“Maybe?” Dominic shrugged noncommittally, although he was a little intrigued at the thought of seeing Zia shift and wondered if it was anything like how Cain did it.
“So, how do you actually do that? Can you do it anytime you want, or is it conditional like only on a full moon?”
“Mostly at will. Still forced under a full moon. But, I’m a mongrel, so if I do shift, I have to stay furry for a few hours and even then, I tend to sleep for a few hours after shifting back. Shit’s exhausting.”
“It had its moments.” he laughed gently, the warmth returning to his eyes.
“It’s fine, really. Things have been okay for a while, aside from moving house a few times, but I think things are finally gonna settle down properly now so the twins have some stability again.
She was beginning to relax, something she didn’t seem to do too often anymore. Even Robbie kept her on toes, but mostly because he liked to push her limits on her abilities.
“I hope they do. Everyone should have stability.”
Frey made another huffing sound in agreement. She didn’t really have the energy to do anything else anyway, and she was sure he wouldn’t mind if she stayed in the room while he went to get the food, so she rolled herself out of his lap and hauled herself toward the bed as best she could, though that still only meant she could get her front paws up on it without help, giving Dyson a ‘help, please?’ look with a grumbled sigh.
He got the hint and helped her up, adjusting the blankets for her so she didn’t have to try to do it herself. Once he was certain she was comfortable, he dipped back downstairs and began trying to carry as much food at once as he could. He definitely went overboard with cooking.
“Sure you wanna eat in your bed?”
Frey squirmed a little again, wiggling even more into Dyson’s lap and resting her head on his arm in a way that said she was comfortable in more ways than just physical, then yawned again.
Her coyote brain made it so much easier to cut through all the noise and worry that usually cluttered up her human brain, so it was obvious that her hang-ups about everything had subsided, for the time being, letting her relax and just be close to him.
“You know, there’s a bunch of food down in the kitchen that we need to eat. What say you we get fat enough to not be able to move and then just say fuck all to the day and sleep?” he offered, his stomach rumbling a little.
Between her exhaustion and Dyson scratching behind her ears, Frey couldn’t stop herself when a yawn built up, her jaws opening wide as a faint whine escaped. If they stayed like this much longer there was a good chance she’d fall asleep on him, not that she minded with how comfortable she was and how sweet he was being.
“That’s my girl,” he murmured, not realizing he had said it out loud. She was a large part of the reason he didn’t really date. Sure, he had the occasional hook up, but those were few and far between and never at the bar. She was who he wanted in any way that mattered.
A small bark came out of her in answer, tail beating faster. She wiggled a little at having her head scratched, eagerly leaning more into his touch when he hit just the right spot, acting more like a regular, domesticated puppy than a coyote.
He laughed again, scratching behind both of her ears at the same time. It was amusing to see her like this, to see her without any walls put up. He definitely liked seeing her more relaxed.
Somewhere in all of the small displays of affection, Frey’s tail had started wagging, the big, fluffy brush of it beating a steady rhythm against the carpeted floor.
Even with her more canine side operating the controls right now, she couldn’t help think how much easier things would be if they were like this all the time.
“Is that your tail wagging or are you just happy to see me?” he teased, relaxing now that she seemed to be doing better. He scratched at a spot just behind her ears, not caring that one of his legs was beginning to fall asleep.
The coyote huffed and licked at Dyson’s wrist, trying to assure him that he was helping more than he probably realised. Frey had been so wrapped up in locking herself away whenever she shifted that she hadn’t even considered the possibility before that having someone around like this might make things just bearable enough to be significantly better for her overall.
A small laugh escaped him when she licked him and he leaned down a bit to press a kiss between her ears. He didn’t really see her shifted often, but it was sort of nice to be able to just hang out with her and not be worried about anything. No one else was going to bother her while she was a coyote, except maybe grandma or grandpa bringing her food.
Frey managed to find just enough energy to drag herself up and sort of half into his lap. Physical contact was something Arkos had told her would always help when she was hurt or distressed, and with no other shifters around, Dyson was the next best thing and more to her preference anyway.
Dropping back down, she leaned her head against his stomach, a small, grateful sound rumbling up from her as she tried to get comfortable again.
Dyson moved his legs a little, creating almost a sort of dip for her to get comfortable in as he ran his fingers through her fur. It was a mirror of earlier, but it slipped his own notice.
“I wish I could make this easier for you,” he mumbled, not knowing what else to do or say.
“More trouble her running around taking bites out of people.” Darius shrugged, deciding that it was best not to mention that it wouldn’t just be hunters on their tail if the girl got a little too out of hand.
“Safer this way, trust me.”
Kay was going to be pissed if she woke up in a cage again, but Ty just didn’t see any other options. They had gone to more magic practitioners than he could count anymore and none of them were any use.
“…How long of a drive?”
ofviolentdeath 