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Scott lazily turned around to lie on his belly, burried his face deeper into his pillow. He hadn't slept that peacefully in weeks, enjoyed being at ease for once, relaxed, not being troubled by any problems of the day ahead, or dangers that had to be reckoned with.
Yet suddenly, even soundly asleep, he noticed something was different. There was something that had changed, that was suddenly present, a scent that filled the air.
Still half asleep Scott slowly opened his eyes, but quickly became more and more awake as he made out the figure right next to him on the bed.
"Malia...?"
She flinched slightly, surprised by his voice, and turned around to him. Her short, light brown hair was a little messy, her eyes seemed almost black in the spare moonlight that shone on both of them through the window.
"Yes?"
Scott chuckled quietly, half amused, half convinced that he was still alseep.
"What are you doing here...?"
"Trying to sleep. You?"
He laughed softly at her confused face.
"The same, actually. But I was rather wondering what you are doing in my bed...?"
"Oh..."
Malia frowned, then looked at him again.
"I couldn't sleep. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't want to built myself a den again, so I thought... you being the leader of the pack, you'd know what to do."
The amused smile on Scott's face slowly faded, making way for concerns and worries.
"Are you okay?"
Malia shrugged.
"I guess. The last couple of weeks were just really..."
"Yeah...", Scott interrupted her softly. "I know what you mean..."
The werecoyote tried to read his expression, but soon gave up on it.
"So...", she began eventually. "Can I stay here...?"
Scott smiled gently, carefully brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Sure..."
"Good."
Malia smiled at him, then sat up, took off her top and carelessly threw it aside, lying down next to him again in nothing but her panties.
Scott's jaw dropped, he looked the other way when she laid down again, made sure not to look anywhere below her face when he spoke to her.
"Malia, what are you doing-?!"
"You're sleeping topless, too, I thought it was okay with you. Also, I can't really spread my scent with clothes on. It helps me sleep..."
As embarrassed as he was at first, trying to see this from her perspective did help a lot. It was not about being naked. It was nothing sexual. It was pure instincts, making a little den for her out of one side of Scott's bed, which would help her get some rest.
It was also then that he noticed that he didn't even recognise the most prominent layer of her scent anymore; the unbearable smell that would send quite a few animals of prey and fellow predators trying to find a place to sleep go running. He had long accustomed to that, so much he was finally able to really get to her personal scent.
She smelled of damp, fresh earth, like the ground in the woods after a day of rain. There was something else, something maritime, like a breeze carried by the ocean. He smiled as he throught of how that mixed with the sweet, very sublte scent of detergent, almost reminding him of the salted caramel sweets she enjoyed so much.
He was suddenly being ripped out of his thoughts, being turned to his side as Malia grabbed his wrist, pulled his arm around her so her back was resting against his chest, and she was laying curled up in his arms.
"It's okay if you touch my boobs, but means that we have to have sex.", she stated lazily, burried her arms under the pillow.
Scott smiled, quite amazed by how she was still able to kick all kinds of ambiguity and overthinking out the window even after years of trying to adjust to society. He kept his hand where it was, gently caressing the skin at her upper belly.
"I thought you preferred being the big spoon...", he whispered softly.
Malia turned her head to him, seemingly unaware of how close their faces were now.
"I do. But I guess you'll do fine, too..."
Scott smiled at her, couldn't believe he actually had to resist the urge to kiss her.
"I'll try my best..."