Chapter 71 - Some Things Change and Some Things Stay the Same

Louis woke up before Legosi did once more. The sex must have worn the poor wolf out. He sat up and stretched, then moved away and got dressed. Maybe he could make breakfast again. He walked out tiredly and went into the living room.

Gosha was sitting on the couch, watching what appeared to be old VHS footage. He turned to see Louis walk in. "Oh, good morning!"

The deer grinned, blinking sleepily. "Morning, Gosha-san."

"You sleep well?" The lizard paused the video, smiling warmly.

He nodded. "I did."

"Glad to hear it!" Gosha continued to smile at the deer. On the television was a single frame of what looked to be a park.

"What are you watching?" Louis asked, sitting down on the couch.

The older animal looked back to the screen. "I'm just watching some home movies me and Leano took. Having Legosi back has made me feel nostalgic."

"Doesn't it make you sad?"

Gosha hit play on the recording. Leano walked into frame, holding a little puppy Legosi by the hand with her finger as he hobbled along. She looked so elegant as she walked. "It would be much sadder if I forgot all of this happened..."

The camera moved down to where Legosi was walking. "Wow, he's getting pretty good! Oh, back up, dad! It's okay! You're doing so good, Legosi!" the hauntingly beautiful voice of Leano spoke, full of life and energy.

Puppy Legosi stared at the camera with huge eyes. "Ba ga baba." He moved forward, his tiny paw covering the lens.

Louis cracked a smile. "I knew there was a reason I loved canines."

"Oh, they're wonderful!" Gosha looked ahead wistfully.

The scene switched, now inside the very room they were in. Little Legosi's stubby body sat in the middle of the room, sitting next to a younger looking Gosha, looking at a book on the floor. Leano, now behind the camera, walked over to the two and crouched down. Legosi looked up into the camera, and immediately began to whine, his tiny body moving up and down with each whine.

"Oh, he always gets like this when I hold the camera!" Leano complained.

"It's because he wants to see your face! Here give it to me."

The camera switched users, and Legosi's face immediately brightened at the sight of his mother. She had something behind her back.

"Have something?"

Leano nodded, and revealed a toy windup beetle. Legosi cooed at the sight of it, reaching his fat arms out for it. The mother wolf wound the toy up and set it loose. Off it went across the floor, baby Legosi crawling off after it, babbling and squealing.

Louis sighed, admirably. "I'm going to marry that wolf."

Gosha wiped his eye. "Oh, wasn't he so cute?"

"He still is."

The dragon chuckled. "Well of course! He's certainly stretched out a bit. I think he kept the same amount of fat he had as a baby and just grew around it, to be honest." Gosha looked back over to Louis. His wide collar t-shirt revealed a mark near his neck with dried blood on it, which was definitely not there the previous day. He smiled and looked back toward the TV. So he didn't imagine those noises last night.

Louis sighed. "He was beautiful even when he was a pup."

Soon, the wolf himself trudged down the hallway, sleepily rubbing underneath his shirt and yawning.

The herbivore smiled. "Hey, babe, er, I mean, Legosi."

Gosha let out a short laugh at the deer's stumbling. Legosi just smiled down at him, walking over and sitting between his legs, leaning back into him. "Morn..."

Louis' hand was already moving to pet him. "He's tired."

"...'m tired." Legosi yawned again, tears in his eyes. He looked sleepily at the TV. "Heyyyy, thas me."

Baby Legosi was currently holding the toy beetle tightly, gnawing on it.

"You've loved bugs even when you were little?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, yes!" Gosha and Legosi responded at the same time.

"Hmm, I lost that toy beetle on a school field trip. I was really sad," Legosi recalled.

"You lose all your beetles, hon."

A sad groan came from the wolf's mouth before he leaned back more into Louis, nuzzling into him. He was so needy when he was sleepy.

The deer made sure his whole head got a lot of love.

The scene changed again, this time to baby Legosi using the couch to stand, his hands moving down the cushions as he walked down the side. "Mmma! Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma!"

"Woah, look at you go!" Gosha's younger sounding voice came from behind the camera.

Legosi chuckled. "Wow, I was talented."

"You still are," his future husband added.

Leano appeared on screen, and Legosi took a deep breath, moving his head so it was facing into Louis.

"Hey...It's okay..."

"Oh." Gosha quickly paused the video. "W-we can have breakfast now."

The large carnivore shook his head. "No, you can keep watching. I'll be okay."

Louis kissed his head. "We can stop."

"...what should we eat for breakfast?" The canine peeked his head out, looking up at Louis.

"Whatever you want, my love."

Gosha got up and stopped the tape, taking it out of the VHS and returning it into the colorful sleeve he took it from.

Legosi thought for a second. "Pancakes."

"That was one of the first things I made for you," the deer cooed.

"Let's see how good you've gottennnn." Legosi slid down, stretching across the couch now that Gosha was absent.

Louis laughed. "You want me to make them?"

The wolf reached up and brushed the side of Louis's face. "Hmm...grandpa can you make them?"

"You don't want Louis to?"

Legosi grumbled. "I don't want him to leave meee."

The deer kissed his head again. "The wolf has spoken."

"Who would I be to tear apart such a happy pair? Pancakes coming right up!" Gosha walked into the kitchen, and Legosi happily sighed as he pressed his head into his lover's lap.

"Good morning, babe."

Legosi huffed and smiled. "You already saaaid that, silly." He reached up and playfully batted at the deer's face.

"But we're alone now."

"Hm hm hmm. Mornin, baabe." He reached up again and traced a claw over the dried blood on his fur. "Sorry again..."

"Oh hush..."

The carnivore smiled. "It was really nice, though. Last night."

"Oh that was...incredible."

"Should I try that with you?" The drowsiness definitely made him bolder.

"As in...?"

"Lick you." He touched Louis on the nose.

"I did wonder how it would feel..."

"And how did it feel for you?" Legosi moved his face to face Louis's stomach.

"I loved it. Treating you like that was amazing."

"Hmm." Legosi giggled, nuzzling into his tummy.

"You loved it, I noticed. It was cute."

"I never thought something like that...would be a thing." He put his nose under Louis's shirt, sniffing at his fur underneath.

Louis rubbed his back. "Yeah...It was pretty weird to me at first."

Legosi's cold nose snuffed against his belly. "Any other tricks you learned?"

"Maybe."

The wolf's head was now completely under his shirt. "Because you're a dirty deer."

The herbivore rubbed down his back as he looked at the funny shape in his shirt. "Says the one thinking about sex multiple times a day."

Legosi huffed hot air onto the deer's chest. "That's normal though. You do too, I bet."

Louis' chest was soft and it was warm under his shirt. "Once you tame a wolf, it's hard not to see him that way over and over again."

The wolf began to lick Louis' stomach.

The deer huffed, smiling.

Louis huffed, smiling.

Thanks to the stretchy material making up the deer's sleep shirt, Legosi was able to slide his way all the way up out the neck hole, his face poking out. His tail wagged when he saw Louis looking down at him. "Hi."

Louis grinned. "Hey."

Legosi snaked his arms around him, squeezing him tight. "I don't wanna go back to schooool."

"Oh yeah. That."

"I think this is the longest we've been around each other uninterrupted."

"It's...perfect, I think."

Legosi closed his eyes. "It's what we have to look forward to."

"Have you graduated yet?" His partner joked.

The larger animal opened his eyes again. "I'll have to ask Jack what smart classes I can take to graduate early."

Louis laughed. "Alone forever together."

The wolf closed his eyes again, nestling into his lover.

"You're so sweet."

The smaller animal smiled. "You're beautiful."

Legosi sighed happily, too tired to speak but his tail wagged happily at the compliment.

Gosha walked in and observed the display. "Well, I was going to say breakfast is ready, but it looks like you two are settled in!"

"Oh, Gosha-san! Hi!"

The lizard still couldn't believe that his grandson had fallen in love with the animal he had tried to eat. It sounded like one of those headlines you'd see in those sensationalist papers at the grocery checkout. "Whenever you get untangled, there's pancakes waiting."

"Pancakes~" Louis hummed.

"Yeah! Pancakes!" Gosha repeated, laughing a bit.

"Do you want pancakes?"

Legosi looked up at his deer again and yawned, exposing him to a lethal amount of dog breath before answering. "Yeah."

"Legosi!"

The wolf attempted to slip out of the shirt, but friction was proving a powerful enemy to the carnivore, causing his mate to laugh. He reared back, tugging the material. Ultimately, he was deposited onto the carpet, laying on his back with his legs up in the air.

Gosha laughed even harder now.

Louis chuckled with him. "He's silly, Gosha-san."

"That he is! I'd know, since I raised him! Your pancakes are ready whenever you guys are." He turned and went back into the kitchen.

"Are you ready, Legosi?" the deer asked.

Legosi sniffed the air, smelling the pleasant aroma emanating from the kitchen, and stood up. "Yeah."

Louis held his hand out to be lifted.

The carnivore hoisted the eyepatched deer up into a hug and walked him into the kitchen where Gosha waited with a stack of thick pancakes.

"That looks amazing, grandfather..." Louis marveled, deciding to try it out.

Gosha blinked, then smiled. "Thanks, Louis! Wait until you try them!"

"Family recipe?"

"Eh, you could call it that," The lizard winked.

The two boys sat down, taking their portions. Legosi took the syrup and poured some on his stack.

Louis did the same. "I'm so hungry..."

Gosha sat back and watched the two eat. His little Legosi really was a grown man now. It felt strange missing most of his teenage years. He cut a portion of his pancake and ate it thoughtfully.

The deer cut a piece and bit into it. "Oh, wow. They're so good."

"I put a little bit of vanilla in them. Can you taste it?"

"YES."

The dragon put a hand to his chest in shock. "Woah! Excited, much!" He looked over at Legosi, who was sleepily eating his pancakes. "While Legosi looks like he could fall back asleep any second."

"He does." Louis pinched his dog's cheek.

"I'm surprised you're up this early!" Gosha ate more of his meal.

Legosi looked over at Louis. "I don't like sleeping without him."

"Anymore," the buck inserted.

His fiance simply nodded as he shoveled more pancake into his mouth, downing it with sips of his juice.

"I can't sleep without him either."

"I hope nothing forces you apart, then." Gosha grinned, and then, feeling a bit mischievous, asked. "Say, Louis? What happened to your neck there?" He pointed to his own lower neck for reference.

"Accident." The deer responded, quickly.

The old man held back a snicker. "Oh, well if something in this apartment did that to you let me know so I can get it fixed!"

Legosi, too tired to understand what was happening, continued eating.

"Haha...it was just an accident," the stag mumbled.

"Mhm." Gosha went back to his breakfast.

Louis looked to Legosi.

The wolf looked back and licked some syrup off his nose.

The deer laughed. "Seems someone enjoys them."

"They're better than I remember."

The aged lizard puffed his chest out proudly. "That's because I've spent all these years perfecting it! And that's not the only meal that's gotten better these past few years!"

Louis raised a brow. "Oh yeah?"

"Indeed! You'll need to keep coming back to try them!"

"Grandpa! You just want us to come back!" the deer's face reddened.

"Well of course I do! What, you don't want to?" Gosha teased, clearly happy that Louis was calling him his grandpa now.

"Of course we do!"

Legosi finished his pancakes. "Thanks for making these, grandpa!"

Louis still had half of his left. "Thank you, once again, Gosha-san."

"It's not a problem, boys! Any time! I mean it!"

The wolf knocked his knuckles against the table as he looked at Louis. "Maybe we can take a walk around the area today?"

"What do you think, Gosha-san?"

"Oh? The two of you wouldn't want to go alone?"

"Alone? We could..."

Gosha took his plate and stood up. "Yeah, you boys don't need me hovering around you all the time. Legosi can show you the neighborhood he grew up in!"

"That sounds nice," Louis nodded. "It's not too cold?"

Legosi took his plate and gave it to his grandfather. "We have jackets."

Gosha took the dishes. "That's another thing. I wouldn't be able to stay out as long as you guys."

"You have a point there," Louis nodded.