Soft Spot
He was running. There was only one thought that he could manage beyond his will to get to safety and stay hidden; it was him mentally remarking that he found himself running far too often in his lifetime for a healthy expectancy.
Turning a corner, Rey Tolst lunged forth to hide his slim form beneath what he'd quickly figured was the sofa. Not the most original place to hide--but that detail might save him, at least if he played his cards right. Heart thumping in the cavern of his chest, adrenaline coursing through him as if in an attempt to replace his blood, it was all part of a sensation familiar to him.
Perhaps he was simply jaded. But no, no; if he was he wouldn't be scared. The rabbit, though accustomed to the feeling of being preyed upon and by and large used to danger, could never shake that feeling. Though, perhaps anxious could serve as a better term...
Suddenly, the sensual patter of soft paws striking carpet with eager steps shook him. His predator was never many steps behind, and he knew he had to move. Running was one thing, hiding was another, he knew. With that very thought he booked it to the back end of the sofa and behind its leg. But that was as far as he could go. Hell, he'd managed to evade her for the past seven minutes; it was only a matter of time before one of them could claim victory.
The rabbit managed to lock a single frame of the ebony wolfess into his vision as he glanced backward a single time; kneeling down upon the carpet to search those crannies he could easily fit through. Her tail draped along the curve of one of her legs lazily before flicking to the other at the very hover of a dust mote. Worst of all, her pointed ears swiveled at every sound, teeth bared at any annoyance that was not her target. And yet, she never managed to seem desperate; only determined.
Determined to find and snuff out her prey.
The giantess stood up after surveying the other end of the room, eliciting a rather deserved swallow from the rabbit. She sauntered over with purpose, easily certain of where he had to be, and took to all fours; the weight of her knees thumping against the carpet created a sound Rey associated with the inevitable oblivion of a tiny that had been discovered.
A thick muzzle wedged itself beneath the couch; it had picked up that he was either here now or was at some point, eagerly scanning for his presence. Rey held his breath and managed everything in his power to remain still, more so after catching a quick glimpse of a single, lopsided emerald eye struggling to find something in the darkness. As she knelt, the wolfess' tail, normally spiky and now further fluffed on part of the hunt, gently snaked around her feet.
The nostrils dilated and softened; no doubt his scent lingered. Though emitting an attenuated snarl at the irritation of dust underneath and barely avoiding a terse sneeze with the wrinkle of her moist nose, Fiela exhaled sharply and took to standing once more. The forceful huff of air that buffeted him and coated him with sparse specks of lint blown about seemed out of frustration--but no, his less-than-reliable instincts told him it had to be an attempt at startling him into flushing himself out, which he refused to acknowledge. Once more, the only sight of her belonged to her paws from just beyond the edge of the sofa's shadow, far too easily capable of ending him in the quick instant that they found him.
Could he make it out? If she knew where he was, he doubted he could budge an inch, not with this particular brand of aching in his muscles...
Rey's breath hung itself with a noose; he listened to the sounds above. Of paws on the rug shuffling in their place, of a hum of uncertainty, and finally of a sigh. A hint of a flicking tail whipped from between what he could see of her gargantuan legs. He expected another move. Instead, digging her toes into the rug like a perched hawk, Fiela uttered those words, "Alright, Rey. You win."
Rey released at least his third heaviest sigh of relief and walked out from his cover. "Oh man, you were damn close too." Walking up to meet the gigantic wolfess at her paws, he reassuringly stroked a toe. A little slyly, he added, "Maybe next time."
Rough black bangs looming above her features like a ceiling of bats, the wolfess' hair draped just over her shoulders as a shade of night that blended with her kempt fur. Thick, powerful jaws had their thin lips parted ever slightly in a faint, knowing grin, one that rang out with both confidence and softness--if such a combination was possible.
"Don't get all soft," Fiela said. "That's 1-2 in my favor this month."
"Sure," Rey whistled inoffensively, "But you never actually knew where I went!"
Fiela crossed her arms and wrung out a desert-dry chuckle while rhythmically swinging her head left and right. "Ha-ha." Then she knelt closer to his height and laid herself upon the carpet, kicking her feet up behind her and crossing them by the ankles. She reached out lazily and opened up a palm, almost able to feel his heart's racing die down as he clambered onto her hand. "I could still smell you. Just... didn't really want to dig around under my couch, you know?" Her tone was honest and, though not quite pleading, contained its fair share of certainty.
Rey took to sitting between the clasp of two fingers, nonchalantly swinging his back over the edge while tightly gripping the fur all around him like a safety net. "Well, you've done it before. But come on, give me credit; I went under there once already, you weren't sure if I went back!"
That, and the last thing she wanted was to lose him somewhere in her house. "Okay," she conceded, "I'll give you that. Just remember that any other day after spring cleaning I'd be glad to win again. Heh, until then, guess you did win. Can't help but love ya." She planted a quick peck on Rey's face; a tongue briefly hinted out to snag his taste before she yanked it back in and clacked her teeth over it in prohibition of anything more. "More" pertaining to both a purposeful attenuation of romance, as well as nagging thoughts that loved the way he tasted.
Soft and restrained as it was, the gesture still knocked the rabbit from his perch, landing upon the recently-vacuumed carpet with a soft fwiff.
"Hah, wow. You're kidding." Fiela retrieved her now-empty hand and crossed her arms in front of her chest, anticipating his answer.
Stumbling to his feet, Rey scoffed. "Pah, your fault, not mine. Though what can I say, I bend over backwards for you," he quipped.
"Ugh, stop with that...." Yet, the wolfess couldn't keep laughter from escaping her. "Thinking quick on your feet as always, I see." She swiftly unfolded her arms and lashed out a single clawed finger like a viper, avoiding skewering one of his paws by mere inches.
Though, she had to give credit: the adroit rabbit instinctively jumped back well before her strike so much as hit the ground, not that he was in any real danger. "Ooh, good one. Well in either case, you're probably exhausted." It was more of a statement than an inquiry. "It's way past noon and I've only got two more chapters before I'm done with this book, so I'm probably gonna do that. Hell, been meaning to get it done since we started dating." She cocked her head toward a desk shrouded in lamplight just beside the sofa, where the titular book likely lay. Tauntingly, she added, "You should totally give it a read sometime."
"Goodness me, that would be nice," he puffed with a roll of his eyes. Apparently, though, he was genuinely intrigued. "Would certainly give me something to do. And lord knows I--n-no," he suddenly shook his head, "never mind."
"Hm?" Fiela's head curiously tilted, eyes wide; she became the spitting image of an intrigued canid and nothing could look more so.
"Never mind," he insisted again, rather airily.
"If you say so," Fiela added, somewhat wary. "Hmm... I'm gonna let you do your thing for a bit. Here," she took him into her grasp without consent, sauntering lazily to her bedroom. It was a place of somewhat haphazard design; though quite kempt and presentable, a few drawers of spare clothing remained half-open and the occasional loose bit of clothing lay strewn in some corners.
Rey found himself being craned down to the dark green sheets of her bed, already well-made. Curving his neck to see his predator begin leaving, his nose began twitching quizzically. "Be right back; just grabbing my book. We'll relax in a few for the evening," the titaness suggested concretely. "Sound fine to you?"
Not at all one to turn down a fine idea, Rey flicked his blue eyes to meet her own and nodded. "Sure, sure." She promptly turned tail and left, fluffy tail fluidly shadowing her fittingly ebony form.
Certainly would be nice, he had to think. He hated to mention it, but he felt the feathery weight of lethargy already--a little break wouldn't kill anybody, least of all him. Fittingly enough, she seemed to have had caught on already, and for that he couldn't be much more thankful than he was. The last thing he wanted to do was ask Fiela to ease up on her habits himself.
Dating a predator was damned taxing; he quickly learned that those instincts--regarding how he tasted and how rightly much she would enjoy his soft, meaty texture between her teeth--needed to be vented out. Rey had come to accept his occasional place as prey, for a wolfess her size found it quite difficult to overcome predatory urges. Those "games" of cat-and-mouse, though admittedly something he enjoyed, served just that purpose as well.
Ah well, Rey admitted mentally, leaning more prominently on a single leg with his back to the edge of the bed. He observed the well-kept nature of the field of cottony green; seemed to be her favorite color if nothing else. Does certainly keep things interes--
Suddenly, the white rabbit started with a squeaking yelp as a vice-like, somewhat wet force clamped around his behind. Having snuck up behind him, the wolfess chomped just inches away, nibbling his cottony tail innocently.
His expressive ears were now twitching erratically, like antennae overloaded to the point of malfunctioning--the sign of his fear Fiela was most used to, and found most enjoyable. "H-hey, can you..." he sighed; no matter how accustomed to living with a predator he may become, he knew he would never truly be used to it. "Can you not?"
Rey twisted his neck around--taking care not to move his tender and endangered tail--only to find a set of narrowed gleaming eyes boring right into him wordlessly. Hung below a teasing brow, they absorbed every droplet of surprise and aversion that dripped so readily from him. Fiela was knelt, letting her head rest on the edge of the bed.
And yet, she had gone to get what she left for, as evidenced by the brown hard-cover novel that was slapped onto the mattress. He couldn't be frustrated, even if he had been completely caught flat-footed.
In response to his question, the gargantuan muzzle simply rocked left and right in refusal, sliding the viced rabbit a few inches along with it. It was all the rabbit could do to simply _not_be unnerved--that her features only seemed to sharpen as if they were reading his thoughts like a wall-mounted poster wasn't doing much to help.
In truth they were scanning him; once more deciding just what it was about him she was drawn to, from his soft features and large eyes that only expanded when scared all the way to his fine, remarkably soft fur. Perhaps he wasn't the traditional long, tan and handsome, but he was small, adorable and jittery--and he always knew how to keep her busy and roll with the punches when most appropriate.
Though, there was always a way to crack the code of her games, and the rabbit knew that well by now.
"Okay," Rey sighed, doing his best not to stammer as the soft lips applied suction to his tail, tugging him closer to the entrance of the dark cavern before loosing up to give the illusion of freedom. Can't tell if she's just being awful or if part of her does want to put me back in her mouth, Rey thought with a shudder. "Gotta love weekends. As fun as I'm sure it is being your prisoner and all that, would you happen to accept pardons?"
"Pardons?" Rey briefly escaped the confines of her lips as she spoke, and he wasted no time in twirling around to capitalize on it. The wolfess' hungry tongue swept over her lips like an ocean crest, eyes now glistening and amused at his newfound freedom. "That would depend on the method of payment. Can't say I'm terribly confident in the contents of your pockets, though." A wry finger, easily around his size or more, nudged against the hip of his jeans.
She took to exaggerated thought, tapping a kempt claw against the tip of her slender chin. Suddenly, as if to scratch an itch at the back of her head, she asserted, "How about... you open up and tell me what's wrong, hm?"
"W-what?" The question pierced straight through him like lightning to the heart, sudden and unforeseeable.
"When you're tired, you're not the best at hiding stuff," Fiela touted, seeming almost proud of her discovery with even shoulders and the slightest coy curvature at the ends of her lips. "And don't you 'never mind' me this time. We've had this talk before, you know."
"Oh, so you get there by damn near chomping my ass off?" The wolfess flashed a wicked grin in response, the slight curvature ditching any drop of subtlety. With a brief shudder, Rey hesitated to continue. "Christ, you're going to make me piss myself!"
"Kinda makes you wish I was a tailor and not a baker, huh?"
"Right. W-well, can't say your methods of wringing me out don't work every now and then..."
Fiela shrugged. "Just because I can do whatever I want to you doesn't mean I have to, or want to. Well, not all the time," she continued with a knowing whistle, "but you get the idea. Things are different now than they were when we first met. For starters, I'm not trying to kill you."
"Oh, yeah, of course." Rey shuffled his feet, trying not to look at his looming adversary directly. After much careful deliberation and the sound reasoning to not let those hungry instincts of hers sit and simmer for too long, the rabbit indeed found it in his best interest to let her sate them when they arose--even if she never directly spoke of them.
That, or he was just an idiot and she loved making him think he really was in danger. A rabbit could never be too sure, no sir, though the particular level of enjoyment she took from unsettling him left nothing to be desired. And yet beyond all the sea of technicalities Rey occasionally sifted through, though she was aloof and naturally intimidating on multiple accounts, he knew there was at least one reason it had all worked out so far.
Besides, that was all pillow talk! Hardly worth thinking about now. Mentally tossing out other options, Rey gave in; she deserved to at least hear him out.
"I'm... well, I'm still worrying a little bit. It may sound stupid but it really feels like I'm not..." he started trailing off, but Fiela's curious stare spurred continuation. "Er, it feels like I'm not doing anything anymore."
"What? What makes you say that? Honest question."
"I... well, Christ, that's a bit of a hard question to answer," Rey squeaked, now the slightest pressured.
Fiela raised an eyebrow clambered atop the mattress, simultaneously taking him into grip with the one swift motion that carried her to a lying position. The back of her head leaned against the pale wall while Rey watched the cloth beneath her ripple with newfound weight from within her grip, which loosened into an open palm.
"Is it? Well, let's level for a minute. You can talk to me, Rey. I care about what you think, and I care about you. Don't expect to say something like 'my life isn't as exciting' to your girlfriend and expect her not to be a little worried," she said softly, nuzzling the rabbit against a cheek.
"Oh, I... yeah. You're right," Rey said as he was then pulled away, noting how forward the wolfess could be about her concern. His choice was the proper one. "Sorry."
"No, don't apologize," Fiela insisted, eyes intently boring into his own. "Just go on."
"Like I said, it might sound stupid..." The gigantic wolfess' expression flattened. "Okay, okay. I just think things have begun changing more than I expected. Right now, I'm not helping the Undersector at all--and here, with you, it's not like I'm being productive. I can't be. Jobs aren't an option, neither is leaving to go somewhere else--not that I want to. But I know you want me to be honest."
Attenuated worry hinted across Fiela's features.
"Yeah. I do. I don't want to have any drama and if there's something you think is up, we can talk it out," she said with a curt nod. "You aren't exactly a challenge to provide for, you know. I don't mind having you around at all--I'm the one that had you stay with me to begin with. I sneak in what I can spare every now and again with your friends, too. That was part of the deal."
"They're not all my friends... just two of them," he murmured, though rattling his head. "But look, while I can't thank you enough for being so generous, that's not what it's about. I can't believe I'm about to say it, but... I-I kinda miss putting my life on the line."
Fiela nearly dropped the rabbit into the soft confines of her blanket.
"Excuse me?"
"Thought you'd say as much," Rey said, struggling to regain his footing and his composure, the ground below him attempting the same. "It's really weird and I don't totally get it, okay? But I almost feel like... bear with me for a second, there's something really exciting about putting myself out there, staying hidden, and running when things get bad. Now I can't do that anymore. I'm not saying I should do it, no, not at all. Especially now what with the options for tinies getting pushed further... doing anything now would only reset the playing field."
The black wolfess tilted her head and set Rey down beside her leg to allow her hand to brush against her cheek thoughtfully. "You're right. You shouldn't do it anymore. I'll be honest: I don't want you getting into a mess that I can't save you from." It seemed that was the end of her thought process, but Rey was proven wrong quite promptly. "And we've well established how we feel about the... situation. Chasing you has been thrilling, to be blunt about it--I'll just assume that's how it works for you and end the research there. Would it be safe to say this is, in a way, the same thing?"
The wolfess crossed a leg to rest it over her jeaned thigh, coming close to shoving a paw against him. In slight awe of the ebony padded toes, each around his size and with claws that could skewer him effortlessly, Rey answered quickly. "Y-yeah, I'm not entirely sure myself. I guess it's just like I said; polar opposites of a sorta good kind, where apparently I don't completely mind getting hunted to an inch of my life. And it's not like that's exactly stopped happening..."
A single clawed, black appendage of Fiela's paw briefly took to wrapping around his miniscule form, as if to lazily embrace him from her true distance, and he promptly found himself hushed. The dark toe was soft but firm as the muscles within grew taut; the experience was somehow comforting--perhaps the intent mattered most--and he let the tension in his muscles relax, breathing out a sigh. He looked up to see her curiously tilted head plastered with a calm visage, as if waiting for him to continue.
"Alright... I'm fine. Thanks, I think?" With that said the wolfess decided to correct the distance again, reaching close and pinching him gently between two fingers around his midsection. Then, unfolding a palm and setting him in the center, she prodded his back, eliciting a stumble and a mirthful chuckle.
"You think?" she inquired, countenance earnest.
"Sure do," he repeated--though not without a just taste of sardonic innocence.
Fiela pulled him closer, clutching her precious thing like he could spring out at any second and cupping her hands a little. "Psh, hey now, don't you get scrappy. You sure you're alright then? I don't want you... y'know, going out on your own and getting yourself killed." She turned two fingers into a pair of legs stuck in a walk cycle then flattened the hand in mid-air; like a bug being squashed. "Tempted to say that if you didn't have me hanging around you'd already have offed yourself like a dummy."
"Psh, and you've seen yourself how often that's actually happened, huh? But that's okay." The rabbit nodded and leapt from her grasp, climbing the cliffside of the wolfess' cheek by using the fur as grips. A single eye watched him intently, brow curved into interested semicircles wondering quite genuinely what he was plotting, as the rabbit eventually plopped himself just behind an ear. "I know I don't do much now, but... heh, I'm sure I'll get over it. Besides, hiding from you ought to sate it enough; it'll just take some time. Still..."
Rey stiffened his fingers and scratched lightly at the base of the tree-sized ear before him. The repeated up-and-down motion elicited a groan of contentment, a splay of her pointed ears, and a pleased diagonal incline of the world he sat upon as Fiela angled herself to best feel the enthralling gesture.
Damn, and how her pool of reasons to keep him around only kept growing, Fiela thought. Not that she needed more than she had--but he just discovered her sweet spot. How the hell did he even know?
"Mmm... what is it?" The wolfess forced the words through shut eyes and clenched teeth.
Holding back a chuckle, Rey ceased and ruffled a spot of the midnight meadow of her head as if to literally rub in his advantage; the ears flicked back to their normal positions, alert and disappointed at having been spoiled. "Oh nothing," he teased knowingly. "Just that when all's said and done, I think you're right. There are some things I can do for you."
"Then that's awfully sweet of you," Fiela said. Damn it she just wished he hadn't quit, stuffing away an instinctual, pleading whine. "Might just want to let you win more often if that's my consolation prize, hm?"
"I certainly wouldn't mind." The rabbit stifled a yawn; the close proximity forced a brief swivel of the massive ears at his sides.
She detected it without hesitance. It was only rational that their games tuckered the little guy out, no matter how much he tried not to show it. "Alright. I suggest you go ahead and take a nap," Fiela said with a flick of her eyes upwards. "I'm gonna be reading for the next couple hours. You can stay up there if you like, I sure as hell won't be moving." Can set him to bed in a few minutes though, the wolfess thought tersely.
"I..." Rey nearly objected, then flumped over beside an ear, as if having realized just how much he agreed with the notion. The wolfess felt the temperature where he lay go up certainly by a few notches. Ears splaying with adoration while she pushed down against a growing smile, she only hoped the rising heat belonged to the rabbit using her fur as a blanket. "I guess."
Promptly ignoring her own flushing ears, she shot for a casual scapegoat. "You try too hard, Rey." Fiela held her book to the side with one hand, reaching with the other to gently stroke him. Tracing the pad of her finger from the crook of his neck all the way down the supple flesh of his back and stopping at his cottony tail; such elicited a tired sigh that told her all she needed to know. She repeated the motion backwards, flicking the back of his shirt over his ears. "See? You can act all hard and tough, but you're just a sleepy bunny," she cooed tauntingly. Rey only made a bitter groan.
"I'll take your word for it," Rey bit back as he struggled to right his clothing. "Can't tell me to nap and then make fun of me for it..." he murmured.
A self-aware giggle rattled through Fiela's closed lips. Her voice turned soft and honest as Rey knew--but never expected--it could do when she felt like it. "I know. I'll wake you up later."
There was no response. The wolfess shook away thoughts and tried to scan her current page for wherever it was she had last left off. It was a short-lived bout of reading; keeping attention to it was, apparently, nearly impossible. The tiny blotch of snow dozed off next to her ear was... well it hardly was conducive to a focused environment.
Instead, breathing a yawn and duly hiding it with a mixed sigh, she clapped the book closed and set it down beside her. She shortly found herself slipping a pillow behind her head as she rested it against the wall behind her. The reason that she'd never finished it grew painfully obvious. "If I'm getting soft, I have every right to blame you," she muttered contentedly before shutting her eyes herself.