Leather and Lace Ch.4
Knowing Where You Stand
By Shadowed Ember
~~~Flashbacks~~~
August 19, 2013
Chimera Prep
Llyulf Kalayo pulled at the collar of his uniform, dark ruby eyes darting around as he took in the odd architecture of the private school he was now attending as he walked up to the front doors. He wasn’t sure why his dad was insisting on paying for this school when he wasn’t making that much to begin with. All the young wolf wanted was a decent, uneventful senior year in this new town. He wasn’t sure where he was going next, but his grades and test scores from last year should get him into some university somewhere. He could stand a boring year as a stepping stone to whatever the rest of his life held.
September 16, 2013
As he walked through the halls, weaving and side-stepping through throngs of students, he barely dodged a little kangaroo mouse that darted past on his way out to the courtyard for lunch. He was tired of the noise in the cafeteria every day. Looking around, his gaze fell on a low retaining wall to sit on that butted up against one of the primary walls of the building. It was off in the corner of the yard and probably wouldn't be quite as loud, hopefully giving the young wolf a chance for some relative peace. So long as he wasn’t going to be in anyone’s way, this might be his go-to lunch spot for the rest of the year. He cracked open his book as he took his place at the edge of the courtyard. Over the top of it, he watched as the crowd ebbed and flowed. For weeks, it was the same, and thankfully, no-one came by to bother him…
October 30, 2013
The wolf’s ears perked from his spot in the corner of the courtyard. His eyes slipped shut, as he tried to identify the sound that had caught his attention. A guitar, maybe? It didn’t sound quite right, though. Using a digit to hold his page, he closed his book and shouldered his bag, scanning to try to home in on the source of the sound. He skirted around the edge of the courtyard, finally catching a glimpse of a black-furred bat near the center, covered in piercings. She sat with an electric bass in her lap, and it looked like the male lemur next to her was coaching her as she played. Well that certainly explained the sound. Leo sort of recognized her, but short of saying hello a couple times as he was leaving a class she was walking into, he couldn’t really say he knew her. The wolf wasn’t positive, but he thought her name was Michelle. Wait, maybe Megan? That sounded closer. He kept to his side of the courtyard, but at least from here, he could hear what she was playing. Hmm. She wasn’t half bad either.
November 7, 2013
Llyulf couldn’t confine himself to the outskirts of the courtyard anymore. On Wednesday, the lemur pulled out a guitar, and the bat started singing while she played along. It wasn’t really a song Leo cared much for, but he was definitely here for the unique spin they were putting on it. To be honest, he kinda preferred the lilting quality of her voice to the original. He just needed to be a little closer to hear them better. One of the tables off to the side was pretty consistently empty from what he could tell, so he flopped down at it with his back to the pair, one ear swiveled toward them, head nodding slightly in time with the tempo as he rolled through the next chapter from his English Literature textbook.
November 10, 2013
Leo made it to his newly-minted ‘normal’ table early, smiling. He wondered what the pair would be playing today. He cracked open his book, but not much sooner than he’d buried his nose into it, his head came back up at the sound of steps approaching from behind him. He turned and stood abruptly, ready to vacate if a group wanted the spot, and instead found himself looking into the purple eyes of the bat that was responsible for speeding the passage of his lunch period the last couple of weeks.
“Sorry, I can move if you need the table. Er- Megan, right?”
"That's me," the girl said with a grin. "You got a name, or should I just call you 'Stalker?'” She let the words hang just long enough for embarrassment to cross over his face. “Just kidding. Nah, you're fine, as long as you don't mind listening to me stumble over my chords.”
“Er- Yeah, sorry about that. I'm Llyulf, but I usually go by Leo, at least I did back home. You’ve got skills, with the bass, and your voice– I just couldn’t not try to get a better spot.”
“Ha! I don't know about 'skills,' I only recently started playing. I can play a mean tambourine, thankyouMissesJacobs, but no one's lining up to watch a tambourine show, are they?” Megan joked. "So, Leo, how about you come and hang out with me and Rod instead of sitting over here like a lone wolf?”
~~~Present Day~~~
February 17, 2014
Chimera Prep - Morning
Leo only half-listened to the equine Calculus teacher, Scott Ferris, explain once again the primary methods of finding the volume of solids formed by rotating a curve around an axis; the wolf’s mind was on its own track. Having Megan back at school this past week after being gone over a month had brought an inordinate amount of joy to the young wolf. Sure, he had other friends, now. But if not for her— he’d probably still be in the same corner of the courtyard every off period, and on his own at home every day. He likely wouldn’t have attended the Winter Formal at all, and the gorgeous chipmunk that usually was the one dominating his thoughts most of these last few weeks? He’d never have stumbled on her in the cold. Strings of words floated through his head, and he found his eraser tapping the corner of his desk as he muttered them under his breath. His eyes lost focus, and he started jotting down some of the lines in his head before he lost them. His ear flicked as he heard a change in tone from the instructor, but kept up the stream of muttered lines until the stallion’s voice grew much louder, sharp enough to cut through his distraction and snare his attention.
“Mr. Kalayo!” Leo flinched, pencil freezing in his paw as his eyes flicked to the board, then to the equine male frowning in his direction. “Did you have a question about something?” The wolf scanned the board, gaze settling on the circled answer at the bottom of the board, then flicking back up to the initial equation. He cleared his throat, resisting the urge to check how many eyes were on him.
“Sorry, Mr. Ferris. Um… Shouldn’t the circled volume be doubled, because the solid generated by rotating the hyperbolic tangent of x around the x-axis is symmetrical over the y-axis, and you adjusted the limit to find the value of the integral from ‘x’ equals -5 to zero, when the full integral was from -5 to 5?” The wolf gesticulated weakly toward the board, as the teacher’s head swiveled back and forth from Llyulf to the written out equations.
“Er– yes, yes that is correct. Good catch, Leo. All the more reason to show your work on assignments, everyone, so it's easy to see if the reason you miss a question is because you misunderstood a concept, or made a simple error with a digit somewhere. Ultimately, rather than doubling it, the correct way to solve it is to add the volume of the limit from zero to 5, but in this case, the symmetry does make it an even doubling,” the equine explained as he quickly jotted down the additional equations to arrive at the final solution. “Just make sure to raise a paw and say something if you think something is being missed, instead of discussing it with yourself, Leo.” He shot the wolf a pointed look. “You may have a good grasp on the subject, but others might not appreciate the distraction. ”
“Yes sir, Mr. Ferris. Won't happen again.”
~~~~~~~
Chimera Prep - Midday
Leo tossed his bag into his locker, eager to get to lunch. He debated bringing a book, but figured he wasn’t going to get much reading in. Having Megan around again last week had been more than enough to entertain him.
“C’mon, Leo, what are we waiting for?” the Tundra Lioness beside his locker asked impatiently. Her curt tone brought a small grin to the wolf’s lips. Ross could be a bit… coarse at times, but having her as a friend now that she was back with Megan was honestly quite nice. He appreciated her no-BS nature; you never had to doubt where you stood with her. And right now, he was well aware he was standing between the cat and her bat. He snorted softly, slamming the door of his locker shut, and pulling it to make sure his bag hadn’t blocked the mechanism.
“It’s just a habit to bring a book, ya know? But with Megan back, I don’t think I’ll even crack one at all this week. I sure didn’t last week. Besides, you know not a damn thing says you have to wait on me, Ross. I can catch up with y’all whenever.”
“Oh, shut it, dork. I’ll do what I- What do you want?”
Leo raised an eyebrow, and turned around, finding himself almost nose to nose with a badger boy he felt unfortunate enough to recognize as Holly’s original date to the Formal, Ryan Carlin. He’d also heard from Megan the jerk had thrown a drink on her while she was on stage that night. Even though the other male had a decent size advantage on the wolf, Llyulf’s distinct lack of visible reaction seemed to send something flitting over the badger’s face, before Ryan's eyes narrowed.
“Oh, not much. Heard from Midori that this guy thinks he’s hot shit for dating the choir chick from Cavallo,” the other male jeered, putting his paw on Leo’s shoulder. The wolf quickly shrugged it off, stepping to the side to skirt around the badger, but found the other fur quick to mirror his movement, cutting him off.
“Ryan,” the wolf began, mild annoyance creeping into his voice. “Look. We don’t talk, and I’m fine with that status quo. I don’t dance with dudes, so I’m just gonna go now.”
“Aww, what’s the matter?” The badger asked with a sneer. “I just wanted to wish you luck getting into that prude’s panties, because I don't think you’ll ever even get to see them.”
Leo rubbed his right temple with his paw, his ear twitching slightly at the quiet growl he caught from behind him. “You may be right, but hell, you sound saltier about that than I am.” Leo responded wearily as he made to step around the badger again. “Personally, I’d be more concerned that the last two girls you had ‘dates’ with either asked me out after, or ended up with me. Midori even asked again after the Formal. How do you think she found out about Holly?”
Ryan’s face twitched, and he put a heavy paw right in the center of Leo’s chest. “Whoa, buddy. I think you are forgetting that I am the one that laid your date to the Formal that night. Midori is mine, and that just proved it,” the badger asserted. Leo just rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, really right now? Did Kristen scramble his brains with another locker today?" Ross muttered under her breath, barely loud enough for Leo to catch.
“Must have been a poor showing, if she came running back to me a couple days later,” the wolf fired back at the other male. Ryan’s paw quickly closed around the collar of Leo’s shirt and started to pull, before a flash of white fur appeared between the two of them.
"That's enough, Ryan. What are you even saying about Midori being 'your' girl, anyway? It sounds like you're just her current fling." Ross spat, as Leo extricated himself from the grip of the other fur.
“Hey, I was just trying to give the virgin here some advice.” Ryan took a step back, smirking. “His arm candy isn’t gonna put out. But if you and the choir chick ever do need some help figuring out where things go ten years from now, tell her to give me a call. I’ll be happy to give you both a practical demonstration.” Leo just shook his head as Ross’ growl became even more pronounced.
“Let’s go Leo, we’re late, and this trash isn’t worth it.” The Tundra lioness swept the other fur out of her way with her arm. “He should be more worried about where ‘his girl’ is anyway, while he’s standing here and she’s nowhere to be seen.” The badger’s confident expression was wiped clean, replaced with indignation as the Tundra lioness gestured to Llyulf to follow, and the wolf teen gladly fell into step beside her with a snicker.
“Hey, I don’t have shit to worry about!” Ryan called out after the pair, though much of his bravado was lost when his voice faltered as he tried to take a step back and bumped into the lockers. Leo was content to keep walking, but paused as Ross stopped and looked back over her shoulder.
“You keep telling yourself that. Midori is a friend and all, but let’s be real. Are you sure you know everywhere ‘your,’” the Tundra Lioness made a full show of her air quotes, “kitten’s kitty, mouth, and paws have been in the last month or two? Maybe give that a second thought, instead of trying to start shit over a girl you’ll never have.”
Leo raised an eyebrow as they resumed their trek to the cafeteria. He really liked not being the one on the receiving end of Ross’ ire. “Thanks for that, Ross. I-”
“Just don’t make a habit of giving trashfires any more fuel, Leo. Holly’s a sweetheart. Ryan’s a jackass. Trust me, I want to rip him to shreds for what he did to Megan at the Formal. He’s just lucky I didn’t see him do it. Now, let’s hurry up and go find my bat.”
~~~~~~~
February 17, 2014
Giacomo Estate - Morning
Holly yawned as she crossed the hall into the bathroom, splashing cold– er, make that basically freezing water on her face. She didn’t need to be out of bed the moment the sun peeked through her window, and she really would rather have stayed toasty and warm wrapped up under her comforter. No assignments were due this morning, after all. But the chipmunk figured it was better to keep her waking schedule consistent, even if she’d been up a little later into the night than normal. There was no reason to skew her internal clock any more than it already was. Besides, just because she was ahead in her classes, didn’t mean there weren’t other things that needed attending to. She frowned into the mirror, soaking her paws under the now slightly warmer flow of water, before working them gently through her tangled mess of hair in an attempt to tame it, even a little bit.
I still need to talk to Mamma about Dad— and then talk to him too… She sighed, slumping forward and resting her paws on the counter. She’d meant to talk to her mom on Saturday, but her parents had left for Boston that morning to spend the day with Nona Rosa. Sundays were almost exclusively taken up by Mass and work at the restaurant. But today– today she had the day off, and she was pretty sure her mom didn’t have any plans. She took in a deep, slow breath and looked up through the curtain of her hair into the mirror.
It will happen today.
She pushed off the counter, snapping her head back to toss her hair behind her. The young chipmunk returned to her room, straightened and smoothed her sheets, and dipped into her closet to pull on a loose-fitting gray top and a pair of comfy black sweatpants. As she made her way out of her room, down the stairs, and turned toward the kitchen, she could smell– cinnamon?! A couple quickened steps, and Holly found her mother at the stove, a griddle in front of her, definitive dark swirls in the bubbling batter that confirmed the scent she’d picked up from the hallway.
“Buongiorno, Mamma!” Holly’s chipper greeting was accompanied by a gentle squeezing hug of her mother’s shoulders. “Hai bisogno di aiuto?”
Lenora Giacomo’s smile over her shoulder to her youngest daughter was every bit as bright as Holly’s voice. “No, dear, grazie,” the chipmunk matron responded as she flipped the cakes on the griddle, perfectly golden brown on top. “Your father was up early to go check on a newer farm just outside of town that wants to be a supplier for the butcher shop, so I figured I could make us some hot breakfast.”
Holly nodded, as she made her way to the cabinet to snag a glass, and then to the refrigerator. “So papà is out, then?” she asked, pulling the carafe of fresh-squeezed orange juice out, and pouring herself a glass. “Was there anything you needed to do this morning, Mamma, or do you think we could have a chat about— well, I guess, Dad?” Holly frowned, returning the container to the fridge, before carrying her glass to the bar seating and, with a little hop, planted herself on one of the stools. She had a serious love-hate relationship with these stools. Her brother always mocked the fact that she had to jump to get into one of them, and they weren’t super comfortable for long periods, because she couldn’t quite reach the footrest built into them. Her inner child, however, loved that they supported full 360 degree rotation, and the leather seat itself was wonderfully soft.
Lenora didn’t answer at first, instead pulling the still steaming pancakes from the griddle, spooning some freshly whipped vanilla cream in between the cakes as she slid each one onto the plate. She spread a larger scoop on the top and carried the stack over to Holly, as the cream began to melt and ooze over the top and between the layers. The younger chipmunk salivated, only splitting her focus when her mother finally answered.
“You guess, hmm? Might it have something to do with Leo, too?”
Holly’s cheeks burned in response, darkening considerably as she took the plate from her mother. She let out a soft huff, as her mother set a fork next to her and spun away with a knowing smile. “Okay, yes Mamma, it's also about Leo. But what Dad is doing is–”
“Ridiculous? Unreasonable, and unfair?” Lenora cut in as she started moving things to the sink in the center island of the kitchen. “Of course it is, do you expect anything less of your father?”
Holly’s eyes narrowed. “Actually, yes, I do!” Holly exclaimed, exasperation creeping into her voice. “Leo has been nothing but kind, and sweet, from the moment we met, and I barely saw him give any of the grief he’s giving Leo to Bianca’s boy toys. The twins hardly brought boys to the house, but B had a new one every other month! So why is it, when I actually have a guy that I’m interested in, and treats me well, Dad wants to limit when I can date him? As if I’m not already limited enough by my schedule at work, and school?!” She stabbed angrily at a chunk of the fluffy discs on her plate, and stuffed it in her mouth, some of the fire instantly abandoning her as the cloudlike morsel, soaked in the sweet cream that cut perfectly through the warmth of the cinnamon swirl, practically disintegrated on her tongue. Crap, mamma, how am I supposed to be properly mad when you make things this good?! Her mother must have caught the look on her face changing, because a tittering giggle emanated from the area Lenora was standing in. Holly’s eyes flashed upward to meet the older woman’s. “What?!”
“Oh, nothing.” Her mother shrugged with a smirk as she scraped the griddle clean in the oversized sink. “I think it's great that you feel so strongly about it. It means the conversation I had with your father Friday night was warranted.”
Holly frowned. “You talked to him already?”
“I did. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't. Hearing it directly from you might do him good, and give him a chance to explain himself.” Lenora commented as she hand washed the utensils. “His methods may be misguided, but his motives aren’t surprising, at least.”
Holly sat silently as she took a few more bites of the succulent pancakes, chewing them slowly, brow furrowed. “So— you think I should go easier on him?” She finally asked quietly, uncertainty coloring her voice. The young chipmunk flinched a little in surprise as her mother let out a sharp laugh, her forkful falling with a moist plop back onto the plate.
“Oh, not at all, Holly. Tell him exactly what you’re feeling. He’s a big boy; he can handle it, and he should have to defend his ridiculousness to you.” Her mother smirked. “His ideas don’t just affect Leo, they affect you, and he could do with the reminder.”
That brought a grin back to Holly’s face. Scooping up the lost bite, she stuffed it, and another in her mouth, reveling in the flavor, washing it down with the orange juice, which was almost bitter by comparison.
“Well, I have plenty to say. I love him to death, but I think I deserve some control over my social life, if I want to have one. Anyway, on another note— you never did say if you had plans this morning. I’m off today, and nothing due for class until Wednesday, want to go do some girl stuff, Mamma?”
~~~~~~~
Giacomo Estate - Afternoon
After manicures, pedicures, a ‘quick’ visit to the hair salon, and a late girls’ lunch, Lenora’s Lexus pulled into the family’s detached garage next to a conspicuously empty spot. Holly grumbled to herself as she slipped out of the passenger side of the vehicle. She’d hoped her dad would be home by the time they got back, so she could stop fussing over the conversation she wanted to have. She followed her mother along the covered walk to the side door of their home, but pulled up short at the sound of another vehicle. Her pulse quickened at the familiar low rumble of her father’s Maserati Quattroporte S, and her mother gave her a knowing look before the older female disappeared into the house.
The young chipmunk took a pair of slow breaths as she watched the sleek black sedan with dark windows, and even a smoky tint to the windshield, vanish into the garage. Scratching at the back of her paw anxiously for a moment, a gust of wind across her neck sent her hurrying out of the cold into the much more inviting warm interior of the house. Holly made her way into the family room and took a seat, sinking into the plush leather couch. She didn’t have to wait long before the sounds of Nicolo’s shuffling reached her ears, and he rounded the corner into the kitchen, a pair of paper wrapped bundles in his paws. Her father’s face split into a wide grin as he spotted her.
“Mia cara! How has your day been? The farm I visited this morning has promise!” He held up the paper bundles before he put them into the fridge. “They gave us some roasts that look quite good. I look forward to what your mother can do with them.”
Holly smiled softly, nodding. “It's been good. Mamma and I got to spend some time together today, which is always nice. Did you have anywhere else to go today?”
Her dad paused at her question, tilting his head. “Not that I know of, is there something wrong?”
“Actually, Papà, I was hoping you might have time to sit and talk with me for a little bit,” Holly said sweetly, smiling even more internally than she was outwardly as Nicolo’s eyebrow shot up, and he came around the couch to take a seat opposite the coffee table from her.
“Oho, Papà she says– sounds like I might be in trouble. What is it, mia figlia?” His confident, teasing smile quickly vanished though, once he caught the look she was giving him.
“We need to talk about how you have been treating Leo, and me. I feel–” she started, before her dad jumped in over her.
“Wait, wait, that wolf is seriously having you fight his–”
Holly’s eyes flashed and she refused to let him finish his sentence, cutting him off just as quickly. “Papà!! Fermati un po, e mi lasci parlare! No, Leo didn’t ask me to do this. I am not doing it for him, I am doing it for me. He has been an absolute gentleman from the moment we met outside the dance that night. He didn’t even know who I was, or how long we would be waiting when he offered his jacket to keep me warm. For our first real date, he gave up dinner with his own dad, to try and endear himself to you. Then, on Valentine's Day, he shifted his plans again to suit your ridiculous spur-of-the-moment constraints, this time coming up with a way that we could still have our night together.”
As she stopped to take a breath, trying to lower her tone and volume, Nicolo tried once again to weigh in. “Now, Holly, y-”
Except she was having none of it.
“I’m not done, Papà!” She shot back, jumping to her feet. “Leo isn’t the only one you are making this hard on. I also have to deal with the consequences of your little games. So far, it’s been inconvenient at most. But how in the world are we supposed to plan anything significant if we don’t know if you might try to pull the rug out from under us at the last minute?” Holly turned to the side, but held up a digit before he could speak this time as she made another attempt at a calming breath. When she turned back to meet her father’s eyes, his face was impassive, a mask, but he made no attempt to speak.
She began speaking again, this time in a softer, and more measured tone. “Dad, you know I have never really questioned your rules. Even if I’m ‘an adult’, I know that I still live in yours and Mamma’s house, under your roof. I get it. But I feel like I deserve some respect too. I have followed your rules, kept my grades up for years, even when I moved to online classes instead of attending Chimera Prep myself like the others. I’ve worked as many hours as Sofia would give me, from the moment I was allowed to, without ever letting it affect my studies, or get in the way of my responsibilities at home. I’ve never gone out to parties, I don't miss Mass. All in all, I think I have proven myself not to be overly impulsive, and a decent judge of character. And,” she held up her paw again, “before you try to bring up Ryan, you sat and listened to me complain about him continually asking me out, and it was you and mom that told me he might be worth giving him a chance if he was so dedicated. And you know what? Even if he turned out to be a jerk, I’m not mad at you, because I don’t think I’d have had the chance to properly meet Leo otherwise.”
She flopped back into the seat she’d vacated and sighed. “I— I know you’ve given a hard time to the other girls’ boyfriends the first time you meet them on occasion. I was even expecting that. What I didn’t know is that you would keep doing it. But I need to be able to decide if Leo is right for me too. I can’t do that if I can’t spend time with him.” The impassioned young chipmunk threw her paws in the air. “I might even get it wrong, Dad. Leo might not be as good as he seems. But I have to figure it out eventually, and I would rather find out sooner than later. I don’t want to fall even further for him than I already have, only to be disappointed, all because it took so long to see enough of him to know that he isn’t what I want. Have I not earned that, at least?” She looked back over to her father, who she found staring at her intently, paws steepled against his muzzle. She locked eyes with him and waited, each second ticking by raising her anxiety. I’ve never yelled at him before…
Finally, after a slow inhale through his nose, he spoke. “The goal was never to make you feel like I don't trust you, Holly. You– you're our youngest daughter, and you've grown into such a beautiful young woman. I just don't want to see you hurt.”
“And I get that, Dad. But you can't save me from everything. I'm going to get hurt sometimes. But if all you do is shield me from the world, it's just going to be that much more painful when I do get hurt, because I won't know how to deal with it,” she said softly.
“That. That right there. That's why I have pushed the wolf boy so hard. You've never brought boys home before. That idiot that took you to the dance… Well let's just say, if Leo wasn't there, and instead I had found you out there in the cold alone–” His tone suddenly took on an icy edge as a dark look crossed over his face. “The badger would have barely lived to regret it.”
“That doesn’t mean Leo is like that, though. He’s super sweet, and Mamma seems to like him a lot. You probably would too, if you gave him a chance.” Holly remarked, leading to a chuckle from her father.
“On the contrary, mia cara, I have been impressed with the boy. He appears to have made you quite happy, which I like very much. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and to be a responsible young man. He has also shown he still has limits as to what he will do for my approval, interestingly enough.”
Holly’s gaze, which had drifted a bit as she listened, snapped violently back to her father with wide eyes, netting another laugh from the older male. “Wait, no, no. You don’t get to just say that. Daddy, what did you do?” she questioned disapprovingly.
“Nothing bad, I promise. I merely offered him a cigar, man to man, and he declined. Even with repeated prodding. I'd have been slightly more disappointed if he caved after saying no.” Nicolo shrugged, then his smile faded a little. “What of your plans to travel? Does he know you plan to leave? Will he go with you? Or will you stay, now that you have a boyfriend?”
Holly blinked rapidly, then cast her eyes downward. “We– we haven't really talked about it since the night of the Formal. He supported it, but that was obviously before we had any idea that we would be together. I don’t even know if he really remembers.” Her eyes lost focus for a moment, before refocusing back on her father. “Just another thing we, Leo and I, need to figure out for ourselves. So will you let us? Let me?” She pleaded.
“I just don’t want you to be hurt, or used, mia figlia–”
“And I am asking you to trust me, Papà. I made him find me before I would go on a first date with him, after what happened with Ryan. Even then, he didn’t get my number until after the date. I’m not rushing things, and he isn’t pushing me. If he does, I’ll set him straight, don’t worry. I know I'm not looking for a fling, and I’m pretty sure he knows it too.”
Her father held her gaze, before his hardened expression was softened by the faintest glimmer of a smile. “Then I hope he keeps it up. For his sake, and yours. Maybe even mine. You know how I feel about you going to Europe alone. Perhaps you can convince him to go with you. Having someone else with you to help make sure you come back home to us would be soothing to your old man’s heart. I told your mother this already, but I will stop interfering, at least for now. I won't promise anything if things take a turn for the worse, though. He’d better behave himself.”
Holly’s eyes rolled a little, the corners of her mouth turning upward. “Thanks, Daddy. Honestly, you uh– you might have to have this conversation a third time. I told Leo I wanted to talk to you, but I didn’t tell him when, and I don’t plan to. So he might have something to say too. I think the only reason he didn’t speak up on Valentine's Day was because the night was still pretty great, and he sort of beat you at your own game.” She couldn’t suppress a giggle as her father’s brows quickly knit together.
“You know, your mother said much the same.” Nicolo sighed. “Speaking of your mother, where has she gone off to? Not sure how she wants to prepare those fresh cuts.” A snicker echoed from the hallway, and the older chipmunk woman appeared around the corner.
“Oh, I've just been waiting for you two to finish hashing this out.” Lenora swooped in from the kitchen to give Nicolo a peck on the cheek, then bee-lined back to the fridge to inspect the packs of meat that her husband had brought home. “Oooooh, these look perfect for a pot roast. We will do something different tonight, so I can treat these right for tomorrow…”
~~~~~~~
Kalayo Residence - Evening
Llyulf’s nose wrinkled as the acrid smell of the beer his dad just cracked open drifted across the small square table. The younger wolf had ‘cooked’ dinner, though that was a generous term for boiling up shell pasta, covering it in violently colored cheese sauce, dumping in a couple cans of drained tuna, and stirring it in with some steamed corn. Niall had been running late, taking an extra call for some plumbing issue in the next building over. It had been an easy fix, so the older wolf was still able to make it home quickly so they could eat together.
Leo tried to ignore the smell as he watched his dad take a couple deep gulps off the can, before tearing ravenously into the quick and dirty bachelor’s life meal. His dad usually had a beer with dinner, but Llyulf had been watching closer since Friday night. The teen had never really had much reason to pay attention before. What was wrong with someone having a drink or two at the end of the day, you know? Niall worked two jobs, full time for the Best Buy Geek Squad, and part time as a handyman for a local service. The latter honestly paid better, but the older wolf really wanted to leave that kind of work behind. Back in Florida, Leo’s dad had worked in commercial construction, a jack of all trades. He knew welding, and electrical, so finding good paying work had never been an issue.
What was an issue, however, was work-life balance. He was on the road a lot, and even though he took care of all the bills, allowing for Llyulf’s mom Darlena to use her own income to fund her somewhat lavish tastes, it still strained the home dynamics. His parents grew more emotionally distant from each other over time, eventually only really coming back together to argue. Leo watched his dad try for course correction, starting some certification classes, quitting his construction work, and taking an entry-level IT position with a local insurance firm.
Suddenly, Niall was home on time every day, and on weekends, no travel required. Darlena’s shoe, purse, and cosmetics budget however, was nowhere to be found, now that she suddenly needed to split the bills at home. Rather than improving, the fights got louder, and more frequent. Niall retreated into his shell, and the fights slowly devolved into extended silence. Leo, who’d taken to borrowing his dad’s certification books when they weren’t in use, ended up taking and passing the A+ certification exam. He helped his dad study, happy to have the excuse to spend the time in Niall’s home office with him, instead of locked outside it. Finally, the older wolf passed his own certification, and got a modest raise. Llyulf’s mom barely reacted to the news— and three weeks later, Niall woke up after a night sleeping on the couch to a stack of papers in a manilla envelope on the coffee table.
Things didn’t get much easier on them, and when his dad said he wanted to start over somewhere different, Leo didn’t argue. He quietly hoped the move would bring them closer, like they’d been before. Even when Niall was traveling for weeks on end, whenever he came home, they were practically inseparable. For a couple weeks, it even seemed possible, but his dad’s walls slowly came back up, as he initially struggled to find work. Niall finally took on both his current jobs, insisting on paying for Leo to attend Chimera Prep instead of the local public school. Something something ‘any advantage he could give his son’ after uprooting him for his senior year, he’d said.
And so, they’d settled into a routine. They lived together, most of the time ate together, but shy of birthdays and holidays, and some other brief flashes of the familial feel that still existed, they felt more like roommates or casual friends most days. Was Valentine’s the first time his dad had spent the night passed out on the couch, or had Leo just never noticed, holed up in his room, working on his own projects? Leo looked down at the bowl of vibrantly coated pasta shells, stirring it around before taking a bite without really tasting it. He was startled out of his thoughts by his father’s voice.
“Thanks for cooking tonight, son. I’m glad it was a quicker call, and they paid the emergency fee, so I get to pocket the bonus anyway. Maybe we can go out Saturday night, go to the bowling alley or something?” The older wolf paused, before hurriedly continuing “If you don’t have any plans with your lady friend, that is.”
As Llyulf slowly processed his dad’s words, he nodded. “Yeah– er, yeah, we could probably do that. Holly and I haven’t planned anything new yet.” His distraction must have caught Niall’s attention, though.
“You okay, bud? Everything’s still good in paradise, right?”
The younger wolf looked up into his dad’s face blankly, before realizing he was assuming it was about his new relationship. “Oh– Everything with Holly is great, Dad. Valentine’s Day went a little weird, but not between us. Her dad made things a little— awkward I guess, but nothing we couldn’t get around. I uh—,” Leo paused, wondering whether this was even worth broaching, before biting the bullet, and continuing on. “I was more worried about, well, you.” His assertion was met with complete bewilderment plastered on his father’s face.
“Me? Why would you be worried about me? What did I do?” Niall blurted out, spinning his mental wheels.
Llyulf didn’t answer immediately, instead popping another bite of the tuna mac into his mouth and chewing it slowly, still debating his own choice of words. “Well, when I got home Friday, you— were kinda out cold, Dad. I didn’t realize it at first, and I wasn’t all that quiet coming in the door. I tried to be once I knew you were on the couch, but I wasn’t super successful… you never stopped snoring though…”
A half-hearted laugh spilled out of the older wolf’s lips. “Aha. Don’t worry about me, son,” came his father’s assurance. “I just had a little more than normal, since I had to entertain myself with an empty house, that’s all. What about you though? We never did talk about how your date night went.”
Leo really wasn’t sure how convinced he was by that explanation, especially with how quick his dad was to change the subject. On the other paw, he also didn’t see where pressing the issue would get him right now. He shrugged, a smile sneaking onto his face as memories of the night flooded back into his mind.
“Well, even with the stuff with her dad, we still had a pretty good night. He gave us an arbitrary two hour time limit to have her back home.” Leo ignored the bemused look on his father’s face as he continued. “So I decided to get our stuff to go, and some of the Mexican hot chocolate to keep us warm while we had dinner on her family’s dock, kinda like a picnic of sorts.”
One of Niall’s eyebrows shot up. “They have a dock on their property? I knew she had a brand new car, but what, is her family just old money or something?”
Leo tilted his head, then shrugged again. “Honestly? I never asked.” Leo responded. “Her dad sure gives ‘Godfather’ vibes, being Italian and smoking cigars and all. I remember her mentioning a family butcher shop, but I’m sure there is more to the story than just that. Shi- er, hell, the house they live in? It's basically a mansion. It just hasn’t mattered enough to dig in on, ya know?”
His dad slid his chair back, nodding as he stood, completely ignoring the younger wolf’s near slip. “No, that makes sense. It's not important, I’m just curious now, is all.” Niall scooped up his empty bowl and carried it to the sink. “From what little I’ve seen of her, Holly doesn’t scream spoiled rich, so whatever they’ve done, her parents seem to have raised her well enough.”
“Holly definitely works more than I do, and doesn’t really act like she is entitled to anything. Sure, she might have some expensive tastes, but she doesn’t feel like— well, like Mom. Love her to death, but I think the only thing more important to Mom than her stuff is herself.” The wolf teen picked at the last bit of his meal, before finishing it off. “Holly may have grown up with nice stuff, but if I have learned anything about her so far, it's that she cares more about doing things than having them. She’s actually been saving her money from work to pay her own way on a trip to Europe.”
“Oh wow. That is pretty impressive,” Niall commented, popping open the fridge. “She definitely doesn’t seem anything like your mother, I’ll give you that.” Leo stood, depositing his own bowl in the dishwasher, and tossing his father’s in as well, while the older wolf relocated to the living room.
Leo heard the crack and hiss of the fresh can, shaking his head as he popped a detergent tablet in the dishwasher, and set it to run. Making his way to his room, he grabbed his Calc notebook from his bag, and flopped into his desk chair. When he pulled out the couple of free floating sheets of paper marking today’s work, the notebook fell open to a page half-full of words that had nothing at all to do with volumes of solids. He read over them once, twice, tap-tap-tapping the edge of his desk, then picked up his pen, and started adding to the page.
~~~~~~~
February 20, 2014
Cavallo Italian Restaurant - Afternoon
“So Holly, was your Valentine's Day worth the extra Saturdays you pulled for me?”
The chipmunk girl sure was glad blushes weren’t audible. She’d expected Becca to ask, but after the 19 year old porcine girl had been out sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, she thought she might have been in the clear. She should have known better with how borderline obsessive the pig had been with her relationship from the moment Leo had showed up at the restaurant that first night.
“It was, and I’m very thankful you were willing to give up your shift for me.” Holly replied as Becca drew up beside her. The chipmunk kept her eyes down, ‘reading’ the current reservation list, though with only 5 names, she couldn’t keep it up for long. When she finally took a peek out of the corner of her eye, she found her co-worker staring at her expectantly. “Come on, Becca, you just got here, do we really have to do this now?”
“Do you see anyone coming in the door? I think now is the best time we’re going to have,” Holly’s fellow hostess countered. “I have been waiting almost a week for these deets, now spill ‘em, damnit.”
“Ooooh honey, what deets are we spilling? How spicy are they?” Holly rolled her eyes at the questions from Sofia’s newest hire, Jameis. He was a 15 year old, very energetic cottontail, sweet as could be, but sometimes that energy could be a little much, especially in the family-style Italian atmosphere. He would probably need to scale back if he ever wanted to wait tables instead of just bussing them. He stretched, before his paw came to rest on a canted hip. “Well? C’mon girl, whatcha got?”
“Fine, fine. Jameis, just make sure you’re still keeping an eye on your tables,” Holly huffed.
“It’s four o’clock. Three tables are full, everything else is clear and set. Table 7 just got their salads, and 12 and 15 are waiting for entrees. We good,” the rabbit asserted nonchalantly, surprising the chipmunk. She knew they weren’t busy, but the bunny’s carefree attitude apparently was concealing some of his attentiveness.
“Well, Leo found this little Mexican restaurant up in Dover that had a wandering mariachi ban–”
“Oh, did he have them come serenade you?!” Becca interjected, though the pig girl grinned sheepishly as Holly stared daggers in her direction. “Sorry, I’ll let you tell, I swear.”
“As I was saying, Leo found this cute little restaurant up in Dover, but thanks to my Dad being a control freak, we weren’t able to sit down and eat there. Thanks to some quick thinking though, Leo got the idea that we could make a sort of picnic on my family’s dock, so we took it to go, and had dinner under the moon and stars.” Heat suffused her face, and she had no doubt her cheeks were blazing pink, but she kept her eyes from meeting her coworkers’ gazes. “It was a little chilly Friday night, so the food cooled off really fast, but he brought a thermos to the restaurant and had them fill it to the brim with Mexican hot chocolate. It was so good. Hot, sweet, and just a little bit of spicy kick, so we sipped on that to stay warm. Well, that and we kept huddled up with each other, of course.”
“Awwww, that’s so cute! So even when your dad gets in the way, your guy still finds a way to give you a night you deserve.” Becca swooned. “Does he have an older brother? Asking for a friend.”
Holly shook her head slowly and deliberately. “Sorry Becca, going to have to find your–” Holly started.
A grin snuck onto the other hostess’ face. “Actually, his dad was kinda cute, even if he’s a little ol—”
“Becca! No!” Holly chided. “I don’t care if he is single, he’s got to be almost twice your age! Let him be.”
“Oh, is he actually single? That’s convenient.” Becca teased with a smirk.
“Daaaayum girl, look atchu, gon’ get you a sugar daddy?” The rabbit exclaimed, giggling madly.
“Based on Holly’s reaction, I think she might murder me if I became her mother-in-law, so I guess not.” Becca lamented with an exaggerated sigh. “Not that I have any eligible bachelors lining up to offer me their jackets on a cold winter’s night. Anyways,” she continued, turning back to Holly. “Anything else fun happen Friday?”
“Yeah! Did he give you anything else to warm you up, mebbe something a little stiffer?”
“Jay! Both of you are awful today.” Just when she was feeling like her blush had finally receded, the fire returned to burn the chipmunk’s cheeks with a vengeance. “I was at home, we were outside most of the night, and my parents were home. So no, he did not. I–” She bit her tongue as the bell rang above the door, a fox and a marten entering with a pair of young hybrid kits between them.
Before Holly could speak, Becca stepped forward, plucking a pawful of menus from the stand. “Welcome to Cavallo. Will it just be the four of you this evening?” The pig girl inquired, whisking them away to seat them.
Holly turned, blinking rapidly when she found the wall Jameis had been leaning on suddenly devoid of bunny. She closed her eyes, taking a slow inhale through her nose, and letting it out. By the time Becca returned, a couple more cycles had mostly banished the flush from her face.
“Thanks, Becca. You didn’t need to, but I’m not going to complain either.”
“Eh, we’re the reason you were glowing like a stop light, figured it was the least I could do. So if he didn’t get frisky with you, what else did you do that night?” the porcine teen asked.
“Well, we mostly just… talked. We finished the food, which was great, even after it got cold a little too fast. There was still a bunch of the hot chocolate though, so we just sat out there, sipping on that until it ran out. Once it finally did, we ended up going back up to the house to sit by the fire a bit before he went home. He did ask me to his prom though.”
A gasp at her elbow elicited a squeak from the chipmunk as she jolted in surprise.
“Oooooh, what did he do?” Jameis blurted out. “Did he make a big show of it? Did he hide something in the dessert? Did you say yes? Did–” The exuberant rapid-fire questions from the overzealous rabbit boy after being startled managed to overwhelm Holly’s patience.
“Jay, fermati!” she hissed through her teeth, throwing up a paw to silence him. The cottontail froze, mouth ajar, eyes darting between the chipmunk in front of him and the pig stifling a giggle behind her.
After a moment, his mouth slowly closed, and he gave a weak smile. “I don’t know what you just said, but it sounded like a spell. I’m not cursed, am I?”
Holly had to keep herself from giggling at the visible unease on the rabbit’s face. “No, it’s not a spell, it’s Italian, Jameis. You know, the same Italian as the food we serve?” The chipmunk grumbled, rubbing at her temple. “Fermati means ‘stop’, and thank goodness you did. That was just too much energy all at once.”
“Oh girl, that’s cool! Why’d you switch languages? Practicing for class or something? I should probably try that, I bet my Spanish teacher would be happier.” The rabbit wilted a little under Holly’s scowl. “Heh. Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine, just if you want answers to questions, you need to put some time between them. Dial it back a bit.” The chipmunk took a deep breath. “I speak Italian because my family is Italian. I'm practically as fluent as I am in English. No, Leo didn’t make a big show of asking me to prom. It just sort of– happened, out of the blue. I teased him a bit, since my first dance went so well with Ryan, then said yes.”
“Speaking of which,” Bella chimed in, “whatever happened to that badger anyway? Can’t believe he came in here for weeks just to abandon you.”
“All I know is I want nothing to do with him. I wasn’t the only one he was an ass to that night.” Holly perked as the bell above the door rang. She quickly greeted the couple, scooped up a pair of menus, and led them off to a table.
On her way back to the hostess stand, she was diverted by a ring from the phone on the back wall by the kitchen. Lifting the handset from the cradle, Holly caught the other hostess’ attention, pointing to the phone, and Becca nodded before returning to her conversation with the cottontail. “Buonasera. Thank you for calling Cavallo. This is Holly. How can I help you today?” The ear away from the handset twitched as she heard the bell from the front door jingle again. She snagged a bit of scrap paper from the little station nearby and jotted down the requested reservation time, and the party size. “Alright, we should be able to, but let me go confirm we can handle a party that big tonight, and I will be right back with you.” She tapped the button to place the fur on hold, and returned the handset to the cradle. As she approached the hostess stand, she caught the tail end of the whispered discussion between Jameis and Becca.
“—rl, lookit that, I wonder if he bites, –”
“Sorry Jameis, paws off, he’s Holly’s.”
“That’s him? Well hallelu-jah indeed. Now where the hell do I get one of those?”
“Both of you, hush,” Holly scolded under her breath, causing both of them to jump, as she slipped between them to the stand to check the schedule for the night. She added the requested reservation for the large group to the list, and waved meekly at Leo, before zipping back to the phone and confirming the reservation with the fur on the line. The whole time, now that her ear was trained on it, she could still hear the two of her co-workers going back and forth, her blush rising further with every word she heard.
“Mmf, I just wanna bend over and let him howl at my moon, you know what’m say’n”
“You just wait till you hear him speak, bunnyboi.” Becca chortled softly.
Holly finally got the handset hung back up, and hurried back over and around the corner. “Aaaah, sorry Leo, is everything okay? Did you and your dad come for dinner?” she managed, a little breathless from the combination of rush and embarrassment.
“Oh, everything is fine, gorgeous—”
Holly heard Jameis suck his teeth, and if she heard it, she knew Leo couldn’t have missed a single word the pair had said, even if he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.
“Now that just ain’t even fair Boo. Forget bending over, for that voice, I’d do an-ny-thang he–,” the bunny continued chatting in his ineffective whisper, and Holly finally reached the end of her rope.
“You know I can hear the two of you, right?” The chipmunk girl snapped, barely managing to keep her voice low and in check. “We have a 16-top showing at 7:30. Instead of fawning over Leo, maybe the two of you could go get those tables set up ahead of time? Don’t get drool on them, please.” The guilty pair at least had the decency to look embarrassed as they rushed off. With a huff, Holly turned back to her boyfriend, whose smirk only heightened the mortification she was feeling. “I am so sorry, Leo. I don’t know what’s gotten into them.”
“It really is fine, beautiful. I take it as a compliment, more than anything. It’s a bit strange, I get a lot more attention here than I did back h– well, down south, but it doesn’t bother me. I already know I have the best looking girl in town, so you have nothing to worry about. And no, didn’t come for dinner. I was around the corner at the bakery and suspected I might not get to see you Sunday, so I figured I would bring you something small to celebrate the wonderful month I’ve had since I was lucky enough to find you again.” He offered the cardboard cube in his paws to her, which she took gingerly. She lifted the lid to peek inside, revealing a pretty pink strawberry cream cupcake with twin slices of fresh strawberry on top, canted at angles from each other to form the shape of a heart.
“Aww, it's pretty, and looks tasty too. Another reason to be excited to get out of work tonight, and not just to escape the two lunatics I’m working with today.” She leaned into him, and she practically purred as he took the hint and wrapped her in a hug, squeezing her gently. “It’s crazy to think it’s only been a month.” Wiggling out of his hold, she stood up on her toes to give him a quick, chaste kiss on the lips. “Still looking forward to the next one, and every one after that.”
She slinked around the hostess stand as her wolf bid her goodbye, and slipped the cupcake box into the folds of her jacket that was tucked inside the stand. A glance at the clock told her she still had a couple hours to go, but even though she could still feel the heat in her cheeks, she suddenly didn’t mind all that much anymore…
~~~~~~~
February 21, 2014
Chimera Prep Courtyard - Midday
Lunch was a pretty standard affair, sadly (but unsurprisingly) still missing the musical accompaniment that filled Leo’s early days with the group. He was pretty sure that Megan would have a bass out the moment she could hold one, though. Until then, just having her back with the crew every day again was blessing enough. When the bell rang, announcing the end of the period, Leo waved farewell to Ross and Megan, and fell into step with Roderick, who raised an eyebrow at the wolf.
“Don’t you have to go the other way?” the lemur asked, motioning down the hall to the left as he himself made a turn to the right. Leo nodded hurriedly, but stayed in step.
“I’ll loop back around. I just had a question for you. And for now, I kinda want to keep it mostly under wraps until I know what I actually want from it. See, I wrote– well, I don’t even know what to call it yet. Is it a song if it's just lyrics? I guess that works. Anyway, I wrote lyrics, and I want to see about getting a simple acoustic track, really just basic chords, to fit it. I can’t play, and I don’t really understand how arrangements work, so I figured I would ask you.”
“I would, but I don’t write,” the lemur responded. “I’d talk to Ivory, or Ebony if you're brave. They do all the composing. Jabyses does lyrics. I just tune the instruments.”
The wolf frowned, chewing at the corner of his lip before continuing. It wasn’t a gamebreaker or anything, just a slight complication. Leo had just assumed with as much as he heard Rod play, that he’d be the guy to ask. “Oh— I haven’t really talked to them much,” Leo mused. “Uh, is one more discreet than the other? It's kinda… Well, it's actually a very personal project, and ultimately a gift of sorts. If one of them writes it, you could still play it, right?”
Roderick just shrugged. “If you talk to one, you might as well be talking to both of them, but they mostly keep to themselves anyway. I would approach Ivory first if I were you though, she doesn’t bite.” With a smirk he added, “Ebony does. I guess I can play anything they write. It’s just music right?”
Gears turning, Llyulf nodded slowly. “Alright, sweet. I guess I’ll either run into Ivory sometime soon, or hit you up to see if she’s available one weekend for me to come chat with her. Thanks for the warning about the biter, though, I have no interest in fucking up what I have with Holly over someone getting a little too playful.”
“You’re not really Ebony’s type.” The lemur held out a paw. “If you have a copy of your lyrics, I can let them see it without telling them who it is from or for. They usually have spare time.”
“Damn, I probably should have thought of that. I don’t have one on me right now. I can get you a copy Monday though, with a couple notes on the general vibe I’m feeling.” Leo glanced at his wrist and cursed. “Fuck. Gotta go. See ya, and thanks again, Rod!” the wolf shouted back as he took off down the hall to try and make class before the bell sounded.
~~~~~~~
February 23, 2014
Giacomo Estate - Early Evening
Llyulf stared up at the massive house for a few minutes from behind the wheel of his SUV, collecting himself. Holly wouldn't be finished with her shift for over an hour, but for once, he wasn't here for her. Sure, he’d brought her a little something, since he wasn't going to be able to stay long enough for her to get home. But his real reason for being here now was her father. He figured having the conversation he wanted one on one with the older chipmunk, without Holly’s influence, would be more respectful to Nicolo. Nothing about that made the thought of such a conversation any less stressful though.
He wasn't scared, really, but there was a certain amount of nerves that the teen was pretty sure affected any reasonable male when confronting a girl’s father. Leo had done his level best to show Nicolo he was trustworthy, that he was here to be with Holly, not just to get with her. His eyes narrowed, and pushed open his driver door, hopping out into the admittedly pleasant evening chill. With a deep breath of the crisp air to help steady himself, the young wolf made his way to the door, and rang the doorbell. The familiar face of Lenora, sweet chipmunk matron of the Giacomo family, appeared behind the door and stared at him in confusion.
“Leo? Was Holly expecting you? She isn’t home yet, and she didn’t mention–”
The teen shook his head and quickly cut in. “No no, Mamma G, I do have something to drop off for her,” Leo said, reaching into his jacket, pulling out a simple white envelope, and offering it to Holly’s mom. “But I actually want to talk to Mr. Giacomo, if he is around.”
“Oh! Well, come in then. I will check on Nico and I’ll make sure Holly gets this when she gets home.” She took the proffered envelope, stepping back to allow him to pass before closing the door behind him. “He should be in his office. Why don’t you follow me, and we’ll see?” Leo nodded and followed her down the hall, stopping before a pair of heavy, stained oak doors. Lenora poked her head inside, then withdrew and smiled at him. “He will be right out.”
The wolf nodded, taking a step back towards the wall behind him so he wouldn’t be crowding the door when Nicolo made his appearance. Llyulf didn’t have to wait long. The older male nodded in Leo’s direction as he slipped out of the office door, shutting and locking it behind himself without a word. Nico started down the hall and, unbidden, Leo shrugged and fell into step behind Nicolo. The chipmunk snagged a coat from a hook and led him out a door on the side of the house onto a walkway that seemingly led to a detached garage, but also split off to the left and meandered into the back of the property. Quickening his steps as Nicolo angled left, Leo drew up next to the older male.
“Mr. Giacomo–” Leo started, but stopped as the chipmunk raised a paw.
“Wait.” Nicolo pointed over to a bench facing the river, backed by a terraced wall, above which Leo knew the family’s pool sat. “Let us sit.” Thankfully, the bench was dry, and reasonably comfortable. The chipmunk pulled a cigar case from his jacket, lit one, and returned the case to his pocket. “Lenora said you wished to speak with me? A bit odd for you to come when Holly is not home, no?”
The young wolf steeled his nerves, and looked over to see Nicolo watching him with a very neutral expression, yet the gaze he met felt piercing. “Well, sir, I wanted to talk to you, without Holly. I didn’t tell her I would be coming by tonight,” Llyulf began. “I figured airing my concerns to you directly might be appreciated and, not that I really would anyway, but if either of us would feel the need to mince words in front of Holly, we could speak freely now. You may not know me well enough for it to mean much, but I give you my word that I will not use anything you say to cause any sort of drama with Holly.”
The wolf’s last statement was met with a chuckle from Nicolo. “To this point, boy, you have proven yourself pretty well, if you ask my wife. If you ask me, I can’t say I disagree with her, truly. You are right about one thing, I haven’t known you long. But I will also give my word as her father that you can speak freely. It is better that way. So go ahead and speak.”
Leo nodded then spoke evenly, looking out over the river. “I know that the last person to take your daughter out was an asshole. I have run into him a couple times, and he was also a prick to another friend of mine that night. I can assure you, I am not him. From the moment Holly and I spoke, she’s had a hook in me that I can’t, and don’t want to, free myself from. I don’t know how long you are planning to keep testing me, but I’m not going anywhere. Today marks a month since I walked into the ninth Italian restaurant in the week after the Formal, trying to find the beautiful girl I met that night. I won’t speak for Holly, but I know what I want.” Leo paused, and took a deep breath in, letting the air cool him from the inside out, and locked eyes with Nicolo, with an intensity matched to his words. “Nicolo Giacomo, I will not be deterred. I want to make Holly as happy as she’s made me since I met her, for so long as I am lucky enough to be worthy of her affection. I will give her the respect, time and attention she deserves, and I ask that you give me the opportunity to do so, unopposed.”
The young wolf grinned inwardly as the chipmunk’s mask faltered, just for a moment, when Llyulf used his given name. As he stopped speaking, letting his challenge hang in the air between them, Nicolo’s eyebrow quirked and the chipmunk took a long drag on his cigar.
“Unopposed, you say? I think you misunderstand. I don’t oppose you, Leo. I will not, however, stop being protective of my daughter.” After another pull on the cigar, the tip flashing brightly, a sigh issued from the older male as he let the cloud fall from his lips. “That said, you have my respect, for now. You have been good to, and to hear her mother tell it, for Holly so far. Make good on your word, respect her, care for her, and treat her well, and we should have no issues. Just know that if you hurt her, you will have me to reckon with, and I assure you the conversation we have on that day will not be so cordial.”
“Trust me, Mr. Gia–”
“You know my name, Leo.” Nicolo cut him off gruffly. “Unless you want me calling you ‘boy’ forever, use it. You did it once already. If you expect the respect due a mature adult, act like one. I understand deference, but I insist. Call me Nicolo.”
The wolf thought for a moment, then nodded. “Okay then, Nicolo. Anyway, trus–” Leo was interrupted again, this time by a loud buzzing noise, though on checking his pocket, he realized it wasn’t his phone. Looking back up, he saw Nicolo had a flip phone out, staring at it with a deeply furrowed brow.
“Cazzo!” The chipmunk muttered under his breath. Attention shifting back over to Llyulf, his face softened. Sort of. “Assurances and words matter little. As I said, for now, I do trust you. Continue to show me my faith is not misplaced.” Nicolo waved a paw, rising back to his feet. “Did you have anything else? I suspect my wife will be finished with dinner, and apparently some people cannot follow simple instructions.”
Leo stood as well, starting off down the path with Nicolo. “No, I think that was all I had, really.” the wolf replied. “I hope whatever it is that went wrong is easily resolved. I assume it's work?” Nicolo nodded silently in response. The wolf’s head tilted to the side after a moment, and he looked back at the chipmunk male. “If you don’t mind me asking, sir, what do you do for work? Holly mentioned a butcher shop when we first met, but that can’t be all you do, right?” The older chipmunk snorted, and the ghost of a smile cracked its way onto his face.
“Aha, no, the shop is our main ‘family’ business, but when my mother-in-law passed, Lenora’s father decided to retire, and entrusted us with his commercial real estate business. Holly’s mother had little interest in it, so I’ve taken it on myself. It has been quite profitable, which has allowed me to do some angel investing as well. I thank the Father for blessing me with the resources to provide a comfortable life and home for my family.”
Leo nodded, holding open the door for Nicolo to enter as they came up to the house. “That makes a little more sense. It's nice that you were able to turn a negative into a future positive, at least. Sorry to hear about Holly’s grandmother though.” Llyulf continued following the older male back to the foyer, extending his paw as they made it back to the front door. “I hope you have a good night, Nicolo.”
Nicolo grasped it firmly, with both paws. “Bona notti, Leo, good night.” The words were warm, and the handshake strong, but Leo could tell the chipmunk was still a little distracted. As he climbed into his SUV and pulled down the drive, the wolf ran through the conversation in his mind again. Overall, he’d not really known what to expect from Nicolo, but everything had gone pretty well, from what he could tell.
~~~~~~~
Giacomo Estate - Later that Evening
Holly pulled into the garage and wasted no time scurrying into the house. It wasn’t really that cold, but she was beyond ready to be out of work clothes and into bed. Today had been a long day, and it was time for it to be over. She’d already eaten a salad at work. That would be enough to hold her until the morning, though she would probably be ravenous when that rolled around. Oh well. Tossing her jacket in the closet, she heard her mother call out to her from the sitting room.
“Holly, Leo came by earlier and dropped something off for you. I left it on your bed.”
The young chipmunk’s weary ears perked up slightly. “Thanks Mamma!” she called back. Only barely resisting the urge to run upstairs to investigate, she came around the corner behind the chair her mother was sitting in with a book and a cup of hot tea. “Any idea what it was?” Holly inquired, kissing her mother on the cheek.
“Non lo so,” Lenora said with a shrug, smiling warmly at her daughter’s affection. “He did not say. He only said it was for you, then asked to speak to your father.”
“Oh. Okay then. Well I’m exhausted, so I am going to head to bed early. Buona notte, mamma, ti voglio bene.” Holly said sweetly, as she made her way from the room.
“Spero che dormi bene!” The chipmunk matron called after her.
Holly wasted little time getting to her room, only to be greeted by a nondescript white envelope adorned on the outside with only her name. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but she wouldn’t have landed on that. Quickly discarding her work attire and bra in favor of just an oversized t-shirt and her panties, she scooped up the envelope and flopped backward onto her bed. Sliding a digit under the seal, she pulled out the folded bit of paper, and began to read the handwritten script.
Holly,
I’m sorry I couldn’t wait around for you to get home. I still have some schoolwork and research I want to finish before tomorrow. Maybe we can grab dinner tomorrow night to go over what I find. I hope work wasn’t too crazy for you. I know I came by to give you the cupcake the other day, but I still missed seeing you today. It’s so wild to me that not all that long ago, I didn’t even know you existed. Now you’ve taken up permanent residence in my head, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Thank you for the most incredible month I can remember, and for giving this nerdy wolf a chance to make you smile from time to time. I only hope I can keep on doing so, for many, many more months to come.
Yours, for as long as you will have me,
Leo
Holly let her paws drop to her chest with the letter in tow. It was a cute gesture. How had it only been a month? She couldn’t believe it herself. She folded the page back up, and slid it back into the envelope, placing it on her nightstand. Rolling back over, she stared up at the ceiling. It was such a little thing. He could have even sent it in a message, or said it in a call, but something about the physicality of it felt— she couldn’t describe it. She reached over, grabbing the envelope once again, and brought it to her muzzle. Inhaling through her nose, she let out a disappointed huff, her hope that maybe some of his scent might be on the page dashed. She wished she had his jacket again, like when he’d accidentally left it behind a couple weeks ago. Better yet, she wished her wolf was here himself, to wrap her in his arms, and hold her. Grumbling, she fired off a quick text to her boyfriend, then tossed her phone and the envelope back on her nightstand, shut off the light, and burrowed into the warmth of her comforter. Even though the blanket couldn’t compare to the heat of Leo’s embrace, eventually, the exhaustion of the day won, and the chipmunk dropped off to sleep.
~~~~~~~
Kalayo Residence
Llyulf was rapidly bouncing between tabs on his computer when his phone buzzed on the desk next to him. He smiled as he read Holly’s text, and replied with a goodnight, then returned his attention to the task ahead of him. Roman Zaritzky. Former head of the City Council, he had a reputation for being vocally anti-herm, and though Leo hadn’t the displeasure of meeting him himself, for being a pompous asshole. The young wolf might have been a little late to the party, only recently learning about Roman when a freak accident landed the Dalmation in the office of interim Mayor, much to the dismay of basically everyone Leo considered a friend. Everything he’d heard in the last month or so had certainly assured Leo that he hated almost everything Roman stood for. He growled softly to himself as he saw the Dalmation’s face pop up in the center of the city’s official website.
Now he was hearing through the grapevine that someone at City Hall was stymieing the police investigation into Megan’s assault. He couldn’t pin that on the mayor, not definitively, but he found it hard to believe it was a coincidence.
When he was at Megan’s place to celebrate her coming back to school last week, Leo had floated the idea of organizing some sort of event to take a stand against the mayor’s agenda, and though he didn’t know who might run against Roman in June, maybe indirectly promote whoever that might be. Either way, his friends jumped on the idea. There was a tiny problem he needed to solve, though.
The reason he was looking into all of this, was apparently Roman liked to keep tabs on the people that opposed him. In order to hold any event of a decent size, they would probably need a permit from City Hall, and history had shown the dalmatian not to be above making things difficult in official channels for those opponents. Leo, on the other paw, had a slight advantage. He was relatively new in town, and hadn’t done anything to end up on Roman’s radar. He also recalled Holly mentioning the other day her dad seemed pretty chummy with the new mayor, too. Between the two of them, as long as they played their cards right, he reasoned they had the best shot of getting something big approved without setting off alarm bells. He’d just need to make sure his and Megan’s friends were discreet, especially her bandmates, once the group decided on something. He chuckled. They might even need regular reminders that we don’t want to tip off the Mayor to this.
Leo popped open a new tab, and started to type the mayor’s name to see if he could find out anything more about the mayor’s background, when the suggested searches caught his eye. Roman… The wolf jotted something down on the notepad next to his keyboard, and stared at it.
A smile formed on his muzzle as his mind started to churn. This could work… He opened a text editor and began typing out his thoughts, the beginnings of a plan taking shape. It would take a lot of time and effort to pull off, but Leo had heard some wilder stories about things that happened in Marblecliff. If any of them were true, they had a chance.
