Alphonse/Edmund: The one where they're furries

[ironysoul]

One hundred years in feline form, and now walking on two legs feels stilted. There was a knot between his shoulders that Al knew he could stretch out if he switched to fur. He could hunker down on his haunches and reach his front paws out far, sinking into a bow that would make every nodule of his spine pop. But while King Peter hadn't expressly banned fur, Al (and for that matter, the rest of the pride) still felt like it was something frowned upon now. Lesser, than their human form. At the very least that they should be grateful for it being restored.

He flexed paws (hands) and reminded himself again that his claws wouldn't unsheathe from the tips of his fingers. A hundred years in fur, and after almost a decade being able to change, he still felt wrong in this one.

At least, in the years since the age of winter, the pride had been restored to Cair Paravel. They'd served as stewards for generations, until Jadis had banished them. Not, Al was forced to admit, that he'd have been a particularly deft housekeeper with four paws. Maybe he could have dusted with his tail. The thought made him giggle.

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[just_edmund]

Edmund whined, a soft pleading sound that did not seem to come from his conscious self at all but from his deeper instincts that knew exactly what he should have: the alpha right before him, those hands digging into his shoulders, the lips that had swept his open as if they were his due, the taste of Al's tongue in his mouth. He didn't want it to stop there. His body fairly thrummed with all the possibilities, each lewder than the next.

But that was what had scared Al off in the first place, he'd surmised. Coming on too strong, leading with sex. Al just wasn't that sort of fellow. And simply telling himself that he didn't want it didn't appear to be doing any good, between his natural attraction to Al and the crazy pheromones between them.

His fingers slid up the back of Al's neck to curl in his hair. "Been wanting to do that for weeks. Al...is this..."

He meant to finish it, okay?, but in the prolonged closeness, his blood gave another insistent thrum within him, and his hips turned a beseeching rub Al's way. Unlike an omega, he didn't have this reaction in the mere presence of an alpha during heats, but physical contact definitely did the trick. He tugged at Al's hair. They could continue this in his cabin...he'd send word with some excuse to the prince... he just couldn't bear for this to end so soon.

[ironysoul]

It wasn't just coming on too strong. It was cultural expectations that Edmund couldn't begin to grasp, questions and fears that Al was so burdened down by...

But at the same time, Edmund felt so good, wrapping himself around Al, clinging to him like this. Al knew how easy it would be for him to tip one or both of them into heat, and that was the last thing they needed happening on this ship, but a part of him wanted to take advantage of what Edmund was offering. He'd said it himself; he'd been wanting for weeks. No one would blame Al --

But he was not going to be one of those Alphas ruled by base instinct. He knew all the reasons he and Edmund couldn't be together, even if Edmund didn't, and taking advantage of Edmund in a moment like this would just be despicable. Besides, they were barely out of sight, still on the deck of the ship, and if Edmund regretted this later... why wouldn't he... there was no question whose side the many, many potential witnesses would come down on.

Twisted with grief and want, Al moved away from Edmund's rocking hips, steadying himself. "Stop it, Edmund! You need to -- we can't do this."

[just_edmund]

The problem with having just a taste of Al was that now he wanted more, and not having him was going to be physically painful. His longing would be his weakness. Edmund knew this was a major reason that sovereigns were usually alphas; it was just less dangerous that way. He was vulnerable, a strange position for a King to be in. But he was still asking for Al to accept even a portion of what he offered.

The distance between them was as shocking as a blast of cold water to his senses. He didn't know which was more painful, the physical separation or the words, telling him unequivocally - stop.

Edmund stopped.

His body was tense with the effort of holding himself away, the strain of his urges making him almost hunch into himself as he let go of Al and took a step back. "I...I thought..." He hadn't been thinking at all. Just acting on instinct, and hoping that it would pay off when Al felt the connection between them. Edmund couldn't have been the only one that felt it.

Could he?

He bit his lip, hard, and his eyes pleaded with Al. "What am I supposed to do, then?" His voice was low and rough. "I want you. I don't want to take someone else to bed just to sate that hunger. But it's so bloody hard, being alone..."

[ironysoul]

Edmund wasn't the only one. But how was Al supposed to acknowledge something like that? There were so many differences between them, so many things that stood in the way. He couldn't just ignore the vast crevasses that lay between them, socially and -- otherwise. He'd never heard of someone mating outside their species, even when there wasn't a crisis like the lions were facing now. It just wasn't done. It was totally taboo, and while Al was willing to transgress boundaries to a point, something like what Edmund was asking him for...

"You don't. You just want the idea of me, your majesty." Al closed his eyes and drew in an unsteady breath. he wasn't sure entirely how true that was. It certainly sounded plausible. And it was easier than facing the reality. He wanted Edmund too. He felt something, a connection between them, that he was working hard to deny. But it was there. And every time Edmund lampshaded it, instead of just -- ignoring this, whatever it was, and going about his life -- it made things so much harder.

"We can't be together. You know that."

[just_edmund]

Those kinds of rules just weren't important to Edmund. If Al thought it was all right, the opinion of anybody else wouldn't have made a lick of difference to the defiant King. Wasn't that one of the perks of being King? You got to make the rules? He was sure Lucy and maybe even Susan would be willing to make an exception if he was truly in love with someone. Not that Al would even let him get close enough to fall in love...but his nose didn't lie, everything about this alpha was just so right.

Everything except the part where, you know. He didn't want to be with Edmund.

"Because of course you know my deepest hopes and dreams," the King replied with heavy sarcasm. He didn't like at all being told that his fancy could be turned to any suitable candidate. Sex, yes. But Al was the first person in a very long while who had piqued his other interests.

Edmund's brows darkened into heavy furrows. "Yes. We can't be together because you do not wish it. That is the only reason that matters. I am sorry for troubling you any further." He stepped back. "You are relieved of your personal duties to me; Metan can attend to me while on board." He could find no other words that wouldn't reveal his own twice-hurt feelings or potentially hurt Al's, so he simply turned and strode towards his cabin. Al wouldn't know he was curling up in his oversized bunk perfect for two, wallowing in the rejection and the stew of hormones that kiss had left in its wake.

Damn that stubborn lion. Damn him.

[ironysoul]

Edmund said Al didn't understand. But he was just as mistaken if he thought Al didn't want him in return, or have the same sense of rightness when he was with the king. If it weren't for the pressures of his pack and society following them both, Al couldn't imagine wanting anyone else. Even, maybe, if Edmund were any other pack. But a Panther -- he would never be accepted by the pack. And they looked to Al, one of the few remaining alphas, for leadership and guidance. To say nothing of his responsibility to the next generation...

But he wanted Edmund just as badly. And if Edmund thought he didn't, or thought it didn't hurt to watch Edmund walk away from him, the prince trailing after... He couldn't find any comfort in throwing up barrier after barrier, watching Edmund run head long into them. He was just as lonely, just as miserable, returning to his own berth on the ship. Not far from Edmund's, as he was expected to be ready to serve him.

Al curled himself into his own ball of misery, tucking himself into the corner of the bunk. He had no right to expect anything else from Edmund. If they couldn't even be friendly with each other, it was his own fault.

Al, Knight in Shining Armor

[just_edmund]

The melee dragged on, the Telmarines slowly pushed back from the Narnians' more defenseable position closer to the trees. The tide seemed to be turning in their favour, and Edmund was hopeful even after his horse had been brought down and he was forced to slash his way on foot.

He never even saw it coming, the succubus that set upon him from behind and latched onto his neck. All he felt was a sharp pain there and a sudden, powerful tug in his blood, before his vision blurred and swirled and he staggered back. His back hit the ground, breath all knocked from him. His instincts screamed at him - get up, get up! - but his body refused to cooperate.

Warmth swelled within him, almost blossoming from the wound at his neck, and he felt someone hovering over him, pressing down, and the rush of footsteps nearby. Panic began to rise with the strange feeling of unnatural heat. Not just temperature. Heat. He cried out, hoping there was someone nearby to hear him.

-

Even from a furlong away, Peter could see that Edmund was in trouble. Dark creatures were emerging from the forest, drawn by the scent of blood and whatever that treacherous prince had done. His voice carried in a yell in Al's direction. "Get him out of there!" He pointed at the heap that was his brother, trusting his fellow pack member to take care of him, and whirled in a wicked swing at the huge Telmarine in his path. His hand alone would slay the prince.

Re: Al, Knight in Shining Armor

[ironysoul]

Al, also, saw his king go down. (No, not his king. Peter was his king. He had no claim whatsoever on Edmund; that had been made clear.)

He was already moving toward Edmund before Peter shouted, fighting his way past the Telmarines to reach him. Telmarines! He'd tried to warn Edmund, back on the ships, and look how that had turned out -- only no, right now, the only thing he could do was focus on reaching Edmund. He had to make his way toEdmund and get him off the battle field. Edmund was down.

He fought his way through with the same determination as Peter, giving little thought to who was in his path. There was no other option besides reaching Edmund. He slayed the beast on top of Edmund easily; it didn't hear him approach, and threw the body to the side. One of his arms wrapped around Edmund's slender hips, hauling him up, and he began to fight off their attackers one handed as he hauled Edmund from the fray, back toward encampment.

[just_edmund]

A rushing sound filled his ears, as if he was drowning in Cauldron Pool, the great waterfall pounding down on top of him. But he didn't feel wet or cool at all - just the opposite - he was burning up, with the flicker of fire pooling from his center and all throughout his limbs, no water to soothe the terrible heat. Maybe he was dying. He had never died before. Was this what it felt like?

If so, maybe he was in the afterlife, the arms of a strong heavenly being wrapping around him to carry him away to Aslan's Country. Edmund sighed, still unable to open his eyes, and sank into the gripping embrace. Whatever the creature who'd bit him had been, its poison seemed to paralyze him for the moment, rendering the normally powerful Panther King a dead weight in his rescuer's arms.

-

Peter's heart was stricken with dread at the sight of his brother limp and lifeless in Al's arms. Aslan, no!

In a blind rage, he slashed away at their enemies, cutting a wide swathe toward the horde that was gathering around the two Narnians. But on foot he was too far away to do anything but sprint and dodge and swing at anybody in his path as the Telmarine prince rode in a driving gallop straight at Al and Edmund. In the space of a breath, Rythern was swooping down and reaching for the body of the raven-haired King to pluck him out of Al's grasp.

[ironysoul]

Edmund felt anything but dead to Al. Heavy, yes, and limp, but burning in his grip. There was no mistaking Edmund's rigid form for a corpse when he seared his heat into Al through the platemail the lion wore, fanning him with flame. Need and anger, both.

The distraction was powerful, but at the same time, all of Al's senses felt heightened. His nose flared, and he smelled -- sensed -- the Telmarine prince before he made his attack. He turned in time, and roared a battle cry as he brought himself between Edmund and the assailant. He couldn't manage both Edmund and a sword, but he didn't need to -- one heavy, clawed paw swiped out to score the Telmarine, knocking him from his mount. Then, he began to carry Edmund from the battlefield. Away from the assault.

[just_edmund]

Somewhere faintly in the depths of his stupor, he felt the roar of the alpha who carried him, and it settled deep in the marrow of him. He could not pull himself out of the paralysis of the bite, but it was all right. He was safe in Al's arms. He could, and did, trust him with his life.

In a blind sprint, Peter watched the exchange with his heart in his throat - but Al pulled through, and dehorsed the traitorous prince even as he carried Edmund to safety. Good. Aslan be with them, and then the heat of battle took over and he was cutting Rythern down, exacting the price he'd earned for his betrayal.

-

It was much later, nearing the Narnian encampment of tents, that Edmund roused at last, blinking, and then gasping as the full awareness of his senses struck him. The feeling was unmistakable. He was in heat, full-blown, ruthless heat. He'd felt flickers of it before in himself, around the alphas he was most compatible with. He'd seen and smelled it on the omegas of the court. And it terrified him now. He clutched blindly at Al.

"What - oh, Al..."

He burrowed his face in Al's neck, inhaling deeply. His body quivered in flaring response to the delicious scent of him. Oh gods, he was trembling all over, his limbs molten, his own scent soaring in answer to Al's. Where Al sang of golden sunlight, Edmund smelled of moonlit runs through Owl Wood, of damp leaves and night-blooming jasmine and smoky midnight embers. He pressed against Al's flank, heedless of all else but him.

[ironysoul]

Al didn't remember the rest of the fight. He didn't remember cleaving through the hoards of attacking Telmarines to track carry Edmund to safety. It was as though he were remembering memories forged by his lion-self. Fleeting images interspersed with strong emotion. Anger. Terror. A need to protect. And the everpresent undercurrent of want.

The problem was, he'd realized what was happening to Edmund long before his king ever regained consciousness. The scent of an omega in heat was unmistakable, and when it was an omega he'd already begun to bond to, it was terrible. He couldn't deny the fierce need it kindled in his belly. His own body responded to Edmund's in a way he that went beyond the constraints his mind had built around their relationship. Edmund needed him, and Al was built, by biology and evolution, to fill his need like a perfectly cut puzzle piece.

He still had enough of himself to know why this couldn't happen. But he couldn't leave, either. Not even once he knew Edmund was safe, tucked into bed and far from the clutches of the beast that had bitten him. His own instinct wouldn't let him. There was an omega in need and that called to the Alpha in him, overriding everything else. Woven in was the fierce, protective anger. The idea of not only leaving Edmund in this state, but leaving him for another Alpha to find... Even considering it made Al want to tear heads off, all semblance of rationality fleeing from him.

He wasn't in rut. He still had enough understanding to recognize why he couldn't just crawl into bed with Edmund and give him what he needed. But he was stuck in limbo, unable to leave. He'd just have to see Edmund through his heat. The presence of an Alpha, even one who refused to knot him, would at least help soothe things. They'd stumble through the next few days (and please, gods, don't let it last longer than that!) and then regain the icy distance between them.

[just_edmund]

Edmund fell into an uneasy sleep. He never slept well before a battle anyway, and between his wound and the energy it had triggered in setting his body into heat, he was thoroughly exhausted. Proof of this was evident in how little a protest he made when Al deposited him gently onto a bedroll in the royal pavilion and did not immediately join him. If only he'd had the alertness to insist on his presence...

When he awoke, it was nighttime - he hardly knew whether it was the night of the battle, the night after, or the next - and his wound was dressed, his body clean and warm. One of the omega servants must have bathed and clothed him, for he was sure the scent of an alpha would have roused him earlier. He was hungry, but more pressingly, he was hungry. He craved the most primal and intimate of satiations, and nothing else would take away that need but the rut of an alpha.

He scrabbled in the dark through cushions and thick rugs, scenting as much as feeling his way to the entrance, and stumbled out into the night. The rest of the camp was not there. It had been moved - he could smell the distant smoke of campfires, miles away - and only a couple of tents for guards and servants and -

With a jolt, Edmund realized he'd been quarantined from the rest of the Narnians. The shame of an omega King was one thing; the risk he posed to an army full of alphas fresh off the battlefield was something real and potent. He swallowed hard, rubbing his jaw. His next breath in brought the scent of...

"Al." Without thought or plan or reasoning, he found his heels turning and his feet carrying him straight to the rolling pheromones of the one person who could save him from himself. He pressed toward him, hands reaching for him. "Thank Aslan. Al, I need - "

[ironysoul]

Al hesitated, startled, as Edmund sought him out by scent alone. His king smelled of dark forests and desire, an unmistakable musk that called for Al to bury his teeth in Edmund's neck. He'd already made himself swear to restrain himself. Edmund couldn't know what he was asking for, and any action they took now would only hurt them both when Edmund's mind cleared.

"I know," he said, voice unsteady. He held out a hand to catch Edmund, hold himnat bay. "There's-- they brought devices for you to use. They'll relieve the -- the symptoms."

It wasn't like Al had never dealt with a heat before. But Jadis had kept them in fur for a hundred years. Heat was easier to handle, easier to step away from, in another body. He didn't know what to do, especially not when it was Edmund, and his body, and his mind, keened.

[just_edmund]

Edmund drew up short, body and mind warring with conflicting messages to bridge the gap and to heed Al's wishes. It was to no purpose. Seeing him, smelling him there, it made his head swim. He staggered faintly, shaking his head. The implications of Al's words began to sink in.

He was not going to be mated. Not by Al. Not by anyone.

"Devices?" Edmund all but snarled. Panic and blind lust made him dizzy; disbelief and frustration only piled anger on top of the confusion. "Bullshit. That's not what I need, and you know it. Gods, Al..."

He clutched onto Al's arm to stay on his feet, and the bare contact of his skin against Al's skin had the furious warmth of his face to a bonfire at the peak of its blaze. Edmund hissed in a breath. "Tell me you don't feel it. You can't smell it. I will go mad if you don't help me. Please. Don't make me do this alone." His voice lost its ire and dropped to something small and pleading, as the thought of being forced to endure his heat by himself, trapped in the tent with a few inadequate bits of glass and sponge and smooth-handled wood, as if those could take the place of the warm-breathed Lion, crashed down on him in frightening detail.

He couldn't bear it.

[ironysoul]

Al knew what he was asking. Edmund's need grated on him, crying out to him, and this wasn't any easier for Al than it was going to be for Edmund. But he refused, he refused, to be one of those Alphas who excused their actions with biology. And even if it weren't for the many, many barriers separating him and Edmund... Edmund hadn't wanted him around, even. Not in weeks.

"You don't really want this, Edmund," Al reminds him quietly. "You're not in any shape to give consent right now, but before, you didn't want -- and if I mated you, and we bonded, that would be catastrophic. I'm sorry. I can't -- I'll stay with you, and I'll help however I can, but you know we can't--"

In another world he'd give Edmund everything he needed. His body was pushing him to now. He took another step back, making space between him and Edmund, before his desires could overwhelm him.

[just_edmund]

It was precisely because of those barriers, the ones that Al considered so vitally important, that Edmund had avoided him lately. It was too painful to want him and be denied. That pain was now a physical, tangible reality to Edmund. The struggle he had felt before seemed as light as dandelions compared with the all-consuming desire to claim and be claimed by - his alpha.

No. Not his. Because Al, for whatever incomprehensible reason that made no sense whatsoever to Edmund's nose or heart, didn't want him.

Edmund's eyes were hollow and dark as he gazed helplessly at Al, the distance increasing rather than decreasing between them. His body throbbed, a tight aching pulse that wouldn't stop radiating throughout his groin and into his limbs. He hated that he would say the same thing as Al if their situations were reversed, that he wouldn't want Al to be with him under compulsion or by necessity.

If I mated you, and we bonded...

"If you only knew what I really want," he whispered in a rasp of a voice. "You wouldn't doubt me now if you could see what's in my heart."

But there was nothing he could do; he needed so much more than what Al was willing to give him. Edmund crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against a tree for support. His legs were shaking, and he had no Al to hold onto. "Help," he repeated flatly. "What does that even mean? You'll stay with me, but you won't be with me. I don't...understand."

The more his body burned, the more energy he seemed to release into the air, all pent up from lack of outlet and the presence of an alpha, with his will and mind the only things keeping him from leaping towards Al. Edmund grunted, as a fine sheen began to cover his skin, and within he could feel his body growing slick and fever-hot. He shivered. "I'm not - supposed to be this way."

[ironysoul]

"No," Al agreed cautiously, biting his lip as he raked his gaze over Edmund. He wanted to pretend it was just for the sake of examination, just a precaution, but in truth, he wanted to look at Edmund. To take in the beautiful mess of him, flushed and desperate with need. "Whatever that thing did to you, it caused this. It would be easier if your body -- if you came to it naturally." And that was never to be.

It wasn't fair the way Edmund kept insisting Al was just keeping them apart to be contrary. He wanted Edmund every bit as much. It was so hard to be apart from the king. Every moment they're separated, it felt like, Al was thinking about him, wondering and worrying. His thoughts were never his own.

But it wasn't just him. Edmund was asking him to throw over centuries of tradition, of natural order. He had a responsibility to his pride, what about that? Did it mean nothing to Edmund?

"Having an Alpha nearby should help. It won't last for long, and then you'll be back to normal." Very cautiously, Al reached out to touch his hand. Even after everything that had passed between them, he would never want Edmund to experience his first heat like this.

"You can -- do what you need, to sate yourself, and I'll stay with you. That should help it pass. It's the best option."

[just_edmund]

Edmund flushed miserably at the close scrutiny. He felt patently uncomfortable in his own skin right now, and he was sure Al was finding every possible reason to put distance between them. "I'll remember that next time I'm about to get bitten by a succubus." He rubbed at his upper arms. He was going a little stir-crazy with the unnatural influx of hormones driving him to - to an act that was going to go highly unfulfilled tonight.

Swallowing, he tipped his head back against the bark of the tree. He would have been fine. They could have gone on as they had this past month, with careful politeness and propriety, until they both found mates and the uncomfortable pull between them was finally broken. That's what Al thought had to happen, and Edmund had respected his wishes.

He tried to do so now. He wondered if Al understood just how hard-fought his control was, standing in front of him, burning up. The touch of his hand was like a static shock. Edmund's eyes snapped open, and he stared at Al.

"It's as easy as that, eh? You - " He forced himself to breathe in and slowly out. "You are kind. You didn't have to do this." Would it help? He didn't want to be alone...but he didn't want to have Al frustratingly out of reach, a constant reminder of what he could not have.

Finally, Edmund gave a nod. "We'll give it a try. I'll return to my tent. You - may do as you wish, Alphonse." His dark lashes shuttered the hopeless longing in his eyes. The very last thing he wanted to do was go back to his cold empty bedroll and try to get through this terrible heat on his own, but that's exactly what he was going to do.

He turned, breaking the connection, and forced himself to walk like a Prince, shoulders back, head held high. He didn't look back to see if Al followed.

In the pavilion, he lit an oil lamp and found some water and food. Despite his hunger, there was nothing satiating about eating right now, but his body needed all the help it could get. Cross-legged on the cushions, he tried not to think about how slick he felt. He had a new appreciation for how omegas functioned, experiencing any of this on a regular basis. He kept himself from wondering if this was a temporary state for him, or if there were more...permanent consequences to the bite. One night at a time.

... pretend it hasn't been six months?

[ironysoul]

Al sighed, watching Edmund trudge away from him. It's not like he asked for this! He wasn't the one who got bitten by a succubus! He'd been so, so careful of the distance between them, trying to be respectful. Trying to thread a line that wouldn't result in either of them battering themselves against a wall of what they couldn't have. And trying not to offend the king who could have him, his whole pride, condemned to death.

But Edmund hadn't made it easy. He didn't try to understand this world he'd been thrust into, and he didn't accept for a moment that maybe Al was acting this way for a reason.

And he couldn't be alone. King or no, there were people out there who wouldn't care about rank. Wouldn't care that he was a panther or even a person, they'd just smell an unprotected omega in heat and take.

Normally, omegas who didn't want to mate had family to stay with them. Al had done it for other members of the pride. Just sat with them, resisting the hormones, lending protection and comfort. He'd thought he could do it for Edmund. But even though Edmund was storming away from him, Furious and disinterested, Al felt a pull.

With a sigh, he changed, then followed after the man. Nothing would happen in this form, at least, even if a more sensitive nose made ignoring Edmund's plight that much more difficult. He tried to put it from mind, padding after his king (not his, he had no right to --) and pushing a heavy, square head under Edmund's hand, against his hip.

Six months what six months

[just_edmund]

Edmund felt as if his entire body was at war. He very much hoped it wouldn't be like this every time, that it would get easier as his body adjusted to its new form. He'd never really studied what being an omega meant; he'd always mated with other betas and with the occasional alpha, fearing both an unintentional bond and the rejection of an omega for someone who was an actual alpha, not just a King pretending to be one.

All the extra hormones left him on edge, tight as a rope pulled taut. He wished he knew more about what was going on inside him. And then, a velvety snout beneath his hand seemed to take a tiny bit of the edge off. He inhaled shakily, and on the next exhale let his body relax down towards the earth and towards the soft-furred creature beside him.

Al was wise. This was easier. Having an alpha next to him, touching him did soothe some of the worst of the feeling Edmund could only describe as incompleteness. Yet with Al in his Lion form and Edmund unchanged, there wasn't such a hard pulse of lust to distract the King; he knew the only danger was if he were to change as well. As it was, his desires were at a manageable level, and getting more so as he let himself accept the comfort of the proximity instead of fixating on having more. "I think I begin to understand, what you meant by 'help'."

He ate methodically, and let his fingers rub over Al's broad forehead, stroking and scratching behind his ears. "Is a heat better or worse in human form?" He smoothed the golden fur back, forcing his breathing into a regular pattern. "I don't think I'd be able to use the - " Edmund blushed and grimaced at the same time. " - devices as a Panther. Or do they have something for that too?"

<3333

[ironysoul]

Al hesitated before responding. In this form, Edmund's scent was sharper. He could identify the taint of poison laced through it, the siren's bite, slowly melding with Edmund's natural order to create something else. Edmund didn't smell like an omega anymore, and that helped. He smelled like a tainted beta, something new and perverse, but exciting. And underneath it all he still smelled like Edmund, pride and dark humor and an edge of deeply buried insecurity. It was a smell Al automatically found himself scenting out whenever he passed through somewhere Edmund might have been, and to have it wrapped up in heat and need like this was --

"It's -- easier, a little, in fur. But you won't be able to use -- and you won't be able to change back. Or it will be harder to control, anyway. If you'd rather, I'll change back."

As he spoke, he wrapped himself around Edmund and lay down. It maximized the skin on skin contact between them, and gave Edmund a handy backrest to lean into as he ate. Not to mention he was soaking up Al's scent, aided every time all roughed his cheek against Edmund's side and belly. If any other Alpha even thought about coming near, Al wanted them to smell his claim.

[just_edmund]

Edmund shook his head. "It's all right. I like you like this. I have ever since the first time I saw you change." He sank his fingers into Al's mane, felt the heat of the Lion's body soaking through his clothing. "Besides, I think I'd rather - " He felt his face flood with heat, but he knew he wanted to be honest with Al. "Be full, this time."

Even without his keener Panther's senses, he could smell Al's scent rich and heady all around him. His body ached, painfully hard, uncomfortably slick in new places. He wanted to be full of Al. Oh, did he want that. But being cradled by him while satisfying some of this need...that would have to do, for now.

Reaching with one foot, Edmund snagged the strap of an unfamiliar satchel to pull it close. He could already guess at its contents. "This would be highly embarrassing if it got around, you know. That the great Panther King is reduced to fucking himself with toys."

He didn't think Al would say a word. But the rest of them would, and probably already were. "Does...everyone know?" He'd been bitten in plain view of the battle. How many knew what kind of creature it was that had taken him down? Would he even be able to hide it, if it lingered in him for any longer than these days with Al?

[ironysoul]

Al is only just starting to realize how hard this will be, staying here while Edmund -- does that. Staying neutral. The only consolation is that now that he's more in his right mind, Edmund seems as unenthused by the process as Al himself is. He quickly hushes the part of himself that points out how eager Edmund was for the real thing, how much he wants it --

Instead, Al is going to sit here and watch and do nothing. It's already hard enough to stay away from Edmund without knowing his scent as he cums, what it sounds like. Al's not sure he'll ever be able to face Edmund again, after this.

"No one saw," he assures Edmund. "They believe you're recovering from your wounds. You are recovering from your wounds."

[just_edmund]

"That's something, at least." Edmund opened the satchel up to see what he had to work with, since he was reconciled to not having the alpha he really wanted to mate with. There was a bottle of oil - he didn't think that would be very necessary, considering how soaked he felt there, but perhaps it would be nice other places - and a hollow sponge tube, and several phalluses of different shapes and sizes. Edmund knew exactly which one he wanted at a glance. He pulled out the smooth glass sculpture, its shaft a little curved and nice and thick, with a widened handle and, most importantly, a large bulbous knot right above it.

His heart was beginning to pound. This was really going to happen. Had to happen, he was so ravenous. His face felt like it was burning up, whether from fever or embarrassment, he wasn't sure. He knew it would be much better after, he just had to get to the after.

Nervous as a maiden on her wedding night, Edmund unfastened his trousers and slithered out of them, discarding the smallclothes beneath with one go. Instantly, the tent swirled with the scent of his slick, a fragrant musk, dark and woody. He was blushing at its obviousness, at the clear need that strained at his swollen cock and the glistening fluid that trickled to his inner thighs. He cupped his palm over himself, the tips of his fingers curled at the base of his balls, and gave the softest of sounds at the slight relief of it.

"H-how long does the bite's effects last?" he stammered. "After this heat...will I have more?"