A few days later he came home from school to find Elly especially excited. He barely had time to take off his boots before she came rushing up to him with a huge smile.
"The bed came!" She grasped his wrist lightly in her hand and tugged him towards the bedroom. "Look! It's so <i>big</i>, Shota! I mean, I knew it would be bigger than my twin, but ohmigod!"
He grinned, letting her pull him forward. "Was there any trouble getting it set up?"
"No, a couple guys came - they just did it, you must've missed them by only a few minutes. I stayed in the kitchen, but they were super nice and polite." She bounced a few times experimentally on the new mattress.
"Here, let's get this off." He took one end of a carefully placed piece of bubble wrap on the headboard and tugged.
As soon as it came into view she froze, her eyes blank with panic. Her arms jerked down to her sides and she curled into a tight ball, wrapping her tail around herself as she drew in large, shuddering breaths.
"What's wrong?" Aizawa knelt beside her, his brow lined with worry. "You're okay, I'm here."
Her eyes cleared somewhat and she clutched at his waist in a desperate hug. "Bedpost!" Was all she could gasp.
He spared a quick glance at the headboard and saw they had sent the wrong one. Knowing the mistake couldn't be what had caused her to panic, he stroked her ears and concentrated on the design. It was very sturdy-looking and there were large knobs at the post. He frowned harder, struggling to think why this was upsetting her, and suddenly had a dark revelation.
Those thick posts would be perfect for tying someone to, or perhaps handcuffing them.
<i>Oh, no</i>.
It was all he could think or say as he pulled her all the way into his lap. "Oh, no ...no." His voice broke, and he buried his face in her hair, holding her tight. "It's okay, I'll deal with it. You're safe."
"Wh - what're you..?"
"I'll get rid of it." He stood, placed his hands on the headboard and wrenched, his shoulders rippling under the t-shirt he wore. She heard a squealing sound as the screws stripped, then the entire thing popped free. Aizawa held it up and strode purposefully out of the room, pausing only to grab the fleece blanket off the bed.
When he came back Elly was breathing easier, her ears up and the panicky look gone from her eyes. She did, however, look slightly nauseous.
"What did you do with it, babe?"
"I put it by the door. We can get a new one." His jaw rippled and his mouth was set in a thin line of anger.
"The blanket?"
"I used that to cover it."
"Oh." She sniffled, then laid her head on his chest when he climbed next to her again. "Thank you."
"Better?" He kissed her so fervently that her lips felt hot and swollen when they parted. "Am I holding you too tight?"
She shook her head. "No, s'good. I - I can't feel too bad when your arms are around me."
Aizawa's anger faded a little. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really. Maybe some day, just ...not now."
"All right." He kissed her on the cheek, deliberately rubbing his scruff on her sensitive skin in a way he knew always made her giggle. It didn't disappoint, and soon she was laughing and trying to squirm away from his gentle teasing.
"Quit it!"
"Hmm, maybe. If you promise more kisses." He grinned. "You know, we're getting closer every day to the wedding -"
"I know," Elly sighed happily. She nuzzled close to him, breathing deeply of his scent with a smile.
"Is there anything you want to do? What did you think your wedding would be like as a little girl?"
She hesitated. "I - I didn't think I'd <i>get</i> married. But, fantasy-wise, I always dreamed of my husband carrying me back home, over the threshold somewhere for our honeymoon."
"I can do that. That's easy."
"I <i>really</i> like it when you do stuff like that." Her voice lowered shyly, almost inaudible, as she confessed this.
"You like to feel loved and protected." He kissed the top of her head. "There's nothing wrong with that. But, still... you deserve more. I have a ton of pamphlets Kayama keeps pushing on me for honeymoon ideas. You want to look at some?"
Elly raised an eyebrow. "Kayama? You sure they're, ah..."
"They're nice places." Aizawa shrugged.
"That just means you took the other kind out."
He coughed into one hand. "Yes."
They spent a great deal of time looking at the brochures and checking websites on his laptop and her phone before deciding on a specific hot springs inn. It wasn't the most expensive but it was quiet and catered to heroes that wanted anonymity.
No comments:
Post a Comment