Belle

Belle's eyes opened to find herself seemingly in the sky, floating in the clouds of the pre-dawn gray. She rose from the strange bed, blearily remembering where she was, and looked out of the full windows that surrounded her in three directions: formless clouds blanketed the sky and the city, giving the entire universe a flat and monochrome look. Below, in the near distance, Hollow Zero glimmered blackly in the dim light of the gray sky, giving the impression that it, too, still slumbered.

It was early. What time was it? She should just go back to sleep. And Belle sank back to her pillows to do just that when memories of last night trickled into Belle's consciousness: Her mistake with the phone. Lycaon's anger. Ellen's apparent glee.

That's right! Ellen! Belle's eyes shot open and she rolled over on her back, mind churning. What was Belle to do about her? Ellen was supposedly Lycaon's partner bodyguard, but Belle wasn't sure she felt any safer with Ellen around. She seemed passively hostile, and that didn't give Belle confidence that Ellen would actually move to protective actions in a crisis; and worse… was actively getting in the way of Belle having any alone time with Lycaon!

The car ride: Ellen. Dinner last night: Ellen. And even if Belle had not screwed up with the phone, there would have been no bedtime with Lycaon, platonic or otherwise, without Ellen!

Ellen was a problem. But she was also Lycaon's choice. How could Belle hope to do anything in regards to that? Could she order Lycaon to dismiss Ellen? Would he be receptive or resistant to the idea? It seemed foolish to Belle to even get involved, but she honestly felt less safe with Ellen around- so… perhaps she should feel it out with Lycaon a bit. Belle convinced herself that was the wise choice and that it really wasn't about getting some alone time with Lycaon- that was totally unrelated. She felt less safe with Ellen around.. Yeah.. less safe.. And she had a right to voice her concerns!

Belle got out of bed and donned her hotel robe again. She peeked into the main room of the suite, found it drenched in the same gray light from the surrounding sky as her own bedroom was- but this room had an Ellen Joe in it.

Ellen was dressed in her school uniform: white button-up shirt with blue skirt and long, black nylons. It was a bit strange to see her out of that french maid uniform she wore for Victoria Housekeeping. It made Ellen seem older, actually, but only just. Belle didn't remember many of her own classmates filling out a schoolgirl uniform like Ellen did. Was she really only eighteen?

"Oh, you're up," said Ellen in a bored voice. "I was coming to wake you."

Belle blinked at Ellen, her mind slowly grinding back into action. "You're in high school…"

Ellen stared at her. "...Yeah, so?"

"Today is a school day," said Belle, more to herself. "You have to go to school."

"No duh," said Ellen. "I need you to order breakfast so I can go get it and then wake up Lycaon before I leave."

"Lycaon is asleep?"

Ellen sighed and crossed her arms, settling her weight on her back hip and cocking her head back. She glowered at Belle with a practiced and intense are-you-stupid kind of look.

"Yeah, he's asleep. He didn't wake me for my watch. Again. So he woke me and crashed hard."

The gears of Belle's mind crunched on that for a second. "I'm not hungry. You head out. We can let Lycaon sleep."

Ellen seemed mildly receptive to the idea, then shook her head. "He'll be mad if I leave without waking him. Someone is always supposed to be awake with you."

"I'll stay in the security room. So he can sleep. If I'm in the same room, I'm safe as I can be."

Ellen seemed a bit more receptive to the idea, but she also gave Belle a strange look. Belle wasn't sure what it meant: it seemed thoughtful, suspicious, and a little of something else. An eagerness? A realization?

"Actually, that's a really good idea, Lady Belle. You should totally do that."

Belle blinked, surprised at Ellen's agreement to have her in the same room as a sleeping Lycaon. "Oh, okay. Good."

"Well…" said Ellen, seeming a little unsure of herself all of a sudden. "I guess I'll go to school."

"Yeah," said Belle.

Ellen turned and walked to the elevator near the security room door. She pushed the button for the lift, looked towards the security room, then looked at Belle, then looked away.

They stood silently while the elevator rose and finally opened.

It was then that Ellen seemed to hesitate, her weight shifting back and forth in front of the open elevator door. She looked at Belle again, looked towards the security room again, then back at Belle again. Ellen took in a deep sigh, as if making some difficult decision.

"Um… so- Lady Belle… if you try to wake up Lycaon, you really need to-"

"I think I can manage it, Miss Ellen!" said Belle, sharper than she intended in her eagerness to have Ellen gone. "Please don't be late for first period."

Ellen blinked wide in surprise and then her red eyes narrowed at Belle. She scowled. "Fine. Do what you want, Lady Belle. It's not my fault now."

Ellen entered the elevator with a swoosh of her large tail, pushed a button, and glared balefully at Belle. For her part, Belle seized on the returned hostile vibe and returned a glare at Ellen.

The door shut slowly between them in intensely awkward silence as they stared daggers into each other.

When the door finally closed, Belle shut her eyes and sighed. Belle had never had a stare down like that! Ellen was intense! But it was worth it. Ellen had pretty much confirmed Belle's suspicions that Ellen had said something to sour Lycaon's opinion. How could that not be Ellen's fault? As if!

Belle took a few more deep breaths and then tiptoed over to the ajar security room door. Lycaon was curled up slightly on the bed, it being a decent bit too small for his tall and broad frame. There were no windows in this room, so it was only dimly illuminated with the golden light of a single desk lamp. It gave Lycaon's fur an almost golden hue and his fluffy tail was curled around over his body almost like a blanket. He looked absolutely adorable.

True to her word and her intent, Belle crept into the room very slowly, fully expecting even the press of her bare feet to the carpet to wake Lycaon- but she made it to the chair in front of the desk without even a twitch of Lycaon's ear. He must really be exhausted. He'd been wounded protecting her two days in a row: bleeding abrasions, a dislocated arm, and then the explosions yesterday. Belle pulled her knees up to her chest and perched herself on the chair, watching Lycaon's abdomen move with his breathing.

Belle wasn't entirely sure of her own motivations at the moment. In the past, she had sometimes watched Wise sleep, when he was younger. This moment now with Lycaon was vaguely nostalgic. There was some sort of… protective satisfaction that Belle felt… That moment yesterday- no, two days ago? When the titan ethereal collapsed and Lycaon could not be found? Belle had felt her first protective instinct for Lycaon then, but he'd shown up, battered but alive. Then, yesterday, she had been trapped in the Random Play Staff room and Lycaon was outside and she heard gunfire and bullets hitting flesh and Lycaon was out there and she didn't know if he was okay.

But in this moment, in this chair, Belle could watch over Lycaon and be assured that he was okay. He was not in danger. He was content in his sleep. Meanwhile, Wise was safely in the protective fold of the Cunning Hares; who, for all their eccentricities, were four very dangerous people. So Wise, too, was safe. Finally, Belle herself realized she was currently locked away in a literal tower, and to allow herself the girlish metaphor: her knight was right here, serene and handsome, golden white in lamplight.

Belle put her hands to her face and felt them to be hot to her own touch. Jeeze, Belle, how corny can you get? But she was blushing from it. And corny or not, Lycaon had admitted to feeling… something for her. So whatever Belle herself was feeling, it was not unrequited. There was something there. Something here, in the air even now between her chair and Lycaon's too small bed. It needed clarification, eventually. It needed time to grow, certainly. But at the moment… Belle's world was secure and she could sit and watch Lycaon breathe softly, surprisingly softly for someone so large.

Long, peaceful moments passed.

Then. Lycaon suddenly grunted in his sleep, the corner of his mouth curling down in a frown. His tail twitched. Belle smiled at first, thinking him dreaming, but she quickly became concerned as Lycaon's unconscious distress quickly intensified. His grunting turned to literal, high pitched whining- his ears flattened to the back of his head, his trail curled back behind him, as if trying to get between his own legs. His hands twitched, his clawed fingers threatening to damage the linens.

It was obviously a nightmare. Belle put her feet down to the carpet and half rose to try and soothe Lycaon, but his demeanor changed again. The whimpers turned to low growls. The frown of his lips curled back into a snarl, and for the first time, Belle looked down upon the full breadth of Lycaon's gleaming white teeth, canine fangs large and pronounced. The soft sound of ripping fabric reached Belle's ear- Lycaon was tearing the bedding.

The analytical part of Belle's mind looked down upon a large, agitated wolf thiren who was baring his fangs in his sleep. It set off an alarm bell in Belle's mind: this is a dangerous situation. It would be wise to withdraw. She should get to a safe distance and verbally wake Lycaon with a loud-

Belle's heart ignored all of that and she flopped softly to the carpet on her knees in front of Lycaon's bed- he was suffering and maybe she could stop it. A rush of air from her sudden movement caused some of the lightest and fluffiest of fur on Lycaon's face to move slightly. His body tensed up. His nose twitched, even as he silently snarled- and then his body froze for a half second. And Lycaon took another inhale through his nose. And another, even as Belle reached out towards Lycaon's cheek, her hand hovering less than an inch from curled lips and glistening fangs.

"Lycaon?" said Belle, her face inches away from Lycaon's grimacing maw. "Hey, you're okay."

She lowered her hand to Lycaon's cheek and he flinched under her touch, but Belle felt no fear. She stroked the fur of his face, and Lycaon inhaled suddenly and deeply. One of his hands shot up to clutch Belle's wrist, enveloping half of her hand in iron, his grip alarmingly too strong for an instant before Lycaon's eyes fluttered open and both crimson eyes stared into Belle's soul- his grip on her wrist became immediately gentle. His eyes searched hers, his focus shifting from one of her eyes to another, so close were their faces.

Lycaon licked the tip of her nose, the warm wet of his tongue as brief and light as the steam off a teacup. It made Belle giggle, and she felt immediately impelled to return to the gesture. She leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose.

"You were having a nightmare."

"Yes," said Lycaon, blinking at her, coming more and more awake by the second. "I was. Belle."

There was an excellent cure for nightmares that Belle knew from experience. She stood up and put a knee on the edge of Lycaon's bed. "Scoot over."

And whether he was still half-asleep, or simply obedient to Belle's matter-of-fact tone, or otherwise not opposed to the idea himself… Lycaon scooted over without word or objection. Belle settled into the warm space his body had left behind, the subtle and deep scent of him suddenly enveloping her. She snuggled into the covers and against his chest, wrapping her arm up and over his torso in the best cuddle she could manage upon his giant frame.

"Belle, I.." said Lycaon, his voice rumbling out above her head.

"Need more sleep," Belle finished for him. "So sleep. I'm safe here."

Lycaon was still and quiet for a brief moment, and then to Belle's immense satisfaction, he let out a long sigh and let his heavy arm fall over her and gathered her up softly to hold her small body to his. His breathing slowed and quickly deepened, his heartbeat, softly audible to Belle, thudded on in a newly peaceful rhythm. Meanwhile, she rested contently within his arms, currently devoid of further ambition, and became totally alive in the immediate now: enjoying every sound and texture of his body against her, everything of this impromptu, cuddling embrace.

Gradually, her own eyes drifted closed, her breathing matched his, and Belle fell asleep.