Chapter 22 - Tastes a Little Off
The two traveled in silence. They both just knew it was an unspoken thing between them. Enjoying the company of one another as they made their way back home.
Finally, they walked through the doors together and the receptionist once again looked confused. Louis helped Legosi up the stairs and to room 504, where he proceeded to open the door to their clean and no longer smelly apartment.
Of course, the one sign of what happened that remained was the stain on the futon. When it fell into Legosi's vision, his tail went between his legs and he drooped his head down, averting his gaze.
Louis put a hand on his shoulder, still not speaking. A growling sound resounded from the wolf's stomach and the deer nodded, going to the kitchen to begin preparing dinner while the wolf got acquainted with their home once again.
Unlike before, the windows were open, letting in the fresh air, and Louis' things were back. Legosi lumbered over to the couch and lowered himself onto it, laying on his stomach.
The deer just continued to make dinner without speaking any words. He wanted to make something simple. Sandwiches.
The sound of sizzling eggs made Legosi's tail wave in the air. He tried to avoid looking at his bloodstain on the bed the whole time they had been home.
A while later, their egg sandwiches were made, and Louis brought Legosi's plate to him, sitting on the couch by his side with his own plate.
They ate quietly, not even turning on the television. Legosi had so many things he wanted to say, but he feared breaking whatever had led them back together.
Louis didn't really like his sandwich. Something felt...off about it. He wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't the same as he made it before.
When they were finished, the plates were put on the table, and they sat with each other, once again. After a few minutes, Legosi slowly shifted forward, laying his head tentatively on Louis' lap.
The deer began petting and stroking his head all over, not saying a word as he just looked forward.
His fiance sighed, rolling onto his back so he was facing up. Louis looked so beautiful, as always. He missed him so much. Soft whines involuntarily left his throat.
Louis' eye said it all. That he knew how he was feeling and he was sorry for everything he'd done to his poor lover.
Legosi reached up and traced his jawline, simply marveling at his presence. For the past few days, he wasn't sure he'd even see him again.
The buck smiled down at him. Don't worry. I have you, now.
Legosi was eventually lulled to sleep by the pats and strokes, nestling into Louis with his nose in his stomach.
Louis sighed, leaning his own head back and closing his eyes. What would happen from here? Would they be okay? He was so nervous about everything.
Knock, knock.
Legosi jolted slightly at the noise. "Louis? ...Legosi?" He recognized the voice.
"Coming, Sebun-san," he announced sleepily. With much regret, he left the warmth of his deer's lap and let their neighbor in.
"Legosi-kun!" The small herbivore hugged him, tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"A-ah, Sebun-san!"
She pulled back, looking over at the sleeping Louis. "I see I missed the party."
Legosi scratched the back of his head and chuckled, before addressing her again. "Sebun-san, I want to thank you so much for checking in on me this week."
"Oh! No problem! That's what good neighbors are for!" She stepped in. "This place looks so much nicer now..."
"Yeah, Louis cleaned while I was at the hospital."
Sebun glanced at the bandages on the wolf. "How're the arms?"
"...Stiff."
Louis stirred, his head lolling on the couch. "Mm..."
This made Legosi perk up, and he was by the deer's side, holding his hand.
Sebun simply watched. They're so cute...
The buck opened his eyes, jumping when he saw the sheep there. "Huh!"
Legosi jumped with him, smiling goofily.
"Hey, Louis!" Sebun snickered. "Hope I didn't scare you!"
"You clearly did." He straightened his shirt and fixed his eyepatch.
"Sorry! I just had to see how you were doing."
Louis rubbed his eyes. "I'm doing tired."
The small animal laughed, gently. "Ah, sorry. I'll be on my way if I'm in your fur..."
"No, no, don't worry. We're glad to have you." He waved his hands. "Plus, you've helped us through these hard times, we wouldn't just kick you out."
Sebun smiled sweetly at the kind words. "Well, I still won't keep you two that long. I just wanted to follow up on that idea of a big get together of neighbors here."
Legosi cocked an eyebrow at Louis, but said nothing.
Louis nodded. "Oh, right. You already want to plan it?"
"Seems like it'd be a big undertaking and having more animals on board early on would be good." She turned to the wolf, her voice instantly becoming gentler. "How do you think that sounds, Legosi-kun? We want to get all the neighbors together so we can all introduce ourselves and get to know each other."
The wolf glanced nervously between the two before dipping his head behind Louis, shrugging.
Louis rubbed his back. "It will be good for everyone. Should we make invitations and have everyone bring something to minimize the spending?"
Sebun laughed as she spoke. "I hope so, or else it'd be a pretty shitty party. We also have to find out where to hold it..."
"Alright, do you know anywhere we could do that? You've lived here longer."
"By like a few days," she mumbled. "Maybe that park nearby...Although, that'd be inconvenient for some..."
"Well, people have had parties at parks before," Louis stated. "I think. I don't know. I've never been to a party."
"What's the roof like?" Legosi's voice was quiet from behind him.
"Ooh, that's an idea," the deer smiled.
"Like back at Cherryton." Legosi smiled as well.
"Oh, I've gone up there to smoke! It's pretty nice, considering the building." Sebun tapped her cheek, making notes in her head.
"Well, how about there? Would they let us?" Louis queried.
"Residents are allowed up there, but we should probably ask about having a large gathering. The staff might actually help us get the word out!" The herbivore bounced on her heels a bit. She hadn't felt this excited about something since middle school.
"And it will be nice to just do something...Normal," Louis sighed.
"I know. You two really deserve it." Sebun noted the quiet wolf clinging gently to Louis. "Are you okay, Legosi?"
He looked up and nodded, slowly.
"Well, I'll go down and ask the receptionist about all this and I'll check in with you two later. Just take it easy."
Louis thought for a moment. "Why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow and I'll cook something and we can talk more then?"
Sebun was already on her way out when he said this. She stopped and turned around. "...I'd like that." And once again, the two were alone in their quiet apartment.
Legosi made a small groaning noise, pushing Louis forward so he was laying on his back on the couch.
The deer blinked, looking up at him and tilting his antler-less head.
The wolf continued to say nothing, laying his body on top of Louis and pushing his head up against his chin. His arms slid under his body and wrapped him up, tightly.
Louis ran his fingers down his back gently, grabbing his tail with both hands and pulling the bushy thing through his palms slowly. There were still no words between them.
The carvid felt something wet on his chest. Tears were falling from Legosi's eyes slowly, his face still expressionless.
Louis closed his eye and took a deep breath, then opened it again. He moved his left hand slowly back up his back and up to his cheek, wiping a tear with his thumb.
"Louis...what if this happens again...?"
"This...?"
"...Like back at Cherryton. That fight we had. Things were okay after that, but now this happened, which was so much worse. What if the next time this happens...it's even worse than this was?"
Louis just stayed silent, laying his head back on the couch, trying to think of what to say.
Legosi sniffed up some snot and started to ramble. "D-did I say something that upset you back at the hospital? I don't remember, b-but at Cherryton I said something very bad and that made you run away. Or maybe it was after we talked to Shogi-san. What did I say then? I really don't remember."
"I...don't understand..." Louis blinked.
The canine raised his head, looking him in the eye. "I want to learn what to do to prevent this from happening again! I need to know how to say the right things and do the right things!"
"I still don't understand. You think you said something?"
"...To upset you."
"When?" He wiped his partner's tears again.
"When you ran away...After going to Shogi's..."
"Ran away?"
"Yeah...did I do something that made you leave?" Legosi's gaze was intense, looking to glean any information he could.
"You mean...after we went out into the hall?"
Legosi nodded. "I gripped you pretty hard, too. I remember you didn't like that when we had our fight at Cherryton. I shouldn't have done that, but I didn't want you to run away."
"What? That's not why I left. I wasn't even thinking about how hard you gripped me." He was lucky they could lay like this on the couch since he didn't have antlers or the arm would be in the way.
His mate blinked, slowly. "...Was Pina right then? That you thought you were hurting me by staying?"
At this, Louis' head turned to the side.
Legosi used that opportunity to lay his head on top of his cheek. "I'm scared...I'm scared if I get up you'll just...disappear."
"You were acting pretty strange when Sebun was here."
The wolf responded with a long, shuddered breath.
"Well?"
"...I'm scared."
"Of her?"
"...Of you leaving."
"You think I'm going to go back to Gosha's if you get up?"
"G-grandpa?" Legosi's ears flicked in confusion.
"Yeah..."
"That's...where you were?"
"That's where I went when I got out."
"I see." Legosi wrapped around Louis even tighter. "I should let him know how I'm doing."
"Not right now. We're talking."
"I know..." Legosi buried his face into Louis' shoulder. "Louis...are we alright?"
"I...I don't know. I think so. I always ask myself if I'm ever really alright because there's always something going on...I...don't know, Legosi."
"Do you think therapy will work?" Legosi seemed to be calming down a little, at least, enjoying the deer's fingers running through his tail.
Louis shrugged. "I...hope so."
The wolf drew back, once again, and held Louis' face, tenderly. "Lou...can we go to that coffee shop tomorrow for breakfast? For my birthday?"
"Yes, we can." He took a moment. "You never said anything wrong, Legosi. It's...me."
Legosi continued to hold his face, staring. He brought his face close, licking Louis' cheek a few times, after which he kissed him on the lips tenderly. Their feet rubbed together, warmth created from the friction of their socks.
The deer smooched back, lovingly, and it was a long, solid kiss that brought their hearts closer together. Both knew that one couldn't be without the other and that after all of this they would both try harder to be better for their mate. Louis pulled back, rubbing a hand down against Legosi's scars, tracing them with his digits. "I'm sorry I almost fucked this up..."
"I'll always forgive you, Louis." Legosi managed a smile, leaning up to kiss him again. "Always."
"Is there anything else you need to say to me?"
"...I love you."
"...I love you, too." His hands went back to his tail. "And hey..." A smile came to his lips as he pointed to the top of his head. "No antlers in the way."
Legosi's tail wagged in his hand. "Now I'm really looking forward to sleeping. If...you'll let me cuddle with you."
"You think I wouldn't...?"
"I...I don't know," Legosi sighed. "It just...seems so different, now. I want to go back to how things were, but...how things were wasn't perfect, was it?"
"But you didn't know that because I kept it in."
"Yeah, but now I know. I wish I could do more for you. You're the most beautiful animal in the world." Legosi declared this without a waver in his voice.
"And so are you, so I'll make sure that I actually tell you when I'm feeling bad. I shouldn't have tried to deal with it on my own. I mean, I have you, Pina, Bill, Gosha, Haru...A whole support system. I never had to do it alone, but I guess my pride got in the way and it went too far. Renju was the breaking point, I think."
"And we'll get help from doctors. We'll be okay. And we'll get married." The wolf wiped the tears that were falling from his eyes again. "Maybe...maybe Oguma will come now? Do you think he would?"
"I need he and I to get better first," Louis explained. "Even though I'm grateful that he's going to change, it doesn't change that I still have negative feelings about him."
"I understand, Louis." Legosi took a deep breath. "For me...even though I know he's...sort of horrible...and I was very afraid of him at Horns...I still am grateful that he saved you from the Black Market. And, I guess, because of that...I don't like the idea of him disapproving of me."
Louis' ears perked. "Oh! He's going to be sending money to you and Shogi every month!"
"O-oh, that's good for Shogi-san! But...I don't want to burden him..."
"He said it wouldn't even be a dent."
"Oh...and I guess it'd help with our therapy." Finally, Legosi sat up, slightly. "That's another thing we need to look at, I guess..."
"I'm so glad. Maybe we could get counseling, too. He said he'd even pay for our food. Does that make me privileged again?"
Legosi shook his head. "I don't want to use the money for that." He looked around the tiny apartment. "And...as funny as it might sound...I don't want to leave this place. We just got it...all by ourselves."
"I didn't even think about how we could use it to live somewhere nicer."
The canine grinned, genuinely. "When we get our comfy house in a small town where everyone knows us...I want it to be earned."
"...Mmm, I kind of want to take advantage of it and make better meals."
The wolf squinted, thoughtfully. "Hmmmm...maybe just for the beginning...because I want to eat those better meals..."
"Pfft, you let me cook one good meal and I'm going to go back to the recipe books just like at Cherryton." He grabbed Legosi's ears with the forefingers and thumbs of his two hands and wiggled them back and forth. "Meeeep."
Legosi giggled as his body squirmed. "Ah-ahh!" His tail wagged behind him, the most Louis had seen it wag since this whole ordeal.
"Meep meep meep," Louis said, moving the ears more.
"Wh-what is that noise, ahaha? What is 'meep'?"
"What isn't 'meep?'" Louis chuckled. "Meep."
Legosi's body reached its limit, causing him to fall onto his back with his arms and legs raised, submitting himself to the deer's mercy.
Louis got between his legs, rubbing his stomach, wildly. "Meep, meep, meep, meep, meep!"
His fiance started to pant, the sheer dopamine running through his mind allowing him to forget about the past few days. His mate was back. His lovely, beautiful mate.
Louis laughed and moved his hands under his shirt, feeling that perfectly soft fur he loved so much. "Hahaha! I got you, wolf! In my meep trap!"
"Ahahaa, o-oh nooo! Don't eat me, scary deer!"
"I'm gonna gobble you up and have a nice dinner all to myself!" He raised his shirt and leaned down, moving his mouth against his chest. "Mrmrmrm."
The wolf's long legs kicked against the couch as he laughed. He tried his best not to buck the deer off of him.
Louis began blowing against his chest, but he only made sputtering noises against the fur.
Legosi couldn't breathe from laughing so hard.
Meanwhile, Sebun had just returned to her room after inquiring about the gathering at the front desk. The commotion next door easily carried into her room, and she couldn't help but smile to herself.