julie ! — ☆

a/n: more valko content to fill the void in my heart - accompanying art here

tags: fluff, fluff (literal), established relationship

As soon as you’d kicked the door shut and slipped off your shoes, you’d heard the noise. 

It was… rustling? No. Maybe it sounded more like… scratching. 

“Valko?” you called out. The response you received sounded eerily like a whine.

It all quickly made sense when you walked down the hallway a found a wolf in your apartment. A real, honest to the gods, wolf. And a giant one at that. You'd stumbled upon this majestic creature, currently faced away from you on its hind legs, paws braced against the fridge door, gnawing at the handle. 

What the fuck?

It spun around to face you, but immediately stilled once you took a wary step back. 

The wolf lowered itself slowly, curling inwards to make itself look smaller, which would have worked if it wasn’t still one of the biggest creatures you’d ever seen in your life. It looked up at you with it’s golden eyes, patiently waiting. 

“Valko?” you ventured softly, crouching down, hesitantly reaching a hand out. It should have been obvious- although, coming home and catching a wolf trying to pry open your refrigerator was surely enough to throw anyone. Plus you’d never seen your boyfriend so… cuddly before.

His ears perked up at the sound of his name, and his tail began to wag, but he kept his distance.

“It’s you, isn’t it, sweetheart?” 

He made a soft sound, before lolling his tongue out.

“C’mere.”

It’s the direction he’d been waiting for- making sure you felt comfortable before approaching. Your heart warmed with fondness, how sweet, your gentle giant.

He trotted towards you leisurely, before nosing at your hand. 

“Hey, Val,” you giggled as he licked your fingers. “Looking a little different today. Did you do something with your hair?”

He puffed and prodded you with his nose until you sat down properly, then promptly made himself comfortable between your legs. Unsurprisingly, even in this form he towered over you. You reached around to stroke the length of his back. Valko rested his head on your shoulder, practically melting under the attention. 

While you were very much enjoying cuddling him like this, you suddenly became aware you were still in your work clothes.

“I haven’t put my stuff down yet. I’ll go get changed and be back in a second. Okay big guy?” 

You booped his nose, giggling when he grumbled in response. After giving him a few more scratches around the ears, you gently extracted yourself and left for the hallway. 

You’d thought it was a little strange that he gave you up so willingly but when you returned to the kitchen and found him trying to open the fridge again it made sense.

“Hey! Valko no.” You tried pulling him away but he wouldn’t budge. “You can’t have chocolate milk or any chocolate for that matter!” you scolded, barely squeezing between him and the fridge. “What if you get sick!” 

Valko huffed and whined and tried to (gently) push you away. 

“Nope. No chocolate until you shift back.”

He let out an anguished howl and the theatrics of it all made you laugh. "None of that's going to help you Mr Wolf."

“And maybe consider keeping the howling to a minimum. I don't want a noise complaint.” Valko herded you backwards, out of the kitchen and into the living room. “And I don’t want to explain to my neighbours my newly acquired, well, wolf. It’d be hard to talk my way out of that one,” you continued.

The back of your knees hit the edge of the couch as soon as you’d finished speaking. Valko pounced up and draped himself across your lap. He whined and tapped your hand with his paw. 

“You’re just a big puppy aren't you?” you laughed, beginning to stroke his fur. 

Valko’s tail started wagging.

“You’re so cute! And your eyes, they're so pretty- have I ever told you that?”

Valko tilted his head to lick at your hand.

“You know, it's kind of easier to talk to you when you’re like this,” you said.

Valko paused and gave you his full attention, dropping his chin down onto your hand and looking up at you.

"I don't know why but I feel like it's less embarrassing? Or vulnerable?" You scratched his chin. "For instance, I can tell you that… when you go away on your business trips I miss you more than I let on. And even though I grumble about it, I secretly kind of like the hikes we go on together."

"I can also tell you that maybe I’m really glad you found me. I mean, I was doing fine before. But. You-"

You buried your face in his fur. "You fill my life with happiness just by hanging around. Please keep hanging around? It’d be nice if we could stay together.”

You hoped that the, ‘for a long time’, was implied.

Valko licked your cheek as soon as you braved the prospect of raising your head. You decided to take it as an agreement.

“Oh and one more thing. Just so you know... I think you always look pretty and handsome. But that last hair cut you got- I lied. I said I liked it but really, you were right, the barber cut it way too short. It didn't really look the best.”

Valko dislodged you, sitting up on his haunches and looking at you with a miffed expression.

“I was just trying to make you feel better,” you scrambled to explain. “It was practically a buzz cut- which you could definitely pull off if you wanted to,” you amended quickly. 

Valko bit your arm playfully. It barely even stung but he was already licking it better.

“Yeah, yeah, I deserved that. I’m sorry.”

You continued to pet him for a while. Eventually you leant over and rested against him. He was so warm and soft and your eyes were slowly fluttering shut. “Do you mind if I take a nap here?”

Valko wiggled out from under you.

“I guess that’s a no,” you sighed. You were about to lay down once again but then Valko was pulling your shirt, tugging with his teeth. 

You let it happen without questioning it and found yourself lying horizontal across the couch. So he was making sure you were comfortable, you thought, smiling sleepily. Valko curled up against your stomach, settling in your outstretched arms.

“Love you Val,” you whispered. A soft contented sound was the last thing you heard before drifting off.

The living room was shrouded in darkness when you finally woke from your nap. 

“Valko?”

Moonlight illuminated the face of your lover, who smiled as you blinked your eyes open. He pressed his nose to yours. “Hey sweets.”

“Welcome back,” you laughed softly.

Valko ducked his head and joined you in your laughter. “Thank you, thank you.” 

“Feeling good?”

“Better than ever. Don't you worry about me.” 

You raised an eyebrow. “So, were you just in a wolfy mood or, does this happen often?”

“Usually I shift once a month. Ideally it’d be more than that, but I rarely have the time.”

“I see.”

“I thought you might like to see it. See me, I mean,” he corrected, his confession coming out a little shy. 

“You were right. I’m glad you shared that part of you with me. You were very cute,” you stated matter-of-factly.

“So I heard,” he said. Valko smirked, but his flickering ears betrayed how pleased he was to hear it again. 

“And if you ever want to shift you're always welcome to do that here-

“Thank you.”

“-though, now that I’m thinking about it, I assume the forest would be better. That way you can actually run around, stretch your legs and… howl at the moon?”

“That’s a myth, pancake. We don’t actually do that.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I feel like you’re a real howler, you know? I can just picture it.”

Valko chuckled and shook his head. “How about this? Next time I shift, I’ll take you with me.”

You looked up at him, eyes wide. “Seriously?"

Valko shrugged. “Sure.” 

"But I feel like- isn't that kind of an intimate thing? I don't want to intrude.”

"You wouldn't be intruding. I wouldn't have invited you if I felt that." He shook his head. "I feel safe with you. And I'll keep you safe as well."

“Wow.” You cocked your head, examining him. “You really like me, huh?” you teased, not sure how else to respond in the face of such earnestness.

“Yeah,” Valko admitted easily, seeing right through you. His expression was warm, his voice tender. “I really do.”

Grassland Romance

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