Zootopia!Rumbelle - Gideon's first play date - he learns about his claws.
He came home to the sound of little Gideon slamming the door of his bedroom closed, never a good sign. Gid was a polite little boy, and never misbehaved, specially with his mama. Belle was his son’s favourite person in the whole wide world by far, and he rather shared that sentiment. So it was strange to hear him make such a racket when it was just the two of them home. Perhaps his playdate with the Nolan kid hadn’t gone over well. Rivalries between cats and dogs were more a stuff of myth than anything else, but there was a possibility the boys had fought. Leopold was rather cocky, and sometimes forceful, and had that natural, obnoxious canine Nolan charm that made him think he could boss everyone around. Perhaps Gideon had taken issue with that.
He wandered into the kitchen, hearing the sound of running water. Belle was there, running water over her bare left arm. Because of her deliciously-striped colouring it took him a while to notice the long red scratch marring her lovely skin. A second later the sent of her blood hit him, as mouth-watering as ever.
“Oh, sweetheart, what happened?”
He took her arm and bent his head to run his tongue over the injury in slow, methodical strokes. The taste, as always, was divine, but it was somehow ruined by the anxious feeling he got from his mate being hurt.
“Gideon came back from the playdate all excited. Seems Leopold Nolan discovered felines have claws too and saw fit to teach Gideon all about them. Poor dear came home excited to show me he had figured a way to retract them and accidentally scratched me. He panicked when he saw the blood and wouldn’t let me get close, told me he was dangerous. I thought better to take care of the bleeding before trying to talk to him again, he seemed very disturbed.”
He could see why. Even though the scratch was thin it ran deep and part of Belle’s blouse was soaked in blood. A rather gruesome sight for a small tot.
“I think it’s time for a little talk.”
He had tried to push it out of his mind, the idea that he would have to eventually talk with Gideon about his instincts and the more dangerous aspects of his physiognomy. Gideon was a very sensitive boy, he was afraid he wouldn’t respond well to the idea that he could potentially be dangerous. He had struggled too, even though he had always embraced his leonine body and its abilities, had always been proud of the power he had. But when it came to letting people he cared about be close to him… He panicked. If Belle wasn’t so full of patience and understanding Gideon probably wouldn’t exist.
“You’’ll be great. Let me know when you’re both ready for me to come up, okay?”
She kissed his muzzle, sighing a little when she tasted her own blood on his tongue- seriously, he was so lucky to have her- and patted his chest, her eyes shining with complete trust.
“You got this.”