Faith.

Ariel could feel the early morning sunshine warming his bare back. The covers on his side of the bed had pooled around his waist and the chills of the house had made the hairs on his torso stand to attention. The warmth of the rays streaming in through the window was relaxing him though and he stretched leisurely against Risé, hugging her closer to steal some of her warmth. Ariel hummed contently and buried his face in Risé’s neck. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent that was so uniquely Risé. Her scent was blurred now, though. When she’d first arrived she’d smelt like death, like smoke and like Fenrir. When she was clean she had her scent but now she smelt more like the house, more like him, than anything else. It made Ariel smile and it pleased the wolf to no end.

A weary hand wandered down to where the covers where and Ariel pulled them back up over him. He shivered slightly and moved a little closer to Risé. He placed a small kiss on her pulse point and skimmed his nose across her cheek. “Wake up, pup,” he murmured, running his tongue along the underside of the shell of her ear. Ariel chuckled and repeated the action. He knew she was awake, her breathing had changed and it amused him somewhat that she was trying to deceive him. Ariel wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled onto his back, pulling her with him onto his chest. He chuckled again and reached up to gently kiss her forehead.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he murmured, his eyes darting across her face, taking in the sleep-filled look that had taken over her facial features. Ariel smoothed back some of her hair and continued to drink her in. “I’ve missed you,” he admitted softly.

Ariel hated spending his weeks at Hogwarts. The dog did too. He hated having to deal with not knowing where she was or whether she was safe. Ariel was at peace when he was curled up in bed with her. He doubted there would be anything sexual between them – it would probably cause him and the dog to implode simultaneously – but there was something about sharing a bed with her that made Ariel feel more at ease. He knew where she was, that was one thing. In his arms he didn’t doubt for a second that she wouldn’t be safe. She was his responsibility and when he didn’t know whether she was safe, healthy and well fed...he drove himself mad with worry.

Ariel ran his fingers down the length of Risé’s spine and he closed his eyes, letting his head drop back comfortably against the pillows. He watched her in interest, a small smile on his lips, and began to play idly with her hair. “What do you want to do today, beautiful?” he asked her, opening his eyes again.

Rise was woken up by Ariel stretching behind her. Her eyes didn't open however, and she could feel sunshine streaming down on them. Her eyes stayed closed as he continually moved closer to her, and she nearly smiled when his nose skimmed across her cheek, but she didn't move, and still pretended to be asleep. When he told her to wake up, she whimpered and then felt a small smile dart across her lips as he licked her ear, and then did it again. She shuddered and nearly yelped when he pulled her onto his chest, and kissed her forehead. "Hey... it's to early..." She muttered and buried her face in his chest, rubbing her cheek against the bare skin there.

When he said he missed her, she looked up at him and sighed. He had been gone at Hogwarts over the week... she still wasn't sure why he wasn't letting her go back with him.. now that she was away from Fenrir, she almost wanted to go back to school and reveal that she wasn't dead, or even missing. She was fine, but then again, she was still really weak, and could hardly go a full day without having to sleep some more. She felt like a puppy, like the dog, not the werewolf, a puppy who was energetic for a few hours, and then passed out asleep on the ground for the majority of the day.

"Dunno.." She muttered sleepily. "I kinda want to go for a walk or something.. I like it outside.." She said softly and looked up at the window. "I went out into the backyard yesterday... it was so nice, with the sun all warm and the breeze so cool. I laid in the grass for like, four hours.. it's why I'm getting tan see!" She said and held up her arm excitedly for him to see. She hadn't seen him much yesterday, and had merely woken up with him here today, and now she was in his arms again. She was working on getting her strength up when he was gone, making herself more and more presentable to him. She wanted to please him, wanted to show that she was okay! She hadn't transformed yet of course, she hadn't been here to long, but she could feel it coming, that other side in her head was getting louder and louder, wanting out, and she was learning more and more about how it affected her when she wasn't transformed, and how to tell it's mood, and if it needed something she personally didn't feel she needed. Like water, she had been drinking quite a bit of it lately, not because she was that thirsty, but because her dog side was. So now, snuggling up against Ari in a way she had never snuggled up before, she knew that this new side of her was making a bigger impact on her as a person, then she originally thought it ever would. "how was school?" She asked softly, looking at him and smiling lightly.

Lifting his arm, Ariel threaded his fingers through the front of Risé’s hair. He chuckled and mussed it up before removing his fingers to see his handiwork. Ariel pushed the flyaway bits of hair out of her eyes and leant up to meet her. He kissed her abruptly on the nose and smiled cheekily at her before lowering himself back against the pillows. He tapped his fingers against the base of her spine with his other hand before walking them back up towards her neck. His fingers danced across her skin, waking up her muscles and bringing the body above him to life. Even if her mind wasn’t away, her body was being woken up by a highly amused werewolf whether it liked it or not. He liked tracing his fingers across the family curves, circling the moles that marred the milky-white skin. Everything was so familiar about her yet it was all so different at the same time. She’d put on weight; which meant she’d been eating properly. Ariel was proud of her.

“I know it’s early,” Ariel laughed jovially, “But I wanted to see you.” He meant her eyes more than anything. They’d taken on a goldy tint. They weren’t the muddy brown he could remember. They were beautiful, indescribable orbs that belonged to a werewolf. Ariel ran his thumb underneath her eye and smiled thoughtfully at her. “How was everything this week? I hope they weren’t too overbearing?”

Ariel listened carefully to Risé and he glanced over out of the window at the sprawling fields and woodland that surrounded the little village he’d lived in since he was a baby. Ariel nodded and rubbed his hands up and down Risé’s arms. She was cold and he told her so with a lopsided smile. Ariel wrapped his arms back around Risé’s body and knew that if the dog was in charge then its tail would have been wagging with wild abandon at that moment. Ariel chuckled aloud at the thought and looked at Risé. “There’s an apple orchard not too far from here. If we cut through the fields we could sit in there for the day.” He suggested softly.

“School?” Ariel mad a face and laughed. “It’s been the same as ever. Valentine’s Day was...fun. Oh, by the way...” Ariel leaned over slightly and pulled open the drawer of his bedside table. He took a little box out from inside and closed the drawer. He laid back and placed the box on his chest at Risé’s eye level. “Happy belated Valentine’s Day.” He said with a sheepish smile.

Rise made a face when he mussed up her hair and then shook her head slightly. "Thanks.. My hair wasn't already messed up enough.."She said with a small giggle. He kissed her nose, and she smiled lightly, a little surprised, but a extremely happy, she could almost feel her tail wagging. If only she could wake up like this EVERY day..During the week she was always alone, unless of course Naomi showed her face, or Penny and Orion decided to come up and talk to her, she usually tried to stay alone for the most part. His mother was really nice, but there was an odd look on her face, as though she wasn't ever quite sure of what to make of this new addition to her household.

His fingers moved over her body, waking it up with his gentle touches. She smiled slightly when he ran his fingers under her eyes, and she smiled, looking into his. It was like she was a princess under his gaze, and she felt beautiful, which was something she hadn't felt before Ariel looked at her. "Overbearing? No... I didn't want to bother them to much... I stayed in here mostly... but I did meet your sister... Naomi.." She said softly, her head moving down to rest her cheek on his chest. He said we, and Rise's heart leapt in her chest. He would sit with her down in the apple orchard? She grinned and snuggled in closer to him.

Rise looked startled when he spoke of Valentines day. She hadn't even thought of that Holiday. Well, on the day, her and Penny had sat down at the kitchen table, and they had made cards for everyone in the house. When he pulled out the box, Rise's eyebrows flew into her hairline and she slowly took it, still resting on his chest, she carefully opened it up, and bit her lip. Looking at it, her face lit up and she slowly opened up the box and music started up. She listened for a second, and then smiled. "Thanks Ariel." she said softly, and rolled off of him, getting out of bed, she got the little card she had made him, with the help of Penny. "Here." She said softly, and sat down next to him on the bed, holding out the card to him. "Nothing like the music box.. but... me and Penny made it." She said softly, her cheeks red.

"You still look beautiful," Ariel told her with a content smile. He continued to drink her in greedily, like a hiker starved of water. He cupped her face in his hands and caressed the skin beside her eye with his thumb. Love from both him and the dog was rolling off of Ariel in waves. His hands slipped down to his shoulders and settled once more on her hips where his hands always strayed.

When she told him about the encounters with his family, Ariel chuckled. "You've spoken to her then? What did she think of you?" He asked. He and Naomi hadn't spoken much recently. Ari missed her in some respects. He nibbled on his bottom lip and looked at Rise fondly when she snuggled closer. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair.

"Open it for me," Ariel instructed when she produced the card. He lifted the music box off of his chest and put it down beside them. He flipped the lid up and decided to let the music just play. Ariel smiled. "So you've been bonding with both of my sisters have you? What about my mum?"

Rise smiled and blushed when he said she looked beautiful. To be honest, she wasn't quite sure how to react to this boy... she had never been complimented in her entire life. Even her parents never said she looked good, or her friends, it was mostly just a 'We live together big deal' type feeling in her house, and they each respected the other's privacy.. and now? Now she was getting compliments, being held, touched, looked at.. it was so alien, so odd, she couldn't do anything but blush and smile for a long moment. When he asked her about Naomi, she thought for a second. "Well... I'm mostly confused to why she's here.... I mean.. she's sort of on the run.. Barker is locked up... shouldn't she be trying to convince everyone she was enchanted.. or be lavishing in her freedom? Not... cooped up here... I mean it's not stuffy or anything.. but people are looking for her... people are worried for her, and still.." She said softly shaking her head. "She's hiding.."

"As to what she thinks of me... erm.. she obviously thinks that I'm your mate or something... and when I told her I wasn't.. well she made it sound as though I WANTED to be.. and the feelings weren't shared or something.." She said, her voice getting smaller and smaller as she spoke, while her cheeks got redder and redder. "Of course it isn't true.. but that's what she thinks, I don't even know what she's thinking.. I mean... Oh... I'm so bad at talking!" She said and put her hands over her cheeks, trying to hide the redness, unable to meet his gaze anymore.

Rise carefully opened the card, and smiled, she had drawn a small picture in the corner, mostly a doodle then anything else, of her and Ariel. She wasn't the best artist in the world, but it was still pretty well drawn, and she had had fun, of course the picture wasn't all that lovey dovey, seeing as they were both staring straight up, and a large full moon was over their heads, and Rise, who had a look of total awe on her face, had grown a tail and ears, almost comically and the tail stuck out from behind her, little lines showing that it was wagging. "I was doodling." She said softly, her cheeks still bright pink. "And your sister is great... I loved sitting with her... at first she wasn't quite sure of me I think.. but after a while, she would come up here and play games and stuff, it was nice.. not to be alone anyway.." She said and when he mentioned his mom, she looked away, back down at the card.

"She's really nice.. I don't know what she thinks of me.. she... is really quiet when I walk into the room, almost like she was just talking about me.. and saw me.. and stopped instantly.. and she looks at me funny... like.. not quite sure how to handle this other person in her house.. I just don't know.. I don't think she likes me to much." She said softly, her eyes downcast. "She did go out and buy me some clothes though.. which was really nice of her, just a few pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts.. but at least I don't have to wear your sweats and a t-shirt anymore... she was really nice and even got me my own toothbrush and hairbrush and stuff... It made me feel a lot more comfortable I think.." She said with a small smile in his direction before her eyes were thrown back down to the card in her hands, which she was bending the edge of absentmindedly.

After a moment, Rise jumped off the bed, and went to the closet, opening it up, she disappeared for a moment, before she came back, fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a loose fitting shirt. She sat down on the bed again, and sighed, picking up a hairbrush from the side of the bed. "Ariel.. I don't know how much I can ever thank you.. for helping me.. for making me feel special.. for.. liking me... I didn't really know how that felt.. and I guess I just feel.. really happy.. I may not know what it's like to be a werewolf.. or who I am.. or how to act, or what to be... but.. I feel for the first time like I just woke up from a REALLY long sleep.. Like Sleeping Beauty and like the Prince just kissed her awake after fighting the dragon.. I've finally woken up... so.. thank you." She said softly, her cheeks still a pale shade of pink, her hands had found the card again, and she was busy bending the corner again, unable to look up at him.