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"Hah! Gotcha."

Jerrett barely had time to react before he felt something cold and slender wrap around his ankle. When it suddenly pulled, the fox let out a yelp and lost his balance, falling backwards. For a split second, he could see the night sky above his head, sprinkled with stars. Lost ember sparks from the campfire fluttered and flew into the deep black firmament before fading out of existence.

It was all very pretty, but in addition to only lasting for an instant, the fact that Jerrett was suspended upside down didn't make it any easier to admire the scenery. The fox crossed his arms on his chest as he dangled a few feet above the ground, waiting patiently for a certain snake to lower him down.

"Oh, come on! Pushing you around like this is funny," she said as her face appeared close to Jerrett, her deep orange eyes twinkling with enthusiasm.

Jerrett sighed. By then, he was used to his wife's shenanigans, which didn't mean he necessarily approved of them.

"Aya, we had agreed..." he began, but the snake immediately cut him off.

"What? I don't think I remember what you're talking about."

The fox rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to put me down or not?" he asked. "I'm getting tired of hanging here, like a piñata."

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that. Perhaps one day we should try it."

"Try what?"

"Turn you into a piñata. Think of how much fun that'd be."

"For you," Jerrett pointed out.

"Yeah, obviously."

"I swear sometimes you're just like Jasmine."

"Oh, come on. I'm nothing like her."

The fox tried to squirm, but he knew it'd be pointless. Aya wouldn't let him go unless she really wanted. Which, in that case, meant she'd have to get tired of bullying him - something that had taken days sometimes.

"Hey, can I go back to my usual, upside up position? Blood's rushing to my head, you know," Jerrett complained.

"Oh, fine."

A quick and firm movement of Aya's tail placed Jerrett in the right position. The fox was about to thank her, but then her yellow coils closed around his body before he could open his mouth. Fighting the involuntary urge to struggle, still with his arms crossed on his chest, Jerrett frowned as Aya chuckled.

"You really are an easy one to catch."

"I suppose that's why we're here to begin with," Jerrett murmured grumpily. "Hey, we said we'd spend a quiet night in the wilds. Does this seem quiet to you?"

"Why, I'm merely doing all the catching. You're the one complaining. Do you want me to take care of that too?"

The fox decided there was no way to win. He glanced at the campfire by their side, which kept burning vigorously. Of course, he'd been the one who had set it up - Aya had been too busy making fun of him for picking sticks and that kind of thing. Jerrett loved her, but she certainly liked to tease him. In all kinds of ways.

"We're supposed to be here to relax," Jerrett reminded her.

"Nobody says you can't relax in my coils. In fact, there's a whole fandom built around that, or so I'm told."

Jerrett blushed.

"That's... that's not what I mean!"

"Or perhaps I should bite you," Aya said, her face suddenly getting much closer to Jerrett's head. The fox felt the tip of her wife's forked tongue caressing one of his ears and shivered, a chill going down his spine. "Would that make this cute camping trip of yours more relaxing, hmm?"

Jerrett didn't bother to answer. He knew Aya would do whatever she wanted anyway. Dating a twelve feet snake lady left little room to arguing.

"Do I need to remind you my bite is sedative?" the snake whispered in his ear, making him squirm again.

"No," Jerrett answered, his cheeks flushing red. "My memory is working perfectly fine, thank you."

"Heh. For now, perhapsss..."

Jerrett closed his eyes. A part of him liked it when Aya teased him like that, but when he'd offered her to go on a camping trip with him, that wasn't what he'd had in mind.

He opened his eyes a few seconds later, when Aya rested her fangs on his shoulder carefully. The tips stroke the fur gently, but they never even scratched his skin. Jerrett knew by then that was Aya's way of showing affection, and allowed himself to relax a bit more on her grip.

In response, Aya loosened his coils so that he could stop having his arms crossed on his chest. Jerrett let out a soft groan and thanked her, allowing his arms to fall into a more natural position.

They rested like that as the campfire nearby filled the air with cracking sounds. Jerrett really liked the sound of burning tinder. It was partly the reason why he'd decided to go on that trip with Aya, although perhaps he should have considered that her wife was the type of snake that preferred breaking the silence.

"I like it here," he said, however.

"Yeah. I like it too." Aya remained silent for a few seconds before adding "What I mean is that I'm happy you asked me to come with you."

"Well, I had to." Jerrett yawned. The night was calmer than he'd anticipated and building that campfire had exhausted him more than he was willing to admit. "Otherwise, you'd have tracked me down. I know you would have come."

"Indeed. As I said, you're an easy one to catch."

Jerrett chuckled softly. The gentle breeze of the forest went through his fur as he rested on Aya's cold scales. Another cracking sound came from the campfire and he closed his eyes. There was nobody around, no threat or dangerous creature - and in the event that they were, they'd have to fight Aya to get to him. Jerrett wished them luck with that.

The fox took a nice, deep breath in.This is life, he thought.

"I love you, Aya," he whispered as he drifted to sleep.

"I know," the snake answered. "I love you too, furball."