Help Me Be Free, If you Can.

G

Gabrielle Kovac

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,004
OOC First Name
Jessye
Wand
Willow Wand 12" Essence of Chimaera Scale
Age
11/2006
Gabrielle had to get away from her family for just a little while, as much as she admired them and sought them out for guidance the rules and the regulations on her were pure torture to her most of the time. Gabrielle was a a cookie cutter example of what what her entire family wanted her to be and she supposed that she should take some pride in herself that she was something her parents were actually proud of. 'I'm pretty sure they'll figure out I'm gone soon.' She had apparated herself off to some random Field of flowers, one that she had never been to before just as an attempt to get away from them for some time. Gabrielle liked sweet smelling flowers a lot, even if she didn't want to admit it she found them all to be so pretty to stare at and admire, if only there were more of them at the Lefevre Manor maybe she could learn how to care for them better. The wind blew some of Gabrielle's silk-like blonde hair into her face where she brushed it away with a careless sigh, now that she had Graduated and was more free than she had been before but she still felt so trapped and lonely and that it had forced her to become very closed up as a person and very unwanting of affection or having someone even try to care for her in the least bit.

Gabrielle bent down into the field and started to pick up a few of the flowers in her hand, she figured that would be very nice to bring back to her room for later. Just as she picked up one of the flower's she felt something prick her finger and immediately pulled it back to reveal ruby red blood pouring from the wound. "Ow." Gabrielle had pricked her finger on one of the flowers that had a thorn or two on it, she hadn't seen it on the flower and immediately felt embarrassed that she had been so air headed enough not to see it. Gabrielle dropped the flower she had in her hand back onto the ground and stepped away from it, obviously that flower was not to be messed with anymore. After a few moments of collecting flowers she began to feel a little sleepy from the smell of all those flowers and let out a sweetly but soft sounding yawn. Gabrielle felt like she wanted nothing more than to take a nap right now, so without another thought to what she was doing she lowered herself onto the field of flowers and closed her crystal blue eyes to fall into a deep sleep.
 
As Gregory padded softly through the woodland, he wondered again just what had brought him to this place. There was fine hunting to be sure, but there was always a chance of seeing his father in Europe and that was the last thing he needed at such a trying time in his life. He'd been spending the majority of his time in his lion form and only sleeping as a human, which might have seemed counterproductive in terms of self-protection in the evening, but who knew how long one was able to stay in such a foreign form without getting stuck? There was much still that he did not know about animagi; only that he was one. That, and he missed the person who had taught him how ... so very much. Even as a lion, he felt the pain of Adrianna's loss acutely. It was for that reason that he had left New Zealand and her home, plagued with the memories of her face and the lost scents in the breeze. Greg didn't even notice that he'd left the woods and had ventured out in the the open until he stubbed his paw on a rock. Startled, the enormous white lion lifted its shaggy head and inspected its surroundings. It was a very pleasant field that looked perfect for a good frolic; however he had to make sure that it was safe first.

The lion got low to the ground before having a good sniff of the soil and the the air. He could smell a very faint scent of sheep, but so old that they must have moved on in the past month. Flowers, flowers, more flowers ... Gregory sneezed loudly as the pollen tickled his furry nose. Then there ... the unexpected whiff of blood, so small that he'd almost missed it. Perhaps a rabbit had caught itself on a brier? But no. That smell was most certainly human. He began a cautious scanning of the surroundings; there was a rustle of leaves. Not ten meters to the lion's left, a blonde woman sank into the grass and curled up to sleep. She'd had her back turned from his direction, and a good thing too. He ought to leave. However, curiosity got the better of the large cat and he had to peek over the poppies to have a look. The woman was exceedingly beautiful and all alone, sleeping. It was such a vast place. How could she sleep when she didn't know what could be creeping up on her? Why, here was a lion, bending over to sniff her sleeping form! The lion sat itself down and Greg pondered whether to watch over her while she slept. There were certainly bears in this area and other large creatures. Greg decided to stay, and when she woke he would bound off and she'd soon forget the lion.

Sometimes a creepy crawly would scamper over her dress and Greg would watch to see if she woke. Once a spider began to make its way over her shoulder, and the lion bent very carefully to pick it up by the leg and toss it away. Still, the beautiful woman did not wake and so he stayed. It was a long time before he became tired and bored and male lions, who spent the majority of the day napping, didn't like to sit on their rump forever. Gregory yawned widely and flopped forward, resting his large furry head on her stomach and promptly falling asleep. There'd be a shock for both of them when she woke, now.
 
After awhile Gabrielle's body felt it had rested enough in this field and woke her out of her deep sleep abruptly, her beautiful crystal blue eyes opened slowly as she took in the sight of the twilight sky above her, she must have been asleep for awhile. Surprisingly though she wasn't cold like she thought she would, in fact she was actually quite warm, this struck her as odd after a moment or so and she decided to try and get up. 'Wait...is there something on me?' Gabrielle tried to lift her body but felt something weighing her down and fully woke herself up to look at whatever it was that was that was on her stomach right now. Her head lifted slowly and locked onto whatever it was, it took her a moment to register what it was, but when she finally did her mouth opened and she let out a frightened squeak. "OH MY GOD!" There was a lion sleeping on her right now, a very big sleeping lion that could easily eat or claw her to death if it decided that it was hungry or that he just wanted to be really mean. Pushing herself away from the lion she stood up and started to back away and as far away form him as she could get. About four or five feet from him, her shoes got got on a rock and forced to to trip and land on her backside.

"P-please don't eat me!" Gabrielle didn't want to die or get eaten so young on her life and tried to force herself to get back up as quickly as she could to attempt and run away or even apparate away. Her leg had been cut and scratched up a little from her freak out but she ignored the pain as she continued to try and get away from the lion. "Ugh." For some reason though Gabrielle could not force herself to stand up and get away from him. A few tears began to build up in her eyes from shock and fear, she was embarrassed and scared out of her wit right now.
 
Greg's head hit the grassy earth with a thump as Gabrielle shuffled out from beneath him. The lion shook its head roughly and peppered the surrounding area with flowers and twigs before looking up to see what had disturbed its rest. 'P-please don't eat me!' he heard, vaguely registering a human voice. His brain scrambled the words and it sounded only like noises for a second before the human part of his caught up. Ooooooh shite, thought Greg. He'd fallen asleep on the woman, it seemed, and now she was frightened out of her life. His paws began to tremble with nerves. What if she cursed him in his lion form? He felt terribly guilty for scaring her as well and he began to pad after her apologetically. It was slightly more difficult to convey regret when your fang-like teeth poked out the sides of your mouth, but he tried anyway. It didn't seem to help. Gregory bent to sniff her leg, scratched and bloody from her fall, and let out a soft whine of distress. Snuff. Snuff, went the lion. There was nothing more to do than change back, since the pair of them were becoming worse by the second. As he shifted back into his human form, Gregory flopped forward onto her feet and scrambled upright, kneeling in front of her.

"Ah ... excuse me!" said Greg, starting to go pink with shock and embarrassment. Taking the corner of his thin cotton shirt, he began to dab the blood lightly from her leg in an almost instinctive way. "I ... I didn't mean to frighten 'ye. 'Ye were all alone and there's large animals about so-" he bit his bottom lip. "I must've fallen asleep, too." He must have looked a bit of a fright, having been sleeping rough for several months. His gold and brown curls were now shoulder-length and the stubble was beginning to show from where he hadn't shaved since a motel somewhere in London. Fortunately his clothes weren't ragged, nor was he dirty, but anyone would look normal after having just been a lion moments earlier. Greg wasn't from the area either, it seemed. His accent was distinctly English and quite cockney, if a bit soft from his shy nature. But he thought of none of this as he looked at Gabrielle's face, seeing for the first time her startlingly blue eyes. They were beautiful.
 
Gabrielle immediately could tell that she had stressed out the lion a little bit, he didn't look much happier then she did at the moment. But as the beast continued to get closer to her she still panicked and tried to get up so she could get away and not risk being the Lion's next meal, but of course she still struggled to get up and before she could fully make it up the lion was next to her and sniffing her blood covered leg. "No, leave me alone!" She screeched at the lion. As Much as scared she didn't have the heart to hurt the animal, it was a gorgeous looking lion but still the way if sniffed at her leg and kept getting closer made her think that it planned to use it's sharp fangs to tear her into small little pieces for dinner or something. Gabrielle's fear was short lived though because, within moments the gorgeous lion turned into a handsome man right before her very eyes, this must have meant that he was an Animagus. Despite his handsomeness he also looked a little on the rough side, it almost made her wonder if this guy lived in the streets or something. Her harsh thoughts were interrupted When the guy took the corner of his thin cotton shirt, and began to dab the blood lightly from her leg in an almost instinctive way Gabrielle turned a light but pretty shade of red.

"Don't touch me!" She pulled her toned leg away from the boy and narrowed her beautiful blue eyes at him, never had someone been that caring with her and she wasn't used to it. "I don't need your help!" Gabrielle hissed in her French accent her eyes being filled with worry for a moment, she found his cockney one to be a little cute but then she remembered that moments ago he had made her believe that she was going to get eaten by a lion and allowed her eyes to narrow at him again. Using her arms to try and push herself up she realized that the fall made her leg become very sore and let herself plop back onto the ground in defeat, it hurt to much to stand. When Gabrielle caught sigh of him staring at her, he looked almost as if he were in awe and looked around curiously...what was he looking at him? "Who are you..and...why are you looking at me like that?" She managed to voice out, looking a little bit flustered as she tried to gain enough courage to ask why he had fallen asleep on her as a lion as well.
 
Greg pulled back immediately when Gabrielle told him not to touch her. Still he twisted the cotton beneath his fingers and longed to continue since the free flowing blood was sure to attract other creatures. He nodded earnestly when she said that she didn't need his help, though he was dwelling more on her accent than anything. It was quite pretty and would have been prettier still if she wasn't so angry and alarmed. Luckily for her, Greg was probably the most harmless person she could have come across in an area like this, and certainly the most harmless lion in general. "Of course not, madam." he told her. "I only thought you might be in pain." Almost as confirmation, the woman tried to stand and failed to. Greg twisted his shirt in his hands again. "Here. Please let me ..." he began as he pulled out his wand, uttering a soft "Episkey". Hopefully it would do the trick. He somehow felt that he injury was his fault, which indeed is partly was. Greg made a future note not to approach anyone sleeping in a field of flowers in lion form. It didn't help anyone's nerves and another accident like this would make him shy of ever staying as a animagus. In his current circumstances, living as a human would probably kill him eventually, having no way to feed or shelter himself.

"Um ... Gregory Yearling," said Greg when she asked, almost extending his hand but thinking better of it when he saw the look on her face. Blushing, he averted his eyes and was too embarrassed to explain. "Sorry about this. I've been in lion form for quite a long time and I didn't exactly expect to find a pretty girl lying in a field of flowers." Come to think of it, why was she lying in a field of flowers all the way out here? It was a strange place to be and there wasn't a house or a road for many miles in this area, he knew. Perhaps she was lost! Well, he wouldn't have been much help in that instance, anyway. He was as lost as she might have been.
 
Gabrielle relaxed herself a little when the boy stopped touching her and pulled back a little, he looked like he really wanted to help though and that made her feel a little bad. Eventually he did end up helping though by healing her leg completely with a spell that she wished she had remembered to use earlier on, then maybe she would have looked less like an idiot in front of this boy as she tried to get away. "Thank you...Gregory." Gabrielle answered softly once he had told her his name, her tone had softened into something that she figured most men found pleasant to listen to because they never mind hearing her speak to them when she wasn't angry. Her blue eyes stared around the field curiously, how long had she been asleep for because it was just nearing twilight and the field still looked as beautiful as it had during the day, once again Gregory apologized and Gabrielle gave him a serious look. "I'm Gabrielle, I prefer not to be called pretty, but it's quite already...you just...scared me a little." She answered hoping he would relax and quit acting like it was a big deal, as long as he kept his distance from her and everything she would be alright. Slowly and gracefully she pushed herself up and brushed dirt and plants off of her pink dress, right now she smelled like flowers from the hours she had spent laying in them with that lion..er boy. When all the dirt and access grass was off she checked her hair then turned back to the boy that had helped her and scared her all in the same day, he still looked like a homeless guy and she decided she couldn't keep her mouth quiet any longer.

"You said you've been a lion for awhile, how long is awhile. And..you look like a homeless guy right now, where do you live?" He looked a little lost right now, Gabrielle knew where she was and could easily go to the Snow manor anytime soon, but she was curious about the boy that had scared her so much. Never did she usually care about another person, nor did she ever desire someone else to try and be close to her, but something made her feel like she had to be for just once.
 
The woman thanked her using his name and Gregory smiled slightly, his face going pixie-ish like his sister's when he did. Thankfully she'd refrained from being open hostile as before but he was still wary of making her upset. He considered the fright she must have gotten when she found a lion sleeping on her, especially in such a place and at this time of night. The chill was cutting through his raggedy-edged clothing and he longed to change back into his animagus form; unfortunately it wouldn't have helped his case at all. Greg tucked his hands beneath his elbows and jiggled a little more into the grass in a subtle attempt to warm himself. It was the best he could do. "Ah, that's fine, I didn't mean to offend 'ye." he apologised. Come to think, what had been going through his head, calling her pretty? Unlike some people, Greg considered it kind of rude to compliment someone the instant you met them. He must have still been tired from his cat nap to have been so thoughtless. "Pleased tae meet 'ye ... Gabrielle." said Greg, pronouncing her name perfectly despite his thick accent. When Gabbi stood, so did he but with more haste in order to be polite. Unlike her though, he didn't notice the stray daisies wound in his curly mane of hair.

Now this was a more difficult question. Maybe a short answer would suffice, but Greg had a niggling feeling that it wouldn't and he'd have some explaining to do. "A while? ... a couple of months, I suppose ... maybe a year," he answered vaguely. "I'm moving on a bit, but for now this woodland is tae be my home. I left the place I was living and came ou' here." Change the subject, change the subject. "So ... so 'ye live near here, do 'ye? Or p'raps elsewhere in Europe." That'll do. People tended to become even more afraid of him when he explained that he was homeless. Although, to be fair, he was the most harmless homeless bloke one could ever come across, regardless of being a lion animagus. That and the fact that to be an animagus, one had to be very well educated for the most part
 
Gabrielle didn't understand why he was apologizing to her at all because it wasn't like he needed to be sorry for complimenting her, she just didn't like it when people admired her. Her crystal blue eyes carefully stared about the field for a moment but returned to Gregory when he had said her name, secretly she found him to be absolutely adorable but the coldness inside her forbid her from wanting to be close or all that friendly with him. When he stood up she faintly noticed that he stray daisies wound in his curly mass of hair but he didn't seem to know at all and she let out a beautiful sigh that showed she was truly just a peaceful person, gently she walked over to him and casually lifted one of her pale smooth hands. "You have daisies stuck in your hair, let me get them out for you." One of her hands gently went to his cheek so she could move his head to the side ever so slightly and start picking out the daisies and letting them fall to the ground one by one. Even though she couldn't really smell herself, some say Gabrielle always either smelled like flowers or like citrus and that it was very pleasing. Once all the daisies were out she gently let go of his cheek and she stepped away. "There, all done." Her French accent was soft but cold, she made sure to step further away from him and let her silvery blonde hair fall into her face as she listened to him explain himself to her. He said he had maybe been in that lion form of his for a year now and Gabrielle could scarcely believe it, wouldn't it be lonely?

"So your homeless then? Thats not very smart, but well..it's your life." She cast her head to the side and sighed, still she felt bad for him almost and wanted to smack herself for even caring the slightest for him. He didn't have a home but she easily knew a place that could take in a lot of people and would probably allow him in and have someone to care for him. 'Gabrielle your making a mistake by thinking like this.' She shivered for a moment then silenced her thoughts, she needed to do something whether her head and her mother's words told her otherwise. Motioning for Greg to follow her lightly she was not giving him the option to back out on her. "You should probably come with me, I have a place you can stay for a bit." She held out her hand to him, she would apparate him back to the Snow Manor, the part of the house where her aunt Effie lived. The young girl had no doubt in her mind that her aunt would want to care for and baby this guy, she was notorious for it.
 
He froze as Gabrielle reached out to him, mentioning softly about daisies or suchlike. Gregory wasn't even paying attention to the utterance of daisies when her hand went to his cheek. He was sucked into the smoothness of her skin and the delicious smell of flowers and citrus. Having been in lion form for so long, his senses were sharp enough to detect the tang of lemon and mandarin, marigolds and tulips. Greg turned slightly to smell it, running his nose along her palm. Then the moment was gone as suddenly as it had come. He blinked heavily as the stray daisies fell past his eyes and then they were gone; so was she. Gabrielle had stepped just a little far past feigned comfort and he wanted to apologise again for making her unhappy, but he did not. Greg smiled like nothing had passed between them and said "Thank 'ye," in the perfect friendly tone that was his default voice. It still would have been a nice moment had Gabrielle not brought up his being homeless again. "It's nothing tae do with smarts, as far as I know. Some people cannae help it. But I guess ye're right in this case, Gabrielle," he said, pronouncing her name fully again. "I did have a place tae stay but it held some bad memories that I had to leave behind. Best to move forward anyway, aye?" said Greg cheerfully. Noticing a tangle of babies breath in her hair, her brushed it out absent mindedly and ran his fingers over her cheek as he did so.

Then Gabrielle did something entirely unexpected. She offered him a place to stay. But of course, he had to decline! He hated invading other people's hospitality, and in the past he'd been forced to accept all sorts of help from people he desperately wanted not to be indebted too. On the other hand, if it meant spending a little more time in her presence ... Gregory reached out hesitantly to take her hand, and suddenly they were much warmer in a room he'd never seen before. "Is ... is there anyone who'd mind if I stayed for ... just a little while?" asked Greg timidly, forgetting to let go of her hand. "I wouldn't want to intrude on yer boyfriend or summat."
 
When Gregory had grabbed her hand, Gabrielle quickly wasted no time in Apparating the two of them to the Snow Manor back in Bordeaux France. The Living room they had arrived in was located in her aunt Effie's part of the house and was nothing too special for fancy but a bit more on the cozy side because Effie was never one to have a thing for rich fortunes. Turning to Gregory she glanced at him when he said he wouldn't want to intrude on her boyfriend or anything, this man was truly a piece of work. "I don't have a boyfriend so there's no need to worry about that. This is my aunt's part of the manor, I don't think she wouldn't mind." Grabbing Gregory's hand lightly she led him over to one of the couches and motioned for him to sit down and try to relax a little while she waited for someone to show up. Her crystal blue eyes shifted to look out the window a moment, it was getting even darker outside but she could make out in the little light there was that it looked like she would be spending a lot of her time in the Garden. The part of the house they were in was a bit quiet so vaguely Gabrielle wondered if Effie and that man of hers was even around right now.

"Though I think that while your here I'll probably end up keeping more of an eye over you then her so I hope you don't mind that." Gabrielle sat in the armchair that was away from the couch but still close enough so that she could see him easily, she hoped she liked it here because until he could get out on his own and take care of himself without being a lion she was going to request that he stay here. Despite her cold nature and heart something was urging her to take care of him, maybe if she helped him she would feel more free or maybe better about herself. There had been so many times that Gabrielle just wished she could run away and never come back, this place had become her her home and then her prison all in one. "I hope your happier here than I am at least." She stated with a cold sigh as she undid her hair from the up-do it was in and let her silky locks fall to her shoulders, sometimes she missed being with her mother and other times she wished she didn't have to deal with either families. At least her mother would be married soon and out of her hair though, but there was nothing to force Alphonse to back off. When the sound of footsteps came into the living room, Gabrielle jumped a little in surprise and sat up to face whoever had come into the room.
 
Effie had just finished doing some laundry and was busy carrying some towels back from the laundry room when she heard voices coming from the living room, she could immediately that neither of them belonged to Audel so she grew curious as to who it was that had come into the house without her noticing. 'I really hope it's not a burglar or something.' Effie remembered thinking worriedly as she stepped into the room with the towels still in her arms, as soon as she saw her younger niece Gabrielle and a shaggy looking boy she had never ever seen before in her life sitting on her couch she screamed in fight and immediately dropped the towels onto the floor. "Eep!" She placed a hand in on her heart and then on her swollen stomach as she tried to catch her breath, since she was seven months pregnant it wasn't good for her to be that shaken up. After a moment she felt bad for screaming so loud and hoped she hadn't woken anyone up or bothered them, her different colored eyes glanced at the towels on the ground, with as big as her stomach was she knew it was going to be quite the task to bed down and pick them up.

"I'm sorry for shouting, you just surprised me. I'm Effie Snow, Gabrielle's aunt...are you...her boyfriend or something?" Effie walked over to him but laughed when Gabrielle made a disgusted look and shook her head no, so he wasn't dating her niece or anything. The poor thing looked a little shaggy and a bit shook up and immediately the motherly side of Effie kicked in and she turned to her niece for an explanation. It didn't take long for the young girl to explain that she she had 'found' him in a field and he had no place to stay, it didn't take long for the Arithmancy teacher to add up the responses and figured that Gabrielle wanted him to stay. "So um..." She didn't know his name, "Is this true, do you really have nowhere to stay?" She stood by the fireplace down and winced softly when she felt another one of the babies kick her in the stomach for maybe the hundredth time tonight. They were being very active and she wondered if it was maybe because they were hungry, if it was really the case and this boy had no place Effie had plenty of rooms and she was sure Audel wouldn't mind cooking for another person. Turning her head she wondered if he was going to come downstairs anytime soon, especially since he might have heard her scream.
 
Greg lit up at the thought of Gabrielle not have a boyfriend and the man was like glass - his pleasure at hearing the news was written all over his face. It was an honest look though, and he looked so happy that few could fault him. He nodded obediently with a meek look when Gabrielle informed him that she'd be keeping an eye on him, which was fair enough. She was taking a big risk at inviting a stranger into her home, especially when it wasn't her home. "W-wait," stuttered Greg suddenly. "What do 'ye mean, yer aunt's part of the manor? This ... we're in a manor?" he gasped out. Greg skittered to his feet and moved to the window where he gazed out in absolute astonishment. Through the dew-stained glass, he could just see the winking lights of many windows to his left. By heavens, I really am in a manor! he thought to himself, his lips parting in silent awe. If he'd not already been told, he would have thought he was in a grand hotel. How many family members did Gabrielle have to need this much room? Then again, perhaps they were just wealthy and had many rooms to spare. Gabrielle had taken him in without a care, so it must be the case. However, there was one person now living in the Snow manor who would be particularly notable to him, and he was about to find out who it was.

A scream jolted Greg from his sight-seeing and he turned to see a very startled, very beautiful and very pregnant woman staring at him like he was a ghost. This must have been Effie's aunt, though she looked far to young to be Gabrielle's aunt. If anything, Effie seemed to be Greg's age. He shook his head in mute earnestness when she assumed that he was Gabbi's boyfriend, (the thought put colour to his cheeks), and nodded in affirmation that he was indeed homeless. "I'm Gregory Yearling," he introduced himself shyly. "Ye're Miss Effie Snow, aye? Or is that Mrs?" he asked politely. in the split second of silence between when he'd finished and Effie was to answer, the door was pushed open and Greg leapt to his feet. Was that who he thought it was? Could it be? "Audel!" said Greg weakly. No. It was impossible.
 
"Greg!" bellowed Audel loudly. It must have made a few people jump out of their skin since he had never raised his voice before in front of any of the people present. He then proceeded to do what absolutely no one had ever seen him do before and charged forward to capture Gregory in a bear hug. He was almost a head taller than the curly-haired man and certainly larger built. Audel hugged him hard enough to lift his feet off the floor and Greg could barely reciprocate since he was being choked. "Where. Have. You. Been!" he said with gusto. It was a very good question. The last time Audel had seen Gregory Yearling was in the rented house in Obsidian where they'd collapsed in the snow, desperate to get away from Acwel Ater and his murderous fury at the pair. He'd heard zip and nada from his best and only friend since that time; four years ago precisely. He'd changed terrifically too; Gregory was much thinner than he had been but strangely harder, as if his muscle tone had increased. His boyish good looks had been roughened by tough living and it was the first time Audel had ever seen him with traces of stubble. Nevertheless, he looked just as happy to see Audel as Audel did to see Greg, and the brothers-at-heart almost collapsed to the floor in the joyous hug/wrestle.

Audel had changed too, much more than Greg, it seemed. The moment the men got themselves under control, Gregory asked what he was doing here. The answer was, what wasn't he doing here- it was his home now! "And this, my dear old friend," said Audel in an affectionate tone (also not often heard) "Is my beautiful wife, Effie Snow. She carries Florence and Damide, my twin children." Greg's eyes nearly fell out of his head. Audel understood his blatant shock since he'd never, in all the time that they'd know each other, showed any interest in members of the opposite sex. The children were understandable though, since Greg understood that it was one of Audel's greatest ambitions to be a father. In fact, it was his only ambition. The men grinned at each other for a second, still disbelieving of their fortune. Audel turned to look at Gabrielle and asked "Where did you find him?". Gregory blushed and he added, "I haven't seen Greg since Adira was in first year."
 
The young blonde jumped when her aunt screamed and dropped the towels on the floor, perhaps she should have told her that she had brought some guy home but it must have slipped her mind to tell the woman beforehand. Gabrielle bit her lip softly and apologized to her aunt before she watched the woman calm down and begin to converse with Gregory about him being homeless and everything , she wondered what was going to come out of this but sat quietly and listened in hoping that her aunt would allow him to stay, even if he was a little weird it wouldn’t be good for him to be back on the streets all alone. Gabrielle turned her eyes to the door when some man she had never seen before appeared, she assumed that he must have been Effie's husband or something. But then Gregory said the man’s name and before her very own eyes the two were embracing and throwing the biggest fit that they were seeing each other or something like that. ”Effie….” The younger blonde turned her head towards her aunt as she gave her a worried stare, if her aunt wasn’t worried then she figured they would be fine but their behavior was a little too over the top for Gabrielle. She had never been that happy to see someone nor had they ever been that happy to see her, she was a loner and would prefer to keep it that way.

When Audel turned to her and asked her where she had found him because he hadn’t seen him in awhile she narrowed her eyes at him coldly for a moment before she decided to answer him. ”Well, your friend here decided to be an uber creepy and lay on me as a lion when I had fallen asleep in a field of flowers somewhere not close to here. Nearly have me a hear by doing that.” Her crystal blue eyes stayed narrowed throughout her entire explanation and when she finished her face softened to make her look almost like an angel once again. Audel had called Gregory his old friend when he had told him who Effie was and everything so she assumed that’s why they were so happy to see one another. This was also the first time Gabrielle had taken a look at her aunt’s husband, she wasn’t completely sure what to think of him just yet. Standing up gracefully from the couch she brushed her dress off and straightened it out before she walked over and picked up the towels for her aunt, seeming as she was having trouble doing it herself at the moment. ”I get it that your happy to see each other and everything. But maybe you two could up off the floor now? Aunt Effie, I hope you don’t mind that I brought him here or if I stay myself for a little while?” The manor was huge enough to fit over three hundred and fifty people so of course there were plenty of rooms inside, the house was even divided into some sections for each of the siblings or Royal blooded members of the family to have like Alphonse’s siblings and his children. Gabrielle had yet to receive her own section of the house but Effie had one which was pretty much like a mini house itself within the manor. If Gabrielle was going to keep an eye on Greg, this would probably be easier.
 
Effie thought that this boy was really sweet and polite and his accent was definitely different then what Effie was used to hearing in France or New Zealand so it made her a little curious about why her niece had brought him here, Gabrielle was not often one to go out and help people of any sort without there being something involved in it for her. ”Nice to mee-oh.” Her different colored eyes turned towards the door when she heard the young male say the name of her husband and indeed he was standing right in the doorway looking very happy but shocked to see Gregory in their home. Soon the two boys were in a brotherly and happy embrace that made a small grin appear to Effie’s lips at the sight of it, they reminded her of long lost childhood friends or something. When they topped over onto the floor she laughed softly but meekly, even this could not overcome her shy and frightful side, these two men were awful big and it scared her a little that they seemed to take each other down like that, not even her older brothers did something like that to one another. ’Guess it shows that these two have a good nature, maybe Gregory can help fix out Gabrielle’s attitude.’ When Audel announced who she was and that she was carrying his children she waved at the younger male shyly before she attempted to pick up the towels that she had dropped earlier, thankfully her niece was willing to help her out of her misery and got the towels for her. Effie thanked her and said it was alright if she stayed and that she had brought that poor boy over, Effie would need to ask Audel if he was okay with all of this.

”Audel, is it okay if Gregory stays here with us for a little while? He told me he has no where else to go and I don’t just want to leave him out in the cold and everything.” She figured he would say yes because they seemed to be good buddies and everything but still it wouldn’t hurt to ask and see if his opinion was any different than what she thought it was. Her stomach growled loudly once again and Effie sighed under her breath, she hoped no one heard it because the more she ate the more she felt like a pig and everything. ”Gregory, would you like to stay here if it’s alright with Audel? Keep in mind that it would be Gabrielle’s job to keep an eye on you and everything, unless you would prefer she didn’t.” Effie offered softly to the younger male, her voice being meek and quiet still as she got to know him a little better. What if he didn’t like or approve of the woman Audel was with, she would feel bad that she had forced his friend to not live up to his expectations.
 
Audel grinned sheepishly at the girl he knew to be Gabrielle, Effie's niece. Many times had Effie pointed her out to him as they passed by a room or wandered in the garden, but the eighteen year old had never once looked up to greet them and it seemed that he was not recognised. Just as well, for his wife's niece looked so much like her that Audel could scare near tell them apart if they were facing the same direction. He figured her advice was best anyway, since poor Greg was getting squashed under his bulk from where he had grown since they'd last seen each other. Of course, he wasn't shooting up anymore but even in their absence between London and New Zealand he had added an inch onto his intimidating mass. Now that Audel was closer to Greg, he could see most clearly the exhausted dark rings under the man's eyes and the pinched look of one who'd had little to eat. As someone to whom food was almost life, Audel was distressed to see it. Gently for a big man, he helped his friend up and nodded vigorously to Effie, who had asked him whether Greg was to stay. "Of course he has to stay!" Audel said both enthusiastically and imploringly. The latter tone was directed to Gabrielle, who would of course be in charge of the man she'd brought home. Perhaps his niece-in-law had thought that because Audel knew him, it should now fall on him, which of course it wasn't so. Audel had Effie to care for, who looked ready to give birth in any of the next few weeks.

One thing confused Audel greatly, which was Gabrielle mentioning that Greg lay on her as a lion. There wasn't a single answer he could supply for the strange statement, and looked to Gregory in confusion. His friend opened his mouth slightly as if to question him, but then nodded knowingly and proceeded to do something that Audel would have never, ever expected. He stepped back instinctively in front of Effie but seemed to lean forward too, in fascination. Greg was an animagus?
 
Greg didn't take well to being called 'uber creepy', even if he was a little preoccupied with being crushed under Audel. The latter he didn't mind at all though, and he wrapped his arms around the middle of his friend and squeezed affectionately till he choked for breath. Even if Audel was the taller, he was the stronger because of the goblin blood running through his veins. Just like his mother's, his ears were slightly pointed but definitely not as pronounced as Artemis's. They could be seen drooping at the tips when Gabrielle called him creepy though, and his lips turned down sadly at the corners. Audel didn't notice and plowed right on happily, saying that of course he had to stay. Greg looked to Effie and his best friend's wife left it to him to decide whether or not he wanted to stay with them. Overwhelmed by the kindness of the three people in the house, Gregory choked up a little and could only nod in gratitude. Before he'd only seen the need to stay just a day or two in order to eat, but now that seeing Audel and getting to know his wife was a new factor (not to mention talking to Gabrielle), he hardly knew how he could bring himself to leave. Inevitably, he must move on so as to not trouble the householders. Greg felt a melancholy mood drift over him already at the thought.

He caught Audel's eye when he looked up and gave his friend a questioning look. What was he asking for? But it soon occurred to Greg that Audel had no idea about him becoming a lion animagus. His feline form was huge to the point of gigantism for a lion, but it was fluffy and cute enough to be deemed barely house worthy. Greg acquiesced graciously and felt the magic of the transformation overtake him and then he was a lion. Through his round golden eyes, he saw Audel take a step back in fear. Greg stepped back as well, but only to seat himself obediently and non-threateningly. He remembered that Audel was very fond of cats. True to his observation, Audel reached out cautiously and ran his hand through the crown of his male. Greg obliged him with a rumbling purr of happiness and slapped his fluffy-toed paw onto his friend's hand in a strange handshake. The dark-haired man laughed with delight and Greg nearly squeaked in return, overjoyed to hear his friend laugh since he did on only the rarest occaision. Like a big puppy, the lion got to its feet and came to sniff at Effie's belly, then over to Gabrielle to place its huge head on her lap. There was something about his form that was both fearsome and mesmerising.
 
Effie smiled softly when Audel agreed that he could stay, but she couldn't help but notice the slight sadness that had taken over the young male when Gabrielle had spoken about him in such a negative manner. He must obviously not be used to being around girls like her niece who shot off rude comments every chance they got to a person they were not fond of. However if he thought that Gabrielle was bad then Effie truly prayed that he would never have to meet the girls mother who seemed to chew people up and spit them out alive as if they were nothing. Then something peculiar happened and the boy that her niece had brought suddenly changed before her very eyes, into a very gorgeous colored lion. "He's an Animagus?" Effie asked surprised as she watched the interaction between Gregory transpire, he seemed friendly enough for her not to worry but she still couldn't help but tense up and take a step back in some fear when he came over to sniff at her pregnant belly. Something that big and unknown to her still worried her and even if Audel seemed okay by it she was still unsure. "Audel you remember Niccy right, she's an Animagus too." Effie informed her husband gently, it didn't pertain much to this other than she wasn't exactly sure if it would be a good idea to ever let those two in each other's sights. Plus the older woman had a vast amount of experience in Transfiguration as well, it was interesting to see another one appear up in the family but she was still unsure about it all. When Gregory went over and placed his head in Gabrielle's lap Effie raised an eyebrow curiously. It seemed that he was attached to her already, which was probably not going to fly by well with the younger blonde as she hated all attachments in general.

"Gabrielle, it's going to be your responsibility to keep an eye on him while he is here. Which means keeping him company, watching over him, seeing if he needs anything, and showing him around." Effie started sternly, she needed to be stern with Gabrielle otherwise the girl would just throw a fit and not do what she was told by anyone. Normally Effie would just do it herself but due to how far she was along in her dreaded pregnancy she wouldn't be of much use to anyone really and Audel would probably be spending a lot of time watching her to watch Gregory himself. Besides she was the one who had brought him here so she should have expected the responsibility. Effie ignored the nasty glare she was being given and continued to address her niece with the necessary information. "Now, why don't you show Gregory one of the guest rooms and make sure he's all situated and everything. And please be pleasant." Effie pointed to the stairs that Gabrielle would have to lead Gregory up if she expected him to stay here and everything. The look in her different colored eyes told everyone right up that she was not in the mood for a debate and that Gabrielle was going to do what she was told and whether she liked it or not.
 
When Gregory went back to his lion form and bothered to put his giant head into her lap Gabrielle pushed his head off gently without any regret or hesitation for doing so. It bothered her how he was trying to get so close to her all of sudden, she did not bring him here to have him get closer with her but merely because she felt bad for him being on the streets and having nowhere to stay. Then her crystal blue eyes darted to her aunt before she let her mouth drop at the woman's comment to her about taking care of him while he was here. "But Effie! He's weird!" Her aunts stare though clearly warned her that the woman didn't want to be argued with and Gabrielle sighed softly to herself knowing that she had lost and she was going to spend the next goodness knows how long with Gregory. Her eyes shifted over to the boy before she stood up gracefully and brushed some of her hair away from her face, even when she was annoyed she looked gorgeous. She would have grabbed Gregory's hand and pulled him up but since he was a lion she would motion for him to follow her until he decided to change back. "Come on, I don't have all day you know." Her voice was soft and cold but still had a pretty nature to it, she started to head past her aunt and towards the stairs, checking ever so often to make sure that he was still following her. This part of the house wasn't that big but he could still get lost of wander into some area that he wasn't supposed to be in.

Once they were up upstairs and were in the hallway Gabrielle stepped passed by many doors before she suddenly stopped in front of one of them, she looked a little unsure about showing whatever was behind this door but sighed softly. "This is my Room, I'm not in here much though." Gabrielle opened the door wide for a moment, her cheeks reddening just so lightly, he would be the only male outside of her family to have seen the inside of her room but she figured that she should show it to him in case he needed her for something. However not a moment later she closed the door and motioned for him to follow her to somewhere else, she opened another door and smiled softly at Gregory this time. "And this is where you'll be staying from now on." Gabrielle stated as she opened the door and stepped inside the room, it wasn't as fancy as most of the rooms in the Manor were but somehow she figured he would probably be a little grateful for that, it sometimes took getting used to all the fanciness. Opening a bit of one of the shades she finally turned to face Gregory, it was just then that she noticed how much smaller she was than Gregory. He could probably crush her easily if he really wanted to.

"So, how do you think you'll end up wanting to stay here?" Her French accent slurred together a few of her words she leaned against a wall and stared at him with no emotion, the longer he stayed he the harder it would become for him to leave, she knew this for a fact. It had been three years since she had been pulled away from her mother and forced to leave here and now she would probably never be able to leave it behind.
 
Gregory deigned to stay in lion form as he followed Gabrielle around the house to her room, and then to his. It was easier to hide emotion when you were several hundred pounds and covered in fur, since lion's faces weren't as flexible as humans. Even so, there was a noticeable droop to his tail and his ears flopped, neither back nor upright in happiness. Why had she pushed him from her? He could understand Effie's nervousness when he came to sniff her stomach, but Gabrielle had pushed him away like he was a particularly irritating chihuahua rather than a lion wanting a cuddle. Perhaps he'd come on too strong- he'd been without a good pat in so long that the lion in him wanted physical company more than anyone else was willing to offer. Remarkably, being called weird didn't phase him at all as opposed to the rejection. Greg was too understanding and could empathise with someone who was on unfamiliar territory with a person they'd just met. He must seem a bit strange to her, as she was to him. They had grown up in completely different worlds and lived so differently from each other day to day. He was amused to see her room filled with much-loved stuffed animals and sniffed at them enthusiastically. Greg followed her obediently to what was to be his room for the remainder of his stay, and he furry jaw almost dropped. He figured it wasn't the grandest of all the rooms that were offered here, but it still didn't stop the place from looking like a palace. After months of sleeping in pine needles, he practically wanted to leap up, circle a few times and curl up for a catnap there and then.

However, Gabrielle asked the lion a question and Greg obliged her with a very un-lion like wag of his tail. It was a very obvious 'yes' and as further confirmation of his gratitude and happiness, he flopped down onto his fluffy belly and began a good clean of himself. Just as well - this lion had not bathed properly since Winter began. Cat baths were one thing, but a lion living in a civilised house like this was bound attract some attention with a very catty smell. Little did he know that there was an unpleasant solution to this, and that he was about to find out exactly what it was.
 
Gabrielle turned her head just in time to see Greg as a lion flop down onto his fluffy belly and began to clean himself of all the dirt and grossness that was on him from who knows how long of not being a human and taking care of himself properly. At least he was caring to clean himself but he wasn't going to get very far by doing it himself, he would need a good bath to fix all the dirty spots and smells coming off of him, it was just like taking care of a puppy all over again. "Your never going to get clean like that." Her soft voice ended the silence in the room before she pushed some of her hair back out of her face and ended over to the lion who was greatly much bigger than she was so she had to mind herself around him so he wouldn't try to bite her or anything if he had become upset with her. She bent down and gave him a quick pat on the head to not only get his attention but hopefully to relieve some of the tension in the room, since she was going to have to give Gregory a bath. Patting him once more she motioned for him to follow her back out to one of the halls and towards one of the bathrooms. "Okay you'll probably hate me for this, but I think I'm gonna have to give you a bath and maybe trim some of your hair. It'll be faster then you doing it and you'll probably feel much better." Gabrielle stated quickly without taking a breath, once she had finished with her sentence she let out a breath and looked at him almost pleading with soft crystal blue eyes. Cats hated water, of course she knew that but she was hoping Greg would give her an easy time with this since she was going out of her way to help him out a little.

"Please don't make this difficult either, I promise I'll pet you for awhile once your dry if you don't struggle." She tried to make a deal with him as she fiddled with a bottle of shampoo that smelled like oranges or something to her, she liked the smell though and continued to play with the lid as she waited for Greg to either make a break for it or let her bathe him so he didn't smell so bad to her anymore.
 
Greg twitched an ear at Gabrielle to show that he was listening but continued his rigorous cat bath as though it was part of an unmovable routine. Unfortunately he was disturbed by the pat to his head and automatically leaned into it as if he expected a scratch behind the ears - no go. Instead he found himself obliged to get up and follow her reluctantly down the hall till they came to a room that smelt suspiciously of water and soap. Surely she must just be showing him where he could bathe (on rare occasion when his catty smell became too noticeable)? He seated himself down but almost immediately began to back away, hearing the soft thump as his rump hit the closed door but not feeling it. No. Not a bath. Please, not a bath! thought Greg, looking defeated and miserable already. Now he was big and she was small, so she couldn't force the lion into the wide jet-powered steam bath, but since it was Gabrielle, he wasn't exactly sure he was able to refuse. The French woman was certainly not stupid, and would know exactly much it would pain him to allow himself to be sudded up and scrubbed, so his cat smell must be offensive in some way. He couldn't say no, but ... he couldn't say yes! Greg pawed at the door, whining pathetically, begging to be set free from the pure torture of soapy water. He wrinkled his face up frighteningly at the shampoo also. Greg himself was not personally fond of citrus, but all cats simply detested the smell. Yet the way she coaxed him was irresistible, and with the promise of pats later on, the two hundred pound white lion sloshed around in the bath miserably, giving Gabrielle the most pathetic looks a cat could give.

Five minutes later, the lion could take it no longer and Greg changed back into human form and was instantly more tolerant of the warmth and bubbles. His human self wasn't exactly the best smelling creature alive either, so it was with a milder temper that he allowed the bathing to continue, ducking his head as required an lifting an arm every now and then. Greg was far from embarrassed and simply went with things, even going so far as to allowed his hair to be cut. But human or not, cats will be cats and he was tiring of the experience. With barely enough warning, Greg waved at Gabrielle to close her eyes and then slipped out of the tub and shook himself down, spraying her with water. He then wrapped a towel around his waist and turned to face her, planting his hands on his hips. "Satisfied now?". Perhaps she was. Now that his hair was distinctly shorter, his ears could clearly be seen. His shockingly pointed ears stood up quite obviously, though he did not notice. What would she make of him now?
 
Thankfully Gregory had not given her a huge problem while she tried to bathe him and get that wretched smell off of him. Sure he had turned into a human like halfway through and made things a bit more awkward for her but she still managed to get him clean and was fairly proud of herself for managing to do so with a two hundred pound lion with a dog like temperament. When he asked her if she was satisfied now and everything she figured it would be safe to turn around and speak to him about all of this, but when she actually did turn around she let her mouth drop before she brought a hand up to cover her eyes and shield her from something she did not want to see. Well she had to admit he was very built and it was fairly nice to look at, but it didn't feel right to her at all so look at him that way and tried to cover up her embarssment. "Um..well I'd be much happier if you put on some clothes. Err...and what's up with your ears?" Amidst her trying not to look at his chest or anything else for that matter she did happen to catch a small peek at Gregory's ears since they weren't covered anymore. They were pointed and a bit abnormal shaped but she thought they looked kind of cute to look at, she had to resist the urge to come over and give them a soft tug to see if they were real or just a pair of fakes. 'Gabrielle focus...don't get attached.' The blonde suddenly remembered that she had to keep all attachments away from this boy and keep herself distanced. Which means no feeling his ears or admiring how built he was. With a soft shake of her head she motioned for him to follow her again so she could take him back to his room and everything. Once inside she turned on one of the lamps and turned to look at him, her beautiful blue eyes glowing the whole time.

"So, I borrowed some clothing and something for you to sleep in while your here. You should probably get some sleep soon though. Your probably tired." She was dressed in her own sleepwear herself, she would be ready to pass out herself anytime now but was intent to make sure that Gregory was comfortable before she did that. Walking over to his bed she fluffed the pillow and pulled the covers back, she wondered if he would even use the bed or if he would just curl up on the floor as a lion. "So, before I leave you to go to bed, is there anything else you need?" Gabrielle asked as she glanced out the window for a moment, it was pitch black outside but she could still see the line of the tall mountains that surrounded the manor.
 
"Sorry," replied Greg, chastised. He hadn't realised that he was in unfamiliar female company, though it should have been obvious. Being in a half naked state was easy for him when he was alone, whether in lion or in human form. Needless to say, he'd spent a lot of time in Adrianna's company as both (including semi to fully naked). He pulled self consciously on his ears when she mentioned them and they drooped reflexively as if they knew they were being talked about, and busied himself with accepting the nightwear she offered before replying. Gabrielle indicated that she was moving on and he took her momentary absence as an opportunity to dress, and followed her obediently when he was ready. The room was deliciously warm when he entered in the plain white t-shirt and blue cotton pajama bottoms that she'd given him. Barefoot, he reveled in the feel of carpet, having not noticed it with padded and furry paws. "I've goblin blood," he said finally, figuring that he was just stating the obvious. How strange he must have seemed to her, to be a lost man, a lion animagus and a rare partblood.

"Thank 'ye," he said softly in reply as he crept almost hesitantly onto the bed, "But I've no need of anything else. Ye've been so kind to me that I can barely ask for water anymore without feeling guilty," said Greg with a smile. He was half joking and half guilty with his answer, honestly feeling like he wasn't even worth her time. He did indeed notice her eyes; his were the same colour only a different shade. His blue eyes were pale forget-me-not in colour, now with flecks of gold from his time as a lion. When they met hers, his heart leapt and he almost shivered visibly. Greg had met many beautiful women, but few had induced physical reactions in him since his lost love. Now, not a thought passed for Adrianna, and when Gabrielle left there were only dreams of a golden haired young woman with forbidding yet gentle eyes.
In three weeks, much can change​

 
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