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Nancy Wheeler is a mature, reserved young woman who keeps her emotions in check and close to her vest, never letting more than what was polite and appropriate show.
If only somebody had told her fucking tail that.
Nancy is one of the millions of people known as Faunuses-a human with some animal traits. More specifically animal ears and tails, with some degree of boosts to their senses and some twists on their instincts. There didn't seem to be any genuine rhyme or reason to Faunus births. Full human couples were as likely to produce a Faunus child as a human/Faunus couple (Nancy's parents and siblings are all full human), and the type of animal seemed rather random.
For the most part Nancy doesn't mind being a Faunus. She's some sort of herding dog, so she's actually pretty good at focusing on things and leading projects in school. Her instincts work with her rather than against her, which isn't something everyone else can say. Her tail sheds a lot, but it's also pretty and she gets a lot of compliments for it. Mostly girls, admittedly, but she doesn't mind. They make her stomach twist in a pleasant way. Even stronger than when Steve and Jonathan would compliment her, but she definitely doesn't think about that. It's probably just that her tail is pure animal and her animal side feels things more strongly than her human side. So compliments to her pretty tail and floppy ears just hit harder than to her human traits. Nothing to do with the gender of the person complimenting her.
Yeah. That makes sense.
Being a Faunus has also helped with all the insanity that's been happening in Hawkins. Better senses made tracking monsters easier, made it harder for them to ambush her. Viewing the kids as her flock gave her the strength to face much larger and stronger monsters. Admittedly it also made using guns irritating, but the boys had made her some dog Faunus earmuffs so Nancy dealt with it.
So yeah, for the most part Nancy liked being a Faunus just fine. No serious complaints.
…for the most part.
There were downsides to having a large fluffy tail that betrayed all her emotions. Like her first ex-boyfriend teasing her.
Nancy was hanging out in Family Video, because it was a Saturday and the boys were loud , and glaring at Steve. "Steve…not this again."
"Look, I'm just calling it how I see it." Steve says with a stupid smirk on his stupid face.
"I think that I would know my own feelings better than you." She says only a little petulantly.
"See, I'd have agreed to that if it weren't for the fact that you apparently think the reason you're able to fight monsters is because you're part herding dog." Nancy raises an eyebrow and gestures at her slight, short, frame.
"What's your explanation then?"
"Uhm, you're awesome?" Steve scoffs. "You're like, the bravest and smartest person I know. Maybe tied with Robin." Nancy feels her ears twitch, half perking up at the name, and Steve smirks. Nancy growls in exasperation.
"I'm not into girls! It's fine when other girls are, obviously, but I'm not one of them!" She says firmly.
Then the god damn door opens and Nancy immediately knows from the sound of the footsteps and the specific scents that hit her that it's Robin coming in. She also knows without looking that her tail had started wagging rapidly, helped in no small part by the smirk on Steve's face as the appendage becomes a happy, excited, blur at Robin's approach.
"Uh-huh." Steve says before waving at Robin. The other girl laughs as she comes up next to Nancy.
"Damn Nance, someone's happy. Good movie come in or something?"
"Or something." Nancy says, voice strangled as she tries and fails to calm her fucking tail.
"Well whatever it is I'm glad. Good to see you happy." Nancy blushes, ears twitching in happiness as she bites her lip and Steve tries not to laugh at her.
Robin goes around back and clocks in, and the minute she's behind the counter Steve vanishes. Supposedly he's going to rewind tapes, but Nancy knows better and has to resist the urge to glare at him.
"So…just hanging out?" Robin asks, and Nancy shrugs and nods.
"The boys are having a D&D session and they get really loud." Nancy explains. "They're in the basement, so Mom and Dad can't hear them, but…" Nancy shrugs and tugs on one of her long ears for emphasis, and Robin nods in sympathy.
"Oh yeah, I totally get that. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and everything is just too much for me to deal with too. And I don't even have super senses." Robin pauses, then squints. "Steve told me that you can smell film genres. That's not true, is it?" Nancy laughs.
"Not really. But I can smell who rents a tape most often, and make a guess from there." Robin's eyes widen and she plops a tape face down on the counter, grinning at Nancy.
"What's this one?" Nancy rolls her eyes but sniffs. Might as well pass the time.
"Crayons, dirt, and candy. Kids movie." Robin gasps, then grins and switches to another tape. Nancy immediately wrinkles her nose. "Cheech and Chong." Robin laughs and swaps it out again. "Sweat and booze. Either an action movie or a sexy one. Or both."
Robin grins, wiggles her eyebrows, and pulls out another tape. Nancy sniffs, and gets hit by the warm cinnamon and spice scent of Robin. "Art movie. Probably foreign and with subtitles. Most likely French or Italian." She says, and dammit she can't help the happy, fond tone to her voice or the way her tail starts wagging happily again. But it doesn't mean Steve is right.
Robin's staring at her with wide eyes and Nancy grins. "Sorry Robin, nobody but you rents those so it's really easy to tell." Robin blushes and ducks her head.
"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Do I…smell nice at least? I'm not, like, stinking up the selection am I?" Nancy puts a hand on hers and smiles gently.
"You smell like cinnamon and books and flannel. If a comfortable autumn day could be a scent it'd be yours." Robin's eyes get wide and her mouth drops into a perfect little 'O' for a second before snapping shut as she blushes brightly.
"I…uhm…well, that's good to hear." She says finally, and Nancy is not blushing. She is not . "Is that why your tail always goes bonkers when I get close?" Nancy is not blushing.
"Probably." She manages to croak. "It's not…it takes effort to consciously move my tail. It's not prehensile or anything. I can kinda swing it side to side, but for the most part it acts on instinct and does what it wants."
"Ah. I totally get that too. It takes effort to not gesture and move when I'm talking." Robin laughs. She pauses. "Can I touch it?" Nancy's eyes widen and she can feel herself blushing again. Robin immediately winces. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have said that! I just…your fur is really pretty, and silky, and it looks really soft and I've been wondering what it feels like so I thought I'd ask but that was dumb and rude and…"
"You can touch my ears." Nancy says quickly, unable to bear Robin beating herself up like this. Robin's eyes widen and Nancy ducks and tilts her head a little in invitation. Robin blinks, then gingerly, carefully, reaches out and strokes one of Nancy's ears in a way that leaves Nancy a little cross-eyed. That has no right to feel as good as it does. She can feel the breeze behind her as her tail goes haywire, wagging happily with gusto.
"It's so soft!" Robin coos, eyes bright and happy. The embarrassment is worth seeing her look like that, Nancy thinks. "Do you have to wash them with special shampoo? I know you can't use people shampoo on dogs." Nancy shakes her head.
"N…no, regular shampoo and conditioner works fine." Nancy manages. She's not sure what her fur is, exactly, but it's the same color as her hair at least. Robin nods thoughtfully, then hesitates.
"C…can I…" she begins shakily, eyes darting to Nancy's lips, lingering there with intent.
"I like boys." Nancy blurts, then flinches and winces, not sure why she said that but certain she's about to see pain or sadness flash across Robin's face.
Instead she sees a slight hint of amusement and skepticism, heavily mixed with understanding and compassion, move over Robin's face. The taller girl strokes Nancy's ear again, eyes darting down to track the ecstatic movement of the Faunus' tail, then stands back up and nods. Nancy swallows.
"Totally. I get it. Want to hang out Saturday? I just got La Belle et la Bête." She grins. Nancy has no idea what that is, but she nods anyway.
"Sure! Sounds great. I'll bring popcorn." Robin raises an eyebrow.
"Steve told me about what you put on popcorn, so I'm going to decline." She says dryly. Nancy bristles.
"Gravy is a perfectly acceptable thing to put on popcorn!" She protests, and Robin laughs. It's a delightful, clear sound that makes Nancy's ears perk up happily.
"Whatever you say Wheeler. Whatever you say."
OoOoO
Six months later Steve walks in on them making out in the back of Family Video. "Hah! I knew it!" He cheers. "Good for you guys!" Nancy does her best to glare at him, but it's hard to look intimidating when the fact that she's wrapped around Robin has her tail wagging, a loud thump resulting as it hits the wall every so often.
"Steve, out ." She snaps. Steve winks at her and leaves, and Nancy sighs.
"I hate my tail." She mutters. Robin hums and strokes her ears.
"Given that it's how I knew you weren't straight and just needed time, I'm gonna have to argue in its defense." She purrs, voice raspier than usual and happy.
"...fine." Nancy agrees with a shy smile. "I guess there's benefits."