Zoe knew by the way that he cocked his head at her and looked straight at her that he understood what she was saying.

And then he curled up in her lap, just like a little dog. But it was a fennec fox, not a lap dog. Except, it was actually Jay laying there.

It was weird trying to wrap her mind around all of that, but even as she tried, Zoe started scratching Jay behind the ears. Because that’s just what she did when any dog was close to her.

And then Jay looked up at her, and Zoe smiled down at him. ”This is so strange,” she told him softly. ”I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to get used to this, though. Especially in shifts I can actually understand you in.”

He looked up at her again, his mouth open in something slightly akin to a smile. He couldn't communicate, so he tried his best using body language as he snuggled up to her a little. For some reason...he really liked being scratched behind the ears. It felt good, but...he didn't understand, really. After all, he was still a guy under the dog's skin.

He lay there for several minutes, then he stood to his feet. Then, he sort of jumped off of her leg onto the floor, then toddled behind the couch. He didn't know if she was going to look or not, but he was at least trying to be modest as he shifted back to human, sitting on the floor for a moment. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was a grey wolf, in the middle of her living room.

Standing to his feet, he walked back around to her and sat in front of her, still sporting the same blue eyes that followed him from shift to shift.

As far as Zoe could tell, Jay was enjoying the scratch behind the ears. Most dogs did, in her experience. But then again...Jay wasn’t really a dog, was he?

Yeah, this was going to take some time to really wrap her head around all of this. But strange as her mind felt it was, the way that Jay was snuggling up to her felt nice. Plus, his body heat, despite his small size at the moment, felt good helping Zoe warm up a bit more after being outside for so long.

After a few minutes, though, Jay stood up and jumped to the floor. Zoe frowned, not exactly sure what was going on with the sudden change. And with not being able to understand Jay, there was really no point in asking.

Then he was walking around behind the couch, and Zoe almost turned around to see where he was going. But she stopped herself as her eyes fell on Jay’s clothing sitting in the middle of her livingroom floor. He had said two shifts, and he couldn’t shift clothing.

Moments later, Zoe heard foot falls, and she turned her head to see a wolf. There was a wolf, in her livingroom. Her jaw dropped slightly. Zoe had never been this close to a wolf before, honestly hadn’t thought that she would get to. Yet, thanks to Jay, here she was, sitting mere feet from a wolf.

She just sat there and stared, her mouth slightly open for a moment. He was absolutely gorgeous in this form, but she couldn’t tell him that. That would be weird, wouldn’t it? Well, weirder than having a tame wolf sitting in your apartment in New York City.

”Thank you,” Zoe finally managed to whisper, still just staring at Jay. ”This is incredible. Thank you.”

He sat in front of her for a few moments, his eyes locked onto her. He gave her sort of a nod, wondering how majestic he looked. He probably looked pretty damn majestic, which was something his human form couldn't really say. But she still couldn't understand him. So, he sidestepped a little, then jumped up on the couch next to her, laying his head on her lap.

He was relaxed, even though the wolf was built to be wild and free. Instead, he was curled up with his head resting on her lap, occasionally giving her a glance. He knew it had to have looked funny; a wolf curled up next to her like some sort of lap dog, but...that's what made his power great. He could blend in, or he could do things that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

Zoe wasn’t sure how long they both just sat there, looking at each other. It could have been a couple of seconds, or it could have been a number of minutes. But other than thanking him, Zoe didn’t move or say anything. She simply sat there, slack jawed.

And then Jay was moving. And jumping onto the couch beside her. Zoe couldn’t help it, her body tensed up as she wolf jumped toward her, but she quickly relaxed as Jay laid down on the couch beside her. And rested his head on her lap.

Zoe’s eyes widened and a giddy smile spread across her face. Yes, it was Jay, but she had a wolf with its head resting on her lap! Calm and relaxed as could be, simply laying there, looking up at her every so often.

Zoe’s hand came up slowly, of its own accord, as she was just looking down at Jay, and started softly petting his head and down his neck. Feeling the extremely soft fur, Zoe turned her eyes to her hand, and just watched as her fingers slipped through the wolf fur for a few moments, the grin still on her face.

”I know you thanked me for showing you the zoo,” Zoe finally said, turning her eyes back to Jay’s. ”But this is so much more incredible.”

Looking up at her, he nodded again, unable to really do much else, and he didn't really want to change back yet. After all, like this, it was innocent; there was nothing wrong with it. Unless of course you counted the fact that he was a wolf in her apartment. He relaxed even more as she ran her fingers through his fur, and he looked up at her again, his ears twitching just a little.

He snuggled into her lap a little more, quite comfortable by now. He stayed on her lap for quite some time, almost falling asleep for a moment. This was...nice. Though she thought this was more incredible than the zoo, Jay thought her using her employee status to get him free was equally badass.

Zoe saw Jay lift his head slightly and nod, trying to communicate with her even though her powers weren’t allowing it. Yet. Hopefully it wouldn’t take forever for her to learn how to talk with wolves. And hopefully this wouldn’t be the only time she had one laying on her couch.

Zoe still couldn’t get over that concept as she sat there petting Jay’s head. She actually had a real life wolf in her apartment! Sure, it wasn’t a wild wolf, he hadn’t even been raised a wolf, but she still physically had a wolf laying with his head on her lap.

And then Zoe laughed softly. ”This is probably the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me, and who can I tell about it?” She asked Jay with a slight shake of her head, smile still on her face. ”I mean, they already think I’m weird because I talk to the animals so much. But how do I answer ‘what did you do last night?’ Because somehow, I don’t think saying ‘I sat on the couch petting a wolf’ will go over well.”

He snuggled into her more, perfectly content until she spoke again. There was nothing wrong with what she said, but it was a good thing he couldn't talk. After all, the sexual tension was starting to be a bit much, so it was beneficial that he was a wolf right now. But...after several moments, he hopped off of the couch, taking his pants and undergarments in his teeth and going back behind the couch.

When he emerged, he was clothed, but wearing just a muscle shirt as far as his top went. This would give her a good view of his wolf tattoo as he sat down next to her again. He was sweating, and he was slightly winded as he sat there. "I'm glad you liked it," he said, holding his head as he got dizzy for a minute, but it staved off pretty quickly.

"I do think we're even now," he said with a smile.

Jay the wolf was snuggling into her even more, and thanks to his much larger size than when he was the fennec, and because of the much warmer fur, Zoe had definitely warmed up from being outside at this point. And, strange as it had to sound, the warmth, the feel of the fur under her fingers, the weight of Jay’s head resting on her lap was helping Zoe relax. She leaned back against the back of the couch, still looking down at Jay, though the wide grin had slowly faded into simply a content smile.

But eventually, Jay jumped off the couch. Zoe watched him quite intently as he moved. Or at least she did until she saw him picking up his clothes from the floor. When she saw that, Zoe just nodded to him slightly, then leaned her head back against the couch and closed her eyes, continuing to relax until she felt the couch move.

Looking over, Zoe saw that Jay was now human again, and dressed, though missing his band t-shirt. Though the muscle shirt he was wearing did nicely show off a tattoo of a wolf on his shoulder, as well as the fact that his muscles were much better defined than she had been expecting seeing him in his jacket earlier. It also allowed her to see that he was sweating as he sat there.

”I did like it,” Zoe said, though he smile was smaller than it had been before. ”But are you ok? That wasn’t too much, was it?”

"I'll be fine," he murmured, looking over at her. "I'm just gonna need a few minutes is all. After the day we've had, plus the shifting, it's just got me worn out. Not marathon worn out, but...well...like I've done something that doesn't usually last that long," Sure, that was terrible, but it was the best he could do to avoid another sex comment.

He leaned back on the couch a little, smiling. "I really am glad you enjoyed it. Most people don't appreciate my abilities that much, but I guess you understand, huh?" he said with a slight smile, wiping his brow again.

Zoe nodded when Jay explained that he just needed a few minutes to rest. He had warned her about that, after all. ”Maybe we should space out your shifts a bit more next time,” Zoe suggested. But then she smiled and nodded again. ”Of course I did. I don't know how anyone could not think that what you do is incredible.”

But then Jay wiped his brow again. He may be fine later, but right now he seemed wiped. ”Want another coffee?” Getting his assent, Zoe stood and grabbed both mugs on her way to the kitchen, where she refilled then. And noticed the time.

”Hey, you want to stay for dinner?” Zoe asked as she made her way back out to the livingroom, handing Jay his coffee. ”I'm making chicken parmesan tonight, and the recipe always leaves me with leftovers for days.”

"Maybe, but I know how excited you were," he said, taking his coffee and sipping on it lightly. "And you'd be surprised. However, it's rather amusing--and encouraging--to find that the guy who wanted to kick your ass in a bar has qualms about kicking a dog,[//color]" he said, making a bit of a joke as he started to relax. He didn't think it'd drain his energy this much since he hadn't done a lot today, but he was apparently wrong.

And then, he was invited to stay for dinner. And honestly...that didn't sound like a bad idea. "That sounds great, actually. Besides, I'm already here, so I may as well eat if you're offering," he answered with a smile. He nursed on his coffee a bit. "Yeah, it can be hard to cook for just one, can't it? I mean I'm not great, but my food is edible." He gave a light chuckle.

He'd shifted so fast because she had been excited to see it. ”Still, next time I think we should spread it out a bit more,” Zoe said as she looked over at Jay. ”Or even just do one a day. I mean, it's not like this is my only chance to see you shift, so we don't have to rush.”

Then Jay was saying something about bar fights, and Zoe just shook her head. ”Well, maybe if you could behave yourself for more than 5 minutes,” she teased, ”You might not have to resort to shifting to get out of a fight.”

He shifted into a wolf in her apartment, and he wanted to stay for dinner. Could this day get any better? Zoe grinned over at Jay as he commented about cooking for one, and nodded her head in agreement. ”It definitely can be,” she agreed. ”I normally like to try out new recipes, but I haven’t had chicken parm in a long time.”

Zoe glanced behind her to try and see the clock in the kitchen. ”I should probably get started, though, if we want to eat at a reasonable time tonight.”

He nodded, thinking what she was saying was true. They could hang out more often, as long as that was all they did. Then, he smirked at her next comment.

"Actually...I'd say I've done a good job behaving today," he murmured. After all, they were both still clothed...and that counted for a lot in Jay's book.

Then, he nodded again. "True. Give me a call if you need anything,"he called as he got comfortable, his energy slowly returning.

Zoe looked at Jay in surprise. ”If this is good behaviour, I’m not sure I want to see you when you’re not behaving,” Zoe said, and while it was partially true, she was still teasing as she said it.

But if she wanted to eat dinner at a decent time, she needed to get working. And Jay said to give him a call if she needed help. ”Thanks,” Zoe said with a smile. Then she stood and walked into the kitchen with her coffee.

~~~~

About a half hour later, Zoe returned to the livingroom, sitting down on the couch. ”Chicken’s in the oven,” she announced. ”Just have to throw some pasta on in a bit.”