Eye to Eye

Ivaylo was home after a long time, sitting on his bed in the darkness, only eyes glowing with anger. He was eager to sink his claws into his flesh again. He felt down, and shame for letting such a low life attack him.

His shoulder "injury" was credited to that incident. It would be difficult for Ivaylo to explain, how he came to it... Anyway, time, for the pain... His nose twitched and he lifted his gaze to the coffee table in the living room.

He stopped his claws to puncture his skin. He stood up and walked over turning his head to the side, hypnotizing the see-through plastic bag. That light brown scarf with ornaments... Since the bag was slightly open it was leaking that scent...

He sat down in front of it and reached with his hand to take it out. For a half minute, he was holding that scarf and staring holes into it. With one move, he pulled it towards his nose, eyes closed... smelling it. His ears fell flat and he slipped to lay down on his back covering his face with that piece of clothing. Somehow, he fell asleep.

Ivaylo was awoken by his alarm clock. He swiftly sat up, ears twisting in all directions. For sure, he was disoriented and had no clue what was going on. It was early in the morning and time to get ready for work.  He threw the scarf on the sofa and ran into the bathroom but shortly before entering he stopped and turned back. He folded the scarf neatly and put it back into the plastic bag sealing it.

At his office, he talked to his human supervisor, first in the morning. He bowed down and even apologized. The supervisor was taken aback, by the sudden change in attitude. "Since you worked hard and were done with a lot of things in a very short period of time, I have no objections. And the week-long absence wasn't your fault. I can't blame you for being attacked and greatly wounded. I even expected your return a week later."

Ivaylo straightened up and his eyes met with the supervisors. "I am glad you are healthy again..." escaped from the mouth of Ivaylo's boss. That surprised him a little bit and made him think. As he walked out of the office into his working space he got overwhelmed by that smell... that human smell of his coworkers. It made him nauseous again.

That brings out the question of why HER scent does not bother him. At least, now he knows, what she looks like and will probably willingly or not meet her in the streets. Ivaylo got a call from the police station to confirm an appointment for the questioning. He excused himself from his work and drove straight to the police station not so far away.

As soon as he entered the building he could smell her. She was there! It piqued his curiosity about her. Ivaylo walked through a narrow hall until the end where the big office with the cops was situated. He spotted that girl on the other side of the room under the window, talking to the Beastcops. It was obvious, she was intimidated by all the Beasfolk working there.

Waist long brown hair, and in contrast with all those individuals inside that building, she looked very petite. Ivaylo was intensively looking in her direction sizing her up but he was pulled by the other police-beastman the opposite way.

As he sat down, he was turned with his back to her. That bothered him since he wanted to take a better look at the human woman. The scent emanating from her body was inclosing him, as she would hug him. Ivaylo didn't really want to admit one thing. It had an extremely calming effect on him.

He was questioned about that day but his mind would go wandering... He suddenly heard, she was done with her part and was about to leave. He swiftly turned and their eyes met. With her gray eyes... She very flustered picked up her pace and speed walked away. Ivaylo was following her with his gaze and didn't even notice that the Beast policeman was calling out for him.

The next days, he was going to that store as usual looking out for her. After a long time observing her, Ivaylo knew, why he never got to see her before. He noticed, how she always changed paths... she chose a different one, as soon, as she saw any Beast people.

She tried to avoid them, as best, as she could leaving only her scent behind. So, when he was looking for her, she was by the time already on the other side of the street. Ivaylo just ironically chuckled about that.

After a week, he found out, why she was avoiding everybody on the street. That particular day was really busy on the outskirts. A lot of Beastfolk gathered around since there was a festival and today she couldn't just change the paths.

That young lady was walking around the store and always kept her distance as much as possible but there were Beastmen, who liked to mess with humans, targeting them. That asshole purposely rammed her and she fell to the ground scattering stuff out of her bag.

Ivaylo felt instant pity and then confusion. He brushed his face with the realization that he did have the feeling of sympathy. Disgusted by himself, he was about to leave but as he turned, he heard how that jackal Beastman was harassing her further.

"I would like to taste you, there is a hotel if you don't mind..." Something snapped inside of Ivaylo and grabbed him by the tail pulling that jackal away from her. Soon after turning on his heel to go away, he was disappointed in himself for stepping in and questioning why he did that... for a human nonetheless.

He realized, that he was going in the wrong direction and turned back, and at the same time, he collided with her knocking that poor girl from her feet. On an impulse, he grabbed her by the shoulders, so she wouldn't fall onto the concrete and they both gazed into each other sky blue and gray eyes.