~ Shards of Opal ~
Somehow Carmilla had never thought of exploiting Hector's love of animals by taking animal form to get out of trouble before, but once the thought did occur to her to try that and she found out it worked, she used it all the time. It never grew less effective no matter how many times she did it. (Which sounds horribly manipulative, but unfortunately that's just the kind of person that she is.)
And when Hector was upset for reasons that had nothing to do with his vampire girlfriend, Carmilla discovered that she could cheer him up by turning into a snow leopard and letting him pet her thick fluffy fur. Sometimes she would lay on him and purr, which he found especially soothing. Other times she would offer him a paw so he could squish her toe beans.
~oOo~