It had been two years since the war had ended. The three kingdoms: Hoshido, Nohr, and Valla, were beginning an era of unprecedented peace. People were able to rebuilt their homes and lives after the destruction and terror of war. Anakos's plan to destroy humanity was stopped, and now, everyone had to find their own way in life. True peace was something that many people had thought to be just an illusion, something that was said between soldier to soldier to make sure that they would keep on fighting for the greater good and not grow discouraged. But in the end, this peace was achieved, and now, it was everyone's to enjoy; no matter if they were Hoshidan, Nohrian, or something else entirely.
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"Velouria! Velouria, where are you!?" A young girl yelled as she briskly walked throughout the bustling city center. People moved too and fro past the young beauty, who was intent on looking for someone. She had very long blond hair that she had braided into two, long thin twintails and a white hairband fitted on the top of her head. One singular hair stuck out and into the air. She was wearing a red mantle connected by a gold clasp and chain over a gray dress.
"Nina, you don't have to yell so loud, I can hear you, you know." Responded a young, female wolfskin dressed in a manner that was reminiscent of Red Riding Hood. This was Velouria, the one with the cotton candy blue streak in her hair. Her long eyes poked out from the sides of her red hood, and her bright white tail was wagging to and fro from behind her as she approached Nina through the crowd. Nina saw Velouria coming to her and got a large smile on her and face, and although she didn't have a tail to wag herself, she was just as happy to see Velouria as Velouria was to see her.
"It's been so long since I last saw you Velouria. I missed you so much!" Nina gave Velouria a massive hug, which Velouria happily gave back, sniffing up and down Nina with abandon. Nina looked a little bit embarrassed by the display, but she knew this is what Velouria would do to the people that she loved. She would take in their scent, almost relishing it.
"It really has been too long Nina, although we've both been extremely busy as of late, so it's understandable," Velouria said as they walked over towards a bench, sitting next to each other as they looked at each other.
"Still, we probably could have met a couple more times than we did. I know things have been busy, but we could put some time aside to meet together." Nina said as she looked a little away from Velouria, seemingly embarrassed or upset at saying this. Velouria just smiled though.
"The thing we should be concerned about is that you are here with me now. Even if we haven't met that much in the last two years, we can make it all up right now." Velouria gave Nina another hug, causing her to gain a slight blush as Velouria clung to her. No one really had seemed to notice the pair, which was fine for her.
"I am sorry for being away for so long though, Nina. It's been difficult for the wolfskins after the war. Despite the fact that me and my father helped against Valla, we didn't really gain that much acceptance. People still were fearful of us, people still tried to poach us for our coats, and even though my mother was a retainer of Xander, it was still incredibly difficult for my father and I to work with the rest of the Nohrian royalty." Velouria looked a little sad at having to repeat this, as if she was remembering some sort of bad memories.
"I remember some of it. Some of the noblemen couldn't stand the idea of having to deal with the wolfskins on a regular basis. Granted, these kind of people weren't the ones that Xander wanted in his kingdom, so my father and I were...instrumental in changing Nohr for the better. Funny, I guess I sort of helped out your cause anyways." Velouria and Nina laughed for a bit at that, the idea that the two of them despite being apart were covertly working together to create a better Nohr.
"Enough about that though. Aren't we supposed to be on...on a date?" Nina asked shyly as Velouria nodded.
"Yes, I think so. I don't know what to do on a date though. I've mostly been a loner and honestly, my father isn't really much good on that front. His and my mother's interests, for the most part, lined up so they just went hunting together." Nina nodded as she rested her head on her palm, desperately trying to think of something they could do together.
"How about we take a hike through the woods together? It should be pretty relaxing and you're likely to find a lot of gross treasures for yourself." Velouria nodded with a smile on her face.
"I would like doing that, yeah." Velouria's tail wagged harder as they both got up and went walking towards the east exit of the town, passing by storefronts and what seemed to be an endless surge of people. Nina noted that since the war had ended, there had been a lot of commerce between Hoshido and Nohr, and since then cities like this one, which was closer to the border, were bustling commerce centers.
When they got to the east exit, Nina noticed that someone was waiting for them, perched up against the wall. He was immediately recognizable by the eyepatch with the distinctive scoring on his face. He was looking at Nina and Velouria with a sleazy grin on his face and walked forwards as the two walked towards him.
"Dad, what do you want? You weren't spying on us, were you?" Nina said, looking a little upset that her father was around. The two of them didn't have the best of relationships at the best of times.
"What, a father can't make sure his daughter is safe when she's out and about? Don't worry, it has nothing to do with you. I'm just on orders from Leo. Word is there might be an insurgent group working in the town who don't like the fact that there are Hoshidan merchants here. It's probably just a rumor, but if I notice anything out of sorts I'm supposed to use my judgment. So, just more dirty work that needs to be done behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. What about you two? I assume you've got someplace to be on your date?"
"Yes Dad, we were just going to go for a hike in the woods. Probably a better thing to if something happens, right?"
"Yeah, definitely. The fresh air and forest floor are good things when something happens." He said, giving a wink with his eye as Nina blushed crimson.
"Niles, that was a little bit rude. We're just going for a hike, that's all. Our relationship hasn't gotten that far yet." Velouria piped in, with a mild scowl on her face. Niles backed off a little bit, but still had the same smile on his face.
"Alright, it was just a joke, don't worry. Also, didn't I tell you to call me Dad? I mean, we are family now." Niles had taken the news best out of the two fathers, while Velouria's father, Keaton, didn't really understand it and thought it would be better if Velouria found a strong wolfskin male as her mate. This didn't go well with Velouria but soon, everything was okay for the two of them.
"It's still weird to call you my father, Niles. Especially since...well you're the type of person who would say something incredibly weird if I were to start sniffing you." Velouria said, making Niles chuckle a bit.
"Well, the sniffing thing still is pretty sensual if you ask me. Anyways, you two have fun. Hopefully, nothing bad happens here, I don't want the tone of my day ruined." Niles walked away at this point, going into an alleyway at random as Nina and Velouria were left to their own devices. Grasping each other's hands, they walked out of the city and into the woods beyond it.
The woods were very quiet and tranquil at that time of day. There wasn't a lot of wild animals thanks to its proximity to the city and that meant that Nina and Velouria could enjoy their time alone to their heart's content. The air was crisp and fresh, and just moist enough that it was soothing to breath in, especially after the miasma that city air was like in comparison. It had just rained the night before, and so the ground was cool and moist, painting an almost perfect picture of a forest.
The two of them found a waterfall in the middle of the forest and decided to take a rest while watching the water cascade down a small cliff onto a group of small, rounded boulders. The river led back into town as well, making it an easy way to make sure that they didn't get lost.
"Aren't waterfalls romantic? You have the beautiful sound of the water falling, and it looks amazing too. Don't you agree, Velouria?" Nina looked over to see that Velouria was more interested in digging through the water for little bits and things that were deposited in the riverbed. There might have been one point in which Nina was confused at this, but right now, she just smiled and watched Velouria sift through the mud and water with her hands, pulling broken pieces of sticks and rocks out of the water to look at.
"Look at this! Somehow this bug must have gotten skewered on this branch and it washed down here. What do you think the chances of that were?" Velouria looked upon her newfound treasure in awe. Nina still couldn't understand the appeal of Velouria's treasures, but she didn't mind them so much anymore, as long as they were kept more organized.
"That is pretty weird. Maybe someone was thinking about eating the bug but decided not to?" Nina was pretty confused at the weird sight of it as well. Bugs typically didn't just manage to impale themselves onto branches after all. But then again, Nina didn't think that most people really ate bugs either.
"That's possible! To think, it was a discarded meal...but I'm not really interested in eating bugs myself, so I think I'll just keep it to look at later. This is a really rare thing to find after all!" Velouria tucked it away into her outfit and she laid down on the mossy riverbank, with Nina following suit. Neither of them spoke, just listening to the waterfall and embracing each other's company for the first time they could in a long time.
They laid there for what must have been hours before Velouria got up, looking around the forest as if she was looking for somewhere else to go. Nina looked up at her with a puzzled look on her face, before sitting up.
"What's up Velouria? Is something wrong?" Nina asked as Velouria continued to look around.
"Actually, I think I remember this place. If I'm right, there should be a hill somewhere around here, but I'm not the surest of my bearings. Want to help me look for it, Nina?" Velouria asked with a smile, causing Nina to smile back.
"Sure, I'll help, but I don't know what a hill has to do with anything."
"Trust me, you'll understand once you see it." Velouria took off in a random direction and Nina followed her, but not before making a mark to remember where they had been in a tree. Velouria was fast through the forest, able to nimbly jump over tree roots and fallen logs with an ease that definitely wasn't human, but of someone whose home was the forest. Nina struggled to keep up with her at times, but was a quick adventurer herself, and soon she saw that Velouria had stopped in the middle of the forest. She ran up behind her, wondering why Velouria had stopped since there wasn't a hill anywhere around here.
"There's an interesting smell somewhere over here. Mind if I check it out, Nina?" Velouria asked nicely, clearly very interested in whatever she just smelled. Nina nodded, watching Velouria track the smell to a small cave in the middle of the ground. Her sense of smell was captivating to Nina; ever since she learned just how sensitive a wolfskin's sense of smell was, she was fascinated at just how strong it was. Nina didn't smell anything out of the ordinary herself, even when she looked into the small cave that Velouria had crawled into.
"Velouria, what's in there?" Nina asked as she couldn't see into the cave with the sun where it was and not being fully in there herself. She could see Velouria's tail wagging quickly back and forth, having clearly found something that was extraordinary.
"Nina you have to come see this! There are so many bones here!" Velouria yelled out as she started rummaging through the bones. Nina's face adapted a shocked expression as she heard what Velouria had said.
"Bones? W-what kind of bones!?" Nina yelled in as Velouria pulled out one to hold into the light filtering in.
"I think they are human bones! I haven't seen so many bones in one place before! This one here looks like its been split in half!" Velouria was beside herself in her discovery as she started to pull bones out of the cave, causing Nina to back away a little bit in shock and disgust. There was no real reason for her to be disgusted with the sight of the bones, since it was clear they were pretty old and no longer rotting, but it was likely something subconscious for her.
"Ahh, I'm sorry Velouria, I don't really think that sounds so good," Nina said, giving a nervous chuckle as Velouria popped her out, her ears drooping down.
"Oh no, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. You obviously wouldn't be interested in human bones any more than I would be interested in wolfskin pelts. Sorry if I was being a little insensitive." Nina could tell from her ears that Velouria was genuinely sorry, and gave her a small kiss on the forehead to cheer her up.
"Hey, you're you, right? This is obviously big for you, so I don't want to spoil your big discovery. You take all the time you need!" Nina tried her best to cheer Velouria up, to which she gave back a small smile.
"If you say so Nina, but if it's grossing you out too much, just say so and we can go back to looking for that hill." Nina nodded as Velouria went to go pop her head back into the cave, before stopping and sniffing the air. Nina looked around to see if anyone or anything was nearby, but she couldn't see anything. The forest still seemed as calm as it was before. Velouria, however, could obviously tell differently.
"I know this smell...Dad? Are you there?" Velouria called out as Keaton popped out from behind a tree, smiling wildly as he approached the two of them. Velouria's father shared the same greyish-white pelt that she did, but wore a vest that was more open around the chest, as well as black pants. Nina sighed a bit as she saw him coming, thankful that it was someone friendly instead of an enemy or something like a bear.
"Hey Vel! Hey, Nina! I don't want to seem like I was snooping but I was coming over to the cave here and I saw the two of you and well...I hid and peeked at your guys!" Keaton yelled out as he approached them. Velouria came out of the cave and ran towards her father, giving him a big hug and Nina followed, not really keen on doing the same.
"You aren't going to give me a hug too Nina? I'd be upset if you didn't." Keaton asked in the nicest, most innocent way possible. It was in complete contrast with Nina's own father, who was pretty much the opposite of innocent. Still, she gave Keaton a small hug of her own, and he responded by pulling her into a bigger one. He let her go after that though, smiling brightly.
"I'm glad that you two are spending time together! I know it been a while since you two last met. How are things going Nina?" Keaton asked as his tail wagged behind him.
"Oh, pretty good. Things are finally starting to get less hectic it seems, although there is still trouble and work to do." Keaton nodded at that.
"Yeah, I understand that! I just spoke to Niles about it. How you'd two find my cave?" Velouria perked her ears up when she heard that it was Keaton's cave.
"This is your cave dad? Then...does that mean that you killed all those people?" Velouria asked, half in shock and half in awe. There was still that bloodthirsty side of her from her mother.
"Oh no! I found this cave while with Camilla! She didn't seem as taken with it though. But man, aren't the bones really pretty though! They're just picked clean and white!" Velouria nodded enthusiastically at that, while Nina wasn't so sure. Keaton went into the cave and after a little digging around pulled out a broken femur bone. Out in the sunlight, it actually was impressive to Nina, because of how pure white it was.
"This one here is my favorite! I know because I put a small nick in it. I was going to take it home but I think Camilla would have whacked me with it if I tried. It's not only nice and white, but its also broken and jagged on one end. That's some A-grade stuff there." He held it up proudly like it was made out of solid gold.
"That is a nice bone, actually. You know that there are people who will make carvings out of bones?" Nina said casually. Keaton looked at her like she had just spoken a different language to him.
"Really? People do that?"
"Yeah, I've stolen a couple of them before. They're not USUALLY made out of human bone, but you can make really intricate carvings out of bones." Keaton looked at Velouria who simply smiled back, and he looked at the bone again, more confused than before.
"Hmm, I'd probably have to see one of them in order to figure out if I'd like it or not, but that's a neat suggestion. Anyways, I was just coming here in order to pick this up and bring it back, now that...eyes are not watching me." Velouria turned to her father before hugging him again.
"You sure you can get back home by yourself Dad? I don't want to think you might get lost." Velouria asked, seeing as Keaton had a bad habit of getting lost.
"Don't worry, you just follow the river back into town right? Niles told me as much. I'm sure I won't get lost! See you later, you two!" Keaton went off into the woods...going in the opposite direction of the river. Velouria sighed and chuckled a bit.
"Dad, the river is the other way!" Velouria yelled out as Keaton turned around, laughing as he walked by them, going towards the river this time as Nina and Velouria stared at each other before laughing quietly to themselves.
"Are you sure your dad is going to be okay? We can always take him back into town." Nina asked, knowing full well Keaton's reputation. Velouria shook her head though.
"No, as long as he doesn't get distracted, he should be fine, and I think he'll try his hardest knowing that we're on a date together. He won't want to interrupt that." Velouria and Nina chuckled again before Nina sighed and hugged onto Velouria.
"You know I'm a little jealous of the relationship you and your father have. Your so close to him and you accepted him even though he left you in the Deeprealms. Meanwhile I pushed my father away from me, and I hurt him. I still don't think those wounds have healed even after these last two years, and I know he still feels guilty about never being there for me. I wish that we could be as close as you and your father are." Velouria chuckled, and this time it was her turn to give Nina a small kiss, before hugging her too.
"I don't think you need to worry about it, Nina. Niles still loves you. He's still your dad at the end of the day, and I think your relationship with him is still healthy. You don't push him away now and you don't try to hurt him anymore. I think that is the most important part. You're both trying now to have a better relationship. So don't worry too much about the past, ok?" Velouria snuggled and sniffed Nina, and Nina smiled as tears came to her eyes.
"Yeah, I guess so. I still feel pretty bad about it though. But I guess our relationship has been much better than it was." Nina looked into Velouria's eyes and gave her a long kiss as they hugged each other, swept up into the moment. Her heart fluttered after she did that, so much so that she looked away as she tried to hide how much she was blushing.
"S-so, should we find the hill you were talking about? You seemed excited to go see it." Nina stumbled over her words as she tried to deflect from what she had just done. Velouria smiled a very similar smile to Niles' earlier but relented as she nodded her head and looked off into the distance.
"Yeah, we can keep looking for it. Trust me, it's great." Velouria said as she dashed off into the woods, making Nina run to catch up with her. They ran through the woods for a little while until they came to the edge of the woods at a clearing, and Nine saw Velouria's tail wag quickly as she realized where she was.
"This is it, Nina! This is the hill!" Velouria said as she pointed in front of her, and Nina finally got a good look at what she was talking about. It was a fairly big hill, although it didn't slope steeply and was covered in grass. It didn't seem that extraordinary to Nina, but Velouria must have had some connection to it.
"What's so special about this hill? You've been here before right?" Nina asked as she looked at Velouria. Velouria nodded vigorously before running off towards the top of the hill, Nina taken by surprise as she scurried off to catch up with her. Velouria stared from the top of the hill to the bottom, almost as if she was making sure this was the right hill, before grabbing Nina's hand.
"Well, truth is I didn't find this hill, Selkie did. She tried to get me to roll down the hill with her. I didn't go for it at first, but I saw all the stuff she was picking up in her tail as she rolled down the hill, and I had to try it. It was a lot of fun! So I wanted to see if I could find it again with you, so we could roll down the hill together. You know, if you wanted to that is." Nina laughed a bit and smiled.
"Okay, sure!" Nina yelled out as she tugged on Velouria's hand, causing the two of them to fall onto the top of the hill and start to tumble down it. The two of them were barely a hair's breath away from each other at times, as grass, dirt, and sticks got caught in Nina's hair and Velouria's fur. Nina reached the bottom first before Velouria gently fell on top of her. The two laughed and giggled as Velouria rested on top of Nina.
Nina noticed that she could see straight down Velouria's shirt as it had come lose from the rolling, and she tried to look away, but Velouria stole a kiss from her, taking a good long time to savor it. Nina blushed heavily, unable to look away from Velouria now, as Velouria took a big long sniff of Nina, running up Nina's neck to her face before kissing her again, the two of them locked in a lover's embrace. Nina's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.
"Velouria, wait! What are you doing?" Nina asked as Velouria smiled at her.
"Hehe, I can smell your desires you know. If this is something you want to do, I'm okay with it." Velouria's voice has taken a slight seductive quality to it, at least to Nina. She didn't know if anything had actually changed or the heat of the moment was causing her to react differently, but Velouria's voice was making her giddy inside.
"...Are you sure Velouria? I thought you said that our relationship hadn't got that far. I don't want you doing something uncomfortable just because I want it." Velouria chuckled, before kissing Nina again briefly.
"Maybe our relationship wasn't that far to begin with...or maybe I just didn't want your father getting the wrong impression." Velouria winked as she unclasped Nina's mantle and reached for the back of her dress. Nina got up, undoing her dress from the back as it fell onto the grass beside her, revealing her small, petite breasts. Velouria sniffed them as well, Nina gasping as her wet nose rubbed against her nipples, before Velouria begin to lick them with her tongur. Nina gasped and moaned lightly, before Velouria started to sniff a little lower than before.
"Oh? There's a really interesting smell coming from here, Nina. It smells like honey..." Nina blushed crimson as Velouria said this, as Velouria pulled down her leggings. Nina covered her face as Velouria sniffed her private regions, taking long deep drafts as she smiled.
"I really like this smell. I could get used to this..." Velouria began to lick up Nina's vagina, causing her to shudder and moan a little bit until Velouria reached the clit, licking it slowly. Nina felt like there were shock waves of pleasure flowing through her, a feeling she had never felt before. Velouria smiled when she saw how much Nina was enjoying her, picking up on the hidden scents Nina was giving out, urging her to keep going, to keep making her feel good. Velouria responded by licking faster, savoring the taste of Nina's love juices as they continued to flow from her.
Nina felt like something bigger was coming on, and wondered if this was happening too fast. She silently urged Velouria to go faster and harder, and almost as if Velouria could read her mind, she went at Nina harder and faster. There was a brief thought in Nina's mind about how people projected their feelings via smell, but it was being washed out by the pleasure. Velouria looked at Nina as she seemed to be incredibly cute to her; her embarrassed small gasps trying in vain to hide away what she was feeling.
Nina made one loud gasp as she climaxed, her body letting loose an involuntary shudder as a crescendo of pleasure hit her. Her body relaxed after that, Nina taking shallow breaths as she recovered from the ecstasy. Velouria began to strip herself until she was completely naked before laying down beside Nina and drawing her into a kiss. Nina responded back by grabbing and cuddling Velouria, before sniffing Velouria herself, trying to take a big long sniff up Velouria's body. Velouria laughed at that.
"Nina, you don't have a wolfskin nose, silly," Velouria said as she stuck her tongue out at Nina, but Nina responded by getting on top of her and looking down at Velouria's crotch.
"Yeah but...I still know how you're feeling right now." Nina put her head between Velouria's legs and gently licked her like Velouria had Nina, causing Velouria to make small gasps. Nina quickly aimed at the same spot that Velouria had, starting off with a gentle licking before she started to suck on it and play with it with her tongue. Velouria made loud gasps and moans as Nina pleasured her. Compared with the demure reactions of Nina, Velouria was not at all shy, especially since she knew that no one was nearby to hear. It was just her and Nina.
Nina watches as Velouria reveled in the pleasure and wondered if she was feeling the same experience that she was before. The building up of tension. Nina stopped momentarily to look at Velouria, who nodded to keep going. Nina went with more vigor, and Velouria moaned even louder at the sudden attack before she gently grasped Nina's head. Velouria's body shuttered and arced as she came closer and closer to a climax.
Velouria's climax happened rapidly, with Velouria letting out a loud moan that sounded almost like a howl as it happened, her body arcing into the air before falling back down onto the soft grass floor. Nina kissed her again and the two tightly embraced each other, the tightest hug the two of them ever shared. They were two lovers united.
Another long silence hung between the two of them, wanting to fall asleep in each others arms. It was Nina who eventually got up and started to get dressed, handing over Velouria's clothes to her. Velouria would have been happy to sleep on the forest floor with Nina, but she understood that for Nina it was too sudden and too drastic a change for her, and got dressed.
"Hey Nina...promise me something? Promise that we'll do this again, sometimes much sooner?" Velouria asked as she began to dress. "I don't want to miss you anymore, Nina. I love you. I don't want to lose you, ever." Nina kissed Velouria on the cheek and gave her a small hug.
"I'm never going to leave Velouria. I love you too much in order to hurt you like that. I promise we'll do this again. Not in a few months either, but very soon." Nina and Velouria finished getting changed and looked up, noting that some time had passed as the sun had moved further to the west than before. The two of them began to walk back to town, hoping that they would get back there before nightfall.
They passed through the eastern gate as the sun was beginning to set, the bustle of the town now starting to die out as people headed back home to prepare to go to sleep. There were still many businesses open though, looking to catch the last minute shoppers and trades and make a little extra money at the end of the day. As Nina and Velouria walked towards the center of town, they noticed two men talking to each other. Two familiar men.
"Oh, hey Vel! Nina! Good, you guys got back in time!" Keaton yelled out as he waved them over. Niles smiled as they approached, making Nina a little suspicious.
"Don't worry Nina, we weren't discussing anything bad. Keaton was telling me how he found you girls in the forest today, although he almost got lost getting back into town. Did you girls have a nice time?" Niles, to Nina's surprise, seemed to be holding back the dirty speech and smart-aleck responses.
"Yes, Niles, Nina and I had a really good time. We mostly spent a lot of the time relaxing." Velouria said, being a touch better of a liar than Nina was. Keaton seemed pleased by this, and Niles simply cracked a smile.
"Well, my day was okay. I found the guy who was planning the attack. I dealt with him pretty easily, so nothing was spoiled. So you guys don't need to worry tonight." Niles said casually as he slipped Nina a small bag. She looked inside to see a bunch of gold coins.
"Dad, what is this?" Nina asked, confused by the gesture.
"I figured the two of you would be pretty hungry, so you deserve a dinner date. Have fun you two, it's my treat." Nina was taken aback by this gesture of kindness from her father. No string attached.
"Thanks, Dad." Nina gave her father a big hug, as did Velouria, and he chuckled a bit before trying to work his way out of their grip.
"Alright kids, you better get hurrying. The restaurant I want you guys to go to isn't going to be open for that much longer. It's a couple of streets down, it's pretty big so you aren't likely to miss it. Tell them you're Niles' daughter, they'll treat you good."
Nina eyes with her father with suspicion. "I don't want to know what kind of connection that could be, but thanks, Dad." The two of them started to walk away from their fathers.
"Oh, Velouria," Niles spoke up suddenly, "I'm not sure why you didn't point out that Nina's hair came undone." He winked at Velouria, causing a reaction he didn't expect to see from the wolfskin: a blush. She simply turned around to see Nina was also blushing.
"...how does he know?" Velouria whispered in Nina's ear, to which Nina just shook her head.
"That's my father for you. Come on, let's eat." Velouria nodded, and they both resolved to act like Niles wasn't actually there until they got to the restaurant. Niles chuckled a bit before looking at Keaton, who was looking at Niles a little bit confused.
"Wait, I thought Nina looked good with her hair down. What did you mean by that?" Keaton asked, causing Niles to laugh before going into the motel they were next to.
"Hey wait, you didn't answer me!"
---
Nina and Velouria sat at a table lit by candlelight, isolated from the rest of the restaurant patrons. The owner had looked moderately annoyed when Nina told him she was Niles' daughter, but he said they could have a meal for free. When asked why the man simply said he was repaying a favor to Niles and left it at that. It was a fairly expensive restaurant, from what Nina could tell as well.
"Your father really has a lot of connections, doesn't he? You think he had this planned for us from the very beginning?" Velouria said as she looked around the restaurant, noting that some of the patrons were busy staring at them. She didn't think it was that odd: after all, it wasn't often a wolfskin was seen with another person, especially when it was two women sharing a dinner together.
"Almost certainly. I'm not sure what kind of favor my father just got re-paid and I'm not sure if I want to know, but my dad almost certainly had this planned from the very beginning," Nina looked towards the entrance for a minute, almost concerned that he'd be there listening, "This is the kind of thing he'd do."
Velouria smiled and giggled a bit. "See, I told you. You and your father have a good relationship. You really worry a bit too much. He loves you, pure and simple." Nina smiled back.
"Yeah, I guess I was worrying too much about it. He's a good dad, even if sometimes he can't bring himself to show it." Nina and Velouria both chuckled at this, as they were both served a glass of wine. It was a rather showy display, Nina thought, but when she tasted the wine it was genuinely good stuff. Whatever favor that man owed must have been pretty big.
"So...Nina, are you going to ever publish those romance stories you wrote?" Nina looked a little shocked at Velouria's question but shook her head no.
"No, I don't think so. The truth is...I've sort of forgotten about them. I mean, my romance story is far better, and the best part is we're the main characters. Honestly, I could never day dream again as long as I was able to keep living my life with you. You're my dream now." Velouria blushed as she smiled brightly.
"That makes me happy Nina, although it feels like you're confessing to me again!" Velouria and Nina laughed at that, before calming down enough that they were able to drink their wine. Velouria drank all of hers very quickly while Nina sipped at her glass, something that she learned from her father. It helped make it taste better he told her. She didn't get it.
"So, I never asked, but how is life at Mount Garou? I know you and your father are doing some work to try and get wolfskins more accepted and make it illegal to hunt for wolfskin pelts, but you never told me about your personal life there." Nina asked, looking for an answer to a question that she had for a while.
"I don't know that there really is too much to talk about. I've always been a bit of a lone wolf type of person, and it was hard for me to get accepted into Keaton's pack. A lot of the men there were also pretty lecherous too. Score points with the chief by wooing his daughter kind of thing. I fought them all off though. I have my mother's blood in my after all, so there wasn't a wolfskin who could best me in battle. After a while things simmered down..." Velouria stopped there, as if she was afraid to ask something.
"Velouria, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Velouria shook her head.
"No...see the thing is this visit wasn't just about me meeting you. It was also about my father meeting your father. See...my father thinks it would be best for me to live with you." Nina stared in shock.
"But...what about the wolfskins? Aren't you supposed to be helping them?" Velouria shook her head.
"Dad said it was fine, and that he and Mom would be able to take things from here. The most important thing right now is that I am with the one I love. That's what he said anyways. Besides, that shouldn't be a problem. My mother's retainer is Xander, your father's retainer is Leo, and your mother is Elise. I should be more than accepted there."
"Are you sure that you'll be okay though? Royal life isn't like living with the wolfskins Velouria. There are rules and etiquette and it's not like you can just seclude yourself away from everyone and everything. I've tried. I want you to be happy Velouria, but I don't want you to be uncomfortable for my sake." Velouria grabbed Nina's hands and smiled.
"If I'm with you...Nina...I think I can manage. I think I can be really happy." They both smiled at each other for a little bit until their food was brought to them; for Velouria was a thick cut of steak, cooked rare so that when she cut it open the juices would still come out, and for Nina was a popular dish of Nohrian royalty as of late that involved fish and several herbs from the nation of Hoshido.
"Well, Dad knew what he was recommending us. Shall we eat, Velouria?"