FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ding! The bell on the door chimed behind the couple as they entered: the feline O'Neice leading the way with the looming, maned wolf Kezhon following behind. Out through the window behind them in the front of the store, the sun shined brightly down onto the small downtown area, sending warm, natural light spilling into the small, local store front that they'd entered after finishing with a string of others down the quaint main street. Bright blue dominated the sky, nearly empty of clouds and instead simply a striking, rich blue with sunshine streaming through the open air in a golden, summery glow. On the lazy afternoon, a spattering of other people meandered their own way through the area. Some couples moved arm in arm through the different shops much like Kezhon and O'Neice while groups of friend or wedding parties selected specific stores in search of birthday presents or wines. The downtown area wasn't bustling or loud, just sparsely populated with people each occupied in their own enjoyment of the fine day.

Lost in their own enjoyment, O'Neice's hips swayed with cheerful, light steps that made her floor length, emerald green skirt swish lightly from side to side and jingling the belt of charms that hung loosely off her wide hips. Like her skirt, her loose hair swung from side to side gently, rustling down the back of her simple black tank top that hugged to her soft curves and her full chest, straining against the fabric of her top. Her hands gestured around in the air in front of her as she greeted the storekeeper, who perked up from behind his cash register to smile warmly at the pair with a grin edged by wrinkles.

"Nice day for shopping, Hmm?" The aging man questioned, gesturing out into the warm air just outside the wide windows at the front of the shop that showed a landscape view of the clear, perfect day.

"Oh it's just beautiful!" O'Neice agreed with a beaming smile and an energetic flick of her tail behind her. The tip of the furry appendage grazed Kezhon's bare calf, exposed by the knee- length shorts he wore to give him some relief from the heat of the day, though he wore a thin long-sleeved sweatshirt over top with a hood drooping off the back of the dusty red and gray striped top. He smiled down at the tail, playfully grabbing it and making the girl glance over her shoulder at him with a wide smile, flashing him a glimpse of her feline fangs poking out from behind her soft, pink lips. Her bright blue eyes twinkled with affection and amusement from the lazy day shopping together. Since they'd decided together that morning that the nice weather warranted a day out shopping and wandering the town to take advantage of the pleasant warmth of the air instead of staying cooped up at home, they'd picked up a collection of bags from the variety of small, local boutiques in the fanciful downtown.

A bag marked Avon Tea housed petite, metallic tins of jasmine, plain black, and floral oolong teas with the soft, sweet fragrances wafting out of the bag along with the buttery tint of the complimentary cookies slipped into their bag by the friendly, aging woman who'd served them their selections. Another bag, from a local farmer and merchant, rattled with two plastic containers of dried fruit, one assorted and dominated by crisped bananas and the other entirely plump, juicy apricots. The final bag, much larger and marched with a swirled text, held a skirt O'Neice had found much like the one she wore currently, long and flowy reminiscent of the hippie era, though instead of green, the bagged skirt was a rich, rosy shade.

Like a gentlemen, Kezhon happily carried the light bags with one hand while he let O'Neice lead the way into the shops that caught her attention. She seemed to have boundless energy from the warmth of the sun soaking into her lush, black fur and hair and delighted form the sound of the purr rumbling faintly in her chest. Kezhon enjoyed the sun of the day and the lazy sensation of contentment from just wandering with the energetic feline, who seemed void of any worries and utterly carefree as she sifted through the vintage styled store they'd just entered.

Holding up a velvety top hat, O'Neice giggled. "Need a fitting hat for your gentlemanly actions?" She offered in reference to him politely carrying all their wares for her, reaching up onto her tiptoes with her arm stretched up to drop the hat onto Kezhon's wiry, copper-colored hair. The hat tipped precariously forward since O'Neice couldn't reach quite high enough to center it on his head, giving him a goofy, campy appearance like a classy version of a court jester. Kezhon's lips spread out over his teeth in a broad, playful smile, showing his own long, powerful teeth beneath the thin line of his pencil mustache.

Falling into her goofy attitude along with her, Kezhon lifted a lacy capote, an old age bonnet like those worn by Jane Austen, onto the girl's lush, black hair. "And a hat fitting of this proper lady beside me?"

"Proper? I want to be fun!" She flicked the capote off and returned it to the hat tree and plucked instead a rich purple cloche that cut low on her forehead and framed her hair around her thin, angular face. The deep purple made her blue eyes pop out from beneath the line of the brim, and Kezhon found himself staring down at her with an entranced expression.

"M'lady," He started in a soft voice with a small, sheepish smile. "You are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen."

A soft rosy blush spread onto the girl's cheek before her lips broke into a wide smile and she pulled the hat from her head and lightly swatted at his chest. "Oh hush, you cheeseball," she scolded, though she continued to grin up at him as she replaced the hat onto an arm of the hat stand.

Kezhon grinned at her, relishing the warm smile painted onto her face as he scooped the hat off his own head and returned it to its spot before following O'Neice through the tight store to a dresser covered in squat candles.

O'Neice swished over to the row of arranged scents, plucking up a pink, flowery candle that wafted off with the scent of roses. One hand lifted up the thick glass pot up to Kezhon's nose, again raising onto her tiptoes to reach up to the tall manned wolf's head. "Smell!" She demanded with a giggle, flashing him a wide smile before she replaced one candle with another, breathing in a selection of scents from spring tulips to fresh baked sugar cookies. Once she'd talked Kezhon into buying a spiced orange scented candle, O'Neice added another bag to the selection that Kezhon carried in one massive palm.

Exiting into the warm sunshine again, O'Neice glanced up to the street to the familiar banner of the Art Shack, an artistic supply shop. "Oh!" She squeaked out with a wide-eyed look of realization, "I've got to pick up some purples!" At the confused twitch of Kezhon's eyebrow at her statement, she paused at his side to explain.

"I'm planning to teach the kids about monochromatic painting next Monday and I've only got two shades on hand! I need at least three more to really give them the whole concept of it! It'll just take a moment, Big Guy! I'll be back!"

Kezhon smiled, watching her face light up with excitement at the idea of teaching her students a new topic, sharing with them her own passion for creation. He gave a simple nod, moving towards a bench just to the side of the door they'd just exited from. "I'll just be here, waiting patiently for m'lady to return." He tipped an imaginary hat towards her as she headed diagonally across the street with her skirt fluttering around her ankles and her tail streaming out behind her.

Kezhon settled down onto the sturdy bench and stretched his long legs out, nearly spanning to the curb when he really pushed them into a deep stretch out from the bench at an angle. Tipping his head back against the top of the bench, his eyes slid close to soak up the warm rays of the early afternoon sun. His orange-copper tinted hair splayed down off his forehead, bunching against his tail curved ears with the small flash of bleached white peeking out from the warm orange shade. Behind his glasses, his closed eyes still showed the bright glow of the sun behind his eyelids, heating up his skin as he relaxed, patiently waiting for O'Neice to return with her paints.

Before the feline returned, however, another couple passed him with cigarettes dangling loosely from their fingertips. Smoke wafted out from the thin sticks, streaming beneath Kezhon's nose and shooting both eyes open. Without warning, fear shot into him as his heart began to race. Every beat pounded into his chest with a sudden jerky suck of air into his lung, every breath short, fast, and increasing with speed. He shot up from the seat, making his glasses bounce on his nose as he raced towards the corner of the stone building. One thick palm slapped into the brick, pressing into the rough texture as a hoarse breath shot out from his mouth before sucking back in. Hyperventilating, Kezhon felt sweat prickle on his forehead, glistening in the sun. Rush, panicked breaths puffed out from his lips as his stomach tightened, clenching with nausea as his fingers trembled against the wall. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes, squeezing out onto his cheeks as his eyelids clenched shut to avoid the spin of the scenery. Dizzy and lightheaded, Kezhon clutched his other hand to his upset stomach, whimpering like a scared child. Voice tight and anxious, he started to mumbled to himself: "G-gotta get out. Gotta get out. G-gotta go somewhere safe. Y-yes, go somewhere safe. Safe, safe, safe. Gotta get out to somewhere safe. Safe, safe, safe..." His breath puffed out from his lips in bursts, terrified explosions shooting out over his lips, suddenly dry as his throat clenched with a choking sensation.

"S-safe... Safe... Gotta get safe..." He whimpered, sweating dripping off his forehead as tears trickled down from the corners of his eyes. Without control of himself, lingering on the edge with his panic attack, another personality burbled beneath the surface. One of several that plagued Kezhon through his multiple personality disorder in which one body houses more than one distinctly different personalities, or alters, each with their own ages, sexes, or races. With his panic attack griping him and lowering his control, a personality named simply Grey took control through the process called switching, moving control of Kezhon's thoughts and behavior over to a different alter, Grey.

Suddenly, his hyperventilation halted and his voice silenced. The smoking coupled who'd triggered the panic attack and then watched with wide, confused stares dropped their eyes away with the man's sudden appearance of control. Swiveling his head towards the couple, the manned wolf's head tilted to the side as he stared out from one eye, the other seemingly dead from the inside. With a wobbling foot, he stepped back towards the bench he'd been seated in before. One foot dragged behind him slightly with a mild limp, and his breath rasped against his throat before lightly puffing out over his lips.

Settling into the wooden seat of the bench, the man gave another small rasp before he relaxed back. The woman of the smoking couple reached out, moving as though to lightly touch his shoulder as she asked if he was okay, but he shrunk back from the touch nervously. "Sir-"

"Grey," he interjected, giving the stranger a timid stare with a tense position. His shoulder were solid, leaned back towards the edge of the bench to put as much space between himself and the stranger's touch as possible with an instinctive fear of rough touch, painful touch.

"Okay, Grey. Are you okay?"

The maned wolf blinked once, looking at them with his angled stare, allowing his one eye to focus on their faces. Slight confusion wrinkled his forehead as he sifted through the thoughts he could gather. His gaze swept over the landscape view of the downtown area and dipped down to the bags on the bench beside him. Realizing he'd fallen silent, he looked back to the couple with a polite smile and a curt nod, "Yes, thank you for asking. I'm just fine."

His smile widened slightly as he considered his response, he indeed felt fine. Warm sunshine toasted the top of his head, flooding his sight with a soft, yellow haze as he scanned over the shop fronts. Colored signs and striped awnings brightened the cobblestone street, decorated with aged charm. Together, the couple scurried off down the street, leaving Grey alone with his observations and with the wisps of smoke that had triggered his surfacing in the first place. With interest, his head swung from one end of the street down to the next, taking in the entire panorama from one tapered pinpoint in his vision on the left to another on the right. Then, his eyes dropped down to the bags at his side. A clawed finger tip pulled open the first bag, breathing in the sudden spice of the teas inside and the floral sweetness of them, wafting out from the tins. His eyes quickly moved to the next, curiously eyeing the fruits before dismissing them and shifting to the next. Seeing the folded fabric, he pulled up on the top till the shape of the skirt formed enough to explain what the item was.

"Hmm..." he murmured to himself with a smirk showing his teeth, "Seems that Kezhon has advanced from panties to skirts. He must be more confused than I thought." He chuckled gruffly before movement up the street caught his eye. Tipping his head the opposite way to look towards her, he spotted the black-haired feline hurrying towards the bench with a oversized paper bag swaying in one hand beside her thigh. Her skirt swung out with every step, as if she danced down the street towards him, and her face lit up with a broad grin. Her arm lifted above her head, waving her bag in greeting as she reached him.

"I love that store!" She exclaimed at his side, "They have every color out there! Alizarin, Bronze, Aquamarine, Auburn, Caput, Cardinal, Cyan, Denim, Jade, Mauve, Mint, Mustard, Xanthic, Vermilion..." The male zoned out as she frantically rambled off colors, and instead of listening, he merely stared up at her through a haze of thought. A sensation of familiarity surrounded the chattering feline, but at first Grey couldn't place her significance. Slowly, he placed her as Kezhon's mate through foggy memories and glimpses of her from sneaking out into the forefront.

"Once I got myself back focused on what I was actually there for, I started looking just at the purples! They had so many shades, I just wanted to get them all for the kids! I could just picture their eyes looking at what you can do with just one segment of the color wheel. I'm not kidding, they had African violet, Amethyst, Antique fuchsia, Aubergine, Boysenberry, Lavender, Byzantine, Byzantium, Damson, Orchid- It was beautiful just seeing all the little bottles all lined up in all the colors! Like a rainbow of purple. I picked out six of them: Dark violet, Magenta, Mauve, Aubergine, Eminence, and Grape." She ticked off each name on her fingers, adding up the six as her smile stretched from dimple to dimple on her freckled cheeks.

Listening to her and watching her cheerful face, Grey recalled that she'd never experienced any of Kezhon's other personalities before, and thus, wouldn't know who he is. He grinned at the thought, amused at the idea that he could be here and she'd never notice a difference between himself and Kezhon. Naively, she'd assume he was who he appeared to be.

"I can't *wait* to teach these kids about monochromatic painting! It's such a useful style, and it can be so unique! It's really special to capture something with just a slice of the color wheel. I think it takes true understanding of shapes and shading to capture something without jumping across the wheel. Ravenna will love it! I think she'll really love this style, she's just so passionate!"

Grey watched with intrigued at the sight of her, throwing her hands up in the air and babbling with her own passionate about art and her students. Her fingers traced through the air madly, speeding up when her words did and slowly when she paused to mull over her thoughts. She just seemed to come alive with her excitement so that he couldn't shake of a feeling of intrigue. To see someone so caught up in what they were saying that their entire body moved with the conversation amazed Grey, especially since her passion was so *good.* Everything that came out of her mouth leaned positively. She couldn't pick a paint not because that had too many, but because every shade was so beautiful. The cashier hadn't been nosy, but helpful and sweet to come over and offer her opinion. The price for buying more than she'd needed hadn't been too high, but it'd been a steal since the kind cashier had given her 5% off, which while it wasn't much in consequence, she seemed to appreciate the action. She buzzed with her chattering and the soft purr in her chest excitedly, vibrantly.

"When I just couldn't pick only a few the cashier came over and helped! She just walked right over and helped me decide which ones were best and gave me a discount when a bought so many!" O'Neice continued on excitedly, leaving Grey noticing her ample kindness. Her entire nature seemed to spew out sweet, gentle words and excitement towards everyone. Losing his focus on his observations, a long raspy breath escaped.

His brow furrowed, concerned she'd hear the uncharacteristic gruffness, but instead her arm dropped down into the slouchy, patched purse hanging against her hip and fished out a half empty plastic bottle of water. Lifting it up, she raised her eyebrows with questioning. "Do you need a drink?"

Grey almost laughed at her sweet, but oh-so-trusting response. He took the bottle from her as his head tipped further to the side to see her wide smile better. Drinking, he let his eyes close for a moment, relishing the glimpse of her bright smile directed towards him. "She's adorable," he thought to himself, shaking his head just slightly still thinking about her innocent response. "She's so... nice and trusting. She's like a baby with a lollipop." The image brought an amused twitch to the corner of his lips, pulling them up into a small smile as he swallowed a gulp of water.

In the back of his mind, Grey felt the urge to manipulate the girl, just to monopolize on her sweet, trusting nature. "It'd be a breeze..." He knew, smirking just a bit while he re-screwed the cap onto the bottle and handed it back to the girl.

Taking the bottle, O'Neice dropped onto the bench and hauled her heavy purse onto her lap to slide the bottle back inside against the far edge. Leaving the bag to rest in her lap, she angled her legs towards 'Kezhon' and one hand grazed his arm. As her fingertips touched to his skin, Grey flinched slightly expecting to feel pain from her touch against the thinly clothed flesh of his arm, but instead he didn't. In fact, her soft fingertips brought a gentle warmth to his skin. It felt calming, nice. Grey stared over at her, seeing her silky black hair spilling over her shoulders and framing around her ovaled face. The bright blue of her eyes popped out from her pale skin, grabbing the attention of his one attentive eye as he stared with fascination.

In the background, she chattered softly: "I think I'll try to paint a quick portrait in a monochromatic scale later on, just to have a recent example. Sometimes, when I show the kids older work of mine they get caught up on the mistakes they can see, since some of my examples are from when I was in art school since assignments usually focus better on technique and definition of concepts more so than my casual work. It's always a hassle to refocus everyone after picking apart my mistakes with proportions..." Yet, Grey only half listened.

Most of his focus still lingered on his virgin, first-hand impression of her. Seeing her in glimpses snapping out from Kezhon's control versus meeting her as himself were drastically different, giving him the time to start to develop his own feelings towards her. "She seems so sweet, like she'd never hurt anyone. And warm, she's so warm." He looked over at her, waving one of her hands through the air as though she conducted her own speech while her other hand idly toyed with a strand of hair against her neck, twisting the tendrils around a clawed fingertip. "She's so vibrant and energetic, yet her energy is so content. She has no energy from anger or anxiety like Kezhon. She's very different from Kezhon."

"And she didn't hurt me. Her touch felt soft." Grey lingered on the fading memory of her fingers grazing his skin. The fleeting warmth of a soft, affectionate touch common to any close couples as they interact contrasted greatly to his concept that touch brought pain, fingers hurt people. Instead, O'Neice Brochinsky had touched him and brought a zing of warmth through his chest, a content, calm sensation.

His attention wouldn't waver from the concept of the naive, trusting sweetheart not hurting him; she intrigued him, fascinated him in an unexplainable manner. For minutes, they sat together on the bench with Grey nearly silent, just watching her like a television show and enjoying witnessing her closeness with Kezhon, how her thoughts flowed out to him as though he was included inside her brain itself, though Grey soon phased Kezhon out of the equation and felt her including him into her world, sharing her passion with him.

Out of the blue, she paused in her babbling as her stomach growled audibly, stopping even her happy purr with its demanding gurgle. First, she blushed cutely with a splash of red on her high cheekbones before she spoke, "A-ah, perhaps we could continue on towards some lunch. What do you say?"

Grey looked up to her, feeling a smile curl his lips as his tilted head to better see her blushing, cute face and gave a single nod. "Sure, lunch."

"Great! What should we eat?" She stood and plucked up the bag of purple paints from her side while she swiveled towards the street kitty-corner from where they sat that housed the cafe they often went to for sandwiches, but instead of naming the familiar location, Grey suggested a nearby salad bar down the main street. Her eyebrow twitched up into a questioning arch at the new place, though he quickly explained after seeing her confusion that he'd overheard someone talking about it and it'd made him crave a crisp, full salad.

Still a bit surprised, though not actually questioning the statement since she knew Kezhon loved to eat, so why wouldn't he want to try and eat something new? She agreed and turned down the street with the petite, stone building advertising their fresh salad bar with a propped up sign on the sidewalk a ways down the block.

They strolled slowly towards it, leisurely letting the sun continue to bake their fur as they walked. With his shaky steps, Grey worked to control his limp, keeping his walk slow and controlled to constrain the shakiness to a minimum and his limp merely a heavier step out of every pair than true dragging of the limb. Looking up at the the much taller male, the female felt her own, shorter legs moving slower than usual to match with one of his longer strides. Where usually she kept at a slow jog to match Kezhon's walk, she felt herself moving comfortable pace, albeit faster than most, but much slower than usual especially when food was the destination.

"Kezhon is such a sweetie," She noted to herself with a small smile curling the side of her mouth. "He's going slow for me so I don't have to jog beside him to keep up!" She already heard herself for later, gleefully spilling to her girlfriends how he walked especially slow in comparison to his normal gait to keep her from having to rush like usual after their morning of walking.

While she naively wrote off another meager difference between the two personalities she'd witnessed within her mate, Grey continued to study her in return. His eye scanned over her features, collecting detail he didn't have from the bits of her he had seen. Her lush, silken black hair spilled down her back, reaching to the top of her full, perky butt hugged inside her skirt. He watched her hips sway with every step, their motion rhythmic with the gentle sashay of a natural flirt. When she looked up towards the wispy clouds forming in the afternoon sky, pointing out the soft, cotton-candy like puffs, he ducked his gaze down a bit to eye her broad hips and the way her skirt hugged to her soft shape. Even at a slower pace than Kezhon's usual, her shorter legs took several steps to match one of his and her breasts bounced with the motion, jiggling as she kept pace with him.

"She's strikingly attractive." Grey thought, finding her gypsy-like with an exotic enchanting sort of attraction. Her skirt swishing and jingling with every step only added to her carefree beauty. Images of her, hazy at first, start to swim out of his fogged memories from glimpses during Kezhon's sex when his guard dropped enough to let Grey pop out for short bursts. Her breasts, bare and soft, peachy in color pressed to his chest in one snapshot, shuddering with a moan that broke from her parted lips. In another, she waggled her butt at him playfully, her tail draped over her shoulder as his tip kissed to the burning heat of her wanton sex. He pictured her naked body, soft and curved with her long hair spilling down her smooth, bare back to the swell of her ass. He could practically feel the warmth of her against him, skin to skin, with dainty fingers teasing over his shaft and her big tail tickling his neck and grazing his shoulder. Only in the moments of highest passion and sudden explosions of mind-boggling arousal did Grey slip out for a glimpse of her, giving him a collection of blood-heating memories of what Kezhon got to experience fully.

"I want that." He mumbled, barely audible even to himself as a raspy breath slipped out the words. "I want to experience her, from start to finish," he added, this time silently with the image of her nude body still hovering in his mind while he remembered he sweet offering of water from earlier and his commentary to it. "Like a baby with a lollipop..."

He knew she trusted the manned wolf's body, thinking sweetly and naively that it was Kezhon simply because it appeared to be him on the outside. He knew, kind as she was, she'd fall into a careful charm, giving him a chance to experience what he envied Kezhon for. He'd simply let her continue believing he was Kezhon to take her to bed, to get a taste of the fascinating feline whose touch didn't hurt him.

Eager to follow through with his plan, Grey focused on not letting his own characteristics sneak out. He pulled his walk in tighter, removing the limp entirely so his walk merely trembled occasionally though without watching him directly, it wasn't noticeable. When his gaze wandered too low, catching on the swishing shape of the feline's ass bobbing out from beneath her tail, his attention would falter and one leg would droop in a slight limp, but he caught himself. With every step, the gentle bounce of her breasts and the swish of her luscious hair would send his mind racing back to the few glimpses he had, trying to scrounge out more details from the fleeting clips into someone else's life. Seeing her tail swing from side to side, showing her bubble butt briefly before hiding it again behind the thick plume of fur, teased him relentlessly. He let her ramble while he silently switched between watching her, lusting for her with increasing intensity, and controlling his walk and his normally rasping breathing so he didn't trigger any confusion in the girl.

"So," O'Neice's voice cut into Grey's own silent focus. "What should we do later? After we eat?"

Immediately, Grey pictured the stretch of the glittering blue ocean just out of view from the downtown area. With an eager chatter, common to rodents, he started to ramble about taking a long walk down the coastline. "A walk would be perfect, just as the day starts to cool down so we can enjoy the last bit of sunshine before it sets for the day. It'd be reflecting of the water, big and glittery..." Clumsily, he started to realize that talking so much, his lack of a Scottish accent would stand out, dramatically different from Kezhon's own tainted speech. Stumbling slightly on his words, he mimicked Kezhon's accent until the rhythm sounded natural, and it came fluidly off his tongue.

Caught up in imagining the beach as the day leads into night, just as the light would fade and the lights from downtown would be the lights glittering off the oceans waves, O'Neice barely noticed the slip, but instead merely thought was he cutely stumbling on his words because his excitement made him nervous and shy, something she'd experienced enough with Kezhon. His rambling sent her own mind racing off, creatively imagining the scene in her mind of the lights dancing on the reflective mirror-like stillness of the ocean, broken when waves lazily rippled into shore to kiss at the sand. The moon would be full, fat and round in the sky with its hazy light.

As they neared the restaurant, and it's sign in front came into focus, she looked back up to the maned wolf with her focus back on the present conversation. "That sounds delightful! Then maybe we could watch a movie at the house? A nice lazy end to a lazy day?" She proposed, seeing the wooden sign above the door to the place swinging with a slightly breeze as 'Kezhon' reached for the door's handle.

Pulling the heavy oak open to let the lady in first, Grey curled his lips into a smooth, charming smile. His fangs poked out from his mouth, but his grin looked suave, confident- which was rare for Kezhon. "That sounds perfect," He agreed before gesturing into the restaurant with a little flourish and a broad, goofy grin.

Stepping through the opened door, O'Neice stepped through an arched doorway into the entryway where natural light poured in front windows surrounding the door itself. Leading back in the slim building space, a massive arch split the room. On one wall, a black baseboard spanned the length, giving it an edge of distinction. Just inside, a small podium rested with a young waitress waiting just behind it, smiling with a greeting wave at the couple. Instantly, stepping inside with the maned wolf following just behind after he'd held the door open for her, O'Neice felt their lazy day seemingly morph into a date with a charming, romantic vibe.

"Hello! Welcome to Costello's Fresh Eatery. Right now we've got the lunch special salad bar going on." Her hand swung back to gesture at the covered buffet length table, covered in thick, white glass bowls that were piled with types of lettuce and other vegetables to spruce it up. O'Neice glimpsed further back into the restaurant at the salad bar, feeling a zing of excitement at the small, private circular tables with flickering candles in their centers. Every time she experienced Kezhon in a goofy, especially affectionate mood she relished it, because when he was confident in himself she loved to witness it.

Grey stepped forward, greeting the waitress with a small smile of his own. "Hello yourself. I need a table for two, for myself and my darling here." While the waitress plucked two menus out of a tidy bin beside her podium and led them to their table, O'Neice blinked at the use of the word 'darling' when Kezhon usually called her 'Dove' to the point that it'd become like a second name. Never had she heard him call her anything else, ever.

"That's so odd..." she'd thought just as Grey sweetly guided her chair out from beneath the table for her. "Or perhaps he's just trying to be sweet! Channel his inner Hallmark." She giggled to herself, muffling the noise as she settled into her seat and the strong wolf pushed her into place. As he settled into his seat across from her, with his tilted head illuminated in the flickering candle light in what was otherwise a restaurant lit mostly by the sunlight streaming in from outside, O'Neice thought he must have been trying to be romantic in his dorky, awkward way. She eyed the angle of his head looking at her, envisioning that he was feeling the same, fresh date-like vibe they were giving off and that he was eying her with a sweet, dreamy tilt. Though for Grey, his head tilted to capture the sight of the feline staring back at him with his good eye while the other pointed blankly, unseeingly ahead.

As she looked at him, her black hair spilled to the side like a waterfall of midnight-colored silk. Her blue eyes caught his own in an intense, private gaze that made their temporary silence feel comfortable, shared between them. Grey noted the soft, plump shape of her lips and her thin eyebrows which moved along with her face, showing her interest and emotions on her face like words on a page. Freckles dotted her nose and cheeks, the little speckles a detail he'd never seen in the hazy memories he'd glimpsed from Kezhon's experiences, and he relished his own, privately collected tidbit. Atop her head, her ears twitched and swiveled impulsively to catch the noises around the restaurant from other diners moving to the salad bar or chefs inside the kitchen, chopping more fixings for the meals.

"So," the waitress interrupted as she set down their menus along with two sweating glasses of ice water and packaged straws. "You two just planning to do the salad bar or would you like to take a look at our menu?"

Grey tilted his head up and back to see the girl beside the table. "I'll just take the salad bar. Thank you."

"Okay, would you like to add any special meats to your salads? We can bring you out a portion of the order-only meats such as freshly grilled tuna fish, steak, or crab if you'd like to add those to your salad."

O'Neice's ears perked up at the mention of the fresh seafood, brought in from the nearby ocean coast the town nestled against. Seeing her interest, Grey grinned at the opportunity to further impress her. "Let's get some tuna fish and crab on order for our salads."

"I'll get those in right away! Plates and everything are at the salad bar, otherwise, so go ahead on up and enjoy!"

As the waitress shimmied away, O'Neice looked at Grey with a coy smile. "You didn't have to do that."

He pushed his chair out slowly, careful to steady his walk before he moved to pull her own chair back out to let her stand. "I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to because I knew you wanted those," He said smoothly, flashing a charismatic smile at the feline.

A giddy sensation fluttered in her chest, sparking off her own excitement to his sudden, sweet and romantic behavior. Her tail started to twitch and flick behind her, energetically moving as she inspected the salad bar. While she carefully built a small salad, Grey piled his plate with greens and vegetables, eager for the fresh crunch beneath his square teeth.

Once they'd both returned to their seats, Grey nudged his foot gently to O'Neice's between the table, bringing a goofy smile to her face. "Tell me more about what you're going to paint for the kids."

Her face instantly brightened at the mention of her painting: both eyes sparkled with delight and her lips spread wide in a uncontained smile. "Well, a lot of monochromatic pieces are single subjects, since it'd be difficult to capture too much without multiple colors. I've done a lot of portraits monochromatically, since it's typically the most common and easiest use of the style. I was imagining doing something with hair, to show how one can show the depth and motion of something like hair with the different hues of one color instead of just a base color in conjunction with black and white." As she chattered, Grey playfully rubbed his foot along the side of her, coaxing her sandal to goofily tracing up the side of his bare leg.

His skin tingled with the touch from even her foot, giving him a glimpse of the same warm, gentle touch that'd grazed his arm earlier. While he ate, he eyed her chest sneakily, loving how her breasts strained against the tight fabric of her tanktop and how the top peeked out from the scooped neckline, showing the pale, freckled skin. Though his eyes wandered, he kept himself focused enough on what she was saying to appear attentive, making O'Neice think he was being exceptionally sweet by showing so much interest in her; something he was always good about.

She moved fluidly from discussing her painting to explaining what she wanted to see her students accomplish, Ravenna in particular, which was a topic Grey struggled to provide commentary for. Thankfully, before he slipped up with the wrong comment, the waitress returned to offer them dessert options to which they each selected a light, sweet delicacy.

"Mmm, it's so pretty I almost don't want to take a bite!' O'Neice giggled, staring down at her moist, spongy cake topped with a soft lavender frosting tinged with just a hint of purple that striped down the sides of the curved cake with a thin, slivered almond garnishing the top. "Would you like to take one for me?" She offer, pushing it to him across the table where his own plate with a soft macaroon had already been emptied.

Smiling warmly, Grey nodded with a slow, raspy exhale before scooping up a bite, including the thin bit of almond which sent O'Neice's eyebrows shooting up with blunt concern knowing that he was allergic to the oval-shaped nuts. He noted it, though not understanding, and flicked the almond back to the plate before he settled the bite onto his tongue with a pleased 'mmm.'

Trying to cover his mistake, he started to fawn over the dessert, discussing its mundane characteristics which, while delicious, didn't need to be discussed. O'Neice noted the strange behavior though, knowing that normally Kezhon wouldn't slip with his allergies, especially not something as severe as his allergy to almonds which would result in the hospital.

After dessert, Grey whisked them towards their next activity, a lazy stroll towards home along the curved shoreline of the ocean. Moving from downtown towards the park that bordered the ocean's shore, Grey divided his attention between keeping up his act as Kezhon, through hiding his limp and adding an accent, and trying to put the moves onto the sweet feline. At the edge of the park, when the first cool breeze of the approaching nightfall kissed at her bare arms, the maned wolf drew his arm around her side. Gently, his fingers massaged over the soft love handles on her hips beneath his grip. Even though her thin tanktop, he could feel the smoothness of her skin beneath and the heat of her body.

While they strolled closely side-by-side, the afternoon faded into approaching night. The sun started to sink lower, sending oranges and pinks bleeding through the skin like paint spilled wildly over a canvas to stream to the other edge. The moon made its ascent upwards, casting its yellow glow over the thin, paved walkway into the park, where lush green grass and aging trees lined the path. Shielded from downtown, the tall woods of the park created a secluded cove of grassy bedding. Benches littered the area, each one etched with names of long-dead sponsors for each particular seat and who, before them, inspired the sponsorship. Spotting a bench with a thin line of sight to the beach beyond, Grey steered them towards it with a sweet, light tug on her hip to pull her onto the bench on his large lap, lifting her to eye level with him and his affectionate, dopey stares.

Sitting together, Grey felt the heat of her on his lap. The gentle pressure of her weight pressed down to his cock trapped inside his shorts, making him swell with eager impatience, but he held up the airs of a charming, romantic date.

"Isn't it just beautiful?" O'Neice asked, looking around her with an almost childlike wonder at the sight of the trees above them, arching around the small park and slightly brightened with sparkling street lamps and the lights lingering over from downtown. Through the breaks in the trees, the glistening of the ocean's reflective water peeked out, sparkling whimsically.

With a charming grin, Grey stroked a finger along O'Neice's hair and tucked the silky locks gently behind her ear. "You're right. *It* is beautiful." He whispered, holding her gaze so she'd know that he wasn't referring to the night sky even slightly. Her cheeks colored with a rosy blush before he leaned in, finally lightly kissing at the plump, pink lips he'd eyed all through their late lunch.

His soft, nervous lips trembled against her own before she returned the kiss, finding the sudden smooch cute. Her fingers lightly press to his chest, splaying over the striped material of his shirt while her other cups around the back of his neck to pull him down to her to compensate for the size difference. Seated on his lap, her warm ass pressed down to his groin, making him swell beneath her as they kissed innocently for a few minutes. Soft, eager kisses swapped between them with gentle pressure between their closed lips.

Breaking the kiss, O'Neice looked back up to the sky with a thoughtful stare, "It's be so nice to paint this. To capture all the different shades of the sunset mixed with how dark the rest of everything looks-" Grey interrupted her again with another kiss pressing his mouth to hers suddenly, though this time O'Neice pulled back, surprised by the bold move when Kezhon usually favored timidness.

Biting her lip nervously and fidgeting on his lap with slightly confusion, O'Neice returned to her feet, "Let's keep walking. I don't want it to go dark with us still out." She explained, though as an arm re-curled around her waist to lead her the rest of the way towards the beach, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with her mate.

"This just isn't like him. I thought he'd just been suddenly inspired to be romantic, but he's acting so... confident. It's not right. Kezhon isn't ever so daring... or aggressive, especially when he's not even in heat. What has gotten into him?" She chewed at her lip, sneaking a look over at her mate with a curious, studying stare that Grey felt and noted, especially in comparison to the doe-eyed looks from earlier when she'd been spellbound by his charming ways.

One hand gestured out to the water, sparkling with the reflection of the plump, summer moon. "Look at that moon. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" He pondered aloud in a faint tone of voice, leaning into her hair to whispering softly so his breath tickled against the edge of her triangular ears, "Because I have, right here."

For a moment, his sweet compliment swayed her again with a kiddy little jolt of excitement, and O'Neice leaned into his side more, letting him continue to murmur sweetly into her ear about the beautiful night and her own beautiful self as they walked. Above, the sun continued to head to bed, tucking into his pajamas as the sky turned a hazy purple and then handing over the steering wheel to the bright, shining moon for the night as the sky calmed in a dark blue. In the park, antique street lamps sent light darting through the trees and lighting the area with a lazy glow, keeping it dim and romantic despite the sheer quantity of the glistening lamps. Grey watched the girl in the aftermath of the smoothly delivered compliment, just over the top enough to be cheesy and ridiculous, letting her write it off as Kezhon's awkward charm, though she seemed to forget that Kezhon's charm *was* very dorky and cumbersome and he'd never be so smooth as he seemed that night. Her cheeks glowed with a soft, lingering blush while her lips pulled up into coy smile. The cool caress of the night and the romantic glow of the dim lighting seduced her with its dream-like charm, distracting her with the idea of the perfect date.

"Everytime I see those eyes of yours, it's like the stars burnt out because they seem so dim." He mumbled into her ear, acting sheepish and shy at the smooth compliment, though he clearly played the role of charmer often and well. His tone rolled out smoothly, like chocolate with rich, deep undertones. The faint rasp in his breath helped skew his voice, hiding his unpracticed Scottish accent beneath the bit of gruff breathing.

Nearing the house, Grey snuck a hand from her hip to crawl down to the swell of her butt, making her eyes shoot wide open. Lightly, he squeezed at the flesh of her rump and sunk his fingers down around the bubbled shape. Beneath his touch, he felt the subtle give of her soft ass and the motion from her continued steps forward that jiggled it gently against his palm. Though subtle, the grope instantly shifted O'Neice's focus.

"Kezhon wouldn't ever! Especially not outside!" She thought with alarm at the hand on her ass and purposely cupping around the pert cheek, concerned that something might be worrying the male, making him act differently in an attempt to impress her or something. "Has he been watching more movies or something?" She tried to ask herself, falling silent and distant as her mind rolled over the past week with confusion. Kezhon had, in the past, picked up little things to try with her from movies or porn, and often they came off sweet, but goofy until she helped ease them as a couple into whatever he'd borrowed, but this time he seemed bold in the sudden action. His fingers continued to massage over her ass for another second until Grey's tipped gaze looking at O'Neice's face and spotted the slight wrinkle of concern on her forehead, making his hand retreated up to her lower back once again, splaying over the smooth surface.

At the end of her walkway, O'Neice sped up and took the chance to pull out from his grasp so she could lead the way up the walk to unlock the door. As she walked, Grey eyed her ass from behind, loving how it filled the back of her skirt and pushed out against the fabric with its full rounded shape. Her hips swayed side to side with every step, making the skirt sway and the charmed belt dance at her sides, jingling with a jaunty, sloppy tune. He gulped, seeing the hazy shape of her nude body from his stolen glances. The round swell of her full ass stole his attention the entire way up the walk, making his concentration waver as his excitement increased. His raspy breathing escaped, louder than before with its gruff edge clearly audible with every step forward.

His groin throbbed impatiently, swelling at the sight of her and distracting Grey enough that he let his leg droop back into his limp. With his shaky, slow steps and his leg limping along, O'neice reached the threshold of the house with time to look back at him, forehead crinkling.

"Is he limping?" She thought to herself, watching his foot drag behind slightly before the wrinkle deepened. "That's odd. He wasn't limping earlier..." Her eyes swept over her mate's form with an unwavering stare. Besides the limping, he hunched over slightly giving himself a shorter appearance. His ears and tail hung limper, without the usually attentive twitching of a wolf. In fact, his tail barely moved and didn't lift up above his waist. His head continued to one side, the left she noted, as his right eye scoured over the view in front of him. One hand raised partly, wrist bent as he walked forward slowly towards her.

"Something is definitely off with him..." O'Neice decided as he reached the front step and passed into the doorway. "Maybe he's just a bit stressed with something and it's wearing on him." She thought of his headaches, sometimes very painful, that could cause him to maybe avoid too much light in his eyes. Gently, she placed a hand on his arm as he made it to her side and led him to the living room. With her light touch, Grey felt a little tremor of excitement jolt up his spine. Again, her touch brought a warm contentedness.

"Come, sit down. I'll brew us some of our new tea, jasmine." A bright smile faced towards him, expecting some excitement to flicker on Kezhon's face at the mention of new tea, particularly his favorite kind, but instead only a polite smile curled his lips.

"That'd be lovely, dear."

She blinked in confusion as she turned towards the kitchen, leaving Grey seated on her soft, plush couch facing towards a small fireplace with a single log settled on some dusty ashes. "Dear?" She thought to herself, trying to recall another time when he'd ever called her dear. "Did he watch some weird romance movie or read a Harlequin or something?" She wondered, starting the oven with her teapot resting on its spot over the burner.

As the water heated, she looked back into the living room at her mate, studying him again with the unshakeable sensation that something was off. He leaned back into the seat, and his gaze scanned over the room with the same tip in her head. He looked around with curiosity, as though he didn't spend hours a day in the small, cozy space. For a long moment, he stared across at the piano and the bookshelf beside it and scanned the titles, as though his own favorite novels weren't on the shelf where he always returned them, neatly lined up.

"He's really a bit off tonight..." O'Neice murmured as she added tea into the pot and plucked up two small cups to cart into the living room. Settling beside him on the couch, O'Neice leaned into his side just enough for her warmth to press to his arm, hoping to be comforting. Grey tipped himself just slightly towards her before his fingers lightly grazed her arm, mimicking the soft touch she'd first given him earlier.

"It'll just take that tea a few minutes to brew." O'Neice stated, finding herself looking for words for a moment before Grey spoke up.

"So, did you have a nice day today?" He asked sweetly, looking at her with his attentive gaze while his hand snuck onto her leg, grazing the side of her thigh. His fingers seemed to buzz against her skin, excited to feel her supple skin beneath his touch.

As she smiled, nodding before responding to his question, his touch shifted up onto her knee, innocently cupping over the joint while his thumb traced along the soft skin of her leg. She noticed the light touch, but didn't react more than leaning into his side a bit more. "I did, in fact. It was a great day." A smile curled up her lips, and Grey leaned in with a soft kiss at her cheek, making her smile twitch slightly. Conflicted, O'Neice wanted to encourage his soft kisses, but she still couldn't ignore that something was off.

His lips lightly pecked to the corner of her mouth, tracing a line up her jaw before she lightly touched his chest with her gentle fingers. "I loved that little restaurant you wanted to try. It was so fresh!" Her words cut off with another small kiss interrupting her as Grey's fingers stroked down her arm. Her supple skin glided under his touch, further exciting him as he kissed her chin and lips lightly, a bit harder than the light pecks he'd started with.

O'Neice pulled back from the kisses, affectionately petting his chest as she snuggled a bit closer, trying to distract him with cuddles. "What did you think? Did it sate you craving for greens?"

He nodded, kissing at her cheeks and inching to the corner of her mouth before he kissed her lips. Gently, he pressed into another kiss, whispering against her lips. "That craving has been sated... but I've got another..."

She chuckled, smiling before she lightly returned the soft kisses and then leaning back away from them, "I'd never been there before. Had you?"

"Nope..." He murmured, but his attention didn't falter from her. His fingers shifted from her knee up to her lower thigh, resting there while his other hand petted her hair, gliding over the silky smooth locks. "You're just so beautiful." He whispered. She blushed sweetly and let her fingers pet over his chest, returning his light touching, but her normal eagerness for physical interaction wasn't there.

She fell silent, letting him replace idle conversation with swapping gentle kisses, but an entire conversation continued in her head. "He must be distracting himself, being more bold because he isn't thinking about it. He's just in odd mood." She planned, to herself, to ride out the strange mood, trying to let him find their sweet kissing as whatever outlet he needed, but she started to change her mind.

The hand cupping the top of her knee started to shift higher, sliding up over the fabric of her long skirt to the middle of her thigh. High as it was, his long and slender fingers could reach up to graze her high, inner thigh. The pressure of his touch, too, seemed to intensify, pressing to her skin with crawling, exploratory gropes. The hand in her hair slid down, working its way to cup the back of her neck and pull her into a deeper kiss.

Lightly, his tongue traced the edge of her bottom lip, asking for entrance before it pushed past her lips and deepened the light pecks into a long french kiss. His fingers gently squeezed the back of her neck, massaging beneath her thick hair before it drew down the length of her back and shifted to her atm. His fingertips touched down her bicep before he grazed her full breast. O'Neice fidgeted with the touch on her breast, pulling back from the kiss with a small, almost apologetic peck at the corner of his mouth. "Why don't we start the movie, Big Guy?" she asked, trying to change the focus.

He kissed once more at her cheek before she moved off the couch, sifting through their collection of movies as she eyed Grey out of the corner of her eye. "He's being so weird... He's being... adventurous." She chewed at her lip nervously, focusing on reading the line of titles in front of her. She ignored the romantic comedies, the mushy movies, and anything with a dull plot written to be ignored and to play in the background of makeout sessions. Instead, she sifted through the collection of Kezhon's classic science fiction movies, movies that'd always trigger his child-like excitement to the surface. He'd babbled through the credits about the director, inspiration, and quick tidbits of information he'd read over the years.

"Ah. Perfect." She murmured, plucking "2001: A Space Odyssey" of the shelf. She could already hear him in her head, "Stanley Kubrick did so much for this film. He directed and produced and wrote the screenplay. He took a short story, The Sentinel, and turned it into an epic. It has four major parts, each with a slight different focus. And ah! The way he uses match cuts! When he finally settled on the name, he'd been thinking of Homer's The Odyssey since he imagined that for the Greeks, the sea must have held the same mystery as the space of the modern world." He always spoke with such passion for films, a sort of awe for the details behind it.

She turned back towards the couch, holding up the case. "This one work?" She asked, smiling sweetly as she watched his face for some sort of excitement, but only mild agreement crosses as she slides the disk in and started the film. Once she'd sat back down, his arm circled around her shoulders. O'Neice waited, listening to start hearing buzzwords like "screenplay, Kubrick, and match cuts" but even after she'd clicked play, she still didn't hear any excited chatter. Instead, soft explorative kisses traced up her shoulder, starting where the thin strap of her tanktop stopped. His lips worked up her neck gently, leaving little pecks over her smooth, supple skin. As the African landscape that started the movie filled the screen, Grey pulled her into another kiss with the hand curled around her.

O'Neice stiffened, breaking off the kiss and flicking her eyes to the screen as though to check that it really had started without him realizing it. With the apes who acted as the first characters of the film on screen, she pulled herself out from his embrace and shifted over on the couch. Slowly, she put two inches, then four between them so she leaned against the arm of the couch instead of his side. "Listen, I know you aren't really yourself right now..." She stated, looking unsure of herself as she stared at him, unsure at this point if she meant not his normal mood or entirely, mentally someone else.

A smile curled up Grey's lips slowly before he forced out a short chuckle. He scooted closer to her again, close the gap by two inches, then four while a hand stroked down her back over her smooth, silken hair. "Why?" he asked with a joking grin stretching his lips over his teeth. "Do you want me to be someone else?" One hand petted her hair, trying to seem soothing and gentle while the other crept back onto her knee. Scooted close, he tried to re-position them into the same position they were in before.

O'Neice shifted, squirming in his hold so the his hand dropped off her side and retracted back, sitting awkwardly between them on his lap. A slight wrinkle of irritation creased her forehead at his advances after she'd moved away. "I want you to be my sweet Kezhon."

Grey pulled back from her as his eyebrows knit up and his lips bent down into a slight frown. "W-why?" He demanded, a mixture of hurt and anger straining his rasping voice. "Don't you want me?" His head pulled back further, while his forehead knit further with growing agitation and stress that built from her rejection. Confusion fogged his mind, and the situation didn't make sense to him. She accepted Kezhon! Kezhon is weak, unstable, but Grey is in control. He's strong. Softly, his thoughts started to slip out into words. "Why would you be with Kezhon, but not me? Kezhon is weak! He's unstable! A cigarette freaked him out! I came in to take control! I came in because I'm strong! I can function!"

O'Neice stared at him. Both her blue eyes stared wide open at him, confused and unsettled by the outburst. However, Grey's focus wasn't on the feline any longer. Instead, he was lost in his own confusion that she'd triggered.

"Kezhon is weak compared to me! Why would she want him? I'm strong! I'm charming! I've been charming all day! I've been here today!" His voice quieted slightly, murmuring more to himself than to O'Neice. Grey grabbed at the fabric of the couch, clutching to it. He felt like she'd taken something from him. Without realizing it, he's been fascinated with more than the idea of manipulating her, she'd been his chance at anchoring himself into the life he only saw in bursts. Jealousy surfaced. Jealousy for Kezhon's life, despite being unstable. Kezhon got to experience what Grey didn't, a constant, safe partner like O'Neice who seemed to love him unwaveringly with pure, simple kindness.

She's been an opportunity to tie himself to that life, one that he only stole glimpses from. Desperately his fingers petted down her arm, trying to feel attached and included again. While soft, his touch portrayed his desperation. His hand circled around her hand slightly, starting to mumble to her while he pets down her arm. "Why don't you want me?" he whined, looking stricken as he leaned to her cheeks, kissing at the soft, freckled skin.

"Why are your refusing me?" He pressed closer to her, needily grabbing to her elbow and kissing her jawline. "I'm strong." His hand squeezed a bit harder around her arm, as if trying to prove what he said. "I'll be good to you, nice..." His lips pressed onto her cheek again, kissing over her freckles to the corner of her mouth where he pressed his mouth over her own in a sudden kiss.

O'Neice pulled back out of the kiss, eyebrows jutting down in an angry knit at the advances after knowing that it wasn't Kezhon, and worse, hasn't been Kezhon for hours. She tugged back from the grip on her arm. Grey's grip just tightened, trying to pull her to him in a hug. He was whimpering, hard raspy breath sucking into his lips as he kissed her shoulder again. "I'll be good to you!"

Suddenly, O'Neice had enough. Her knee jutted forward hard against the male's stomach, knocking the air out of him with an oof. Pain shot through his stomach, followed with angry that skewed the control he had and jarring Kezhon to switch back to the forefront.

Confused, the male stared forward blankley, straightening up his tilted head as if he'd suddenly shifted between characters in a one person play. His eyes blinked while he swept over his surroundings, noting that they'd left downtown and returned home and that outside, the sunshine had disappeared in place of a dim, late-night haze.

Timidly, O'neice shifts on the couch and looks to her mate, "K-Kezhon, is that you?" She murmured, looking unsure whether she should be sitting next to him still or not. For a moment, he didn't reply, but then his head started to bob.

"Yes, yes. It's me." His eyes fished over her features, seeing the wrinkles of stress on her forehead and her wide, unsure stare. "Oh Dove, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." A large palm stroked down her arm, though very lightly as though unsure if she'd be okay with the touch. The feline launched forward into his arms, curling up to his chest as he kissed over her soft hair. "I'm sorry, O'Neice. I'm so sorry. It's me now. It's Kezhon." His hand petted down her back, soothingly stroking over her hair until she seemed calm. "What happened?"

O'Neice took in a slow breath, pressing close to Kezhon's sturdy chest as she curled up onto his lap. "W-well, I don't know when... uh..." She stumbled, unsure what to call the other person who'd appeared.

"He. Just say he." Kezhon guided, petting over her hair with a small sigh.

"I don't know when he appeared." She continued, looking down at her lap as Kezhon took over to add in a piece of information.

"I don't remember anything past having a panic attack outside while waiting for you. I'm sure I... let him out, so to speak." Kezhon's lips pulled into a tight expression, displeased with admitting his public panic attack *and* the other personalities appearance on the same day.

O'Neice nodded. "We went to dinner, a salad bar. You, hmm, he was really nice. It felt like a date. He pulled out my chair and paid, though I guess you still paid." She cracked a small, nervous smile as she nuzzled into her mate's neck further, listening to the smooth, silence of his breathing that now, in hindsight, contrasted to the raspy sounds of earlier. "After dinner, we went for a walk by the beach through the park, and he... kissed me. He obviously liked me, or something."

Kezhon shook his head, exasperated with thinking over what'd happened. "Did you notice anything odd? Things that weren't me?" He had an idea who'd surface and tricked his mate, but he wanted her to respond to clarify before he shared the theory.

O'Neice nodded, putting her palm to Kezhon's chest to hear his smooth breathing a moment before she replied. "Yeah, he walked slow, with a limp and his breathing was harsher, raspy." She paused a moment, thinking back to dinner when she'd noticed the tip of his head. "And he tipped his head all the time, to the side."

Kezhon nodded, curling an arm around the girl in a hug. "That'd be Mr. Grey. He's manipulative... aggressive... Yet, he's intelligent and very charismatic. The things you mentioned, the lift and the breathing, are signs of him, and he tips his head because he's blind in one eye. He doesn't enjoy his position in life... He wants out."

O'Neice nodded, recalling his worries just before she'd knee'd him. "Yeah... I could tell. Before he left, he started freaking out about my... rejection, I suppose. He said you were weak; he was strong. He seemed so desperate." She looked at Kezhon with sympathy showing in her wide eyes. "That's so sad. To be trapped like that.." She hugged into Kezhon's chest further, rubbing his shoulder. "I don't know why, but he liked me. He really showed obvious interest, more than just being manipulative. There was some actual interest there."

The mention of Grey liking O'Neice, especially when Kezhon had let down his guard in an attempt to relax after piecing through the afternoon his body had while Grey had been in control, triggered the appearance of another alter. This time, Becky, switched into control the tall, maned wolf. Passionately jealous, the feline jumped to her feet and dropped O'Neice onto the couch's seat at the same time.

"How dare you," Kezhon's voice suddenly ticked up into a new pitch to show a new, high-strung sound as his finger jabbed in the air in front of the feline's nose. "How dare you seduce him! He's mine! Grey is my man! And he likes you?" Becky's gaze dropped down the length of O'Neice's body scrutinizing her with a nose crinkled with distaste. "What does he even see in you!?"

For a moment, O'Neice didn't even know how to respond. One second, she'd been sitting with her mate, finally starting to calm down after the unsettling afternoon, then the next everything was exploding with chaos again and now someone else yelled at her from what appeared to be Kezhon.

"Are you listening to me!? He is mine!"

O'Neice blinked, eyebrows wrinkled with confusion. "Who is? Kezhon?"

"Oh gods no!" Becky's face wrinkled with a disgusted face at the present idea while her head swung dramatically from side to side. "I'm talking about Grey! Don't you hear? He's my man! Grey is M-I-N-E!"

Exasperated, O'Neice dropped her head back against the couch, yelling loudly into the air. "Kezhon!"

Hearing his name, Kezhon jarred back into control which silenced the shouting immediately as he noted his new position and the sassy cock of his hip. "Becky..." he grumbled, shaking his head as he sank back onto the couch with a meeky expression, "O'Neice?" When she looked at him with her sparkling blue eyes, he inched closer. "I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I... I..." She put a finger to his lips, quieting his nervous apologies.

"Kezhon, it's okay. I knew about this, I've accepted it and you, because I love you. It's just the first time I've seen it first hand..." She leaned into his side, letting him pull her onto his lap with soft, gentle kisses on her cheek, his facial hair tickling at her soft, freckled skin. They fall silent, both mulling over the day before O'Neice suddenly expects him to switch once again and stares at him.

Looking to her, Kezhon suddenly noticed the television in the background and the movie that's on. "Is that A Space Odyssey?" He asked rhetorically, since O'Neice knew he remembered every scene. "Oh yes! Stanley Kubrick did *so much* for this film! Did you know he directed and produced and wrote the screenplay for this movie?" His eyes lit up with excitement, pure child-like wonder painted over his face.

Smiling, O'Neice shook her head, letting him launch into the rest of the spiel she'd imagined earlier.

"He took a short story, The Sentinel, and turned it into an epic! Four different parts each tied together with match cuts and a common theme! He named it for Homer's The Odyssey because he imagined that the sea had held the same mystery as space does for us to the Greeks, that is!"

O'Neice curled an arm around Kezhon's neck as she snuggled into him. She heard him still chattering about the movie, but she barely heard him. Instead, she listened to his soft, smooth breathing and the pulse of his heart beneath her ear. After the entire day, decoding the person she was with to find that it wasn't who she thought all along, being tricked and manipulated into making out with a man who wasn't, mentally, her mate though he looked like him physically, and then, getting scolded for the entire thing by yet another person inside, O'Neice was exhausted. Leaning into Kezhon's chest, she felt the stress of all the events fade away. As he chattered about the movie, a warm security that this was her Kezhon, dorky and childish.

Gently, she kissed at his neck while he murmured into her hair about what had happened so far, catching them up on the plot he'd long had memorized. His voice faded into a lulling background noise that O'Neice relished in as she cuddled innocently into him. "Kezhon?" She murmured softly, nuzzling to his neck as she spoke.

"Hmm?"

"You're a better kisser than Grey was."

The statement seemed to catch the maned wolf's attention and he tore his eyes off of the movie, though his eyes did linger a beat longer which only reassured the feline all the more that it was her Kezhon. Tenderly, he cupped around her cheek and kissed one corner of her mouth. "Oh yeah?"

O'Neice smiled, moving her hands to cup around his face and kiss the opposite corner of his mouth, "Yeah." Then, they kissed once, a soft, lingering kiss before they pulled apart and settled into a content, comfortable silence broken up only by the sounds effects of the movie.