“Thanks for introducing me to Roy. If you hadn't of stepped in I don't think he would have a shot.” Maria claimed.
“I just wouldn't have been able to see him for what he is.”

“What's that?” Dane asked. The two were standing in line to grab food at one of the many branded canteen's within the Academy.

“Hmm?”

“How you see him.” He smiled at her cheekily.

The Human blushed and averted her gaze down to her tray. “He is really nice.”

“Oh? How nice.” Dane held only a drink in one hand so he was free to rest his free hand on her shoulder in a gentle-but-firm gesture. Maria's mind related it back to the first time and triggered an involuntary shudder down her spine. She gulped and bit the inside of her lips.

“He is kind. His family is good. He is a good man.” She argued. Dane smirked, picking up that she was offering an argument for him without ever really being challenged. It showed him that his own plan was working. He continued to rest a hand on her shoulder, then squeezed. Maria slowly relented and lifted her gaze to Dane. Her lips parted.

“Hey, what's up!” Roy interjected suddenly. Maria yelped and lost her tray due to the shock. The combined forces of both her and Roy managed to capture all of the items before they fell.
“Woah!”

“Y-you appeared out of nowhere.” She scolded.

“You aren't usually jumpy.” Roy observed innocently.

“Something wrong?” He passed a confused glance between her and Dane.

Maria eyed Dane, then rested her eyes fully on Roy and smiled brightly. “No no. It's fine. Just surprised me, is all.”

“Got it.” Roy placed the items he caught back on her tray.
“You buy me something? Looks like you got enough for two.”

She shook her head. “No. Nat, my friend I told you about? She's basically hibernating. Eriel didn't answer me when I asked so I decided I would bring Nat something instead.”

“Oooh, from when you all got sick?” Roy inferred.

Dane would feel bad for once in his life if he did not take the opportunity for his friend. Especially since it was such an easy one.
“Why don't we all go pay her a visit.” He offered.

“Why not.” Maria shrugged.

-

It seemed more like a cave than a room with the darkness, humidity and the smell. Things were strewn about. Maria was evidently not happy about any of it, but she willfully stepped around the mess and approached the bed where a pile of blankets were bundled around the Beastfolk girl. Or there might not have been. Dane could not tell until he spotted a dainty, clawed foot hanging out over the side.
“Nat?” Maria called out.
“You up?” There was nothing.
“Okay, I'm going to set this down. I can tell you've definitely been eating by all the wrappers laying about.” She waited, then when no answers came she sighed.
“You know... You can't keep using it as an excuse.”

Dane ignored the conversation and subtly snapped a picture of the inside door before sending it off and stuffing his phone back in his pocket.
“Stinks in here.” Roy whispered.
“Not like... Beastfolk stink, either.”

“Yeah yeah. There's only so much you can do for some people. Let's get out of here.” Dane commented harshly, unsubtly resting a hand on the small of Maria's back to lead her out in full sight of Roy. He made no attempt to hide the fact that she was willingly accepting the hand on her back.

“True.” Maria agreed. She offered a glance back at the bed before allowing herself to be walked out. Roy trailed behind.

“H-hey wait up. Don't leave me in here!”

“What's going to happen?” Dane laughed. It trailed off as the door shut.

A few minutes passed. The bundle of blankets did not move except to absorb the food next to it before ejecting the wrappers onto the floor. A few more minutes. When everything was quiet and nothing had moved for a while the door began to creak open. Within it stood a dark figure with all the trappings of a monster that would be found under someone's bed or in their closet. Large, slightly hunched, furry. Sky blue, shining eyes scanned the room and a pink tongue licked across white teeth as it's maw dripped saliva. As it's form slunk deeper into the room and stepped on wrappings it stopped and began to shake.

-

Nat heard rustling and moving and spraying but kept her eyes shut tight. The girl just assumed it was her friends again and willfully ignored them for as long as she could. When they seemed intent on staying and meddling she shouted from beneath the blanket.
“Go away! I don't want help! If you got food, leave it!” She stopped after offering that paradoxical statement. There was no answer, just the rustling of plastic garbage bags being tossed near the door. She lifted the blanket and noticed that the light was turned on. Cool air rushed in, signaling that the temperature had been changed on the room's individual thermostat. The fur on her tail and ears stood up as it seeped in through the hole in the blanket. Without wanting to let any more in, but still wanting to get a look out into the room she poked her head out and held the blanket tightly around her neck above her shoulders.

Standing in the middle of the room like a child that had been caught eating pudding out of the fridge past bedtime was a very large Wolf. The Incarnate's eyes alternated between resting on her before embarrassingly glancing away. Nat furrowed her brow. It was an intruder. It was a stranger. It was a man that was by all accounts a threat by his size and more controversially, his Species. But, there were a number of factors that stopped her from screaming or reacting appropriately.

Within his padded palms he held four full trash bags. Two in each large hand. Beneath him her room had been painstakingly cleaned and scoured for dust and dirt and trash and mold. His appearance on the surface level was intimidating, but more specifically she saw signs that only a Beastfolk and a woman could truly appreciate. His mane was styled and neat. His fur was shining and shampooed and the smell of sweet fruit carried over to her. His black claws were manicured and his teeth were white to the point that they looked brand new. He wore stylish clothing for his kind. A colorful, buttoned shirt with the top buttons undone to show a tuft of chest fur that was appealing to her on a primal level. His body was immaculate, in addition to all the extra touches. For all the things she noticed, Nat's jaw dropped. She was disarmed but the question remained and demanded an answer.

“Who the hell are you?” She asked forwardly, but with far less spice than the question deserved given the fact she did not know him.

Renard took a deep, shakey breath. “I'm-”

“Are you Maria or Eriel's friend? Did they tell you to do this?”

He dropped two of the bags and pointed. “Yes! That's it. I am a friend of-” he thought for a moment and remembered the picture of the elf.
“Er...iel.”

Nat snorted. “Right. Who're you actually friends with? Who are you?”

“S-sorry.” He blushed beneath his fur and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I'm friends with Dane. You maybe don't know him but he goes here and he's friends with the elf and the human.” He hoped that would hold up and that she would not scrutinize him too much. Dane would kill him if he messed up his plans.

“He goes here? I mean, you go here too, right?” She lifted a quizzical brow and eyes the ring that was actually hers. She simply did not recognize it.

Renard paused and made a fateful decision. He rose up to full height and puffed his chest out. “Yeah! Yeah, I go here.”

'Why should he have all the fun...' Was a thought that was constantly at the back of the Wolf's mind.

Nat let her guard down. She looked around the room. “So a friend of a friend put you up to this. Paid you?”

“No pay. I wanted to.”

“You wanted to?” She repeated skeptically.

“I think a clean room is a big deal. It means a clean mind. Think about it. You live here and come here every day. If you look down and see dirt and trash that's gonna be how you feel, right?”

Nat tilted her head to one side. “Hmm.” She inspected him closely.
“Same with appearance?”

“Exactly! It's the same with appearance.”

She smiled subtly. There was not even any shed fur on his pants or shirt. That was difficult. “Cute. I more just meant, why would you do this for me? What's the point?” She shrugged by her tone, Renard knew she was suggesting that she did not think she was worth the trouble.

“It's because I like you.” Renard stated. It was a very forward statement that was only balanced out by the fact that he was scratching his chin and glancing away as he said it. It still had an effect on her.

“Eh?” A small yelp escaped her lips.
“Huh?” Another. She felt at a loss for words and lost a grip of the blanket, allowing it to slide off her shoulders. Renard gulped as he looked down to see the dumbfounded cat in her nightie with one loose strap sliding off her shoulder. Her lightly freckled cheeks were blushing deeply. When she finally collected herself her expression turned and in frustration she stood up on the bed to match his height and the girl began very lightly battering his large lupine skull.
“The heck is wrong with you, dude! C-coming in and saying something like that to a girl after doing all-” She motioned around.
“All this...” Her tone softened significantly as it sunk in.

He dropped all bags and raised his hands to defend himself. When the battering stopped he lowered them and saw her standing with her arms crossed over her perky chest. Her ears were standing on a swivel and her lithe, tabby tail was whipping back and forth behind her.
“Name?” She ordered.

“Renard.”

“House?” She asked.

“S-same as you.” He thought quickly.

Surprisingly she fell for it and gave up the store. “Tintamere.” She smirked, eyeing his large frame.
“Figures.” she dropped down onto her rear and bounced on the bed a few times before becoming still. She stared up and leaned closer with a curious expression.
“You... Like me?”

“Yeah.” He offered breathlessly.

“What's there to like?” She wondered out loud, her little body shimmying where she sat on the bed. She was so small to him and seemed so fragile, but he understood the truth She was a mage. It was just her appearance that was like a small animal in comparison. His hand rose shakily. He wanted to pet her and hold her, but he resisted his urges. She read his pause and chuckled.
“My body? No doubt... I'm not unpopular, right?” She tussled her hair flourishingly.

“I guess Eriel's got the goods and the personality, but I'm no slouch. Girl like me? I probably don't need to do well here to find a guy and live out the rest of my life comfortably, right?” She wiggled her body as she said that, sliding the strap back up over her shoulder.
“You want my body?” She asked, looking up at him with her deep orange eyes.

“What I like is...” he tried not to give away too much.
“You're really just so cool.”

“Huh?” She seemed taken aback, but the twitching at the corner of her lip told him it was in a good way.
“No I'm not.” She argued, shooting him a look of disbelief.

“You beat the shit out of m-” He stopped himself.
“Targets so well! Your skill is crazy. You must be awesome at magic. You must put so much work into training!”

She shook her head. “I got instincts, that's all. I can beat up normies, so what? My grades are shit. My connections suck. I'm on the verge of being sent home because there's no value in what I do.”

“No value!? Who says that?”

“Most people.” She said frankly.

“W-well... What if-” He wasn't sure what to say. He landed on:
“You can't give up.”

Nat laughed loudly. “That's cute. Even you have no idea what to say to pump me up. Can't come up with a comforting lie, even. I can beat people up? My physical magic is good? Instincts on point? Cool... I have expectations on me. I'm not the first person in my family to be sent here, but guess what? I'm the first Tintamere. All of my siblings before and after me. My parents? Coda. They want me to get good grades. To be smart and to understand all the shit about magic that they think I need to. Since I can't” She huffed.
“It's marriage. It's just marriage. Bargaining chip to gain a bit more influence for the people that matter.”

“Fuck 'em!” Renard shouted vehemently.

“Hah?” She leaned back. Her left eye twitched.

“Fuck. Them. You know magic!”

“Yeah?”

“You beat the shit out of thugs and punks and get results.”

She touched her cheek bashfully and nodded. “Y-yeah. I guess. With help.”

“You need your families approval to be here?”

She thought about it long and hard. She did not. Not really. “N.. o... No! I don't!”

“Whaddaya need!?”

“I need to kick ass and show potential in magic! I just need to keep doing what I'm doing...” Relief washed over her.

'It was so simple...'

“Who cares what they think, don't let them pull you out for some stupid reason!” Renard argued.

“Yeah, fuck that!”

“Fuck that!” He repeated. As he said that she pounced on him and hung off of him with her arms around his neck. Her legs wrapped around his back above his waist. He stumbled but remained on his feet as the girl basically climbed over him. His jaw dropped as she leaned up and licked his teeth affectionately. Her hot breath entered his nostrils and caused him to almost pass out as arousal sent blood rushing down faster than he could handle. He placed a hand on her back that kept her up through it all.
“Huh?”

“I like you too.” She said offhandedly.
“You're really cute. I think my family would hate you.” He stared down after she said that and saw her staring up at him wickedly. The Wolf gulped.

“You sure you like me?” She asked forwardly.

“Yeah.” He said quickly. The two rolled onto the bed with her on top of his broad chest. She bent down and kissed his maw, licking at his teeth again. He pushed his long tongue into her mouth and allowed her to suck on it. She would not let it go. Renard gasped.
“Th-thith mean we goin outh?”

Nat giggled and offered an unsubtle nod. Renard excitedly took out his phone.

-

“The fuck?” Dane checked the ping. It said:

[Renard has changed his relationship status from single.]

He chuckled. “Wow. Good job buddy, but I don't think it counts if it's forced.” The Human rolled his eyes and stowed his phone.

“What was that?” Maria asked.

“Just a friend. Seems like he's getting lucky.”

The girl blushed. “G-good for him.”

“Very good. Man's been dry for a long time. Imagine how horrible that must be to be starved of pleasure.” Dane offered suggestively, bringing his face close to Maria's blushing cheek.

“Worse I think would be being in a relationship with the illusion of pleasure. What do you guys think?” He pretended to be posing the question in good faith to all parties present.

“Y-yeah.” The girl stood stone still.

“We don't know what that's like, right!” Roy laughed, draping an arm over Maria's shoulder. The two laughed, one genuinely and one awkwardly. Dane leaned back, making sure to keep continuous, confident eye contact with the girl. Beneath the table her thighs clenched tightly. Her sex was crying out in need. All she could think about was the call she 'accidentally' intercepted.

 

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