Checking In
by Erin Griffin
Fandom: Once Upon A Time
Pairing: Red Beauty, past Red Snow implied
The only sound that was heard in the apartment was the sound of turning pages. This was interrupted by a knock on the door. Belle slowly closed her book and untangled her limbs from fur. Said bundle of fur grunted, but otherwise didn't move. Belle opened the door to see Snow there before her. She looked down at the floor immediately. Things were still a little strange with the three of them since Red and Belle began dating, since there didn't seem to be much closure between Red and Snow since the curse had gotten to them. She opened the door wider knowing that it would invite Snow's scent into the apartment and Red would smell her. a second later, the dark wolf approached. "I didn't see you out and about, nor did I hear anything. I wanted to check in." Snow said. She smiled lightly at Red, who shook away the stiffness of the position she had been in with Belle. Snow put her hand out. "Don't worry about shifting back to talk, I just wanted to make sure. i don't want anything to happen to you."
Belle thought about inviting her in for tea, but seeing as Red wasn't going to shift back, she said instead, "She runs when I go to sleep at eleven, but keeping her other form hurts this time of month, so we just…"
"I understand. I am glad I know that… for future reference." Snow nodded again. "I uh, should get back."
"Thank you for checking in," Belle said softly. She waited for Snow to make it to the stairs before she closed the door to not show how relieved she was that the encounter was over. She went back to the couch and reached for her book, laying back on the couch with her legs up. Red jumped on to the couch with her, climbing over her body and landing on her chest. "What are you doing?" Belle asked with a laugh as Red licked her face. The librarian couldn't contain her laugh as her hand went up to either encourage or stop the affection, she still wasn't sure.
Belle felt the skin beneath her fingertips a moment later, which sobered her immediately. For Red to be in flesh now meant she was in some pain. She opened her eyes and were met with Red's glowing yellow ones. "You," Red said through gritted teeth. "You," she said again, and Belle nodded, understanding.
"Sh, you need to shift back. I know how this is hurting you."
"I know how it hu-hurts you too, which was why i needed you to know," Red responded. Belle ran her fingers through Red's hair, watching as it turned to dark fur. There was was a moment of the wolf's panting, but soon both of them were calm again.