Something was in the air. On one hand it was a strong musky scent, which kind of dazzled the black furred wolf. But on the second and most important hand it was the scent of a foreigner – something he not dared to tolerate this close to his residence. So he sprinted.

He dropped the humble berries, even though he had used nearly an hour and a half on finding them and digging them out of the soiled snow.

He ran through the snow at the fastest speed he possibly could manage, without giving himself a heart attack. He growled, when he reached his cave and was met with a white stranger sniffing around in front of his small entry. He growled, even though he was convinced that if they came to an actual clash, he would most likely be the one losing.

The white stranger lifted his head shocked, eyes wide and snout covered in snow – making him look absolutely ridiculous in the other’s eyes. The black wolf stopped to look at him from a safe distance. The human expressions on the face in front of him quickly told him that he was a shape shifter as well. To be honest it made Key stay a bit calmer, since they generally were more rational to talk to and more understanding.

“This is my cave,” he sneered not to appear weak and to get his point out.

The white wolf took a step back – away from the entrance.

“Sorry, I was not aware of the fact that anyone was living here,” he said with a shockingly soft and delicate voice.

It was obviously a lie however. Unless the snow which was stuck up in his snout had killed his sense of smelling, he should have been able to smell him from a distance of several miles.

Key took a brave step forward. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“My name is Jonghyun,” the wolf told him upfront. “I am searching for a place to stay.” 

“Well, Jonghyun,” the black wolf started nonchalant and made his way into the cave, not caring about the intruder anymore, as he figured he would be to no danger for him. “This is my residence, so shoo.”

“Wait,” the white wolf pleaded.

Key turned his head only to be met with two big begging eyes. Jonghyun stepped closer to him, wagging a bit with his tousled tail.

“Are you not going to tell me who you are?” he asked, curiously tilting his head a tad.

The black wolf sighed; he was not used to talk to people anymore, which had made him kind of reserved.

“Key,” he barely mumbled.

“Key,” Jonghyun repeated and nodded. “Can I stay with you?”

“No you cannot,” was his quick reply – he did not even consider it. The life in the wild had made him careful and he was not about to let some stranger in under his skin.

“Why not?”

“I do not even know who you are,” Key defended.

“But I already told you that my name is Jonghyun,” the other whined, and if wolfs could pout too, then that was undeniably what he was doing. “I will be a help to you anyway.”

Key, who had been about to just ignore the other and to go inside, stopped again, he turned around and curiously went over to the other wolf. He gave him an elevator look before randomly blurting: “But you are kind of small.”    

Jonghyun gasped at him and let out a little offended howl. “I am not.”

“Yes you are,” Key declaimed and stepped even closer so they now were snout to snout. “I am at least one paw taller than you.”

The white fur ball just ogled at him as he had stepped closer to him. Brown eyes scanned his face – from his eyes to the tip of his red snout.

“You are actually kind of cute.”

Key felt his eyes widen a bit as he was taken about by the mention. He took some steps backwards, all of a sudden feeling awfully exposed. He tried to ignore the comment by asking: “What do you have to offer me?”

Jonghyun proudly shoot his chest forward. “You mean besides all this?”

The other blinked, staring at him dumbly as he could not figure if he should laugh or cry.

“Yes, besides that please.”

Jonghyun cleared his voice. “Well, I can provide you food, warmth and protection. Does not sound so bad, does it?”

Key found himself thinking that the other could provide him company as well. He frowned bitterly at himself and sighed. He shook his body to get some of all the fallen snow off himself before finally saying: “Fine, come on in then, before the cold kills me.”

“You look just as cute as human, as you do as wolf.”

Key freed his eyes from the bonfire and looked up on the older male, who had just entered the cave with a stable of wood. Jonghyun was clad in a simple white fur and the bare skin visible on his body – along with the flexing muscles as he bent down to put the wood down – made Key blush. He felt a lot more vulnerable now that he had opened a bit up.

“I do not look that bad myself, do I?” Jonghyun asked teasingly and took a seat on the cave ground beside him.

“Shut up,” Key managed to say hoarsely, clearing his throat. “Please get over yourself.” 

He could feel Jonghyun staring, but he just ignored it and dropped a piece of wood onto the campfire, shaking a bit in the meantime.

Damn cold. Everything was so much comfier as wolf, but a lot of things were easier in human form – like getting wood, making a campfire and prepare a proper dinner. Not that Key had anything against raw meat, but he just preferred cooked meat; especially seasoned.

Jonghyun smiled and as Key turned to look properly at him, he caressed his cheek sweetly.

“You really are cute however,” Jonghyun repeated, making Key feel his cheeks flare allover.

“Stop saying such stuff,” Key said.

“But I really mean such stuff,” Jonghyun replied and leaned closer to bump their noses together.

Key widened his eyes and withdrew his head a bit, so he could look away from him – again. “And stop doing such stuff too.”

“Why? You mind?” The elder challenged, chuckling along his words.

No answer was given. Key could feel his heart beating faster – it was a really long time since he had felt like this last and it kind of scared him, but it also excited him. The thought about falling in love again seemed very appealing for him.

He jumped a bit as Jonghyun laid an arm around his shaking body and caressed his side.

“Transform,” he muttered, and the way he whispered it in his ear gave his body goose bumps. 

“Why would I?” Key blurted randomly. “So you can me?”

Jonghyun looked dumbly at him – quite shocked at first, but then he just laughed.

“You know it is not when you are willing,” he joked, “besides if I would like to have with you now, why would I ask you to transform?” 

Key was sure that his face was just as red as a tomato by now. Doing it as animals was nothing more than mating, but suggesting doing it as humans meant so much more.

“Just transform already,” Jonghyun demanded once more, and the boy gave in this time, turning into the black wolf he partly was. Jonghyun followed along and transformed into his own wolf form.

“Lay down,” Jonghyun continued to order around.

Key did as he was told, but could not prevent himself with coming with a small bark, as the shorter wolf’s demands reminded him to much of ordering a trained dog around.

Jonghyun chuckled and went to lie down beside him, moving his body closer to the black wolf. But Key, who was sure he was being pushed, moved his furred body away from Jonghyun. The latter just leaned even closer, however, making him frown.                            

“What are you doing?” he asked and looked strangely at him.

“I am trying to snuggle you of course – so we can keep warm,” Jonghyun replied as if it was the most normal thing in the whole snowy world.

As Key realized this, he laid still and let Jonghyun snuggle closer to him, actually enjoying the other’s fur against his own.

Jonghyun smiled with his brown eyes and leaned closer to Key on the snout.

“I really like you Key,” Jonghyun said, and Key smiled for himself, as he satisfied rested his head on the ground near the lingering fire.

“Yeah yeah, I like you too, Jonghyun.”

A/N:

For -iloveyou- who requested wolf shifter Jongkey in the snow!

I actually enjoyed writing this, though Key might not have turned out as cute as you wanted him too! ^^' /Sorry about that.