Daisy and Boss: 8 - My Roots Have Grown
#8 of Daisy and Boss
I actually feel bad about this really short update after a longer break than normal. I am blaming it on being miserably stupidly horrendously sick for the better part of this month. But I'm feeling better now! Ratings and tags are inclusive of the entire story and may not apply to this chapter... And if this is the first you've read, for gods sake, start at the beginning!! lol Thanks for reading! And toss a pup a bone, wontcha? Leave me a comment, tell me whatcha think!
-Lilly
Daisy and Boss: 8 - My Roots Have Grown
Some time later Daisy woke up, still too early for the rest of the house to be awake, but late enough for the dawn to fill the room with pale light. She was somewhat stunned to find that she was still securely sheltered in Boss' arms and amused to find that the big dog had fallen asleep at some point. He was leaned up against the wall, sitting sideways on the twin mattress with one arm around her waist holding her to his chest, and the other sprawled out beside him on the bed. His big block of a head listed sideways onto his shoulder which made his lip on that side hang free of his muzzle, showing the black gums underneath and allowing a good line of drool to escape down his chin. On someone else it might have been unattractive, but Boss just managed to make it cute. She smiled at the way his features were mooshed against his shoulder, the loose skin on his face shifting in total relaxation. His whole chest moved when he breathed, and lifted her several inches with each inhalation. She leaned against him and closed her eyes, her arms going around his waist, soaking up the sensation of his heartbeat against her ear and the feel of his arm draped heavily around her. It felt safe and warm.
"wait...." She thought. "...what am I wearing!?" She sat up and looked down at herself in a panic. Thankfully she had picked out pajama's that covered pretty well. Capri bottoms with rainbows on them and a pink camisole that had good length and wasn't too low cut despite its thin spaghetti straps. Okay, she was decent, for the most part. But then she took a good look at Boss and squeaked in dismay. He was wearing a thin white tank top that hugged his muscled torso and had rode up at the hips, and blue boxers. She suddenly felt short of breath and her whole body went rigid, the line of longer hair along her back standing up in shock. Blushing furiously she debated what to do next. She should wake him up, maybe... or try to escape to her room without waking him up... perhaps... or... or... She could just stay. A muscle group at a time began to relax when nothing continued to... well... NOT happen. Her gaze roamed over him, and she tentatively leaned her head back down on his chest for another listen at his heart. Absently her fingers toyed with the longer fur at his throat for a moment, before she pressed her palm flat against one pectoral and petted downward till her fingers found the shorter fur exposed at his hip. It was breathtakingly soft, like a baby chinchilla times a million and she stroked her fingers thru it in fascination. She stopped, startled when he made a low noise in his throat and his breathing hitched a little. When nothing further happened, she went back to exploring, cautiously moving to his forearm lying on the bed. There was some feathering in a line to the outside of his arms growing thicker at the elbow. The texture here was slightly wavy and not as soft so she moved back to rubbing his hip and across his stomach, earning another small sound from Boss. It didn't scare her this time, and she didn't stop, enjoying the feel of that pristine white fur sliding against her digits.
"Mm... a little more to the left." Boss rumbled, nearly frightening her out of her mind. She sat up with a bleat that was cut short as she slapped a hand over her mouth. His head was up and he was regarding her with bleary amusement, still blinking sleep out of his eyes. She felt her horns and ears blaze with heat at getting caught playing with him like a giant stuffed toy.
"Sorry!" She dropped her hand from her mouth and gripped her fingers together against her chest. Hands to herself. He smiled and slowly she smiled back, shy all of a sudden.
"Nothing to apologize for, I'm a sucker for belly rubs." He chuckled. Daisy laughed and shook her head, too embarrassed to say anything. Boss stroked her back with the paw that had been around her while they dozed. "Are you feeling better?" He asked, thoughts returning to her nightmare. Her eyes were still slightly puffy from all the crying. Daisy shrugged, letting her hands fall to her lap. Her eyes stayed cheerful, but it was almost too cheerful.
"I'm okay. I'm sorry I woke you up." She said, her tone rehearsed sounding. Boss frowned at the almost automated response. His eyes wandered down and settled on the scars he had felt while he had been trying to wake her up. In the light of dawn he could see that there were many more than he had felt. A tangle of jagged lines and puncture marks marred her shoulder and disappeared under her shirt further down.
"Daisy, have you ever talked to anyone about what happened to you, or about your sister?" He asked carefully, seeing her stiffen slightly.
Daisy could feel anxiety starting to curl thru her at his words. When she did speak of Dahlia to others, she mostly just pretended like she wasn't dead, just... gone. And she never talked about her kidnapping. At the hospital when she had been recovering from her wounds she had adopted a comatose state. Laying unresponsive for the most part, ignoring the questions of doctors and police investigators. She had refused to testify in court against the wolf, and when she had finally been deemed well enough to go home she had spent the better part of a year hiding... from everything.
"My parents tried... but I didn't... want to think about it." She heard herself say to her own surprise. She looked up at Boss and saw him staring at the shoulder that had been mangled the worst by Julian Wilderson and she moved to cover the scars with her ear and her hands, tipping her head self consciously. The marks were so ugly. He stopped her gently and ran a thumb over the deepest of them, a furrow that had healed with the fur growing the wrong direction. It ran from her collar bone downwards, the end of it hidden from view under her nightshirt. He stroked it and looked at her with an unreadable expression.
"But you remember everything..." Boss said gruffly. She nodded, not trusting her voice. She dropped her shoulder away from his paw and her hand crept under his to prevent his touching them anymore and to cover them somewhat.
"Don't..." She breathed, avoiding his gaze. "They're ugly, I don't like to show them to anyone..." She made a motion to climb out of his lap and the bed but he stopped her with and arm around her waist softly. She fought down a sense of panic and stared at the window thru hooded eyes. She would have told him to let her go, but his next words stunned her, made her pause.
"There is nothing ugly about you, Daisy. You're beautiful." He said, looking her straight in the eye even though he had to duck his head to catch her gaze. "Even your scars are beautiful, they tell me how tough you really are... how brave." He saw her falter in the way she opened her mouth several times before saying anything, turning her head further down to avoid his hypnotic gaze.
"I don't feel very tough or brave, or beautiful..." She said finally, her voice small. She found herself astounded, and dangerously close to crying again. Those words felt like wrenching open a door inside her heart that had been sealed for so long that she had forgotten it even existed. It brought fresh pain and a giddy sense of freedom, somehow.
"You survived, that makes you tough." He said firmly, hugging her to him. "And you are here with me right now... which makes you brave." Boss smiled and lifted her face to his with a paw, stroking over her cheek with a thumb, his eyes wandering over her face tenderly. "And you're just going to have to take my word for it... you are very beautiful." The big dog's voice was earnest and Daisy reluctantly smiled.
"I'll just have to take your word for it..." She echoed.
"You know you can talk to me about anything you need to." Boss said seriously, bringing her brain to a screeching halt from its pleasant contemplation of the way the whorls of gray over his brow made his eyes glow. "Stuff you might not be able to talk to your folks about..." He dropped his paw down to the scars on her shoulder again and the way he touched them struck Daisy as almost... worshipful. The word leapt into her mind absurdly and she shoved it away. But she didn't remove his hand and instead allowed herself to snuggle back down against his chest.
"I know." She mumbled into his fur. "I already have more than you realize..."
"Does it help?" His voice rumbled against her head pleasantly and she nodded.
"Yea... I think it does."
"I'm glad." He sighed. "I don't like seeing you sad." Boss leaned back against the wall and ignored the small complaint in his lower back. Humming softly as he watched the goat girl's eyes grow heavy again as she started to doze off in his arms.
"Pretty song...." She whispered. Boss sniffed and stroked her back.
"It's a nonsense song my Mom used to sing..." He murmured.
"What's the words?" She asked, barely awake. Boss made a noise in his throat, thinking, wondering if he even remembered the whole thing. It was mostly the tunes of songs he remembered and not the words.
"Uumm... I think it goes... lemmy see..."
"Sing it." Daisy poked him in the ribs with one finger making him chuckle.
"Hold on, I'm thinking... Ah, okay!" Boss licked his lips and started a low tune, softly sung words that Daisy heard and felt as she slipped away into sleep again.
"Somewhere underneath the floorboard I will sweep my... garden...
Underneath the cupboard lives a mouse and he discovered...
There was nothing there. Nothing there, to discover...
Falling from the sky, there are raindrops in my eyes...
And my thoughts are digging in the backyard...
My roots have grown, but I don't know where they are
I don't know where they are
I don't know where they are...
My roots have grown... but I don't know where they are...
Cats and Dogs and Rooster calls,
Telephones and pay phone stalls
They take away
The lonely days...
For now..."