Domesticated {tag;; Aimee}

[Libby Belmont]

Today had been a perfectly average day with perfectly average results.  Nero had written a nice, long essay for one of his professors the day before, so for half of the afternoon he had been editing.  He wasn't naturally gifted with the power of words on his side, but he wasn't horrible at composing a nonfiction based piece of work.  It was how he had survived literature courses; he just didn't go out of his way to take creative writing.

He slipped into his home, glancing around for signs of his girlfriend.  When he didn't instantly sense her around, he made his way into the kitchen and popped open the refrigerator.  He wasn't particularly hungry, but he assumed that he probably should eat considering he had only done so once in the past twelve hours.

Nothing was particularly striking him.  There were various yogurts, some pudding, pickles, something that looked like it needed to be thrown out--he kept telling himself to toss it--several assorted liquids, bagels; he had no idea what he wanted.  Deciding that it wasn't incredibly crucial to his life as a whole, he reached for a container of pudding and took a step back to shut the door.

Next destination: silverware drawer.

[Aimee Forsyth]

Average day was the absolute truth, and not just for Nero.  Of course, Aimee's idea of an 'average day' varied, given her busy schedule, but this also happened to be an easy day.  She didn't have work that night, so she could stay home with Nero, and make sure he didn't work himself into a coma without her there to keep him home.  Between his lab at the college and the more private lab he had in a shed in the backyard, he didn't take much time off.

Tonight, she was making sure he did.

The fun thing about cats is how silent they are, and Aimee was no different.  She'd been padding around the house in bare feet, and smiled when she heard Nero come in and head right for the refrigerator when she didn't instantly appear.  Figured.  He probably realized all at once that he hadn't eaten except when she brought lunch over.  Scientific types could be so stupid sometimes, despite how smart they were.  Priorities were their problems.

At least one of them had their priorities somewhat straight, because she'd come home and decided to make something tasty for dinner.  It wasn't close enough to completion that her mamba boyfriend would be able to smell it cooking yet, but she was certain that wouldn't take long.  First, though....

Priorities.

She came up behind him as quietly as she could, and just in time for him to step back to shut the door to the fridge.  She slid her arms around his waist and cuddled against his back, dropping a kiss right between his shoulderblades through his shirt.  "Mmm, welcome home.  I'm making dinner."

[Libby Belmont]

Naturally there was a big difference between his human form and his snake form.  Mainly, it was his inability to hear or feel Aimee coming.  As a mamba, he could actually feel things approach through vibrations.  As a human, well, to some extent he could still pull that off, but Aimee was a feline and was therefore already light footed.  Feeling her approach just wasn't about to happen.

But he smelled her.

Right before her arms wrapped around him, his pupils narrowed into slits and he smiled slightly.  He leaned back a little into her hug, feeling the cotton of his shirt brush against him where she pressed her lips.  "Are you?" he asked with a hum on contentment, walking towards the silverware drawer and taking her with him.  Pulling it open, he took out a spoon and shoved the drawer closed, peeling the lid off of the pudding container as he made his way over to the trash.

"What are you making?"  Nero glanced over his shoulder at Aimee and grinned, then proceeded to stick a spoonful of pudding into his mouth.  He was relaxed in her hold and once his spoon was back in the pudding, he took his now free hand and swung it behind himself to touch her side.  It was awkward, but he managed to pat her and laugh a little, then he started for the couch.

Aimee saw a different Nero than most people did.  He always enjoyed physical contact, feeling the warmth of others, Nero just never acted on it.  He could get close to Aimee; it didn't upset any boundaries that he had put up around himself.  So long as there wasn't anyone else around, he didn't mind the touching or cuddling, in fact, he openly enjoyed it.  And while it had been hard for him to initially accept everything, by this point he was much calmer and easy going.  Aimee had certainly been persistent, to say the least, but it had worked in the end.

[Aimee Forsyth]

Persistent was an understatement, but it was true that it had worked out.  Nero had slowly given in to her 'demands', and here they were. 

He moved towards the silverware drawer, then the trash, and she just followed along behind him rather than let go.  It would have been easier to let go, but having Nero walk around like this was just cute, and proof of his liking for the contact.  He pretended well, especially in public, but he liked it.  That was good, because she liked it, too. 

Actually, she was low on things about Nero she didn't like.  There were some, but not as many as she'd had with other boyfriends.  It was why she was here.  She giggled as he shoved his pudding into his mouth, then patted her because he couldn't really reach, and decided on clinging to him until he got to the couch.  "Steaks.  I'm throwing them on the grill in a little while, because they won't take long.  Buttered noodles, and some seasoned veggies.  I figured some iron would do you good.  You don't eat enough," she told him, talking as he led the two of them to the living room.  It was only when he arrived at the couch that she switched up her positioning, letting go enough to let him sit down without sitting on her, and crawling onto the couch after him.

[Libby Belmont]

Her demands, of course, being that Nero was to be affectionate towards her and accept the fact that they were together.  She had been the one to initiate the relationship to begin with, Nero was never one for comprehending social situations, and she had also been the one to push the levels higher and higher.  Nero never entirely disapproved of what she did in that regard, he was just slow to respond.  He was glad that she had, though, despite his hesitance.  In retrospect, it had been good for him.  He had forgotten the benefits of having a girlfriend and not in the sexual manner of speaking.  It was nice to have someone to come home to and be around, someone to talk with more than just a casual hello, how are you.  And maybe, although he would never admit it, he had really needed this.

There were a number of things wrong with this at first that required had some thought.  Aimee was younger by a few solid years and only just finishing her bachelors degree.  That meant that there would have been a possibility of immaturity mixed with the constant stress factor of school and getting a real job.  But then it had turned out that she wasn't really immature and she did have a job; Nero hated her job to the point where they didn't even discuss it anymore unless it was to argue.  Hated being an absolute understatement.  It was degrading, demeaning, and not to mention the fact that those were other men staring at her and wanting her, and she was practically egging them on.  Even thinking about it lit a fire inside of Nero, so the subject was avoided.

Then there was the issue of morality.  Nero was lacking a few vital things emotionally, key morals being one, but he wasn't entirely devoid of them.  Aimee and he had met because she had needed some extra help in her biology course.  Her professor had suggested Nero.  And when they had met, she was even younger, only a little above a child and barely brushing into adult territory.  Sure, she was beautiful and intelligent enough, and she was completely legal, but Nero hadn't actually thought past those facts until she had started flirting.  It was hard to ignore, but if anyone was capable of it, Nero was.  While he adored attention, he never did like people in his space emotionally.  But she had asked him out, their student and tutor relationship turned into a horrible porno-esque dating scenario, and the rest was history.

"I eat enough," he protested instantly.  "I'm not dead, so I must be okay."  He grinned and brought them both to the couch, stopping once they were there.  She released him and he sat down, flashing a smile at her and taking another spoonful of his pudding.  "Sounds great, though.  Can't wait."  And then he shifted his arm to wrap around her, pulling her in close.

[Aimee Forsyth]

Aimee was well aware of all Nero's issues with their relationship, and she'd completely bowled them over.  The only one she couldn't get through was her job, and so they avoided that one unless it was absolutely necessary.  She knew Nero hated her job, and she knew why.  That didn't mean she could afford to leave it, though.  She had too much going on to be able to make money like she did at All Hallows anywhere else.  Otherwise, the other 'issues' were nothing she concerned herself with.  Age was but a number when they could get along just fine despite it, and they were good for each other.

That was what mattered.

Porn scenario aside, they did well for themselves, and it wasn't all sex.  Aimee wouldn't deny that sex was a big plus, but she liked being with Nero.  She liked talking to him and trying to understand what he was working on, and more than anything, she liked cuddling up with him on the couch or in bed, because he was usually so impossible to approach like that outside of their house.  She respected that and gave him his space, even though she didn't have a problem with PDA, and she cuddled the hell out of him at home.  He seemed fine with it.

"We'll agree to disagree on that one, and I'll continue to work at getting you fat," she promised brightly, obviously teasing.  She would continue to feed him as much as she could because she knew it wouldn't be too much to be healthy for he who didn't eat enough, but there was no worries about him getting fat.  First, he was a snake.  Second, he worked out, sometimes with her.  She hummed happily, almost a purr really, when he pulled her in close, and if she didn't know they were both hungry, she'd have been fine ignoring dinner to stay right there.  Her arm went around his waist as she pulled her legs up on the couch and curled against him, and she was content right where she was.

[Libby Belmont]

It would have been so easy for Aimee to push Nero away.  A lot of things would have done it--she hadn't.  In the past, any relationship Nero had once had had ended because of the woman's inability to listen.  Nero wasn't one for commands, not really, so he would insinuate and attempt to influence people into one direction or the other.  Because of this, many of his ex-girlfriend's had done something to interfere, overstepping boundaries and doing things that they really shouldn't have done.

But not Aimee.

She respected that Nero really disliked public displays of affection, for example.  Nero found it rude to the people around them.  Aimee never really attempted anything because of that, although there was the occasional little something that Nero would overlook; some things really were just expected of a couple.  While PDA was only one of those little details that Aimee adhered by out of respect, it was important just the same and for that Nero was thankful.

They really were doing well overall.  Nero didn't have too many complaints himself except that damn job.  She had insisted that she was in it because it paid the most but wasn't going to do it for very long in the grand scheme of things.  Nero's worry in that regard was that if it paid the most for the littlest amount of time put in, why would she ever stop?  Morals aside, that was a good thing that she had going.  Morals back into play, that could be tossed aside.  He respected Aimee, sure, and because he respected her, he assumed that she had her own amount of dignity that she tossed aside when she "danced."  Nero never asked her that, though.  Even in a heated argument, there were just some things he didn't say, like how worried he was and how much it upset him that other men were watching her.  He just really didn't want something bad to come of this.

There were just some things, though, that he couldn't get himself to say.

He chuckled softly, finishing his pudding and twisting himself to place it on the coffee table.  "Get me fat, huh?  Good luck."  He then turned himself to face her on the couch, cupping her chin and taking her lips with his own.  When he pulled back, he rested his forehead on hers gently and smiled, letting his hand slide down to her shoulder.  These were times that he looked forward too, just sitting there with Aimee on the couch, ignoring the rest of the world; little things like this he wouldn't take for granted.

[Aimee Forsyth]

Depending on how you looked at it, Nero and Aimee could have been one of the most mismatched couples around.  Leopard and snake, stripper and scientist, incredibly social and socially isolated.  They seemed to be polar opposites on the surface, but a peek at other little details just proved how well they worked, particularly Nero's secret love of cuddling and Aimee's more scientific studies.  Those made more sense, but even so, Nero with a stripper seemed somewhat out of place.

That was why they avoided that topic.

Aimee knew Nero's concerns, and she didn't want to even risk him saying a few of the things she wondered if he thought.  She knew he didn't like her job at All Hallows, and she knew what kind of person he was, so she wouldn't have been surprised if he thought things she never wanted to hear about it.  That's why she avoided those conversations like the plague.  Maybe she was getting too attached, but she couldn't really help it at this point.  Too late.

Besides, when she was curled on the couch with him like she was, why would she want to lessen her attachment?  Knowing how he was with people, she actually felt good about the fact that, of all people, he was comfortable like this with her.  Nero was a good-looking guy, so he would have had other options, and probably still did.  It was moments like this, when he re-situated himself so that he could kiss her and just hold her, that she was glad she'd given up the 'safer' position of remaining unattached and unaffected. 

"Ha, you wish me luck, but you don't realize that my grand scheme is already in motion," she teased, poking him in the side and leaning up to steal another kiss.  "I feed you, and you eat.  It's already begun."

[Libby Belmont]

"Right," he agreed with a smile.  "So of course that means that it'll work.  Who am I to question your theory?"  Beaming a little at her, he ran his hand from her shoulder to her neck, then back again, tracing the outline of her skin to her shirt.  "I guess that means that you should put those steaks on the grill then, doesn't it?  The more you prolong dinner, the more time I'll have to digest the pudding."  He then grinned a little in silent laughter, giving her a meaningful sort of nod and a wink.  "And you'd want to hit me with all of it at once, right?"

Nero really didn't want her to get up, but he also knew that they were both hungry and if they stayed this way for much longer, the likelihood of either of them moving was slim.  They were both already comfortable as they were, so he imagined that they would only get more comfortable.  Before she could move, though, he pressed another kiss above her eye.

Honestly, Nero didn't know why Aimee had picked him, since it had been her doing the picking.  It wasn't that he had a low self-esteem, hardly, it just felt almost odd that she had focused her energy on him and pushed for a relationship when he was sure that there were other potential routes for her to take.  Nero didn't think that her options were better than he was, especially considering that a lot of her time was put in at her work, but that really was beside the point.  He didn't often find himself wondering, though, not about that.  He accepted it for what it was--there was always that chance that he didn't want to know what the answer was anyway.