Danae and Kurt arrived home after a long day in the office. Kurt acted as his Lady Danae's personal assistant in the office so they usually spent most of their days working closely together. Kurt was a very anxious individual but he was surprisingly good in the formal business setting, and was able to ensure that Danae's work day flowed smoothly. He was easily able to differentiate between his roles at work and at home, and the steady routine went some way towards managing his anxiety. No one from their office knew that they were anything other than work colleagues, and would likely have been highly shocked at the transformation Kurt underwent every time he arrived home. 

The minute they got in the door Kurt shrugged off his jacket, then knelt so his Lady could put his puppy collar back on. He shivered with pleasure and relief as the collar was fastened on securely. Being his Lady's and Miss Bonnie's little puppy was bliss, he was looked after, cherished and loved. Nothing could harm him with his Lady standing between him and the universe. Getting up off the ground, Kurt noticed that there seemed to be bags and packages strewn throughout the entranceway. Sensing his Lady's displeasure at the mess Kurt silently gathered the items and put them on a side table to keep them out of the way. If he had to say what happened it almost looked like the items had been thrown into the hall with haste and just left for them to find. Miss Bonnie would never leave such a mess, therefore the perpetrator was either Noor or Harley. Together they had a propensity for rushing into things without stopping to think. He did not particularly want to be around when his Lady discovered what it was, she was always eminently fair but Kurt hated to hear anyone get into trouble, it just made his stomach knot and twist.

Hearing their entrance Miss Bonnie rushed in to greet their Lady, her cooking apron was on and she trailed a delicious smell which made Kurt's mouth water. Hopefully he could eat in peace away from the incipient storm that would break as soon as the others came home. 

"Welcome home my Lady, dinner shall be ready shortly. Noor and Harley have not come home yet from their...." she trailed off looking at the pile of purchases on the side table. "Ah... well I don't know where they have gone now. Would you like me to wait for them before serving?"

"Kurt and I shall clean up and then we will meet you in the dining room, if the other two arrive home before then they may join us otherwise put their food aside." Danae's mouth quirked in displeasure but her voice and movements remained calm. Kurt so appreciated the efforts that his Lady made to help him regulate his anxiety. She squeezed his shoulder gently before ushering him off to his room. Kurt was grateful to be moving away from the entranceway and hastened up the stairs to his small room. He stripped off his suit pants, and business shirt before putting on a super soft pair of fuzzy track pants and T-shirt softened by age. Comfort clothes, in his cozy little room, in his family that he loved with his Lady to look after him. It was more than he could have hoped growing up.

He had always been anxious, sometimes it seemed like anxiety had been his own personal evil twin grown in the womb with him. Kurt's parents had been loving and devoted but didn't seem to know how to put him at ease. School had been pure hell, not because anyone had been mean to him, it was just really hard to make friends when you could barely bring yourself to greet people. Even those children who were inclined to be kind eventually lost patience as his anxiety never ebbed. His parents got desperate, took him to shrink after shrink, who prescribed one drug after the other. Some of the drugs helped a little, softening the edges of the world, others robbed him of a sense of time, or worse still came with blank spaces in his memory, Those just made things worse, as soon as he recovered from the effects he would end up in a screaming panic attack from not knowing what had happened. Eventually, in his teen years he had found a kindly counsellor who was able to help a little. Mr McClure had given him skills, a mask to pull over his anxiety, a way to exist with the rest of the world. It wasn't peace, not even close, but it was better than anything that had come before. 

Kurt heard his Lady making her way down to the dining room and padded down to join her. Harley and Noor had still not arrived home, so it was just the three of them who sat down to eat. The food was lovely, a hearty stew with fresh bread, the beef so tender it practically melted on his tongue. Miss Bonnie was toying with her food rather than eating, denoting worry. Kurt clamped down on his reaction and repeated his mantra a few times in his head. Peaceful puppy, is loved, peaceful puppy is relaxed. Peaceful puppy is loved, peaceful puppy is relaxed. The words had their usual effect and he was able to sink back into the simple pleasure of the food in front of him.

"My Lady... I.. ah... I need to tell you something," Miss Bonnie said softly with a guilty look on her face. "We, we had a visitor today..." she trailed off as if she didn't know how to continue. Danae looked at her steadily, Kurt could tell she was concerned by Miss Bonnie's discomfit with telling her this.

"This guest, they were not expected?"

"No my Lady, not expected at all. Um, it was an Affini lady... she knew my name... she was so very nice to me. I, I didn't know if it was ok but I went out to get a drink with her. She came here to meet us, but I was the only one here. I hope this was not a breach my Lady?" Miss Bonnie peered at their Lady from downturned eyes. "I, didn't want to be rude to our visitor but I know you like to know if we have dates... If this was a date... which I think it was?"

Lady Danae relaxed in her chair and smiled at Miss Bonnie. Kurt's body untensed a little at this reaction, he hated when people got in trouble.

"Love, you are more than welcome to have a coffee date with anyone you choose, I like to know who you are meeting to make sure they are safe. The Affini will protect humans from each other, it's practically codified in their law that they will keep all of their pet races safe secure and looked after. I am... put out that the Affini did not set up a meeting with me first, but you have done nothing wrong. Tell me more of this Affini who was so nice to you?"

Miss Bonnie practically glowed with relief, "Well her name is Alathea, and she's so tall she made me feel tiny! She's read through our contracts and ordered for me without asking and got it right!" The words tumbled out in a quick stream. "She has these lovely thin vines with pretty white flowers wrapped around her, they were her last floret's favourite flower, oh and she has these longer stronger vines that can wrap you in a hug."

Kurt was fascinated by the description, picturing the Affini in his head as Bonnie talked. He wanted to meet her, but what if she was scary in person? What if she didn't like him? Would this ruin things for everyone.... catching himself he repeated his mantra again and again until he was half in trance. The rest of dinner was spent in peaceful conversation between Miss Bonnie and Lady Danae, most of it focused on Alathea. After they had finished Kurt excused himself and slipped off. He had no desire to be there when Harley and Noor came home. After he was snuggled safe in bed with a lovely romance novel Miss Bonnie slipped into his room.

"Hey little puppy, Lady Danae sent me to you to snuggle while she deals with Noor and Harley. I thought it might be nice if I read to you, would you like that?"

"Yes Miss Bonnie, it sounds lovely." Kurt moved over in bed to allow Miss Bonnie in, then cuddled up on her chest. As she read her fingers stroked across his back. The two of them continued like that for several hours, both happy and content.