After they finished touring the military base Laura and Zenesha retired to their rooms. On the surface anyway, Laura had snuck her way into the others room almost instantly. She hasn't slept alone since arriving in Zenesha's country, she wasn't going to start now.
The room was much smaller than the one back home, but it didn't really matter. The only thing in the room that mattered to Laura was the fox, who was in the middle of changing when she walked in. The two of them froze as they stared at each other in shock.
"Hey there beautiful." Laura said, trying to act casual after giving the half-naked fox an unconscious once over.
"...." Zenesha didn't respond and just stared at her with wide eyes.
"... I'll go now." The wolf said retreating with her tail literally between her legs.
Closing the door behind herself, Laura held a hand against her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. She didn't mean to invade Zenesha's space like that. Despite all her teasing Laura was very careful not to cross any lines and yet….
'Did I mess it up? Does she hate me now? I should apologize….'
What's worse is this strange feeling she has after seeing the fox's bare body. She couldn't understand why it was making her heart race. With a sigh she dragged herself to her room, and after closing the door behind herself she crawled into bed. She felt guilty and decided it was better to just sleep alone tonight instead.
She laid in bed in silence for a while, her mind racing with anxious thoughts. Laura has never liked anyone before and the fear of going too far was new and unpleasant. Her mind danced and moved in a chaotic rhythm, thinking about the consequences of her actions, and while she didn't think she would be kicked out, she was sure Zenesha would try and create some distance between them.
'Why wouldn't she?' She thought anxiously. 'It was a miracle she let something like me get this close already.'
"Laura?" A low voice called out in the darkness, startling her out of her self-deprecating mind.
".... Zen?"
"That's me." She confirmed with a hint of amusement in her voice. "You never returned, what's wrong?"
"I uh… thought you wouldn't like me to there." Laura admitted.
"Why?"
"I invaded your space and saw you naked." She explained. "I heard mortals don't like when others see them bare without permission. It's considered a great offense."
"Typically, we don't." Zenesha confirmed, causing Laura to curl into herself in shame. "But you did it by accident, I'm not going to be mad at you for that, you silly wolf."
"Really?"
"Really, now scoot over, I'm climbing into bed with you." She declared already moving before Laura could respond. "See, if I were mad would I be in the same bed as you?"
"...."
=======
Sitting on her bed, Rachel contemplated what she saw earlier that afternoon. It was common knowledge for those working in the central tower that Zenesha didn't accept food from others. This wasn't always the case, but after two different poison attempts and the death of her mother she became extremely cautious.
'Yet, she took water and a snack from that strange wolf.' Rachel thought feeling disconcerted.
It was clear her Majesty trusted the wolf far more than the cat originally thought. If that was the case, she had to make sure Laura wasn't a threat. If she was nothing more than a swindler trying to take advantage of Zenesha, then she would find it out and expose her.
'Her Majesty Queen Zari left us to take care of her daughter.' She sighed. 'I refuse to fail.'
Danial, Xander and herself served Zenesha's mother, and thought of the girl as their unapproachable niece. Sure, they were never close to the girl as she grew up, but they did watch her grow up. They also heard her mother gush about the girl enough to understand that despite her coldness, she was friendly when you got to know her. They think.
Iris was another person Zenesha had personally appointed, but unlike Laura, she was carefully vetted. Her background was checked, and her origins and personality were known. She was fiercely loyal and would die for her Queen.
She wasn't much older than Zenesha either, meaning it would be easier for the fox to depend on her in the future when the rest of them grew too old and retired or died.
Still, the fact remained that her Queen took food from another person. She'll need to inform the others about this so they can focus on tracking down this woman's origins. Once they determine she isn't a threat they could safely start working with her.
For now, she'll have to wait till morning before she could get started. With a sigh she laid down in bed.
"Guess I'll sleep on it for now." She muttered, turning off the lights.
=======
Waking up early the next day, Zenesha quickly slipped out of Laura's room and into her own room to get dressed. Once they were ready, Zenesha, Laura and the few military personnel they were allowed to bring with them into a foreign made their way to the airfield.
Everyone boarded the plane until it was just Rachel and Zenesha standing outside. The cat looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated for some reason. Eventually she just sighed and gave her Queen a salute.
"I wish you a safe journey ma'am." She said with a stoic expression.
Zenesha just gave her a single nod of acknowledgement and boarded her private jet. The interior wasn't anything fancy, it was an aircraft designed to fly through hostile locations and survive. It was built to take a hit.
Still, that wasn't to say it wasn't a comfortable ride. While there was a separate place for the soldiers, reminiscent of a regular transport carrier, there was a separate cabin for Zenesha herself. It was located near the cockpit, away from the others, a place for just their Queen and bodyguard.
Inside the private room was a bench similar in design to the one in her private ground vehicle, with a harness attached. Other than that, it was sparse with no decorations except for two parachutes on the wall. Still, that didn't bother Zenesha at all, she preferred the sparse setting.
Especially now, with the lack of distractions she could focus all the attention on the wolf laying their head on her lap. Gently brushing the fur of the creature from another realm, Zenesha couldn't help but smile. Well, it didn't look like she was smiling, but she knew she was.
"Are you feeling better?"
"... Yeah." She answered before sitting up. "Sorry."
"Why was the idea of me being mad at you so… distressing?"
Laura looked at the fox next to her from the corner of her eye as she brought her knees up and hugged her legs. She thought about what exactly she should tell her. As her mind raced Zenesha patiently waited for her to speak again.
"It's just… I've never dealt with these… feelings before." She eventually said.
"What feelings?"
"I… I'm not sure but I think…." She paused. "I think I… love you."
"...."
Zenesha didn't answer right away. Her heart was racing at the news, and her mind was reeling as it tried to process what it just heard. Laura just grew anxious again when the fox didn't immediately respond. In a panic she just started ranting.
"I know you probably don't like me but this is something new to me and I could be wrong, I never loved before, what even is love, we shouldn't feel love, but I do think I love you, please don't de disgusted, I know I'm just some weird creature from a different realm, I'm wrong, I'm disgusting, and I Shouldn't exist, I even killed my own family, I eat souls, I'm not a good match, just forget I said anything, let's just stay as Queen and bodyguard, unless you no longer want me around, please don't leave, don't aband-"
Laura's tirade was silenced by something pressing against her lips. It was surprisingly warm and slightly wet, with the scent of mint filled her senses and her mind went blank. It was Zenesha's lips. She was being kissed. It's the thing people in a real relationship do!
!?!?!?!?!?!?
"Haa~" Zenesha breathed as she pulled back with a visible smile. She reached out and brushed a loose strand of hair from Laura's face before addressing her again. "Don't worry so much. I love you too, my dumb silly wolf."
Laura, still wide eyed with shock, touched her lips, which was still warm from the all too quick kiss. Soon her shock expression turned into a bright smile. More dazzling than even the sun in the sky. Zenesha made sure to imprint the image to memory so she would never forget it.