him an admiring glance, then shook her head laughing. “What’s your secret Pete. Tell me.” “Good food. Good wine. Little sleep.”, he said grinning, before he slid her shirt over her head, revealing her small, firm breasts. Why wear a bra to the lab? He smirked at her, rolled her onto her back and kissed his way down to her breasts, beginning with her lips, down her neck, over her collarbone, until he had reached one of her light brown nipples which had already hardened in anticipation. He closed his lips around it, applied some suction on it and moved his tongue over it before he gave it a playful bite. “Still like that?”, he said, looking up to her. Sophie nodded wordlessly and gasped when his teeth closed around her nipple a second time.

When she felt him unbuttoning her jeans, she did not protest the tiniest bit but instead emitted a pleased moan when she felt him pushing his hand inside of her panties. “Mind if I take them off?”, he whispered as soon as he had withdrawn his hand from her, his fingers glistening from her wetness. Sophie smirked and pushed him backwards. “Mind if I take yours off?”, she said playfully as she kissed her way down his stomach. She undid his pants, pulled them down, revealing the little pipette tattoo at his ankle and took them off before she moved up between his legs again. She could see his erection press against the checked fabric of his boxershorts and could see a little wet spot where his precum had seeped through the fabric. She looked up to him and waited for his go, then took off his boxershorts as well. She kissed the inside of his thighs teasingly, before she placed her tongue onto the base of his shaft and moved it upwards, until she had reached the sensitive tip. She gave it a short lick to wet it and subsequently let it glide into her mouth. She could hear Pete emit a soft moan as she began to caress his tip with her tongue. Nothing had changed. He had liked that the last time as well..

Edited November 27, 2020 by Somethingsomething
typos! :D

[Typical Blue Haired Dude]

CHOP!

Axe met stump as the burly man slammed his axe down, chopping the stub of wood in half.  Reaching his right arm to his forehead, we wiped off drops of sweat that began to accumulate on his brows.  Autumn was here, and that meant that he had to prepare the firewood for the winter early.  His hands, roughened up from years of physical labor and hunting, grasped onto the handle of his axe as he yanked it from the stump once more, then reaching out to another piece of heartwood, standing it on the stump for him to prepare another swing.  His auburn eyes locked onto the wood, taking steady aim as he lifted his axe once more in order to make a clean cut.  Then, with another mighty swing, he split the second piece perfectly in the middle, tossing the remains to a pile that he accumulated over the day.  For each second of his work, he poured out his strength, his passion, his will to provide, as he was not the only one who needed the firewood.

“Honey!  Are you done working over there?”  A feminine voice harkened from the cabin, belonging to the only one who lived with him.  When she emerged, she revealed herself to be a fair maiden with crystalline blue eyes, and long silver hair that covered her mid-back to match.  What made her stand out, however, was the fact that she also possessed wolf ears and a tail; to many, this would be enough to label her as a monster, nothing more than a beast, but not to this man.  Her attire, far more humble than her looks, consisted of a standard white shirt with beige leggings; while her clothing was rather conservative, her form fit the clothes well as she was voluptuous and appealing to the eye in nature.  She walked barefooted, a preference likely rooting from her wolf heritage.  Her voice alone prompted him to drop his work and gaze upon her beauty for only a few seconds.  

With a smile on his face, the muscular man swiped the ruffled midnight black hair from his face in order to see her properly.  “Don’t worry, dear, I’m close to finishing up.”

The woman assessed a quick analysis of the work he displayed, finding his pile of firewood satisfactory.  With a slight nod, she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway.  With a concerned look on her face, she attempted to persuade him to call it a day.  “You have already done enough, that should be plenty for today.  You can do the rest later.”

The man, with a smile on his face, simply shook his head as he rested the axe on his shoulder.  “Not quite.  I still have some energy left in me, so I might as well put it to good use.”

The woman began to protest, but knew better than to raise her voice at him, despite how stubborn he could be.  “You should not injure your left ankle any further.  You are pushing yourself just by standing on it alone.  You should rest, Andrew.  We don’t want another dilemma where you will travel for at least a day’s journey on one foot just to find a medic if you mess up that ankle further.  I’m not going to carry you there, so you will have to limp if that happens.”

Andrew only let out a hearty laugh, finding her threat as a jest.  They both knew by now that this was her way of teasing him.  “Ah, Mazelina, you worry too much.  My ankle’s fine.  I only tripped over a root in the ground, it’s not something I can’t walk off.”

“That root just so happened to have thorns, Andrew,” she insisted.  “You could barely walk on it yesterday without reopening those wounds...but I digress.  By the time that I finish with you, you will feel so drained that you will stay in the bed for at least a day.~”  With that, she turned back, her tail waving from side to side in expectancy, and headed inside to wait for him.  It didn’t take long for Andrew to make his decision; if he decided to provoke her by denying her little offer, he would be sleeping outside the house tonight.  Tossing his axe to the side, he got up to enter his house with a slight limp, leaning towards his right leg for proper support.  As he entered the cabin, he walked over to the dining table, sitting down as he watched Mazelina bite down on an apple.  Her canines and fangs were rather sharp, he saw firsthand just how scary and damaging those teeth could be.  However, ever since the two of them lived together, her diet consisted of more fruits and vegetables, and due to the small garden they had in their backyard, they rarely ever had to eat meat.  As much as he missed hunting down game and cooking up meat for himself, he desired to respect her wishes of breaking free from her old traditions and proved to be very supportive along the way.

“Oh!  Well, you came sooner than I expected.  If you were that well behaved every time I asked you to do something, I would not have to nag as much.”  She spoke with her mouth full of apple with a grin spread across her face.  Clearly she was just teasing him again, and she had grown comfortable where she didn’t have to bother with table etiquette around him.  He loved her all the same, maybe even more so when she was her messy self.  

“Heheh...you didn’t choose to live with me because I’m safe.  You didn’t already forget how we met by the lake now, didja’?”  He leaned in on the table with his right elbow, giving her that goofy lovey-dovey stare that he always gave her.

“You be quiet about the lake.  None of my brothers ever let me live that moment down.  I am quite certain they are still laughing about it in their pack.”  Her tail noticeably straightened, her ears pointed upwards as she crossed her arms and pouted.  Her body noticeably tensed up as embarrassing memories flooded her mind.  “They kept treating me like I was your pet, and prompted my father to attack you for supposedly defiling me.”

Andrew shrugged as he showed no sign of remorse whatsoever.  To him, it was worth it.  “Hey, not my fault you were curious and enjoyed my petting.  I think you even rolled over on your belly for me.”

“H-hey!”  Mazelina abruptly stood up from her seat, disregarding her unfinished apple that now rolled out of the table and fell onto the floor.  The fur on her tail and ears bristled, a predatory tactic to make her appear larger and more intimidating.  Andrew easily saw through it, or maybe he didn’t even notice it at all since “love was blind.”  He simply got up and walked around the table, remaining at her side.

“At the end of the day, it all worked out.  You finally found a reason to go off on your own, and you’re here now.  That’s what matters.  Besides, now that you’re here with me, I can give you so much more than belly rubs...that’s why you wanted me to stop working with the wood, right?~”

Andrew reached his hands around her waist, reaching underneath her shirt to expose her belly as he hugged her from behind while gently rubbing her abdomen.  Her ears eased up and her tail brushed against his chest hastily as she let out a defiant sigh.  Blushing, she responded, “That was the one thing I knew would pull you out of harming yourself.  Besides...you’ve been so busy trying to collect firewood and food that you barely make time for anything else.  I have my needs to.  I am your wife now, after all...” 

Andrew nodded to himself, realizing the error in his ways.  He gave her a soft kiss on her neck, hoping to make it up to her.  “Mazey...I’m here now.  I’ll make more time for you.  All you have to do is ask, okay?” 

The woman turned her head towards him with a content smile, lifting her feet up to kiss him on the lips briefly as she closed her eyes.  “Well, you have a lot to make up for.  You better satisfy me until the sun rises, or else I will leave you and find another wolf to mate with me.  Understood, Andrew?”

“Say no more.~”  Without hesitation, the burly man pinned the voluptuous woman to the bed, causing her to chuckle as she eyed him with a sultry gaze.  They both knew that nothing would stop them from exploring each other and becoming one until dawn rose upon the sky.

 

//Total word count: 1469 (nice)

Extra challenge: 10 words in order

It's been a while since I wrote a short story/prompt for anything besides a fan fiction or role play!  This was really fun to write, and I hope you guys enjoyed it!  I'll see if I can delve into the more lewder side of things next time.  I obviously wanted to for this story, but that was cut a little short...maybe some day, I can make this a full series too ^^

Edited November 28, 2020 by Typical Blue Haired Dude