01/29 Instance: Insecurities

[steyn]

--Time Line- Current--


((Last week))

Hepzibah: All the lights were off, and it was just the two of them in the rec room. Hepz watched the movie with her hands over her face. Her tail ticked nervously as the scary theme music got louder and creepier. Curling up to Hector till she was nearly in his lap, her tail wormed its way between them. Suddenly, she gave a shriek and jumped as the monster attacked.

Hector: Hec grinned as he watched the movie, he loved this one, and it being scary meant Hepz would be all over him by the end. Definitely a good thing. He swatted at her tail as it ticked, and slapped against his face, tickling his nose. He sneezed quietly and put his arm around her.

Hepzibah: Hepz snuggled against him with a smile as the hero made a mad dash to save the girl and get out of the house. She found herself drawn into the scene, stroking her fingers up and down Hec's arm draped over her when the monster attacked from out of nowhere. Before she could stopped herself, her claws dug into Hec. Not deep, but hard enough to break the a little.

Hector: Hec closed his eyes tight as she dug her nails into his arm. He stretched it out once she let go and looked over at it, seeing small trails of blood going down his arm. Sonava bitch that stings.... He put his arm back around her and reached for the popcorn with his free hand, stopping just before putting it into his mouth, seeing a white hair on it, then tossing it to the floor.

Hepzibah: "Oh baby! I'm sorry," she flushed under her fine white fur. "Here, let me get some alcohol for that." She offered looking at his arm that was wrapped around her, then frowned, "What's wrong with the popcorn?"

Hector: "Nothing, think I burned it." He said quickly and smiled at her, "I'll get it, you finish the movie. I've seen it before." He got up and headed to his bathroom, and dug through his medicine cabinet for the Neosporin.

Hepzibah: "Oh... ok," she gave him a kiss as he got up. Funny - it doesn't smelled burnt. Watching him leave she pulled the bowl over and frowned again, not seeing a single burnt kernel in the bunch.
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((Yesterday))

Hector: Hec grinned as he scrubbed her back, taking liberties as his hand worked around the sides and down to her ass. He reached for another handful of shampoo and continued to work on getting her cleaned up.

Hepzibah: A contented sigh rose up from Hepz as she leaned her head back against Hector. Her fur was all sudsy and her drenched tail sway from side to side slowly between them. "You missed a spot," she teased, grinning with her eyes closed.

Hector: "Yeah yeah..." He smiled and dug his fingers into her a bit harder as he continued. He stepped up closer behind her under the water, washing the front of he body as he reached around. Her tail thwaped between his legs a couple times before he shifted and pushed it to the side.

Hepzibah: Her tail protested and tried to get between them again as Hepz consciously fought with it. "Sorry, it's got a mind of it's own sometimes," she chuckled enjoying the feel of his arms around her as the warm water poured down over them.

Hector: "Ha... Yeah..." He agreed and started to work his way down her body. While washing her legs, he was practically on his knees behind her and closed his eyes as her tail slapped him across the face. "Ha... You know... Might be easier to shower in the Jess form... Since you can change now..." He stood up and helped her rinse off, "Save a few trips a week for shampoo." He joked.

Hepzibah: "Maybe your right," she nodded, looking down for a moment and shifted to her furless counter image. "Better?" she asked, managing a smile for him as she leaned up to kiss him.

Hector: "Much." He smiled down at her as he leaned in for a kiss. He finished rinsing her off, wrapped his arms around her again and spun, putting himself under the water for a bit. "You get me now?" He grinned.

Hepzibah: "You know I will, baby." Her smile turned sultry as her one hand reached for the shower gel and while the other roamed over his chest and down his abs. ________________________________________________________________________
((Current day))

Hepzibah: Turning from side to side, Hepz double checked her reflection and adjusted her little black dress. Her tail ticked underneath the short skirt as she leaned down to pick up her heels. Shoes were still something she was getting used to. "You about ready, baby?" she called to the bathroom as she brushed her hair with her silver brush.

Hector: Hec spit out the mouth rinse and smiled into the mirror. "Yeah, just done." He checked his hair real fast and then walked back out into the bedroom. "Babe... Tail..." He smirked and toyed with the tip of it for a moment before heading to his closet.

Hepzibah: "Yeah yeah, I know..." she sighed back and the tail disappeared as it morphed away from him. Hepz looked back in the mirror and pulled the brush through her platinum blonde hair one more time before putting it pack in her pack. "You clean up good," she teased him, pulling on his lapel.

Hector: "Ha, yes I do." He grinned, "You do too." He pulled out the lint/cat hair roller from the closet and then ran it over her dress real fast, picking off several white hairs off her skimpy little black dress. "There we go; ya look b e a utiful babe!" He grinned and tossed the roller into the closet again.

Hepzibah: "Thanks," she nodded, her shoulders slumping just a tiny bit as she watched him throw the roller back in the closet. He had a dozen of those things... "I guess we should get going," she pulled on his hand checking 'Jessica' out in the mirror one more time.

Hector: Hec leaned over her shoulder to give her a kiss on the cheek and checked her out in the mirror as well. "Yeah, don't wanna miss the reservation." He grinned and wrapped his arm around her waist and started to walk her out the door.

Hepzibah: "She's pretty isn't she?" Hepz stopped and looked in the mirror motioned to her human reflection.

Hector: "You are pretty." He hugged her waist as he looked at her again in the reflection. Finally he pulled her away from the mirror, "But no just standing around, dinner's not going to eat itself." He grinned and led her out.

Hepzibah: Especially when I look like this... Hepz just smiled and squeezed his hand. "Yeah - they won't hold our reservation forever. This place ain't exactly a Sonic," she joked not feeling very hungry now.
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Hector: ((At Dinner that same evening))

Hector: Hec smiled at the waiter as he refilled his glass. "Thank you." He waited till he left, "You feeling alright babe? You barely touched your food..." He took another bite. She'd been unusually quiet all night and he was a little worried.

Hepzibah: Hepzibah looked up from pushing her food around on her plate. "Hm? Oh, yeah - yes, I'm fine." She shifted a little as a couple of men at other tables watched her. "Why wouldn't I be fine?" Pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, she finished her glass of wine and waited for the waiter to fill it back up.

Hector: Hec waited patiently for the waiter to leave. The way she said that, should sounded almost sad, but he had no idea why. "I don't know..." He reached his hand across the table and squeezed hers. "You've just seemed out of it all night... Feeling sick?" He offered, not certain what it was.

Hepzibah: She shook her head; this had been building up for weeks. And had intensified since she'd learned to change forms. "Just got a lot on my mind," she whispered. Her head turned towards a middle aged man she imagined was undressing her mentally. "What are you looking at!?" she snapped at him.

Hector: Hec smiled nervously and watched at the man she'd told off turned back to his own table and stared very intently at his own plate of food. "Babe.." He rubbed his thumb across her palm, "You wanna talk about it?" He asked quietly, Not the best at this... but it is my job now...

Hepzibah: At first, she shook her head. She didn't want to say it. Then she looked up from her plate, staring at him blankly. "It's alright Hector. I don't blame you..." she said quietly. It seemed like she got smaller as she sat there.

Hector: "Blame me for what?" He asked, a bit defensive and curious. He leaned back in his chair and took a drink of his wine, expecting the worst.

Hepzibah: "For wanting a normal girlfriend - instead of a freak." she was blinking away tears now. "I'm sorry - I have to go," she said suddenly and stood up, the chair fell backwards as she jump up drawing all eyes on the two of them. Hepz stared around at everyone like a frightened animal then turned and ran out of the restaurant.

Hector: Hec sat there stunned for a moment, not even sure what was happening. He waved the waiter over as he stood, and pressed a wad of cash into the guy’s hand, "Sorry, emergency..." He made his way out of the restaurant to find Hepz.

Hepzibah: Hepzibah ran down the sidewalk, she stopped at the cross walk trying to make her frazzled mind think. The feral was screaming in the back of her mind. Wincing, almost painfully, she had to fight to keep from changing. No one wants to see you the way you are. Her reflection - or rather Jessica's reflection in a display window held her transfixed.

Hector: Hec looked left and right after he made it out the door, looking for his girl friend. He finally spotted her a ways down the road and tore off after her. ... Man... Mexican chasing after a white girl in the city... I'm gonna get shot... He thought for a moment as he ran. He finally caught up with her as she stopped. "Hepz!" He ran up and hugged her tight, and struggled to catch his breath, "What's wrong?" He whispered.

Hepzibah: At first she struggled to get away from him. Then she buried her face in her hands. "You wouldn't understand," she whispered back. "You don't understand. No one does." She wasn't even sure she understood herself. Isn't this what she always wanted?? To be able to go out in public without being gawked at?

Hector: "Make me understand..." He hugged her tight again, "Just tell me what's wrong and I'll take care of it..." He ran his hand through her hair.

Hepzibah: "You can't fix this." She shook her head. "All my life - all I ever wanted to be was 'normal'. Now, I am... I'm a lie. This…” she motioned to her beautiful face, "This is a lie! I want it to be real. I want to be what you want Hector. I want it - more than anything. But I just can't." She pulled away from him and wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm sorry."

Hector: "What?" His brow furrowed, he didn't really understand what she meant. "You are what I want... All I've wanted for a while now..." He put his hand on her shoulder to turn her back towards him softly. "I love you babe..."

Hepzibah: "I know you do... but I know you wish I looked like Jessica all the time too." She bowed her head. "I don't blame you. You'd be crazy not to prefer this," she motioned to her furless image again. "Wouldn't have to keep buying lint rollers," she tried to joke.

Hector: "What? No!... I.. I know it might seem like that sometimes..." He thought to even just the past few days, "But I don’t care what you look like... I loved you before you looked human, mostly because you did the same for me... First girl to ever get passed the no skin thing..." He grinned.

Hepzibah: Hepz's expression softened. Sometimes she forgot that he used to be a freak too. "I think I loved you the moment I first saw you," she admitted. "You didn't make one single cat joke about me." In fact he'd never joked about her appearance that she knew of. She stroked his face for a moment, and then dropped her hand. "I don't know who I am anymore." she said quietly.

Hepzibah: "I'm not what Magnus was trying to create... but I'm not who I used to be either. I don't know how to be human and feral..." Hepz finally closed the space between them and laid her head against his chest, hearing his heartbeat warmly. "I just ... I just feel so lost, Hector."

Hector: He wrapped his arms around her again, "Think it was first time you saw my stash... but its there to get chicks anyway...." He joked for a moment before continuing, "You are Hepzibah, you are beautiful, regardless of what you look like, and you are mine as long as you want to be."

Hector: "I don't want you to feel lost, just let me know what you need me to do..." He smiled at her softly, "All you gotta do is say the word..."

Hepzibah: Hepzibah wrapped her arms around him, pulling herself tightly to him. "I always want to be yours. I was so miserable when you were angry with me." She shut her eyes tight, not liking to think about the previous summer. "I don't know what I need Hec. Can you make me a time machine so I can go back and undo all the stupid things I've done?... Like screwing up our date tonight?"

Hector: "Ha... No... Might could check Forge's old closet or something though." He smiled. "But don't worry bout it, don't worry bout any of that crap in the past. We're passed all that, just focus on the now..." He hugged her tight. "But you do owe me a good dinner now... I didn’t even get to finish my steak..."

Hepzibah: Her hand reached up to touch her cats-eye. "And you really don't care whether I look like this or a neko?" She looked up at him earnestly. "Swear to God?"

Hector: He crossed his heart, "Hell no, cat girls are hawt!" He laughed and pulled her into a kiss. "I just want you to be happy, and as long as your body crawls in bed with me, I don't much mind which of your bodies it is."

Hepzibah: She kissed him back and gave a relieved sigh. "Good. I was just afraid... I mean the past few weeks you seemed like -" she shook her head; he said he didn't care and that was that. Whatever issues she had to work out, this one was settled. "Come on, lets go back to dinner." She smiled and pulled him back to the restaurant.

[Starfish]

Hee, that was really cute, you two.