Christian led him into the Vega estate and Lih felt sick. His belly was so tight now, and his chest, too. Something was stuck in his throat and it was hard to breath, but still Christian led him forward; he thought he heard voices, laughter but the sounds were far away.
He sniffled, a very immature trait in a soon-to-be domovoi cop. His eyes squeezed shut to stop the tears and his hands clutched one another in his lap. It was so warm inside and he couldn’t breath. His steps faltered and he nearly fell. He pulled at the collar of his uniform, gasping for breath, only to realize he was falling behind.
He ran after Christian, adrenaline keeping him upright, until eventually collapsing onto a stool at a kitchen island. His eyes didn’t work properly. The marbled pattern on the counter top was hard to see. He could feel it knocking against his hands and knees, but the sensation was dull, like the chimes of champagne glasses beneath his feet; but it was there.
The light inside the kitchen drew his eyes toward it.
Lih’s lens-enhanced eyes widened with shock as an indescribable jolt settled down on him.
The friendly butler walked him into a long hall where Siobhan and her wolf waited. They looked at him with big smiles and joy; ignoring the childish depiction of heart-break on his face.
Siobhan’s tone was light, teasing; Lih had dreaded but hoped to avoid it...
Every time the wolf sniffed him, Lih squirmed inside. The wolf was so big and he was so little and he knew what hungry wolves were expected to do to people. His stomach hurt and his breathing was amplified by the confines around him and the wolf. He squeezed his eyes tightly again and bit his lip. He wouldn’t cry. Or scream… Yup, Costa wouldn’t like him screaming.
“I appreciate that.” He stopped and called over his shoulder; his voice stained. "I’m sure you have your reasons for being here, but they are none of my business. It’s… dangerous here and there’s work to be done. Your friend just went that way, wolf princess.”
He thumbed to the left where the wolf prowled away. Turned to face that direction in time to over-hear Cruz’s loud questions to Dorian. The wolf seemed curious about Dorian’s latest visitor out front; so was Lih. His scan on the man came up suspiciously blank, just like Dorian’s blank’d profiles. Didn’t the others care why he was there?
Naughty. That was what he was being. Naughty. Having been warned to stay away from the injured man and the invisible traps outside he simply had to see it through, if only because he had been told not to. So far the experience at Dorian Vega’s home was overwhelming. It may have been huge, filled with brilliant furniture and architecture that made you want to stop and stare, but you know, there were altogether far too many people. And if there was one thing Lih truly disliked it was a lot of people.
It was unnerving, almost frightening to be surrounded by so many people. Sure, a person needed other people to remain healthy, that is to say friends and family, but that same person didn’t need to surround himself with quite so many visitors, a big bloody wolf among them. There were enough people here in the kitchen alone to positively start a riot… He didn’t know about such things.
He was hungry and thirsty and tired. It felt good to get that off his chest earlier in the cafe with Dorian. And it was nice to sit for a while. And, he added to himself, Christian was right: he could do with a really good meal.
He sat down on the bar stool as close to the floor as he could manage. While he waited for someone, maybe the woman with the bright angry eyes, to offer him some kind of refreshment he took off his gloves and pressed his finger tips into the cool marble surface of the kitchen island…
“Anastasia. Christian. Siobhan. Um. Wolf (wherever you are). I’m Vitya, Lih, or the moon.” Lih made a show of thinking. "Dorian’s latest stray, it seems. This pasta smells divine. Thank you for having me.”
Vitya Lih
He sniffled, a very immature trait in a soon-to-be domovoi cop. His eyes squeezed shut to stop the tears and his hands clutched one another in his lap. It was so warm inside and he couldn’t breath. His steps faltered and he nearly fell. He pulled at the collar of his uniform, gasping for breath, only to realize he was falling behind.
He ran after Christian, adrenaline keeping him upright, until eventually collapsing onto a stool at a kitchen island. His eyes didn’t work properly. The marbled pattern on the counter top was hard to see. He could feel it knocking against his hands and knees, but the sensation was dull, like the chimes of champagne glasses beneath his feet; but it was there.
The light inside the kitchen drew his eyes toward it.
Lih’s lens-enhanced eyes widened with shock as an indescribable jolt settled down on him.
The friendly butler walked him into a long hall where Siobhan and her wolf waited. They looked at him with big smiles and joy; ignoring the childish depiction of heart-break on his face.
Siobhan’s tone was light, teasing; Lih had dreaded but hoped to avoid it...
Every time the wolf sniffed him, Lih squirmed inside. The wolf was so big and he was so little and he knew what hungry wolves were expected to do to people. His stomach hurt and his breathing was amplified by the confines around him and the wolf. He squeezed his eyes tightly again and bit his lip. He wouldn’t cry. Or scream… Yup, Costa wouldn’t like him screaming.
“I appreciate that.” He stopped and called over his shoulder; his voice stained. "I’m sure you have your reasons for being here, but they are none of my business. It’s… dangerous here and there’s work to be done. Your friend just went that way, wolf princess.”
He thumbed to the left where the wolf prowled away. Turned to face that direction in time to over-hear Cruz’s loud questions to Dorian. The wolf seemed curious about Dorian’s latest visitor out front; so was Lih. His scan on the man came up suspiciously blank, just like Dorian’s blank’d profiles. Didn’t the others care why he was there?
Naughty. That was what he was being. Naughty. Having been warned to stay away from the injured man and the invisible traps outside he simply had to see it through, if only because he had been told not to. So far the experience at Dorian Vega’s home was overwhelming. It may have been huge, filled with brilliant furniture and architecture that made you want to stop and stare, but you know, there were altogether far too many people. And if there was one thing Lih truly disliked it was a lot of people.
It was unnerving, almost frightening to be surrounded by so many people. Sure, a person needed other people to remain healthy, that is to say friends and family, but that same person didn’t need to surround himself with quite so many visitors, a big bloody wolf among them. There were enough people here in the kitchen alone to positively start a riot… He didn’t know about such things.
He was hungry and thirsty and tired. It felt good to get that off his chest earlier in the cafe with Dorian. And it was nice to sit for a while. And, he added to himself, Christian was right: he could do with a really good meal.
He sat down on the bar stool as close to the floor as he could manage. While he waited for someone, maybe the woman with the bright angry eyes, to offer him some kind of refreshment he took off his gloves and pressed his finger tips into the cool marble surface of the kitchen island…
“Anastasia. Christian. Siobhan. Um. Wolf (wherever you are). I’m Vitya, Lih, or the moon.” Lih made a show of thinking. "Dorian’s latest stray, it seems. This pasta smells divine. Thank you for having me.”
Vitya Lih