Some time later, still blushing like a teenager and his legs wobbling like a newborn fawn, Bel clung to Faunus’s golden hide. The god - in his huge elk form - picked his way through the forest, along a game trail that Bel could barely see. Thankfully, Faunus hadn’t shredded Bel’s clothes and they were only wrinkled.
Faunus, however, had sneered at the mesh vest and complained about the article of clothing. The god proclaimed that he would eat it or burn it because it was unflattering on his mate.
Snorting, Bel bopped Faunus on the nose and told him to deal with it, because he liked the vest and it was very practical. After, he’d managed to find his hair tie and his backpack, while complaining loudly that his back hurt and he was too damn old for this.
Faunus hadn’t said a word and simply let the tiger complain. Now, he helped the professor along, taking it slow to prevent the tiger from slipping.
By the time the two of them reached the edge of the campsite and the cabins came into view, the sun clung to the tops of the trees. His watch - another thing he’d had to search for - showed it was barely 3 in the afternoon, but he knew night came quickly in these mountains.
“Professor!” The first surprised shout from his students nearly made him stumble, but Faunus’s steady presence pressed into him and kept him up.
Bel searched for a moment before he caught sight of three of his grad-level students with a couple of rangers. Jason, Allison, and Kendrick stood talking with two of the rangers when Alison had caught sight of Bel coming out of the woods.
The rangers immediately took in the sight of Professor Bel Donnovan walking out of the woods, looking very disheveled, with a giant elk. Said elk snorted and glanced at Bel.
“I… think I should go on my own from here… if more people see you, they might try to come find you…”
“Oh my - Felix, Felix, that’s the Guardian!”
An unfamiliar voice squeaked from the direction of the mess hall and Bel’s eyes widened. Felix and Nikki came rushing out behind Peter - and with them, a tall horned man and some kind of bird on Felix’s head.
Faunus snorted, suddenly pushing Bel back into the tree line before turning and angling his antlers down, at the students.
“H-hey! Don’t, they’re my students! They’re the ones I said were missing!” Bel explained hurriedly, yanking at Faunus’s hide.
“Demon,” Faunus rumbled, paying no heed to Bel.
Nikki jolted and glanced at the horned man with him. The man rubbed at the back of his neck, sneering at the god. Felix, however, reached up and grabbed the bird - no, it was a winged creature, yes, but the wings were more like a bat? - and hid the creature in his jacket.
Like that would do anything.
Bel sighed and yanked harder. “Stop scaring my students!”
Faunus snorted, turning a narrowed gaze to Bel. With a full-body shake, Faunus shook Bel off and the tiger stumbled, tripping over a rock. The tiger fell back and landed on his tailbone, wincing at the impact.
But Faunus hadn’t seemed to notice. The god focused on the two students who stood in front of the horned man.
“Tyan, I thought you said the guardian doesn’t just attack people willy-nilly,” Nikki hissed, his ears lowered.
“Well, that’s if you’re, ya know, not a demon,” said the strange creature in Felix’s hands.
“That’s vital info you left out,” Nikki hissed in reply.
“Well, he’s never bothered me before,” Tyan whined, then wriggled free of Felix’s grasp. The creature launched into the air, flapping high above them. “And he’s never bothered that asshole either.”
“Cuz I don’t go lookin’ fer trouble,” the horned man said with a shrug. “I haven’t done any of that shit you talked about on the way here, so don’t ask me why this so-called guardian is pissy.”
Felix hummed at that and turned his eyes to Faunus, stepping forward. “Hey there, Mister Guardian, I see you found our wayward professor… we were gonna go looking for him after we ate something… glad he’s okay. Any particular reason you’re acting threatening toward us?”
Faunus’s ears flicked then and the elk’s body shuddered. After a moment, Faunus finally turned his back on the students and carefully stepped towards Bel. He nosed into Bel’s chest, snuffling and nuzzling into the tiger.
“Sorry,” Faunus rumbled, “you fell… because of me…”
Bel let out a sigh and grabbed hold of the god’s antlers for Faunus to help him up. When he was standing again, the tiger did not let go. Instead, he yanked the god’s head down to meet his eyes.
“What got into you? Those are my students - and well I guess their friend? And some kind of creature…? Whatever, you can’t just threaten my students like that,” Bel said, launching into his lecture, glaring into Faunus’s eyes. “You said one word and went all angry, barely even noticed that I fell, and you haven’t explained. So. Explain.”
The god blinked at Bel, his ears twitching, before the god rumbled with laughter. “Yes… I see… from your perspective, you would not know… I will explain…”
As he said this, Faunus turned them back towards the camp and snorted at the two students, the horned man, and the flying creature.
“You two… no, you four… come,” Faunus ordered, his voice loud as a thunderstorm. He turned without waiting for them to say anything and nudged Bel further into the forest.
“Hey! I told you, I have to go back to camp and-”
“Soon,” Faunus murmured, nuzzling into Bel’s back.
Faunus did not take Bel far and the professor settled on a fallen tree to wait. After long enough that Bel was certain those four wouldn’t come, Felix came through the trees with Nikki behind him. Grumbling under his breath, Nikki tugged along the horned man.
“Prof, how’d you find the guardian?” Felix asked, eyeing the huge elk standing beside the professor.
Bel flushed and glanced at the god, then away. “Uh… long story. But. He wouldn’t explain til you guys came.”
Felix rubbed at the side of his jaw, where Bel could see the tell-tale signs of stubble. Out of place on the redhead, considering Felix shaved religiously every morning.
“So,” Nikki grumbled, “what’s the deal? Tyan said the guardian didn’t hurt people so long as they didn’t hurt the forest.”
“Demons,” Faunus rumbled, narrowing his eyes toward the horned man. Nikki immediately stepped in front of the man, crossing his arms.
“Back off. This guy’s off limits,” Nikki hissed.
The horned man let out a guffaw of laughter and quickly hugged the sputtering feline, promptly hefting the silver-haired short man out of the line of fire.
“Kitten, it’s cute ya wanna protect me an’ all that, but I already told ya what I can do,” the man said with a wide grin, “and ‘sides that, I’m yer mate, so I should be protecting you.”
Bel blinked at that information. “What?”
Nikki flushed and smacked the man’s arm.
Felix took pity on them and said, “Nikki and Dulvelan mated last night after Dulvelan rescued him.”
Nikki’s flush darkened and he turned away from everyone, his ears flattening to his hair.
“Uhm… right…” Bel glanced at Faunus, then away. “So… Faunus, will you explain why you don’t like… well, him?”
“Demon,” Faunus rumbled again, “he does not belong here.”
Bel leaned forward, his elbows digging into his thighs. When Faunus did not continue, he prompted, “And? That does not explain anything.”
“I’ll give it a try, Mister Professor man,” the man - Dulvelan - said. “Your little guardian thing reeks of natural divinity, which means he’s some kinda forest god, not just a guardian. That imp doesn’t know the difference, so I’m not surprised he got confused. Me, though, I'm a full-on demon and I smell of sulfur and hellfire. Which means, I smell like danger to a lush green forest. Oh, not to mention most gods don’t really like demons, cuz of who we come from.”
“And… who is that?” Bel asked, glancing between the two of them.
“Oh, just an asshole who styles himself a god,” Dulvelan said with a shrug. “He’s kinda like the enemy of all things natural and divine. But to your little minor forest god there, I’m a big threat… cuz if I’m here, that means my dear asshole of a father likely isn’t far behind. That about sum it up, big guy?”
Faunus snorted, turning from the horned man and resting his chin on Bel’s thigh.
Bel sighed and ran his fingers over the elk’s huge head. “I think that’s a yes… so if that’s the reason, wouldn’t it be okay if you just… I don’t know, promise not to hurt the forest?”
“If my father gets involved, that won’t really matter,” Dulvelan muttered.
“How likely is that?” Bel asked, frowning.
“Eeeh… hard to say,” Dulvelan said with a glance at Nikki. The silver-haired feline sat on the ground, on the edge of the group, with his back to them. “By now, he knows I took a mate… he might pop in today, he might pop in tomorrow, or he might not pop in for another six months. He’s not really predictable.”
“So… if you just leave the forest, there’s no cause for concern, right?” Bel asked.
Dulvelan shrugged, though his eyes never strayed away from Nikki’s form. “Yeah, probably. But I’m not leaving without him.”
Bel hummed in understanding, his fingers playing with the soft hairs of Faunus’s nose ridge. “I understand. I’m thinking of sending everyone home anyway.”
“But, Prof, we still have another week of the field study,” Felix said, frowning. “What reason would you give the university?”
Turning his eyes to the fiery red sky as the sun sank lower, Bel said, “Unexpected dangers. Requires more experienced surveyors.”
The two students fell silent for several moments before a voice piped up, “Did the guardian claim you?”
Bel jerked and twisted around. He caught sight of that winged creature sitting on a branch above Felix. “What?”
“You smell like him,” the creature said with a tilted head. “So… did he claim you?”
Bel felt his cheeks heating and the god chuffed on the tiger’s lap. “Uhm… maybe…”
“Prof… uhm… isn’t that… bestiality?” Felix asked. Bel’s flush deepened and he shook his head.
“He - he doesn’t always look like this!” Bel stammered, hiding his heated face. Faunus chuckled and rubbed against the tiger’s thigh. “You are not helping! Will you please show them?”
“You want them to see me?” Faunus asked, eyeing the professor. “All of me?”
Remembering the first time he saw all of Faunus, Bel’s body heated and he curled over the god’s head. “N-no… never mind…”
“Let me guess, he doesn’t wear clothes,” Nikki muttered, who had finally come back to the group and eyed Dulvelan warily.
The professor shook his head, still flushed and still bent over Faunus’s head. “We should… We should head back... a-and let everyone pack… gods, I need a drink…”
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