Chapter Text
The nights were warm this time of year. The streets were empty and dark except for the lit up windows in the apartments he passed and the sparse light posts. Legosi still felt cold as he walked around, his fur illuminated every few steps as he stepped into the halo of a light post and out of it again. It was late. If he had lost his way, he would have an excuse to keep wandering forever, but he knew where he was.
He was stalling. He had to go back to their apartment sometime, but he could not bring himself to return yet. He had to steel himself first. As soon as he had sent that text, he had regretted it and it was only for the fact that he kept his hands away from his pockets that he hadn’t sent her another text, claiming he didn’t mean it.
And he didn’t. He loved Haru. Even her name in his head hurt. God, he loved her so much. He wanted to be with her, but the one thing he wanted more was to make her happy. If she could forget about him and live her life like it should be lived, he could make her happy.
His phone rang.
He halted, partly standing in the street lamp’s circle of light, the other half of him merging with the darkness. The ringtone continued. No, he wasn't ready for that. If he heard her voice, he would surely take it all back. His body was stronger than he had wanted to admit for a long time, but his will was weak. Everything he had ever wanted was to protect her. The phone kept ringing. His claws dug themselves into his palms. He had to be strong for her! Maybe he should reject the call. Then she’d know that he wouldn’t answer the phone.
He took a deep breath and then pulled the phone out.
The display didn’t spell out Haru’s name, but his boss’s. Holding the phone in his hand, the ringtone continued; it must have rung nearly ten times by now. He clicked the answer button and held the phone against his ear.
“Thank God I’m getting a hold of you!” Sunaga’s voice came through the phone. He was whispering.
“Sunaga.” Legosi furrowed his brows. His boss had never called him on his phone and to be honest he had assumed that he had deleted his number by now.
“I-I don’t know how to say this, but,” on the other end of the line, Sunaga took a shuddering breath, “I can’t do it anymore. They’re in the shop and I’m - I’m not sure what they’ll do, he’s been angry because of the money a-a-and I let them take Asami-”
“Hold on!” Legosi interrupted him. Asami was the old antelope lady who had been working the tables the last time he had come to the shop. “What happened? I can’t follow you.”
Sunaga sniffed. Was he crying?
“You were right,” he said between breaths. “I didn’t want to fire you, but they told me to do it. Guess they didn’t want someone as big as you threatening their position.”
Legosi understood barely half of what Sunaga said, but there was clearly something wrong. He broke into a run.
“I’m not too far from the shop. Are you safe for a few more minutes?”
“I don’t know! Please hurry!”
He crossed an intersection. He should be there in ten minutes tops.
“Okay, tell me everything I need to know.”
Several minutes later, he arrived at the shop. The windows had been bashed in and glass glistened on the asphalt like freshly fallen snow. During the phone call, Sunaga had told him everything that had happened in the last few weeks in hushed words. One day, some carnivores had approached him and demanded money or else they would destroy his property. The Udon noodle shop was everything Sunaga had, he had worked hard to fulfill his dream of his own restaurant, and so he had given them what they wanted. After some time, that hadn’t been enough anymore. The gray wolf working in the kitchen had seemed a threat to them and so they had told Sunaga to fire him.
Legosi had known Sunaga had kept something from him the day he had called him into his office. He hadn’t even looked into his eyes. He may have been working for him only for six months, but he should have known his boss better than that.
As he skidded to a halt in front of the shop, he saw the extent of the damage: Not only were the windows smashed, but the chairs and tables were thrown around, most of them destroyed. The kitchen seemed to be mostly intact safe for a deep scratch in the wooden panel. The door to the office was open. He ran through the dining area.
Sunaga was pressed against a wall by a familiar figure: The giant bear who Legosi had seen last time held his former boss in one hand, his claws around the barn owl’s throat, while a raccoon was raiding the desk’s inventory. Legosi recognized him as the one that had robbed him a few weeks before. He felt a growl rising in his throat and his fur bristled.
“Stop that!”
Everyone turned around at Legosi’s sudden shout. There was a second where everyone was confused, then the bear let go of Sunaga who slid down the wall and coughed.
“You!” the bear snarled, then turned to Sunaga again. “So this is who you’ve been calling when we found you?”
He raised his giant paw as if to hit him and Legosi moved. He bolted across the room, ignoring the hiss of the racoon, and crashed into the bear. Despite his whole weight barreling into him, the bear barely moved and instead grabbed Legosi’s neck and flung him across the room; Legosi collided with the wall on the other side of the small office. Pain bloomed in his back.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the bear growled. His voice was deep. “You think you’re tough because you’re a wolf? I’m a bear! I haven’t taken any strength reducing pills in ages! You’re no match against me.”
Slowly, Legosi got up. His back hurt, but there didn’t seem to be anything broken. He was right; bears could be one of the most dangerous carnivores if they wanted to. They were taller, broader, and had overall more muscle mass than wolves. The only advantage he had over him was the strength of his jaw.
“I have fought a bear before.” He shifted his weight so his legs were far apart. “And won.”
“Sure you do,” the bear grinned, showing a row of blood-stained teeth. Legosi’s fur stood on end.
“What have you done to Asami? The antelope, where is she?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the raccoon lick his lips.
Legosi snarled and charged at him; the bear slapped him into the side, kicking the breath out of him. Legosi skidded over the floor, claws leaving long streaks in the wood, and evaded the next powerful blow. He quickly ducked as the bear threw the table after him. There was a horrible crash as the table crashed into the wall, wood splintering. Sunaga pressed himself into the corner next to his desk. There was blood on his feathers.
“Sorry you have to see that,” Legosi panted. Even though Sunaga was a carnivore himself, as an owl he probably hadn’t witnessed many physical fights.
Legosi bared his teeth. He was glad he hadn’t filed his claws down today. One of the bear’s advantages was his longer reach; Legosi would have to evade his next attack to be able to strike him. His teeth were a problem, too. If he got between those, he would probably not make it out alive.
Haru was probably home by now. If he never returned after sending her that text, if they weren’t able to at least say goodbye to each other, would Haru think he had run from her?
Dying wasn’t an option.
He bared his fangs again. He couldn’t speak properly as his throat carried a constant growl with it.
He feigned a move towards the left, then quickly turned into the other direction, ripped one of the legs from the destroyed table and threw it at the bear. The bear fell for it. He raised his hands to parry the leg, but was too slow to move as Legosi jumped at him and his claws burrowed themselves into the thick coat at the base of the bear’s neck, sinking deep into his flesh. The bear snarled, trying to toss him off, but Legosi held on with sheer determination. He opened his jaw wide and then chomped down on the bear’s neck. The taste of iron exploded in his mouth and the bear screamed and scratched at him. His claws were making a mess out of Legosi’s back. Legosi screamed through the pain, but didn’t let go. He could feel the flesh give away as he shook his head and finally teared a chunk out of him. Blood splattered his snout, then the bear punched his face and tossed him away.
“I’ll kill you,” the bear growled and positioned himself over him. Blood dripped from his neck down to the remnants of Legosi’s shirt. He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up. Legosi kicked him in the face and felt the crunch of his sensitive nose against his foot, but then the bear turned his head and sunk his teeth into it. Pain shot up his leg; Legosi yelped, then bit down on the bear’s wrist. He was much softer here, his bones crunched apart as he bit down even stronger. The bear screamed and let go and Legosi ran into him, using his unstable footing to knock him over. Straddling his body, he plunged his fangs into the same spot on the bear’s neck as he had before. The bear clawed at him, but his movements grew weaker and finally his arms fell to each sides of his body.
Legosi got up on wobbly legs. His shirt clung wetly to his back and as he lifted his hands to his eyes, he noticed they were trembling. The room smelled heavily like blood. As he looked around, he saw that the raccoon had made a run for it. Sunaga was still in the same spot as before, his eyes shut tightly together.
Slowly, Legosi approached him and crouched down. Sunaga was jittering like a leaf.
“Are you okay?” Legosi rasped. He didn’t touch him. Sunaga opened his eyes. He gasped as he saw him, then glanced at the rest of the room.
“Sorry about your table,” Legosi said. “And, uh, the rest of the furniture. Maybe we can go and look what is salvageable after patching ourselves up?”
“Y-You could have died,” Sunaga finally said, tears welling up in his eyes. Legosi panicked.
“Ah, well, it looks worse than it really is, no need to worry! Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time, so, uh-”
He should stop talking. Sunaga’s eyes welled over and Legosi caught him as he fell into his arms and put his wings around his neck.
“Uh, there, there …” Cheeks flushing, Legosi stared at a random point over Sunaga’s shoulder. He really was bad at this.
The Udon noodle shop was a mess. Legosi had called the police who had agreed to come after he told them the criminal bear was already taken care of. As soon as they had transported them out of the office and Sunaga had put some bandages on his wounds, he had tried to clear up the destruction that had been caused. Sunaga had been mostly quiet while Legosi stacked the destroyed furniture in one corner and pushed the few intact tables against the opposite wall, then proceeded to sweep the shattered glass. There was nothing they could do about the scratch in the kitchen panel.
Finally, Sunaga told him to go home.
“I can see how exhausted you are,” he told him. He gestured vaguely in his direction. “And you’re still bleeding. The - the bandages, they’ve turned red again. You should go home. Maybe take a bath and let your girlfriend treat you.”
He could do one of these at least. There wasn’t a bathtub at the apartment and his girlfriend, well … it had been nice not thinking about it while it lasted.
Sunaga had stopped him shortly before he went out of the door.
“And Legosi … thank you. I’m sorry about what happened.” Sunaga glanced at the remains of his restaurant. “I’m hiring again, you know. That is, if you want to.”
He had told him he would think about it. Nothing was sure. A small part of him hoped that when he was moving out of the street lamp’s light, the darkness would swallow him whole, but he arrived at the Hidden Condo after a short walk. There wasn’t any light in their apartment. It was after midnight, she had probably gone to sleep hours ago.
As he approached the apartment complex, he suddenly saw a small figure waiting in front of the gate. It turned around as he came closer.
“Legosi!”
Haru’s fur appeared orange in the glow of the street lamp. She was shivering. She was still wearing the same clothes as this afternoon. Even though it was summer, she had to be cold and Legosi’s first instinct was to step closer to her. Then he remembered the text and saw the expression in her eyes.
“Legosi, you idiot!” she said, her voice wobbly, shaking her phone around. “What the hell is this about? And where have you been, you- Why are you injured?” She finally noticed his state. He knew he had to look like a savage to her, his body was littered with scratch marks and his shirt had been torn to shreds, so he had left it in a trash can on his way here. He was also limping.
“Why are you outside? It’s dangerous,” was the first thing he said.
Haru stepped closer and punched him into the stomach. He barely felt it, but it brought the message across.
“Seriously, are you an idiot? You’re covered in blood and you tell me it’s dangerous?”
“Well, uh, you’re a herbi-”
“Shut up!” Haru tugged on his arm and he crouched down, wincing at the pain in his back. “Just because you can defend yourself, doesn’t mean you always have to get into fights! Do you think I don’t have the right to worry about you, too?”
She grasped the front of his snout. It still hurt from the bear’s blow, but he kept perfectly still as she forced him to meet her eyes. They were red-rimmed, as if she had been crying. Was he at fault for that, too?
“I’m not one for heartfelt declarations,” she said, blinking rapidly. “Most males only used me for, well, you know. But with you, I finally felt safe. And not in the sense you’re probably thinking of. I felt like … I could finally be myself around you. I can’t do that with everyone else. Not even with the girls from class, not even with my family.” She took a shuddering breath. Her hands felt warm against his snout and he struggled against his instinct to lean into her. She continued, “Am I the only one? If you changed your feelings about me, I guess I-I have to accept that. But if you’ve only written that text because of a stupid idea you got, I want you to tell me now.”
How could she think his feelings had changed? He still loved her. That was the entire reason he had sent her that text, to end it until it was too late. Everyone knew that their relationship was a bad idea, but he had kept pushing and pushing, chipping away at the life she could have.
Haru’s thumbs were stroking the edge of his snout, revealing his still red gums. Everything about her was soft. He loved the way his hands were able to sink into her thick fur when she hadn’t cut it for some time, loved the way her lips curled up cutely whenever she smiled, loved how she could go on and on about plants and listened to him while he showed her a cool bug crawling in the grass on the campus grounds. He loved how small she was, even though he shouldn’t. He loved how he could hide her in his arms until he could feel even her slightest movements.
“Nothing has changed,” he finally said, fangs so close to her fingers. “But is it worth it? You’re being bullied because of me, everyone looks at you like you’re my next prey-”
“Of course it’s worth it!” Haru leaned forward and planted a kiss on his nose. Legosi’s tail went straight up. “If being together with you means losing my friends, I can accept that. And my parents accepted you, so that’s one less thing to worry about.”
“Why haven’t you told me then?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Why haven’t you told me about what’s bothering you?” She watched him, prompting him to answer. He had almost forgotten about that, so much had happened during the last few hours. It probably didn’t matter anymore.
“I, uh, I lost my job.” Finally saying it felt freeing. She waited for him to continue. “Although I think I got it back tonight.”
“That’s it?” Haru stomped her feet. “You had me really worried here! Listen up, you can tell me anything. I mean it. I accepted that you ate meat once and you thought I would flip out because of something you had no control over?”
Legosi scratched his head.
“Well, uh. Yeah.”
Haru sighed. She was close; her scent was enveloping him. His muscles tensed. If he moved even the slightest bit he would crush her into a hug and never let go.
“I forgive you.” Haru shifted even closer. The front of her shirt was brushing against his fur. What was she trying to do? “That is, I forgive you for not telling me, not for losing your job. You’re not to blame for that.”
She stroked her thumb over his muzzle, making him shiver. He really was a weak animal. He was already picturing them going home and forgetting about everything that happened, fantasizing about keeping her for himself. It wasn’t fair to her.
“I have a question for you, though.” She wiped the back of her hand over her eyes. The fur came back moist. “Please be honest. Do you still want to be with me?”
Hadn’t he already told her that? Ever since they had met, she was all he could think about. Thinking about her hurt, it was like an addiction he didn’t want to get rid of.
“Of course I want to be with you. But-”
She kissed him, effectively interrupting both his sentence and his train of thought. Her fingers buried themselves into the longer fur of his cheeks, pulling him closer to her, and he was weak, so weak as he gave in. Her tongue licked into his mouth and he flinched; there were still traces of blood there. Haru let him back away a little bit.
“Let’s go home and get you cleaned up.”
She took his hand. It fitted entirely into his own. His heart thrummed in his chest as they went into the Hidden Condo and scaled the stairs. His ears laid flat against his head. She wasn’t looking at him, but straight ahead.
Finally, she fetched her keys and opened the door. Legosi went into the apartment on auto mode. Haru turned the lights on. Everything looked the same; the futon was still rolled up in one corner and on the stove stood the same dirty pot as this morning. Haru pushed him into the direction of their small bathroom.
“Go and clean yourself. I’ll get everything ready for you.”
He went into the bathroom and took off his remaining clothes. His pants were covered in blood, so instead of putting them in the hamper he simply let them fall down on the tiled floor and stepped into the shower stall. The water was cold. He didn’t bother to turn up the temperature.
When he was finished, he noticed Haru had put a fresh towel and comfy clothes on the edge of the sink. He picked them up and sniffed them, but they only smelled like the laundry detergent Haru insisted on buying.
The door was still closed. He quickly dried himself off, wincing as the towel touched his wounds and fresh red drops stained it.
Finally, he went out of the bathroom. Haru looked up. She was sitting at the table, the medic kit and some clean bandages in front of her.
“Sit down,” she told him and he did.
During the next few minutes, she methodically cleaned and dressed his wounds. He winced as she put disinfectant on the puncture marks on his foot.
“These are from teeth, aren’t they?” Haru asked quietly and without looking up. His foot was propped up on her lap. He held completely still, not wanting to scratch her with his savage looking nails on accident. Why was she asking this? She shouldn’t know what caused wounds like these, she shouldn’t even patch him up. That was his world, not her’s.
As he didn’t answer, she glanced up.
“There are a lot of bacteria in the mouth, you know.” She stroked her hand over the short fur of his instep. Legosi swallowed heavily. “It’s dangerous if you don’t clean it up. You could lose your foot.”
“I-I know.”
Haru bowed deeper towards his foot and inspected the wound.
“What kind of animal even does this? A tiger? Another wolf?” She didn’t say lion, even though it had to have crossed her mind. Legosi cleared his throat.
“A bear.”
“Oh, okay.”
And that was that. Haru put a bandage on his foot, then ordered him to turn around so she could inspect the damage on his back. Her hands almost tickled when she touched him right where the bear had sunk his teeth into him. Finally, he had to bow down so she could disinfect his face. She touched the edges of what would evolve to be a black eye in short time.
“Does it hurt much?” she asked, carefully prodding at him. He shook his head.
“It’s okay, I’m used to it.”
“You shouldn’t be.” She got up and went into the kitchen to wet a towel. A minute later, she stepped between his legs and put the towel on his eye. “You don’t have to tell me what exactly happened. The only thing that matters to me is that you’re safe.”
Even if he was safe now, there was no way he could promise her that. That was something carnivores and herbivores had in common: No one ever was safe. Herbivores as potential prey and carnivores because they had to raise to the fight. The reason he was born a carnivore was to use his strength, to be able to protect.
He had really hurt her, hadn’t he?
“I’m sorry, Haru.”
Haru dabbed his face with the towel, then smiled. She was so close to him that he could feel her warmth radiating from her body. He wanted to touch her, but he had said such terrible things to her. Did he even have the right to follow his own stupid desires? His hands twitched.
Haru laid the towel aside.
“To be honest, I can understand where you’re coming from,” she confessed and laid her head against his chest. “There is a lot of prejudice in this world, both with and without reason. But I don't think we’re blind to that. I know the risks. As do you.” She clutched her hands in his fur. “Even if I’m miserable when I lose my friends because of us, I’d be even more miserable to live my life without you.”
He swallowed and finally laid his hands on each side of her waist. She melted into him and he pulled her close; her heart was tittering against his ribcage.
“I love you, Haru.”
They held each other for a while. He couldn’t believe how stupid he had been. He had just been desperate for a solution, something to stop her from being bullied. But some things didn’t change just because you wanted them to. And some other things were worth to hold onto, even if everything else was miserable.
His nose was filled with her scent, a tangy sharpness rising. His ears flicked as he recognized the scent and his hands twitched against her side. His insides felt hot. He was wounded; it was no wonder he felt his body respond so eagerly to her.
She climbed on top of his thighs to be on the same level as his head.
“Do you want to kiss me?” she asked. Legosi swallowed.
“Y-Yes.”
She touched the sides of his head, but didn’t lean closer as usual. Most times, she was the one initiating kisses, so maybe she wanted him to bridge the gap between them this time. He held her carefully and brushed her cheek with his snout, making her breath hitch. Her small body was shifting barely noticeably, she probably wasn’t even aware of it. Then, finally, he kissed her. Her toes curled into his thighs. He moved his snout to her other cheek, hot breath ghosting over her fur, and felt her shiver. She smelled so good. Her heart was going so much faster than his. He pressed his snout against her neck and inhaled deeply, he couldn’t help himself. He hesitated, not daring to go any further, but Haru put a hand on top of his head, fingers brushing against his ear.
“Go on,” she whispered and his tail went straight up. She didn’t mean- She couldn’t mean that-
His hands trembled as he slid them down, following the curve of her hips. He fumbled with the buttons on her jeans, but they were too small for his large fingers and after a few tries, she took pity on him and undid the button. What should he do? Did she expect him to undress her? But what about his claws, he didn’t want to hurt her accidentally. Should they use that muzzle again? Maybe it was the safer option, but then he wouldn’t be able to kiss her anymore.
“Are you nervous?” Her voice was quiet. As if speaking too loudly would wake the outside world.
“Y-Yeah.” His swallow was audible in the silence of the room.
“Me too.”
“I-I don’t know what to do,” he confessed. Haru petted his ear.
“Just do whatever you like. And if I don’t like it, I will tell you.”
She was giving him entirely too much power. If she knew what a pervert he was, what kind of gross thoughts passed his mind every day, she would probably think twice about telling him something like that. Careful not to scratch her, he slipped his finger between her jeans and her hip, then slowly pulled down. She was wearing blue panties; her fur was sticking out from the seams. Immediately, the intensity of her scent increased.
He helped her get out of her pants and pulled off her socks one by one, then she took his hand and pulled him towards the futon. He unrolled it and they laid down side by side, one of his arms around her. She kissed him then, and he didn’t close his eyes and saw the light of the streetlamps reflecting from her white fur, and whoever had decided that kissing should be done with closed eyes clearly didn’t know what they were talking about. She sighed against him. He opened his mouth slightly and dared to lick against her mouth. She tasted like the tea she liked to drink every day. Haru deepened the kiss and pushed closer until her breasts pressed up against his chest. He slid his hands over her body, felt every dip and curve and memorized each sound she made; a hitch of breath when he touched her waist, a small moan when his claw caught on the seams of her blouse, a giggle when he ventured too close to her armpits and forgot she was ticklish there.
He went for the buttons of her blouse and halted for a second. She didn’t stop him. It was hard to undo the buttons, but after a while he found out how to do it and revealed her creamy breasts inch by inch. Her hands on his own pants stopped him in his tracks.
“Would you like to get rid of those?” she asked and pulled on the elastic waistband, then let it slap back.
“Y-Yeah, of course, i-if you want to!” he stuttered and quickly took off his pants. Even though she had seen him plenty of times without clothes by now, he was still fighting against the urge to hold his hand in front of his private parts. His heart stumbled as she kept her eyes on him.
“Should I get the light?” he squeezed out. Why felt his throat so tight? Haru’s eyes were dark and unreadable as she shook her head.
“No. I want to see you, if that’s alright.”
She climbed on top of him, leaning her weight on him until his lower back pressed into the edge of the table. This close, he could feel the heat radiating from her body. Tentatively, he laid a hand on her body. Her breasts easily fit into the palm of his hands. He squeezed one of them carefully and flinched when she moaned and leaned her weight against him, holding herself up against his chest.
“Is that good?” He watched her with wide eyes.
“Yes, just,” she took his hand into her own and pushed his thumb over her nipple, “do it like that.” He did, and she shuddered. Her scent thickened. Licking his lips, his eyes flickered downwards. Her fur had the same color between her legs, but it seemed slightly moist. He shifted his feet, unable to hold still, and slowly inched his hand downwards, over her stomach, then halted and caught her eyes for a second.
“It’s okay. Just be careful,” she said.
When he finally brushed against her center, it almost felt like he did it to himself. A jolt went through him, like a lightning bolt, and his tail went ramrod straight. She was so wet; his fur flattened against his skin as he brushed it over her clit. God, he had no idea what he was doing. Did he do it right?
“L-Legosi …”
Her hands grabbed him almost painfully. Slowly rubbing the pad of his thumb, he held her up with his other hand until her legs were quivering. She tilted her head, making her ears flop downwards, her eyes closed. Was she enjoying this? She seemed almost in pain, but she had told him she would tell him if something was wrong. He had to trust her.
Her breath was coming in short bursts now. Her scent was so thick it was making him dizzy; he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was so beautiful, the way her ears twitched with each of his motions, how her eyebrows were turned downwards almost as if she was concentrating really hard on something, how she was pulling his fur so much it actually hurt a bit. He pressed a little harder and she cried out. She slipped off his thighs and he caught her, his hand was enveloping her entire back. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment and caught his gaze.
“Is it okay if we,” she swallowed and Legosi followed the trail of her throat before his eyes snapped up again, “I mean, do you want to?”
He nodded, his head filling with a static noise.
“Tell me if I hurt you,” he murmured, picked her up so she was standing next to him on unsteady legs and got up. Grasping her hand, he looked down to her.
“I will,” she reassured him. “I trust you.”
While he was unrolling the futon, Legosi tried to calm his racing thoughts. It was all right. She didn’t expect him to be perfect. If anything at all, from what he had read first times rarely were that. At least she knew what she was doing, having slept with so many males and — he stopped. He was not going into that direction.
Haru pulled him on the futon until he was lying on his back, then crawled on top of him. At least that was familiar. Her body blocked the lights from outside, but he could still see her perfectly. Her breath brushed over his face, and he had only a second to prepare until she kissed him.
“Can I touch you?” she asked. He swallowed, then nodded.
At first, her touch was so light he barely felt it, but then she grew bolder and he jerked, a faint sound escaping his throat.
“Like this?” she asked.
“M-Maybe a little bit … firmer?” He blushed, but then she adjusted her grip and he shuddered. It was like heaven and hell at the same time, a sweet torture catapulting him forwards.
“Do you still want to?” her voice penetrated the mist in his head. He felt nearly delirious with want as he nodded. She climbed on top of him and then her moist center brushed his penis and he clutched the sheets with both hands. As she sank down onto him, his claws punctured the mattress. Hot and tight, it was like being eaten, and for once in his life he was the prey. She was fearless, sinking down until there was nowhere to go, nothing to do except listening to her moist breath and feeling the pounding of her heart through their connection.
She moved, a moan escaping her, and it was like she was ripping him apart. It was both the easiest and the most difficult thing in his entire life. Both holy and depraved. Shaking, he detached his claws from the mattress and, with the utmost care, grasped her hips. Biting her lip, she quickened her pace and he nearly lost his mind; he pushed upwards, the smallest of jerks with his hip, and watched her mouth fall open. Her scent exploded in his nose. It was too much and a growl escaped him and all he could do was to control his hands just enough so as not to crush her when his back arched and a shudder ran through his spine. Her legs clamped around his hips and she shuddered, suddenly even tighter around him.
She sunk forward until her head rested against his ribcage. As time passed, their breathing calmed. The scent of sex was still clouding the air, but he felt full.
Haru turned her head around, muttering, “Let’s go to sleep.” She slipped from his grasp and next to him and he turned around, careful, so he wouldn’t crush her. The last thing he noticed before sleep enveloped him was her small body pressing against his back and one of her hands resting on his side.
“Well, it’s nice that you finally found some time for your old dad.”
Haru’s dad was sitting on the other side of the table, his feet sticking out of the chair the same way his girlfriend’s did. Legosi sat up straight. He didn’t want to leave a bad impression. Haru had told him he should just be his usual self, but he wasn’t sure which part she meant.
“Dad!” Haru sighed. “Don’t be like that. You know I had a lot do to during the first semester.”
“I know, I know!” Her dad laughed. “I’m just happy to see you again. And you,” he added with a nod to Legosi.
It was weird. He didn’t seem to be afraid at all, even though Legosi’s scent had to be all over his daughter.
“You know, when we first met, I had certain … prejudices,” her dad continued. “And I can’t say I’m completely happy with it. Society won’t look kindly on you and there are reasons for that. But who am I to tell my daughter what to do? At least this way, she has someone who can protect her.”
Legosi found himself slowly nodding, even if he only understood or agreed with half of it.
“Well, society can keep quiet about it,” Haru mumbled. “It is what it is.”
“I hope you two are prepared for what’s coming at you.” Her dad waved at the waitress to get their order. The waitress began to move in their direction, her eyes widening as she noticed the unusual trio. “It won’t be easy. And love in itself won’t solve everything. But maybe … maybe it’s a start.”
As her dad ordered his meal, Haru moved her chair closer to Legosi and nudged his leg under the table with her own. When their eyes met, she smiled.