Chapter 45 - A Soup For Two (100K Word Special)

Legosi approached the small dorm room after his venture, bags in hand. He had managed to get a hold of some extra stuff, too.

Music could be heard from inside. Louis definitely liked to drown his ears in it. They were luckily separated from any other buildings, thanks to Oguma's request. There was something else in the music that was vivid, real, deeper sounding than the singer. Was Louis...singing?!

Legosi stood outside the door, unsure whether he wanted to interrupt or not. He stayed there for a little while, adjusting the bags in his hands. His ears twitched and he wore the biggest smile, enjoying the moment.

The deer sounded like he was really into it, unaware anyone was listening.

` Legosi decided to go inside, opening the door slowly.

Louis was turning around as he held a note and then he saw Legosi, eyes widening and stopping, looking quickly down. Fuck...Did he hear me?!

Legosi quickly placed the bags on the ground, running up to the herbivore quickly and embracing him, tail wagging. "Louis! Louis, you sing so well! You're really good!"

The deer tensed up. "You...weren't supposed to hear!"

"I did! And it was great!" He leaned down and gave Louis a quick kiss on the lips.

Louis blushed red and looked down embarrassed, huffing.. "I...Rrrgh!"

Legosi retreated a bit. "Uh, I'm sorry. I'll forget about it, if you want." He scratched his chin idly and looked away.

Louis sighed. "We didn't do musicals for a reason. I'm terrible at singing."

"I think it was really good, though!"

The music continued to play loudly behind him. "I just really love this song, okay? Don't make a big deal out of it..."

Legosi held his hands up. "I won't. I just want you to know I liked it."

Louis sighed. He went to the radio and turned it down. "Did everything go well?"

"Yes!" Legosi walked over to the bags and lugged them over. "They let me take a lot of stuff! See?" The bags revealed the requested ingredients, as well as assorted fruit, bread, some little packaged cakes, eggs, milk, tea bags of a few different varieties, and fruit juice. "Principle Gon said we'd have to start paying them eventually, but for now this is okay."

Louis looked down. "That's definitely more than I told you." His hand came to rest on Legosi's head. "Just couldn't resist, huh?"

Legosi hummed, smiling with his eyes closed. "It feels more like a home when the kitchen is full of food."

Louis petted him and then his hand moved down to his cheek. "You did a great job fetching these."

Legosi let out another hum, more high pitched, as his tail wagged more.

Louis grabbed the bags and took them into the kitchen, setting them on the counter. "How was Gon?"

"He's very nice! It's relieving to know someone like him is supporting us." Legosi helped Louis put the food away.

"I went a little...Overboard asking him to let you move in..."

"Well I'm glad it worked."

"Even if it didn't you'd still be here. I probably couldn't sleep without you now."

Legosi made a noise in agreement. "Sometimes me and Jack would share the bed, and I always liked the feeling of being with someone. I'm so glad the animal I get to share the bed with now is you, Louis!"

"I hope he doesn't miss you too much."

"We still got to classes together and everything! We'll be friends forever."

Louis scratched behind his ear. "You're so cute..."

Legosi blushed. "Actually, a year or so ago at one of the club meetings, I remember spacing out the whole time wondering how an animal with antlers would sleep with someone else in bed. I'm glad it's not as complicated as I thought it was." He had only been poked four times, so far.

Louis blushed a bit. "I honestly forget I have them sometimes, so I have to constantly remind myself they're there."

"Haru-chan says you had shed them when you first met, and you had to hide in the garden until you had fake ones made. How often do they fall off?"

"Once a year."

"Well, at least we have different snuggling positions to look forward to, then!"

Louis laughed softly. "I love you so fucking much." He covered his face with his hand as he laughed at how adorable his wolf was.

Legosi leaned down, rubbing his snout on the bottom of Louis' chin. "I love you, too. Let's make some soup!"

Louis turned back and got behind the counter, grabbing the slip of paper Shogi gave him.

The wolf pressed his chest to his boyfriend's back, holding him gently as he peered over to look at the paper as well.

"It looks like we should taste the celery we're using before we put it in to make sure it's fresh."

"Okay!" Legosi went to the fridge to fetch said ingredient, which he brought over.

Louis grabbed a cutting board and placed it on the counter. "Good thing I ordered us all these cooking supplies and have actually been using them."

Legosi nodded, taking some celery and gnawing on it.

"Well I was going to cut a piece off for each of us, but we can do it canine style, too," Louis blinked.

Legosi looked down at the celery, and then extended it to Louis to try. The deer reached his muzzle forward and bit off a piece.

Legosi giggled. It was such a strange sound coming from his deep voice.

Louis chewed thoughtfully. "Mm. We can definitely use it." He looked back down at the paper that was flat on the counter, both his hands gripping the edge as he bounced up and down lightly on his toes. "Looks like we need to sauté onions, leeks and celery. Do we have butter?"

Legosi sorted through the fridge and bags. "Yeah! Do we put the carrots in, too? Also we should cut back on the onions and leeks."

"Right, right." He grabbed a pot out of the cabinet and put it on the stove, turning the dial up to medium as the flame was given life. "I suppose we should put the carrots in as well as a supplement to leeks and onions."

"There might be another vegetable we can put in too for that..." Legosi dug through the bags some more.

"Just be careful. I don't want you dying on me..." He opened the fridge and grabbed the butter, turning back to peek at the yellow card. "Two teaspoons..."

"I've had dishes before that had some, so it should be okay. If I ate an onion whole, though, I'd die." Legosi stated, matter-of-factly.

"I'll remember that," the deer said, searching through the drawers for the teaspoons.

"Did you get all of this stuff online too?" The larger animal gestured to the pot and all the other utensils.

"Yep, the internet is really convenient. Saved us city trips and lugging all this stuff around." He finally found them with a small sound of victory.

"More city trips would be fun, though," Legosi piped in. He leaned in curiously to observe his boyfriend.

"As long as we don't have to play pretend." He got the two teaspoons of butter and put them in the pot, watching as they melted slowly. He turned around and grabbed a knife from the holder. "Five cups of chopped celery..."

"Can I help with anything?"

He looked at the recipe. "Can you please find the blender?"

"Alright!" Legosi started opening all the cabinets, finding it on the fifth one. He brought it down and set it on the counter.

Louis was already chopping celery up as he did so. His technique wasn't perfect, but it did the job. "How are we supposed to measure five cups of this? Do we just get the measuring cup and then scrape these into it and see if it makes the right amount? How much celery did you get?"

"One...bunch? There's five stalks left. That's a lot of celery...Guess that's why it's...cream of celery soup?"

He laughed. "Just worried because we need five cups and I'm still new at all this. I invited Shogi over to play shogi and he started talking about cooking as if it were art and that got me interested. And so I started doing some research and it really was an art form of its own..."

"I really admire animals that can cook. It really is like art. Art you can eat."

"I know you love that." Louis knew he must get better at the craft now.

Legosi watched Louis go about his business. "You'd look cute in an apron, I think."

Louis blushed. "Oh, don't think I didn't buy one." He thought back to his custom apron he ordered and then realized he was very embarrassed about what he bought. It was just a silly joke he thought would be cute at first, but now he didn't want Legosi to see it at all.

"Did you buy one?"

"Um...Yes, but I'm going to send it back because, um...It's ripped!"

"Oh, that's too bad! We should get one for me too."

Louis felt relieved. Now the wolf wouldn't see it. He finished chopping and added the celery into the pot.

Legosi bounced up and down slightly. He was so happy to be there with Louis, doing this. He was happy Louis was happy. "Do you think there are cities out there where a couple like us could walk around and be okay?"

"There has to be," Louis said, beginning to chop onions. In a matter of time, his eyes began to sting as they teared up.

"I wonder who the first canine was to think to eat an onion…" The wolf wiped his eyes, which had started to sting too.

Louis had to put the knife down and wiped his eye. "Whoever first discovered that they were deadly definitely died and had someone there when it happened." He finished chopping since there wasn't that much and then put it in the pot. "I hope that wasn't too much...We could have skipped it entirely, to be safe..."

"I've had it before! That shouldn't be too much." Legosi grabbed a tissue and wiped his eyes some more.

"Alright, now the leeks and then carrots." He began on the leeks, first. "I'm not really mad that you heard me singing, Legosi."

Legosi's tail wagged. "Oh! That's good, because...I'd like to hear it again." He dug some dirt out from under a nail.

"I'm...embarrassed..." The repetitive sound of the chopping filled the space. Louis found it calming.

"I'll sing for you, if that would make you feel better," Legosi offered.

"I bet it's beautiful," Louis said. He added the leeks, then began with the carrots. "I could listen to your voice all day."

"Thanks! That makes me feel really good," Legosi hummed, walking around Louis with nothing else to do but walk and talk to him.

Louis smiled as he worked. "Sorry you can't help more...But we wouldn't have all these ingredients if you hadn't gotten them."

Legosi's tail thumped against the cabinets. "That will be my job! The animals there know me now, anyway." Legosi used that time to explore the kitchen more, seeing what else was in each cabinet. He pulled out a drawer, finding some towels, and an apron. It must be the one Louis was talking about...He took it out, seeing what the tear looked like.

There was no tear. It was a white apron with the words "Carnivore Tamer" on it.

Louis looked over and then blushed a ton. "Agh! You found it..."

Legosi looked at the apron, then to Louis. He raised an eyebrow, that adorable toothy grin appearing on his face. He walked over to him, slipping the apron on his small body and tying it up in the back.

Louis went rigid, holding the knife still and the rest of the carrot down with his other hand. It's as if he had been paused while in the middle of chopping.

Apron now on, Legosi kissed Louis on the cheek. "You did a pretty good job taming me..."

Louis swallowed audibly. "W-well...I-It was just a dumb joke..."

Legosi thought about it for a moment. "Is it?"

Louis set the knife down and turned around. "It's...It's supposed to be!" He looked to the side and blushed heavily.

"What is love if not taming someone, and allowing someone to tame you?" The wolf mumbled in a quiet voice, looking at him.

Louis leaned closer. "I didn't know you had such a way with words...But, Isn't the concept of taming offensive to you?" He smirked. "Unless you like it, wolf."

Legosi shrugged. "Even if it was offensive, it wouldn't be from you. Don't let any other carnivore see that, though..."

Louis looked down at the apron. "You weren't even supposed to see it!"

"What apron should we get for me?" Legosi tilted his head, reading the words again and again.

Louis came up with another joke. "Tamed By An Herbivore." He shook his head. "I'm ridiculous." He picked up the knife and began cutting again.

"Then we match. Although, having one with a beetle on it would be nice..."

"We can buy both! Plus..." Louis felt some confidence as he smirked again. "You haven't really been tamed by a herbivore, yet." He put the carrots in the pot.

"U-um!" Legosi blushed furiously, opting to walk over to the radio and turn the volume up again, seeing what Louis was listening to.

It was just some station he put it on, nothing personal. A rock song was playing. Louis turned around. "We need to give it ten minutes." He blushed. "Sorry for that previous comment." Though his mind did wander...

"Oh, um, it's alright!" he coughed. "Did you ever find out where we could buy a...y'know..." Legosi wrapped one hand around his muzzle, and the other he used to pull an invisible strap around his head.

Louis smiled and came over. "I may have found somewhere." He started removing his apron because he didn't need to wear it while they were waiting.

"R-really?"

"I got curious." The deer draped the apparel over a chair once it was removed.

Legosi tapped his claws together. anxiously. "I wonder if...that's the main reason animals buy them..."

Louis' ears perked. "It's a sex shop."

Legosi shut his eyes, smacking his face with his hand. "I see."

The herbivore looked to the side. He was still unsure about the whole thing. He was so nervous about their first time, he almost wanted to keep pushing it back. But, he was also very curious if it could work. "But that's definitely a big reason they're bought. Welcome to adulthood, young wolf."

Legosi's thoughts headed in a similar direction. He wondered if he really could lose himself so much in his passoin that he would bite or even eat Louis during sex. He didn't think so, but they wouldn't know until it happened. He covered his face with his hands in response to Louis' comment.

The young buck grabbed his hands. "Calm down, it's going to be fine. It's only for the first, maybe second times."

"U-um! Sh-should we set a date? Or something?" Legosi had no idea how this worked. He could feel himself stirring just talking about it, though.

Louis squeezed his hands. "Do you still want to? We could go our whole lives without having sex and I would love you just the same." A song came on that was slow rock. Louis used this as the perfect chance to put Legosi's hands on his hips. He reached up and put his own hands on the wolf's broad shoulders as he began to sway. "It's your choice." He hoped the movements would calm him down.

Legosi blinked at the sudden transition to dancing. He swayed along with Louis. "I-I do, someday. But every time we've gotten close...I got scared. I think I need more time..."

"And that's perfectly fine," Louis said. "I will never rush you."

Legosi thought back to that fateful lunch day with his friends. "Uh, I am a bit worried about...well, Jack said I might be too big?"

Louis nodded his head a bit with the song as he stared into Legosi's eyes and they moved this way...and that way… "Did he now?"

"W-w-well he...y-yeah." The wolf gripped his deer tighter.

Louis leaned his head in and his lips brushed Legosi's ear. "That's not how it works." He spoke very softly, his hot breath against the inside of his ear.

Legosi shivered, a jolt travelling through his spine. "Oh? U-uh...o-o-okay..."

Louis leaned back and they kept moving. "Trust me. I know. You didn't think I would figure out how it works? You know me. I like to do research."

So size doesn't matter...Legosi took a deep breath and grinned. Of course, he trusted Louis. He began to sway faster.

The herbivore pulled him closer, their chests against one another as he rested his chin on his shoulder the best that he could, keeping mind of his horns. He kept his hips back a little, on purpose. The song built up and Louis began singing to Legosi when it hit, very softly because he was embarrassed. What Legosi couldn't see was that his eye was closed, helping the deer to overcome his nervousness.

Louis' singing voice was calming, like a lullaby. Legosi squeezed the deer toward him, rubbing up and down his back with his large hands. He used one to stroke his short, puffy tail. It was one of his favorite parts of his mate.

Louis found himself smiling as he got louder and more confident, though it took toward the end of the song for him to sing at even a moderate volume. He shut his eye tighter, feeling tense and nervous as he held the note. He wondered how out of character Legosi felt this was.

The carnivore nuzzled his neck, grinning out of his view.

The song ended and Louis didn't let go as he reached over and began changing the station. "I have one you might like." He kept his right hand on Legosi's right shoulder. Suddenly, exciting jazz music was playing through the speaker as Louis tapped his foot, his eye moving toward Legosi. "Do you think you can keep up with me?"

Legosi's smile widened. "I'll try! I watch the actors dance all the time, so I think I can do it, too..."

Louis slid his hands down Legosi's arms and all the way until his palms were pressed against his, then he laced their fingers. "We'll see how good you do, then." And then Louis' hips were moving. He twisted them and started moving his feet. "Come on, join me!"

Legosi stepped around Louis' feet, careful not to tread on them. He kept up as well as he could, swinging his hips just like he did. He held a look of concentration the whole time, which contrasted with the dance.

Louis laughed as he began spinning around Legosi, their fingers staying laced as their arms extended and unextended and they hopped and moved around the room. It was messy, very messy, at first. Their bodies didn't match at all.

But that wasn't the point.

Sometimes Legosi's strength almost pulled Louis off his feet (causing the wolf to apologize loudly) and sometimes Louis stepped on his feet (causing him to apologize not as loudly). There were quite a few stumbles...But over everything there was laughing and passion and love.

And Louis was so in love with this wolf, he never wanted the song to end. It was the greatest song he had ever heard and he didn't even know the name and he didn't even care. Legosi was his and he was Legosi's and nothing mattered but the movement, the rhythm, the fire.

Their hearts beats quickly and some point they spun so much they got a bit dizzy, but they shook, shook, shook it off. Louis brought Legosi close and put his left hand on his shoulder and gripped his other hand in a cross of fingers, gliding across the floor (and yes, almost being dragged at first). In all honesty, Louis had to keep up with Legosi due to his size.

From there, a perfect and smooth transition between lovers to another pose, the song almost coming to an end. And finally, at the very end, even when it slowed down, they were in sync at last. Equal. The two panting and smiling more than both had in a while.

It was over just as soon as it had begun.

"W-wow!" Legosi was in disbelief that they were able to pull that off.

Louis was staring at him. "Never let anyone take you away from me." He was head over heels in love.

Legosi looked at him very seriously. "I'll never let anybody take me from you. And nobody will ever take you from me again."

Louis leapt into his arms as they smacked into a kiss, Louis feeling those perfect rough teeth against his. Legosi spun them around, falling onto the bed in a tight embrace, kissing deep.

He kissed back deeply, Louis reminding himself that the food was almost done, but for now...He let himself have this. He straddled only one of his legs, his right knee in between them. They panted as they kissed passionately. The flame was burning and only growing bigger each day.

Louis never, ever, ever, felt this way before. Even when Legosi confessed his love. There was something about this moment. He had never been happier. He pulled back and just looked down at his wolf's face. More jazz music had begun playing in the background, but now it was just noise to the deer.

Everything felt good. Legosi felt softer, warmer...Did he kiss better? Was he finding out how to use his tongue better? That kiss was the best they had ever had. This was the best day they ever had. It smelled amazing. He wanted to go out and pick flowers and spin in a field and fall in the grass and stare at the stars. All things he would never do. He wanted to tell all the people he cared about how much he loved them. He wanted to hug and hold them tightly. He wanted to get better for Legosi and for himself. His motivation to live had skyrocketed and nothing could ever ruin this.

Legosi looked back at Louis, feeling his love radiate into him, and Louis' love being reciprocated. It felt exhilarating, to have such a small and frail looking herbivore treat him in such a way. He felt like Louis' equal, or sometimes even that Louis was in charge. It was alluring, the feeling of letting someone else take control. Louis was the only animal for him and he knew this now. He thought of his grandpa, Gosha. He hoped he could meet Louis one day.

Louis huffed. "I don't even know what to say right now."

Legosi giggled once again. "Well, I think the soup might be ready."

Louis' smiled and he got off, easily getting his apron back on and spinning around as he got back and looked at the yellow card Shogi had given him.

The wolf just stayed laying on the bed, light headed and smiling from what had just occurred. He still felt Louis' warmth in his arms.

Louis grabbed the veggie bouillon, salt, and bay leaves out of the pantry and added them to the soup. He danced a bit to the jazz.

"Hon, come taste this for the salt."

Legosi rolled off the bed, almost skipping over and placing himself behind Louis.

The deer stirred it a bit with a wooden spoon and then lifted it up to Legosi's lips, keeping his hand under it. "Careful, it's hot."

Legosi blew on it twice, and then sipped it. "Mmph!" It was too hot still. He opened his mouth, trying to get air in to cool it off. Eventually he was able to get it down.

Louis put a hand on his own hip. "So?~"

"It's really good! I love it!" The wolf patted his stomach for emphasis.

Louis turned up the heat and put the lid back on the pot. "We have to let it simmer for 15 more minutes."

The wolf nodded and walked over to the bed, plopping down and turning on the TV. He looked over to his deer, spreading his legs and patting the area of the mattress between them, smiling invitingly.

Louis came and sat down, back against him. "Can you see over my antlers...?"

The canine rested his head on Louis' shoulder, as he loved to do. It also meant he was safe from the antlers. "Now I can." He leaned back onto the pillows, pulling Louis into him.

The buck smiled. "It smells good in here, huh?"

"It does. I love it. It smells homey." Legosi sniffed at him. "Your scent goes well with it."

The deer scooted even further back into him. "It really does feel like a home. That's a first for me."

Legosi flipped through the channels, looking for approval for each from Louis. The deer had gestured to skip quite a few of them.

The wolf flipped through the channels, until he stopped on a news story. The thing that made him not switch to the next channel right away was the utterance of the word "wolf" by the newscaster.

"Another predation case in what is believed to be a string of incidents all committed by a single wolf. He is believed to be in his mid 30s and is extremely dangerous."

Legosi tensed up, his eyes not leaving the screen as the camera showed images of police tape around the scene. His grip around Louis loosened.

The herbivore felt it as he watched a bit more, intrigued.

Legosi's breathing picked up ever so slightly. This wolf seemingly worked alone, and had already killed and devoured three other herbivores in the past two years.

His boyfriend put a hand on his leg as they kept watching the horrifying news story. The deer wondered if Alpha had eaten him and got away, would he be the same as this killer wolf?

Legosi had similar thoughts. If he had actually eaten Louis that fateful night, would he have been able to stop? "...No."

Louis blinked. "No?"

Legosi wrapped around Louis tightly once again, his legs coming up around him as well. "I'm not going to think about other wolves. I'm going to think about me, and what I feel. I love you, and I'll never hurt you like that." He always had to keep telling himself this.

"I believe it," Louis said. But we can't know that..."I'm hoping that panda guy was wrong."

The carnivore's breath hitched. "Me too." Legosi was about to say that maybe they should both pay him a visit sometime, but he didn't want to bring Louis to the back alley market. "If...if I ever start doing anything that scares you, you tell me, okay?"

"I promise I will." Louis put his other hand on his other leg. "Deep breaths. That's not you." His mate changed the channel to some game show, breathing deep like Louis suggested. "It's okay..." He rubbed his leg.

Legosi took Louis in his big hands, rubbing up and down his torso. He was so skinny. He was his. Legosi had him all to himself. He could eat him so easily, but he still couldn't find the thought appealing. He remembered the times he had called Louis his prey without thinking. Perhaps his mind really had confused romantic feelings and the desire to eat, but the other way around. At the very least, he knew now what his feelings had to be.

He continued to rub the deer, warming him up. Was he cold? He wanted him to feel good. Louis deserved to feel good.

The smaller animal sighed contentedly. "That feels really nice..."

Legosi smiled, rubbing further. He rubbed his shoulders, his chest, down to his stomach, using a circular motion. His large hands were able to cover a large area. He leaned in and licked Louis' neck.

"Mm..." Louis closed his eye and let himself be handled. He moved his legs to so that his feet were flat on the bed, spreading them.

Legosi moved his hands to Louis' hips and legs, thighs, covering his whole body in rubs as he continued to lick his neck. He never, in a million years, would have imagined this being the outcome of their relationship. If he had told himself half a year ago about what was happening now, he would have looked at him like he was unhinged.

Louis huffed softly. "Mm..." Yep. Carnivores were the best at things like this.

Legosi wanted Louis to feel like he was the most important herbivore in the world. Because he was. The wolf was a carnivore made just to please him.

Louis felt every touch of affection. They were all perfect. He scooted back even more into his wolf.

Legosi stopped licking so he could speak. "How can anyone think this is wrong?"

"They only see the fangs."

"...Do you not like my fangs?" There was a tinge of sarcasm in Legosi's voice, which was a rare gem.

"You don't want to know what I think of your fangs~"

"Mmmmm..." Legosi shifted them both into a lying position, spooning Louis with his legs wrapped around him.

"Mmm..." Louis smiled, closing his eyes.

When the soup was ready, The deer got up and went to it, looking at the card, then removing the pot from the heat, letting it cool while he set up the blender. "Are dogs sensitive to blender noises?"

Legosi put a pillow over his head, holding his thumb up.

Louis poured the soup inside and began to blend it, keeping his hand on the lid so it didn't explode.

The wolf peeked, pillow still wrapped around his ears.

It was a light green liquid now. Louis just hoped this was all right.

The wolf emerged as soon as the blending was done, walking up behind his chef and sniffing the air.

"Smell good still?"

"It does! I'm hungry!"

"Not yet." He poured it back into the pot. "Just need to add the actual cream and the rest of the celery."

Legosi's ever wagging tail just wagged more. He went over to the stove, getting some water ready. "For the tea!"

"I forgot about that. Now I'm even more excited. Cooking is so interesting." He added the rest of the celery and the cream. "Cream of celery recipe learned. Beep boop."

Legosi pat Louis on the head, smiling. "Good job!...Boop!"

Louis blinked. "Robot Louis cannot process this...Compliment." He squinted.

"How about processing this?" Legosi ducked down and kissed Louis on the lips.

Louis blushed red. "Smooth, wolf." He stirred the soup one last time.

His mate could barely keep still. He was so hungry and excited and in love with his boyfriend.

"There. Done." Louis smiled. "Why don't you get us some bowls?"

"Alright!" Legosi retrieved two bowls. They were on the small side. They still needed to shop for more Legosi-sized things. He set them down on the counter, eagerly awaiting the meal.

Louis served them both. "It smells good, at least."

Legosi looked excitedly at the bowls, and he didn't hesitate taking a spoonful and slurping it up. "Mmmm! Thish ish soooo good!"

The deer ate more slowly, smiling. "Not bad for the first time." He looked relieved.

Legosi brought the bowl to his mouth, drinking it directly. He lowered it, revealing soup stuck to the fur around his mouth. He smiled wide.

Louis laughed. "It looks like you're enjoying it." He kept eating with his spoon.

"It's good!" Legosi's tail wagged faster seeing Louis eat.

"It's good...Not as good as Shogi's, but...It's a start."

"You'll get better! And we'll keep eating it!" Legosi said, excitement clear in his voice. He slurped up the rest of his soup, placing the bowl back down with a contented 'clunk'.

Louis kept eating spoonful by spoonful. He set his bowl down and grabbed a napkin, wiping Legosi's mouth.

Legosi sputtered slightly, but let his boyfriend clean him up. After he was done, he leaned down to wrap Louis in his embrace.

Louis smiled and hugged back. He didn't plan to pick up his bowl again, rubbing Legosi's back.

"I'm so happy, Louis. I want to spend more days like this with you. I don't want them to end. I want to eat delicious food with you and hold you and dance with you."

"Of course we can..." He kept rubbing, squeezing his tail.

Legosi shivered at the touch and he retaliated by doing the same to Louis' puffy tail.

Louis shivered a bit. He moved Legosi's large and fluffy one through his hand, again and again. "I'm so happy too."

Legosi picked up his bowl and moved toward the pot again, Louis in tow still. He scooped another helping into it and drank it down.

Louis watched him eat it heartily, so glad he had impressed Legosi.

The canine licked his chops before sneezing.

"Are you okay?" Louis put a hand on his back.

His boyfriend sniffed. "Yeah, just a tickle." He set the bowl down once again. "I guess I should start my homework now."

Louis nodded. "I can help you, like I said."

The wolf nodded, heading toward his backpack and pulling out some books and binders.

Louis left the kitchen, his unfinished bowl on the counter.

Legosi brought his work over, noticing the bowl. "...Not hungry?" he ventured. He didn't want to open the wound again.

Louis looked back. "O-oh...I forgot it..." He mumbled and grabbed it again, coming back after. He hadn't really forgotten it.

Legosi's tail waved idly. He set his work on the small coffee table by the couch and sat down. "Alright, so I have algebra, sociology, and seaspeak homework."

"All things I can help with." Their thighs were touching.

Legosi steepled his fingers. "Hmmm. What to do first..."

Louis made an effort to eat another spoonful of soup. "What's hardest? If we get that out of the way, the rest will be easy."

"Seaspeak," Legosi replied, almost immediately. "My tongue gets so tied with it and it's just hard to understand structurally."

Louis nodded, spooning another bite of soup into his mouth. "Let me see." He reached his hand out as he swallowed.

Legosi handed him the work packet, biting his lip.

Louis looked it over. "When is this due?"

"Monday."

"The whole thing?"

"I started some of it, but I skipped over the hard things."

"This doesn't seem too hard. I had to study a lot of Seaspeak when I was trying to become a Beastar."

Legosi flinched a bit at the word. Louis had said it himself, at least, but whenever he heard it he had the impulse to see if Louis was upset. "Ah, I imagine." He waved at Louis. "Uhh, pokra pokra, Louis!" Legosi gave him the basic Seaspeak greeting.

"Pokra pokra, Legosi." He smiled and kissed his cheek. Then he asked him how he was doing in the same language.

"I have a low B, but it's something I struggle with. It's strange speaking a language that's meant to be spoken underwater."

"Yeah. But we can't really do that, can we? Unless you want to stick your head in a bucket full of water."

"Maybe that's the proper way to talk to sea animals?" Legosi shrugged. He smirked thinking about it. "I guess that would only apply to ones that can live on land, too."

"True."

Legosi opened the packet, paging through until he got to blank portions. He showed them to Louis, voicing his confusions.

Louis inspected the pages, his eyes scanning the texts. "Alright let's begin." He pointed to a sentence in Seaspeak. "What does this mean?"

They drank tea and worked through Seaspeak and the other subjects over the next hour or so. It was clear that Legosi was quite intelligent, but often got hung up on certain ways things were taught or explained. Once he heard it a different way from Louis, it tended to click in his head.

Louis was feeling really proud of his ability to get Legosi to understand things better than teachers could. He petted his head.

"Thank you, Louis!" Legosi smiled, his tongue poking out slightly.

The deer smiled back. "Anything for my big bad wolf."

Legosi cocked his head. "...Bad?"

"Huh?"

"Why am I bad?"

"What do you mean?"

"You called me your big bad wolf."

"Yes."

Legosi scratched his head, deciding to let it go. He scooped up his schoolwork and put it back in his book bag.

"You did a great job." Louis cooed, his soup having gone cold.

Legosi walked back over, looking at everything still left out. "So, I guess we should put all this in the fridge. Do we have containers?"

"Yeah, of course." He got up and began aiding him in putting away the leftovers.

Legosi picked up Louis' bowl. "Do you...want this or should we pour it back with the rest?"

"It's probably cold now," he sighed. "Oh well."

"You can always have some later," Legosi offered. He sighed, pouring it into the big pot.

"Are you okay?" He had noticed that sigh. "If you want more, don't be afraid to get more."

"I had enough." He recalled what he had read on Zoozle about eating disorders. He wasn't sure exactly where Louis fit, but he wanted to help him without being obvious about it.

"Okay..." He looked at the soup. "It was fun making that together..."

"Yeah...", Legosi's tone was wistful. "I'll look up some recipes I'd like to try so we can eat more food together."

Louis nodded. He felt guilty. He hadn't eaten very much. He would be feeling that tomorrow.

Legosi put the soup away into the kitchen, reaching in and pulling out some apples. "Want some dessert? Pretty healthy for dessert, but still..."

"I'm fine."

The wolf huffed, placing an apple on the counter while bringing his to the sink to wash it. "Do you really feel okay?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine."

"How do you feel? Be honest."

"I feel good? I don't understand." He watched him wash the apple.

"You're not hungry or dizzy?" Legosi dried the fruit off, holding it in his hand and inspecting it.

"Dizzy...?"

"I know whenever I don't eat a lot, I'll get dizzy or lightheaded." Legosi took a small bite of apple. "But...maybe herbivores don't need as many calories. I'm sorry I got so upset the other day...I just worry. You know." There's still something wrong, I know it.

"Oh..." Louis bit his lip. "Sorry. I'm...fine." He continued to lie.

Legosi nodded, taking another bite of the apple. It was crunchy and sweet. He wished Louis could share the taste with him.

Louis leaned his lower back against the counter. He just watched those fangs bite into the apple and tear the flesh off in chunks.

The carnivore licked the juice dribbling from the fruit greedily. He ate it down to the core, throwing it in the trash. "We could try an apple pie, sometime. I haven't had homemade apple pie in so long. My mom made it once. That was a while ago, though."

This made Louis realize he really had forgotten what he was going to ask Legosi the night of their shopping trip. He blinked as it came back to him. He had told Leogsi he was in love with the existence of carnivores that day.

The canine started to wash the big pot the soup was made in, as well as all the other dishes. It was only fair he cleaned up if Louis made the food.

Louis decided he wouldn't ask now. They were having a good night. He didn't want to ruin it.

Legosi began to hum, trying to lift his spirits back up. They had a nice day. He didn't want to forget that.

Louis hugged him from behind. "I love you so much, Legosi."

Legosi reached behind him, patting Louis with a wet hand. "I love you too, Louis. So much." He finished up with the dishes, setting them out to dry. He turned himself around and wrapped his arms under Louis's rear, hoisting him up in his arms and nuzzling his face into his abdomen. Louis's antlers almost hit the ceiling. Oops.

Louis laughed because it tickled. "Hey!"

Legosi's cold nose poked beneath his shirt, and he gave his tummy a small lick.

The herbivore laughed. "Legosi!"

Legosi lowered him a bit in his arms so their noses were touching. "We should go out again, soon. That was fun."

"You think so? That might he nice." He rubbed his nose against Legosi's. "Dancing was really fun too."

"We could go somewhere we could dance?"

"Again, I don't like hiding."

Legosi was quiet for a moment. "I...I want to show animals us. I want them to see our love. What we have for each other!" He bit his lip. Was this how his grandfather felt? "We worked so hard for this, but we have to hide it. It's not right..."

"It's not," Louis frowned. "But it's dangerous, Legosi..."

"I know," he whispered. "I'm just saying what I'm thinking. I know it's unrealistic, but they're my feelings."

He moved his hands under his shirt and rubbed. "Maybe we shouldn't hide, then."

"Maybe...um...", Legosi fumbled. "Maybe there's some places in the city for couples like us?"

"You mean like a club?"

"I guess? I don't know..."

"We might be too young, but you could be right. I've heard of this place that you can go to no matter what you are, but you have to hide your species with a mask."

"Well, that's still hiding, right?" Legosi's ear twitched.

"But we could still be in love."

"Of course." Legosi looked down. It was so frustrating. Everything was frustrating, but at least Louis was there. He carried him over to the bed, falling onto it with him in his arms still.

Louis tangled their legs. "You're not a bad wolf, by the way."

Legosi smiled. "I know..." He thought for a moment. "I should borrow Durham's Gamestation. Show you some games I like."

"Yeah? I'd probably kick your ass."

Legosi gave a crooked grin. "Yeah? What games do you like?"

"Um..." He scratched his cheek. "The popular ones..."

"Vague..." He scratched his small head gently. "I actually prefer single player games, like RPGs or adventure games. Some shooters are okay."

"Really? Wow. We can't really play those together."

"Well there's a racing game we have, and one of those party games. "There's a bunch, actually. If you'd want."

"We could! I'll win with ease," he smirked.

"We'll see.", Legosi mumbled, resting his face in Louis' chest. He didn't think about how boney it felt.

Louis kissed him gently on the cheek again and again. "You'd know I'd win!"

"I said we'll see!" Legosi laughed, poking Louis in the side.

"We already know!" He poked back.

"I won't mind losing if it's to you."

"You just ask to be tamed over and over, wolf."

Legosi curled up a bit, tail whapping the comforter. This deer did things to him that no other animal could. He licked his cheek. "I don't have any issue with that~"