No Need Fur Love [Degu x Gerard Le Pardie]

[Degusaurusrex]

"The more you fight, the more it's going to hurt." Tessa yelped as the handler pulled her along by the length of chain connected to her collar, causing her to stumble on the way to the vehicle out front of the shelter. The back doors of the van were already propped open, the cage inside prepared for their venture as she dug her heels into the ground and tried to jolt back.

"You would think you'd be happy to be out of the shelter and to be going to a home, you ungrateful cur!" She yelped again and braced her hands on the back of the van, wriggling around and trying to stop the handler from pushing her into the cage, only to end up on her backside and have the cage door slammed in her face.

The door to the van slammed just seconds later as she threw herself against the front of the cage, bouncing back and shaking her head with a wrinkle of her nose. It might have been feasible to escape before departure or even break out of the cage now, but the sedative that they'd given her was kicking in and her vision was starting to swim. They'd finally gotten a high enough dose that it prevented her from simply breaking free and escaping again, which left her slumped into the cage staring at the wall with no particular spot in focus. She'd been adopted? Who would be stupid enough to take a wolf whose adoption fee was so low because she couldn't be controlled?

The bouncing of the vehicle as they trekked through the city and out was enough to make her want to vomit, her empty stomach churning and rebelling as she fought to keep down the water she'd had earlier in the morning. Perhaps it was a blessing that she hadn't been given any type of breakfast yet to throw up, but it didn't dull the feeling of nausea that had her groaning and curling up inside the back of the van. Maybe they'd given her too strong a dose of sedative, because she'd never been so sick from a tranquilizer before. Caught between coherency and unconsciousness in little more than a haze of growls and groans was torture for the lycan, and she offered little to no resistance when the back doors of the van opened some time later. How long had they been driving for?

There came the clip of a fresh leash attached to her collar, replacing the metal chain they'd used in the shelter as she was tugged along towards the house. Her nose twitched constantly as she tried to parse out the different scents around them: trees, flowers, the different animals she could scent as a breeze swept over them. Being outside would have been more pleasurable if she hadn't still been walking along in a fog, scratching behind a sloped ear and fidgeting uncomfortably. Filthy clothing was so uncomfortable, but at least the sweat pants and shirt covered everything essential and didn't display her like a prize.

"Mr. Winter?" The handler knocked on the front door loudly, keeping a firm hold on the leash as he waited patiently for the owner to answer. "I've a gift to deliver to you, courtesy of a friend." Tessa huffed at the man's side, rubbing at her eyes before glaring at this new face.

"All her paperwork is in this envelope, as well as the electronic key for the collar to ensure she won't be shifting and mauling you. Congratulations on your new addition to your home, Mr. Winter." He extended Tessa's leash to the man with a smile, followed by the manila envelope containing all of the other information.

"We did sedate her for the drive over, but she'll be fully coherent soon, so no need to worry about anything. We do recommend a meat heavy diet, though, you'll find all the care recommendations on the papers. Good day to you, Sir."

 

[Gerard Le Pardie]

Christopher had a difficult night, the medicine he was taking to sleep didn't have the effect it should have, and so he became sleepy but unable to sleep - he had been sleeping alone for a month, and possibly it had been a month since he had slept a full night. - that's why his dark circles were huge under his eyes, his hair that he hadn't cut for, well at least a month too, was messy and barely tied in a top knot, he was only wearing sweatpants and as it was a reasonably hot morning, not even he had gone to the trouble of putting on a T-shirt. During the night as he couldn't sleep he decided to write, the publisher was already charging for the release of the next book and there were many things he wanted to review before sending the pilot for approve. Now, he was in the kitchen preparing a huge amount of coffee when he heard the doorbell ringing and his name being shouted and he thought angrily what and who could be looking for him at that time, he moved to a remote place just thinking about not being disturbed, he had enough with his friends who kept calling or appearing every 5 minutes to check on him! What a surprise! He was in bad place...

With these dark thoughts, he went to the door and opened it despondently, only to see a man passing him a leash and saying that he had received a Lycan as a gift and apparently should take care of her "But wait a minute I didn't ask for it.. ." He couldn't even speak properly and the man were already informing him of some of the things he should know and giving him a hell of lots of envelopes with other informations, and cherry on top of it all she as high apparently! Chris was in such a state of surprise trying to process everything that happened in those last 5 minutes that he didn't even have time to deny such a 'gift"! So the two of them were standing on his doorstep, he was stunned by the situation, she... he couldn't even say! Where would she sleep for God's sake?! His cottage basically consisted of a small kitchen, a tiny living room with a fireplace for cold days, a cramped bathroom, and a mezzanine with his bed, the property they were in was huge, but he definitely hadn't thought of ever needing to live with someone again.

Going with the flow he just took a few steps back and not knowing how to interact he called out softly "Can you...hm...can you come to the kitchen so we can...hm...talk?" and slightly pulled the leash that was long enough so that he could go to the two-seater table he had for meals, where he was currently using as a support for his laptop, and throw himself in a chair completely desolate with the situation. He passed the loop of the collar through his hand, supporting it on his arm and hurried to open the envelopes on a try to find out more information, and that's how he came across her name...Tessa! He pretty much ignored other things like how she couldn't be controlled until now.

Taking a deep breath, he managed to put a slightly desperate smile on his face as he looked back at her "How are you feeling Tessa?!", immediately he figured he was the one that should be high.

 

[Degusaurusrex]

It wasn't as if he was really giving her a choice in the matter, and standing there was becoming rather tiresome. Tessa's movements were clumsy as she stumbled through the door, contemplating for only a moment whether or not running was worth it. The man was clearly caught by surprise, and the near panic on his face told her that he probably had no idea what to do. He did have a hold of the leash though, and the collar on her neck would stop her from shifting even if she could escape and hide away. No, better to bide her time until her body functioned properly and she could plot her escape then.

She plopped down into the other seat and narrowed her eyes at him, judging the length of the leash and the distance between them before she jolted back in surprise. Both the volume and the intensity of his words had spooked her, and she opened her mouth momentarily before closing it and shaking her head. How was she feeling? She was exhausted, still slightly doped up, and she hadn't eaten anything in the last day, so she was hungry.

Maybe she could at least get the leash part off if she was sneaky enough. A hand came up to scratch at her neck as she huffed, looking between him and the paperwork he'd skimmed over before she fixed him with an extremely displeased look. Why was he looking at her like that? It was enough to put her on edge as she vacated the seat she'd taken, testing how far she could walk before the leash began to tug her back toward him. Try to unclip the leash, or try to snap it? Do it now, or do it when he looked away?

 

[Gerard Le Pardie]

Were she able to talk or not? He knew that many Lycans were being reintroduced into society and that they were having varying degrees of success, and some had often fled back into the wild, to be re-captured or to become more and more wild. Is Tessa one of the Lycans who can't fit in with society? He still couldn't say, but apparently her calm was fleeting and while the medication's effects lasted...however...he couldn't keep her trapped...everything he believed in and much of what his ex-wife did had taught him was about believing in others and trying to do good! So he decided to keep trying... "Tessa...maybe you don't feel comfortable talking to me right now, and believe me I'm very scared, maybe even more than you, since I know and respect all the strength you must possess. And that it would be very easy for you to free yourself from me and run away! But what I can do for you right now is try to understand how we can help each other....so...are you hungry? They told me you prefer meat, but...sorry, I really don't know if you prefer it raw or prepared in some way?!"

He tried to be polite, to be cautious... to be affectionate! But he couldn't pretend he was 100% comfortable with the situation, surprise and panic still clouded both his face and his reasoning! Maybe if he had chosen to adopt Tessa, he would have been calmer, but it's almost impossible to imagine that anyone would be able to accept a situation like this, and he felt a headache rising on the horizon!

 

[Degusaurusrex]

He was admitting that he was scared of her? That wasn't something she had expected, and the surprise was enough to get her to turn and look at him. He was talking so fast that her brain was struggling to keep up, resulting in a blank look on her face as she tried to process everything. He really was scared, maybe she could use that to her advantage--Wait, had he said meat?

That was enough to halt her internal plan about snapping the leash, and she stood there uncertainly trying to decide what to do. She was hungry, and meat sounded good, and maybe he'd finally put down the leash when he went to handle the food. Her head tilted gradually as she watched him before she finally opened her mouth again, clearing her throat before she started pacing.

"Meat is meat." It wasn't like they'd ever prepared any kind of special feasts at the shelter, all of her food had just been shoved into her cage on a tray and retrieved when she was asleep and couldn't injure the workers. A glance back at him and she stepped back slightly, testing the tension of the leash and then looking around the room. It was just so.. Small.

 

[Gerard Le Pardie]

"Well I can prepare something for you, I don't eat that much meat but just yesterday I bought deer meat from some hunters who passed by selling it, anyway I have no idea what your will or intention is to stay in my house, but I won't be able to cook while I hold this leash, so... I think I'll let you go, if you want to leave I can't stop you anyway... but as long as you want you can count on this house as yours".

He released the collar from his wrist, and passing through her, he placed the end that he had been holding on the table within her reach, it was no use pretending that he had some control over her, apparently, she had been there so long and not have running away immediately had already been a profit, and as he didn't want to return her to the shelter - everything he had read about these places indicated that they were not treated well, coming very close to cruelty - he had to accept one of two situations, he would run away. or they would start to understand each other even if they weren't completely comfortable with the situation or that they already trusted each other.

At least one good thing had happened, with all that madness, and with the arrival of Tessa, he had managed to forget, even if for a few moments, his pain, and his tiredness from the sleepless night!

 

[Degusaurusrex]

Wait, that was it, it was that easy?

Tessa hadn't expected him to give her free range so easily, and she stared at the length that now rested freely on the table. She'd gotten so caught up in using the parts of her brain that still worked to form a plan, and he'd smashed that all to hell the moment he simply told her she could leave. That most definitely was a trick, and she stared at it for only a moment before she bolted.

From there it was a flash of limbs and long hair, feet braced on the counter as she scrambled up and over it to where she could spot the bare top of the fridge. It was the highest point of the room that she could spot, and shy of having gone up to where she saw the stairs, frame, and bed, it was the closest spot she could hide without someone simply cornering her again.

The noise she made was somewhere between satisfaction and discontent as Tessa looked down from her crouch on top of the fridge, and she fumbled with the clip to the leash for several seconds before she managed to undo it and toss it down. It did nothing about the fact that she was still collared and unable to change, but there was something almost cathartic about watching it hit the floor and bounce before landing several feet away, about the fact that she had been the one to remove it. There was a smug look on her face as she gazed down at where Christopher was before she tilted her head, watching and waiting to see just what kind of human she'd been given to. She knew absolutely nothing about him except for his appearance and his voice, she didn't even know the man's name yet! How was she supposed to appropriately judge him, if not from a safe space above him?

 

[Gerard Le Pardie]

He turned around, startled, and he couldn't help but show his fear on his expression, when he heard the noise of her speeding towards him, he immediately thought he would be attacked and for a few moments he almost react in order to protect himself, but Tessa passed him and went to put herself on top of the fridge where she keep watching both the house and him, the fridge creaked and shook when she finished going up as he just sighed "Oh god...". How? How was he going to manage to maintain his lifestyle, or even continue to mourn his wife? And if she decided to stay, how would they understand each other and even build the least amount of friendship or trust when they were so different?

He went to the fridge, and opened it to get the venison fillets that he had recently bought, there was easily more than 3 pounds of meat there, but as he had no idea how much she would eat, he decided to do everything, he took some seasonings like onions, garlic, rosemary and thyme, plus butter. As he took two steps towards the stove he heard the noise of the leash hitting the floor and for the first time he managed to have a spark of empathy with Tessa as he looked at her on top of the fridge and with a discreet smile on his face managed to say "It must have been really nice to take it away from your reaction...as i said, as long as you're with me i...you don't have to worry about using it, you're free to come and go as you please! In the forest on my property there are some animals wild, but... I think you can handle them all"

"If you want you can go upstairs and stay in bed until the food is ready, apparently you like high places..." He started by chopping the onion and garlic, heated up a large metal skillet, melted the butter and browned the onion and garlic, reserved for later, added more butter and 3 large fillets to brown, after a few minutes he turned, returned the onion and garlic to the skillet and added the rosemary and thyme and proceeded to drizzle the meat with the butter and spices. In 15 minutes it was ready, he took the notebook off the table and arranged it with two plates, glasses, and cutlery and called her to eat "Come on Tessa, let's eat..." He realized he was using an almost childish tone towards her, and immediately regretted it, he didn't know how many she had but they looked the same age.

 

[Degusaurusrex]

That was a lot of meat he was pulling out of the fridge, and Tessa's entire body perked up as she looked down at him. She wasn't entirely sure what all of the other ingredients were, but it didn't matter now that she'd seen just how much meat there was. The fact that he seemed to be saying the leash would no longer be used was just icing on the cake, but that remained to be seen as the day progressed. She was only just now feeling the last of the sedative wearing off, her pupils still dilated and fixated on the food he was cooking even as he spoke. Something about a bed?

Right, the bed was up high, up the flight of stairs and overlooking everything else in his home. The fact that he was offering that was refreshing, albeit confusing, and she took a moment to look around and analyze the area. Did she really want to come down from the fridge, that was the biggest question, and the answer was a definite no, at least until she realized that the food was done. It looked so.. Fancy, and she stared down from the fridge for another long minute before she dropped down to the floor with a small thud.

When she realized he intended for her to eat at the table, Tessa looked at him as if he'd spontaneously grown a second head. As appealing as the food was, he wanted her to sit at the table like a human? The huff of disbelief she gave was enough to indicate her thoughts on the matter, and after a second of contemplating she approached the table, snatched up the plate and glass, and retreated to the other end of the room to sit on the floor.

Good enough.

 

[Gerard Le Pardie]

A series of popular sayings went through his head and he was sure that possibly everyone would fit into the current situation, so he stopped to recap how his life turned upside down, a month ago his will to live ended when a subtely cancer took his wife, he just hadn't followed her because she asked him to live, so he moved to the new house, a house without the memories of their daily lived together, even without sleeping he felt he was better there, now what? Now, venison fillet for breakfast? No wonder they say there is a first time for everything! Less than an hour ago he was making liters of coffee as he hadn't slept well and now a lycan...Tessa...was eating meat on the floor of his house, he felt his body sore and tired from sleep deprivation and even then he was awake, sleep being just a memory of a bad night!

He only ate a small portion of the meat and basically 90% of what he made was left for Tessa, and apparently they weren't kidding when they said that she actually preferred a meat-based diet, but one thing bothered him, she didn't need to eat. on the floor was this a reflection of time spent in the kennel or a preference, he got up to leave the plate and cutlery he had used to eat and walked over to her, lowering himself carefully beside her "Tessa, you don't have to eat on the floor , we're not at the kennel and here you can have all the food you want, so why don't you sit at the table with me?" his voice came out low and cautious, he didn't know how she would react and so he tried to make it sound like a request, which it really was, not an order let alone a demand.

 

[Degusaurusrex]

Tessa growled in warning when he took a seat beside her, shifting across the floor holding the plate possessively. The rumble continued in her throat for several seconds until she was satisfied that he wasn't there to steal her food from her, but rather invite her to the table again. What was the fascination with eating together? Even when she had eaten with others of her kind, regardless of human or lupine form, she couldn't remember ever having a properly set table or meal to attend together. This was so.. Civil, strange.

"Why?" She fumbled for a piece of food without looking away from him. "Dogs not eat at the table." She very much would have preferred to be a dog, but the metal around her neck was preventing that from happening. Her only consolation was the supposed freedom she was offered with the outdoors, but that had yet to be tested. "Why it matter where I eat?"

 

[Gerard Le Pardie]

"Tessa, you're not a dog, and I know you're not human either! You're something bigger and much more powerful that honestly eludes me, but you sure as hell don't have to eat on the floor like a domestic animal!" He looked at her honestly for the first time, putting aside the anguish of her surprise appearing in his house suddenly and even a little bit of the anger that even unintentionally he ended up feeling for having his intimacy and his grief invaded in that way. Paying attention, he noticed that her skin had the tone of someone who hasn't seen the sun for a long time, something that contrasted directly with the musculature that was possible to see beneath the skin, her hair despite being long and honestly beautiful was dirty and badly care possibly for the time in the kennel, in fact, she as a whole was dirty.

"I'm not going to force you to do anything, but I'd like you to come and sit at the table with me, and…and then we can discuss what we're going to do…or rather, what do you want to do?!"

 

[Degusaurusrex]

How much of her food was still left? Tessa glanced down at the plate she held slightly to the side and away from him, eyeing it before looking back at him suspiciously. There was still enough left that she didn't want to abandon it to chance running now, but she also wasn't ready to sit at the table as if she were some civilized human who prided themself on table manners. Maybe she could just take the plate with her? No, that was too much of a hassle and she'd likely end up dropping it anyway.

The next best solution seemed to be standing up carefully with the plate and shoving as much food in her mouth as she could fit, edging toward the table as if she had intent to sit, only to drop the mostly empty plate on it and then bolt for the door that led outside. A quick jerk of the handle and it slid open, exposing her abruptly to the chilly morning air as she froze momentarily and then stepped through the opening.

Freedom.

Not the kind of freedom she truly craved, needed, but as much freedom as she could get until she found a way to remove the collar. The door was left open as she abandoned the house, holding the remainder of her meal tightly between her teeth as she fled without a backward glance. Everything else could be dealt with later, all that mattered was that she'd gotten out and she could run.

She ran hard and fast until her legs ached and her lungs burned, forcing her to slow down and then stop some distance from the house. She couldn't abandon the rest of her food, and she was well aware that he couldn't keep up with her speed even in her human form. She was far enough from the house, safe enough that she dropped to the ground and set to work devouring the rest of her meal, sloppy as she was about it.