'Tis The Season [Blake]

While keeping his attention to her, he smiled and nodded his head. "Use me for the heavy lifting, I can do that. And as for painting, I have heard this thing a lot of women like... it's called an accent wall. Basically you have your three walls that you paint one color, but the fourth wall is actually like something to accentuate the room. It can bring out the color in your furniture and really make the room 'pop', so to speak." As he finished speaking, he had realized that the way he spoke about it and the excitement might make him come off as being homosexual. What men did he know that liked this sort of thing? None, absolutely none. Bradley would make so much fun of him if he had still been alive. The male knew he needed to silence himself, and thought it over in his mind. But it needed to be said. "I just want you to know Blake.. I'm not gay... I mean I've got nothing wrong with them or against them.. I just don't lie dudes in that way... But if someone I knew was gay, I would totally support their decision... I'm just not... you know?" His rambling had caused him such turmoil. Had he just silenced himself, then there would be nothing to dig himself deeper. This hole was getting larger and larger. He gently rubbed the back of his head and looked to her. He grabbed her hand, though he did not need her to get up. He allowed the help. She spoke some medical terms to him, which only made his head pound even more trying to figure out what they meant. For now, he would try to let it pass. Not thinking about it should be helpful to him, if not then would hope it would pass soon enough. He watched as she stared to the snowman they had made. It was missing a nose and he got a brilliant and adorable idea. He walked over to her and quickly placed his index finger and middle finger on each side of her nose. He quickly pretended to pull it off and place it right smack in the center of the snowman's face. Though it was only an indent, he chuckled and smiled to Blake. "Now he's got your nose..." he playfully nudged her arm with his own as he laughed.

She nodded. "If I get in over my head and need a hand with the furniture, I'll be sure to give you a call." She smiled. "I don't care if you're gay, or bi or anything else. But I'm sure there are plenty of guys that have a little guilty pleasure towards interior design." She offered him a reassuring smile to show she understood. She balled her fists inside her coat pockets, clenching and releasing to stimulate the blood flow and hopefully promote some warmth. She knotted her eyebrows together in confusion as his middle and index fingers curled on either side of her nose. When he pulled away he'd slotted his thumb between them to replace her nose. An odd gesture, she'd seen old men tease youngsters in a similar way a few times. With his fingers perched this way he poked his thumb into the centre of the snowmans faceless head. Blake bent, picking up two small pebbles and placed them just a little above the hole where she thought his eyes would be. Stepping back she observed their work. "Not the most attractive nose... don't snowmen traditionally have a carrot for a nose?" She'd remembered one year making a snowman with her brother when they were children. It had been nowhere near as well constructed as this one. It had been an awkward misshapen pile of snow, mildly resembling the form of a grotesque, gangly, lumpy child. But she laughed with him anyway and nudged him back. It was then the sudden realisation struck her. She was human. He knew her for the white lioness who refused to shift. It had been sitting in her mind this whole time, but now it smacked her in the face like a snowball from a sexy person. She turned to him worriedly. She hadn't intended for anyone to know both her forms but already too many knew. "Kenai, can you promise me something..?" She took a deep breath, the air she exhaled coming out in a little cloud of mist. "Could you please not tell anyone about my true form? It'd really mean a lot if you could." She hoped he wouldn't ask too many difficult questions. She wasn't ready to answer them just yet.