I found some old pictures of me and my cat snuggling as we watched a The Wolf Among Us playthrough and I just came up with this plot at once. I hope you all like it! I highly encourage you to read part one before you read this one.
The Wolf Who Huffed and Puffed Part 2
If he had known letting her crash at his place would be the start of something… odd and back-hurting, he might've rethought his decision. When his back hurt like a bith in the morning after sleeping on the couch, he enjoyed imagining if he had sent her to her own home and his back would've been given a break from the scrawny bed of his. He knew he didn't have the heart to send her away, especially when she looked like death after a nineteen long day behind her desk.
A pattern quickly started to form. She returned to his apartment a little after midnight, took a shower while he reheated some leftover or made some sandwiches depending on what was in his fridge for her. While she was showering, he knocked on the door, waiting for her approval before he entered with a towel and her pyjamas (yes, he had been to her apartment and grabbed a few clothes and hygiene products from her apartment) and placed them on the toilet. Once she had showered, he kept her company as she ate her food before she went to bed inside of his bedroom while he slept on the couch. His alarm clock would go off too early in the morning and while he was still snoring on the couch, she would tiptoe out of his apartment.
Sometimes, he asked himself, why on earth would she come to his apartment every day after work? They didn't talk about work. He simply prepared her a meal and offered her a shower. It's nothing special. She had a nicer place than his. Now when she worked and crashed at his place, her place was bound to be dusty.
Don't get him wrong. He appreciated her company, even loved it. It was almost… it reminded him of a happily married couple. Instead he was taking care of his friend who just happened to be his superior.
By now, he was very aware of her work ethics. Even if she had any feelings close to his, she would choke them and bury them deep within her because romantic relationships between co-workers were off her list. She would be the one to report romantic relationships than engage in them.
His impossible vision, his prohibited feelings toward Maka was heart-achingly impossibly. She was his superior. The most impossible relationship to deepen. It wasn't helping she was divorced and scorned since many years ago.
His home had gone from being his safe sphere to his personal torture chamber. Her scent had permanently perfumed his bedroom and no amount of cigarettes could cover it up. His pants were always uncomfortably tight and he cursed his damn nose from continuously picking up her sweet scent in his apartment.
He was going insane. If a throbbing boner wouldn't kill him, her scent surely would.
Letting her crash at his apartment was a bad idea. A really bad idea. The worst he had ever come up with.
But he still had given her a key to his apartment!
This time it was different.
The shitty music vibrated the air as he sat by the bar with a half-empty bottle of beer in his hand. The clock behind the bartender polishing a cocktail glass glared him down. It was one in the morning, which meant Maka had probably eaten her food alone and gone to bed. Maybe she even broke her pattern and left to sleep at her own apartment for a change.
"You're seriously not going to go home?" Liz said as she held her cocktail, watching the see-through liquid kiss the mouth of the glass as she slowly rolled it.
"Exactly." he muttered.
"You know you can snuggle up to her like the overgrown puppy you are."
He cocked his eyebrow and gave her a are you shitting me look. Every single fable in Fabletown knew Maka was the Ice Queen. The divorce had frozen her heart after she found her ex-husband in bed with another woman. If he were to pull such a move, she wouldn't just maim him, she would first beat him to a bloody puddle and then feed his testicles to the wolves. Or maybe him.
"Okay maybe you shouldn't do that at once, but come on. If she was all about professionalism, what's professional about going to your inferior's home in the middle of the night and sleeping there?"
"My apartment is just closer to the office."
"Yeah, but think about it. A person visits you in the middle of the night. My mind doesn't exactly go to a friendly warm shower and a meal, it goes to the bedroom."
"Of course your mind does." he snorted. "You're like a dog in heat twenty-four seven."
"At least some of us get it on."
Low blow. The disgusting and impossible feeling he held toward Maka was preventing him from moving on, heck, there wasn't anything to move on from when they had never been an item. He could flirt with the other fables approaching him, he could take them home and relieve himself from stress, but he just couldn't. Every time he tried to flirt with a woman, Maka kept popping up in his head. How hard he tried to squash the feeling of discomfort and try to enjoy the girl's company, he just couldn't.
Liz sighed and placed her glass on the wooden surface, her index finger absently caressing the edge of her glass. "Listen, we both know Maka's smart. She knows her nightly visits to your apartment looks bad."
"What are you trying to say?" The tension hung heavily in the air as he fully faced her.
"Well, if the council finds out about her regular nightly visits to her inferior co-worker, it could be seen as unprofessional and biased. They could ultimately fire her as Deputy Major."
He hadn't thought about it before. The situation they found themselves in was highly questionable. From an outside perspective, he had to agree it could look like they were secret lovers. Soul didn't work directly under her, but she still had power over him. If the council found out about her visits… she could really lose her position. She worked her ass off for Fabletown and a lot of fables who lost their job after they brought The Crooked Man to justice had received a new job. Never before had he witnessed a Deputy Major work as hard as she was. Maka was the Deputy Major of Fabletown they'd been waiting for. On her own, she had conquered some huge issues and she wasn't going to stop. Seven months since she was promoted Deputy Major and he wanted to celebrate the day she'd been the Deputy Major for a year.
He had to stop this. She loved Fabletown. She needed the Deputy Major position. As selfish as he wanted to be to share his apartment with her, he couldn't be. He loved spending as much time as he could with her, but this was taking too much of a risk.
He couldn't allow this anymore.
"Fuck." He ran his hand through his hair. "It really does look bad."
"You know I don't want to be mean, but dude, Maka is the best Deputy Major we have ever had. Soul, you can't let Maka lose her job."
"I know." He heavily sighed as he covered his face in his hands. "I'll have to fix this."
Even though this would mean he would go back and never see her again except for the brief run ins in the hallways when she was followed by other fables hollering suggestions and issues and waving their errands in her face. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. He… they would go back being almost strangers again.
Soul pushed away the beer bottle. He didn't feel like drinking anymore. "I'll go home."
"Be careful, okay?"
"I will." He left a bill by the beer bottle and left the calm little bar.
…
His eyes bulged out of his sockets at the view of Maka laying on his couch, plate and utensils forgotten on the coffee table. Her hair still wet and clumpy from her shower, his shampoo instead of hers he had brought oozing from her hair. The usual pastel blue shirt and shorts peeking out from underneath his blanket was replaced with his shirt and boxers.
Had she… had she been waiting for him? He wet his suddenly dry lips and the front door clicked shut.
What he thought was silent was enough to wake Maka up. She inhaled loudly and shot up into a sitting position. "Soul?" She rubbed her eyes and the wide smile spreading on her face was doing some strange things in his gut.
"Aren't you supposed to sleep?" he said as he shrugged off his leather jacket and dropped it to the ground.
"Yeah." She placed her phone on the coffee table. She hadn't just been waiting up for him, but she had been waiting for him to call her. "I wanted to stay up for you. It would be rude of me to go to bed when you've always been waiting up for me."
"It's nothing. You could've gone to bed."
Her cheeks flushed and she pouted at him like a stubborn child. "But I wanted too."
Soul chuckled and took of his shoes and unceremoniously left them in a pile next to Maka's neatly placed shoes on the shoe rack. "Yeah, I'm here now. You can go to sleep."
"Don't you remember what you said?"
He cocks his eyebrow quizzically at her. "What?"
"What you said when I came here months ago. When Liz was here."
There had been a few times when Liz was around when she arrived. Liz had collected their paperwork before she left, but he couldn't remember any specific words she had said that made an impact on her.
Maka sighed and fidgeted with his blanket. "The first time I was here you offered me a shower and a conversation. And a smoke which―"
"You declined. Now I remember." Soul added. He went toward the couch and supported his hands on the back of it. "So, you finally want that smoke, huh?"
"What- no, I want to converse with you."
"If you haven't noticed, we've been talking all this time. Seriously Maka, you're supposed to be the smarter one of us."
She rolled her eyes and smacked his hand. "You know what I mean!"
"And you know what I mean, so spit it out." He leaned closer and supported himself on his elbows. "I've something I need to talk to you about."
"Me?" Surprise was visible in her voice. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Well…" How was he supposed to say this without sounding like a douchebag? He jumped over the couch's back and landed beside her, the springs shrieking loudly in protest. "You know your work ethic?"
"What about it?" She tilted her head questioningly, not really following him.
"Liz and I were talking," her eyes seemed to darken, "we're both worried about this."
"And what exactly is this?" She crossed her arms over her chest.
He wet his lips. Here goes nothing. "You coming here ever night."
"You want me to leave?" He flinched at her snarl.
"I don't want it, but Liz and I agreed on you coming here on a nightly basis is very suspicious."
"So what?" Maka sneered. Hands balling threateningly and eyes narrowed into a murderous look. "I can go and visit whoever I want without it being weird. I'm a grown woman and I can do whatever I want."
"Calm down. Have you already forgotten your lecture about romantic relationships between co-workers? With your nightly visits here people can think we're lovers."
It was as if the anger had melted off her. Her eyes dawned with realization and her shoulders lowered as the tension left her muscles. She bit her rosy lower lip as her gaze lowered.
"If the council found out about this, I doubt they would believe we weren't intimate. Heck, I'm sure I wouldn't believe it if someone said it to me. If people found out about this, you could lose your position as Deputy Major."
Maka was rendered speechless. She gripped his blanket so hard her knuckles turned white. She mumbled something under her breath.
"What's that?" he questioned.
"I said," her gaze lifted from her balled hands, "it's not fair."
It wasn't the reaction he had expected. "It's not that bad―"
"We're not even in the same department!" she interrupted him, her voice booming in the apartment and threatened to awaken the neighbours. "I'm not even seeing you at work, let along working with you. How can I be biased about you when I don't even give you any orders?"
"You could indirectly support me by raising the funds for the police force―"
"I did the opposite of that and lowered the salaries and opened up more positions within the police force."
"I'm still worried." He grabbed a hold of her shoulders, feeling her tiny shoulders hidden underneath his shirt. Thumbs ran over her collarbones, wishing his shirt was a little lower so he could caress her smooth skin. "You're the best Deputy Major Fabletown has ever had. You've made some awesome changes for Fabletown and we can't risk your position because my apartment is closer to your office."
"You- you think this is about distance?" Her face suddenly twisted with disgust and she gazed at him as if he had spit right in her face. Maybe he had even done that. Except with words.
"Why else would you be here? Your apartment is bigger and better shape and―"
"I'm here because of you, you giant fur ball!"
Now it was his time to be surprised. "Me?"
"Yes, you."
"Why me?" he asked.
"Because," her tongue darted out and wet her lips. "I want to be happy."
He wasn't sure he followed. There wasn't a moment he didn't see some form of happiness on her face. Even when she was working hard with her paperwork or took care of an especially frustrated and angry fable, there had always been a spark of energy and happiness. She enjoyed working and contributing toward the society. It was what made her happy. She was fierce, brave, independent and compassioned, qualities that didn't come as easily for him. He admired her ability to connect with people and reach their hearts, he saw the happy twinkle in her eyes every time she managed to solve a problem.
So why wasn't she happy?
"Aren't you happy now?"
"Not as happy as I want to be." She released the blanket and nervously fiddled with her fingers. What was going on? "It's just… I know I can be happier."
He tilted his head, still confused by the puzzle pieces she was giving him. "You're not making any sense."
"Okay." She composed herself, taking a deep breath and straightened her back. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about. You know about my divorce?"
"Yeah." He braced himself for what he was going to say, he needed to watch her carefully. "Is he… has he bothered you?"
"No! I haven't talked to him since the divorce." She spat as if the thought of her husband made her stomach turn. "I know the divorce hardened my heart. I know I threw myself into work because it made me happy and it made me forget the hurt. Now, when I get off work, I'm just… empty."
"And how exactly does crashing at my place make you happy?"
A warm blush dusted her cheeks and a wide smile grew on her face, beaming at him as if he was the most important person in the whole wide world. "Because you are here. I love hanging out with you and our partnership during The Crooked Man case made it clear to me that I don't want to be just your partner during a case or a colleague. I would- it would mean a lot if you also would want me as a… as a more permanent figure in your life."
His breath was stolen as he stared at her blushing and fidgeting form. Did… had he heard it right? Had she just confessed she liked him and she wanted to be his girlfriend? The Ice Queen melted her heart and fell for him? The wolf that broke people's homes till Joe came and sliced him up and almost drowned him in the process. She liked a beast like him who still had problems following what was right. Without Maka during The Crooked Man case, he was sure he would've ripped his throat out and returned with his corpse. Then, it would've been him falling into the Witching Well.
He was immoral. Made the wrong decisions more often than not. Even though she had scolded him on multiple occasions, she had still fallen for him. Out of all the decent fables in Fabletown, she chose him.
A wide grin spread on his face and he affectionately grabbed her hand. "You really do have a bad taste in men."
Maka giggled as her shorter and smoother fingers entwined with his. "You know it's an insult to you."
"I know."
"And you still stand by it?"
"Of course. First you chose a douchebag and now you downgrade and chose a murderer and a beast." He snorted as Maka slowly moved closer to him on the couch, long legs slipping out from underneath the blanket and draping over his legs, excitingly they parted and hugged his hips on either side. "It sounds even more fucked up when you say it out loud."
"Hmm." He embarrassingly squeaked when she grabbed a hold of his shirt, fingers running along his buttons. "I think I've great taste." She grabbed a hold of his tie, slowly untying it. His hands grew clammy and heart rushing in his chest, no clue where this would go but he had no intentions of hindering her. When did she even grow this bold?!
"That's why you've―" His breath was taken when she yanked at his tie and her mouth collided with his. Her mouth slanted against his as she crawled up on his lap, her heels wonderfully digging into his lower back as she tugged at his tie. His clothes rustled as she ripped the tie from around his neck and discarded it on the floor. Her fingers feathered over the exposed skin around his throat and she popped one button open at a time.
After unbuttoning his shirt and needy nails scratching his stomach, they pulled away, heavy breaths mixing and foreheads touching. "―absolutely amazing taste." he whispered against her mouth.
"I know." She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and he threw it on the coffee table. "Less talking and more mouth."
"Yes, ma'am." Their mouths connected once again and they had no intentions of stopping.
Everything became a blur. He'd no clue when he lost all of his clothes and when she did or how the hell they got on his bed. How he'd gotten in between her legs was the biggest mystery of them all.
He caressed her bare hip as she slept peacefully beside him, head resting against his chest and ribcage rising and falling for each breath.
Liz wouldn't be happy. Heck, a tiny (microscopic) part of him was disappointed. He was supposed to protect her position and keep Fabletown safe. He had done the complete opposite and turned the possible suspicions into a reality. They had sex and damned it was good. No way was he going to let them drift back into colleagues who once in a while met in the corridor. She was here to stay, and it was exactly what he wanted.
He was the big bad wolf. Immoral to a fault and dangerous beyond belief. He had corrupted his sweet Deputy Major and now, if the council got their hands on this information, he knew her position was threatened.
For her, for the sake of the Fabletown and for them, he was willing to do anything.
That was exactly why he was the big bad wolf.