Heart within the beast

[Ricia]

Rhea smiled and got of the bed to quickly run over to her desk, pulling out several books from her backpack that she had brought. She picked on up and ran back to the bed before jumping on it. She was excited to do this one little thing. She moved to get under the blankets before she opened the book and began to read where they had last left off. She read a few chapters before she got up to go turn off the lights and sleep.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan's ears twitched as she read through the pages. Enjoying the story, enjoying her voice. He fell asleep shortly after she did, opting to stay where he was rather than move to the mattress on the floor. The bed was plenty large enough . . . and he didn't feel like putting distance between himself and Rhea that night. He had a feeling the next day was going to be a long one . . .

 

[Ricia]

When morning came, they were woken by Bella and many other women, Rhea was dressed and Kurogan was collared and taken with Rhea to a large area where a man was waiting with a couple other people all in a white uniform.


"Oh.. my.. god." The man said with shock, "They said it was a big dog.... but that is a monster!" He exclaimed. "we will have him bathed and cleaned in no time." He said waving his hand.


Rhea was standing there looking at bit worried for Kurogan, but the other people in white cloths tried to tug Kurogen over to them to start cleaning him.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan felt the urge to scratch off the collar as it was put on him. It was both constricting and unnecessary. He quietly followed beside Rhea, and was a tad uncomfortable when brought to the men. He let out something of a snort at the man's comments. One: he was merely large, Kurgogan had seen monsters before. Two: He still felt there was no need to be cleaned . . . but seeing as there was no avoiding it, he merely settled for one minor show of dominance. When one of the men tugged on the leash, he pointedly refused to move. A few more tugs, and then the man pulled harder. Just before the harder pull, Kurogan walked forward. The man, no longer having any resistance, promptly fell on his ass. Kurogan walked past him, not looking at him. If he was going to comply, it would be because he wanted to, not because some random stranger tugged him in the direction they wished.

 

[Ricia]

Rhea started to laugh a bit when it happened, but then was given a look along the lines of 'a lady shouldn't laugh at that' and quieted, but she was still giggling a bit.


The man have a look of shock when he just obediently walked over to where he needed to be. It was then that a bowl of hot water was poured on him, completely soaking him. he was soon cleaned and lathered by soaps, several hands ran through his fur. Another bowl of warm water was dump on him to wash out the soaps. He then had some fans of warm air blown on him to dry him as someone started to cut his nails.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan stood still and put up with the cornucopia of hands going through his fur. He felt like a doll right now, being pulled around by three or four different girls who wanted to play with it. The water was much warmer than he was used to, artificially heated to the point where it almost felt uncomfortable. But it wasn't until one of them came up and tried to clip down his nails that he outright refused something.


First he simply pulled his paw away, but as the man kept grabbing and trying to pull his claws to the trimmer there was low, throaty growl. Kurogan did not peel his lips back to show his teeth, but his ears were flattened and he was glaring at the man. His claws were tools of self-defense and invaluable. There were not going to be taken from him.

 

[Ricia]

"Its ok.. you can keep his claws... they won't be of any harm." Rhea said trying to help. They hesitated, then left it. Next after he was dried, they started to run a brush through his hair, getting out any tangles, mats or shedded hair. They pulled out a lot of hair, nothing that was live. They started to trim some of the overgrown hair around his paws. Lastly then told Rhea to pick out something, though he couldn't see it.


Rhea had to pick out a collar and a decoration, so she ended up picking a light loose chain for his collar and then a Green Bandana that went loosely around his neck.


"I now present you... with a clean and presentable dog." The man said showcasing Kurogen.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan let out a slow breath when Rhea butted in. Thankfully they did not press the matter any further. The rest of the cleaning went without incident. He was not happy about the trimming of his fur, but that could grow back easily and did not matter so much in the meantime. He heartily wished that a collar was unnecessary, but no such luck. The chain was rather loose however, and he was quite certain if he wanted to that he could pull it off in his human form, and the bandanna would hide the fact that he had done so. Even if he didn't, it wasn't particularly obstructive. He finally sat down with a huff as the man spoke. He sincerely hoped such an event would not be needed again.

 

[Ricia]

"We can start his classes..." The man started, but Rhea flashed him to stop.


"Go a head and put him to test in all three today... He will pass, I am sure of it. He is very well trained already." Rhea said, "He will listen to everything I say anyway." She said with a nod.


The man looked hesitant before nodding and telling them to call over the people to test him.


Rhea bent down a bit so she can look at Kurogan, "Just do everything they ask of you and you'll pass all the tests with no problem at all..."

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan looked into Rhea's eyes briefly before his muzzle ran alongside her. This all seemed like a lot of meaningless drivel just to show that he could stay but . . . it was worth it. More to the point he would not go back on his word with her. After the brief contact, he turned around and waited. Whatever these tests were, he would surpass them.

 

[Ricia]

Rhea smiled brightly when Kurogan had rubbed against her, "You're even more soft than usual." She whispered to him with a giggle. "you'll do great, I know you will."


The first test happened immediately. He was handed off to a rather stern looking blond women who gave Kurogen basic commands like 'sit', 'stay' and 'come'. She walked him around to introduce him to other people, dogs, and other animals. She checked him for food aggression and his temperament when he was accidently hurt, especially with children.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan shook himself when Rhea spoke, a tad self-conscious of the state of his fur. When the tests started, he couldn't help but feel somewhat put-off by the woman in question. She seemed almost like a drill-seargent with how she went about the tests. The basic commands were easy, he just did as he was told . . . with varying degrees of urgency. When she set the bowl of food down in front of him, he tilted his head to the side for a moment. He wasn't exactly hungry, but at her insistence he started to do so. And then it was promptly taken from him. He titled his head a little further, wondering the point of this exercise. As for being hurt . . . he barely felt most of what was done there. He could guess the purpose of this exercise . . . and in fact he was quite sure that a child would be more apt to hurt itself than him upon coming into contact with him.

 

[Ricia]

"He is one of the most well trained dogs I have ever dealt with." The women said. To Rhea as she wrote down his grades. "Very friendly... He is bite trained as well...?"


"I think he is... He attacks people who try and hurt me.." Rhea said lightly.


"Well.. go ahead and show me.." She told Rhea, "Get him to show aggression... then have him attack that man over there." She said, pointing at a man in a rather large suit of cushion.


"Alright..." Rhea said softly before patting Kurogan's head, "Go ahead and growl at him."

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan blinked once at Rhea, before turning around to the man who looked . . . tubby? It took him a second to realize that he was wearing some kind of armor to protect himself. Well then . . .


Kurogan's ears flattened back against his head and peeled his lips back. A deep growl emanated from his throat as the fur around his neck bristled up. Much like the first night Rhea had seen him like this, it was almost as if the same obedient dog from before had vanished. All that was left was a black wolf, defending it's territory.

 

[Ricia]

"Wow..." The women said impressed.


The man actually looked really scared.


Rhea looked really worried but tried not to be. She had a few flashbacks and took a deep breath. She couldn't bring herself to tell Kurogan to attack the man and ended up leaning down on the ground crying. She just started to cry, she just felt scared. Kurogan only acted that way when she felt like she was threatened. She knew right now it was just a test but she couldn't help the large bloom of fear that appeared.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan froze when he heard a soft crying behind him. The threatening appearance completely vanished as he turned around and saw what he was already expecting. He knew he could be scary when he chose to be . . . but this had to be something else. Kurogan trotted over to her and tried to lift up her head with his muzzle. Failing that, he let out a soft whine and put his head on her shoulder. Hopefully what was shown would suffice for the purposes of the test, at least while Rhea was here.

 

[Ricia]

(Yep, 5 hours to see Insanetruth for Monday and today. Just got back xP.)


Rhea hugged Kurogan around his neck and held on to the wolf taking a few moments to compose herself again, the small fear in the pit of her stomach slowly disappearing. "Sorry.." She whispered to Kurogan. "I'm sorry."


"Rhea... perhaps we should take a break?" Bella suggested coming to kneel next to her.


"I am pretty sure he passed... but I can see hes protected you, specially since the story hit the news... Don't worry about this test miss Rhea, though he will have to take the other one. I will reschedule it till tomorrow."


Rhea stood up and brushed herself off a bit and nodded, "Yes... thank you. I am sorry for that.."


"I understand, you went through a harsh and scary ordeal." The women said before leaving while writing on the key bored.


"I think we should take a break..." Bella said laying a soft hand on Rhea's back and trying to heard her back to Rhea's room.

 

[Ixidor92]

(Long flight?)


Kurogan kept still when Rhea put her arms around him, only shifting slightly to pull his head further around the back of her neck. He agreed with the woman called 'Bella', time was needed to recuperate. He gently, but firmly, butted his head once against Rhea's legs after she had stood up, much like he had when she was sick over a month ago. His hope was to head back to the bedroom, or maybe outside, either place would be fine.

 

[Ricia]

(Not a flight, a drive. ^^ Still in D.C.)


Rhea was moved till she was in her room and then given sleep clothing, "We'll come get you when it is time for lunch, we will bring it to you." Bella said softly. Rhea nodded quietly and watched her leave, shutting the door behind her in a soft click. Rhea gave Kurogan a small look before she went back to her bathroom to change into the sleep clothing, coming back out hang her dress.

 

[Ixidor92]

(I take it you've been having fun? :3)


When Rhea came out of the bathroom, Kurogan was in the form of a man, leaning against the foot of the bed in a sitting position. His eyes did not meet with Rhea's as he opened his mouth


"I'm sorry . . . I showed that to you again . . ."


He hadn't thought about the consequences when she asked him to do what he had . . . and it was eating him up inside

 

[Ricia]

"W..why..?" Rhea asked softly looking down at Kurogan. She kind of froze in front of the bathroom door, just staring at the man. He looked ashamed, and she felt like some how this was her fault. Hearing Kurogan apologize to her made her stomach fall into a pit. "There... is really nothing to be sorry for.." She whispered softly. She faced her fear and took a few slow steps towards him.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan slowly shook his head


"No. I didn't think about what would happen if I unlocked that side of myself . . . the hunter that you've rarely seen."


He heard Rhea's steps inch closer towards him.


"I shouldn't do that unless there is no other option."

 

[Ricia]

(YES! Lots of fun haha.)


"But... I asked you too..." Rhea said, she stopped when she was a couple feet away from him, her voice still the soft tone she always use with him. "And... we needed to. So you can stay... There... there was no other option..." She didn't want him to feel so bad. She didn't want him to think... he was scary.

 

[Ixidor92]

There had to have been some other option . . . right? Maybe if he had refused . . . no that would have resulted in failing the test, and he might not have been able to stay by Rhea's side. Perform the test without her in the immediate vicinity? . . . he had pointedly refused taking orders from anyone else. That was his own damn fault, but he wouldn't have changed it then . . . was there no alternative. Kurogan stopped fiddling with his hair as he thought and stood up. The few feet of distance between him and Rhea was easily closed.


"Rhea . . ."


His arms went around her, pulling her gently in


"Are you afraid of me?"

 

[Ricia]

Rhea was rather surprised he had suddenly gotten up to hug her. She had been fighting her inner fear to just embrace him on her own. He had always been the one to close the gap between them. But she enjoyed it, a bit more then she almost wanted to admit it. He always smelled good as well, like trees, though at the moment... he had a more herbal and dog shampoo smell. The embrace itself had put her inter more of a tisy then the question.. which she almost missed. It took her almost a full minute before she answered him back, "N-n.. no.." She told him softly. "I'm... afraid of the ones you protect me from..."