Post by Lovely on Aug 7, 2009 22:27:00 GMT -5
March 5, 2005
morning
It was early Saturday and warm for March. Rei was at work already, singing softly while she clipped at hedges. Where she stayed there was a steady light drip adorning the leaves and petals that were starting to bloom. She'd move a few feet and the tiny rain shower followed her, keeping the winter-dried and thirsty plants happy as she worked to groom them before Spring break. A few patches of snow lurked under the occasional branch and chilled her toes, but she'd rather be barefoot than clad in boots with the shoots of tender grass coming up to meet the end of Winter. Her toes caught on her next step though, and she looked down intending to trim the root, to find it wasn't a root at all, but a shoe lace and obviously not her own. "How did you get down there?" She spoke to the shoe and bent down to retrieve it, finding its mate and another surprise that caused a bit of a shriek. Jeans and a shirt lay in there as well and at first, she wasn't certain the body belonging to them wasn't still in them. The gasp wasn't quiet and it startled a few birds from the bushes beside her as well.
He'd been called to come to the school urgently the night before.. long term assignment, that meant he was most likely going to be staying on campus, so he'd packed his duffel and driven up. He'd arrived late into the night/early morning, as the call had come in the evening and after a short briefing on the situation and a short nap, he was up and about. Accustomed to the way things were done on the estate and the Veinna rules, he'd gone on his rounds this morning and naturally decided to shift to wolf form. He'd stowed his clothes safely out of the way and taken off for a good hour or more, running through the grounds and sniffing, as well as marking his scent.. it couldn't hurt, right? Paul now made his way back to where he'd left his clothes, only to find a lovely feminine scent filling his nostrils as he came closer, then the shapely form of the woman came into view. Well.. how to approach this? She was where he needed to be, he was in wolf form and he'd be bare if he shifted before reaching her and his clothes. Slowing his gait, he glanced around and decided to make her aware of his presence, he rustled some leaves and shook some branches as he passed, giving a soft playful yip to garner her attention. Then he halted and sat down, keeping a safe difference and cocking his head to the side to watch her, knowing she might be startled and frightened.
She'd hardly caught her breath when she heard the rustle and turned to see the ..dog?.. coming toward her. She chided herself and the smile faded further as she dropped the shoe and rose the shears between herself and the animal... that's no dog, stupid, that's a f*-ing wolf. Scared as much of me as I am of him... yeah.. that's it, she nodded silently to herself, taking a step back, forgetting the other shoe and losing her footing over it, stumbling back to the ground with another small yelp and the clatter of the shears to the ground out of reach.
He saw her stumble and partly to take his chance and partly out of concern, he rushed forward and bounded the short distance to her side. He was cautious, expecting a scream or her to try and reach the shears to stab him with, nudging her side gently with his muzzle and then reaching to lick at her neck and face -his eyes saying 'see I'm harmless'.
She closed her eyes and held her breath as the animal charged, fully expecting to be torn and eaten alive, but not able to fight it off. It was almost as big as she was. A whimper escaped as she heard the animal stop and what had been a light dripping rain was a sudden, pelting, rushing rain from the tiniest of clouds she could find overhead. A second whimper came as she felt the warmth of the breath and the animal touched her, not biting, not harming at all, but nudging like Sarah used to do. This was hardly a Labrador, though and she peeked an eye open, expecting to see only teeth and blood, but saw warm eyes, concern like Sarah's, staring back. Reigna still jumped back a little, only it backed her more into the bush with nowhere else to go. "S-s-stay... good boy... um.. I'm not food."
He whined a little at the rain that poured down on them, hoping his clothes weren't too soaked.. wet jeans were just a b*tch to get into and binding and chaffing.. He sighed, his head turning towards the girl as she moved and spoke, his ears twitching at her words. If he could have laughed at that moment a hearty one would have rolled forth. How was he going to do this? His head moved and he looked to the clothes she was half laying on and then back to her, he repeated this a few times, trying to let her know he wanted his boxers at least. Very carefully, he started to take a step over her legs, his head turning to look at her as the first paw lifted then set to the ground. He waited a moment before moving the next leg, cautious and slow and praying she didn't lunge for the shears. His neck stretched so his muzzle could just reach a piece of his clothes, he really didn't care what it was as his teeth hooked into it and he pulled back.
"Uh huhn... okay... so um... I hope he wasn't your lunch. Or maybe... I hope that he was... cuz then you wouldn't be hungry.. now... right?" She mumbled and rambled, terrified to move an inch as the animal crept over her. She wasn't sure she was even breathing, feeling everything tight and constricted... she couldn't scream if she wanted to. The animal snapped at something in the bushes and she pulled her hand to her chest, leaning out of his way and hoping she wasn't part of the snack or whatever it was he wanted. "Okay...good boy... right? You are... um... yeah, you are... just don't eat me... please," she whimpered softly.
He dropped the article of clothing in her lap and seemed to shake his head a bit as she spoke, reaching slowly down to pick the cloth up in his mouth again. He moved back over her as slowly as he had the first time and once clear, bounded around to the other side of the bushes. She'd hear a little growling, rustling and finally a grunt and groan, then a bit more rustling as he tried to cover his shifted and bare human form with his.. boxers.. oh thank goodness it was his boxers, at least he could cover his a** and his.. well.. with those.
The animal seemed to pounce at something and there was an awful lot of noise and fuss that she couldn't see through the brambles, well not well. She found herself curious enough to look through the branches, not entirely sure what she was seeing. That was enough of whatever it was and she leaned away to start getting up, reaching for the shears now, just in case and slowly getting the strength to stand up. Her arm was a little scratched from the branches and she was muddy, but otherwise unharmed. The rustling continued and the grunts and growls made her gasp again, holding the shears out at the bush as she stepped away. The rain that had come down in sheets stopped almost as quickly as it had started and drops shook off the hedge with whatever was going on. "Um... okay boy... um... you be good... I'm ...I'm going now... see... I'm stepping back slowly... not running, so you're not going to chase me, right?"
His brown mussed locks popped up from behind the bushes, with an amused grin and those same warm eyes she'd seen on the wolf. "Not in my underwear, least not till we know each other better and I find out if you'd even let me do something like that." His shoulders were bare but muddy from the ground and him being wet from the sudden shower as they showed from behind the bush. His voice a little deeper as it normally was for a few minutes after shifting. "Do you think you could hand me the rest of my clothes?"
"Your cl... the wolf didn't eat you? Oh, that's good. Are you okay? I mean.. of course that's good, what am I saying. Your clothes, of course you can, um.. here," she said, a little too dazed to do the math at the moment and her head was beginning to hurt. She peeked under the bushes where the clothes were and saw his ankles, but saw no wolf as she pulled the jeans and shirt free to hand him across the top of the hedge. She didn't feel strong enough to toss them the full distance and used the sheers as a hook to reach them over for him. "Um... don't touch the metal ... I'll show you why in a sec, okay?"
"The wolf didn't eat me??" He laughed. "Of course not... I ate him." He winked as he carefully unhooked his clothes from the shears, not touching the metal. They were wet, but he'd live and he did his best to stay unseen behind the bush as he struggled into them. Once he was into his jeans, he wandered around to her side, pulling his shirt on and looking down for his shoes and socks. "I'm sorry I frightened you."
"Yo-...? God, I'm an idiot," Rei said, her hand swinging down with the sheers, the point of them to the ground, the static discharge taking the moment to arc and crackle its way into the wet ground at her feet, not that she noticed. "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. You .. the wolf is you?" She smiled, embarrassed a little and wishing she could start this all over from the beginning and not seem so stupid. He probably thought she was anyway, so it didn't matter, and that he was so pretty as a wolf, now that she thought about it, and quite nice to look at now, even muddied and wet, made it all that much worse. Her eyes tingled a little as she got more upset at herself. "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for? Now if you had stabbed me with those shears.. I could reason the apology.. but come on.. I was all wolfy.. not like you'd know I wasn't a big bad, right? Did you see any socks around here? Darn.. I think I lost my socks.. ah well excuse for no shoes, yay!" He chuckled and looked back at her now, smiling his easy and relaxed grin. "You're not going to stab me now, are you?" He winked at her again, letting his eyes wander over and appreciate her form.
She shook her head and whimpered out a 'no' before taking a deep breath and blinking away her thoughts. "I could have guessed, though, right? I mean... the gates and fences... a bad wolf really couldn't get it... could it?" She shivered a moment now that she'd stopped working and being wet all over she noticed how cool it really was. "And I'm sorry... about the... you're wet," she motioned her fingers like rain and pointed to the little cloud that had gone white and nonthreatening again. "I shouldn't have been that scared. You're nice.. and I think I wouldn't mind," she said, switching gears and thinking about his question of whether she'd let him or not.
"I am wet.." He smiled a little more widely and shrugged. "I'm not that bothered by it.. but if you want to make it up to me.. I'm open to bribery." His hand smoothed down over the slick clinging fabric which molded around his lean taunt form. "Might I point out, remembering you're still armed.. that you're all wet too.. would you like an escort to someplace warmer and drier?"
She nodded and looked at the shears. "I better get my tools and get them cleaned up so they don't rust. They're the school's tools, really. God... I'm so...," she stopped in mid step, realizing she was doing so many things wrong. Everything in her hands she set down to the ground to brush her hands clean on the wet overalls, but it was better than nothing. She held her hand out a short way from herself, not sure he'd take it. "I'm Reigna... or Rei... or hey, stupid girl, or whatever."
"It's a pretty name, for a pretty woman." He brought his hand to clasp hers for a moment, in which he flipped her hand and leaned to brush a soft kiss over her knuckles.. the proper way to make a lady's acquaintance. "I'm Paul."
The image of the wolf she'd seen him as superimposed on his face as her hand was raised up. She could see it now, how it had been him, not so much different really. She was certain she was holding her breath again, but not in fear this time as his warm kiss met her hand. In that breathless moment all that came out again was a whispered, "Good boy."
He let go of her hand, with a stroke of his thumb over the top and lifted his head with a crooked grin and a raised brow. "Where to?" He made a slight motion towards her tools, indicating he had intentions to help her carry and clean.
"Huh? Oh, those... there's a shed, but it's kinda far from here. Changing first is probably... well you'd be more comfy I think. I really doused you good," she smiled a little now, her mood clearing and the 'sun' peeking out a bit. Her own overalls were wet, but baggy, not like his jeans that were... she blushed a little when she realized she was looking. "So you're visiting here? Staying? How come your stuff was in the bushes, don't they have rooms here for you? Locked doors are usually locked for a reason," she teased. "You're not supposed to get in those. But I see your point. Paws have no thumbs. I hadn't really thought about that. So... Paul...," she said, turning to him again and watching his thumbs now and how they hooked and how he stood. He was something else and talking to her? Oh gosh, she wasn't feeling cold right now. "What other interesting habits do you have that might scare the sh*t out of me?"
His grin tipped and he couldn't resist. "Sniffing butts and humping legs.. and if you hit me with a rolled up newspaper, hoo boy!!" He chuckled and shook his head. "Maybe my sense of humor.. might frighten you just a tad?"
She shook her head again, but smiled a little brighter. "Not really. No worse than my broth-...oh no... yeah, we better get inside. You don't want to meet my brothers."
He shrugged. "I have brothers.. and maybe i would like to meet yours.. ask them all the things I might be to shy to ask you directly?"
"Oh no.. no no no... you're safer... and more likely to get a straight answer... if you ask me. I don't know if I want you to meet them," she thought, half wanting to tease Kaz and half wanting them never to know this boy existed. "Our family's... we're kinda... um... big, but close, you know?"
"No not at all.." He paused and gave her a shy glance. "I have six older brothers.. and a billion other relatives... you want to see big, come to a family dinner one weekend."
"Ok, well then maybe you do understand. Are they all as cute as y-.... I mean nice.... nice..um"
"I'm the cutest of course." He 'huffed' a little and then pouted. "I'm also the youngest.. the baby, if you call twenty the baby, they sure do." He rolled his eyes and couldn't stop the smile that started to peek out as he glanced over at the pretty young woman.
Rei bit her lip. She wasn't the youngest, but there were days. "I'm a twin... well, fraternal. It's not something I really brag about much." She looked around and whispered, "He wears more makeup than I do... and don't tease him about his blue hair."
He nodded, sharing the 'secret information' and confiding back. "It's a deal.. if you remember not to tease my brother Gannon about being an artsy fartsy type.. he just bought a new gallery."
"Really? I love artsy... I mean art," she giggled. "Wow... bought... a gallery? So you guys are rich, huh. I knew it," she said, sounding a little sad. "We're not so much."
He sighed and motioned to his 'normal' clothes, he didn't even know what brand his jeans were, only that they were like fifteen bucks in the department store. "Does my bank account really matter? I really don't have much use for money.."
"It matters when you don't have it, I guess," she shrugged a little. "I guess we're not super poor, either, we just work really hard. We were almost famous once, too... well in a couple ways. My oldest brother... he was at NASA, space program, the works, but his gifts kinda scr*wed that up for him. And Zeph... the blue guy... my twin... he's in a band, so who knows, maybe someday, huh?"
His eyes sparked and he shifted, leaning to kiss her cheek if she didn't punch him. "All that.. you are already richer than I am."
"Did y-... what wa-...," she stammered, looking at him a little lost. She didn't feel that special, well not until he did that. Her fingers rose slowly to her cheek and she watched his eyes. "Why did y-....?" She smiled a little in disbelief that if she asked the full question, it would have been all in her imagination.
He looked a bit embarrassed as he shrugged and kicked the dirt softly with his bare toes. ".. cause.. it just.. I.. well.. it was an urge.. pretty girl.. I had no control."
"It's okay," she smiled. They came to the walkway where it split off for the dorm buildings. "Um... I don't know where you're staying, but I'm all the way over there with faculty. Did I mention... my family works hard?"
He nodded and smiled softly. "You mentioned.. happens I am going in the same direction... allow me to walk you the rest of the way?"
She nodded, stifling the elated giggle as she bit her lip again. She cast a glance around the area, too, in case her sibs happened to be around. "I'll let you, you won't even have to chase me. So you work up here then or taking classes... any of your brothers up here... if I ask enough at once will your head explode?"
"Yes." He replied, softly after a moment of consideration, gently placing his fingers to her elbow to escort her up the path to the faculty building.
"Hmm, okay. Then one more," she nodded, slipping into his grasp. "Do you know your way around yet? I mean... I'm sure I could show you all sorts of places you could hide your clothes." She paused and laughed. "Oh god, that came out all wrong."
"No.. I just got here very late last night or early this morning, depending on your point of view. and it sounded fine to me.. I could use a few good places to stash my clothes."
She rolled her eyes at her reaction, what had gotten into her? At the moment though, something sounded very strange, though she couldn't quite place it. It was as if events didn't sync up. "So what do you do, Paul?" She liked saying his name, hearing how her voice said it... man, she was getting stupid.
"I'm a hired hand." He answered as honestly as he could. "I do pretty much whatever the family asks me to do.. usually personal security."
She gave him a glance and nodded. "Um... that's kinda good to know, cuz my brothers... well Kaz anyway.. he's... he might like that.. maybe. So your brother.. he owns a gallery... you're a guard-... um.. wolf, I meant wolf... sorry. I'm really not very good at this. Can I start over with 'hi I'm Reigna Laurentiu and... and...," she sighed.
He gave her a look and smiled. "Hi.. I'm Paul Bradaigh.. very nice to meet you Reigna Laurentiu."
"Thank you," she more formed the words, than saying them as she looked up at him sheepishly and turned away to mind where she was walking. There was a faint hint of an accent when he said it as not quite 'Brady'. "That sounds nice the way you say that. Ours is a mouthful no matter what... I guess Slavic names are like that."
He chuckled and let his accent come through a little more. "Ah lass and Irish ones are meant to be understood when slurred." He teased slightly.
"Irish? Charmer, no wonder," she teased back. "So a family of Irish boys.. sounds dangerous."
"It is.. especially when they decide to gang up on the little guy." He pouted a little and batted his lashes at her. "Maybe you'll like me enough to distract them while I run?"
"Nut uhn, buddy, I have enough trouble of my own. Five sisters and we only had one bathroom... top that," she smiled. "But if you want me to, I'll protect you." She laughed a little at that thought.
He leaned to kiss her cheek and whisper a soft warm "thank you.." to her ear. "All the other girls called me a sissy, kicked me in the shins and ran away."
"Oooo... tell me where they are, I'll give them a... a... good dousing," she nodded, pointing to the clouds overhead that were beginning to gather on their own. She was feeling warmed through with his attention even though his breath on her ear as he whispered gave her chills. "You're not a sissy.. you're sweet."
"Well okay.. there was only one girl I liked but that was in junior high.. and I really don't know where she went.." He smiled. "But I'm glad you said yes, would you like to have dinner with me? You know apart from the formal showing me around?" He grinned shyly and glanced at her from the side.
Liked. Past tense, so maybe he wasn't seeing anyone? She couldn't believe that, though. He was nice and good looking and didn't seem to be really shy. She was sure she hit her head when she fell or the wolf really did get her and this was all a blood-loss induced dream or something. She found herself nodding 'yes' and looked at him shyly, herself. "If you don't mind having dinner with me, sure."
He paused his steps and let a half chuckle sound, his hand touched hers gently. "Why would I mind having dinner with a beautiful woman?"
It had only been a few minutes, so the charge wasn't strong, more of the zap from a staticky sock, but a bit of tingle, just the same from her fingers as he brushed her hand. "Sorry," she whispered. "Hazard of the family. We're all a little... um... shocking. Thank you... you're really too sweet.. and I'm not... beautiful or sweet. I'm just... little Rei."
Paul shook his fingers out and smiled, giving a slight shake of his head. "It's quite alright.. you'll be sure to keep me on my toes. I like that in a beautiful woman." He arched a brow as one eye narrowed, warning her not to argue, he'd said she was, he thought she was.. that meant she was beautiful.
Her mouth opened but no sound came out as his face quirked into an expression not entirely unlike Kaz's when he told her 'no' and that was that. She groaned back on the word 'fine' and didn't say another word about it. She felt a weird cluster of emotion that wanted to burst out in a laugh and make her cling tightly to him in a hug while part of her wanted to run away and see if he would chase her and another part still wanted to hide until she could act sane and smart and normal. What was the matter with her? She also had some strange urge to run her fingers through his mussed hair that had been drenched and rustled by the bushes and left uncombed. All that came out was the laugh that once it started, she wasn't sure it would stop.
The quirk of his eyebrow sharpened as she laughed and he found his lips twitching and curling into a grin. "You're laugh is a lovely sound.. and the way it lights up your eyes is amazing." He murmured softly, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her, he was afraid if he did, he'd never want to stop.
Her hand came up over her mouth, trying to hide behind it as she shook her head and the sound continued. The other hand following to dab at the corners of her eyes as they started to water. "Oh gosh, I am sooo sorry," she continued, still giggling. "I don't know where that came from. Thank you. I needed that. Um.. and we're here it looks like. I'm a mess and really should go change."
His hand raked back through his hair and he shrugged. "Then we must be a matched set.. though I'm betting it looks better on you than it does on me." He moved his hand along the curve of her cheek, but didn't touch her, coming close enough that she would feel the warmth and movement.
Her eyes followed his hand and she stayed still as she did before. Maybe she was used to Zeph and Dusty's tricks, but she didn't dare move. She didn't want him to move, either, standing this close and she could see the soft color of his eyes and the protective way he stood. She felt safe next to him even though he'd given her a huge scare to start with. He'd never hurt her. She felt a little stupid thinking that about a stranger, but she couldn't help feeling it next to him. She bit her lip softly, unable to look away. "Um... I ... really should go."
His eyes sought hers and his voice lowered to a hushed tone. "I really don't want you to." He felt like a fool, like she was suddenly going to look at him and see that he was nothing special.. just an ordinary man, and that she wouldn't want that.
It was now or never and after doing it, she wasn't sure that it wouldn't be a 'never again' for making a fool of herself. She stepped forward, rocking up as far as her bare toes would let her to reach his cheek for a quick kiss in return.
His heart leaped and bounded away from him in thundering strides as his keen eyes caught her movement and his senses reeled with her scent and the heat her body gave off. Paul's arm swiftly wrapped around her waist and his head turned to attempt to catch her lips, what ecstasy it would be feel the softness of her lips.
She dodged only a moment as she felt herself caught, thinking she'd tripped or stepped on his foot, but in that same moment her kiss was also caught straight on by his and a faint murmur of surprise was washed away by delight. Rei closed her eyes, hoping to open them and find it wasn't a dream. Now she really didn't want him to move or go anywhere. It was just as sweet and gentle as the nudges when he'd prodded her earlier. She ended the kiss herself at the thought about how close by her brothers were, but smiled warmly as the color met her cheeks. "So I'll see you for dinner?"
He brought his fingers to his lips to hold the feeling her kiss to his memory and he smiled warmly. "Where shall I find you. M'Lady?"
She sighed and giggled a little, "I'll probably be the one in the dining hall with the wall of grumpy brothers standing behind me waiting for you. With any luck, I'll be by myself, though. Unless you want to wander the campus first?"
He shook his head. "I think it best to face the wall of brothers first. I would hate to have them discover us, without having seen me first.. at least this way.. it will lessen the number of innocent civilians they take out trying to get to me."
Her expression mirrored the quirk he'd given her earlier, though she had trouble keeping it without laughing again. "I told you... I'll protect you. Don't worry about them... well, not much. Hope that Kaz' has grounded himself before he shakes your hand. Do you have a rubber suit?"
"I might be able to borrow Charlie's rubber underwear, that will help right?" He smiled reaching for her hand, but pausing to see if it was 'safe' first. "You're supposed to protect me from my brothers, yours are a different story."
She chuckled as he hesitated at her own hand. "It's okay.. it takes a while to build up. It's only been a few minutes. And how about you save me from my brothers, okay? You'll understand. They're really not that bad, but ... they're brothers. And at least I know they care, but...," she almost pleaded to him not to let them scare him off, but she didn't want to overdo it. She shook her head. "I don't think I want to know about Charlie's rubber anything, whoever Charlie is. That's kinda creepy. Just don't forget cuz he can do it just to be mean... zap you and the next thing you know... um... maybe I won't tell you what happens after that. Don't let him zap you. Tour then dinner? Dinner then tour?"
"Umm.. dinner and then a tour.. I think that is safest.. besides I need to change and wash some of this mud off.. do a few work related things and then I'm all yours for awhile."
"Is it okay if I say I like the sound of that? Um... okay, so... six-ish is okay? I need to get some work done too before dark and then talk to you-know-who."
"Yes.. I.. six-ish is great.. I'll meet you at the dining hall.. and I'll be clean, non-wolf and dressed.."
"Six ish is great," she repeated and smiled, thinking also about his height which was about that. She nodded and started to step away. She was also hoping her sisters weren't home. She didn't want anyone talking her out of it or telling her to 'behave', not today, she thought, still watching him as she moved off. "I'll be waiting."
"I'll be there.." He called softly, watching her move away from him and lifting his hand to blow a kiss her after her.
She giggled and 'caught it' holding it to her heart, blowing one back then turning to run off and change so she could get done with her chores and be ready in time.
morning
It was early Saturday and warm for March. Rei was at work already, singing softly while she clipped at hedges. Where she stayed there was a steady light drip adorning the leaves and petals that were starting to bloom. She'd move a few feet and the tiny rain shower followed her, keeping the winter-dried and thirsty plants happy as she worked to groom them before Spring break. A few patches of snow lurked under the occasional branch and chilled her toes, but she'd rather be barefoot than clad in boots with the shoots of tender grass coming up to meet the end of Winter. Her toes caught on her next step though, and she looked down intending to trim the root, to find it wasn't a root at all, but a shoe lace and obviously not her own. "How did you get down there?" She spoke to the shoe and bent down to retrieve it, finding its mate and another surprise that caused a bit of a shriek. Jeans and a shirt lay in there as well and at first, she wasn't certain the body belonging to them wasn't still in them. The gasp wasn't quiet and it startled a few birds from the bushes beside her as well.
He'd been called to come to the school urgently the night before.. long term assignment, that meant he was most likely going to be staying on campus, so he'd packed his duffel and driven up. He'd arrived late into the night/early morning, as the call had come in the evening and after a short briefing on the situation and a short nap, he was up and about. Accustomed to the way things were done on the estate and the Veinna rules, he'd gone on his rounds this morning and naturally decided to shift to wolf form. He'd stowed his clothes safely out of the way and taken off for a good hour or more, running through the grounds and sniffing, as well as marking his scent.. it couldn't hurt, right? Paul now made his way back to where he'd left his clothes, only to find a lovely feminine scent filling his nostrils as he came closer, then the shapely form of the woman came into view. Well.. how to approach this? She was where he needed to be, he was in wolf form and he'd be bare if he shifted before reaching her and his clothes. Slowing his gait, he glanced around and decided to make her aware of his presence, he rustled some leaves and shook some branches as he passed, giving a soft playful yip to garner her attention. Then he halted and sat down, keeping a safe difference and cocking his head to the side to watch her, knowing she might be startled and frightened.
She'd hardly caught her breath when she heard the rustle and turned to see the ..dog?.. coming toward her. She chided herself and the smile faded further as she dropped the shoe and rose the shears between herself and the animal... that's no dog, stupid, that's a f*-ing wolf. Scared as much of me as I am of him... yeah.. that's it, she nodded silently to herself, taking a step back, forgetting the other shoe and losing her footing over it, stumbling back to the ground with another small yelp and the clatter of the shears to the ground out of reach.
He saw her stumble and partly to take his chance and partly out of concern, he rushed forward and bounded the short distance to her side. He was cautious, expecting a scream or her to try and reach the shears to stab him with, nudging her side gently with his muzzle and then reaching to lick at her neck and face -his eyes saying 'see I'm harmless'.
She closed her eyes and held her breath as the animal charged, fully expecting to be torn and eaten alive, but not able to fight it off. It was almost as big as she was. A whimper escaped as she heard the animal stop and what had been a light dripping rain was a sudden, pelting, rushing rain from the tiniest of clouds she could find overhead. A second whimper came as she felt the warmth of the breath and the animal touched her, not biting, not harming at all, but nudging like Sarah used to do. This was hardly a Labrador, though and she peeked an eye open, expecting to see only teeth and blood, but saw warm eyes, concern like Sarah's, staring back. Reigna still jumped back a little, only it backed her more into the bush with nowhere else to go. "S-s-stay... good boy... um.. I'm not food."
He whined a little at the rain that poured down on them, hoping his clothes weren't too soaked.. wet jeans were just a b*tch to get into and binding and chaffing.. He sighed, his head turning towards the girl as she moved and spoke, his ears twitching at her words. If he could have laughed at that moment a hearty one would have rolled forth. How was he going to do this? His head moved and he looked to the clothes she was half laying on and then back to her, he repeated this a few times, trying to let her know he wanted his boxers at least. Very carefully, he started to take a step over her legs, his head turning to look at her as the first paw lifted then set to the ground. He waited a moment before moving the next leg, cautious and slow and praying she didn't lunge for the shears. His neck stretched so his muzzle could just reach a piece of his clothes, he really didn't care what it was as his teeth hooked into it and he pulled back.
"Uh huhn... okay... so um... I hope he wasn't your lunch. Or maybe... I hope that he was... cuz then you wouldn't be hungry.. now... right?" She mumbled and rambled, terrified to move an inch as the animal crept over her. She wasn't sure she was even breathing, feeling everything tight and constricted... she couldn't scream if she wanted to. The animal snapped at something in the bushes and she pulled her hand to her chest, leaning out of his way and hoping she wasn't part of the snack or whatever it was he wanted. "Okay...good boy... right? You are... um... yeah, you are... just don't eat me... please," she whimpered softly.
He dropped the article of clothing in her lap and seemed to shake his head a bit as she spoke, reaching slowly down to pick the cloth up in his mouth again. He moved back over her as slowly as he had the first time and once clear, bounded around to the other side of the bushes. She'd hear a little growling, rustling and finally a grunt and groan, then a bit more rustling as he tried to cover his shifted and bare human form with his.. boxers.. oh thank goodness it was his boxers, at least he could cover his a** and his.. well.. with those.
The animal seemed to pounce at something and there was an awful lot of noise and fuss that she couldn't see through the brambles, well not well. She found herself curious enough to look through the branches, not entirely sure what she was seeing. That was enough of whatever it was and she leaned away to start getting up, reaching for the shears now, just in case and slowly getting the strength to stand up. Her arm was a little scratched from the branches and she was muddy, but otherwise unharmed. The rustling continued and the grunts and growls made her gasp again, holding the shears out at the bush as she stepped away. The rain that had come down in sheets stopped almost as quickly as it had started and drops shook off the hedge with whatever was going on. "Um... okay boy... um... you be good... I'm ...I'm going now... see... I'm stepping back slowly... not running, so you're not going to chase me, right?"
His brown mussed locks popped up from behind the bushes, with an amused grin and those same warm eyes she'd seen on the wolf. "Not in my underwear, least not till we know each other better and I find out if you'd even let me do something like that." His shoulders were bare but muddy from the ground and him being wet from the sudden shower as they showed from behind the bush. His voice a little deeper as it normally was for a few minutes after shifting. "Do you think you could hand me the rest of my clothes?"
"Your cl... the wolf didn't eat you? Oh, that's good. Are you okay? I mean.. of course that's good, what am I saying. Your clothes, of course you can, um.. here," she said, a little too dazed to do the math at the moment and her head was beginning to hurt. She peeked under the bushes where the clothes were and saw his ankles, but saw no wolf as she pulled the jeans and shirt free to hand him across the top of the hedge. She didn't feel strong enough to toss them the full distance and used the sheers as a hook to reach them over for him. "Um... don't touch the metal ... I'll show you why in a sec, okay?"
"The wolf didn't eat me??" He laughed. "Of course not... I ate him." He winked as he carefully unhooked his clothes from the shears, not touching the metal. They were wet, but he'd live and he did his best to stay unseen behind the bush as he struggled into them. Once he was into his jeans, he wandered around to her side, pulling his shirt on and looking down for his shoes and socks. "I'm sorry I frightened you."
"Yo-...? God, I'm an idiot," Rei said, her hand swinging down with the sheers, the point of them to the ground, the static discharge taking the moment to arc and crackle its way into the wet ground at her feet, not that she noticed. "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. You .. the wolf is you?" She smiled, embarrassed a little and wishing she could start this all over from the beginning and not seem so stupid. He probably thought she was anyway, so it didn't matter, and that he was so pretty as a wolf, now that she thought about it, and quite nice to look at now, even muddied and wet, made it all that much worse. Her eyes tingled a little as she got more upset at herself. "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for? Now if you had stabbed me with those shears.. I could reason the apology.. but come on.. I was all wolfy.. not like you'd know I wasn't a big bad, right? Did you see any socks around here? Darn.. I think I lost my socks.. ah well excuse for no shoes, yay!" He chuckled and looked back at her now, smiling his easy and relaxed grin. "You're not going to stab me now, are you?" He winked at her again, letting his eyes wander over and appreciate her form.
She shook her head and whimpered out a 'no' before taking a deep breath and blinking away her thoughts. "I could have guessed, though, right? I mean... the gates and fences... a bad wolf really couldn't get it... could it?" She shivered a moment now that she'd stopped working and being wet all over she noticed how cool it really was. "And I'm sorry... about the... you're wet," she motioned her fingers like rain and pointed to the little cloud that had gone white and nonthreatening again. "I shouldn't have been that scared. You're nice.. and I think I wouldn't mind," she said, switching gears and thinking about his question of whether she'd let him or not.
"I am wet.." He smiled a little more widely and shrugged. "I'm not that bothered by it.. but if you want to make it up to me.. I'm open to bribery." His hand smoothed down over the slick clinging fabric which molded around his lean taunt form. "Might I point out, remembering you're still armed.. that you're all wet too.. would you like an escort to someplace warmer and drier?"
She nodded and looked at the shears. "I better get my tools and get them cleaned up so they don't rust. They're the school's tools, really. God... I'm so...," she stopped in mid step, realizing she was doing so many things wrong. Everything in her hands she set down to the ground to brush her hands clean on the wet overalls, but it was better than nothing. She held her hand out a short way from herself, not sure he'd take it. "I'm Reigna... or Rei... or hey, stupid girl, or whatever."
"It's a pretty name, for a pretty woman." He brought his hand to clasp hers for a moment, in which he flipped her hand and leaned to brush a soft kiss over her knuckles.. the proper way to make a lady's acquaintance. "I'm Paul."
The image of the wolf she'd seen him as superimposed on his face as her hand was raised up. She could see it now, how it had been him, not so much different really. She was certain she was holding her breath again, but not in fear this time as his warm kiss met her hand. In that breathless moment all that came out again was a whispered, "Good boy."
He let go of her hand, with a stroke of his thumb over the top and lifted his head with a crooked grin and a raised brow. "Where to?" He made a slight motion towards her tools, indicating he had intentions to help her carry and clean.
"Huh? Oh, those... there's a shed, but it's kinda far from here. Changing first is probably... well you'd be more comfy I think. I really doused you good," she smiled a little now, her mood clearing and the 'sun' peeking out a bit. Her own overalls were wet, but baggy, not like his jeans that were... she blushed a little when she realized she was looking. "So you're visiting here? Staying? How come your stuff was in the bushes, don't they have rooms here for you? Locked doors are usually locked for a reason," she teased. "You're not supposed to get in those. But I see your point. Paws have no thumbs. I hadn't really thought about that. So... Paul...," she said, turning to him again and watching his thumbs now and how they hooked and how he stood. He was something else and talking to her? Oh gosh, she wasn't feeling cold right now. "What other interesting habits do you have that might scare the sh*t out of me?"
His grin tipped and he couldn't resist. "Sniffing butts and humping legs.. and if you hit me with a rolled up newspaper, hoo boy!!" He chuckled and shook his head. "Maybe my sense of humor.. might frighten you just a tad?"
She shook her head again, but smiled a little brighter. "Not really. No worse than my broth-...oh no... yeah, we better get inside. You don't want to meet my brothers."
He shrugged. "I have brothers.. and maybe i would like to meet yours.. ask them all the things I might be to shy to ask you directly?"
"Oh no.. no no no... you're safer... and more likely to get a straight answer... if you ask me. I don't know if I want you to meet them," she thought, half wanting to tease Kaz and half wanting them never to know this boy existed. "Our family's... we're kinda... um... big, but close, you know?"
"No not at all.." He paused and gave her a shy glance. "I have six older brothers.. and a billion other relatives... you want to see big, come to a family dinner one weekend."
"Ok, well then maybe you do understand. Are they all as cute as y-.... I mean nice.... nice..um"
"I'm the cutest of course." He 'huffed' a little and then pouted. "I'm also the youngest.. the baby, if you call twenty the baby, they sure do." He rolled his eyes and couldn't stop the smile that started to peek out as he glanced over at the pretty young woman.
Rei bit her lip. She wasn't the youngest, but there were days. "I'm a twin... well, fraternal. It's not something I really brag about much." She looked around and whispered, "He wears more makeup than I do... and don't tease him about his blue hair."
He nodded, sharing the 'secret information' and confiding back. "It's a deal.. if you remember not to tease my brother Gannon about being an artsy fartsy type.. he just bought a new gallery."
"Really? I love artsy... I mean art," she giggled. "Wow... bought... a gallery? So you guys are rich, huh. I knew it," she said, sounding a little sad. "We're not so much."
He sighed and motioned to his 'normal' clothes, he didn't even know what brand his jeans were, only that they were like fifteen bucks in the department store. "Does my bank account really matter? I really don't have much use for money.."
"It matters when you don't have it, I guess," she shrugged a little. "I guess we're not super poor, either, we just work really hard. We were almost famous once, too... well in a couple ways. My oldest brother... he was at NASA, space program, the works, but his gifts kinda scr*wed that up for him. And Zeph... the blue guy... my twin... he's in a band, so who knows, maybe someday, huh?"
His eyes sparked and he shifted, leaning to kiss her cheek if she didn't punch him. "All that.. you are already richer than I am."
"Did y-... what wa-...," she stammered, looking at him a little lost. She didn't feel that special, well not until he did that. Her fingers rose slowly to her cheek and she watched his eyes. "Why did y-....?" She smiled a little in disbelief that if she asked the full question, it would have been all in her imagination.
He looked a bit embarrassed as he shrugged and kicked the dirt softly with his bare toes. ".. cause.. it just.. I.. well.. it was an urge.. pretty girl.. I had no control."
"It's okay," she smiled. They came to the walkway where it split off for the dorm buildings. "Um... I don't know where you're staying, but I'm all the way over there with faculty. Did I mention... my family works hard?"
He nodded and smiled softly. "You mentioned.. happens I am going in the same direction... allow me to walk you the rest of the way?"
She nodded, stifling the elated giggle as she bit her lip again. She cast a glance around the area, too, in case her sibs happened to be around. "I'll let you, you won't even have to chase me. So you work up here then or taking classes... any of your brothers up here... if I ask enough at once will your head explode?"
"Yes." He replied, softly after a moment of consideration, gently placing his fingers to her elbow to escort her up the path to the faculty building.
"Hmm, okay. Then one more," she nodded, slipping into his grasp. "Do you know your way around yet? I mean... I'm sure I could show you all sorts of places you could hide your clothes." She paused and laughed. "Oh god, that came out all wrong."
"No.. I just got here very late last night or early this morning, depending on your point of view. and it sounded fine to me.. I could use a few good places to stash my clothes."
She rolled her eyes at her reaction, what had gotten into her? At the moment though, something sounded very strange, though she couldn't quite place it. It was as if events didn't sync up. "So what do you do, Paul?" She liked saying his name, hearing how her voice said it... man, she was getting stupid.
"I'm a hired hand." He answered as honestly as he could. "I do pretty much whatever the family asks me to do.. usually personal security."
She gave him a glance and nodded. "Um... that's kinda good to know, cuz my brothers... well Kaz anyway.. he's... he might like that.. maybe. So your brother.. he owns a gallery... you're a guard-... um.. wolf, I meant wolf... sorry. I'm really not very good at this. Can I start over with 'hi I'm Reigna Laurentiu and... and...," she sighed.
He gave her a look and smiled. "Hi.. I'm Paul Bradaigh.. very nice to meet you Reigna Laurentiu."
"Thank you," she more formed the words, than saying them as she looked up at him sheepishly and turned away to mind where she was walking. There was a faint hint of an accent when he said it as not quite 'Brady'. "That sounds nice the way you say that. Ours is a mouthful no matter what... I guess Slavic names are like that."
He chuckled and let his accent come through a little more. "Ah lass and Irish ones are meant to be understood when slurred." He teased slightly.
"Irish? Charmer, no wonder," she teased back. "So a family of Irish boys.. sounds dangerous."
"It is.. especially when they decide to gang up on the little guy." He pouted a little and batted his lashes at her. "Maybe you'll like me enough to distract them while I run?"
"Nut uhn, buddy, I have enough trouble of my own. Five sisters and we only had one bathroom... top that," she smiled. "But if you want me to, I'll protect you." She laughed a little at that thought.
He leaned to kiss her cheek and whisper a soft warm "thank you.." to her ear. "All the other girls called me a sissy, kicked me in the shins and ran away."
"Oooo... tell me where they are, I'll give them a... a... good dousing," she nodded, pointing to the clouds overhead that were beginning to gather on their own. She was feeling warmed through with his attention even though his breath on her ear as he whispered gave her chills. "You're not a sissy.. you're sweet."
"Well okay.. there was only one girl I liked but that was in junior high.. and I really don't know where she went.." He smiled. "But I'm glad you said yes, would you like to have dinner with me? You know apart from the formal showing me around?" He grinned shyly and glanced at her from the side.
Liked. Past tense, so maybe he wasn't seeing anyone? She couldn't believe that, though. He was nice and good looking and didn't seem to be really shy. She was sure she hit her head when she fell or the wolf really did get her and this was all a blood-loss induced dream or something. She found herself nodding 'yes' and looked at him shyly, herself. "If you don't mind having dinner with me, sure."
He paused his steps and let a half chuckle sound, his hand touched hers gently. "Why would I mind having dinner with a beautiful woman?"
It had only been a few minutes, so the charge wasn't strong, more of the zap from a staticky sock, but a bit of tingle, just the same from her fingers as he brushed her hand. "Sorry," she whispered. "Hazard of the family. We're all a little... um... shocking. Thank you... you're really too sweet.. and I'm not... beautiful or sweet. I'm just... little Rei."
Paul shook his fingers out and smiled, giving a slight shake of his head. "It's quite alright.. you'll be sure to keep me on my toes. I like that in a beautiful woman." He arched a brow as one eye narrowed, warning her not to argue, he'd said she was, he thought she was.. that meant she was beautiful.
Her mouth opened but no sound came out as his face quirked into an expression not entirely unlike Kaz's when he told her 'no' and that was that. She groaned back on the word 'fine' and didn't say another word about it. She felt a weird cluster of emotion that wanted to burst out in a laugh and make her cling tightly to him in a hug while part of her wanted to run away and see if he would chase her and another part still wanted to hide until she could act sane and smart and normal. What was the matter with her? She also had some strange urge to run her fingers through his mussed hair that had been drenched and rustled by the bushes and left uncombed. All that came out was the laugh that once it started, she wasn't sure it would stop.
The quirk of his eyebrow sharpened as she laughed and he found his lips twitching and curling into a grin. "You're laugh is a lovely sound.. and the way it lights up your eyes is amazing." He murmured softly, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her, he was afraid if he did, he'd never want to stop.
Her hand came up over her mouth, trying to hide behind it as she shook her head and the sound continued. The other hand following to dab at the corners of her eyes as they started to water. "Oh gosh, I am sooo sorry," she continued, still giggling. "I don't know where that came from. Thank you. I needed that. Um.. and we're here it looks like. I'm a mess and really should go change."
His hand raked back through his hair and he shrugged. "Then we must be a matched set.. though I'm betting it looks better on you than it does on me." He moved his hand along the curve of her cheek, but didn't touch her, coming close enough that she would feel the warmth and movement.
Her eyes followed his hand and she stayed still as she did before. Maybe she was used to Zeph and Dusty's tricks, but she didn't dare move. She didn't want him to move, either, standing this close and she could see the soft color of his eyes and the protective way he stood. She felt safe next to him even though he'd given her a huge scare to start with. He'd never hurt her. She felt a little stupid thinking that about a stranger, but she couldn't help feeling it next to him. She bit her lip softly, unable to look away. "Um... I ... really should go."
His eyes sought hers and his voice lowered to a hushed tone. "I really don't want you to." He felt like a fool, like she was suddenly going to look at him and see that he was nothing special.. just an ordinary man, and that she wouldn't want that.
It was now or never and after doing it, she wasn't sure that it wouldn't be a 'never again' for making a fool of herself. She stepped forward, rocking up as far as her bare toes would let her to reach his cheek for a quick kiss in return.
His heart leaped and bounded away from him in thundering strides as his keen eyes caught her movement and his senses reeled with her scent and the heat her body gave off. Paul's arm swiftly wrapped around her waist and his head turned to attempt to catch her lips, what ecstasy it would be feel the softness of her lips.
She dodged only a moment as she felt herself caught, thinking she'd tripped or stepped on his foot, but in that same moment her kiss was also caught straight on by his and a faint murmur of surprise was washed away by delight. Rei closed her eyes, hoping to open them and find it wasn't a dream. Now she really didn't want him to move or go anywhere. It was just as sweet and gentle as the nudges when he'd prodded her earlier. She ended the kiss herself at the thought about how close by her brothers were, but smiled warmly as the color met her cheeks. "So I'll see you for dinner?"
He brought his fingers to his lips to hold the feeling her kiss to his memory and he smiled warmly. "Where shall I find you. M'Lady?"
She sighed and giggled a little, "I'll probably be the one in the dining hall with the wall of grumpy brothers standing behind me waiting for you. With any luck, I'll be by myself, though. Unless you want to wander the campus first?"
He shook his head. "I think it best to face the wall of brothers first. I would hate to have them discover us, without having seen me first.. at least this way.. it will lessen the number of innocent civilians they take out trying to get to me."
Her expression mirrored the quirk he'd given her earlier, though she had trouble keeping it without laughing again. "I told you... I'll protect you. Don't worry about them... well, not much. Hope that Kaz' has grounded himself before he shakes your hand. Do you have a rubber suit?"
"I might be able to borrow Charlie's rubber underwear, that will help right?" He smiled reaching for her hand, but pausing to see if it was 'safe' first. "You're supposed to protect me from my brothers, yours are a different story."
She chuckled as he hesitated at her own hand. "It's okay.. it takes a while to build up. It's only been a few minutes. And how about you save me from my brothers, okay? You'll understand. They're really not that bad, but ... they're brothers. And at least I know they care, but...," she almost pleaded to him not to let them scare him off, but she didn't want to overdo it. She shook her head. "I don't think I want to know about Charlie's rubber anything, whoever Charlie is. That's kinda creepy. Just don't forget cuz he can do it just to be mean... zap you and the next thing you know... um... maybe I won't tell you what happens after that. Don't let him zap you. Tour then dinner? Dinner then tour?"
"Umm.. dinner and then a tour.. I think that is safest.. besides I need to change and wash some of this mud off.. do a few work related things and then I'm all yours for awhile."
"Is it okay if I say I like the sound of that? Um... okay, so... six-ish is okay? I need to get some work done too before dark and then talk to you-know-who."
"Yes.. I.. six-ish is great.. I'll meet you at the dining hall.. and I'll be clean, non-wolf and dressed.."
"Six ish is great," she repeated and smiled, thinking also about his height which was about that. She nodded and started to step away. She was also hoping her sisters weren't home. She didn't want anyone talking her out of it or telling her to 'behave', not today, she thought, still watching him as she moved off. "I'll be waiting."
"I'll be there.." He called softly, watching her move away from him and lifting his hand to blow a kiss her after her.
She giggled and 'caught it' holding it to her heart, blowing one back then turning to run off and change so she could get done with her chores and be ready in time.