Satisfied with her display, Shadow went back to enjoying her brief time as pure wolf. Whether her body agreed or not, that was what she was just then. In all of her life, aside from the time when she was a newborn pup, Shadow had never been allowed to show the side of her that Li had seen within her haunted green eyes, never been able to display her gentler side.
Only Blade had ever really seen it, and even then, it wasn't like this. He had seen affection from her, which had never been bestowed on anyone else, but it was not the same thing.
Shadow was finally able to be her mother's daughter, if only for a little bit.
The muscles in her lean back twitched as his hands rubbed over them, reacting much the way a dog's muscles would when being pet. It was soothing, and finally, those wide feral eyes slightly closed, relaxed. She whined softly, but it was a happy sound, and it was certain that if she had a tail, it would have been wagging.
The soft nudge against her head that he granted her was lupine enough to elicit a lupine response. Shadow whined louder, in a somewhat higher pitch, and stood a bit straighter, Li only being a few inches taller than her now human form. And then she licked him, turning her face to his, her pink human tongue dragging from the bottom of his ear all the way up to his temple, the whines still rolling happily out of her chest, but softer now. It was customary. You bump and rub heads, and then lick each other's faces about the ears, eyes, and muzzle.
The affectionate lick finished, Shadow nuzzled him back, looking for all the world like a happy puppy in a human woman's body.
An odd mix, to be sure.
Settling back again, Shadow buried her face into his shoulder and neck, teeth nibbling at his skin lightly before she finally fell still.
She felt better now, alive, comfortable, and relaxed. And to think that it had been annoying/shy Li who had managed to do so.
As her human mindset slowly seeped back into existance, Shadow made a concious effort to block the harsh demonic shell that was her usually portrayed personality from reappearing.
Taking a deep breath, Shadow sighed against him. Then softly, inaudible to almost anyone but the close-proximity Li, Shadow spoke.
"Mother would have liked the name Shuu..."
And then it happened again, those damn annoying human-tears! Shadow's body jerked involuntarily and she sniffed, quickly pressing her watering eyes to Li's shoulder to hide them from view.
