Bodyguard Bear

TALA - BEAR EXPECTATIONS

Tala woke up slowly, at first, she could feel the softness of the blankets under her and the smell of Penny around her and then more prominently the delectable aroma of cooking food began to filter in. Her fox intruded upon her wakening mind to tell her the light outside was fading fast. Her enhanced senses also allowed her to hear the voices in discussion in the main room even though they were pitched low. She couldn’t tell if it was to keep from disturbing her or to keep the conversation happening private should she wake. The voices registered as a slight rumble with her only able to make out the occasional word clearly. Tala stretched out her arms and shoulders and got up from the bed. She padded over towards the door, opening it quietly and slipped into the main room.

Both Penny and the man in the room turned to look at her but Tala didn’t notice it, she was too busy staring at the man. She had always thought Penny was the tallest person she knew but this man stood a couple inches over even her. He was wearing jeans and navy t-shirt, the muscles in his arms had clear definition and briefly she wondered if the rest of his body matched. Looking further up, his hair made her think of caramel, he had a strongly defined jaw, straight nose, high cheekbones and then she met his eyes. She felt she was falling into two pools of inky blue darkness and felt herself blush from head to toe when they swirled and changed to a stunning gold.

“Well this is interesting. I don’t think I have ever seen you spend so long looking straight at someone Tala.” Penny mused out loud.

Penny’s voice startled Tala out of her reverie, her eyes dropped straight to the floor, her voice and body began trembling. “Um, hi?”

“Hello Tala, I am Penny’s brother Barrett. It is a pleasure to meet you.” His voice wrapped around her like velvet.

Tala’s head jerked back up, her eyes going wide, “What? YOU are Penny’s brother!” Realizing she was staring again Tala dropped her head back down.

“I take it I am not what you were expecting? Penny what did you tell her about me?” Barrett chuckled lightly.

“I don’t know what you are talking about Barrett.” Penny threw in with a sniff. “Tala since you are up why don’t you and Barrett sit down at the table while I get dinner dished up.”

“Are you sure I can’t help you get dinner finished Penny?” Tala asked quietly.

“Oh no, it will only take a moment and the kitchen really isn’t big enough for two people to be moving around in it.”  Penny did her best to help Tala feel more at ease with having Barrett here. “Don’t worry about Barrett either, he doesn’t bite and isn’t that scary, just think about the pink bear incident I told you about.”

Barrett leapt out of the chair he had been sitting in and stared at Penny with wide golden eyes. “You told her about THE PINK BEAR INCICDENT that we agreed we would never mention again?!? Why the hell would you do that Penny?”

Tala shrunk back from the intensity of emotion coming from Barrett in waves.

“To make you more relatable, you i***t!” Penny shot back. “Tala was telling me about her brothers and how they can be jerks sometimes so I started telling her about how you can be a jerk too and how I got back at you for it. Now you have gone and completely ruined it”

“What do you mean I ruined it?” Barrett asked Penny, his brow marred in confusion.

Tala took a deep breath in and out, she felt the lightening in the room and did her best to focus on that. Not looking up from the floor or moving any closer to Penny or Barrett she quietly said “It’s ok Penny, he hasn’t ruined it. I was just surprised by his outburst and reacted like I normally would.”

Barrett glanced over at Tala and slowly sat back down; his bear was growling at him in his mind. “I am sorry Tala, I never meant to startle you. When you are ready why don’t you come over and sit down. I promise I will never hurt you.”

Tala stayed carefully watching Barrett. He still smelled like fur to her nose, a scent common to a shifter on the edge of changing, and yet he was sitting calmly at the small table. All traces of tension had fled from his shoulders, his posture appeared relaxed, and Tala wished she could see his eyes again. They had been the beautiful gold of his bear but from here there was no way to tell if they still held that colour or had settled into his human deep blue. She wasn’t sure how much time passed as she studied him as neither he nor Penny said a word or moved, giving her time to relax she realized.

Tala eased herself closer to the table and still no one moved. There was no spike in anyone’s emotions and so she continued to creep closer until she reached the chair across from Barrett. It was closer than she wanted to be to him, putting her in easy reach but better then sitting right next to him. She sat down and chanced a glance up to see Barrett’s eyes and gasped softly, they still shone gold. She couldn’t believe his bear could be that close to the surface and yet he gave no outward indication.

Barrett aimed a small smile at her. Before he could say anything though Penny butted in. “Let’s eat!” Penny busily put dinner filled plates on the table. “Before this all gets cold and all the work, I put into making this amazing dinner goes completely to waste. Food never tastes the same cold.”

“This looks and smells wonderful Penny.” Tala murmured looking at the plate piled high before. Penny had outdone herself with roast beef and potatoes smothered in gravy, and a pile of mixed veggies with carrots, parsnip, peas, and corn. Steam rose gently off everything and Tala had to make a conscious effort not to drool with how wonderful everything in front of her was.

“Don’t just stare at it Tala”, Penny laughed, “dig in both of you. There is plenty left for seconds if anyone wants them and there is a devil’s food cake for dessert.”

Tala looked up at her friend smiling and saw Barrett was doing the same. Their eyes caught for a moment before Tala quickly looked back down and applied herself to eating. The silence as they ate grew longer until Barrett broke it.

“Penny, you did a great job on this, as usual.” Barrett said as he grabbed another forkful from his plate.

“Thanks Barrett.” Penny replied. “So, Tala do you think you are up to explaining your problem to Barrett once we finish up, or maybe we should have cake first. I would hate to ruin your enjoyment of the meal, but you should probably talk about it before it gets to late.”

Tala started and nearly choked on her food at Penny’s sudden suggestion. Clearing her throat carefully, she took a drink and glanced up at the bears she was sharing the table with. Letting out a small sigh she finally said “Yes, alright, but I don’t need help with my pack. I need help figuring out where I can go next, so they won’t find me.” Tala paused for a moment and added, “But definitely after the cake. You worked so hard on making it Penny and I don’t want to ruin our enjoyment of it.”

Penny smiled "Ok then, let me go get the cake served up."