Lycaon

With Belle's breakfast tray in hand, Lycaon carried it smoothly away out of her bedroom door and about two strides towards the steps to the first floor of Random Play- and then he had to pause a moment and lean against the wall. His heart was beating quickly in his chest. He felt mildly giddy.

You're not an outsider to me. You're… more.

Lycaon took in a deep calming breath. What was he thinking about? Was he some school-pup? Don't read too much into Lady Belle's words. She was just being polite. Most every word for a relationship in the language was 'more' than 'outsider'. Belle could mean 'acquaintance' as much as anything else.

Then an alternate argument formed in Lycaon's mind, decidedly exasperated with the first:

Oh, come off it. You know what polite looks like, and what you just saw in Lady Belle's eyes just now was certainly not politeness. She didn't politely fall asleep next to you last night. She didn't cuddle your tail in her sleep to avoid being rude. She likes you. She's infatuated, even.

Lycaon took a deep breath, heart still jumping, pulse still slightly palpable in his own skull. He'd experienced romance before. There'd been times he'd received, and certainly given, looks just like the one Belle had just given him... But his last romantic relationship was… quite a long time ago now. But had he really seen what he saw, or was he tricking himself? Was he perhaps just thirsty, and this look of Belle's was actually like a mirage, all illusion and no water?

But she'd slept in the same bed with him? Why had that happened? Had he, himself, done something last night to cause it? It was true that Belle previously seemed quite eager to be involved with him and his-... his body…. but that could be interpreted as mildly ignorant curiosity. Sleeping in her bed next to him seemed on a slightly different level than all that. It was one thing to stroke a tail you already had permission to help dry- it was another to climb into bed and snuggle up for the night.

Last night was something of a blur for Lycaon. He remembered laying back on her bed and her warm touch helping him clean his wounds- but then, everything just sort of suddenly went black. It was entirely conceivable that he'd done something to give Belle some sort of message… Or maybe he'd done something that hadn't given her any other option?

Lycaon felt the icy touch of dread spread through his stomach.

He took a deep breath and stood away from the wall. There was an easy way to answer that private fear. There were multiple sensors installed in Belle's bedroom, and his sensor box recorded everything. Lycaon didn't normally review everything that his suite recorded. There were too many sensors and too much data to actively pay attention to. That's why the suite itself was programmed to monitor and signal him when certain anomalies occurred. But… he could review anything at need if he specifically requested the files.

Lycaon took another deep breath. It was mildly voyeuristic to review raw sensor data of his principal's bedroom, but… in this uncertain moment of Lycaon's heart, it seemed to him a suddenly essential bit of datum. What had happened last night when he'd fallen asleep?

His left eye behind his eyepatch navigated the visual UI and quickly called up the infrared sensor he's placed just inside Belle's door frame. He quickly found the moment when his large heat shape was reclining on Belle's bed and she had her hands on his wounded chest, creating white hotter spots on his own shape where she touched him.

While Lycaon reviewed the footage, he continued his walk downstairs where he'd set up a little faux cleaning station in a utility closet. It was certainly no kitchen sink, but with care and organization, he could at least keep dishes clean and out of sight. Lycaon was halfway down the stairs when he saw his own arm reach out and snatch at Lady Belle just as she was leaving the bedside.

His foot missed the next step and he lurched forward unexpectedly, almost losing the tray, the dishware rattling alarmingly. In horror, he witnessed Belle being pulled down to the mattress by his own arm and her being forced to curl up against his side, where she remained for the rest of the night.

There was only one way to interpret his own actions: he'd forced Lady Belle to sleep next to him last night. Lycaon's prior thought that Lady Belle had made the choice to sleep in bed with him was utterly destroyed. Apparently: she'd found herself forced into that situation by someone vastly larger, stronger, and far more clawed and fanged… what could she do to resist? When little Lady Belle was so overwhelmingly overpowered by the simple basic reality of their different body sizes, and in the sanctuary of her own bedroom.

He'd been so worried about Tenet #9, but that tenet was a warning against consensual activities. There were no Victoria Housekeeping tenets against forcing women into bed with you because that was so obviously outside the realm of proper behavior that one didn't make tenets about it. It simply was not done!

Lycaon washed Belle's dishes with a deep feeling of guilt, his universe cracking around him. Was he drastically misreading Lady Belle this morning? He thought she might be nervously infatuated with him. But that might very well be his own stupid pride. Those looks and hesitancies could also easily be something very different: fear and uncertainty. Could she think that he would force himself upon her again- and next time with much less mildly innocent result? Was she perhaps desperately thinking of some way to escape him, but she had nowhere to go?

Stop. Calm down. Lycaon knew the smell of human fear. He'd smelled it plenty of times. And in no moment this morning or last night had Belle smelled of fear. She did not fear him. And he may have pulled her to the bed, but she had not objected- so far as he could tell. Where was the line between initiative and aggression? And had he crossed it unknowingly?

Lycaon began to think he was getting lost in his own head. Was he reading his own actions in the worst possible light? He would never force himself upon anyone, not knowingly. And he hadn't done it last night, either, right? He reached for her and pulled her close, yes, but that was it. And he didn't remember, so he maybe must have been in some sort of dream? What had he dreamed about last night?

He washed the dishes and tried to recall, but in the way of dreams, they had long evaporated. There was no bringing them back now. But he would never have grabbed Lady Belle like that when awake, so logically, he must have been asleep.

And Belle was not afraid of him. So.. perhaps she'd known, even as he grabbed her, that he was asleep? And then.. She didn't object and instead… acquiesced? And if that were true- why?

Lycaon snorted in frustration. He'd come full circle back to the possibility of Belle's infatuation with him. An alarming possibility, but certainly better than the alternative dark fantasy he'd concocted for his own actions.

If it was some form of infatuation… what to do about it? Lady Belle was not exactly a client; but she was a beautiful, and single, human woman who was significantly smaller, and notably younger, than he. Not many humans could accurately gauge age in full-fur thirens like himself, but the species line was blatantly obvious to all. It was old-fashioned thinking, but Lycaon knew there was a certain stigma against human women who became involved with thiren men, complete with highly specific slurs that one did not say around recording devices, but made jokes about in private with friends. And it had not been all that many years since that one human father had hunted down his daughter's high school boyfriend and shot him, a fox thiren kid with nothing more than a shared crush.

Lycaon sighed. He was getting ahead of himself again. Why was he, now, considering the social stigmas Belle might face if she were in a relationship with him?! She wasn't in a relationship with him. Most likely, she'd never even consider it. He should never consider it, either. He was her bodyguard! She was stuck with him, at possible risk of her very life! The fact his mind was even treading these trails was a sure sign that he himself was over-thinking into the realm of the absurd.

Belle's looks at him this morning were either nervous infatuation or nervous anxiety. It was surely one or the other. But what was the truth?

Lycaon dried the final dish uneasily. He needed to know what was happening between him and Belle before he could figure out his proper actions in the future, and the only person who could possibly know the truth of Belle's feelings was Belle herself.

Belle

Belle had absolutely no idea what she was feeling regarding Lycaon. Not specifically, anyway. She was certainly feeling lots of things, but when Belle attempted to coalesce everything into one word. She just couldn't pick one. For the sake of making another attempt, she plunged a figurative hand into the bowl and came out with one of the concepts billowing about in her mind: Lycaon was interesting.

Lycaon was… interesting. Even just standing around somewhere, he looked like he calmly had his entire universe under disciplined control. For Belle, who wasn't quite sure where the river of life was taking her, or why, or even where she wanted to go… seeing such a stable stone amidst the rapids was like a siren's call. She wanted to go to it and just… latch on. To rest, and to be safe, and not worry about the current for a while.

Thiren men had never really been a focus of Belle's girlhood fantasies, especially not those varieties who displayed… less human faces. But Lycaon… maybe it was his eyes, but even with his obviously lupine snout and features, he carried this aura of… of… the noble savage. His wolfish face and body promised some inherent but restrained wildness that was sure to surface if only Belle could figure out how to draw it out of him. Draw it out of him so she could revel in a passionate ferocity that, in her imagination, slightly frightened her in the same way that a roller coaster did: it was scary, yes, but also safe- and that made the fear sweet and delicious.

And she wanted to taste that. She wanted it deep down. Like: behind her belly button deep down. Belle really wanted Lycaon to take hold of her. His big hands, strong and soft and smooth with velvety fur… they could probably wrap clean around her waist… his fingertips just about meeting at her spine and his thumbs near her navel. Belle thought about that and took a shuddering breath, a thrum of eagerness vibrating deep within her.

Belle felt a little hot around the cheeks. Her inner-maiden waved a figurative fan in her face, trying to cool herself off: Whoa. Take a deep breath. You just met the man, didn't you? Isn't this kind of imagination a bit too sudden?

Her inner-gremlin spoke up: Says who? Society? Who cares?! Someone is trying to kill you and you want to wait an arbitrary number of dates before you allow yourself to live? How long is a date, anyway? Maybe two or three hours? You're getting close to 72 hours with Lycaon. That's over ten dates! Wouldn't society say waiting that long was somewhat… prudish?

Belle's inner-maiden balked at the argument and stared at Belle's inner-gremlin with an open mouth. That… that was kinda a good point.

The math checked out.

"Are you okay, Belle?" said Wise's concerned voice. "Is something wrong?"

Belle looked up from the darkness of her pillow and found Wise and Nicole looking at her from her open doorway with some concern. They were dressed and obviously getting started with their day. Nicole had fresh clothing on, Belle noted. Since when had Nicole stashed overnight supplies in Wise's room?! They were a lot more serious than Belle thought. How had she missed that?

"I'm fine!" said Belle, blushing. "Thanks- thanks for taking care of the store today."

"Yeah, of course," said Wise with his soft smile. "It's been a wild couple of days. Especially for you, though. It still doesn't seem quite real to me. But I thought you could use a day to just… you know… mellow."

Belle took a deep breath and felt a soft fondness for her brother. He wasn't always the most emotionally intelligent person, but well… he was a man, so… but… he always came through when it really counted. "Thanks."

Wise nodded. Nicole's eyes shifted between the two of them, but she didn't seem to have anything to say. A rare event.

"Where's Lycaon?" said Wise. "That breakfast was awesome."

"It was so good!" agreed Nicole. "And free! Which made it even better."

How was Lycaon paying for this food, anyway? Was it free? Or was he charging it to their accounts? Belle should probably ask about that. "I think he's downstairs. Doing dishes or something."

"I have to admit, it's kind of nice to have him around," said Wise, taking a step out of Belle's field of vision. "I'll go thank him."

Belle had a sudden inspiration. "Wait! Wise! Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, what?" said Wise, his head coming back into the doorway.

"Tell… tell Lycaon I want to have a movie marathon," said Belle, a plan evolving in her mind as she spoke. "Romantic movies. Tell him I want him to pick out, like… five from our collection that sound interesting to him."

Wise blinked at her, his mouth opening in mild shock. "That's a little obvious, isn't it, Belle?"

Nicole's face brightened with a cunning smile. "I like it. It's bold!"

Wise looked at Nicole thoughtfully, then back at Belle. "But- he's…" But then he shut his mouth and looked thoughtful.

"Nevermind. It's none of my business," sighed Wise. "Yeah, Belle, I'll pass your orders along. Just- be careful?"

Belle wondered briefly what objection Wise had swallowed, but in the end, what he thought was irrelevant. She needed to figure out what she thought. And what Lycaon thought. As soon as possible.

"I'll be perfectly safe, Wise." And of that fact, as far as Lycaon and her went, Belle was absolutely certain.