#manticore lover

The sound of dogs barking made a smile spread across your features as you pulled open the doors to the shelter. Sighing in content, you began to make your way down the steps to the dog ward where some of your favorite residents were. Greeting several of the other workers, you grabbed a leash and headed straight towards your favorite shelter dog, an older mixed breed that only had one eye and several scars along his body with soft brown fur. The dog, Buster, immediately perked up as he had seen you approaching, his tail thumped against the bars of his cage and he woofed quietly at you. 

“I know, it’s been a bit huh?” You said as you opened the cage doors and immediately kneeled down to pet Buster as he leaned his whole weight onto your legs, once you had kneeled down however, he crawled into your lap practically demanding belly rubs. Which you were more than happy to provide as he attempted to lick your hands while he was laying on his back, it only made you laugh at the expression he had while you gave him affection. 

“You wanna go for a walk?” You questioned, immediately Buster scrambled to his feet and jumped up on his back legs excitedly with a louder bark that caused several of the others to bark in unison, all the workers collectively working on trying to get them to quiet down. 

“Buster, inside voice.” You commanded, the dog quieting his barks to something much more manageable. You thanked him and then gave him a treat before clipping the leash onto his collar, leading him outside of the cage and shutting the door behind you. “Ready to go?” 

He wagged his tail and woofed in response, giving what you assumed was a yes. Though as you made your way towards the steps, you huffed softly as a figure was coming down them. “Luciene, what are you doing down here?” You asked the manticore as he was walking by you. 

“Heading to the isolation award. New cats are here.” He responded with a huff as he spared you a glance. “You know that we get new ones every week.” He stated matter-of-factly as he headed through the doorway. 

The pair of you had been in a weird limbo ever since he had started working here, you had tried to introduce him to several of the dogs, including Buster but he had told you that he preferred cats to dogs and would rather stay away from dogs. In a way, you had taken offense since Buster was your favorite, and everyone had loved him. You had decidedly ignored Luciene whenever he was around, and the same had gone for him. Only the staff had tried to get you two to talk on more than one occasion and it had never worked out the way that you had hoped, you never held a fondness for cats like what Luciene did, it was hard to talk when he talked about the shelter cats, though you supposed you only talked about the dogs. 

Letting your thoughts wander, you let Buster lead the way up the steps and towards the front door where he had pushed it open with his front paws. You followed him out, glancing around before deciding to take a path different from the usual route, Buster glanced back at you with a questioning look but walked right beside you and kept pace. He paused occasionally to sniff at the ground, which you let him, before continuing on your way. 

That is, until you heard soft cries coming from a bunch of bushes off of the dirt path you and Buster had turned onto. You paused briefly, glancing around before the cries grew in volume. Desperate. Whatever it was, it was desperate. It only took a few moments for you to realize that it was a cat, or cats, crying. Buster’s ears had perked up and he had immediately begun to drag you towards the source of the cries. 

Once you were sure you were near wherever the cats were, Buster had broken free of your grasp with a bark and took off into some bushes. You blinked at the leash that was slowly disappearing into the bush, it took a moment for it to sink in before you realized that Buster had broken free. “Buster!” You called out as you chased after him in the bushes. 

Another bark came from Buster as he had popped his head out of a thorny bush, you had seen a flash of white and black before he had disappeared into the bush again. The cries died down before picking back up again, much quieter this time as Buster had carefully climbed out of the bushes with a kitten in his mouth. You kneeled down, taking the small creature from the dog and holding onto it as he went back into the same bush. 

After several back and forth trips, you had four kittens in your arms while the mother cat was being carried by Buster, she was wounded and needed immediate medical attention. Without a second thought, you had grabbed Buster’s leash and began to speed walk back to the shelter with the kittens bundled up in your arms while he carried the others. Upon your arrival, the front desk worker gasped once she had seen the mom cat and had rushed off to grab one of the vets on duty. Talk began to spread and soon enough the manticore was in front of you, eyeing up the kittens with a fondness before glancing down at you with a slight question to his gaze.

“I’m surprised you didn’t call someone else to get them.” He huffed as you began to hand him the kittens, he carefully placed them on his back and wrapped his wings around them to keep them steady so they wouldn’t fall off. 

“I wouldn’t leave any animal out there to just… suffer.” You responded as you crossed your arms, a frown tugging at the corner of your lips. 

The manticore seemed to be studying you, and for the first time you had really taken in his features, he was sleek in appearance, his fur a deep grey with tiger stripes while his wings resembled that of a bat. His tail was more like a scorpion’s than anything else, while his human features were sharp, his eyes were dark and despite the slight frown tugging at his lips, you found him attractive overall. Feeling your features start to heat up in response at the realization, you glanced away and cleared your throat. 

“Even if they are a cat, I wouldn’t leave them alone, everyone deserves a fighting chance.” You stated as you turned to talk to the vet tech that had come up to ask some questions and give some feedback on what the vet had said. 

“I don’t think Buster is as bad as the others.” Luciene commented as he then made his way into the cat ward to introduce the kittens to the others, a soft smile gracing your features at the admission. After getting everything squared away and Buster back into his cage for the night, you had made your way back home. 

What you didn’t expect was to wake to a text the following morning, you shifted and squinted at your phone screen since the light was nearly blinding this early in the morning. A grumble came past your lips as you read over it before you smiled. 

“Thanks for saving the kittens and the mom cat, the vet found she had broken both her front and back legs. They think she may have mis-landed when she jumped off of something and dragged herself back to the kittens… Perhaps you could take me on one of your walks with Buster? -Luciene” 

You saved the number into your phone and eagerly responded with a yes that he could come on the next walk with you and Buster. With a pep in your step you tossed some clothes on and got ready to head out, sending a text to Luciene to make sure he was there that morning as you slipped on your shoes and headed outside. With the shelter only being a ten minute walk from your house, you had simply opted to walk instead of drive there. 

Surprise spread through you as Luciene was waiting outside the door with Buster, the dog eagerly bouncing around and trying to play with the manticore, which only seemed to confuse him as a quiet rumble left him. Though he was unsure, he at least attempted to ruffle the dog’s fur and give him some attention, it was clear he didn’t have much experience with dogs, a laugh erupted from you as he grimaced when Buster jumped up to lick his face. 

His gaze snapped towards yours and a smile worked its way onto his features. “I’m glad you're here, I don’t know how much longer I could’ve stood… He’s so… energetic…” He explained awkwardly as he passed you the leash. 

“I know, he’s a good dog though, I promise.” You reassured as you took the leash from him and motioned for him to follow. “We’ll go our usual way, it’ll be good for a short walk to start you out with, you can join us this evening for the second walk of the day. That one usually wears him out.” You explained as Luciene hummed in response. 

“I’ve never really been around dogs…” He admitted as he followed along beside you. “When I was young, the neighbors had a nasty dog and… Because I was well… A glorified cat, he saw me as nothing more than a chew toy, so he would chase me all over.” He explained further. “I don’t trust them but… If it means so much to you… I’m at least willing to try.” He murmured sheepishly as a flush came over his face. 

“I had a cat attack me when I was young, I didn’t know how to read the body language well.. It didn’t end well for me, I ended up with some stitches but… I heard the kittens crying and I didn’t want to leave them there alone.” You explained as the pair of you walked. 

By the end of it, Luciene had ended up making you laugh and you had gotten to know each other a lot better than what you thought was possible at the start. He paused outside the shelter doors as you had moved towards them. “I unfortunately have to go to my job, I can’t stay any longer…” He said as he held the door open for you. 

“That’s okay, perhaps next time we meet it could be at a restaurant? Make it a date?” You decided to try, at least if he rejected you, you could remain friends with him without pursuing something more. 

The manticore seemed stunned for a moment, unable to say anything before he cleared his throat and nodded. “A date sounds lovely, I’ll text you after work and we’ll discuss the details then?” 

Syro:

He doesn’t wear clothes, he thinks they are way too constricting and considering the size of his wings he can never find anything that would suit him

Instead of a piece of clothing, you had snuggled up with the pillow he used, he had left on a trip and promised to be back within a week

Only now it was going on two weeks, he had sent messages to you, apologizing for the delay in him getting back. Apparently there had been a snowstorm and he was unable to fly back home.

It was late into the night when Syro had finally returned home from his journey, he had snuck in quietly. Assuming that you were asleep.

When he found you snuggling his pillow, his heart gave a tug at the sight and he had regretted leaving you for so long.

Carefully he’d sneak into bed and replace the pillow, which would only make you snuggle closer to him. Content, he’d fall asleep beside you, figuring everything would be worked out in the morning. 

Sam:

Sam doesn’t like to leave your side for very long, he’s always afraid that something is going to happen to you.

But when demon business calls him away, he leaves reluctantly. He didn’t give you an estimate on how long it would take because he was unsure himself.

You didn’t expect it to take months for him to return home, after a while you had thought that he had just left you and didn’t want to give you the true reality of it.

He barely texts you while he’s away which only further confirmed your thoughts. You kept everything just in case you were wrong.

You had started to sleep wrapped up in his hoodie that was way too big for you, the smell of him comforting you as you drifted off to sleep.

When he would return, and see you wrapped up in the hoodie. He’d instantly be thrilled at the idea of you wearing his clothes, but he’d save that for another time.

“Goodnight little morsel…” He coo, causing you to wake and held your arms open so he’d snuggle with you.

It worked. He was by your side in an instant and snuggling with you. 

Sylvia:

The idea of a girls weekend with some of her old friends had interested her, and she had asked you if she could go. Naturally you said yes, after all both of you had your fair share of weekends away from the kids and each other to just enjoy the time alone whether it was with friends or by yourselves.

You trusted her completely, she had given you a list of what everyone had planned on doing without you asking. She just wanted you to know what they’d be doing and gush over some of the stuff they had planned that she enjoyed.

When it came time for her to leave, the first night was hard. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong, and normally it wasn’t like this.

It had become a regular habit throughout the weekend for you to sleep with one of her shirts each night, the weekend was rougher than you had expected it to be.

When she returned, she had found you curled up on the couch with a piece of her clothing. The kids had greeted her first and she had happily returned their affection.

It was late afternoon and it wasn’t like you to fall asleep, so she knew it had to be rough, and the kids had told her all about it.

She’d gently brush the hair away from your face and kiss your forehead as you slowly woke up.

“Good afternoon sleepy head.” She’d tease you, making your rough weekend a million times better now that she was home. 

Silakeil: 

He was self conscious at best, oftentimes preferring to stay in rather than going out because of his experiences.

Rather than leaving for a couple of days, he had to work a few overnight shifts at his job. Which didn’t bother you but the nights were beginning to get lonely.

You started to sleep with his pillow pressed close to you on nights where you had felt the loneliest. And every time he had come home he would watch you for a moment or two before he finally would climb into bed next to you.

You’d always wake, and give his pillow back before snuggling against him, he would wrap his arms around you and hold you close to him with a content sigh.

Maokai:

Being an author, and releasing a new book had him whisked away for a ‘tour’ of sorts. Which meant he was traveling and doing signing at stores and other places.

You would video chat with him every night while he was away, but even then it was empty in your shared house. You took care of the library while he was away, the regulars had mentioned missing him but they were happy for him as well.

You were incredibly proud of him and he had finally broken out of his shell, he had even shown you a couple of drafts while the pair of you were working. You had a regular day job but helped him in the evening times when it came to closing down.

But that didn’t mean you weren’t lonely. You had taken to wearing the famous white knit sweater he wore all the time. The smell of him was comforting as you worked.

You fell asleep wearing the sweater the night he had come home, he had texted you that he was on his way and you had made yourself comfy on the couch.

When he pushed open the doors and saw you sleeping soundly on the couch, he moved over towards you, instantly recognizing the white sweater you were wearing. He scooped you up and carried you off to the bedroom, after all it had been a long journey and all he wanted to do was sleep next to his beloved.

Augustine: 

Being an alpha of the pack often had him leaving on business trips, there was much to discuss amongst the other alphas in the region.

The trips would take days, sometimes even weeks, and each trip always seemed to take a longer and have a much more pronounced effect on Augustine.

You’d steal whatever you could out of his closet to hold close to you on the nights you were missing him the most.

Whenever he’d come home, he was always loud despite his best trying to be silent. You’d greet him at the door, flinging your arms around him in a hug.